Note 635 — THE THIRD VOYAGE NORTH-WARD TO THE KINGDOMES OF CATHAIA and China, in Anno 1596.

Meester Hans Vos. This is the barber-surgeon, of whom mention has been made in page 125, note 3. The title of “meester”, representing the Latin magister, shows that he was a member of a learned profession, who had not improbably taken his degree of “Magister Artium Liberalium”, at an university. In Hungary, at the present day,—as we learn from the evidence of C. A. Noedl, on the recent trial of C. Derra de Meroda against Dawson and others, in the notorious affair of the Baroness von Beck,—“if a man wishes to become a surgeon, he must attend six Latin schools [meaning, apparently, that he must keep six terms at the High School or University], and learn to cut hair”.—Morning Post, July 29th, 1852.

In the journal of Captain James, printed in Mr. Rundall’s Narrative of Voyages towards the North-West (page 199), is the following entry, under the date of November 30th, 1631:—“Betimes, in the morning, I caused the chirurgion to cut off my hair short, and to shave away all the hair of my face.… The like did all the rest.” This was at a period when, as appears from the muster-roll of Captain Waymouth’s expedition, given in page 238 of the same volume, the rating of the surgeon, who thus acted as barber to the ship’s company, was next after “the preacher”, and before the master and the purser. ↑