This is reminiscent of an idea made familiar by Cabanis, that of the doctor magistrate, to whom 'men's lives' would be entrusted by the community instead of' 'leaving them to the mercy of mountebanks and gossips'; he would act according to the belief that 'the lives of the rich and powerful are no more precious than those of the poor and weak'; lastly, he would be able to refuse help to 'public malefactors'.