By the end of the century, the critics were unanimous on at least four points: charlatans continued to flourish; the canonical teaching provided by the Faculties no longer satisfied either the needs of medical practice or new discoveries (only theory was taught; neither mathematics nor physics was considered) there were too many schools of medicine for teaching to be carried out in a satisfactory manner; peculation was rife (the chairs were obtained like any other post: the professors charged for their lectures, the students bought their examinations and got needy doctors to write their theses for them), which made medical studies extremely costly a situation made worse by the fact that, when qualified, the new doctor still had to gain practical experience by accompanying some well known practitioner on his visits, for which privilege he again had to pay.'