William Hunter

“ Other discoveries made by John Hunter are described in William Hunter’s Medical Commentaries. But it soon appeared that the younger brother felt he did not receive a due share of praise and acknowledgment of his labours, while the elder considered every discovery made in his dissecting-room as more or less his property. John continued to dissect “with an ardour and perseverance of which there is hardly any example. ”

“ As a boy Hunter showed little taste for books, loved country sports, and being allowed to neglect school never overcame the defects of his education. When about seventeen he went to stay in Glasgow with his sister, Mrs. Buchanan, whose husband, a cabinet-maker, was in difficulties. Hunter helped him for some time in his trade, and acquired much mechanical skill. In his twentieth year he visited his brother William (1718-1783) [q. v.] in London, with a view to assisting in his dissecting room. He travelled on horseback in September 1748, and was set to work on a dissection of the arm-muscles. ”

“ The portrait of him by Sir Joshua Reynolds adorns the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow. An unfinished painting by Zoffany represents him in the attitude of lecturing on the muscles at the Royal Academy, surrounded by academicians. Hunter’s portrait is the only completed part. It was presented to the College of Physicians by Mr. Bransby Cooper in 1829.
We hear of no matrimonial projects at any time on William Hunter’s part. He was wedded to his museum, his profession, his lectures. He lived a [Pg 132] frugal life, eating little food, and that plainly prepared; rising early, and being always at work. ”

“ In the year 1860, the remains of John Hunter were removed from the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and placed in Westminster Abbey, to rest with the dust of England’s most famous sons. The Council of the Royal College of Surgeons erected a tablet bearing a suitable inscription.
Mrs. Hunter retired from society after the death of her husband, and found much enjoyment in literature. She had two children, a son [Pg 166] and a daughter. On the 7th January, 1821, she died in London after a lingering illness, being nearly eighty years of age. ”

“ A revised form was issued in 1895, under the title of The Indian Empire: its People, History and Products. In 1882 Hunter, as a member of the governor-general’s council, presided over the commission on Indian Education; in 1886 he was elected vice-chancellor of the university of Calcutta. In 1887 he retired from the service, was created K.C.S.I., and settled at Oaken Holt, near Oxford. He arranged with the Clarendon Press to publish a series of Rulers of India, to which he himself contributed volumes on Dalhousie (1890) and Mayo (1892) . ”

“ After 1882 Hunter took up politics and was elected to parliament for Aberdeen as a Liberal in 1885. In the House of Commons he was a prominent supporter of Charles Bradlaugh, he was the first to advocate old age pensions, and in 1890 carried a proposal to free elementary education in Scotland. ”

“ Hunter’s whole collection, together with his fine library of Greek and Latin classics, and an endowment of £8000, by his will became, after the lapse of twenty years, the property of the university of Glasgow.
Hunter was never married, and was a man of frugal habits. Like his brother John, he was an early riser, and a man of untiring industry. He is described as being in his lectures, which were of two hours’ duration, “both simple and profound, minute in demonstration, and yet the reverse of dry and tedious” ”

“ When Dr Douglas died Hunter still continued to live with his family. In 1746 he undertook, in place of Samuel Sharp, the delivery, for a society of naval practitioners, of a series of lectures on operative surgery, so satisfactorily that he was requested to include anatomy in his course. ”

“ Hunter deserves much credit for good work in demonstrating the course of the lymphatics and their absorbing powers. In reference to the controversy with the Monros, see also ' Observations, Physiological and Anatomical,' by A. Monro secundus, Edinburgh, 1758. Hunter assigned a comparatively low place to William Harvey as a discoverer, alleging that so much had been discovered before that little was left for him to do but 'to dress it up into a system ' (Introductory Lectures, p. 47) .
As a collector of coins, medals, &c., Hunter showed considerable judgment and great acquisitiveness. ”

“ John Hunter, wife of the distinguished anatomist and physiologist, John Hunter, whose brother, William, founded the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow. Her maiden name was Anne Home, and she was the eldest daughter of Robert Home of Greenlaw, in Berwickshire, a surgeon in the army. ”

“ Hard-working, and singularly patient and skilful in dissection, Hunter had by his second winter in London acquired sufficient anatomical knowledge to be entrusted with the charge of his brother’s practical class. In the summer months of 1749–1750, at Chelsea Military Hospital, he attended the lectures and operations of William Cheselden, on whose retirement in the following year he became a surgeon’s pupil at St Bartholomew’s, where Percivall Pott was one of the senior surgeons. In the summer of 1752 he visited Scotland. ”

“ Thus arose an estrangement between the two Hunters, which continued until the time of William’s last illness, when his brother obtained permission to visit him.
In 1783 Hunter was elected a member of the Royal Society of Medicine and of the Royal Academy of Surgery at Paris, and took part in the formation of “A Society for the Improvement of Medical and Chirurgical Knowledge.” [17] It appears from a letter by Hunter that in the latter part of 1783, he, with Jenner, had the subject of colour-blindness under consideration. ”

“ In May 1785, [20] chiefly to oblige William Sharp the engraver, Hunter consented to have his portrait taken by Sir Joshua Reynolds. He proved a bad sitter, and Reynolds made little satisfactory progress, till one day Hunter, while resting his somewhat upraised head on his left hand, fell into a profound reverie—one of those waking dreams, seemingly, which in his lectures he has so well described, when “the body loses the consciousness of its own existence.” ”

“ There are many farmers who have not hunted since his time, and he made many a man hunt who never thought of it before. He was never once in a field without knowing it ever afterwards, and how to get out of it. ”

“ Some of these wild men were fleet of foot and had well developed cunning. They became expert hunters. On the other hand some of the less active, by the law of compensation, became more expert tailors, so trade was formed. The hunter killed enough for himself and the tailor, while the tailor made clothes for both of them. ”

“ No presents that you may bring can buy the British favour; no display which you may make will raise your dignity in our eyes; no cringing or flattery will gain my friendship. We estimate you not by the splendour of your offerings to us, nor by the pomp of your retinue here, but by your conduct to your subjects at home. For ourselves, we have nothing to ask of you. But for your people we demand good government, and we shall judge of you by this standard alone. ”

“ Harvey laid the foundation of modern medicine by his discovery of the circulation of the blood. Hunter laid the foundation of modern pathology, not by any [185] single and striking discovery, but by a long course of careful observation. Harvey, like Hunter, was a careful and competent observer; both were skilled anatomists, both were ardent pathologists, both were comparative anatomists of a high order. By singular ill fortune we have lost the records of many years of careful work done by each of these great men. ”

“ Where the alders interlace
Their boughs above me, and the blue
Bells and flowers of purple hue
Make beautiful the lone recess
With glamour of their loveliness.
—Nature for herself against
All the world this valley fenced. ”

“ HULME, KATHRYN. We lived as children. © 5Jul38; A118643. Kathryn Hulme (A) ; 23Mar66; R382591.
HULSEMAN, BERTHA F. American foundations for social
welfare. Rev. ed. © 18May38;
AA267642. Russell Sage Foundation
(PWH) ; 28Feb66; R380651.
HUMPHREY, ZEPHINE, pseud.
SEE Fahnestock, Mrs. Z.
HUNT, MABEL LEIGH.
Benjie's hat. Illus. by Grace Paull. © 15Sep38; A120605. Mabel Leigh Hunt (A) ; 8Feb66; R380364.
HUNT, WILLIAM A. The startle pattern. SEE Landis,
Carney.
HUNTER, JACK, pseud.
SEE Hunter, John, pseud.
HUNTER, JOHN, pseud. ”

“ Rise and vanish into air;
Nor thereafter dare nor deign,
Here to fold his wings again.
Ah, their vigil is not vain!
Hark ! the music falls like rain,
When in heaven's bright abyss,
One lone cloud and no wind is. ”

“ In the everlasting record of good deeds your name is in gold.
In the everlasting memory of those who appreciate you, your face, your life, is the sacred, helpful picture that grows more beautiful as the days pass. ”

“ We shall keep in step to the drum-beats of truth, we will rest and recreate in cool shady places, and then up and on to our purpose with smiles on our faces, courage in our hearts, and song on our lips. ”

“ The true friend is not one made in a hurry. There is no friend like the old one with whom you went birdnesting in your youth, the friend that has plodded along life's road with you shoulder to shoulder. ”

“ Knock yourself, and the world will accept you at your own estimate. Show streaks of yellow cowardice, and the mob will pounce on you like a pack of hungry wolves. Accuse yourself, curse your luck, belittle your worth, be afraid, and you will remain a mere bump on a log, unnoticed, uninteresting, uninvited. ”

“ But patriotism, as fomented and fostered by governments for war spurs and goads, is a monster that lives on blood.
To keep this false patriotism alive, wars must be made, so that human blood can be secured to save the monster from perishing. ”

“ It is just possible, though hardly probable, that we may ascend a generation above this Lancelot; for, on January 20, 1626, the will of Robert Turner, of Towthroppe, was proved in the court of the Archbishop of York: its date does not appear. He desires to be buried in the churchyard at Huntingdon. He gives to his son Anthony the two younger oxen, with certain husbandry utensils; to his son Richard the red whie, which came from Stockton; and to his grandchild, William Turner, the little brown whie. He makes his wife and his younger son executors. ”

“ Gesticulation, mimicry, acting, sensationalism, slang and weepy stories follow, until the ferment of excitement is developed to a high pitch, and droves flock down the sawdust trail to be made over on the instant into sanctified beings. ”

“ If my friends have alabaster boxes laid away full of fragrant perfumes of sympathy and affection which they intend to lay over my dead body, I would rather they would bring them out in my weary and troubled hours, and open them, that I may be refreshed and cheered by them while I need them. I would rather have a plain coffin without a flower and a funeral without an eulogy, than a life without the sweetness of love and sympathy. ”

“ When a man gets angry he is a wild man, his eyes glitter, his mouth is cruel, his fists clinch, his body trembles, his blood veins strain and he does more harm in five minutes' anger than nature can repair in a day. ”

“ God looks at the maddened millions of insane murderers and his heart is torn as He sees the avalanche of tears shed by bereaved wives and children.
The patriotism that is responsible for starting this war is a mockery, a snare, a delusion, and deserves the profoundest contempt of every man who loves his fellow man. ”

“ In this spot, nature has thrown up mountains of volcanic rock, which hold the winter's snow in everlasting supply to quench the thirst of plant, of animal, and of the millions of humans in the lower country. ”

“ I am merely the purveyor of facts, the gleaner of truth, and the selector of helpful experiences, first of all for my own benefit and having proved the truth in my own case and by friends to whom I passed the truths and rules. ”

“ On one quarter was the kitchen; forward of the principal cabin was a flush deck to the bows; there stood the foremast, and ten to twelve oars could be used. The crew consisted of twelve or fifteen men, always alert, hard-working, and good-natured. The trip down the river or up was particularly enjoyable; the respite from office duties imparted a new sensation; and, if made in the south-west monsoon, nothing so exhilarating after the close hot Factories as this breeze fresh from the sea. ”

“ Pat them on the head, joke with them, whisper affection, express love to them. Those acts will be remembered in all their years to come, for you are planting everlasting plants that may pass on to a hundred generations and make children happy a thousand years from now. ”

“ With the keen competition of these days it is necessary for the individual to be a specialist in business.
Pleasure and recreation are the only things in which an individual should be a generalist.
Were it not for specialists we should know little about the sun, little of electricity, little of steam, little of railroads, little of advertising, little of anything else. It is because individuals have made a speciality of one thing, because they have concentrated their energies and their brain power on one thing that the world has progressed. ”

“ GIRL Be a Know Girl, Not a Show Girl
Girl, what a wonderful creature you can be. What a glorious success you can make of your life, if you get the right start, the right hands to help you, the right hearts to love you, and the right eyes to watch you, the right thoughts to make you, and the right ideals to guide you.
There are so many influences to spoil you, so much convention, so much artificiality, so much snobbery, so much caste, so much foolish frivolity. ”