The complete works of John Hunter, F.R.S (Volume 1).

  • Hunter, John, 1728-1793.
Date:
1841
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The complete works of John Hunter, F.R.S (Volume 1). Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

    9/572
    PREFATORY ADVERTISEMENT. Those who have traced the progress of modern surgery to its true source will not fail to have discerned, in the principles which Hunter established, the germs of almost all the improvements which have been since introduced. Like a wise master-builder, he laid the foundation of the profession upon so broad a basis that it has withstood the attacks of adversaries and the versatility of public opin-- ion not only uninjured, but with fresh accession of fame to himself, and (with few exceptions,) the most complete veiification of his opinions. The strict * inductive method of reasoning which he pursued, upon physiological subjects, led the way to juster modes of investigation ; the zeal which he evinced stimu- lated many ardent followers in the path which he had opened, and the principles which he inculcated became the fruitful source of an infinity of practical appli- cations, which were capable of being worked out by inferior minds. Thus the fame of Hunter, after a lapse of nearly half a century, is rather augmented than diminished by each succeeding year: the country which gave him birth is justly proud of his name; and those who have shown the deepest insight into the prin- ciples of their profession, and made the greatest improvements in the practice of it, have ever been most forward in celebrating his merits. But it is unnecessary to enlarge further on the celebrity of this distinguished philosopher, of whom it has been truly said, that he was the greatest man in the combined character of physiologist and surgeon that the whole annals of* medicine can furnish.* For a more full account of the character of Hunter's genius, and the peculiarities of his works, the Editor begs leave to refer the reader to the ensuing memoir, in which the language of indiscriminate pane- gyric, so freely employed by his preceding biographers, has given place to the voice of truth. His merits have been weighed in a just balance, and the less favourable parts of his character, as a man and as a philosopher, pointed out without disguise. The reconstruction and enlargement of the Hunterian Museum, together with the publication of well-digested catalogues of its contents, seem well calculated to extend the fame of its founder, as well as to fix it on a more rational founda- tipn. To the Editor these circumstances have appeared to afford a favourable occasion for the re-publication of Mr. Hunter's writings, considering that as all his labours were directed to the elucidation of the laws of life, they can only be advantageously studied in their totality. Those, therefore, who have familiar- ized themselves with his style and mode of thought, as displayed in his writings, possess the best clue to his museum; as, on the other hand, those who have made themselves well acquainted with the contents of his museum, possess the best guide in the perusal of his works. The two may be regarded as forming necessary parts of that general undertaking in which the author was engaged ; his writings forming the text to his museum,—his museum the appropriate illus- tration of his writings. It cannot but be a subject of deep regret to all those who have the interest of science or of their profession at heart, that no one should have undertaken to collect these, writings before. Dispersed through scattered volumes of the Transactions of the Royal and other learned Societies, many of his most valua- ble papers have been unknown or neglected, or at least have been inaccessible to the great bulk of the profession; while of those which have been published separately, some are nearly out of print and scarcely to be obtained, others are extremely incorrect, and the greater number are excluded from general circula- * Lawrence.