ARMY MEDICAL LIBRARY
FOUNDED 1836
WASHINGTON, D.C 
 
• 
SURGICAL
AND
PHYSIOLOGICAL  WORKS
                OF

                      \
   JOHN ^BERNETHY/F.R.S.

HONORARY MEMBER OF THE ROYALCOLLEGEOF SURGEONS IN IRELAND;
     OF THE ROY \L MEDICAL SOCIETY )F EDINBURGH |
 CORRESPONDING MEMBEK. OF THE SOCIETY OF THE FACULTY OF
            MEDICINE IN PARIS.
AND OF THE MEDICAL SOCIE TIES OF ABERDEEN, PARIS, BOURDEAUX,
*>            PHILADELPHIA. &C. ;
   SURGEON TO ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S AND CHRIST'S HOSPITALS.
FROM THE SIXTH LONDON EDITION.
              EMBRACING

          REFLECTIONS
                ON
   GALL AND SPURZHEIM'S SYSTEM OF

PHYSIOGNOMY AND PHRENOLOGY.


         Complete in two Volumes.

             vol.  u.       HZ519,


              LONDON:
   PRINTED BY LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME & BR0WX.
            HARTFORD:
      REPRINTED BY OLIVER D. COOKE & CO.

               1825. 
• /
 VIO
Al44>sc
p* !>** pt> £&„  2 *>*- £     V 
ON THE
OPERATION OF PUNCTURING
THE
     URINARY BLADDER.
) 
 
ON THE
OPERATION OF  PUNCTURING
                THE

  URINARY BLADDER-
  SIR E. HOME, to whom the profession is  much in-
debted for many important improvements in practice, has
of late published some cases of the puncture of the bladder
from the rectum, which, in my opinion, are of considerable
importance.  They not only exhibit that operation as more
simple and successful than perhaps was generally believed ;
but if the operation be as successful in  the hands of other
surgeons, it  presents an easy mode  of relief to a great
number of unfortunate patients,  who have generally been
left to die in m;sery.   I mean  those who have  strictures
impassable by bougies,  and who are so  irritable that they
cannot bear  the application of caustic, on account of the
retention of  urine which it occasions.   In such cases  the
puncture from the rectum appears most eligible, because
the bladder  is contracted, is in general  irritable, and will
not perhaps  ascend high enough to admit of being punc-
tured above  the pubes.

  But  there are  cases  irf which  the  operation by  the
rectum cannot be  performed ; and by frequently meeting
with these I  have been compelled to puncture the bladder
vol. u.                   I* 
6
ON THE OFERATION OF
above the os pubis, and the event of the operation has been
such as would have led me to prefer it to any other that I
had seen practised.   The chief cases to which I allude are
those of enlarged prostates, where the catheter has been
forced into the substance of the gland, and has torn it con-
siderably ;  consequently that instrument enters so easily
into  the false passage as to render it almost impossible to
make it take the right one.   Indeed, in cases of stricture,
where false passages have been made, and the prostate has
been sound, the perception of the  bladder from the rectum
has been so indistinct that I have been deterred from punc-
turing it;  and in one case I made a division in the peri-
nasum ; and having passed my finger beneath the arch  of the
os pubis a considerable way, I could obtain no such distinct
perception of the bladder as would  authorise me to push
in a trochar.  But I punctured it  above the os pubis, and
drew olf a considerable quantity of urine.   I  have there-
fore been led to conclude, that in  some distended bladders
there is a kind of recession of them from the perinaeum ;
and that when they become distended they ascend propor-
tionally higher into the abdomen.

   In  the greater number of cases in which I have punctured
the  bLcM'er above the os pubis,  it has been on  a sudden
call  to ihe hospital,  or some  poor-house ; and I have had
little  further concern wkh  the patient than what related to
the performance of the operation.

   Sometimes I have been in doubt if there was much urine
in  the  bladder;  and this circumstance has deterred me  '
from puncturing, except in that situation in which I could
possess  an assurance that I felt  the  bladder, and  could
puncture that viscus: and  these doubts caused me in some 
          PL.VC'TURIN'G THE URINARY BLADDER.         7

instances to puncture the bladder with a lancet: and in
some  cases I have not left any canula  in the bladder, iu
consequence of the escape of the urine preventing me from
readily finding the opening which I had made.  Several of
the patients died, but in every instance the operation re-
lieved their sufferings; and I have never seen any elFusion
of urine into the cellular substance,  or any other bad con-
sequence  result  from  the operation ; nor do I think that
such events are likely to happen, if it be rightly periormed.
The death of  the patients was fairly to  be  imputed to the
delay  of the  operation, or the  degree of disease which
previously existed  in the  urinary organs.   In several pa-
tients who recovered,  the progress  of their amendment
was similar  to that  which took place in the  case which J
am about to relate.  I  did not,  however, preserve any
detailed account of them; for, as I  have  mentioned, the
patients could scarcely  be said to be  under my care.   1
have  requested  the last gentleman with whom  I atteuded
a patient under these circumstances,  to give  me a particu-
lar account of his case ; and on the accuracy of his narrative
I can  place  perfect reliance.   This  case I shall relate,  in
order to have an opportunity of commenting on the mode
of puncturing the bladder above the os pubis.


                         CASE.

  A gentleman,  between sixty and seventy years of age,
had a retention  of urine from an enlarged prostate gland,
which obliged his surgeon to draw off the urine night and
morning.   This  was done during ten days, when the diffi-
culty  of introducing the  catheter,  which had  gradually 
3
Or. THE OPERATION Of
increased, became insurmountable.  I was therefore oblig-
ed  to  puncture  the bladder ; and the only place in which
this operation could in the present instance  be performed,
was above the pubes.   I therefore made an incision about
two inches in length through the integuments, and between
the musculi pyramidales abdominis,  so that  the lower part
of the wound laid bare the top of the symphisis pubis.  On
introducing my finger into this vacancy I felt the distended
bladder.  The  sensation produced by pressing against the
distended bladder is, I think, so peculiar, and so different
from any thing else which  could  occur in  this situation,
frbat if an operator has once felt it, he will  not hesitate in
deciding that it is  the bladder against which he presses.
The thickness and tension of its coats, and its  fluid  con-
tents, are the chief circumstances  from which this peculiar
feel seems  to arise.   When I first began to perform this
operation, I was deterred from using a trochar by a fear of
being misled by my sensations.  I cautiously  punctured
the bladder with a lancet, designing to introduce a cathe-
ter through the  wound;  but the urine  gushed out  so vio-
lently,  and the  bladder  became  contracted so suddenly,
that I  could  not discover the wound which I had  made:
yet under these  circumstances the urine passed from the
aperture in the bladder through the external wound, and
was not diffused  into the cellular substance.   Indeed, nei-
ther observation nor reasoning would induce me to suppose
that sue h an occurrence is probable, whilst  there is a free
external opening.  The apprehension seems to have arisen
from the extensive diffusion of urine, in cases where the
urethra has given way.   But in such cases the urine is ac-
tually iiipcted inio the cellular  substance, and with great
force by the bladder, in consequence of the channel out of 
          PUJfCTURi: e  THE  URINARY ELADD&R.         $

the body being closed up.  If the external wound in this
operation were to be closed, and the exit of urine prevented
by this means, then it is probable that the urine would be
forced to pervade the cellular substance.  It may be asked.
if urine  is in  any way likely, according to  the  common
phra-e, to  insinuate itself into  the surrounding cellular
substance?  I should think not.   The operator should be
cautious not to  make any separation of the  bladder  from
the back part of the symphisis pubis, that there should not
be even  a cavity into which the urine might gravitate.  He
should also leave the external wound free and open.  The
first effect of the operation will be an  inflammation, which
will  consolidate the surrounding cellular substance, and
prevent  the ready impulsion of urine into it.  The stimu-
lating qualities of the urine will augment this  inflammation,
and thereby increase the effect.  Indeed, the stimulus of
the urine often occasions a sloughing  of the  surface of the
wound,  which, however, makes no alteration in the gen-
eral circumstances  of the case.   In later operations  I ac-
quired more confidence, and a belief that I could distinguish
the bladder from any thing else by its feel; and one case
which occurred tended further  to embolden me in the per-
formance  of it.  Being  called  on  a  sudden to relieve  a
patient, who had  had  his  urethra lacerated, and  bein;;
 urged to puncture  the bladder  by  several gentlemen who
 were present, and  who were certain that  a considerable
 quantity of untie was detained.  Though I could  not feel
 the bladder distended above the pubes, I consented, a- the
 patient was in imminent danger, to perform the operation ;
 and, having punctured the bladder with a trochar. furor
 five ounces only of urine were discharged.  However, a
  large quantity of urine gradually flowed through  a  canula
  which was introduced.   The patient died,  and was exam- 
10
UN THE OPERATION Of
 ined, when the cause of this occurrence became apparent.
 A  large cyst, made by the protrusion of the interu.il coat
 of the bladder, had been formed between the bladder and
 the rectum, which contained the greatest quantity  of the
 retained urine.  The orifice, by which this cyst communi-
 cated with the  bladder, did not exceed in  dimensions the
 barrel of a common quill.  It also appeired  that, though
 the  bladder  itself could not in this case ijc said to have
 been disteuled, yet the front of it only was wounded by
 the trochar,  and the back part was uninjured.

   To  return from this digression  to  the operation  in the
 case which I was .-elati.ig:  after I  had, by  an  incision be-
 tween the pyramidalcs muscles, enabled myself to pass my
 linger along the upper part of the symphisis pubis, so as to
 press against .he distended bladder,  I introduced a com-
 mon trochar of the middle size, in a direction obliquely
 downward, towards the os coccygis.   There is an advan-
 tage,  as  Sabaticr,  m his Medicine Operatoire, observes,
 in  introducing an  instrument in this  direction,  for  it
 accords with the axb of the bladder,  and is therefore not
 likely to injure the opposite  side of that organ.  When I
 found that the  instrument  had penetrated the  cavity,  I
 withdrew the stilet within the canula,  and then pushed the
 canula obliquely downwards, so that about two inches of it
 were introduced into the bladder.  On withdrawing the
 stilet of the trochar, the urine gushed out with great force,
 but I prevented its escape, by placing the thumb of my left
 hand against the mouth of the canula, and then introduced
 through it, in the same oblique direction,  a middle-sized
 hollow elastic catheter, till it met with resistance by touch-
 ing the bottom  of the bladder.  After the  urine was dis-
charged, the canula of the trochar was withdrawn over the 
          PUNCTURIN'G  THE URINARY BLADDER.        1 I

elastic catheter, which  was left in its situation, and jthe
end which came out of the wound was bent downwards to-
wards the pubes, and attached, so as to be kept motionless,
to a circular bandage put round the body of the patient.
The wound, which was funnel-shaped, being wide exter-
nally,  and  gradually  contracting   to  the  bladder,  was
covered  with linen,  spread  over with spermaceti salve.
The urine flowed not only through the catheter, but by
the sides of it.   A slight inflammation occurred round the
wound, such as would  doubtless tend to consolidate  the
surrounding cellular substance.  The surface of the wound
in tliis case did not even slough, at least in any evident
degree.  Four days after the operation the patient got up,
and walked about his  chamber;  and feeling himself com-
fortable and well, he did not go to bed again till night.  At
the end  of a week some few drops  of urine came through
the urethra, and the quantity thus discharged  daily in-
creased.  At this time,  as the  catheter seemed to be clog-
ged up with mucus, it  was  withdrawn, and another was
introduced with perfect facility.  In about three weeks, as
the urine came  pretty freely through the urethra, the cathe-
ter was  withdrawn, and the patient voided his urine by
the natural channel.   In six w-eks the external wound was
perfectly healed, and the pp.t ent was as well as before the
retention of urine took place.

   Since the publication of the preceding case, I have many
tinru:s performed the same operation, and without observing
an\ thing contradictory to the statement which 1  have given.
I shall briefly relate the particulars of one of the cases. 
12
ON THE  OPERATION OP
                       CASE.

  A  gentleman who came from the country was  seized
with retention of urine;  and the medical man to whom he
iirst  applied for relief was  unable  to  draw  off that fluid.
Before  I made any attempt, I first introduced a  bougie,
which, I think, ought in all cases to be done, in  order to
examine the state of the parts prior to the introduction of
more rigid and injurious instruments.  It passed  into the
prostate, but  could not be made  to proceed further.   A
small-sized catheter much curved, or bent upwards towards
the point, was next introduced, which entering the bladder,
the urine was discharged.   Upon attempting to withdraw
the catheter, I found that I could not do it without employ-
ing considerable force, so firmly was it compressed by the
neck of the bladder.  I  examined the  prostate per anum,
and did not find that gland materially enlarged,  so that I
conclude the difficulty of introducing and withdrawing the
instrument arose from an enlargement of what Mr. Hunter
called tne valvular part  of the prostate, and Sir E. Home
describes as its third lobe.  Being fully aware of the im-
probability of my being  able to introduce a catheter night
and morning to draw off the urine in this  case, 1 employed
for that purpose, at my next visit, a flexible varnished
catheter, and left it in the bladder*   This gave pain to the
patient, and did not long remain  in the cavity of the blad-
der; I was therefore under the necessity of attempting to
draw off the urine twice  a-day with the common'catheter.
I succeeded in doing this for several days,  each  time en-
countering a difficulty in  introducing the instrument, which
was surmounted by keeping the point of the instrument
closely in contact with the upper part  of the canal; and I
rontinued to  experience  considerable difficulty  in with-r 
PUNCTURING THE URINARY BLADDER
13
drawing the instrument after the escape of the urine.—
One morning,  however,  I was unable  to  accomplish the
introduction of the catheter,  and felt  myself obliged  to
puncture the distended bladder.   The operation was per-
formed as  in the preceding case.   A month elapsed before
the patient voided any urine bv the natural channel.  The
quantity of that fluid which was discharged through the ure-
thra when he wanted to make  water, was at first small, and
gradually increased in another fortnight to about four ounces.
After this evacuation, the plug being remo\ ed from the tube
inserted at the pubes, six or eight ounces of urine were dis-
charged from it: it therefore appeared that  the bladder had
but very partially regained its power of expelling the urine.
When this operation  is  performed,  we can know, with
some degree of accuracy, when  the bladder has fully  re-
gained its powers ;  and,  consequently, when we ought to
remove the tube.   The patient was very anxious to return
into the country; and  I, knowing the  great impediment
that existed to the expulsion of the urine in his case, dared
not to remove the tube;  nor has it appeared proper to do
it siuce that time.   He has now kept the tube in his blad-
der, I believe,  more than two years.   He has  lately com'
plained much  of the badness of the varnish with which the
tubes are covered;  and it is  greatly to  be regretted that
in this country, no  one has the art, or takes the trouble, of
varnishing these catheters as they are done in France.

  Since the above recited cases  were printed, I have per-
formed this operation frequently, and  under various  cir-
cumstances.   First, in  cases of retention  of urine, when
 the bladder was healthy, but no instrument could be in-
troduced by the urethra, on account of obstinate and much
contracted strictures.  In these cases the bladder was great
  VOL.  II.                 J'V" 
14
0.\ THE  OPERATION Of
 ly distended, and the p.-stients must have died, if it had not
 been punctured ; yet being healthy,  the uninjurious na-
 ture of the operation, and its advantages, were strikingly
 manifested.  One patient in the hospital wore the  tube
 in  his bladder for nearly four months, which time had
 elapsed before we had succeeded in so enlarging his strict-
 ures as to be able to  introduce  a moderate-sized  bougie
 into his bladder by the  natural channel.  The tube *vas
 then withdrawn, and the wound through which it  passed
 healed readily  and firmly.  This patient  walked about,
 without inconvenience, whilst  the tube  remained in, and
 rarely had occasion to  discharge his urine oftei.er than three
 times in twenty-four hours, when nearly a pint  01 clear
 urine, without any mucus, was  voided  through the lube.
 Secondly, in cases in  which the urethra  w<"? rendered al-
 most  in.pervious by strictures ;  yet in  ?>rr,ich the bladder,
 was also highly irritable, and would not bear distention.  In
 one poor man !n the hospital, whose case appeared hopeless,
 I resolved to puncture the bladder, though  I could  not at
 all distinguish it above the os  pubis,  merely to mitigate
 his  sufferings.   Putting my finger on the symphisis pubis
 and pushingobhquely downwards, in a direction towards the
 os coccygis, I felt and punctured the bladder, and discharg-
 ed about  six ounces of the most foetid urine, mixed  with
 much pus.   The patient got well, and left the hospital
 wearing a tube in his bladder, and in what he  considered
a very comfortable state, when  compared with his former
one.  No  persuasions  could  induce this patient  to  permit
any attempts to be made  to  resto e the  natural passage.
He was convinced  of  its impossibility  from  the extreme
irritability of his system.   He said, also, t at he was sure
he had some fatal disease in his  abdominal viscera.   After
he had left the hospital, he applied again for relief, on acr 
           PUNCTURING  THE URINARY BLADDER.         li

 count of jaundice.   From the lime of  the  operation  he
 had been subject to fits of irritation, attended with the dis-
 charge of foul  and foetid  urine, mixed  with pus.  These
 became more frequent, and,  at the expiration  of a year
 and a half, it w*s ascertained that there  was a stone in the
 bladder.   The  knowledge of this  fact, in addition to his
 inerca  ing suffering, so wrought upon the patient's mind,
 that  he destroyed  himself.  In other  cases  of irritable
 bladder, however, in which the operation of  puncturing
 was performed, as  the only means  of prolonging life and
 mitigating suffering, though the patients  lived many years,
 occasionally  voiding  very foul  urine, mixed withmucus
 and matter,  no  calculous concretion ' was found upon
 examination  after death.  The paticn's  whose  cases I
 now allude to were occasionally comfortable, and able  to
 go abroad ; but, at  other  times, their sufferings confined
 them to their houses, and to their beds.   In short, they suf-
 fered as persons  do with'irritable and diseased  bladders;
 but in a less degree, because they could, at will, discharge
 the contents. Some of these patients had the tubes encrust-
 ed with calculous matter,  which  rendered it  necessary
 daii^ to remove and clean them.   In cases of irritable blad-
 der, comb, nod v/ith  a  nearly  impervious state of the urc.
 thra, in  which the  sufferiut-s  of patieuis  demanded the
 puncture of the bladder, as the onU  means by which they
 could be mitigated,  et their lives piolongcd, I  have been
 unable to puncture, it hy a dr.ehar, on account  of its want
 of distention.   I have, therefore, been obliged  to j.'jrfnrm
 the  operation with  a  pointed  tao-eHged knife, and  to
 keep my forefinger on  the aperture,  to prevent the escape
 of ihe urine, till I  was able to  insert the varnished tube.
 I was once obliged to perform the operation in this manner
in  a cise of groat  obesity;  yet alt the  experim^e I hav 
16    ON THE OPERATION OF  PUNCTURING,  &C.

had has tended to convince  me, that the puncture above
the os pubis is an innoxious and ready mode of discharging
the urine, when it cannot be  discharged  by the natural
passages* 
ON THE TIC DOULOUREUX. 
OX THE TIC  DOULOUREUX.
   A> the public attention has been of late excited to that
 painful affection of the nerves called Tie  Douloureux, I
 shall,  in the next place, relate a case of that disease  winch
 lately came under my care ; because it seems to me to elu-
 cidate the nature of the disorder, to demonstrate the degree
 and kind of advantage which is likely to result from the di-
 vision of the trunk of the nerve, and  also to  illustrate
 some circumstances in the anatomy and physiology  of the
 nervous  system, of which I have not as yet met with  any
 satisfactory explanation.

                         CASE.

   A  lady became gradually affected with a painful state of
 the integuments under and adjoining to the inner edge 01
 the nail of the  ring-finger of the left hand.  N •> hqui y  to the
 part  was  remembered  which could have  brought on  this
 disease.  The  pain  occurred  at irregular  intervals, and
 was  extremely severe during the time of its continuance,
 which was for  a day or two, when it usually abate J.   Ac-
 cidental slight  injuries always occasioned  great p..in, and
 frequently brought on those paroxysms,  which, hnwever,
occasionally occurred spontaneously,  or without any evi-
dent  exciting cause.  In all these particulars the disease
correctly resembled the tic douloureux of the nerves cf ihe
face.   As the piin increased tne disorder seemed to extend
up the nerves of the arm.  After the patent had endured
this painful affection for seven years, she submitted to have 
               ON  THE TIC DOULOUREUX.             19

 the skin.  winch was the  original seat of the disorder
 burned with caustic.  This application gave  her  intense
 pain, and on the healing of the wound she found her suffer-
 ings rather augmented than diminished by this  experiment.
 After four more )ears of suffering she consulted me, when
 the ciioumstatHes of the case were such as to render an
 operation indispensably necessary.  The pain of the part
 was intolerable, and it extended al! up the nerves of the
 arm ; and  this general pain was  so constant  during the
 night,  as to deprive the patient of rest.  The muscles of
 the back  of  the  neck were occasionally  affected with
 spasms.   The  integuments of the affected arm were much
 hotter than those of the opposite side ;  and sometimes the
 temperature was so  increased  as to cause a burning sensa-
 tion in them.   Under these circumstances,  I did not hesi-
 tate to divide  the nerve of the finger from which  all this
 disorder seemed to originate.  I laid it bare by a longitu-
 dinal incision, of about three quarters of an inch in  length,
 from tne second joint of the finger, and divided it opposite
 to that joint, by  a  curved sharp-pointed  bistoury  which
 was conveyed under it.  1 then took hold of the nerve with
 a pair of forceps, and. reflecting it downwards, I removed
 a portion of it,  half an inch in length, that the possibility
 of a quick re-union might be prevented.  The wound was
brought together by  sticking-plaster, and it united  by ad-
hesion : but the upper part of  the wound, opposite  to the
the upper  end of the nerve,  became  slightly inflamed,
and was  very painful;  however,  the appearance  of in-
flammation gradually went off in the course of three weeks.
After the operation, 1 pinched the originally affected integu-
ments sharply with  my nails,  without  causing any sen-
sation ; but  if in so  doing I moved the finger, then pain
was felt.    1 found  it difficult to convince  the  pntien* 
20
ON THE TIC DOULOUREUX.
that the skin  at  (hat part was actually  devoid of sensa-
tion, for she  still continued to  feel similar sensations to
those which  formerly occurred, though in a much dimin-
ished degree : but she became gradually  as perfectly con-
vinced as any  medical man could be, that these sensations
arose from the irritated state of the end of the nerve, above
the place where it was divided.   The  painful affection of
the nerves of the  arm still continued, though  considerably
lessened in violence; however,  it was sufficiently severe
to make the patient apprehend that little  permanent bene-
fit would arise from the operation.  This pain continued
occasionally about four months, with varying  decrees of
severity, but the  temperature of the skin was  not hotter
than that of the  opposite side, as it had been before the
operation.  At the expiration of three n onths, the patient
ascertained that  the integuments at the  end  of the fin ire r
actually felt when  any thing was applied to them; and this
proved  a new source of alarm.   M >re than  nine  months
have now elapsed since  the performance  of the operation,
and  the general pains in the nerves have  become very
trivial;  but the sensation of the integuments at the end of
the finger has, during that time,  gradually increased, and
the skin has now its natural sensibility,  so as accurately to
distingoivh the tangible  properties  of any body applied to
it.  If also the originally  affected  part be  compressed
slightly, painful sensations, resembling those which formerly
occurred,  take place.

   The observations of Dr. Darwin relative to ocular Spec-
tra, and the experiments ofSir E. Home on the contraction
of divided  nerves, (contained  in  the Croonian lecture,
inserted in the Philosophical Transactions  for the year
1801,)  have given a kind of demonstration that there is a 
ON THE TIC DOULOUREUX.
21
subtile and mobile matter superadded to the  visible fabric
of nerves, and sanction  the use of the yet novel terms of
the irritability and irritable actions  of nerves ; and I shall
therefore  employ them in the few subsequent remarks
which I have to  offer.

   The case above related appeared to me to merit  publi-
cation ; because  I believe it is not a common  occurrence
for the tic douloureux to happen any where but in the face.
In the instances  related by Sir E. Home in  his  Croonian
lecture, the disease was the effect of an injury done to the
thumb ; and  it is reasonable  to  suppose that it would not
have  taken place without a predisposition to it in the con-
stitution of the patients.  It is also not unfair to conclude
that  the disease thus occasioned was of a more general
nature, and  less confined to the extreme branches of the
nerves, and therefore less susceptible of cure by an  opera-
tion.   The case which I have  related shows,  as  indeed
might have been concluded apriori»thdA though the  source
of the irritable  state of the  nerves in the tic douloureux
may be cut off by an operation, yet that the general irrita-
ble actions of those organs,  which  had been excited, and
had  continued  for  a long time, would not immediately
cease, though they  might, as happened in this instance,
gradually subside.

   The speedy return of sensation,  which is both accurate
and  acute in the present case, must surely be deemed a
curious circumstance.  It cannot  be attributed to  a re-
union of  the divided nerve,  since  so large a portion of it
was removed ; for I believe in simple divisions of the nerves
by accident,  sensation  is slow  in  returning.  It  must, I
think, be  admitted,  that sensation  in the present instance
  vol. n.                    3* 
')«>
ON THE TIC DOULOUREUX.
took place  through the medium  of the communicating
branches of those organs, and probably its speedy renova-
tion  was the effect of their  unusually active or  irritable
state.

  Nerves strikingly resemble arteries in their  modes of
communication : sometimes  they conjoin even by consid-
erable  branches,  such as must be  manifest in  common
dissections; but they communicate in surprising  numbers
by their  minute  ramifications.   This circumstance is not,
perhaps, so familiarly known to professional men,  since it
cannot be perceived, unless in the course of a very minute-
dissection ; and to understand how numerous these commu-
nications are, the representations given by the German au-
thors, of their delicate and laborious dissections, may be
advantageously consulted.*

  The communications of  nerves seem also  not to have
excited much  attention amongst physiologists ; at least  1
have not met with any  probable conjecture concerning
their use.  I shall therefore, take the  liberty of mentioning,
as briefly as possible, what  has  occurred to me on that
subject.

  The opinions of Mr. Hunter respecting a subtile mattet
•nhering  in the brain  and nerves, and diffused throughout
the body, are. I believe, generally admitted, though vari-
ously expressed.  Now if the brain and nerves be supposed
in those  animals  who  possess them  to be the chief if not
the sole organs for  the preparation  of this subtile matter,

  • See  Meckel's Representation of the Nerves of Ihe Face, or Frotscher's
■tf the Cervical Nerves; in Ludwig's Opera Minora, or Walther's Platee. 
ON  THE TIC DOULOUREUX.
23
 then it appears as necessary that the nerves should commu-
 nicate, as that the arteries should do so.  For if the contin-
 uity of the trunk of either of these organs were destroyed,
 the parts which its branches supply would perish, were it
 not for their communication with  the minute branches of
 other adjacent trunks,  ft is probable that one of the advan-
 tages  derived from important organs being supplied from
 plexuses of nerves is, as has been  suggested by Soemmer-
 ring, that  such essential organs  should  never want that
 animation and influence which they derive from the nerves,
 even should  CR-nial obstruction take place in some of the
 trunks  leading to such a plexus.   But parts less essential
 to life equally require that such interruption of the nervous
 energy sbould be guarded against.   Have we not a plexus
 formed in the axilla, prior to the distribution of nerves, to
 the upper extremities?  Do not the sacral nerves form a
 plexus, in  order to form the ischiadic or  posterior  crural
 nerve ? and  may not the same circumstance be affirmed
 with respect to the anterior crural and obturator nerves,
 since they arise from the complicated union of the lumbar
 nerves with a branch of the first sacral nerve ?   The retic-
 ular communications of the minute  nerves may not only
 serve the purpose which has been suggested, but, as appears
from the present case, the actions  which take place in the
extremities of the nerves may,  by  them, be propagated to
the sensorium, and  thus produce sensation.  Whether, in
the present instance,  the original  painful  actions of the
extremities of the nerves may again recur, and be contin-
 ued  throughout the communicating branches to the senso-
 rium, the future progress of the case will determine.

   The lady whose case  I have related,  died about four
years after the operation, of disorder of the digestive er- 
24            ON  THE TIC DOULOUREUX.

gans,  to which she was habitually subject.   Indeed, from
what 1 have since seen of cases of tic douloureux, I am in-
duced to believe that this disorder is as much constitutional
as either gout or rheumatism.  I have known patients af-
flicted with it get well, either spontaneously, or in conse-
quence of the administration of medicines which were like-
ly to relieve or counteract nervous irritability. 
0N THE REMOVAL OF LOOSE SUBSTANCES
             FROM THE
         KNEE-JOINT. 
 ON THE REMOVAL OF LOOSE SUBSTANCES

                      FROM THE

                 KNEE-JOINT.


  I shall next relate a case in which some of those loose
substances that are frequently found in the knee-joint were
removed by an  operation: because  I think the case  con-
tains many interesting particulars, and because it wih afford
me  an  opportunity of offering a few observations on the
necessity and mode of performing such an operation.  Mr.
Hey has, of late, recom nended  a bandage to keep these
bodies stationary ; and has related several instances of its
efficacy, and, of course, of its preventing the  necessity o
underdertaking  a serious and uncertain operation. When
loose substances exist in the knee-joint,  and are lodged on
either side of the patella, they produce but little inconven-
ience ; but when they slip under the ligament of the patel-
la,  and  become interposed between the  condyles of the os
femoris  and the  tibia, they impede progression, and cause
pain, and so much injury as to bring on inflammation in
the joint.   If the extensor tendons, the  patella and its lig-
 ament, can, by Mr.  Hey's bandage, be kept steadily press-
 ed against the corresponding parts of the joint, then these
bodies must remain  stationary on one or other side of the
 patella, and the patient will be exempted from the incon-
 venience and injury which their motion in the joint occa-
 sions.  Under  these circumstances the necessity for an
 operation is obviated ; but in the case which I am about to 
     ON THE REMOVAL OF SUBSTANCES FROM THE KNEE.  27

rdate, the bandage was of no avail, for reasons which will
appear in the relation.  It is  not  improbable, also, that
though these bodies may occasion  much irritation at first,
yet that the joint becoming accustomed  to  their stimulus
may afterwards be less affected by their presence, which
circumstance ought to be adverted to and ascertained, be-
fore an operation be undertaken.

                       CASE.

   A man about forty years of age, having fallen from a lad-
der, and injured his knee,  suffered afterwards a good deal
from inflammation in the joint.  The joint  became much
better,  but never perfectly recovered ;  and,  after a year
had elapsed,  he slipped in walking, and again injured his
knee.   From this time he  became sensible of the presence
of two  moveable bodies in the joint,  which incommoded
him considerably.  They frequently,  in walking, got be-
tween the condyles of the os femoris and the crucial liga-
ments, giving him great pain  at the time,  and produced
heat and inflammation of  the  knee afterwards.  He bore
this inconvenience for several  years, till at  length, coming
to London, he resolved to submit to the operation for their
removal, if it were recommended.   When I saw him there
was a considerable  quantity of synovia in  the joint,  the
knee was hotter than that of the opposite limb, and in this
state he said it usually was.   There was no difficulty in
bringing the  two loose substances to the inner side of the
joint; and it required only to put that part  in a depending
position, and those bodies descended by their gavity through
the fluid,  and were easily  fixed in  the situation to which
they had fallen.  I could  bring them on the inner surface
of the internal condyle of  the  os femoris, which is of con- 
28
ON THE REMOVAL OF
siderable extent;  and, by placing the points  of my finger
so as to describe a portion of a circle, I could prevent them
from passing again into the cavity  of  the joint, although
the limb might be  moved, and  the patient press firmly
against them with his finger, as if he meant  to push them
into the joint.  Yet when my fingers, which thus confined
them, were  removed,  the  slightest  touch caused them to
disappear, and to  glide with velocity into the general cav-
ity of the joint.

   This is the situation, and  the  manner in which I think
these bodies can be most conveniently and certainly fixed.
The inner surface of the internal condyle of the os femoris
presents an extensive and nearly plain surface, which  ter-
minates in front and at its upper part by an edge which
forms a portion of a circle.  If the points of the finger be
firmly pressed upon this edge,  so as to form  a kind of line
of circumvallation round these  bodies, they cannot pass in-
to the joint in this direction, nor can they recede in  any
other, on account of the tense state of the internal lateral
ligament.   Here these substances are near the surface, and
may be distinctly  felt; and there is nothing to be divided,
in order to  expose them, but the integuments, fascia,  and
the capsule of the joint.  Mr. Cruikshank says, that Mr.
Hunter preferred removing these loose bodies at the upper
part of the joint, as there the bag which contains the syno-
via has les? of the nature of a capsule.   Mr. Ford,  in  a
case which required the operation,  (and which is  related
 in the Medical Observations and Inquiries,) extracted the
 substance on the  outer edge of the patella ; and if the sub-
stance is lar^c, it  may undoubtedly be extracted in this sit-
 uation.  In the case which I am going to relate, it  would
have been  impossible  to  fix the loose substur.cc?  in an^ 
SUBSTANCES  FROM THE KNEE.
2'.<
other situation than that which  I have described ; and, in
my opinion, that situation must, in most cases, be prefera-
ble to any other, for the reasons which I have mentioned.

  I did not hesitate to undertake the removal of the bodies
in the present case, as they could be so securely fixed : for
the patient had tried bandages without  any  advantage,
which, perhaps, was owing to the  quantity of fluid  in the
joint preventing them from acting in  the manner mention-
ed above.  His sufferings were  very considerable, and the
necessary restriction in exercise extremely inconvenient.
I thought it right to reduce the inflammation of the joint
as much as possible, prior to the operation,  and with this
view directed the application of leeches, and of linen kept
constantly damp with Goulard's wash : some aperient me-
dicine was also given.  By these means, in the course of
three days, all the  fluid was removed  from the joint, and it
was as cool and free from pain  and inflammation  as the
other knee: but when I  endeavoured to get these  bodies
into the situations  in which  I had formerly fixed them,  I
found all my efforts were in  vain.  There was no fluid for
them to descend through ; and  though one  of them could
be got into the situation which we wished,  we could not,
after trying nearly an hour and a half, succeed in  getting
both of them  upon the condyle of the os femoris.  I was
therefore obliged to let the patient walk about a little, that
some  more fluid might be effused into the joint; and then
I could bring them both into the same situation, and fix
them  as readily as  before.

  The operation was done in the following manner.   Sir
Charles Blicke, who  assisted me, pressed the integument*
of the knee gently towards the  internal condvle.  and then
  vol. ir.                   4* - 
 !0              0.\  1HE REMOVAL OF

applied his fingers, in the mariner I have described, round
the circular edge of the bone.   I also drew the integuments
gently towards the inner ham-string, and divided them lon-
gitudinally, immediately  over the loose substance, to the
extent of an inch and an half.   This withdrawing of the
integuments from their natural situation was  designed to
prevent a direct correspondence in the situation of the ex-
ternal wound, and that of the capsule of the joint; for when
the integuments were  suffered to  regain their natural posi-
tion, the wound in them  was nearer to the patella than the
wound which was made in the capsule.   The  fascia which
covers the joint being  exposed by the division of the integ-
uments, it was divided in a similar  direction, and nearly
to the same extent.   The capsule was now laid bare, and
I  gently divided it to the extent of half an inch,  where it
covered one of the hard substances, which suddenly slip-
ped through the opening, and, by pressing gently upon the
other, it also came through at the same part.   The bodies,
which were thus removed, were about three quarters of an
inch in length, and half an inch in breadth.   They had a
highly polished surface, and were hard like cartilage.  The
fluid contained in the joint was pressed towards the wound,
and about two ounces  of synovia were discharged.   I  then
drew the wound of the integument gently towards the pa-
tella, pressed the two sides together, and closed it accu-
rately with sticking-plaster, enjoining the patient to keep
the limb as free from motion as possible.

  No inflammation took place in  the knee, either on that
day or the following ;  but on  the second night after  the
operation the patient suffered a good deal of pain, and in
the morning the joint felt hot, and was distended with fluid.
:>s it had been before  the operation.  1  now removed the 
              SLIiSTA.NCE.S  FROM THE KNEE.           .51

 dressings, and found the wound was closed ;  but I felt very
 apprehensive lest, the inflammation of the joint continuing,
 the collection of fluid should also increase, and, by distend-
 ing the capsule, cause the wound to open.  Having already
 seen in this case the beneficial effects of evaporating wash-
 es, which, by diminishing the heat of a part, check its ten-
 dency to inflammation, I was desirous of re-applying them.
 In order to prevent these applications from loosening the
 sticking-plaster, and causing the exposure of the wound,  1
 made use of an expedient which I have frequently employ-
 ed, and which, from its utility, I think deserves to be men-
 tioned.  After having supported the sides of the wound in
 their situation, by adhesive plasters, as at first, I put over
 them a piece of linen, which extended beyond them in ev-
 ery direction.   This linen  was made to adhere to the sur-
 rounding skin, by smearing  over the edge with a solution of
 sealing-wax in alcohol, and afterwards varnishing the linen
 over  with the same solution.  The alcohol having evapora-
 ted, and  the sealing-wax remaining,  no liquid could pene-
 trate and  detach the  sticking-plaster.  This is  the same
 varnish with which some parts of electrical  machines are
 coated, and its power of remaining, unaffected by moisture
 and moderate warmth, is well known.

   Folded linen, kept damp with  laudanum and water,'was
 now applied, in the proportion of an ounce of the former to
 a quart of the latter.  This wash I prefer, for the purpose
above mentioned, to Goulard's wash  ; for the precipitated
powder contained in the latter is apt to fill the interstices
of the linen, and prevent its imbibing the wash, so that the
requisite evaporation does not go on.  These applications
quickly diminished the heat of the knee,  and the quantity
of fluid contained in the joint speedily decreased.   The 
 32        OX THE REMOVAL OF SUBSTANCES, &C.

 wound was daily dressed, and in a week was firmly healed ,
 and  in a  fortnight the patient might be said to  be well.
 He has, since the operation, walked as much as he was ac-
 customed to do, and has not found the least inconvenience.

  I have, since the publication of the preceding case, seen
 one of the same kind, so curious on account of the num-
ber of loose bodies contained in the  capsule of the knee-
joint, that it seems to deserve being mentioned.  I  do not
 exaggerate when I say, they must much exceed a hundred
 in number,  and feel  like shot of various sizes, distending
 the capsule on  either side  of the patella.  There is  no
 fluid in the joint,  nor do they prevent the  patient from
 taking ordinary exercise. 
ON THE TREATMENT OF ONE SPECIES OF THE
        NMVI MATERNI. 
ON THE TREATMENT OF ONE SPECIES OF THE

              NiEVI MATERNI.


  I shall relate two  cases,  and say a few words on the
treatment of this complaint, which  is a congenital defor-
mity, consisting of a cluster of enlarged vessels, filled, and
occasionally distended  by the influx of blood from numer-
ous surrounding arteries.  The deformity to which I allude
is so well known, and so frequent an occurrence, as to pre-
clude  the necessity  of any description.  Mr. John Bell
has, of late, proposed an ingenious theory of its formation,
aud has denominated it an aneurysmal enlargement of the
vessels, in consequence of their  anastomoses.  There can
be no doubt that the repletion, distention, and consequent
enlargement of the dilated vessels depends upon a kind of
inflammatory action of the surrounding arteries;  for, if that
be wanting, the mark ceases to enlarge ; and, if present, it
increases in size in proportion to the degree of inflammato-
ry action.  In many cases these  marks having increased to
a certain degree, cease to enlarge ; they then remain sta-
tionary,  or gradually diminish, till they almost disappear.
This occurrence is not so frequent as to induce surgeons to
expect such an event, or to prohibit, in consequence of such
expectation, their removal; for, if they continue to enlarge,
the operation must be  commensurate to their size.  The
consequences  of bursting are alarming and vexatious.  It
is not, however, my intention to speak of these affections in
general, but only to state what,  perhaps, may in some in-
 stances be done with success, when the removal of the tin- 
        ON THE TREATMENT OF THE N^VI MATERNI.      3j

 natural structure cannot be accomplished.   For this pre-
 ternatural enlargement of vessels is not always cutaneous :
 I have seen it occupying the whole substance of the cheek,
 neither appearing beneath the skin nor the membrane of
 the month : I have met with it in the orbit of the eye, and
 have found it covering the whole of an extremity, or near-
 ly one half of the trunk of the body.   If any means can be
 pursued,  under such circumstances,  to check the progress
 of  the complaint, they surely  deserve  attention.   I was
 lately so fortunate as to succeed in such endeavours in cases.
 the relation of which is my chief object at present.

                        CASE.

   A child about two months old was brought to St. Bar-
 tholomew's  Hospital, with this  unnatural  enlargement of
vessels,distributed every where beneath the fore-arm,  from
the wrist to the elbow.   In a short time it had swollen to
that degree, that  the  circumference  of the  affected  fore-
 arm was twice the  size of the  other.  The vessels were
large and contorted ; and, to give the reader an idea of their
appearance, I may mention that the child's mother affirmed
that they resembled the entrails of a pig, with which she
had either been frightened  or disgusted  during her preg-
nancy.  The skin was of a dusky hue, and had not its natu-
ral smoothness of surface.  The heat  of this fore-arm  was
much  greater  than  that of the  corresponding sound one.
Pressure forced  the blood out of the vessels, and for the
time diminished the bulk of the limb, and  made it of a
paler  colour.  The child's mother lives at Turnham Green,
where Mr.  Graham, an ingenious  surgeon,  who  wa?
for a long time a student at St. Bartholomew's  Hospital,
ntso resides.   I requested this gentleman  to take charge 
36
ON THE TREATMENT OF
of the case, and try the effect of the following plan of treat-
ment, which it seemed to me right in institute.   First,  I
was desirous ofascertaining whether a permanent and equal
pressure would not prevent the distention and consequent
enlargement of the turgid vessels : secondly, whethervredu-
cingthe temperature of the limb would not diminish the in-
flammatory action, upon which their  repletion seemed to
depend.  These two intentions admitted of being readily ac-
complished.  A many-tailed bandage of  sticking-plaster
seemed adequate to effect  the first, and wetting the  limb
with water the latter.  These measures were judiciously
carried into effect by Mr. Graham ; the pressure was first
made  slightly,  and  afterwards more forcibly,  as the  part
seemed to bear it without  inconvenience.  A  roller was
applied over the plaster, and kept wet, if the limb felt hot-
ter than natural, so as to regulate its temperature.  The suc-
cess of these measures exceeded our most sanguine expec-
tations.   The  size of the limb gradually diminished, and
its temperature  became  natural.   After six months, Mr.
Graham removed the bandages, which it was not necessary
to continue any longer.  The limb was in some degree wast-
ed, from pressure and disuse ; but it soon gradually re-ac-
quired its natural  size.   After the bandages had been left
off for a month, I saw the child.  The skin  was pale, and
had a slightly shrivelled appearance.   The contorted ves-
sels felt like solid chords interposed between it and the fas-
cia ofthe fore-arm.

                     CASE.

  A child had this unnatural state of the vessels in the or-
 bit of the eye.  They gradually increased in  magnitude.
 ind extended themselves into the upper eye-lid, so as to 
THE NJERVI MATERNI.
37
 keep it  permanently closed.  The clustered vessels also
 projected out of the orbit, at the upper part, and made the
 integuments protrude, forming a tumour as large as a wal-
 nut.  Of course, the removal of this disease did not appear
 practicable.   I was consulted on this case by Mr. Hurlock
 to whom 1 related  the suecess of  the former experiment.
 Pressure  to any  extent was  here evidently impossible ;
 but the  abstraction of  heat,  and  consequent diminution
 of inflammatory action, might be  attempted.   I recom-
 mended  that folded linen,  wet with rose-water, satura-
 ted with alum, should be  bound on to the projected part,
 and kept constantly damp.   Under this treatment the dis-
 order as  regularly receded as it had before increased.  Af-
 ter about three months it had gradually sunk within the or-
 bit, and the child could  open its eye.  Shortly  afterwards
 all medical treatment was discontinued, and no appearance
 of this unnatural structure remains.

   A third case of a very extensive mark of this description,
 covering the back and shoulder, got well, as I am informed,
 by the same treatment.  I have not, however, been able to
 learn the particulars.  It appears to me probable, from the
 foregoing cases, that if the preternatural distention of the
 vessels could be prevented,  the blood would  coagulate in
 them ; and thus this unnatural contexture of vessels being
 rendered impervious, might become obliterated.

  Many years have elapsed  since the publication  of these
cases;  and I have seen numerous instances of such  affec-
tions, which have ceased to grow,  and afterwards shrunk,
and been no longer objects of any consequence, when treat-
ed in the manner that I have described.   I have, therefore,
very rarely been called upon to perform operation* for the
removal of these diseases.
  VOL. II.                   T* 
 
ON HEMORRHOIDAL DISEASES. 
ON HEMORRHOIDAL  DISEASES.
  Mr. Hf.y, of Leeds, in his highly valuable Observations,
describes his mode of treatment of the procidentia ani; and
that chapter of his work appears to me to deserve particu-
lar praise, because 1 have not found the same treatment re-
commended by other writers; and because, from the ac-
counts of the patients themselves, it has relieved them from
very great inconvenience and suffering.  Wishing to cor-
roborate the statement there given, and to add my mite of
observation  on the practice that is best adapted for the re-
lief of such diseases, I may mention, in the first place, that
my attention to this subject was particularly excited, even
during my apprenticeship to surgery,  from witnessing the
sufferings of those who underwent what I may call the na-
tural cure of  piles.  When  these organised bodies are
large and numerous, they impede the expulsion of the faeces;
and  the straining consequent  to this impediment everts
the bowel.  When, at length,  the patient is unable to re-
store the parts to their natural situation, the piles mortify
and  drop off,  and then the bowel retires,  leaving  the pa-
tient considerably relieved from the difficulty and pain at-
tendant on  the expulsion of the faeces.  The editor of Mr.
Pott's work says, that Mr.  Pott was remarkably successful
in removing haemorrhoidal  excrescences by ligature.*  In
some cases  such means  may, doubtless, be proper ; yet it

     * cee Sir James Earl's edition of Mr. Pott's Works, vol. iii. 
             ON HEMORRHOIDAL DISEASES.           41

has appeared to me, that tying haemorrhoidal excrescences
is productive of all that temporary distress which is observ-
able in what I have termed their natural cure ;  and as there
is a general  disorder in the functions  of  the alimentary
canal in all such cases,  the irritation occasioned by the
ligature aggravates this habitual  disorder, and  produce?
sometimes very alarming symptoms.

  With these facts before me.  I was led to examine the
structure of those piles which had been removed by  a lig-
ature, or which I accidentally met with in the dead subject;
and I found  them to be  merely fleshy substances, possess-
ing no  vessels of considerable size, nor such as should de-
ter us  from  cutting the excrescences away.   It is now
twenty years since I first began  to remove them freely with
the knife or scissars ; and I have never met with any cir-
cumstance to deter me, whilst the relief of suffering  which
the operation has afforded to some, and the scarcely to be
expected and complete cure which it has effected in many,
has been highly  gratifying.  Piles have been supposed to
be owing to a dilatation of the  luemorrhoidal veins; and
that these veins are sometimes enlarged,  is evident from
anatomical examination, and from cases which occasionally
occur in practice.  In a recent attack of an haemorrhoidal
affection, something occasionally protrudes from the anus,
which, when punctured, emits a continued stream of blood,
as a vein does when opened.  When the  blood  ceases to
flow, the protruding part  should be replaced, and  main-
tained in its  natural situation.

  The origin and formation of internal piles is, I  think,
similar to those which are external.   When, from irritation
about the  rectum, an external pile forms,  a swelling sud- 
4;2
»N HEMORRHOIDAL DISEASES.
denly occurs beneath the thin skin, near the verge of the
anus,  and the part is heated and  painful.   If the skin be
divided, the swelling  is  found  to be caused  by effused
blood; and if the clot be removed, there is no stream of
blood emitted as from a vein.   If the wound  be small,
blood again collects beneath the skin, and  the swelling is
reproduced.  If the bowels be regulated,  so that the state
of irritation, which  is  the cause of these productions, be
mitigated  or  removed, and  if the  slightly  painful  and
heated swelling be cooled by evaporating washes, the ef-
fused  blood is frequently absorbed, and the  distended skin
appears loose and pendulous.  On the contrary,  if the ir-
ritation continues from there being some permanent disease
on the inside of the bowel, then the effused  blood becomes
an organised  substance, and a permanent external pile is
formed.  The orifice  of the anus  is  often  surrounded by
tumours of this kind, which, however, do not require to
be removed, and are only indicative of internal irritation.
In Hke  manner blood  is  effused beneath the bowel just
above the sphincter, and forms an internal pile.   If it be
divided, coagulated blood may be removed from beneath
it, with the same events as occur in external piles.   The
effused blood  is sometimes absorbed, and the pile  disap-
pears ; but more  generally it becomes an  organised sub-
stance,  and increasing in  bulk,  whilst  others also  form,
they  are productive  of those inconveniencies that have
been  represented.

   Though  the eversion of the bowel may, in many cases,
be attributed to the efforts made to overcome the mechani-
cal resistance which these tumours oppose to the expulsion
of the faeces, yet the eversion is not, in general, to be solely
attributed to  this cause.   It arises also from an irritable 
ON HEMORRHOIDAL DURASES.
43"
and striving action of the bowel,  which produces a kind of
intussusception.   Thus, plaits of the bowel often descend
in an irritable action of the part during the expulsion of the
faeces.   I have known many cases of the following descrip-
tion.  A person  having some disorder of the bowels, and
having an urgent call to void  the faeces, has suffered after-
wards great pain for a number of hours.  The next evacu-
ation has been attended with similar  consequences; and
thus the patients  have  continued for a considerable time,
ignorant  of the cause of their  sufferings.   On introducing
the finger,  1 have distinctly felt,  and fairly replaced a fold
of the bowel, and (he patient  has been immediately re-
lieved from all uneasiness ; and,  by repeating the same act
when required,  and keeping the bowels regular by a mix-
ture of castor oil  and mucilage with cinnamon water, they
have suffered  no uneasiness subsequent to the alvine dis-
charges,  and in a short time this faulty  action of the bowel
has entirely ceased.   But if a patient  remains ignorant of
the cause of his sufferings, and does not adopt this mode of
relieving  them,  the fold  of the bowel becomes irritated
and  thickened by the pressure of the sphincter  muscle;  it
enlarges and  becomes  in form  adapted to this  unnatural
situation, and thus we often  meet with folds of the bowel
forming haemorrhoidal tumours.   When a pile, or any hae-
morrhoidal tumour becomes inflamed and swollen, it has a
tendency  to draw down more of the bowel, and increase
the disease.

   The eversion  of the bowel thus produced from haemor-
rhoidal affections, must be considered as a different case
from that procidentia, or prolapsus ani, which takes place
independently of such affections ; and it is to the treatment
of the former only that this paper relates. 
44
ON HEMORRHOIDAL DISEASES.
  In the first volume of these observations I have mentioned
 that, to me, all kinds of irritation inducing  local diseases in
 the lower parts of the bowel, appear to be the effects of a
 general disorder  in the functions of the alimentary canal ,
 and that the correction of the general affection is essential
 to the cure of the local disease.  If the bowels can be got
 to regularly carry down and discharge the residue of the
 food once in twenty-four hours, the straining from costive-
ness, and that irritable and repeated action attendant on
purging,  both of which must be  injurious to the local dis-
ease, will  cease to aggravate it.  The patient should bathe
and  anoint the protruded parts  with  ointment, and  care-
fully replace  them above the gripe of the sphincter.   Un-
der these circumstances  haemorrhoidal tumours,  and  the
procidentia ani often become of so little inconvenience,  as
not to induce a patient to wish for a more radical relief.

  But  if,  from the magnitude  or number of these haemor-
rhoidal tumours,  such an  opposition  shouldl)e created to
the expulsion  of the faeces,  that the bowel is forced  down
at every attempt to discharge them;  if, from the  inflamed
and  ulcerated state  of haemorrhoidal tumours,  they keep
up an irritable action of the parts  tending to maintain and
aggravate the disease, then an operation  seems to be re-
quired.

  I shall now describe, in the briefest manner possible, the
treatment and mode  of operating which I have  found most
successful in these diseases.  First, it seems essential, prior
to undertaking any  operation,  to get the bowels into the
habit of regularly evacuating the refuse matter of the food
daily, and the liver regularly secreting a due proportion of
healthy bile.   Secondly,  the bowels ought to be perfectly 
             ON  HEMORRHOIDAL  DISEASES.           45

cleared before the operation; and this may be accomplished
by giving to the patient such a dose of medicine as has been
found, by experience, to be likely to answer this purpose,
without  inducing a continuance of irritation  and purging.
The bowel being  everted to the utmost by the efforts used
in evacuating the  faeces, and the parts cleansed by bathing
with tepid  water, the  piles should  be  taken hold of by a
double hook, of a breadth corresponding to the length of
the pile; and .when drawn upwards from the bowel, it may
be removed by a  pair of scissars.  A protruded  and thick-
ened  plait of the bowel may be seized in the  same way ;
but I think it is better to use the  bistoury  in  removing it,
because  the depth to which the scissars may cut is uncer-
tain.  The  incision  made  by  the  knife  resembles two
curved lines, joined at each extremity.   The length of the
incision should,   both  for the removal of piles and that of
plaits in the bowel, be longitudinal, in the direction  of
the bowel.

   If, therefore, there be a  transverse  fold of the bowel of
considerable extent,  I think it best to take away two ellip-
tical portions in  the long axis of the rectum, rather than
attempt more completely to remove  it by a wound made in
another direction.

   The hemorrhoidal tumours being removed,  the wounds
should be suffered to bleed as long  as they are disposed to
do so, and  afterwards  the  parts should be completely re-
placed by means  of  the finger, previously anointed.   As
irritation is a principal cause  of haemorrhage from the
small vessels, and as that is likely to be occasioned by any
part of the bowel being  lodged  within  the  gripe  of the
sphincter, and c ompressed by that muscle, this part of th
   vor..  n.                 6* 
46           ON  HEMORRHOIDAL DISEASE^.

operation should be particularly attended to.   The patient
should now be speedily placed  in an  horizontal position,
the nates should  be exposed, and the parts surrounding
the  anus should be  frequently bathed  with cold water, to
check inflammation and consequent haemorrhage.

  Frequently, from the apprehension  of the vexation  and
trouble of a subsequent haemorrhage,  the surgeon is desir-
ous, after an  operation,  of tying every vessel that could
possibly pour forth blood; yet,  after  the patient is put to
bed, and becomes warm, particular!)  if there be any  cir-
cumstance  causing  local irritation in  the wounded  parts,
haemorrhage, even to a considerable degree, ensues.  The
wound is opened and bathed,  and often no vessel is discov-
ered bleeding,  or requiring a ligature.  Diminishing  the
temperature of parts is one of the most  potent means which
we possess of lessening inflammatory action ; and this seems
to be  best  accomplished by the  continual  evaporation
which is going on when parts are frequently wetted.  For-
merly I met with  much trouble  from haemorrhage,  partic-
ularly  on account of the  blood effused into the rectum,
creating  an uncontroulable propensity to discharge it per
anum ; and  in  this act the wounded parts  became again
protruded and  injured.  Since,  however, 1 adopted  the
mode of treatment  which  1 have  desc/ibed, 1 have wit-
nessed no inconvenience of this  kind.   In general, the pa-
tients feel very comfortable, and the anus seems as if there
were no disease.  When the parts have been for some time
tranquil,  and the risk of haemorrhage has ceased, the parts
need no longer  to be bathed or exposed.

  The patient  should be restricted in his diet: the food
should be of the most nutritive quality,  and such as is likely 
ON HEMORRHOIDAL DISEASES.
4'<
to leave the least  residue; but the quantity should be as
si) al  as possible,  because it is an object to keep the re-
st red parts undist irbed for as long  a time as possible.   If
the opening medicine, which has been given with a  view
to clear* the bowels before the operation, rhould be  likely
to affect them afterwards, some opium may be administered
to prevent it.

   Under  these circumstances, I have  known  patients lie
fer eight  or ten davs undisturbed ; and  during  that time
the wounds,  it is  probable,  had nearly, if not  entirely
healed, as the subsequent discharges from the bowels were
effected  without  haemorrhage, or the descent of an) part.
However, as these patients have a  disordered  state of the
digestive organs,  sensations seemingly requiring some al-
vine discharges for their relief, will induce us to  give some
opening medicine long before that period.   Experience in
the case of our patient should  h ive previously taught us, by
what dose of medicine we might calculate, with some de-
gree of certainty, to proeure one sufficient and lax motion,
which should be parted with by the patient with as little
effort as possible.   It is better that the patient should not
attempt to evacuate the contents of his  bowels  till his sen-
sations  become urgent.   When a sufficient  discharge has
taken place,  if  any thing has descended, it ought  to be
carefully replaced as it was after the operation.   A  small
dose of  laudanum  may be given to stop any further effect
from  (he  purgative medicine.  Now, though such opera-
tions, conducted on the  plan which I have described, have
been productive of the beneficial effects which 1 have rep-
resented in the beginning, it is wrong to promise too much
to patients in  general, because the  irritable and disordered
state of the digestive organs,  which is habitual, and which 
41
ON HEMORRHOIDAL DISEASES.
has produced the disease, may keep up a disordered state
of rectum afterwards, and occasion new diseases to form of
the same nature. 
ON FISTULA IN THE
    PERINEUM.
 
ON FISTULiE IN THE  PERINEUM.
   Towards the conclusion of the second part or volume of
these observations, when speaking of the effects of diseases
of the urethra, I had designed to insert a chapter explana-
tory of some circumstances relative  to those abscesses and
diseases which frequently take place, and lay the foundation
for fistulae in perinaeo.   In consequence of my  being much
hurried  by business  at  that time, it  was omitted ;  yet,
thinking that its publication may be useful, I insert it at the
conclusion of the present volume.

   It is well known that abscesses form  in the vicinity of the
urethra, when it  is  in  an  irritable state;  but there are
some circumstances relative to their progress, which, per-
haps, have not been generally or sufficiently attended to.
When matter forms in the course of the membranous par!
oftiie urethra, or in the neighbourhood of the  bulb, it does
not produce inflammation of the skin, or break like a com-
mon abscess ; on  the contrary,  the skin is but little af-
fected, and, as the matter increases in  quantity, it appears
kept down, as if it were collected beneath a fascia.   Under
these circumstances  it in general  comes forwards,  in the
course of the spongy substance of the urethra,  and  bulges
out  in the middle of the scrotum, forming  there a tense-
protuberant swelling.  I have sometimes known the mattei
make its  way backwards,  and present itself between the
thigh and  buttock, a little  below the rectum.   These cir- 
ON FISTULE IN THE  PERINEUM.
51
 eumstances indicate that there is a fascia spread beneath
 the skin of the perinaeum, over the subjacent parts; yet I
 think the limits of this fascia can scarcely be ascertained by
 dissection.

   The knowledge of its  existence appears tome of import-
 ance in explaining many occurrences which  take place
 about these parts, though its density and strength varying
 in different persons, the facts which I am endeavouring to
 represent will vary in degree in different cases.

   The  abscesses  of which I am speaking are often simple,
 no urine having  escaped from the urethra  to give rise to
 them, though sometimes, after they have  been opened,
 urine is found to pass through the cavity of the abscess, in
 a greater or less degree.

   These abscesses ought, of course, to be treated  as col-
 lections of matter beneath fasciae  in  general;  they  should
 be opened at an early period, to prevent their enlargement.
 A free  opening is  proper,  because the skin being only
 slightly diseased, and  having a great  propensity to heal,
 will  sometimes prevent  the free  escape of any  matter  or
 urine which may be in the cavity of the abscess.  The cav-
ity will then become distended and enlarged, perhaps in a
direction between the rectum and the thigh, requiring an-
other opening to be made in that situation ; yet, in general.
 I have not found it necessary to divide the skin throughout
the whole front of the abscess.

  The complicated  sinuses, which form in some cases  of
fistulae in perinaeo, do not appear to me to arise from such
simple cases,  but from  the  urethra ulcerating in  many 
b 2
ON F1STULE IN THE PERINEUM.
parts.   Anatomical examination has shown this to be fact
in several cases which I have inspected.

  The ulceration, or giving way of the urethra, is, I think,
generally understood to  be the consequence of a stricture,
affording so complete an  obstacle to the passage of the
urine,  as to occasion the canal to inflame,  ulcerate,  or
slough above the impediment.   It is very evident that this
is not  unfrequently the case ; yet 1 do  not  believe that
surgeons in general are  sufficiently impressed  with the
knowledge  of  the  following fact,  that  the  urethra  may
ulcerate in  various  parts from irritation, even whilst there
is a sufficient channel for the free exit of the urine.   The
following cases are related in proof of this fact:

                       CASE.

  A gentleman had been attended for a typhoid fever for
between a  fortnight and three weeks.  A clyster was  or
dered for him; but the person who was desired to admin-
ister  it could not  readily introduce  the pipe;  and,  on
examination, it was discovered that there was a considera-
ble  induration, discolouration,  and swelling  of one but-
tock,  by the  side  of the  anus.  On this account  1 was
desired to see  the patient, and the appearance of the part
instantly induced me to say that some  urine  had escaped
from  its natural  channel, and caused  the  inflammation
which  had been productive of these peculiar appearances.
The powers of the patient's  mind were weak  and wander-
ing; yet, when 1  asked him, in a  loud voice, whether he
had any difficulty in voiding  his urine ?   he replied,  u Oh,
I told you it was my first grievance."  Yet I saw him void
his  urine freely, and in a moderate-sized stream.   Perceiv-
ing that there was fluid beneath the thickened and discol- 
ON FISTULE IN THE PERINEUM.
53
 oured integuments, I divided them, and discharged a con-
 siderable quantity  of putrid matter,  urine, and  sloughs.
 The  patient became, for a time, much better, and urine
 passed freely through the wound; yet he afterwards grad-
 ually sunk, and died.   In this case the urine must have
 escaped from its natural  channel very high up, and have
 been forced into the  cellular  substance  connecting  the
 bladder and the rectum, producing that peculiar inflamma-
 tion which probably occasioned the typhoid fever.

                        CASE.

   A similar occurrence happened to a patient whom I had
 previously attended, on account of strictures in his urethra,
 and which had been so far relieved, that a moderate-sized
 bougie could be passed into the bladder, and he voided his
 urine freely, in a moderate-sized stream.  He had for some
 months discontinued the use of bougies, previously to the
 event which  I am going to relate.   He was seized with a
 kind of low fever; but his attention seemed to be directed
 to the seat of his disease, so that it became remarked,  at
 an early  period, that the integuments of the buttock by the
 side of the rectum were inflamed.  The similarity of this
 case to the preceding one induced me to make an incision
 through  the skin and subjacent substance to some depth,
 when a  considerable  quantity of fetid matter and urine
 gushed out.   I saw this patient void his urine, which he
 did  with  apparent freedom, and in such a stream as I have
 described.   He  was relieved by having an outlet given to
 the  urine  and matter,  which  continued  to  pass freely
 through the wound ; yet he afterwards gradually sunk, and
died.   To my great regret I was prevented from examining
the  parts after death in both these cases.
  VOL. u.                7 * 
54          ON FISTULE IN THE PERINEUM.

                        CASE.

  A patient, who  had suffered  for more than  a  fortnight
with slow fever,  in which his intellects were so impaired,
that he  communicated no  information to his medical at-
tendant respecting  the nature of his disorder, was  observed
to have a swelling  near his left groin, which was  supposed
to be a common  abscess.   This disease increasing, and
showing no tendency to break,  after a few  days  I was de-
sired to see the patient.  The swelling then was as large as
an orange, but oblong, extending from the groin  down the
front of the scrotum.  The colour and induration of (he
skin, in such cases, are in  general so peculiar, as at once
to impress the opinion  that effused urine has been  the cause
of the inflammation and abscess.   I, without hesitation,
cut through the thickened integuments,  and discharged
about six ounces of putrid  pus and  urine.  A  quantity of
sloughy cellular  substance soon   afterwards protruded
through the wound, which  gradually separated and came
away.   The patient's intellects soon became clear, all fe-
ver left him, and he soon regained his usual state  of health.
In this case I conclude that the urethra  had given way on
its leftside,  in front of the-  fascia, which covers and binds
down the parts  beneath the skin  of the  perinaeum,  and
in the vicinity of the abscess.   I mention  this  opin-
ion  to lead  us to  form a probable  conjecture  as to the
cause of the urine  becoming diffused, in some cases, be-
neath the integuments of the pubes and abdomen.

  When circumscribed abscesses form,  it is probable that
the quantity of urine  which escapes from  the urethra  is
small,  and that, by its irritation, it occasions  adhesion of
the  surrounding cellular substance.  In the case just re
lated, the quantity must have been sufficient to have occa* 
ON FISTULE IN THE  PERINEUM.
55
 sioncd the death of a  considerable quantity of cellular
 substance.  When the urine is diffused, and injected  into
 the cellular substance extensively,  scarifications afford but
 an ineffectual outlet to it.   The practice most appropriate
 to these cases would be,  at as early a period as possible, to
 make a wound down to the aperture in the urethra, so that
 whatever  urine may  escape  from  the canal  should  run
 freely out of the wound, and be no longer forced to pervade
 the cellular substance.  Yet  it is difficult, nay, perhaps,
 in some cases impossible, to know where  the urethra has
 given way; and one object which  I had in  view in relating
 these cases was, to induce  others to reflect, and to endeav-
 our to ascertain, by experience, how and where we ought,
 indifferent cases,  to make such wounds as will afford  free
 discharge  to the urine, and prevent the horrible effects of
 its becoming extensively diffused through the cellular sub-
 stance.  Our  conjectures  respecting the situation of the
 aperture will be much assisted by the history of the case.
 If the swelling and inflammation began at the  top of the
 scrotum, near the pubes, it is probable that the  diseased
 aperture of the  urethra  is in  front of the  perinaeum;  if it
 began on one side, it is probable that  the opening of the
 urethra is on that side.   Were Surgeons fully aware of the
 nature and urgency of the case, and bold enough to do what
 is  required of them ; that is, to cut through  the swollen  and
 inflamed parts, till they exposed the tube of the urethra, I
 am convinced  many lives might be saved.   If the integu-
 ments of the perinaeum be  affected,  it is probable that the
 aperture in the  urethra is as far,  or farther-back than that
 part:  yet  respecting this point we may err, it frequently
 happening  that the aperture in the urethra is far back,  and
 vet the integuments of the perinaeum may contain no urine,
the fascia,  which I have spoken of, preventing that fluid
 •'mm affectine them. 
56
ON FISTULE IN  THE PERINEUM.
  1 shall briefly relate two more cases, to exhibit other va-
rieties of these diseases.

                       CASE.

  A gentleman, who was more than seventy years of age,
but of a strong constitution, who had never found any diffi-
culty in voiding his urine till a few days before the  occur-
rence which I am about to relate,  and who actually  did
void it freely, in a full stream, after his urethra had given
way, so as to allow of the escape of a considerable portion
of the urine, was suddenly seized with shivering and severe
indisposition.  The patient did not complain of any thing
being wrong about the scrotum, or  urinary organs,  till
about two days, when he mentioned that his testicles were
swollen.  When  I saw him the scrotum and  integuments
of the penis were much distended and  mortified on the sur-
face, in several  large irregular black  patches.   The dis-
tention of the scrotum was not merely occasioned by urine ;
it was  emphysematous also from air extricated by putre-
faction.   The integuments of the perinaeum were scarcely
affected.  The patient  said that the  swelling had  begun
from behind, and on the leftside.   I concluded that in this
case the urethra had given way in the perinaeum, and that
the urine  had passed in  the course of  that canal, between
it and the fascia,  which  I have spoken of, till  it arrived  at
the loose  cellular substance of the scrotum, which it readi-
ly pervaded.  I know this to have been the fact in some
similar cases'which I examined after death ; and I conclud-
 ed it to be owing to the resistance  of a fascia spread be-
neath the skin, that the integuments of the perinseum are
not  affected,  even though the  urethra has given way be-
neath them.   As the object of surgery is to make an exter-
nal wound opposite to the orifice in the urethra,  I pursued
 a practice in this case which I had found successful in sev- 
ON FISTULE  IN  THE PERINEUM.
57
eral others of a similar nature,  and which  I was  led  to
adopt from'discovering that  the aperture in the urethra
was, in some cases which I examined, much farther back
than the part where the urine first  appeared to have per-
vaded the cellular substance of the scrotum.  I  made a
wound about two inches and a half in length, through the
integuments and subjacent cellular substance of the peri-
naeum and back part of the scrotum, in the direction of the
urethra,  but more to the left side.   The wound need  not
extend farther back than the bulb, and should, 1 think, come
forwards, so as  to divide  the integuments of the back part
of the scrotum,  where the swelling first takes place.  The
object of this wound is to lay bare the fascia  of the perinae-
um ; and the operator may now feel the groove which in-
tervenes between the spongy substance of the urethra and
the crus penis.   Now, in cases  of  this description, I have
proceeded to divide the fascia, which is spread over these
parts, so that I  could  more distinctly pass my  finger  into
the groove which is formed between them, and gently ele-
vate  the fascia from off the spongy substance of the  ure-
thra. . I did so  in the present case,  and was anxious  that
the patient should void his urine, that I might see if it came
through the wound which I had  made ; but he was unable,
at that time, to discharge  any.   However, afterwards when
he made water it continued to pass freely through  the
wound in the perinaeum.

   Having formerly been  perplexed with regard  to such
cases as 1 have last described, and having now operated in
many similar instances with  the same event; that is, with
a  perfectly free discharge being  afforded to the urine which
escapes from its natural channel, I thought it might be use-
ful to publish one of them; and thus add another of a dif-
ferent kind, to show  the necessity and  propriety of our 
53
0.V FISTULE IN THE PERINEUM.
 endeavouring at once to give a free discharge to the urine,
 by making an external wound, which communicates with
 the aperture  in the urethra.

                        CASE.

  A gentleman of seventy  years of age was affected with
 a kind of intermittent fever, for which he was attended by
 a physician, from whom he  concealed that he  had any dis-
 ease  of his urethra.  After  some  weeks, however,  the
 patient informed him  one  morning, that he had a slight
 swelling of one  testis.   On this account I was desired to
 see the patient,  who resided  a little way  from London.
 The swelling of the  scrotum at that time was  not  larger
 than a large apple ; it was situated at the back part of the
 bag, and on  the right side  ; and its appearance was very
 demonstrative of its  nature.  I urged the patient, but in
 vain, to permit me to divide the skin ; but he said he would
 allow no operation to  be done, unless in consequence of
 the  opinion of other surgeons in consultation.

  I  found that he had, for the  greater part of his life, been
 in the frequent  habit of passing bougies  for himself,  and
 that  he was uncertain of his ability to introduce even a very
 small one.   As no consultation could be  held on his case
 till the following  day,  I called on the patient in the eve-
 ning, taking with me an extremely small  flexible  varnish-
 ed catheter, hoping that I might be able to pass it, or, if 1
 should fail, that I might be allowed to give a free exit to the
effused urine.   At that time, however,  I  found  the whole
scrotum uniformly distended to a very great size, and  the
integuments of the penis so  swollen and projecting, that it
 was impossible, without an operation, to discover the ori- 
ON FISTULE IN THE PERINEUM.
59
iice of the urethra.  The patient having appointed other
surgeons to attend on the sub-equent day, was resolved to
abide the result of their opinion, before he would  submit
to any wound being made.   On the ensuing day,  several
large irregular mortified patches had formed on the integ-
uments of the scrotum  and penis ; and the patient  was so
sink and confused in his intellects, that an operation was,
I believe, deemed useless by all present, except myself.
I knew the patient was in other  respects healthy ; and I
hid many times seen the  whole skin slough off from  the
genitals,  and the patients survive and do well.  As, how-
ever, an operation was the only resource, it was performed.
We  drew the patient's legs and  thighs  out of bed, and
turning him on his face, the perinaeum presented itself in
such a manner as to admit of my performing the operation.
The integuments of the perinaeum were  now greatly swol
len,  which  circumstance  I had  not  observed before.   I
made a wound in the direction of the one made in lithoto-
my, and cut through between two and three inches of cel-
lular substance cedematous with urine, before I could touch
the bulb of the  urethra, or other parts situated beneath
them.   1  raised the tumid integuments from off the subja-
cent parts with my finger, but still no Hrine flowed.   1 then
endeavoured to pass my finger by the side of the bulb  to-
wards the prostate, in the direction  of  the urethra ; and,
in a few seconds, about three pints  (as I should guess) of
highly putrid urine, mixed with purulent matter, was sud-
denly and forcibly projected.  Being now assured that the
bladder could readily discharge  the urine through  the ex-
ternal  wound, I  cleansed and dressed the parts.  The pa-
tient got into his bed  without assistance, and expressed.
with vivacity, all that comfort  and  relief which every one
rxperiences from the evacuation of a much-distended blad- 
 60          ON FISTULE  IN  THE PERINEUM.

 der.  The mortified patches of skin  separated,  yet suffi-
 cient remained to give a covering  to  the genitals.   Great
 quantities of mortified cellular substance came throueh the
 apertures left by separation of the superficial sloughs.   I
 was able to introduce a very fine elastic catheter, and,  by
 enlarging its size weekly,  the urethra regained its natural
 calibre in all its parts ; so that the patient voided h;s urine
 in a  larger stream, and with more freedom and force than
 he had done for fifty preceding years.  It seems right, how-
ever, to add that, after two years, the stream having again
 diminished, he had recourse to bougies, and met with op-
position  from the strictures  which  had contracted again
during that interval. 
     TUMOURS,
         AND ON
LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
  BY JOHN ABERNETHY, F. R. S
VOL. II.
8* 
 
               AN ATTEMPT  TO FORM A

  CLASSIFICATION  OF  TUMOURS,

ACCORDING TO THEIR ANATOMICAL STRUCTURE-
   The observations which I have had an opportunity of
 making in St. Bartholomew's Hospital, on the various tu-
 mours which  occur  in the  human  body,  have been so
 numerous, that I have almost felt myself under the neces-
 sity of forming some classification of those diseases.  This
 classification I have attempted according to their anatomi-
 cal structure ; which allows, at the same time, of a corres-
 ponding arrangement of those practical remarks that have
 been promiscuously collected.  1 have long felt so sensibly
 the advantages resulting from an orderly arrangement of
 this extensive subject, that I have taught it for some years
 in my Lectures in the manner exhibited in the following
pages.   I am far, however, from being satisfied with the
method which I have adopted; but it is the best that I
have been able to devise; and, at least, it has this utility,
that it admits of a number of important cases being arranged
in a  perspicuous manner,  and  prevents  that  obscurity
which a total want of order necessarily creates.

  My motives for laying this  paper before the public are;
first,  a conviction,  that an  extensive knowledge  of this
subject, such  a knowledge aa would lead to an attempt at 
 t>4                  A  CLASSIFICATION

 classification, and to ascertain the peculiarities which char
 acterise  the  different  species of tumours,  can only  be
 obtained by those who have very ample  opportunities of
 observation.  But it is  probable that, when the subject in
 general has been surveyed, and its parts pointed out, those
 parts may be discriminated  and  examined with  accuracy
 and advantage, by persons who have not had opportunities
 of contemplating the whole.   2dly, The minds of medical
 men having of late been laudably excited to investigate the
 nature  of cancer, in hopes of discovering something ser-
 viceable  in  that dreadful disease,  it  becomes  right  to
 remark, and it will appear from the following account, that
 there are many local tumours and ulcers,  as intractable in
 their nature, and destructive in their progress,  as cancer,
 which are liable  to be  confounded  with that disease,  but
 which ought to be distinguished  from it,  before  any pro-
 gress can  be  made in this  difficult part of medical science.
 The society  for  the investigation of the nature of  cancer
 have enquired about the  anatomical structure  of that dis-
 ease, and about other disorders which have a resemblance
 to it.   In the present paper I have attempted to reply to
 such interrogations,  as  far as my knowledge enables me.
 It appears to me, that, in  order fully to  investigate any
 subject  with advantage, a great deal of collateral  know-
 ledge is required, which  serves,  like  light shining from
 various places, to illuminate the object of our  researches.
 I am not without  hopes that  this paper will tend to point
 out the required  distinctions, and  furnish such collateral
 knowledge.

  In engaging in a new undertaking, I am  likely to expose
my own deficiencies  of information ; and  by  adopting a
new  and perhaps  injudicious arraugement,  and  employing 
OF TlMOlR>.
65
 »ew and perhaps  unfit  terms,  I may  lay  myself open to
 criticism and censure.  1 am not unwilling,  however, to
 encounter these ri?ks. when  I have it in view to bring a
 difficult and interesting  subject fairly before the public; in
 hopes that by exciting the attention and engaging the  la-
 bours of many persons,  it may, at length acquire that per-
 fection of which it is susceptible, and which could never be
 brought about by the exertions of a few individuals.

   The subject of tumours occupies a considerable space in
 the works of the antient writers on medicine.  They seem,
 however, to  have considered the subject, rather with re-
 gard to its name than its nature ; for we find a great variety
 of dissimilar diseases collected, I cannot say arranged,  un-
 der the  same general title.   The error has descended to
 us, and even  in Dr. Cullen's Nosology we  find diseases of
 arteries, veins, glands, tendons, joints, and bones, brought
 together under one order, and designated by the same name
 of tumours.   Some of these also are merely enlargements
 of natural parts ; whilst others are entirely new productions,
 having no existence in the original composition of the body.
 We have, I  believe, sufficient knowledge of the  nature of
 these diseases to class them more scientifically; and aa  this
 has  not yet,  as far  as I know,* been done.  I shall endeav-
 our  to supply the deficiency.

   In the definition which 1  mean to give  of tumours,  I
 shall  trespass as  much  against the  usual  import of  the
 word,  as nosologisls  have hitherto done in their classifi-

 * I'lenck published, 17G7, a work entitled " Systema Turaorum," which
I have not 9een, but I conclude that it does not resemble the present at-
tempt; since no arrangement like that which I have made, is to be  met
with in the Encyclopedic .Methodique. 
liU
CLASSIFICATION
 cations against the nature of the disease.   For  I  shall re-
 strict  the surgical signification of the  word "Tumour" to
 such swellings as arise from some new production,  which
 made  no part of the original composition of the body ; and
 by this means I shall exclude  all simple enlargements  of
 bones, joints, glands,  &c.   Many enlargements of glands
 are, however, included  in the definition, as  they are
 found  to  be  owing to a  tumour growing in them, and
 either condensing  the natural  structure,  or causing the
 absorption of the original gland.   Sometimes  also  the
 disease of the gland seems to produce  an entire  alteration
 of structure in the part; the natural organization being re-
 moved, and anew-formed diseased structure substituted in
 its stead.   In either of these cases the  disease of the gland
 is designed to be  included in the definition ; and the prac-
 tical remarks which follow will equally apply to  the same
 kind ofdiseased  structure whether it exist  separately  by
 itself, or occupy  the situation of an  original gland.  The
 structure  of tumours  is also  a  part  of morbid  anatomy
 which  deserves to be examined ; since (as it did not come
 within the scope of the undertaking)  it has  not been fully
 discussed by  Dr.  Baillie in  his very  valuable treatise  on
 that subject.  Yet as he has given representations  of glan-
 dular parts enlarged by a diseased structure  of an entirely
new formation ;  so I  shall have the advantage  of refer-
ring the reader to his accurate and expressive represent-
ations  of some  of those  appearinces  which  it  is my
purpose to  describe.   There is an observation of this judi-
cious and accurate writer which I shall take the liberty of
 inserting, since it justly appreciates the degree of utility of
investigations  like the  present: he  observes, w' that the
knowledge of morbid structure does not lead with certainty
to the  knowledge  of morbid actions,  although the one is 
OF TUMOURS.                    67
effect of the other ; yet surely it lays the most solid found-
ation for prosecuting such enquiries with success.   In pro-
portion, therefore, a? we shall become acquainted with the
changes produced  in the structure of parts from diseased
actions, we shall be more likely to make some  progress
towards a knowledge of the actions themselves, although it
must be very slowly."

  The incipient state of tumours will naturally first engage
our attention; and those, which  perhaps form the best ex-
ample and illustration of the subject, are such as hang into
cavities from the membraneous  surfaces which form their
boundaries.  The cause of tumours having a pendulous at-
tachment attracted the attention  of Mr. Hunter, who made
the following remarks on the formation of one on the inner
surface of the peritoneum, as is related by Mr. Home in the
Transactions of a Society for the improvement of Medical
and Chirurgical Knowledge, Vol. i. p. 231.  " The cavity
of the abdomen being opened, there  appeared lying upon
the peritoneum,  a small portion of red blood recently co-
agulated ;  this, upon examination, was found connected to
the surface upon which it had  been  deposited by an attach-
ment half an inch long, and  this  neck  had  been formed
before the coagulum  had lost its red colour."  Now had
vessels shot through this slender neck, and organized the
clot of blood, as this would then have become a living part,
it might have grown to an indefinite magnitude, and its na-
ture and progress would  probably have depended on the
organization which it had assumed.   I have in my posses-
sion a tumour, doubtless formed in the manner Mr. Hunter
has described, which hung pendulous from the front of the
peritoneum ; and in which the organization and consequent
actions have been  so far completed, that the body of the 
lit;
A CLASSIFICATION
tumour has become a lump of fat, whilst the neck is merely
of a fibrous and  vascular texture.   There  can  be little
doubt, but that tumours form every  where in the same
manner.  The  coagulable part of the blood being either
accidentally effused,  or  deposited in  consequence of dis-
ease, becomes afterwards an organized and living part, by
the growth  of the adjacent vessels  and  nerves into  it.
When the deposited substance has its attachment by a single
thread,  all its vascular supply must  proceed through that
part;  but in other cases the vessels shoot into it irregularly
at various parts of its surface.   Thus an unorganized con-
crete  becomes  a   living tumour, which has  at first no
perceptible peculiarity as to its nature ; though it derives
a supply of nourishment from the  surrounding  parts,  it
seems to  live  and grow by its own  independent  powers;
and the future structure, which it may acquire,  seems to
depend  on the  operation of its own  vessels.  When the
organization of a gland becomes  changed into that un-
natural  structure  which is observable in  tumours, it may
be thought  in some  degree to contradict those observa-
tions : but in this case  the substance of the gland  is the
matrix in which the tumour is formed.

  The  structure  of a tumour is sometimes like that of the
parts  near which it  grows.   Those which  are pendulous
into joints,  are of a  cartilaginous or osseous fabric; fatty
tumours frequently form in the midst of adipose substauce.
and  I  have seen some tumours growing from  the palate.
and having a slender attachment, which in structure resem-
bled the palate.  Sometimes, however, they do not resem-
ble in  structure the  parts  from which they grow.  The
instance just mentioned, of the pendulous portion of fat
growing from  the peritoneum, will serve as a proof: the 
OF  TUMOURS.
E9
 vessels, which had shot into it,  made the tumour Into fat,
 whilst the neck was of a fibrous and vascular structure.   1
 have seen osseous tumours unconnected with bone or peri-
 osteum ;  and indeed, in general, the structure of a tumour
 is unlike that of the part in which it is produced.  There-
 fore we seem  warranted in concluding,  that in many cases
 the nature of the tumour depends on its  own actions and
 organization ;  and  that,  like the embryon, it  merely re-
 ceives nourishment from the surrounding parts.

   If, then, the coagulable part  of the blood  be from any
 cause effused, if the adjacent absorbents do not remove it,
 and the  surrounding vessels grow into it, the origin of a
 tumour may be thus formed.  It may be right to reflect a
 little on the causes which may  occasion a deposition and
 consequent organization  of the coagulable  part of the
 blood ; as such reflections throw light on  the  nature and
 growth of tumours, and lead to the establishment of princi-
 ples, which are applicable to tumours  in  general.   The
 deposition of the coagulable part of the blood may be the
 effect of accident,  or of a common inflammatory process,*


  *  It will probably be useful to illustrate this subject by the recital of a
case:—
                        CASE.

  A medical practitioner bruised the upper part of his thigh against the
pummel of a saddle, in consequence of his horse starting.  The bruise ami
slight inflammation attendant on this accident soon disappeared, but after
some months, he perceived a small tumour, which gradually increased, till
it acquired a considerable magnitude.  He came  to London, and had it
removed. It was an adipose tumour, and had a distinct capsule inclosing
it, formed by the  condensation of the cellular substance  in which it had
grown. 
70
A CLASSIFICATION
or it may be the consequence of some diseased action of the
surrounding vessels which may influence the organization
and growth of the tumours.

  In the former cases, the parts surrounding the tumour
may be considered simply as the sources from which it de-
rives its nutriment, whilst it grows  apparently by its own
inherent powers, and its organization depends upon actions
begun and existing in itself.  If such a tumour be removed,
the surrounding parts,  being sound,  soon heal,  and a com-
plete cure ensues.  But if a  tumour be removed, whose
existence depended on the  disease of the surrounding
parts, which are still left, and this disease be  not altered
by the  stimulus  of the operation, no benefit is obtained:
these parts again produce a diseased substance, which has
generally the appearance of fungus, and,  in consequence
of being irritated by the injury of the operation, the disease
is in general increased by the means which were designed
for its cure.  It  appears, therefore, that  in  some cases of
tumours, the newly-formed part alone requires  removal,
whilst in others the surrounding substance must be taken
away, or a radical cure cannot be effected.

   There is yet  another circumstance deserving attention,
before I proceed to the particular consideration of the sub-
ject ;  which is, that a tumour once formed,  seems to be a
sufficient cause of its own continuance  and increase.  The
irritation which it causes in the contiguous  parts, is likely
to keep up that increased action of vessels which is neces-
sary to its supply ; and the larger  it  becrmes, the more
does it  stimulate, and of course contribute to  its  own in-
crease. 
OF TUMOURS.
71
   Suppose therr a tumour to have formed, and increased ;
it  will continue to grow and to condense the  surrounding
cellular substance, and thus acquire for itself a kind of cap-
sule.   Tumours are more closely or loosely connected to
the surrounding parts; which circumstance seems to de-
pend upon the degree  of stimulus  which they occasion, and
the inflammation  which they thus excite.  This irritation
perhaps may be the cause why some tumours, which are
slow in their first  increase, grow rapidly after they  have_
acquired a certain size.

  These preliminary observations will be referred to, when
the dfferent kinds of tumours are described.  When the
history of different kinds of tumours is  spoken of, there
will be frequent necessity to advert to the effects of medical
treatment upon them ; it therefore seems right to premise
a few words upou that subject.

   It can scarcely be doubted that when tumours form and
grow, there exists an increased state of action in the  adja-
cent vessels, and the  first  curative intention in these dis-
eases will therefore be to repress as much as possible this
unusual exertion of the vessels, which gives rise to the for-
mation of a tumour, and, by its continuance, causes  its in-
crease.

   I know of no local  measures to diminish an increased or
inflammatory action of any part of the body more rational
in theory, or more efficacious in practice than those of tak-
ing away the two great causes of animal actions, the blood
and heat of  the disordered part.   The former is generally
accomplished by means of leeches applied in  its vicinity,
which should be repeated  as circumstance* indicate ; and 
72
A CLASSIFICATION
 the latter, by the application of folded linen, wetted with
 sedative lotions, by which a continual evaporation and con-
 stant abstraction  of heat is kept up from the surface of the
 skin.   The effect of  this last mode  of treatment is much
 more considerable than at first sight  might  be  supposed.
 It operates on parts far beneath the  surface.   As heat is so
 transmissible a substance,* so in proportion as the  tempe-
 rature of the  skin is  diminished by evaporation, it  derives
 heat from the subjacent  parts, and  thus are their  morbid
 actions lessened.t  If by such means the growth of a  tu-
 mour  be suspended,  another  curative indication naturally
 arises, which is to promote the absorption of the new form-
 ed substance.

   This indication is generally attempted by the use of stim-
 ulants,  such  as frictions with mercurial ointment, pressure,
 and electricity, or by means which also excite some coun-
 ter-irritation, as rubefacient plasters, solutions of salts, blis-
 ters, and issues.    Both reason  and experience equally
 demonstrate  the impropriety  of using the stimulating plan

  * Though this expression may not be correct, the idea which is design-
 ed to be conveyed by  it, will, I believe, be understood.
  f The  regulation of the temperature of diseased parts, seems to be an
 important object in the treatment of  local diseases ; and it is  very pos-
 sible, that by producing evaporation  from the surface we may chill them.
 Patients, therefore, ought to be apprised,  that our object in the use of
 evaporating washes, is merely to prevent an unnatural degree  of heat.  It
 is not necessary that the washes should be applied cold to accomplish this
 object.  A chilly sensation imparted  to a portion of the skin may affect
 the  whole surface, and produce that affection which we call  a cold.   In
 many cases a bread and water poultice seems to me the best application
we  can employ,  both  with a view to abstract  superfluous heat, and  on
account of its soothing properties.  It is indeed a local warm bath, and,
like the bath, it induces a gentle perspiration from the surface. 
OF Tl'MOURs
7.3
 till the disease is first tranquillized, and in a degree subdu-
 ed.   It is reasonable to expect that stimulating measures
 will increase the actions which are going on in the diseased
 part; and  experience proves  that diseases are often in-
 creased by those very means which, had they been employ-
 ed at  a proper time, might have effected their cure.  This
 may be elucidated by a fact which is, I believe, generally
 known and admitted,  that  if a blister be applied for  the
 cure of  a pleurisy before evacuations are made use of, and
 the activity of the disease be thus checked, it aggravates
 the disease ;  if afterwards, it speedily effects a cure.   If a
 tumour  or any  local disease be  for  a time benefitted by
 stimulating discutients,  and  the  diseased actions recur in it
 with a degree of activity, it is better  to desist from this lat-
 ter plan of treatment, and adopt again the former one, till
 the disease is  by such means rendered  inactive.

   I am so well convinced of the necessity of attending to
 the time and circumstances in which these remedies are ap-
 plied in order to give them their real efficacy in the cure of
 local diseases, that I have been induced to dwell longer on
 this subject than may perhaps to some seem necessary.

   When a blister is made permanent, or a  seton or issue is
 made  in the vicinity of a disordered part, it is in fact pro-
 ducing anew but curable disease,  in order to detract from
 an old one, over which we have less controul.   But here
 the same observations apply.  We should not produce a
 new disease till the active state  of the original one  is di-
 minished, and  till it is, as it were, rendered dormant; for
otherwise the irritation of the intended remedy will rather
ten! to the aggravation than  the cure  of  the disorder; it
will also increase the febrile disturbance  of the constitu- 
;4
A «LAS»IFieATION
tion, by adding to the causes of irritation.  It should  also
be borne in mind, that the intended remedy is a disease of
our own creating; and if it be a painful one, that it may, by
disturbing the constitution, do more harm  in this way to the
.original disease than good by its counter-irritation.

  Such are the local means of  treating tumours, as well  as
other local diseases,  and to these I shall  have occasion  to
refer.  I cannot speak of the  general means usually  em-
ployed to operate on these disorders without entering into
a long, and, I think, an unnecessary discussion.

  In attempting a classification of tumours, I shall suppose
that they may be made to constitute an Order in the class
of local diseases in nosology ; and the meaning of the word
may be restricted, in the manner suggested, to substances
of new formation, which made  no part in the original struc-
ture of the body; the order may then be divided into ge-
nera ; and the first  genus may be  denominated from its
most obvious character, (that of having a firm and fleshy
feel,)  Sarcoma, or Sarcomatous tumours.

  This genus contains  many species, to a description  of
which I next proceed.   The first of which I shall treat,
beintj  apparently composed of the coagulable part of the
blood,  rendered  very generally vascular by the growth of
vessels through it, without having any noticeable peculiar-
ity in their distribution, may therefore be called


       Common Vascular,  or organized Sarcoma.

  The names by which I have distinguished the different
species of sarcoma  have been  objected to, becauso they 
OF TUMOURS.
76
are derived from internal circumstances, and not from anv
information which can be acquired prior  to an operation.
I have not, however, been able to devi?e a.iy better (node of
denominating these tumours : for all the species must a-^ree
in  the external  characters,  those of an increase of bulk,
and a fleshy feel.   If, however, an arrangement of tumours
were once made, so that the history of each species could
be particularly remarked, we might perhaps be able, from
this circumstance, to form a probable opinion of the nature
©f the tumour, and of the mode  of treatment which it
would require; and, by adverting to the  structure of  the
removed tumour after an operation,  we might determine
whether it would  be right to remove  or leave the contigu-
ous parts.  It is designed, then, to include under this title
all those tumours  which appear to be composed of the gela-
tinous part of the blood, rendered more or less  vascular by
the growth of vessels through it.

   The vessels which pervade this substance are, in differ-
ent instances, either larger  or smaller, more or less numer-
ous :  they are distributed in their usual arborescent man-
ner, without any describable peculiarity  of arrangement.
This kind of tumour seems to be the most simple in its na.
ture; many, perhaps all, of the varieties  of tumours, were
at  first of this nature.   The fatty tumour lately mentioned
was doubtless at first a common vascular substance; but
the vessels secreted fat in the body of the tumour,  whilst
the neck underwent no such change.

   They are such  tumours, then, as are organized  through-
 nut, but wifhout distinguishable  peculiarity  of structure,
 th >t are meant to  be considered under  this  title.   This
structure is met with not only in distinct tumours,  but like- 
 7G                 A CLASSIFICATION

 wise in the testis,  mamma, and absorbent glands.   In  the
 testis I have seen the vessels, very  numerous  and small,
 dispersed through  every part of the tumour.  In the mam-
 ma they seem to be rather large than  numerous, and  the
 organization appears less complete.

   When this kind of tumour has attained a considerable size,
 the superficial veins  appear remarkably large ; on  which
 account, together with their curiously meandering  course
 beneath the skin, they  cannot fail  to attract attention.
 Perhaps the weight of the tumour compres"ses the deeper
 seated veins, and obliges the blood to return in larger quan-
 tities through those nearer the surface ; or perhaps these
 vessels undergo  a  kind of sympathetic enlargement;  for
 they  do not appear to be distended by the  blood  which
 they  contain.

   These tumours are generally dull in their sensation ; en-
 during even a rough examination by the hand, and electric
 shocks,  without becoming  painful.   I suspect that it is this
 kind of sarcoma which sometimes, though  rarely, suppu-
 rates  ; but  as, when that event takes place, even partially,
 the rest of  the substance  is,  in general, speedily removed
 by absorption, 1 have had no  opportunity  of ascertaining
 this circumstance.

   These tumours generally grow till the skin is so distend-
ed that it  ulcerates,  and exposes the new-formed sub-
stance ; which being as it were obliged to inflame, and not
being able to sustain disease, sloughs and  falls out;  some-
times portions seem to be  detached, and come away with-
out sloughing.  In  this manner is the disease occasionally
got rid of; but such is the constitutional irritation attend- 
OF TUMOURS.
i I
ing this  process, and  the disgusting  fcetor  and frightful
appearance  of the part, that the surgeon generally recom-
mends, and  the patient submits to its removal at this junc-
ture.
  As cases will probably convey more information in less
words than description or narrative, and as  they  identify
the kind  of disease which is meant to be  described, and
inform, as it were, by example, I design to relate one  or
more cases of each kind of tumour, and thus curtail,  as
much as I can, my description of them.

                       CASE I.

  A woman, between forty and fifty years of age, was ad-
mitted  into  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital,  on  account  of
a considerable tumour which had grown on  the inside  of
the knee, and had so concealed the tibia, that it could not
be felt.  She remembered it when of  the size of an egg,
but could give no information to our inquiries, whether in
that state it was  fixed to the bone,  or moveable upon  it.
It measured  two feet in circumference, and had been grad-
ually increasing between three and  four years.   The veins
were large, and  formed an appearance like  network  on
the surface.

  As the tumour advanced in'size it had gradually prevent-
ed her moving about till it entirely confined her to her bed.
In this  situation it was not painful till within half a year be-
fore her admission into the hospital,; when, from the sense
of distention of the skin, and the  inflammation induced  in
that part, she became restless and feverish,  and lost her
flesh considerably.   At length, the skin ulcerated, and the
exposed tumour inflamed and sloughed at different times,
~o as to leave a cavity in it  of the  6ize of a  pint-bason
                         10* 
78
A CLASSIFICATION
 From the sides of this cavity there was poured forth a mo9t
 copious and foetid discharge : she had frequently lost blood
 from the vessels  laid open by  ulceration or sloughing j
 and, on her admission into the hospital, she had a confirm-
 ed hectical fever through weakness and irritation.

   The  state of the patient's health,  the magnitude of the
 tumour, the uncertainty of its origin, (for it was supposed
 to have arisen from  a  diseased bone,) made  amputation
 appear  the only means  of preserving life.   Upon  an ex-
 amination  of the amputated  limb, which was previously
 injected, this  tumour was  found to  have  no  connection
 with  the bone or joint  upon which  it lay.  The lower
 part of  the tumour was  covered by a thin capsule, made
 apparently  of  condensed cellular substance,  and  it was
 loosely  connected to the parts on which it lay ; but on the
 surface  of the  tumour next  the skin the capsule firmly ad-
 hered to it, in  consequence of the inflammation which had
 taken place.   The substance -of which the tumour was
 composed appeared to have been originally of a coagulable
 nature,  and the vessels which ramified through it appeared
 to be  rather  large than numerous;  yet  this appearance
 might have arisen from an imperfect injection.

   This  single case is sufficient to convey all the  general
 information on this subject which 1 have  obtained.  It is
 unnecessary to add parallel instances, and I am unwilling
 to load  the account  with  minute particulars, lest  they
 should obscure the principal  facts.   Probably from the
 want of knowledge I may have included, without discrimi-
 nation,  many  varieties  in  this species of tumour;  and,
 perhaps, further observations will furnish  more  specific
 distinctions  in these diseases.  The subject is but begun ;
 and the difficulty of the investigation will, 1 hope, apologize
 for the  small advances which I have  been [as yet able  to
make. 
OP TUMOUR*:-
10
                   Adipose  Sarcoma.

    This is a very common species of sarcomatous tumour,
 and is formed most commonly on the front, or back part of
 the trunk of the body, and sometimes in the extremities.

    Although it is generally formed in the midst of cellulai
 and adipose  substance, there can be little doubt that its
 origin  is like that  of other tumours : that,  in the first in-
 stance, it was coaguiable lymph, rendered vascular by the
 growth of vessels into it, and that its future structure was
 the consequence of their arrangement and actions.  That
 this was the case in the pendulous tumours  mentioned in
 the preliminary  observations seems to be certain.

   The distinct  origin of such tumours is made sufficiently
 evident, by observing, that they have always a thin capsule
 of common  cellular substance,  which separates them from
 the contiguous  parts.   This capsule seems  merely to be
 the effect of that condensation of the surrounding cellular
 substance, which  the  pressure of the tumour occasions.
 As the growth of adipose  tumours is regularly and slowly
 progressive;  as nothing like inflammation in general ac-
 companies their increase ; their capsules afford a striking
 instance of an investment acquired simply by a slight con-
 densation of the  surrounding cellular structure,  unaffected
 by inflammation.  The capsule which is very thin, adheres
 but slightly to the  tumour; and the principal connection
 appears  to be by vessels, which pass through it to enter
 the substance of the tumour.  These vessels  are so small,
 and the connection so slight, that no  dissection is required
 to separate it; for when the  tumour is to  be removed, the
hand of the operator can  be easily introduced between it 
30
A CLASSIFICATION
and its investment, and it is thus readily turned out of it?
capsule.

  The vessels of adipose  tumours are neither large nor
numerous ; they are readily  torn when  the separation
alluded to is attempted, and they scarcely bleed after it has
been effected.  It is natural to suppose when the greater
part of a large tumour has been detached, and no vessel of
consequence has been divided, that some principal nutrient
artery will  afterwards be  met with; and  this supposition
produces an unnecessary hesitation on the part of the ope-
rator!  There is indeed no species of tumour that can be
removed with so much  celerity, with such apparent dex-
terity,  or with such  complete security against future con-
sequences,  as those  of an adipose nature.  In some in-
stances, however, when inflammation  has been induced,
the capsules even of these tumours are thickened,  and
adhere so as not to be separable without difficulty from
their surface.  To certify this remark,  I  may mention the
case of a man who had an adipose tumour growing beneath
the skin of the nates, in  which the pressure from  sitting
occasioned inflammation,  and this kind of tenaceous adhe-
sion of the capsule to its surface.   This  circumstance
made the separation of the skin from oflfits surface difficult,
when the extirpation of the tumour was undertaken;  but,
after that was accomplished,  the  base of the tumour was
lifted up and removed with great facility,  and almost with-
out the use of the knife.   The under part of this tumour
had not a regular surface,  but  projected in portions so as
to have a lobulated  appearance ; a circumstance which is
not unfrequent, and which deserves to  be mentioned.
From the  occurrence of inflammation likewise these tu-
mours sometimes adhere to the contiguous parts ;  of which
circumstance the case which I am  about to relate affords a
curious example. 
OF TUMOURS.
   1 have known several fatty tumours growing ■■at the same
lime, in different parts of the body of the same person.

   I shall take the liberty of giving an accou.it of the extir-
pation of a very  large tumour of this kind;  as the case  is
particularly interesting, and shows that the circumstances
usually met with are unaltered by the size of the tumour.

                      CASE II.

   A healthy middle-aged man had a tumour formed appa-
rently beneath the fascia of his thigh, which he remembered
when it was no bigger than an egg.  It had increased by a
regular and slow progress, in little more than four years, to
a very great magnitude,  such as may be easily supposed,
when it is told, that  it weighed after removal, between
fourteen  and fifteen  pounds.   It  had been  attended with
no pain during its increase, and was now only inconvenient
by its bulk.

   The surgeons who first saw this patient, would not un-
dertake any  operation,  feeling an uncertainty  as to the
natare and connections  of the tumour ; though they all
agreed that, when the skin gave way, thexe was but little
chance of the poor man's surviving the consequences  of
such an exposure.  Considering from the history  of the
case, that the tumour must  have been  removable in the
first instance ; believing, from its freedom from pain and ir-
ritation, that it was of no  malignant  nature, and  that an
operation^was only  alarming  from its  magnitude; I re-
commended  the patient to see the most eminent surgeons
in London, before he returned in despair to  the country,
from whence he  had  come for  relief.   Mr. Cline  gave 
82
A CLASSIFICATION.
him more direct hopes of  success than he received  else-
where, and he went into St. Thomas' Hospital to submit to
the operation.

  When Mr. Cline had divided the skin and  fascia of the
thigh, the tumour was easily  turned  out; but it  had un-
fortunately acquired a ligamen'ous adhesion to the orbic-
ular ligament of the  hip, which  could not be separated
v/ithout, in some degree, injuring that  part.  This attach-
ment appeared  to be  about half  an inch   in breadth,
and  about  one  fourth of  an  inch  in  length.   The
cause and nature of this firm  attachment to the ligament of
the hip seems the  only circumstance  peculiar to this case,
or requiring explanation.   It appears to me easily account-
ed for, by supposing the tumour to have compressed and
irritated that part, and thus to have occasioned an adhesion,
at first of a glutinous nature, but which afterwards becom-
ing organized, had assumed the structure of the parts from
whence it proceeded.  In like manner tumours  growing
near and compressing the surface of bones, frequently occa-
sion a degree of exostosis.

  No haemorrhage followed the removal of the  tumour.
The wound at first appeared  disposed to do well;  but the
patient became feverish, and it did not unite by adhesion.
There were also some symptoms indicating inflammation
about the hip-joint.  The man, however, surmounted these
difficulties, and, after some months,  was discharged  from
the hospital.

  There were two circumstances in the operation attended
with danger; one,  the size  of the  wound, which  could
hardly be expected to unite by adhesion, on account of the
irritation,  which,  from its  extent, must be created; the 
OF TUMOURS.
8.3
  other, this unlucky attachment to the ligament of the joint.
  It is to be lamented,  that a disease, so readily removeable
  in its commencement, should have been suffered to acquire
  a magnitude, which alone was a source of danger.

    Since the publication of the first edition of these obser-
 vations,  I have  seen an abscess form in the substance of
 an adipose tumour.   Earthy matter was also deposited on
 the sides of the cavity which had contained the pus.  I
 have also  seen osseous matter deposited within the sub-
 stance of an adipose tumour.

                 Pancreatic  Sarcoma.

   The next species of sarcomatous tumour, which I shall
 describe, resembles in appearance  the pancreas,  and,  on
 that account, may be named  (if the etymological import
 of the word be not  considered as prohibitory) Pancreatic
 Sarcoma.

   This new-formed substance is  made up of irregularly
 shaped masses:  in colour, texture, and size resembling
 the larger masses which compose the pancreas.  They ap-
 pear  also to be connected with each other, like the portions
 of that gland, by a fibrous substance of a looser texture.
 This  kind of sarcoma, though sometimes formed distinctly
 in the cellular substance, more frequently occurs in the fe.
 male  breast, perhaps originating in lymphatic glands;  and,
 as cases  of this kind sufficiently illustrate its nature and
progress, and appear more interesting in proportion to the
 importance of the parts concerned, I shall select some in-
stances of it, in  this  part,  to show those circumstances
 which seem most important in the history of this species of
sarcoma. 
 84                 A CLASSIFICATION

    I shall, however, first relate a case of this diseased struc-
 ture occurring in the lymphatic glands beneath the lower
 jaw, and afterwards  speak of its progress, when it takes
 place  in or near the female breast.

                        CASE  III.

   A man came to St. Bartholomew's Hospital  from Ox-
 fordshire, with  three diseased lymphatic glands, each  of
 the size of a very large plum.  They were situated beneath
 the basis of the jaw, upon the mylobyoideus muscle.  They
 resisted the attempts which hid been made to discuss them;
 and had not been removed, from an apprehension  that a
 dangerous haemorrhage would  take place in the 'operation.
 The glands had gradually, though  very slowly, attained
 their present  magnitude, for  the disease was of  fifteen
 years'  duration.  The surrounding parts were not affected.
 Sir Charles Blicke undertook and accomplished the re-
 moval  of the diseased gland,  the structure of which  was
 exactly such as has been described.   This case  is related
 in the first place, as it shows most clearly the usual char-
 acteristics of this species of diseased structure ; which are
 those of slowly increasing, of not being prone  to inflamma-
 tion, or tending to suppuration.

   It may not be improper to mention, though it  is irrele-
 vant to the present subject, that, in  the operation, the ex-
 ternal  maxillary artery  was unavoidably divided.   It did
 not, however,  bleed immediately after the operation, so
that this circumstance was not perceived; and the  edges
of the  wound were  brought together by one suture, and
accurately and  firmly closed by sticking-plaster.   Shortly
afterwards  the patient felt a sense  of choking, which in- 
OF TUMOURS.
85
 creased to a state almost of complete suffocation.  Indeed
 it seems probable that this  might really have  happened
 before any one could have come to his assistance,  had not
 some of the  plasters  fortunately given way, and afforded
 some discharge to the blood :  for a very great quantity of
 coagulated blood had collected within the wound, and com-
 pressed the trachea and pharynx to a greater degree than
 would readily be believed by those who had not witnessed
 the fact.   This circumstance is mentioned to show the im-
 propriety, when  there  is any chance of haemorrhage, of
 closing wounds so strictly by sticking plaster, as to  allow
 no exit to any blood that may be effused; and it is partic-
 ularly unsafe in circumstances  similar to those of the fore-
 going  case.   If  the hemorrhage be but small in quantity,
 and the escape of the blood be prevented, it separates the
 sides of the wound which should lie in close contact,  and
 thereby prevents their immediate union ; and if it be con-
 siderable, it deserves to be  remarked,  that,  so far is the
 compression which the confined blood must make on the
 arteries,  from which  it  was poured, from  stopping  the
 bleeding, that it seems to be a stimulating cause, exciting
 an hasmorrhagic  action in the vessels.  This  remark is
 manifested by  the present, as well as by many other cases
 in surgery.

  This kind of sarcoma frequently forms amidst the  mam-
 mary gland,  a little above and on that side of the nipple
which is next to the arm.  Its appearance would lead  one
 to suppose, that it was a lymphatic gland which is usually
 found in that situation, converted into this structure; but
 sometimes it seems  like a distinct tumour.   It is the ap-
 pearance of the capsule which  invests the tumour,  that has
 led me to form these opinions.
 VOL.  II.                  11 * 
86
A CLASSIFICATION
  These tumours lessen in bulk if judiciously treated;  but
if they  cannot be entirely dispersed, they increase  grad-
ually: and when they have attained some considerable size,
they are generally removed, from apprehension of the con-
sequences which they might produce, if they were suffered
to remain.   If the tumour be indolent, and if it increases
slowly,  the parts surrounding it, and the glands in  the  ax-
illa  are  not affected.   But some tumours formed  by  this
kind of diseased structure, which do not unfrequently  oc-
cur in the breast, are,  contrary to the ordinary properties
of such diseases, of a very irritable nature, occasioning
severe and lancinating pain, and producing an inflamma-
tory state of the skin which covers them so that it becomes
adherent to their surface.   They also irritate the absor-
bents leading  to the axilla,  and produce  enlargement of
their glands.   From these circumstances  I suspect  that
these tumours  may be frequently considered as cancers.
These extremely irritable tumours do not generally attain
any  considerable magnitude ;  they are reduced in size by
the treatment  which has been  mentioned, but increase
again when it  has been desisted from.   Sometimes a tu-
mour of this nature,  which was irritable in the first instance,
becomes indolent after the activity of the disease has been
checked by proper local applications,  but in other cases
the  irritability of the disease recurs.  The pain is  lanci-
nating,  and  so severe as to make  the  patients feverish,
grow faint frequently, and lose their muscular strength.
When the axillary glands become affected, one generally
swells at first, and is extremely tender and painful; but af-
terwards the pain  abates, and it remains indurated; an-
other then becomes affected, and runs  through the same
course.   1 remember an instance where many of the glands
attained a considerable magnitude.   The case was consid- 
OF TUMOURg.
87
ered as cancerous, and  the tumour, which was of the
structure  that has  been described,  and also some of the
diseased glands, were removed,  but several were left and
the patient did well.

                      CASE IV.

  A young woman who lived with me as a servant, suffered
for more than two years severe pain, and considerable con-
stitutional indisposition, from a tumour of this kind, which
had caused inflammation and enlargement of three of the
axillary glands.   Being assured that it was not carcinoma-
tous from its diminution under surgical treatment, I waited
in hopes that some beneficial change would spontaneously
take place ; but, at last, by her request, and with the coin-
ciding opinion of  Sir Charles Blicke, I removed the origin*
al tumour, leaving the diseased glands in the axilla.   The
source of irritation being taken away, the glands gradually
subsided, and the patient soon grew fat, and became, and
remained remarkably healthy.  I have known many similar
cases.

  When the above account was written, I was unacquainted
with those facts recorded in  the first volume of these obser-
vations, which show that considerable tumours of the breast
and neighbouring parts, which resist all locally repellent
measures, may be dispersed in many instances readily,  by
correcting a disordered  state of the digestive organs.  I
have no doubt, but the occasional fits of pain and languor,
which were experienced in the case just related, were the
effects of  irritability of constitution,  and might have  been
relieved, and prevented, by  means that would have giver
.one and tranquillity to the system. 
88
A CLASSIFICATION
                       CASE  V.

   A lady about twenty seven years of age,  had a tumour
 between the breast and the axilla, which had gradually in-
 creased during a year and a half to the size of a goose egg*
 Its growth had been accompanied with occasional fits of
 pain.  She had a much furred tongue, and costive bowels.
 As no discutient remedies had checked the progress of the
 tumour; and, as some  apprehensions that its nature might
 be malignant were entertained, I was requested to remove
 it.

   After I had done so, on dividing the tumour, its structure
 was found to be of that kind which I have described in this
 section ;  which induced me, for the comfort of the patient,
 to assure her,  that the disease was  not cancerous, and
 therefore not likely  to return.   The patient resided in the
 country,  and when she  left town, I'exhorted her to be very
 attentive to her diet, and to the regulation  of the functions
 of their digestive organs.  After two years she came from
 the country much alarmed, by  a good deal of thickening
 irritation, and redness,  which  had  taken place in the parts
 wounded in the operation ; all  of which,  however, soon
 subsided, under the  application  of a bread and water poul-
 tice during the  night, and the use of alterative doses of
 mercury.   In another year she returned again frightened
by the occurrence of a  swelling, attended with uneasiness
 on the side opposite to that  on which the operation had
been performed.  The  swelling was situated  between the
 breast and the axilla, parallel and contiguous to the margin
of the pectoral  muscle.   It was as big as a small walnut •
and, I have no doubt, was caused by the tumefaction of an
absorbent gland.  It was dispersed by  the same treatment 
OF TUMOLK-.
89
 that had been instituted for the irritation which had taken
 place about the wound.  About thrre years have now elaps-
 ed, and though she has been occasionally alarmed by pains.
 yet no  other manifestations of  disease have appeared.

   As I have preserved no notes, and do not perfectly  re-
 collect any case of a tumour of this structure  occurring in
 a distinct form, unless some of those about the breast may
 be so considered ; and as I wish to show that all these dis-
 eases occur distinctly as well as in glands, I shall, as an in-
 stance  of a pancreatic appearance in a distinct tumour, re-
 fer the  reader to the curious Case published in London by
 Dr. Bouttatz of Moscow, of  a  tumour which grew beneath
 the conjunctiva of the eye, and protruded it between  the
 eyelids.  The tumour was  seven  inches long and three
 inches  and a half  in  circumference,  and weighed  two
 pounds and a half.  The structure,  which is  represented
 in a plate, answers correctly to that which I have denom-
 inated pancreatic ; and it had also the ordinary characters
 of this  diseased structure, which are those of slowly  and
 regularly increasing, not being  prone to inflammation, nor
 tending to suppuration.  'J'he tumour, as might be natu-
 rally supposed, was closely connected with the tunica con-
junctiva against which it pressed,, but the base of it  was
 easily elevated from the cornea which still retained its na-
 tural transparency, and the patient  regained his sight  on
its removal.


                   Cystic Sarcoma.

  The next species of sarcomatous  tumour, as it contains
cells or cysts, may be named  Cystic Sarcoma ; and  I hi- 
DO
A CLASSIFICATION
species will be found to comprehend varieties.  This spe-
cies sometimes occurs as a distinct tumour, but is more fre-
quently met with in the testis and ovary.  In one kind of
disease of the testis,  the part is  perhaps enlarged to  six
times its natural size, and consists of a congeries of cells,
containing a serous fluid ; their size is that  of currants  or
grapes, but of an oval figure.  The sides of the cysts are
so vascular a« to be made red by  injection; and some-
times the injection is even effused and  tinges  the contents
of the cyst.  Dr Baillie has favoured  us with an  elegant
and correct representation  of this disease in  his Series  of
Engravings intended to illustrate the Morbid Anatomy of
some of the  most important  Parts of the Human Body.*
I have known this alteration of structure the  consequence
of a blow received  on the part:  but, in general, it occurs
without  evident injury.  The firm  or sarcomatous part of
an ovary affords a good specimen of the structure 1 am de-
scribing ; the cells are here much larger, and  are so vascu-
lar as to be made quite red by injection.

   To show that this structure is not  peculiar to these parts,
I may mention the following case :  a  tumour was taken
from the face of a boy by Sir Charles Blicke, which, when
divided,  was found to consist entirely of an assemblage of
cells filled with a watery, yet coagulable fluid.

   In the testis, cysts are not unfrequently found containing
4 kind of caseous substance.  In this case, too, the sides of
the cyst are vascular.  The cysts are generally large, and
sometimes there is but one.   I have called the substance
caseous,  because it resembles cheese in  consistence, and in
* Vide Fasc. 8. plate 8. fig. % 
OF TUMOURS.                  iJi
colour;  being of a yellowish cast, and of an unctuous ap-
pearance ; but it is not at all  unctuous  to the touch.  It
may be proper to mention, that this caseous substance is
sometimes irregularly distributed throughout  the vascular
substance of a diseased testis, without  being confined in
distinct cysts.  I believe this kind of sarcocele is particu .
larly unyielding to medical treatment.


                 Mammary  Sarcoma.

  There is a species of sarcomatous tumour, which indeed
I have not frequently met with, but which so strikingly re-
sembles the  mammary  gland  in colour  and  texture, that
wishing to distinguish it on account of  the following case,
I have named it Mammary Sarcoma.

  I have seen this substance (which is white and firm, and
has a similarity of appearance throughout) in the midst of
adipose tumours ; but  my attention was  not particularly
excited to it till the following case occurred.

                      CASE VI.

  A moderately healthy  middle-aged woman came from
the country to St. Bartholomew's Hospital on account of a
tumour of the size of a very large orange, which had grown
gradually on the front of her thigh : it  lay beneath the in-
teguments and above the fascia.   It was removed  by an
operation, and the integuments covering the tumour were
also taken away, as in the removal of the cancerous breast.
The sides of the wound were brought together by sticking
plaster, and,  at first, seemed  disposed  to heal; but after- 
 D-'                 A CLASSIFICATION'

 wards a considerable induration  of the surrounding parts
 took place, and the wound degenerated into a malignant
 ulcer, which spread extensively,  and was incorrigible by
 any medical  means employed.   As the ulcer spread, so,
 in the same proportion, did the hardness of the parts which
 surrounded it.  The pain and fever so exhausted the pa-
 tient, that in about two months she died.

  This tumour, the appearance of which  was exactly of
 the kind  that has been described, seemed to have  no  dis-
 tinct capsule,  but to be gradually lost in the surrounding
 parts.  The whole of the diseased part  seemed to have
 been removed, yet it is probable that  the contiguous parts
 had a disposition to disease, which was aggravated and ren-
 dered more malignant, by the  injury of the operation.
 Could the circumstances  have been foreseen, it might have
 been right to have removed the parts surrounding this  tu-
 mour more extensively, as suggested in one of the prelim
 inary observations.

  There is a similar kind of diseased structure, but of a soft-
 er texture, which is frequently found as a distinct tumour.
 or in glandular parts perhaps ; which might, with proprie-
 ty,  be considered as a variety of the same  species  of  sar-
 coma.   It has the same  uniformity of surface, but it i*
 not always of a white colour, being occasionally of a  brown-
 ish or reddish tint.  I have seen a substance  of  this  kind
 forming a tumour surrounding and compressing the oesopha-
 gus, and causing  a contraction of that tube.  I have seen
 this kind  of sarcoma in glandular parts, in which the pro-
gress and event of the case did not indicate the disease to
be of a noxious nature.   The general  result of my  obser-
vations, however, has induced me to believe, that this  die- 
OF TUMOURS.
 cased structure is prone to degenerate into an intractable
 ulcer, which will communicate its disease to the surround-
 ing parts, and I have therefore placed this species of sar-
 coma between those which seem  to possess no malignity,
 and those  which follow, and which are of a very destruc-
 tive nature.

   I add the relation of a Case  which occurred at St. Bar-
 tholomew's Hospital, since the publication of the former
 edition of  this paper.

                       CASE VII.

   A woman about fifty years of age had a tumour growing
 beneath the skin of the perinaeum, that by the side of the
 rectum, and that which is external to the labium.  It was
 about seven inches in length,  about two  in  breadth, and
 descended  as low as the middle of the thigh.  Sir Charles
 Blicke removed it, by dividing the skin on  either side  of
 the tumour lengthwise,  at the  upper part of it.  He then
 dissected out  the  upper part  of the tumour, which was
 thin,  from  beneath the divided integuments,  and brought
 the parallel edges of the skin together by  two sutures.
 The tumour, when removed, being divided, appeared firm,
 white, and  smooth, and strikingly resembling the mammary
 gland.  It  had  no distinct capsule.   The  integuments ad-
joining to the tumour inflamed, and indurated, and ulcera-
 ted, and a very large and foul sore  was  formed.   The pa-
 tient's health became greatly deranged,  so that little or no
 hopes were entertained of her  recovery.  However, after
 a time, the  disease ceased to spread, and at the end of about
 three weeks began to amend.   The constitution became
 inmquil in  proportion, and the  sore slowly healed.
  V<»!.. II.               1 2 *                            I 
■?4
A CLASSIFICATION
                Tuberculated Sarcoma.

   The next species of sarcoma, which I have to describe,
may be named Tuberculated Sarcoma.  It consists of an
aggregation of small, firm, roundish tumours,  of different
sizes and colours, connected together by a kind of cellular
substance.   The size of the tubercles is from that of a pea
to that of a horse-bean,  or sometimes larger; the colour
of a brownish red,  and  some are of ft yellowish tint.  In
Dr. Baillie's Plates there is one of the tuberculated liver;*
which expresses the appearance of this kind of sarcoma as
well as can possibly be done by an engraving.

   The instances which  I have seen have been chiefly in
the lymphatic glands of the neck.  The tumours have ul-
cerated ; have become painful and intractable sores ;  and
have destroyed the patient. . The disease appears  to pos-
sess a very malignant nature.

                    CASE VIII.

   A remarkable case of  this kind occurred in St. Barthol-
omew's Hospital, in 1797.   A man between forty and fifty
years of age had a large tumour at the side of his neck, be-
neath the platysma myoides.   It measured  about eight
inches in length, and four in breadth.  It was rmrd and ir-
regular on the surface, seeming like a cluster of diseased
lymphatic glands.  It was extremely painful, and had great-
ly impaired his health.   He affirmed that  it had not been
more than six months since its first appearance, and in the
course of this time, numerous small tumours of similar den
♦ Vide Fasc. 5. Plate 2 
                     OF TUMOURS.                    95
                                                     >
 arty and structure had grown beneath the skin all over the
 trunk of the body, but chiefly on the neck and abdomen.
 The skin and the front of the tumour in the neck had ulce-
 rated, and become a painful phagedagnic sore ; and the pa-
 tient died with hectic fever, in about six  weeks after his
 admission  into the hospital.  The structure of all the tu-
 mours was alike, and such as has been described : the body
 was examined by the students of the hospital, who said
 that there were no tubercles on the viscera, as there com-
 monly are in cases of this  disease.—As this disease is un-
 common, it may not be improper to relate another case on
 which I was consulted in the course  of the last year.

                        CASE IX.

   A gentleman had a tumour in the lymphatic  glands of the
 axilla, which he had taken notice of about a month, and
 which was  supposed to be of a scrofulous  nature.   1 was
 consulted as  to the propriety of his  going to the sea-side.
 The tumour  was of the size of an egg, and  its  surface was
 irregular from  the projection  of numerous  tubercles.
 The circumstance struck me,and led me to enquire if he had
 no other little tumours in the skin.  He told me there was
 one in the groin, which appeared on  examination to be  a
 distinct tubercle; and on  further enquiry, I found that
 the glands above the collar-bone by  the side of  the  neck
 were in some degree  affected.  I had no doubt of  the na-
 ture of the disease, and told the physician, that, in my opin-
 ion, it would terminate fatally.   After about a  fortnight,
 when I saw the patient again, these tubercles had multipli-
 ed all over the  skin, both in the front and back part of the
body ;  they were hard and painful, and gave him the sen-
sation as  if he was lying on  a number of hobnails.  The 
 JU                 A  CLASSIFICATION

disease in the glands,  both below  and above the collar-
bone, had greatly increased, and the arm was very cedema-
tous.  The   disease   progressively increased;  the  skin
seemed to peel off in  thin sloughs from the surface of the
enlarged  glands in the  axilla ; but no sloughing  or ulcer-
ation had takeYi place in the tumour when the patient died,
which was about five  weeks after I  first saw him.   On
examining tbe body, the  tubercles  every where  had  the
appearance which has  been described ; and  many similar
tubercles  were found on the   surface of  the  lungs,  heart,
liver, spleen,  omentum,  and  mesentery.   The absorbent
glands of the mesentery, and  the other internal absorbent
glands were, however,  unaffected.

   Since the above account was written, I examined a body
in  w Inch such tubercles were found very generally  scat-
tered beneath the skin.  The patient was  said to  have died
of a cancerous  uterus, and  the cervix  was  in a  state  of
ulceration.   The  whole uterus was diseased, and the pa-
rietes were an inch in thickness.   The disease,  however,
was not carcinomatous.   From this case, as well as from,
 others, which are  related, it  appears, that the same  dis-
 order of the general health may produce local diseases  of
 a dissimilar appearance or nature.*
   * Since the publication of the former edition, I have seen a case, which
 is to me so singular, that I wish briefly to mention it.   A gentleman had
 a spot in the skin, opposite to the inferior angle of the scapula.  It had
 the appearance of oue of  those spots called  petechia:,  It enlarged,
 thickened,  and ulcerated.   The ulcer hecame foul and intractable and  the
 patient came to London with his health much disordered, apparently from
local irritation.  The axillary glands became afl'ected, and enlarged to a
 considerable size, and suppurated.  Smaller spots resembling  petechia?
 came out in various parts of his body.  He took medicines with a view to
 regulate and improve the functions of bis digestive organs, which were
much disordered.  His general health improved, and under this change the
 original nicer greatly amended in its appearance; the spots remained sta- 
OF re:.;OLRs.
             Pulpy or Mi'dnllary Scticu.u*..

  The sarcoma which is next to be described is  genera!!'.
found in the testis, and  is distinguished by the name of the
soft cancer of that part   The term cancer is objectionable
because it conveys an erroneous idea of its nature ; for this
disease, though perhaps  equally destructive, will bo shown.
to  be unlike cancer in its nature and progress.

  The tumour, in those cases of the disease which I have
most frequently met with, has been of a whitish colour, re-
sembling, on a general and distant inspection, the appear-
ance of the brain.  The disease is usually of a pulpy con-
 sistence;  and I have, therefore, ben induced  to  distin-
guish it by the  name of medullary  sarcoma.   Although
I have more frequently met with this disease of a whiti-n
colour, yet I have often seen, it of a brownish red appear-
ance.  Which is  most common I cannot decide :  the struct-
ure and feel of both are the same, and their progress is also
similar; they are. therefore, to be considered as varieties
of one species  The shortest way in  which  I can commu-
 nicate a  knowledge  of this  disease,  and render  those  re-
 marks which I  have to make on it intelligible, will  be, by
relating  a case in which it proceeded to a very consider-
able extent before it destroyed the patient.

                        CASE  X.

  A tall  healthy-looking  man, about forty years o;  age,
 had, about fifteen years before, a swelled testicle from a gon-
 tionary ; the parts in the axilla became so far sound, us to malcj it near-
 ly certain that tlvv had been affected only by common irritation, and not
by a specific disease.  This tranquil state lasted about six  weeks, when
the original ulcer became worse ; and by the aggravation of thai di»ensc,
 without any increase of the others, his powers became  exhausted, and In
 died 
yi:
A CLASSIFICATION
 orrhoea ; the epididymis remained indurated.  Six years,,
 afterwards  it became  enlarged, and  a  hydrocele  at   the
 same time formed.  Haifa pint of water was discharged by
 a puncture, bit inflammation succeeded the operation and
 tins testis became  very large.   An  abscess  formed,  and
 burst in the front of the scrotum, and the  testis  subsided
 io some degree.  Mercury was employed to reduce it,  but
 without effect.   The  part, however, was  indolent,  and
 gave the patient no trouble but from its bulk.

   About a  year afterwards a gland  enlarged in  the   left
 groin (the  same side  as  the testis) : another then  be-
 came swolen in the right groin ; and  in  the  course of two
 years, several glands in each  groin had obtained a very
 considerable  magnitude.   At this period  he  was   ad-
mitted  into St.  Bartholomew's Hospital, under the care
 of Mr.  Long.  The testis  was, at  this  time,  between
 four or five inches in length, and about three in breadth ; it
 resembled its natural  form, and was indolent  in  its  dis-
position.  The  spermatic  chord was thickened,  but  not
 much indurated.   Four or five glands where enlarged in
 the groin on  both sides ; each of which  was  of the size of
 a very large orange; and, when observed together, they
 formed a tumour of very uncommon shape and magnitude.

  They gradually increased in  size for several months, till
at last the skin appeared as if unable to  contain them  any
 longer.  It became thin, inflamed,  and ulcerated; first in
 the left groin, and exposed one of the most prominent tu-
 mours.  The exposed  tumour  inflamed and sloughed pro-
 gressively,  till  it entirely came away.  As the sloughing
 exposed its vessels'; which were large, they bled profusely,
 insomuch  that  the students endeavoured,  but in vain, to 
OF TUMOURS.
Q'i
Secure them by ligatures: for the substance of the tumour
was cut through, and torn away in the attempt.  Pressure
by the finger, continued for some time, was the only effec-
tual mode of restraining this haemorrhage.

  The loss of one gland relieved the distended skin, which
bad  only ulcerated on the most  prominent  part of the tu-
mour,  and had not become diseased.  It now lost its in-
flamed aspect; granulations  formed, and a cicatrix took
place.   In the opposite groin a similar occurrence hap-
pened.  One gland, exposed by the ulceration of the skin,
sloughed out,  being  attended by the circumstances just
recited.   However, before the skin was cicatrized, ulcer-
ation had again taken place in the right groin, in conse-
quence of the great distension of the skin from the growth of
the tumour; and sloughing had begun in the tumour, when the
patient, whose vital powers had long been greatly exhausted,
died.

  The testis was injected, and, when divided,  wastfound
to be of a whitish colour, and moderately firm consistence,
and was made red by the injection  in various  parts.   The
tumour, formed by the inguinal  glands on each side, wa<-
as large as a man's head, and the structure was very simi-
lar to that of the testis, but more pulpy.  On opening the
body the pelvis was  almost filled with  similarly diseased
glands, and the vertebrae were hidden by others as high up
as the diaphragm.  The disease in the upper ones was not.
however,  so far advanced as  in the others:  some of the
former, which lay close to the diaphragm, and were not
larger than a walnut,  being cut into, a thick fluid, resem-
bling cream in colour  and consistence,  escaped,  and wa>
expressed, and the gland was left a contexture of loose f
Sinus substance. 
 ICO                  V CLASSIFK ATION

  The  state of the glands  newly affected shows, that the
actions  of this disease cause a secretion of fluid like cream ;
tint this fluid acquires consistence during  its residence in
tlv part; and that it is the cause of the increase of size in
the  -land.   The profuse haemorrhage, which  took place
during the sloughing, shows that there is an increase of ves-
sels  proportionate  to  the augmentation in  bulk  of the
diseased part.   The simple ulceration of the skin from dis-
tention  and  the subsequent healing of the ulcer show that
this  morbid affection is unlike carcinoma, which communi-
cates its disease to all contiguous parts ; neither has it the
hardness nor the disposition to ulcerate, which character-
ize cancer.   The general disease of the absorbing  glands
shows that the diseased action is readily propagated in the
course oftho-e susceptible vessels; and the glands of the
pelvis being  affected equally with those higher up, renders.
it probable that it induces the disease, as well  by imparting
irritation to them,  as  by  furnishing a matter capable of
stimulating  them when they have imbibed it;  an  opinion
that \v*ll be more stril/mgly verified by the next case which
I shall relate*

   This species  of sarcoma,  though  it usually affects the
testis, occasionally  occurs  in other parts.  1  shall authen-
ticate this fact by the brief relation of another case, which
will serve also to throw additional light on the  nature  and
progress of this disease.

  * Thf{  pn>„;<-s of what is  called the scirrhous testis, is similar to Ijiat
of the disease, which 1 am describing,  and of course vt-iy  different from
that of genuine ran iuour.t.   It is not impr ibable, that hvm the similarity
of the progress  of tin-be two disr-asf-. and the equal fatality having been
ivuiarkcd, they first arquircd Hie <:oi:fra-Kd nreiif- of soft and bard can-
i-tr? i"f'.ho tr=ti- 
OF TUMOUR*.                  101
                      CASE XI.

   A boy,  about  twelve years of age, was brought to the
hospital for advice,  on account of a tumour in the front of
his thigh; it had been growing three or four months, and
had then attained the size of a large orange.  The base of
it was situated close upon the bone.  It increased, notwith-
standing applications  that were  employed to disperse it,
and the patient became confined to his  bed.  After some
time the leg became ccdematous to a very great degree;
the inguinal glands were enlarged, but not in a degree pro-
portionate to the oedema, none of them having attained to
more than the size of a  small walnut.   The parts in the
ham were also considerably swoln.  In a short  time the
cause of the great degree of oedema was manifested ; for the
lower part of the abdomen became distended by a tumour,
that seemed to rise out of the pelvis and compress the illiac
vessels.  The boy's health, as may be supposed, gradually
declined,  and, when the disease  had attained to this state,
he died.

  On examining the parts  it was found, that the tumour.
though it lay close to the periosteum of the thigh-bone, had
no connection with it;  that  it  was in structure like the dis-
ease last described; and that the disease had extended,
through the medium,  and in  the course of the  absorbing
vessels, downwards to the ham, where  the glands  were
enlarged, and formed a considerable tumour ; and upwards
into the pelvis, where the internal illiac glands more than
filled one  side of that cavity,  rising out of it, as  has been
said, so as to distend the lower part of the abdomen.  The
disease had also extended so as slightly to affect the lumbar
glands.   The  tumours in the  ham and pelvis wore of the
  vor.  n.               1."  * 
102
A CLASSIFICATION
 same  structure as  the  original  tumour.  The  inguinal
 glands, though  affected  apparently  by the same  disease.
 were not considerably enlarged.

   This fcase also shows the  uncommon facility with which
 this disease is  propagated along the absorbing vessels ; and
 its having extended downwards to the ham, as well as up-
 wards into the pelvis, confirms the opinion, that  it  extends
 itself by imparting irritation to the vessels, as well as,  per-
 haps, by furnishing a matter, which,  if imbibed,  may com-
 municate the same irritation.

   I have mentioned, as a variety of this  disease,  that  in
 which the colour is different, it being  between a brown and
 that of  the  blood;  but in texture and organization  it
 does not appear dissimilar.   It seems, therefore, as if the
 diseased action caused the  secretion  of a fluid, sometimes
 of a milky, sometimes of a more dusky hue ; which gradu-
 ally acquires solidity, and augments  the  bulk of the part.
 The diseased part acquires in general a considerable solidi-
 ty when it  has continued for some time, so as scarcely  to
 deserve the names of soft cancer, or medullary  sarcoma.
 The hardness is also, in some instances which I have seen
 increased,  apparently by a thickening of the cellular  sub-
 stance which pervades the gland.

  It seems probable, however, that the same kind of  dis-
eased action may not be always followed by the like altera-
tion of structure, in the part which it affects.  Sir Astley
Cooper,  in his Paper on Obstructions of -the  Thoracic
Duct, mentions an  instance in which  matter imbibed from
a testis affected with a disease like  the present obstructed
that vessel.  His description of the testis is, that it was " a 
OF TUMOURS.
103
pulpy mas?, composed of broken coagulable lymph, and
blood-coloured serum."*

  I remember one  instance of the  inguinal and  lumbar
glands being affected with a disease similar to those just de-
scribed, from a diseased  testis of  a different structure.
The testis was removed in  the  Hospital,  and was found
much enlarged,  and vascular  throughout, except where
some soft cheese-hie matter was deposited.   Some of the
inguinal glands  merged, ulcerated, and sloughed out, and
the wound  seemed disposed to heal.  The lumbar glands
were affected, became extremely painful, and the patient
being previously much exhausted, sunk under this last com-
plaint.

  He had been removed to some distance from the Hospi-
tal, and  1 could not obtain permission to examine the body
till four days after his decease. I took out the lumbar glands
and put them in water ; and, the weather being extremely
hot when I examined them  the next day, I found that all the
unorganized  deposited matter which had enlarged them
had become putrid, and was washed away, leaving the cap-
sule of the gland,  and a congeries of flocculent fibres oc-
cupying the interior part  of it ; these were doubtless the
vessels and connecting cellular substance of the glands, not
indurated (as 1 have seen it in some other instances) by in-
flammation.

  In the advanced  stage of this disease, sometimes lym-
phatic glands out of the course of absorption, and of the
participation of irritation,  become affected with the same

        • J"n\f Med i-al Records and Rescarche«.p '*''• 
104
A
CLASSIFICATION
disease ;  and a secretion of this  thick  cream or bloody-
coloured fluid takes place on the surface, or in portions,
even in the liver or lungs, or other viscera.   I have heard
this circumstance accounted for, by supposing that the ab-
sorption of the matter deposited in the originally diseased
parts was so abundant as to induce the necessity of deposit-
ing it in various places ; but it seems to me more rational
to attribute it to the prevalence of the same diseased dis-
position throughout the body.   For we fittquently find, that
solid tumours of similar structure exist in various parts of
the same subject; and sometimes  they rapidly multiply as
the disease advances, as was mentioned in the case which
is related of tuberculated sarcoma.

               Carcinomatous Sarcoma..

   The last species of sarcomatous tumour which I have to
describe, is the Carcinomatous.  It is not here designed to
give a full or  distinct history of Carcinoma, but only a
general and comparative account of those circumstances in
which  it resembles  or differs from other tumours.   This
kind of tumour, on account of its peculiar hardness, is em-
phatically termed Scirrhus, while it remains entire and free
from ulceration.  But the word scirrhus is frequently ap-
plied to other indurations, and it seems better, in order to
avoid ambiguity, to use  the  same term to denote all the
stages  of this  disease,  naming it carcinoma, in the  first
place,  and ulcerated carcinoma when that change has oc-
curred.  This disease is not, in every instance, so peculiar-
ly hard as to entitle it to the name scirrhus ; and however
indurated it may be, it still must  be accounted a kind ol
fleshy tumour ;  therefore I may be allowed to call it c^
cinomatous sarcoma. 
OF TUMOURS.
10,
   I shall arrange the observations which I have offered un-
der three heads ; 1st, The history of carcinoma ;  2dly, Its
anatomical structure ; and, 3dly, I shall compare this dis-
ease with others which resemble it.  I shall suppose the
carcinoma  to arise in the  female breast, as there  it most
frequently occurs, and can be best investigated.

   It sometimes condenses the surrounding substance so as
to acquire a capsule ; and then it appears, like other sarco-
matous tumours, to be a part  of new formation :  in other
cases the mammary gland seems to be  the  nidus  for this
diseased  action.  The boundaries of the disease cannot be
accurately ascertained in the latter case, as  the carcinoma-
tous structure,  having  no distinguishable  investment,  is
confused with the rest of the gland.  In either  instance
carcinoma  begins in a small spot, and extends its progress
from thence in all directions, like rays from a centre. This
observation will serve to  distinguish  it from many  other
diseases which, at their first attack, involve a considerable
portion,  if not the  whole of the part  where they occur.
The progress of carcinoma is more or less quick in differ-
ent instances.   When slofv, it is in general unremitting; at
least I am inclined to think that  the disease, though it may
be checked, cannot be made to recede by that  medical
treatment which lessens the bulk of other sarcomatous tu-
mours.   This circumstance affords, in my opinion, another
criterion, by which it may,  in general, be distinguished.
This obdurate and destructive disease excites the contigu-
ous parts, whatever their nature may be, to the same dis-
eased action.  The skin, the cellular substance of muscles,
and the periosteum of bones,  all become  affected, if they
are in the vicinity of cancer.  This very striking  circum-
stance in the history of carcinoma distinguishes  it from 
lOti
A CLAsSIFK AT10N
most of the diseases already described.  In the pulpy aui
coma the disease is propagated along the absorbing system.
but the parts immediately in contact  with  the  enlarged
glands  do not assume the same diseased actions.   Neither
in the tuberculated species does the ulceration spread along
the skin, but destroys that part  only where it covers the
diseased glands.

  It was observed by Mr. Hunter that a disposition to can-
cer exists  in the surrounding  parts, prior to the actual oc-
currence of the diseased action.  This remark, which is
verified by daily experience,  led to the following  rule in
practice :  " That a surgeon ought not to be contented with
removing merely the indurated or actually diseased  part,
but that he should also take away  some portion of the sur-
rounding substance, in  which a diseased disposition may
probably have  been excited."    In  consequence  of this
communication of  disease to the contiguous parts, the skin
soon becomes indurated, and attached to a carcinomatous
tumour, which,  in like manner, becomes fixed to the mus
cles, or other parts over which it was formed.

  As a carcinomatous tumour increases, it generally, though
not constantly, becomes unequal upon  its  surface, so that
this inequality has been considered as characteristic of the
disease ; and it is a circumstance which deserves much at-
tentiou. A lancinating pain in the part frequently accom-
panies its growth,  but in some cases this pain is wanting.
It attends also on  other tumours, the structure of which ie
unlike carcinoma ; of which  I have given an instance in
speaking of pancreatic sarcoma.   This cannot, therefore,
be considered as an infallible  criterion of the nature of the
disease. 
OF TUMOURS.
Ift7
   in that kind of cancer, from which this description is
 •aken, the  diseased skin covering a carcinomatous tumour
 generally ulcerates,  before the tumour  has  attained any
 great magnitude ; a large chasm is then produced in its sub-
 stance by a partly sloughing and partly ulcerating process.
 Sometimes, when cells contained in the tumour are by this
 means laid open, their  contents (which  consist of a pulpy
 matter of different degrees of consistence,  and various co-
 lours,) fall out, and an excoriating ichor  distils from their
 sides.   This discharge  takes place with  a  celerity which
 would almost induce a person ignorant of the facility with
 which secretion is performed to believe  that it cannot be
 produced by that process.

   When the diseased actions have, as it were, exhausted
 themselves by their vehemence, an attempt at reparation
 appears to takes place, similar to that  which occurs in
 healthy parts.  New  flesh is  formed, constituting  a fungus
 of peculiar hardness, as  it partakes of the diseased actions
 by which it was produced.   This diseased fungus occasion-
 ally even cicatrizes.   But though the actions of the disease
 are thus mitigated,  though they may be  for some time in-
 dolent and stationary, they never cease,  nor does the part
 ever become healthy.

  In the mean while,  the disease extends through the me-
dium of the absorbing vessels, and  the glands in the axilla
become affected.   The  progress of carcinoma in an absorb-
 ent gland is the same as that which has  been already de-
scribed.  The disease is communicated from one gland to
 another, so that after all the axillary glands  are affected,
 those that lie under the collar bone at the  lower part of the
neck, and  upper part of the chest, become disordered. 
108
A CLASSIFICATION
Occasionally a gland or two become diseased higher up in
the neck, and apparently out of the course which  the ab-
sorbed fluids would take.  The absorbent glands, in the
course of the internal mammary vessels, become affected
as the disease continues.   In the advanced stage of carci-
noma a number of small tumours, of similar structure to
the original disease, form at some distance, so as to make a
kind of irregular circle round it.

   Here it is no wonder that I conclude the account of the
dreadful  effects  of this pernicious disease.  For when it
has done so much mischief, the strongest constitutions sink
under the pain and irritation which the disease creates, ag-
gravated by the obstructions which it occasions to the func-
tions of absorption in those parts, the vessels of which lead
to the diseased glands.   Towards the conclusion of the dis-
ease the  patient is generally affected with difficulty of
breathing and a cough.  In cases  where the external dis-
ease has been removed, the same symptoms of  disordered
respiration takes place,  and the patients die of internal
diseases.

   It has  been a  subject of debate   and   consideration,
whether the disease of the absorbent  glands, which  takes
place in carcinoma, be the effect of the stimulus of matter
imbibed  by those vessels from  the original disease,  or of
irritation propagated along them.  The reason for suppos-
ing that no poison is imbibed is, that, if it were conveyed
into the  blood, it would  produce general disease in the
constitution; but no more fever or general disorder is found
to exist  in carcinoma than what would naturally be pro-
duced by the irritation which the affected parts occasion.
It does not seem essential to my present design to discuss 
OF TU4I0URS.
109
this subject at length: it is however right lo observe, that
we scarcely ever see glands diseased out of the course
which the absorbed  matter would  naturally take,  though
they are affected in  this  manner in diseases which can be
propagated by irritation.   When the glands of the axilla are
obstructed by  disease, the absorbed  matter will pass by
anastomosing channels, into the internal mammary absorb-
ents,  and if occasionally one or  two glands in the neck are
found  diseased, they may  become affected in the  same
manner, by the fluids being obliged  to take a circuitous
route.*

   There is another circumstance in the  history of cancer.
which deserves attention and investigation ; that is, whether
a  disease not  originally cancerous can become  so  in itc
progress ? We  can only form our opinions on  this subject
from analogy and observation.   Analogy leads  us to be-
lieve,  that such an  alteration in the  diseased actions may
readily take  place.  Venereal  buboes often change  their
nature  after the administration of mercury, and become
troublesome sores, to which that medicine  is rather detri-
mental than beneficial.   Injuries induce inflammation and
enlargement of parts, which afterwards degenerate  into
scrofulous diseases.  But, though analogyfcems so strongly
to favour the opinion, I  cannot take  upon  myself to say?
that my observations have  confirmed it.  When tumours
have been removed, the history of which corresponded to
that of cancer, a cancerous structure was observed in them;
and on the contrary, in diseases of an apparently different

  * It may be proper to enquire, whether those tumours, which arise in the
circumference of carcinoma, are not caused by the absorbed matter being
made to stop for a time  in the vessels,  and thus to afford that irritation
'vhich induces disease in them and the contiguous part« ?
   VOL. II.                  H* 
fly                A cLA;^SIFlCATION
nature, a different organization has been found.  I onc£\.
indeed,  assisted  at an operation where the tumour was of
that kind which  I have denominated pancreatic ; and I
heard afterwards, that the patient died in the country of a
disease which was reputed cancerous.  Again, in investi-
gating this subject, it deserves to be remarked, and  every
surgeon  must, I believe,  be familiarly acquainted with  this
fact, that many diseased tumours remain in the breast for a
great length of time, perhaps during life, without undergo-
ing any change in their nature ; or, in other words, without
becoming cancerous.

  It is difficult to convey correct ideas of the structure of
carcinoma by words, or even by drawings.   In the gener-
ality" of instances the diseased part is peculiarly hard,  and
there are intermixed with it firm Whitish bands, such as Dr.
Baillie has described and  represented  in his Book  and
Plates of Morbid Anatomy.  There is  indeed no  other
striking   circumstance,  which  can be mentioned as con-
stantly claiming attention in the structure of this disease.
These firm whitish bands sometimes extend in all directions
from the  middle towards  the circumference of a carcinoma-
tous tumour, like rays from a centre, having little interven-
ing matter. SoAelimes they intersect it irregularly, having
interposed between them a firm brownish substance, which
may be scraped out with the finger.  Sometimes they form
cells containing a pulpy  matter of various colours and con-
sistence ; and sometimes these bands assume an arbores-
cent arrangement, ramifying through  the  diseased sub-
stance.

  Firm  white bands, like thickened and compact cellular
substance, are seen as  the  disease  advances, to  extend
themselves from  the original tumour amidst the fat in which 
OF TUMOURS.
Hi
 it is Occasionally imbedded, intercepting portions of fat in
 the irregular areola} which they form.   This circumstance
 deserves  consideration on account of its practical applica-
 tion ; for if,  after removing a carcinomatous tumour,  the
 surgeon attends to the part which has been taken away, he
 will see if any of these bands have been cut through, and,
 consequently, whether some  of  this diseased  substance,
 which ought to be removed, has not been accidentally left.
 This circumstance cannot be observed by looking at  the
 bleeding  surface of the wound, but may be readily ascer-
 tained by examining the part which has been removed.

   These  arc  the chief circumstances, which I think suffi-
 ciently  characterize  carcinoma,  and  distinguish it from
 other sarcomatous tumours.  The account of them is brief,
 and much has been omitted,  because it was not designed
 particularly to discuss the subject of carcinoma,  but merely
 to point out its distinguishing  characters.   1 now proceed
 to speak of diseases resembling cancer; though, in so  do-
 ing, 1 shall digress a little from the principal subject of this
 piper,  that is, to describe the distinguishable kinds  of sar-
 comatous tumours,  and give their history.

  According to the preceding  account, carcinoma,  begins
5n a small scirrhus, which gradually enlarges and afterwards
nlcerates.  It does so in the breast, lip, tongue, and  cervix
uteri; yet it may be enquired if it does so in every instance.
Parts sometimes superficially ulcerate at first, and after-
wards acquire surrounding hardness,  and strikingly resem-
ble carcinoma, if they do not strictly deserve  that  name.
This is  the way in  which some of those diseases proceed,
which  occur near the  side of the nose or eye, and which
gradually  destroy the parts in which they are situated, and
cannot be cured by any mode of local or general treatment 
M2
A i LASSIFICATIOJ*
    The intelligent reader  will not suspect me of confounding
    these more malignant diseases with some herpetic ulcera-
    tions of the nose,(in which the  morbid actions gradually
    cease,  and the first affected parts get well,  whilst the sur--
    rounding parts  become diseased.   I have known diseases
    beginning in  ulceration, and followed by induration, and
    the growth of fungus extend themselves unremittingly,  so
    as to destroy the patient.   I have seen diseases of this des-
    cription  occur  in the labia pudendi,  some  of which have
    terminated fatally, whilst others were removed even at  an
    advanced period of the disease with success.

       Here some additional discriminating circumstances seem
    to be wanted,  by which we may  distinguish between these
    ulcers  and common  carcinoma.   I have never remarked,
    that such ulcers have affected the absorbent glands, though
    I do not feel assured that this occurrence never takes place.
    It therefore remains to be determined by future cases, how
    far this circumstance  may enable  us to decide on the nature
    of these diseases.  I shall next relate  the principal circum-
    stances of a remarkable case of this kind of disease,  which
    will serve to  elucidate the subject,  and also to exhibit a
    specimen of the diseases to which 1 allude.

                          CASE XII.

       A man was admitted into  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital
    with a h mour beneath the jaw,  having a great degree of
    surrounding hardness, and containing  three cells, like those
    of carcinomatous tumours.  The history which he gave of
t   the disease was very curious ; he said that a redness took
    place superficially in the  skin, which gathered and  burst,
    and discharged  good  matter; that the opening enlarged, 
OF  i :  \;<JUKS>.
IIS
and the sui rounding parts indurated, and thus produced au
appearance like a cell in a carcinomatous tumour;  then,
another portion of skin became diseased in the same  man-
ner, and with the same consequences, till, by degrees, the
general tumour had acquired its present magnitude.  To
the truth of this account we had an opportunity of bearing
testimony ; for this occurrence took place twice in succes-
sion during his residence in the Hospital; and thus two
more cells were added to the general mass.  The inflam-
mation of the skin, and the suppuration, which was healthy
in appearance,  took place beneath the tumour, and  made
it reach almost  as  low as the  sternum.   As the  patient's
health had considerably declined by the irritation of the
constitution which  this disease kept, up, and as no amend-
ment of the disease had  taken  place in consequence of the
applications or medicines  which were  employed, he left
the Hospital, and went into the country.

   Diseases also, which  strikingly  resemble  carcinoma  in
appearance, form in the following  manner.  An  enlarged
lymphatic gland shall gradually become soft,  and contain a
fluid.  In this state it ulcerates or  is opened ; but instead
of subsiding, it inflames; the surrounding  parts  become
indurated ; the integuments acquire a dusky hue ; the open-
ing and cavity  enlarge, and assume the  appearance of a
cyst, from the sides of which fungus arises, and turns ovei
the everted edges of the opening.  I have also seen, after
the bursting of an encysted tumour, the surrounding parts
indurate,  and throw out a fungus, forming a disease ap-
pearing like cancer, anrj which could not he cured.

   Are such diseases as I have  here described to be ac-
counted  carcinomatous?  If not. what are the character* 
aL«
.i cLAsslFlCA'In*:^
which discriminate between them and  carcinoma?   As I
have no  precise or satisfactory  information to communi-
cate, I forbear to say any thing on the subject.*

  Since the first edition ofthese observations, several  pub-
lications  have  appeared on the  subject of cancer,  and as
there are many circumstances relating to its history, upon
the  determination  of which,  by  general  observation and
experience, our practical rules of conduct must be founded,
I take this  opportunity of  presenting to  the public some
additional observations with respect to it,  without presum-
ing to comment on  the opinion of others.   I  shall  also in
this account confine myself to the disease, as it appears in
the female breast.

   The account of carcinoma that I have already given, a,
taken from the most strongly characterized specimen of the
disease occurring in that part, which is  peculiarly hard,
and rarely  attains  considerable  magnitude.   There are,
however, varieties; and one  of the  most  remarkable  is,
that of the disease attaining a very considerable size before
it ulcerates.   In this case sometimes the  integuments re-

  * A patient was admitted into St. Bartholomew's Hospital, with several
indurated foul but small  sores, about the  bend of the  elbow, and some
which intervened between it and the  axilla.  The axillary glands were
much diseased,  and the arm was swollen and hard.  She said  that the
sores began like common gatherings, and that they hardened after the
skin had given way.  That the disease began in superficial sores, and that
the axillary glands were next affected-

  The patient died in the Hospital; and on examining the limb, a great
numher of tubercles were found in it, several of which were imbedded in
the nerves of the arm.   The lung also contained a great number  of tuber-
cles, which appeared to  be the effect of the same kind of disease  affecting
rhat part. 
OF TUMOURS.
tld
main pale and pliant, and a surgeon who first sees the
breast in this  state,  may  doubt whether  the disease be
actual cancer or common sarcoma.  The substance of the
tumour  is also much less hard than in the specimen first de-
scribed ; yet it is more  compact and weighty than  most
other diseases of the same  bulk which are  not carcinoma-
tous.  If at first a surgeon may hesitate to decide upon the
nature of this disease, his opinion will in general be speed-
ily determined by enquiry and examination.  If the history
of the disease accords with that of carcinoma, that is to say,
if it began in a small district, and regularly and ftnabatingly
attait.ed  its present magnitude:  if the surface of  the  tu-
mour be unequal, having in various parts produced round-
ish projecting nodules, the disease will almost invariably be
found to be carcinoma.   The skin will soon adhere to one
or more of the^e prominences ;  it will ulcerate and expose
the subjacent parts, and  the future progiess of the  disease
will  so  exactly accord to that of the  harder and smaller
specimen which I have described,  as not to require a sep-
arate description.   In general,  however,  the absorbents
are much less liable to become affected in the latter variety
of this disease.

  Having thus represented the extreme varieties of carci-
nomatous diseases,  I need scarcely observe that there will
be intermediate degrees.  In carcinoma, as in other dis-
eases, it appears  to me, that  the history and progress is
more declarative of its nature than any circumstance which
we may be able to discover by the sight or touch.

  There is one circumstance in the history of carcinoma
which may pn»ve very perplexing to the observer and tend 
116
A CLASSIFICATION
to induce him to disbelieve that there is  any regular pro-
gress belonging to this disease.  I allude  to tlje occurrence
of cancer in parts previously diseased in  another manner.
Analogy, as I have said, would induce  U3 to  believe, that
this might be a frequent occurrence ; yet I cannot say that
my  observations have led me to think that it very  com-
monly  takes place.   Cases of tumours,  which  have re-
mained indolent for twenty or more years, becoming can-
cerous at an advanced period of life are  not unfrequently
met with ; and when tumours form in or  about the breast
at an advadced period of life,  though the progress at the
beginning may assure us that they are not carcinomatous,
yet  they may become so, after the lapse of but a few years,
or even a shorter period of time.  The impression which
the  consideration of such circumstances has left on my
mind (in conjunction  with the information which I think 1
possess relative to the general health  of a patient  liable
to cancer,  and which I will  presently communicate,)  is,
that the patients who are subject to  such an occurrence
might have been liable to the  formation of a cancerous dis-
ease at the same period, even if no diseased structure had
previously existed, and formed a nidus for  the  cancerous
actions.  That  they are more likely to begin in  parts pre-
viously diseased, I readily admit; and that it may  be pru-
dent and proper to remove such diseases  as I now allude to,
under the  circumstances which I have mentioned, and shall
still further describe, is an opinion in which I readily con-
cur : yet, if an idea, that most or many diseased  structures
might become cancerous was  generally prevalent, it would
douhih^s lead to the-performance of many unnecessary op-
oraiion*. 
OF TUMOURS.
117
   In the first volume of these Observations. I have given an
 opinion, which 1 am inclined even more fully and strong-
 ly to repeat, that a great number of tumour-: in and about
 the female  mamma arise from a  disordered state  of the
 health in general, and consequently that the  most judi-
 cious and  effectual mode of dispersing them,  is by cor-
 recting that  general 'disorder.   Such cases are  very nu-
 merous, and very important, as the reader may see, by re
 ferring  to the few that I  have printed ; yet all, or most of
 these, would be consigned to removal by the knife, were
 the idea which  I have  mentioned to  become  prevalent.
 When, however, a tumour that cannot be dispersed  by the
 means to which I now  refer exists in or about the breast.
 and which we  feel assured  is not  of a carcinomatous na-
 ture, it may be well to remove it, because it is often  a con-
 stant  source of  disturbance and  alarm  to the patient's
 mind; and, I am ready to admit, that it is likely to be  a
 nidus in which cancerous actions may be engendered in a
 constitution predisposed  to that disease.   However I feel
 myself fully warranted in asserting, from my own experi-
 ence, that many of them will remain in the same state for
 a  great length  of time, and even through life, without be-
 coming cancerous.

   That cancer, like most  other local diseases, owes  its
 origin to a disordered state of the  health in general, is  an
 opinion  which I do not expect to  be  controverted. We
express it even by saying,  that there is a predisposition to
cancer.   Mr. Hunter  was of opinion,  that cancer was  so
far local, that if all the diseased part, or that which was so
contiguous  to it, as to have  felt  its influence, and to have
 acquired a predisposition to disease,  were removed, the
patient would be  as exempt from cancer in that part as if it
   vol. ii.                15* 
Ill)
A CLASSIFICATION
never had occurred.  This opinion, deduced from his own
experience, is very important; it shows us how we ought
to operate when an operation  is to be undertaken.   I am
ready to admit the truth of this opinion to the extent affirm-
ed by Mr.  Hunter; but though the patient may be as ex-
empt from the disease as if it never had occurred, that state
of constitution which induced  it originally, may, after a
certain  lapse of time, cause  it to form again,* or may pro-
duce the same disease in other parts of the body, or a pa-
tient may die of other ills or diseases attendant on a can-
cerous constitution.

   In our present state of knowledge, we are not, I believe,
able to  distinguish any peculiar circumstance as character-
istic of a cancerous constitution.   We  observe in it those
circumstances which indicate a disordered constitution, and
augment the disorder by each reciprocally aggravating the
other;  I mean irritation,  weakness,  or some  undcfinable
disorder of the  nervous functions ;  and such  disorder  in
the functions of  the digestive organs as 1 have described in
the first volume of these Observations.  1 see persons hav-
ing the  same evident affection of the health in general sub-
ject to tumours in and about the breast,  which are not can-
cerous, and to those which are cancerous.   What addi-
tional circumstances lead  to the establishment of cancer-
ous actions in the local disease thus induced we have yet
to learn.

   * If after the removal of cancer, when the operation has been properly
performed, the cicatrix remains htalthy for five or six years, or even for
a shorter period,  and then becomes indurated and carcinomatous, it ap-
pears to me more consistent with what we know of the action of this dis-
ease to suppose that it has originated again in consequence of the diseased
propensities of the constitution, rather than that it has lain dormant .?o
"ong, and is but now awakened 
OF  TUMOURS'.
119
  Previously to the occurrence of cancer  the nervous dis-
order, and that  of the digestive  organs, have,  in general,
been greater in degree, and longer in duration, than they
are found to be antecedently to other disorders.  Some
patients having  cancer, die  of organic diseases in the head
or abdomen.  If the nervous and visceral disorders are ac-
tive and considerable, the progress of the local disease will
be, in general,  proportionately rapid and destructive ; and
if, on the contrary, these disorders are mild, and less in de-
gree, the progress of the local  disease will be proportion-
ally  slow and gentle.   In confirmation of these observa-
tions, I may mention, that  I have seen several instances of
cancer proceeding so mildly, that the patients have lived
many years with little suffering  or inconvenience from  the
local disease, and particularly  where attention  has  been
paid to regulate the functions of the digestive organs.*

   With a view to impress the contrary fact on the mind of
the reader, I will briefly relate two cases in proof of it.

   +  There can be  no subject which I think more likely  to  interest the
 mind of a surgeon, than  that of an endeavour to amend and alter the
 state of a cancerous constitution.  The best timed and  best conducted
 operation  brinsis with it  nothing but disgrace, if the diseased propensi-
 ties of the constitution are active and powerful.  It is after an operation
 that, in my opinion, we are most  particularly incited to regulate the con-
 stitution, lest the  disease should be revived or renewed  by its disturb-
 ance.  In addition to that attention to tranquillize and invigorate the
 nervous system, and keep  th» digestive organs in as healthy a state as pos-
 sible, which I have recommended in the first volume, I believe general ex-
 perience sanctions the recommendation of a mere vegetable, because less
 stimulating diet, with the addition of so much milk, broth, and eggs, as
 «eern necessary to  prevent any declension of the patient's strength, 
120               A CLASSIFICATION
                     CASE XIII.

  A lady came from the country with a cancerous tumour
in the breast, and took some medicine, probably  arsenic,
by the desire of a female quack, which brought on the most
violent sickness and purging, with death-like faintings.  It
was uncertain for several days whether she would survive
its effects.   Inflammation was induced in the local disease
to such a degree, that the cancer sloughed, and came out,
and violent erysipelatous inflammation extended itself from
the skin of the breast to a great extent.  The sides of the
fcavity, however, threw forth a cancerous fungus,  and in
this state she returned into the country.

                    CASE XIV.

  A lady about forty-six years of age asked my opinion re-
specting a small lump in her breast.  She was very nervous
and agitated, and her bowels extremely disordered.  She
said she had sometimes  twenty discharges from her bowels
in twenty-four hours, and that the secretion of bile was as
faulty as possible. After about six weeks she called upon me
again, having been in the country : the medicines which she
had tried had been productive of little or no good.  Her
conversation was equally  desultory  and  agitated.   Her
pulse very frequent.  The lump was enlarged to about the
size of a walnut, but had no signs by which I should have
known  it to be cancer.  Hearing that her surgeon in the
country thought it cancerous, and believing that an opera-
tion in  her present state was inadmissible, I recommended
her to take the opinion of another surgeon.  I did not now
see her ibr some time,  I believe about two months, when
rhe tumour  had  become as  large as an orange, and had 
OF TUMOURS.
121
thrown out a fungus, which protruded in nodules.  The tu-
mour had, she told me, become soft, and seemed as if  it
were gathering, and these protrusions took place afterwards.
Her general health was still equally disordered, and the
surgeon who had seen her concurred with  me in opinion,
that an operation under her present circumstances was in-
admissible.   The  lump  rapidly increased; and, in the
course of a (ew months, became as large as a child's head,
having all the characters of carcinoma.  It then ulcerated,
and did not afterwards materially enlarge.  I need not de-
scribe how it ulcerated, and how it, occasionally, bled pro-
fusely.   She gradually became emaciated and feeble, and
died exhausted, without the glands in  the axilla becoming
diseased, or any peculiar symptoms occurring.

  In order further to elucidate the opinions which I enter-
tain respecting the constitutional nature of cancerous di-
ease, I select the following  case.

                     CASE XV.

   A lady had had a tumour in or near the right breast for
more than twenty years, which, when sue was between fifty
and sixty years, may be said  to have become cancerous.
The patient indeed insisted, that the cancer did not begin in
the original lump, but by  the side of it.   No .local treat-
ment arrested its progress; and, in a short time, it became
cognizable from its induration and irregularity of surface,
as a decided case of  cancer.  The tumour, and a consid-
erable portion of the  surrounding parts, were therefore re-
moved.   The wound healed  healthily in  a short space  of
time, and the patient  left London.  She had alway- been,
to use her own expression, extreme!v  biliou=. yet the dis- 
122
A CLASSIFICATION
charges from the bowels were but rarely tinctured with
good bile.  She had passed gall stones.  Her bowels were
very irregular in their functions, being frequently very cos-
tive, or the reverse.  Whilst I had attended her, she bad
taken five grains of the compound calomel pill every second
or third night, and kept the bowels as  regular as possible.
She said that  her  health had been  greatly benefitted by
these  attentions,  and I urged  her still to continue them.
For a year or more, after she left London, she was well,
the cicatrix remaining perfectly soft and smooth.  Having
occasion to travel after that period during the winter, and
being badly accommodated at the inns she met with on the
road,  she  caught cold, and became very  feverish and un-
well.   The cold, she said, had fixed itself on the lungs, for
a cough, and a difficulty of breathing continued,  and in-
creased, so that in a little more than a year from its com-
mencement it destroyed her.   About six weeks before her
death, she came to London, when she told me,  that since
the time of her catching her dreadful cold she had found a
lump begin to  form in her other breast,  and that the cicatrix
had afterwards become diseased.*  The tumour in the left
breast was of a globular form, of about an inch  and a half
in diameter ; it was hard, weighty, and nodulated upon its
surface.  It  was  most characteristically cancerous, but
what I should term a dwarf or stunted specimen  of that dis-
ease, such as we see produced when the powers  of the con-
stitution are much lessened.   This, and the corresponding
fact of cancer diminishing when the powers of constitution
decline, should be noted, or else a surgeon might attribute
such  effects, the consequences  of natural causes, to the
medicine which he employs.   The upper part of the cica-
trix,  on the opposite side, has indurated and ulcerated, but
 not to a considerable degree.   I. was  not permitted to ex- 
OF TUMOURS.
12.3
amine  the body, which I much wished to have done,  be-
cause,  I believe, the  extreme difficulty of breathing could
not have been occasioned by  any thing less than organic
disease of the lungs.   I have, however, examined the bo-
dies of cancerous patients  who died with  difficulty of
breathing, without discovering disease in  those organs.

   The symptoms subsequent to operations, being the result
of that excitement of constitution which  the thoughts and
injury  of the operation occasion, often exhibit, in a very
striking manner, the diseased propensities of the constitu-
tion.   I  think it may be useful briefly to relate those which
occurred after the removal of a cancerous tumour in a case
which I lately attended. The patient possessed what might,
in general,  be called a good constitution, and great forti-
tude, so that she bore the.operation without the least com-
plaint.   Yet, during the day preceding the  operation, she
had a slight lumbago, as she called it,  which I believed to
be the effect of that anxiety of mind which the thoughts o»
undergoing the operation must occasion.   In the evening
after the tumour had  been removed,  she complained of a
desire, and or an inability to void urine ; she had also sen-
sations in the throat like hysterics.   Her  pulse was  80.
She had no sleep  during the  night,  but had voided half a
pint of  urine, which had no striking peculiarity of appear-
ance.   Saline draughts had hitherto been given,  and she
was now desired to take 3 j of oh ricini,  mixed with muci-
liage  and  cinnamon water," every  fourth hour till  a stool
was procured.  She took  seven draughts without  any ef-
 fect.  The pain in the back  increased, and during the  se-
 cond night was so severe, that she groaned very constantly
 from the pain.  On the third morning I found her very ill,
 yet her pulse was not more than 90, neither was her skin
/ 
121
A CLASSIFICATION
 hot.   She had voided no urine  for the last 30 hours ; pain
 continued from the back down the thighs, but the absence
 of fever convinced  me, that the pain in the back and sup-
 pression of urine could not  be the  effect of nephritis.
 Thinking, as 1 had done from the beginning, that the kid-
 neys were sympathetically affected by the state of the bow-
 els, and that the pain of the back depended on the state of
 those organs,  1 now ordered her a pill of extract of colo-
 cynth, and a  draught of Epsom  salts, every fourth hour,
 instead of the castor oil.  In the evening, discharges from
 the bowels, took place ; she had five stools, and the pain in
 the back  had  nearly ceased.  Feeling very languid, and
 having had no sleep during the two preceding  nights,  she
 took 20 drops  of laudanum,  and a little nitrous aether,  in
 water.  Thi* medicine produced great heat and uneasiness
 in the stomach ; and though  she slept a little from the opi-
 um, her sleep seemed to be attended with more disturbance
 than benefit.  She  voided some  urine during the night,
 which was like exiremely n uddy water.  As the discharges
 from the bowels had ceased,  and did not seem likely to he-
 renewed, she began agai.i with the castor oil.draughts, by
which  an. evacuation of the bowels was procured in the
 course of  the d:1 y.  The urinary secretion continued, and
 was augmented in quantity.   As the stools were not proper-
ly tinctured with bile, three grains of the  pilul.  hydrarg.
 were ordered to be given every second night for the future.
Dyspeptic symptoms and flatulence now claimed our chief
attention.   She complained of great acidity, of distention,
and tenderness  at the lower part of the epigastric region.
For this she took chalk mixture, with aromatic confection,
and afterwards magnesia ; which latter medicine seemed
 afterwards sufficient to keep  thfc  bowels in  a  gently lax
state.   In about a fortnight her bowels were in a  comfort-
4 
OF TCHOURS.
125
able state,  and in about three weeks the  urine was clear,
and secreted in  the usual quantity.  On the eighth day,
when the dispeptic symptoms were severe, the patient had
gout in her finger and toe, to which she had been previous-
ly subject.   It is right to mention, that prior to the opera-
tion,  the urinary secretion had never appeared to her to
be irregular either in quantity or quality,  and that her bow-
els had been readily affected by rather slight doses of me-
dicine.  The same  circumstances were observed after the
subsidence of the disorder occasioned by the operation.   I
have satisfaction in adding, that though the wound suffered
during the continuance of the  constitutional disturbance,
it afterwards healed rapidly and smoothly, so  that at the
end  of six weeks it had the appearance of a  scar  in  per-
fectly healthy parts.

   If a cancer be a constitutional disease; if patients  affected
with it have occasionally other diseases  of a  fatal  nature ;
if in some instances,  when there is no organic disease, the
nervous system  is so irritable,  and the digestive organs so
disordered, as to render any operation perilous; these cir-
cumstances must render every surgeon who perceives them
reluctant to operate, and  uncertain as to the event of the
case.  They show the necessity of solicitously attending to
the constitution  of the  patient after an  operation, with  a
view  to prevent  the  recurrence of the disease, or its forma-
tion in other parts.   They explain how it happens,  that the
operation frequently accelerates  the death of the  patient.
I have known a  patient die soon after an operation for the
removal of a cancerous  tumour of no  great magnitude,
merely in consequence of the shock imparted  to the consti-
tution by the operation.   I  have  known other cases, in
which the  diseased state  of the wounded parts seemed to
  vol. 11.                   16 * 
126
A CLASSIFICATION
 have been  the chief cause of the speedy death of the pa-
 tient.   I  therefore concur in opinion with those surgeons,
 who think,  that in many instances an operation for the re-
 moval of cancer would be rash and unjustifiable.  Yet,
 however numerous and  momentous  the deterring reasons
 may be, I think they should not prevent our  operating in
 many cases.  If the whole of these diseased parts, and
 those which, from contiguity with them, may have been so
 far influenced as to acquire a disposition to disease can be
 removed, it surely ought to  be  attempted, provided the
 constitution is not so disordered, or diseased, as to prohibit
 the operation.  We ought to bend our minds attentively to
 make out the characteristic signs of cancer,  that we may
 know it  at  aiji early period,  and when  the disease  is in a
 small compass, and the operation on that account less for-
 midable.  To forbear to operate is  to consign the patient
 to hopeless misery.

   Fumigations with carbonic acid  gas, weak  acids, and
 fresh vegetable juices, correct the foetor, infusions of opium
 lessen the pain, and oxyds and saline preparations of iron
 seem to expedite the destruction of the diseased parts, and
 cleanse  the  sore; yet I have not seen any sijch effects from
 local applications as lead me even to  hope that any may be
 discovered that will cure the local disease.

   The ulceration and self-destroying process  of cancer is
 so horrible a process, that it may be  stated as an argument
for the operation,  that a patient gels rid of a quantity  of
 disease  upon  easier terms by having it removed bv the
knife, than  by suffering it to proceed in its natural course.
 When the scar or surface of a wound after an operation be-
 comes indurated and cancerous, the  patient suffers much 
OF TUMOURS.
127
less pains, and there is much less foetor in the disease thus
formed, so that the patient's sufferings are, on the whole,
much diminished.  But  if  the  patient's constitution  be
moderately good, and if the operation be performed at a
sufficiently early period,  I have known life  prolonged for
five,  six, or more years; and when, after that lapse of
time, the cicatrix has become diseased, the actions which
ensued nave been indolent, and the patients have gradually
sunk, and died, rather from some circumstances connected
with the state of the general  health, than from the degree
of the local disease.

  There are tumours, the structure of which may not cor-
respond with any of the descriptions that I have given.  I
feel, however, unable, from my own observations, to de-
pict any other species.   It seems to me, that these diseases
resemble colours in this respect,  that a few of the primary
ones only can be discriminated and expressed, whilst the
intermediate shades, though  distinguishable  by close atten-
tion and comparative observation, do not admit of descrip-
tion  or denomination.   There are single tumours,  in the
composition of which several of the above-described struc-
tures may be  found, and, perhaps, some  part  of which
may not correspond to any description that has been given.
If, however, the  history of these dissimilar diseases, which
appear in form of tumours, were accurately recorded, and
their structure noted, we might  perhaps, from the  former
be led to judge of the latter ; and thus attain a knowledge
of the intrinsic nature of the disease which would enable
us to  act rightly in practice.

                  Encysted Tumours.

  In  the class  of local diseases,  and in the order of tu-
mours,  custom seems  to have  placed the genus  of En- 
\2b
A CLASSIFICATION
cysfed Tumours, next to those of the sarcomatous kind.
The arrangement, indeed,  appears proper;  for they art.
so allied in appearance,  and in the  sensation which they
impart on  examination,  that they are  not  unfrequently
mistaken for each other;  and yet, in general, the encysted
tumours have sufficiently  distinguishing characters to ena-
ble a  surgeon  to determine their nature prior to the per-
formance of an operation.  The discriminating characters
are,—a regularity of surface and shape, and a pulpy feel.
Yet most surgeons will, I believe, acknowledge that they
have seen tumours dispersed, which  they have  taken for
wens ; and  have even, when they have removed them un-
der that belief, discovered the disease to have been a soft
regularly shaped sarcoma, and not a cyst containing a pulpy
substance.

  Respecting  the structure of encysted tumours I have
nothing to remark, but what is, I believe, generayy known.
The cysts most frequently are composed of many lamellae,
which  are  sometimes so compacted,  as to be scarcely
distinguishable.  These cysts vary considerably in thick-
ness ;  being sometimes very thick and tough,  and at others
extremely thin and tender.   They sometimes most tena-
ciously adhere to the  contiguous  parts, so as to  make it
difficult to   separate them ; and,  at  others,  they are so
loosely connected, that,  when an incision is  made which
lays  bare the cyst, the whole tumour starts out without
any dissection.

  That the interior surface secretes the contents formed
in the fc*yst,  is in my opinion indisputable.    That it is a
secreting surface I believe ; because, when a wen  has
spontaneously  opened by ulceration,  I have  seen  the cys^ 
OF TUMOURS.
129
produce granulations  from its surface.  When, also, the
front of the bag has  alone been taken away, and the skin
closed over the back of it, an  union takes place between
the skin and cyst.  When also a wen has burst, or has been
punctured, so that  a  small  aperture has been left in  it,
which has occasionally given discharge to its contents; I
have seen the cyst fill repeatedly by a secretion of the same
nature, but more fluid than the contents which were at first
found in it.

  Some notions have  of  late been entertained,  that these
cysts may be of the nature of hydatids ; it may not, there-
fore, be improper,  in  order to enable the reader to form
his own judgment on this  subject, to mention the following
case.

  A  gentleman  had a wen in his cheek, which spontane-
ously burst, and on  which Mr. Hunter tried various stimu-
lating means to induce the cyst to granulate  or adhere, so
that no further  collection might ensue.  His endeavours,
however,  were  unavailing;  for, after the opening closed,
the cavity of the cyst filled again, and the wen was as com-
plete as before,  and had  increased in magnitude.  It was
situated unfavourably for removal, and the patient was ad-
verse to an operation.  It lay  so deeply on the buccinator
muscle, as to be as perceptible from the mouth as on  the
cheek ; and there was a  great risk of dividing the  parotid
duct, in an operation undertaken for the removal of the tu-
mour.   The deformity which the wen occasioned, was,
however,  considerable, it being as big as the largest kind
of walnut ; and the patient was very desirous of having
the tumour lessened,  though very  averse to having it ex-
tirpated.  He had for this purpose  used salt  and water. 
130
A CLASSIFICATION
which made  the  skin inflame.   Having consulted me,  1
told him  that if stimulating applications were to do good,
they could only effect it  by causing the  skin to ulcerate,
and the contents of the  wen to be discharged, as had for-
merly  happened ;  all which might  be  accomplished in  a
more direct, and less teazing manner, by just pricking the
bag with a lancet, and squeezing out its contents.  I thought
it also  probable, that the small  wound would heal, and that
the operation might be occasionally repeated.  The pa-
tient was pleased with the  proposal,  and it was put  in exe-
cution.  The  contents were of the consistence which is
termed meliceritous, and  had  a peculiar  odour.   No in-
flammation ensued, and the wound healed ; but,  after a lit-
tle time,  it opened again, and gave discharge to  a small
quantity of watery liquor,  of precisely  the same odour as
the original contents, and the little puncture  again closed
up.  From that time to the present, which is  now some
years,  the wound  has occasionally opened, discharging a
small quantity of sometimes a more fluid, sometimes a more
meliceritous substance;  and, after this discharge, the aper-
ture closes up.  This circumstance  occurs  but seldom ;
perhaps every second or third month.  The aperture is so
small as not to be discernible ; no plaster  is worn upon it,
and the  patient has got rid of a considerable deformity,
upon what he thinks very easy and satisfactory terms.

  I have mentioned these circumstances to illustrate the
functions of the cysts of these tumours ; and to  show what
may be done in some cases, as a palliation  of these  diseas-
es.   It is not, however, meant to recommend  such prac-
tice ;  for, on  the  contrary, it will be shown hereafter, that
it is dangerous to tamper with encysted tumours; and, in-
deed, I should not have ventured on this palliative mode of 
OF TUMOURS.
131
 treatma^, in the case related,  had I not known from the
 effects  of the  former conduct, which  had been pursued,
 that the cyst and contiguous parts were of an indolent na-
 ture, and not disposed to re-act in consequence of violence
 done to them.

   The contents of encysted tumours have been denominat-
 ed from their consistence, steatomatous, atheromatous, and
 meliceritous.   To this ancient distinction must be added
 another; the cyst sometimes secretes a substance like nail
 or horn ; which is protruded when the skin ulcerates, hard-
 ens,  and is pushed forwards in proportion as the cyst se-
 cretes more of this substance, so as to appear like horns ;
 as  has  been shown by Sir E.  Home in the Philosophical
 Transactions.

   There is yet another curious circumstance to be noticed
 with relation to cysts; which is, that they have sometimes
 hairs growing  from their interior surface.   This happens
 in'those cysts  which are not unfrequently met with in the
 ovary.*

  But though  the  cysts of  encysted tumours must be con-
 sidered  as possessing the organization of other parts, and as
 secreting and  absorbing surfaces;  yet their vessels  are,
 probably,  very minute,  and not endued with a degree of
 strength adequate to the ordinary reparation of injury.  If
they  produce granulations  they are flabby,  and the sores
 are not  disposed to heal.

  * Some of the tubercles which occur in the viscera seem to he formed
 by the deposition of various kinds of substances from the surface of a cyst,
 which appears  to be the first formed and most essential part of the dis-
 ease..
• 
132
A CLASSIFICATION
  It is no uncommon circumstance to meet with wans, that
have burst  spontaneously, and have  thrown out amngus,
which, like a foreign body, prevents the surrounding integ-
uments from healing.

  Most parts that anuveak, are irritable when excited, and
apt to assume diseased actions.   This frequently happens
in a striking manner in the cysts of these tumours ; and as,
perhaps,  surgeons  are not sufficiently apprized of the bad
consequences sometimes occurring from  the inflammation
of wens, and as it is proper to show the danger of irritating
these  diseases, 1 shall relate a few cases to illustrate this
fact.

  A woman about  forty  years of age was admitted into St.
Bartholomew's Hospital, with a frightful fungus growing on
the front of the belly, below, and to the right of the navel.
She had been a  healthy  lusty woman, but was greatly de-
ranged in health by the  pain and irritation  which this had
occasioned.  She  described it  as being a wen which had
burst, and  her  account was afterwards verified by dissec-
tion.   The fungus bled, and she  could scarcely bear the
softest dressings to be applied  to the part.   Nothing miti-
gated her sufferings so much as lint  dipped in  a solution of
opium,  and kept moist by very  frequently squeezing on  it.
from  a sponge, a sufficient quantity of the  solution.  No-
thing allayed the constitutional  irritation but large doses ol
 opium.  She died exhausted in the course of a fortnight.

   I removed the cyst from off the aponeurosis of the exter-
nal oblique muscle, where it covers the  rectus, leaving the
tendinous expansion quite clean and unaffected.  The cyst
t 
                       liF TUMOURS.                  1.1*5

 had ulcerated in two small places, so that the fungus which
 it contained was visible from behind.

   A man between forty and fifty years of age, who was in
 St. Bartholomew's Hospital, had a wen on his back, which
 ulcerated, discharged an atheromatous substance, and af-
 terwards inflamed, and threw  out  a  fungus.    Extensive
 erysipelatous  inflammation took  place in the  surrounding
 integuments,  and his constitution was greatly deranged by
 irritation and fever.  When he  was almost exhausted by
 these circumstances,  and before any local amendment had
 taken place, another wen of the same nature, which he had
 on his right thigh, ulcerated, and was followed by the same
 consequences, and, conjointly, they  soon destroyed him.

   A gentleman, of a stout  make, and  about forty years of
 age, had a tumour, supposed to be sarcomatous, which had
 formed beneath the  integuments on the lower edge of the
 pectoral muscle.   It was attended  with severe pain occa-
 sionally, at which time it rapidly increased in size, and pro-
 duced a great deal  of fever and irritation,* which made
 him look very sickly, and grow very thin, and caused some
 persons to deem the disease cancerous.

   When the tumour had acquired  a magnitude  of abouf,
 four inches in length, and three in  breadth and depth, he

  * Circumstances like these  should, I think, be particularly attended to
 in the history of tumours ; for  they may serve,  perhaps, to characterize
the disease in which they «ccur.  Tumours  of an innocent nature com-
monly increase in an equal ratio, and do not excite irritation in the conti-
 guous parts,or in the constitution.  Yet this, as a general rule, has excep-
tions.  Some of these have  been stated under the head of pancrer'ic
sarcoma, occurring in or about the mammary edano".
   VOL. II.                 17* 
134
A CLASSIFICATION
Submitted to its removal; the integuments were divided ano
turned back, and the tumour dissected off the surface, and,
in some degree, from under the edge of the pectoral muscle.

  When the  tumour was examined, it was found to be
composed of a steatomatous substance, contained in a thin
capsule.  This substance resembled that which I have de-
scribed as  being sometimes found in cells in the testis, or
intermixed with the diseased organization of that part.  It
was firm, and resembled cheese  in its yellow colour and
unctuous appearance ; but it was not unctuous to the touch.

  The wound,* made in the operation, soon healed,  and
the patient's  health was restored to as good, or seemingly
a better state than before the formation of this  disease.
He also regained his usual athletic form.   But in less than
three  months  after his recovery, two new tumours formed,
one above,  and the'other below the cicatrix of the wound*
The patient did not particularly attend to them till they had
attained a size equal to that of a large walnut.   To dissect
out both these tumours,  and make so free  a  removal of
part- as to render it probable that no new growth would
ensue, seemed to be a very formidable operation;  and, as
the nature of the former  tumour was known, and  it was
supposed that these were of the same kind, it was agreed
io puncture  the upper one, to express  the  contents,  and
await  the event.   This was done by a puncture of half an
inch in length, made by  an abscess lancet.  The contents
were exactly like those of the original tumour.   Vehement
erysipelatous  or irritative inflammation took place,  and
sloughing about the diseased part; the inflammation rapid-
ly extended to the opposite side  of the thorax, and then
down  the integuments of the  abdomen to the groin.  The 
OF
TUMOUR^.
133
derangement of the constitution was as violent as the local
disease, and  in about a week the patient died.

  These cases are related to show the danger of irritating
wens, either of an irritable na'ture, or occurring in irritable
habits ;  and because  I have not met with such  cases de-
scribed  in books in a manner adequate to the importance
of the subject.

  It deserves to be noticed in this brief account of encysted
tumours, that the  disposition to form wens  prevails  fre-
quently in many parts of the body at the same time.  It is
not very uncommon  to  see many,  even  twenty or thirty
wens, alike in their structure and  contents, in various
parts  of the same subject.  Nay,  the disposition seems
sometimes to be  hereditary, and transmitted  from parents
to their children.

  The subject would appear to me to be incomplete were
I not to notice the formation of cavities, containing differ-
ent substances*, and which  can neither be accounted encyst-
ed tumours, nor  abscesses. The cysts are like the cysts of
abscesses ;  they are secreting surfaces, not regular in shape,
but varying  according to the form  of the parts, amongst
which they are  produced.  They  adhere, also, like the
sides of abscesses, to the circumjacent parts, and are not
easily separable from them like the cyst of wens.  These
cysts sometimes contain a  kind of serum and hydatids  like
the cysts formed in  the liver, and  other viscera.  Some-
times they  contain a number of granular substances of a
white colour, having a polished surface,  and  generally an
oval figure, which resemble pearl barley,  but the granules
are generally smaller.   I  have seen the  cysts  containing 
 136                    a  Classification

 hydatids,  in the back  and about the  hip, on the shoulder
 and in  front  of the elbow joint.*   I never  met  with any

  ♦ The cysts from which such substances are  discharged, are, in gene-
 fal, very irritable.  If they are kept open for some time, an alteration
 -•eems to take place in the actions of the part,  and they no longer contin-
 ue to secrete  that matter which forms the granules  I have described, nor
 the fluid in which hydatids are found.  As these diseases are not so fre-
 quent as to he familiarly known to surgeons, whose practice is not exten-
 sive, I will relate two cases to show the nature and treatment of such dis-
 cuses.—Case.  A young lady  had  a considerable collection of  fluid
 beneath the biceps muscle of the arm.  It protruded on  either side of the
 muscle, and reached to about three inches above the elbow joint.   I punc-
 tured it with an abscess lancet, and discharged about six ounces of serous
 fluid, containing a few hydatids.  The wound, which was an inch in length,
 was  dressed with spermaceti  salve, a bread  and water  poultice applied,
 and the arm was supported by a sling. For a few days serous fluid oozed
 from the aperture, when the external wound had closed  so much as to
 prevent its escape. I introduced a probe into the cavity, and afterwards
a small tent, to prevent the aperture in the cyst from  closing.  This trivial
 irritation caused great disturbance in the  parts, to a considerable  dis-
tance, which became heated and swollen, and  so painful, that I dared not
to persevere.   The wound was suffered to heal,  which it soon did;  but the
fluid collected again.   Instructed by  this experience^! now opened the
cyst with a lancet, introduced a probe-pointed bistoury, and enlarged the
 aperture to the extent of an inch and a half.   This wound was dressed su-
perficially; it was three  weeks before it closed, and afterwards no collec-
tion of fluid took* place in the cyst,  and the patient remained perfectly
 well.—Case.  A gentleman had for  many years suffered great inconven-
ience from a collection of fluid beneath the fascia of the ring finger, the
palmar fascia, and that of the fore-arm.  The collection seemed to  have
 begun in the palm of the hand, but had extended itself half  way up the
thqca of the ring finger,  and passing under the carpal ligament, had made
fts way by the ulnar side  of the flexor muscles, and  protruded the fascia
 of the  fore-arm in that part which intervenes between the flexors of the
lingers and the flexor carpi ulnar!?.  At this part the fluid was nearest to
the surface, and it was  agreed, in consultation, that it should here be
opened.  I  accordingly made a  division of the skin  about two  inches in
 length, to expose the fascia of the fore-arm, which I divided to the extent
 df an inch and a half.  I  then distracted the muscles  a little, when there 
OF  TUMOURS.
137
 containing these granular bodies but about the hip, and, in
 the thecae of tendons;  I have, therefore, conjectured that
 these cysts are enlargements of the bursae mucosae.

   The greater number of these cases, which I have seen,
 have ultimately, but very  slowly,  done well.  However,
 some cysts, upon becoming open, produce great and even
 fatal  irritation  in the contiguous  parts.   Sometimes cysts,
 as Mr. Hey has lately remarked, produce that appearance
 which he  has called  fungus haematodes.  Of this circum-
 stance,  as  it appertains to the present subject, I shall  re-
 late an instance ; but to.speak more largely of that disease,
 would be deviating from the plan of this  paper, and would
 be unnecessary,  as  the  numerous  and  accurate  cases.
 which Mr.  Hey has related, show that this disease may  ex-
 ist without being connected with cysts.

 gushed out a large quantity of fluid, containing a number of the largest
granules that ever I had seen formed in the  sheafis of tendons. Several
 of them were as big as  small grapes.   By pressing the palm of the hand
 more were forced out, yet I remained uncertain whether the whole were
 discharged.  The wound was dressed superficially with spermaceti salve»
 a bread and water poultice applied,  and the arm kept supported in  a
sling.  Three days after the operation, fearing lest soma of the granules
 might  remain,  I introduced the point of a varnished catheter, and impel-
 led some warm water beneath the fascia of the hand.  No granules re-
turned with it: but this experiment  caused great nervous irritation in
the part, and in the constitution in general.  Nothing, therefore, was far-
ther done that could irritate the parts,  and the wound healed in about six
weeks, in the following  manner : The skin on either side of the wound be-
came tumid, and threw forth exuberant granulations to such a height,
that a  swelling as big as half an eg;,' cut lengthwise, projected above the
level of the skin ;  as the granulations from either Eidc touched, they coa-
 lesced, and thus the divided fascia was covered. The granulations being
afterwards absorbed, the cicatrix  appeared like one from a common  cut,
and the integuments  were flat,  and in a natural state.   I saw the patient
twe years after this operation, and there had bem no now collection cf
fluid.- 
138
A CLASSIFICATION"
   A girl about sixteen years of age, who was in St. Bar-
tholomew's Hospital,  had a collection of fluid under the
triceps  extensor cubiti,  near to the olecranon.   When I
first saw it, it was not larger than a pullet's egg,  but it in-
creased, notwithstanding the means which were employed
to discuss it;  and in about twelve months, it presented it-
self beneath the integuments on the outside of the arm, in
the space between the extensor and flexor muscles, a little
above the elbow.   Upon compressing the projecting inte-
guments, a fluctuation of fluid was felt beneath the triceps
muscle in the  inside of the arm, and the  collection seemed
to extend high up on the back par.t of the os brachii. As
the parts containing the fluids seemed more disposed to in-
crease in dimensions, than to give way and discharge their
contents, the  collection was opened where it pointed, and
a quantity of  serum was discharged.  On introducing the
linger, some  strata of coagulated blood came away, and
this was succeeded by so great an haemorrhage, that  it be-
came necessary to  enlarge the wound, in order to  search
fix the bleeding vessels.   In proportion as this was  done,
and more coagulated blood was detached from the sides cl
the cyst, which had contained both it and the serum, the
haemorrhage increased, and the blood flowed so  profusely
from  so many and  such large arteries, that it was impossi-
ble to controul its effusion.  Amputation seemed unavoid-
able,  and was performed as high up as possible, but not
clearly  above the cyst,' some part of which  remained
amongst the muscles of the stump.

  On examining the amputated limb, a thick and firm stra-
tum  of  coagulated  blood was  found adhering to the sides
of a cyst, which extended from a little above the olecranon.
where it was  large. <n nearly the upper part of the os bra- 
OF TUMOURs.
1 rj'j
 chii, where it gradually tapered to a small size.   The up-
 per part of the cyst was cut off from the rest by the ampu-
 tating knife, and  of course remained upon the stump.   At
 first the stump appeared to do well, but shortly after the
 sides of the wound separated, considerable  inflammation
 came on,  and a fungus was thrust forth.   Great fever and
 irritation  accompanied  this local disorder,  and the  girl
 died.*

   The treatment of encysted tumours  resembles that of
 the sarcomatous kind.   By abstracting blood and heat from
 the part it is probable the growth of them  will be stopped,
 and the disease made for a time stationary.  They are not
 likely to be dispersed ; and as the magnitude  is increased
 by delay, and the spontaneous opening  of the cyst general-
 ly leaves a vexatious and intractable sore, and sometime:-
 is attended with more dangerous consequences,  the early
 removal of the disease is the best practical conduct that can
 be pursued.

  * An unrestrainable ha>morrhagic tendency seems to  be the essential
 character of that disease, which Mr. Hey has denominated nematodes.
 That it takes place  from diseased structures is manifest; yet I  havf
 known it happen without any morbid growth having  preceded it. I shali
 briefly relate a case  of this description, because the term fungus haema-
todes seems to be a name commonly now applied to every bleeding fun-
gus, whilst that hsematodal disposition, which Mr. Hey has described, is
a very rare occurrence.—Case.  A young man, who was out of health,
complained of stiffness and pain in the bottom of his belly, and took to his
bed, declaring his inability to move about.  Suddenly a swelling formed
above the Poupart's ligament, which rapidly increased, and the skin ulce-
rated. A frightful fungus seemed to present itself, and an uncontroulable
 haemorrhage ensued.  When the case was examined after death, all that
 bulged out could be removed by the finger or sponge,  and appeared to be
 coagulated blood, rather Uian fungus, and at the bottom nothing was seen
 but the abdomiual muscles, which had that braised and  brownish appear-
 ance which Mr. Hey has described. 
140
A CLASSIFICATION'
   Another genus of tumours is the osseous.  Those which
 hang pendulous into joints are sometimes bony.   Osseous
 tumours also form, though not frequency,  in  other parts:
 of this circumstance I shall relate the following  instance.
 A woman was  admitted into St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital,
 with a hard tumour in the ham.   It was about four inches
 in  length, and three in breadth.   She had also  a tumour
 on the front of the thigh a little  above the patella, of less
 size and hardness.   The fumour in the ham, by its pressure
 on the nerves and vessel?, had greatly benumbed the sensi-
 bility, and obstructed the circulation of the leg,  so that it
 was very cedematous.  As it appeared impossible to remove
 this tumour, and,  as its origin and connections were un-
 known, amputation was resolved  on.  On examining the
 amputated limb, the tumour in the bam could only be divi-
 ded by a saw ;  several slices were  taken out  of it by  this
 means, and appeared to consist of coagulable and vascular
 substance, in the interstices of which a great deal of bony
 matter was deposited.   The remainder of (he tumour was
 macerated,  and dried, and it appears to  be formed of an
 irregular and  compact deposition of  the earth  of bone.
 The tumour on the front of the thigh was of the  same na-
 ture with that  in the ham; but containing so littte lime,
 fhat it could  be cut with a knife.   The thigh-bone was not
 at all diseased  ; which is mentioned, because,  when bony
 matter-is deposited in a limb, it generally  arises from a dis-
 ease of the bone.   This case, however, shows that the ves-
 sels  of a tumour may secrete phosphate of lime,  and con-
vert it into  an osseous substance,  without any  manifest
 cause existing to excite such ossific inflammation.

   Vascular  tumours,  also, may   doubtless become con-
verted  into a substance resembling cartilage, like those 
OF TUMOURb.
HI
(bund in joints; and their hardness might then exclude
them from the genus sarcoma.  I have not. however, met
with such instances.

  The diseases which I have been describing may be con-
sidered as edifices which are built up by diseased  actions*
and in which those  diseased actions  continue  to  reside.
The actions themselves do not admit of examination, though
the structures do  which  they erect.   Therefore,  as  Dr.
Baillie has observed, it is by an examination  of diseased
structure that we must be  slowly led to a knowledge of dis-
eased actions.  It does not follow as a certain consequence.
that similar diseased actions will, in every instance,  pro-
duce precisely the same diseased structure ;  though  it is
highly probable that they  will do so in general.  This ob-
servation would diminish  our surprize if, in some rare in-
stances, we found cancer existing where a cancerous struc-
ture was not strikingly manifest; or if, in others, a structure
like  that  of cancer was  observed where no cancerous
actions  were  apparent.   The  scirrhous tumours,  which
form beneath the peritoneal covering or lining of the  uterus,
have something of the structure  of cancer, and yet  they
are not cancerous.   In all cases where tumours are formed
we must suppose an increase, and, in some degree, a disor-
dered action of the vessels which form them;  but in many
these actions possess but little diseased peculiarity.   As in
every case of growth, in the re-production of destroyed
parts, the gelatinous substance of the blood is first deposit-
ed, and afterwards rendered vascular, therefore I have con-
sidered a tumour formed in this manner as one of the  most
simple kind, and possessing the least of diseased peculiarity.
but I am aware that I may have included under this gcnerai
character tumours of essentially different natures.   In t\v
                            I o *
   VOL.  11.                   ltJ 
u-
A CLASSIFICATION OF TUMOURS.
 adipose sarcoma there must be some peculiarity in the ar-
 rangement and actions of vessels which form this tumour;
 but it must be  accounted  a natural rather than a morbid
 peculiarity.  The pancreatic sarcoma,  I  should suppose,
 differed but little from the first species.  It may be consid-
 ered as  a new growth characterized merely by the pecu-
 liarity of its appearance, in consequence of its being sepa-
 rated into many  diatinct parts which sometimes  cohere by
 a looser kind of texture, and sometimes are separated by a
 firmer substance.   The connecting medium appears  like
 the thickened cellular substance  of  the  part in  which the
 newly organized matter is  formed.   Indeed I have some-
 times pressed out the separated  portions of this substance
 from the  connecting medium which environed them.  In
 the mammary sarcoma I suspect some diseased  peculiarity
 to exist, as has been mentioned in speaking of that subject.
 In the tuberculated sarcoma the  predisposition to that dis-
 ease seems general on the part of the constitution.   In the
 medullary sarcoma the disease seems local, in the.first in-
 stance, and propagated by means of the absorbing vessels
 to their glands, and frequently in a course retrogade vto that
 which the absorbed fluids would naturally take ;  but in the
 advanced state  of the disease the morbid disposition ap-
 pears to be general.   In carcinomatous sarcoma the  dis-
 ease appears to begin in a point  or  small  district,  and to
 extend in every direction, as rays do from a centre, affecting
every surrounding part, whatever may be its nature.  The
 diseased actions, also, though they may be at times more
 violent or more tranquil, never cease.  This disease is also
 extended  through the medium  of the absorbing vessels in
 the direction which the absorbed matter would naturally
 take. 
ON CHRONIC AND LUMBAR ABSCESSES
  Chronic abscesses differ from those produced by phlegmo-
noid'inflammation in many particulars. In diseases of an ac
tive and violent nature, the contiguous parts become affect-
ed, whilst in those of an indolent disposition they remain free
from disease, and unaltered in  structure.   An absorbent
gland, for instance, may be enlarged to a considerable size ;
yet, if the disease be of an indolent nature, the surrounding
cellular substance is loose and pliant.  On the contrary,  if
one or two of these glands  undergo active inflammation,
the surrounding parts participate in the affection, and all
traces of the glands primarily affected, are lost in the more
general inflammation and abscess. In phlegmonous abscess-
es, the inflammation which was most violent in the  centre,
and had there terminated in suppuration, had, at the same
time, induced adhesion  of  the surrounding cellular  sub-
stance ; and thus the sides of the abscess are, as  it were,
walled in and supported ; and the extension of the  disease
in the circumference is to a certain degree  prevented.   It
also appears, that it is very much owing to the parts cover-
ing the front of the abscess participating in the irritation,
that the matter  so readily makes its  way to  the surface.
and is discharged.

  On the contrary, in chronic abscesses it generally hap-
pens,  that very little adhesion of the surrounding substance
takes  place, and the matter is more  at liberty to  extend 
1.44
ON LUMBAR ABSCEisSEa.
 itself in all directions ; at the same time, the parts covering
 it do not participate in the disease, they therefore do not
 inflame and ulcerate till their distension induces them to
 do so, and such a degree of distension may not take place
 till the abscess has acquired an enormous magnitude.

   Now, if it could be proved, and I think it practicable,
 that chronic abscesses are not from their nature deleterious
 diseases, but are disturbing and destructive to the constitu-
 tion in proportion to their magnitude, we should  then
 clearly see,  that the objects of surgery in their  treatment
 ought to be  those of preventing their increase, or reducing
 their dimensions.

   As inflammation varies in its degree, so there are many
 abscesses neither strictly speaking phlegmonous nor chronic,
 but of an intermediate nature.  I think, therefore, it may
 be useful to  insert a case of purely chronic abscess,  as an
 illustration of the preceding remarks.

                       CASE I.

   An abscess containing twelve ounces of well-formed pus
 took place  beneath the  integuments covering the upper
 part of the pectoral muscle ;  it elevated the skin, and had
 formed a globular kind of tumour.  This suppuration had
 been attended with scarcely any pain, and the integuments,
 although distended, were indolent, and appeared perfectly
 healthy and natural.   1 punctured the abscess with a lancet
 conveyed obliquely between the integuments and the cyst,
 evacuated the  contained pus, and closed the aperture with
sticking plaster : but on  the  re-accumulation of matter it
was  no longer confined in a cyst, but  became diffused 
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
145
through the cellular  substance  leading  to  tho axilla, in
which a slight inflammation  was produced.  I was, there-
fore,  obliged  to make a new  orifice, and leave it  open.
that the  secreted  matter might have an outlet, and not
extend disease, by thus pervading the  cellular substance.

   The surface of  the cysts  of all abscesses has the pow-
er  of secreting and  absorbing their  contents.   Even
phlegmonous  abscesses occasionally  disperse, and  many
cases are on record of large abscesses, which I conclude
were  of a chronic  nature, being dispersed in consequence
of the occurrence of a diarrhoea.   It appears to me, that
the cysts of abscesses perform the same function with re-
spect to their contents that the membranous surfaces of
cavities do in  cases of dropsy.   In either instance, if se-
cretion  exceeds absorption, the disease enlarges ; if it be
equal, the disease is stationary; and if it be less, the disease
diminishes.

   With this view  of the  subject, and knowing the  danger
arising from the opening of chronic abscesses, I have en-
deavoured  to disperse them,  and I have  sometimes been
successful in my attempts.   As an instance of what may be
accomplished,  I relate the following case :

                      CASE  II.

  A gentleman about twenty-six years of age, consulted mc
on account of a very large abscess which had formed amidst
the muscles of his  thigh.  It protruded  the  fascia on the
front  of the vastus internus muscle, from  the patella to
above the middle of the thigh : the posterior muscles of the,
fhigh also bulged outwards,  so as  to give a considerable 
146
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
convexity to the back part of the limb.  The patient looked
unhealthy ; he was languid and irritable; he had a furred
tongue ; the actions of his  bowels were irregular,  and the
secretion of the bile was deficient or faulty.   I desired him
to drink a pint  of the decoction of sarsaparilla daily; to
take five grains of the  pil. hydrarg. every second  night,
and to pay strict attention to keep his bowels  regular.  I
also recommended a  bandage to give support  to the sides
of the abscess.  However,  it continued to increase, and in
about six weeks the integuments at the lower part became
more prominent than elsewhere, and felt heated  and un-
easy.  Fearful of their becoming inflamed,  and frustrating
the plan of treatment which I designed to pursue, I opened
the abscess with an abscess lancet, making a wound about
three-fourths of an inch in length.  About thirty ounces of
serous pus flowed through this orifice, but the current was
very  frequently obstructed by large clots  of  that  flakey
substance which is so commonly found in such abscesses.
Towards the end of the discharge clots of blood obstructed
the orifices,  and  they were so numerous and large, and
came out of the aperture with so much difficulty,  that I
thought it better to close  the wound, even before the ab-
scess was completely emptied, than run the risk of irritat-
ing the sides of the wound  by too much poking, or of
admitting air into the cavity of the abscess.  I therefore
cleaned and closed the sides of the wound by sticking plas-
ters  and  applied  a roller round the limb.   The wound
healed, and  the.patient's  health was in some degree im-
proved.  At first  the cavity of the abscess filled rapidly, so
that the fascia protruded again.  The protrusion, however,
did not increase, and the disease seemed  stationary.   After
about three weeks the patient was permitted to take exer-
cise on account of his health, and he generally slept in the 
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
147
 country.   By these means, and with the continuance of his
 medicines, his appetite became good, and his bowels reg-
 ular.  He then left off the sarsaparilla, and took the pil.
 hydrarg. only, when he observed that the faeces were not of
 a proper  colour.  As the  patient's health  amended, the
 abscess decreased,  so that in about six months  there re-
 mained no evidence of such a disease having existed.  After
 some time, the patient went into the army,  where fatigue
 and irregularity of diet made him  ill again, and he per-
 ceived  some  fluid in  the  abscess.  He  therefore relin-
 quished this mode of life.   On the restoration of his health,
 to which the use of the same medical means seemed to be
 contributary,  no vestiges  of the abscess  remained ;  and
 though  many years have now elapsed, no  return of the
 local disease has taken place.

  As chronic abscesses in general form in consequence of a
disordered state of the constitution; and as it is subject to
great disturbance when they become open, so it is requisite
to endeavour  to improve the general state of health prior
to that event.   By such means I  have seen several chronic
abscesses dispersed ; and even if our endeavours have only
the effect of rendering the abscess stationary, whilst the
patient's health is improving, it is productive  of great good,
since it enables the constitution to  encounter that disorder
attendant  on the abscess becoming open.  Such  topical
applications as will afterwards be mentioned, may be em-
ployed at the same time, with a view to render the abscess
stationary, or to diminish it, by lessening the  secretion into
the cavity, and by promoting absorption  from it.  I maj
also add, that  I have seen several abscesses, which contin-
ued to enlarge under such management in the first instance.
disper?ed by it, after they bad been once punctured. 
 *48              ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.

  The foregoing  remarks and  cases are designed to illus
trate the nature of chronic abscesses in general, and I now
proceed to consider the most important species of such a
disease that we meet with in practice, I mean the lumbar
abscess.   Some lumbar abscesses can, indeed, scarcely be
denominated chronic ; they are formed with so much  pain,
the pus which they contain being good, and so unlike what
is generally found in the cysts of indolent abscesses, that'
we must suppose the disease which produced it was of a
different nature.   I have  seen also inflammatory fever in-
duced when such an abscess has become open, which was
an additional proof of its being of a phlegmonoid nature.
Such occurrences are, indeed, very rare:  but it very com-
monly  happens that the formation of lumbar abscesses is
attended  with  more pain, and other inflammatory symp-
toms, than are incident to chronic abscess in general.

  Whatever the nature of  a lumbar abscess may be, the
surgical treatment of it must be similar to that of a chronic
abscess;  for as the matter presents in a part of the body
which is so remote from that where it was originally form-
ed, as not to sympathize with the disease ;  so the progress
of the  abscess, before breaking, will  resemble that of a
chronic abscess.   To use the language of Mr. Hunter, a
lumbar abscess, where it presents, is to be considered as an
abscess in the part, and not as an abscess of the part.,

  As lumbar abscesses in general descend along the psoas
muscle, under Poupart's ligament, and present beneath the
fascia of the thigh, the resistance of the fascia affords an
additional obstacle to the  progress of the matter to the sur-
face, so that such  abscesses, if  left to themselves, often ac-
quire an  enormous  magnitude before  they spontaneously
open. 
                 UN LUMBAR ABSCE.v>KS.  •       *   149

   LAimbar-abscessesalso, in general are not simple diseas-
 es; they  arise from and communicate with carious verte-
 bras; which circumstance is, I believe,  the cause of their
 frequent fatality.  The first eight cases that 1  attended* af-
 ter I had adopted a new mode of opening them, were sim-
 ple abscesses, and  not  arising from disease of the bone ;
 which led me to believe, that they were more frequently
 unconnected with diseased bone than later experience has
 taught me.   The general opinion of surgeons, in which 1
 entirely concur, is, that lumbar abscesses most frequently
 arise  in consequence of diseases of the vertebrae, and they
 ■mould certainly all be  treated as if such was their origin.

   Before I proceed to describe  the particular treatment
 which I would recommend in chronic and lumbar absces-
 ses, it will be useful to enquire into the  cause of that con-
 stitutional disorder, which is so  generally consequent  to
 their  becoming open.   It has been ascribed to the admis-
sion of airinto thecavity of the abscess, or to the absorption
of pus from it.   That it is not owing to the former, we in-
fer, because air does not appear to be stimulating to those
surfaces of the animal body, to which it is not naturally ap-
plied.  The  air which  escapes from a wounded lung, and
renders the cellular substance  emphysematous, produces
no inflammation of it.   Air has also been blown into differ-
ent cavities of the body,  to ascertain its  effects; and it has
been  absorbed from them without having excited any in-
flammation.   Neither does air appear to be stimulating  to
the exposed  surfaces of ulcers which are in a state of dis-
ease.   Yet, though air seems to have no stimulating prop-
erty to .such  surfaces,  and, therefore, cannot be assigned
is the cause of that irritation and inflammation consequent
   vol.  n.                  19*               % 
J50            ' 0\ LUMBAR ABSCESSES.

to the opening of an abscess, yet it is of the highest impoi
tance in pursuing the treatment which 1 have recommend-
ed in  these abscesses, that no  bubble of air should be ad-
mitted into the cavity,  because it would probably cause
the putrefraction of the fluid contained in the abscess, the
absorption of which would  be very deleterious.   To show
the consequences that might arise from such an occurrence.
and to urge the necessity  of all that caution which I shall
recommend  in opening lumbar abscesses, I relate the fol-
lowing case:

                      CASE  III.

   A surgeon discharged a  large quantity of pus, containing
flakes, from a lumbar abscess, which presented itself beneath
the fascia of the thigh.  The matter was discharged through
a wound made by an abscess lancet, and in holding  open
the orifice with probes, in order to give discharge to some
coagula, a bubble or two of air was admitted into the cavi-
ty of the abscess.  His assistant perceived this occurrence,
and mentioned it to me prior to the coming on of those
symptoms which afterwards took place.  When the ab-
scess was emptied,  the  wound was closed with sticking
plaster, and bound down by many straps of plaster placed
over it. • On the third day the patient was  attacked by so
violent a putrid fever, that it could be compared  to no
other, unless to such as is occasioned by the plague.   The
fascia of the thigh was elevated as much as it had been be-
fore the operation ; the skin was very hot, and of a dusky
colour.  On removing the straps and coverings from off
the wounded part, a large blast of ftetid air burst from the
aperture, which was followed by the discharge of a consid-
 erable quantity of a very  offensive and bloody fluid.   The 
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
I6i
 patient lived but twenty hours; and, on examining his body
 afterwards, a considerable quantity of bloody fluid was found
 effused into ail the large cavities.

   If the notions which have been delivered respecting ab
 scesses be correct, I mean, that there is continual secretion,
 and continual absorption from the cyst, as from a membran-
 ous surface, or from that of an ulcer, then it would follow,
 that  the absorption of pus  cannot  be productive of fever.
 Though absorption of pus is continually taking place, yet
 no fever occurs before the opening of an abscess;  neither
 does it come on where abscesses are dispersed,  and where
 such absorption must indisputably  have  happened.  It is
 true, in these cases, the pus is generally  inoffensive in its
 qualities ;  it might be contended, that  though it be admit-
 ted into the circulation with impunity, yet some of the fetid
 matter usually discharged from the surfaces of open absces-
 ses, being absorbed from them, might prove the cause of
 the fever.   We do not, however, find such fever produced
 by the absorption of foetid matter from the surfaces of large
 ulcers.   We  frequently apply the  term " putrid" to sub-
 stances merely foetid, as well as to those in a state of chem-
 ical putrefaction; and from this inaccuracy of language, I
 suspect the equal inaccuracy  of opinion has arisen, which
 has led to the belief of deleterious consequences succeed-
 ing to the absorption  of matter.  I need not discuss these
subjects  further, because  the enquiry into the true cause
 of the fever will furnish arguments to refute  false notions.

   An attentive examination of the subject will,,  I believe,
convince us, that the fever depends upon  the state  of irri
 tation and  inflammation which takes place in the  cyst of
'he absces?.  First, because its violence corresponds wi'h 
\.j2             Off LUMBAR ABSCESSES.

the degree of local inflammation.  Thus, in the old method
of opening chronic abscesses by an incision of considerable
length, the fever was much more violent than  when the
abscesses were suffered to break of themselves, or when
they are merely punctured.  Secondly, because the kind
and degree of fever accords with the state of inflammation
and irritation existing in the cyst of the abscess.   Thirdly,
when a lumbar abscess opens  spontaneously,  in a manner
productive of the least possible  irritation to the cyst, the
patient  sometimes remains for many  days without heat or
pain in the part, and without fever.   Afterwards, when the
cyst has become irritated and inflamed, and the constitution
disturbed by a peculiar kind of fever, the symptoms may.
and  generally do subside, and the patient merely feels lan-
guid, and slightly hectical.  If local  irritation is again ex-
cited, again the concomitant fever takes place.  The cases
which I shall afterwards relate  will,  I think, prove these
assertions; and they have induced me to believe, that the
disturbance of the constitution at large depends upon, and
accords with, the local disease.  Such opinions lead to this
pr-actical conclusion, that if we wish to prevent or mitigate
 the  fever, which exhausts the patient's powers, we should
 do  every  thing  to  prevent  and allay  the  local disorder.
  vhich is likely to arise in the abscess.

   There seems nothing mysterious or difficult to account
 for  in the effects resulting from an abscess becoming open.
  If any of the natural cavities of the body were in the same
 state, inflammation would ensue,  and would produce a fe-
  ver corresponding to it in its nature and degree.   From the
  weak and peculiar state of constitution, subject to  chronic
  abscess,  both the local inflammation and the concomitant
   ever are in general of a peculiar kfud : the local inflamma 
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
153
tion partakes of what would, in general, be denominated an
erysipelatous nature, and the fever of a violent and rapid
hectic.   I have, however, known the opening of a lumbar
abscess productive of inflammation of a phlegmonoid char-
acter in the cyst, and then the constitutional  affection was
likewise what we term inflammatory fever.

   Having thus  endeavoured to investigate the cause of the
evils  resulting  from  a chronic abscess becoming  open,
I  may  further  add,  that if the opinions  which  I have
formed of them be correct, the danger must greatly depend
upon the dimensions  of the abscess.  A chronic  abscess,
beneath the fascia  of the thigh, may be opened, when i^
contains four ounces.pf pus ;  and if the surface becomes ir-
ritated  and  inflamed,  it  may induce a degree  of constitu-
tional  disturbance  and  fever;  yet  such an  abscess neg-
lected,  may increase till  it holds four quarts ;* and then.
if it  becomes  open,  and has  the same degree  of local
disease, and it were granted that it  should oqly act upon
the constitution in  the same proportion, it  must produce
more than  thirty times  the degree of fever.   If, also,  we
are to ascribe  the weakness consequent to the opening of
chronic abscesses in any degree to the drain of fluids which
takes place from  them, it will be in the same  proportion
greater in the  latter than in the former case.  It seems,
however, probable, that it is the violent actions which ex
haust the patient's  strength, and not the loss of fluids; for
in dropsies  of the ovary,  a much greater loss of more nu-
 tritive  fluids is not attended with weakness in any material
 degree.  ,•
   After this discussion  of the  nature and cause of the il

   *I  have discharged four ale-house quarts full of ma**.' from hf-neath «"-,
 fascia of the thigh. 
154
ON LUMBAR  ABSCE^fcES.
consequences resulting from the opening of chronic ab*
scesses,  we may proceed  to  establish rules for their treat-
ment.  The first object, I think, is to disperse, if possible,
lumbar abscesses, because  it is  most probable that the
matter is in contact with diseased  bones ;  and that  the in-
flammation consequent to the abscess becoming open, will
be communicated to those parts.

  With this view an  issue should be made in the loins,
which is likely to be beneficial by its  counter  irritation,
even when the abscess is not connected with diseased bone;
but when it is, then an issue will be still more serviceable
and  necessary.   The patient also should be kept in bed
till all inflammatory tendency, which will be indicated by
the increase of the abscess, has ceased.   Then exercise in
the open air. may  be permitted, on account of its beneficial
operation on the constitution of the  patient.*  It  should,
indeed,  be our unremitting object throughout to invigorate
and tranquillize the constitution ;  and the means which  I
should employ for this purpose, are those which tend to
preserve the digestive organs in, or restore them to,  a
state  of health.   If the abscess becomes open notwith-
standing all our endeavours to the contrary, these measures
will enable the constitution to bear up against the disease ;
and as such  local diseases are the Consequence of a weak-
ened and disordered state  of  body, they may,  by relieving
the cause,  remove  at the same time  the effects,  as ha«
been shown in the second case.

  That lumbar abscesses may be dispersed by these meas-
ures,  will be proved by  the cases which I  shall afterwards
  * Probably it would be best to exercise with crutches, as the lumba*r
muscles on the affected side would then be exempt from action 
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
155
folate: that we shall  often fail in our endeavours to dis-
perse them, is, indeed, highly probable  iiv  reason, and
equally proved by occurrences in practice.

  Let us then suppose that a lumbar abscess treated in this
manner continues to increase ;  that it protrudes the integu-
ments ;  that they, from distension, become irritated ; that
their temperature is slightly augmented ; what are we then
to do?  Are we to wait till evident sjgns of inflammation
appear?   I think, not.  I would then relieve them from dis-
tension,  by emptying  the abscess through  a wound made
by an abscess  lancet.   I would open the abscess for a rea-
son which appears paradoxical on its first proposal; which
is, that it may be kept closed.   We can  empty a cavity,
and  by healing the wound, keep it  afterwards shut, and
no inflammation  ensues.   If nature opens the cavity by
ulceration, the opening is permanent, and the inflamma-
tion  consequent must be endured.   When I first treated
abscesses in this manner, I  punctured them with a trochar,
I now use an abscess lancet; which is introduced with very
little obliquity,  so far that the wound of the cyst of the
abscess should be half an  inch in  length,  and that of the
integuments of course a little longer.  A wound of that
size  is generally sufficient  to  give discharge to the solid
flakes which will occasionally block up the opening,  with-
out much poking.  It is  necessay that the flow of matter
should be uninterrupted, so that no air should gain admit-
tance ; it is, therefore, right  to make pressure  on the
abscess in proportion as it is emptied.  The abscess where
it presents itself is emptied before that part of it in the
loins is completely so.  The surgeon should then press the
sides of the wound  together with his finger and thumb, so
as to prevent the ingress of air, and desire the patient t>. 
io<3
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
 oough repeatedly, which will impel the matter from the in-
 ternal part of the abscess into that which is  punctured.
 WThen the abscess is emptied as  much as  possible, the
 wound should be attentively wiped,  and the  edges placed
 in exact contact, and retained in that state by strips of plas-
 ter.   I interpose  some lint  between  the plaster and the
 surface of the wound, closing it exactly as that made in ve-
 nassection.  I think it useful to put a small compress  over
 the part where  theprifice is,  and give  it a slight degree of
 pressure by longer strips of plaster.  It is of great conse-
 quence that the  patient lie  perfectly still, and that the
 piasters are not  moved.   I think it better not  to put on a
 bandage, because then the patient may  perceive whether
 the plasters are right or wrong.  I dress  the wound every
 second day.  It generally unites by adhesion, though some
 times otherwise ; for it may discharge a little, and yet unite
 firmly.  An abscess, thus  treated, is as free from inflam-
 mation as it was before  it was  punctured.   The abscess
will, however, fill again, and that sometimes even rapidly.
In the first cases which I attended,  I punctured it pretty
regularly after the expiration of a fortnight, and I found in
general that  the abscess  contained about one-third les*
of fluid.  I have, indeed, been obliged to puncture the
abscess at first before the end of the fortnight;  because it
had become distended, and I was fearful that the distention
might cause the newly healed  wound  to inflame, or un-
close itself.  After having discharged  the  contents of the
abscess three or four times, I found that it was not  neces-
sary, nor indeed easily practicable, to  puncture it at the
end of the fortnight, because it was so little filled and pro-
minent.  Since my attention has been more directed to the
dispersion of abscesses, I have generally  been able by such
means as tend to lessen the action, and conseqent secrec- 
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
157
lion  of the cyst  of the  abscess, and also  to promote ab-
sorption, to protract considerably the intervals of time at
which it  has seemed  necessary  to  puncture the abscess,
lest it should become distended.  Nay, I have  been able
to disperse many lumbar abscesses after  having punctured
them twice or thrice, though I was  incapable of prevent-
ing their increase prior to these measures.

  The dispersion of lumbar abscesses is the grand object
which a surgeon should have in view throughout the treat-
ment of  them.   He should endeavour to disperse them,
but by means which are at the same time calculated to in-
crease the patient's strength.  If, however, the abscess in-
creases,  and he is obliged to open it, io order to prevent its
becoming open  spontaneously, he should still pursue  the
same  measures ;  for  the  necessity of his puncturing  it
again is thereby diminished, and he gains  time, which  he
employs in endeavouring to invigorate the constitution, and
diminish the disease of the bone, upon which, perhaps, the
abscess depends.   Suppose, however, he is unable to effect
his chief design, that  of dispersing  the  abscess; suppose,
after having punctured it five or six times, at long intervals,
one  of the punctures  inflames and ulcerates, it must, I
think, be evident, that great good has been effected by the
measures that have been pursued.  After a lumbar abscess
has been punctured, the fluids secreted into it will flow in-
to that part where there is the least resistance, which is the
part that has been punctured.  The pressure of respiration
will urge them from the original cavity into the now vacant
space, where the abscess had presented itself.  The origin-
al cavity being a long time thus kept empty, will contract
 into a small fistulous tube.
vol. n.
20* 
15K
ON LUMBAR ABstESSEs.
   Those who are advocates  for letting lumbar  abscesses
open themselves by ulceration, because it imparts  less ir-
ritation to the cyst than a  wound  occasions,  have in this
case their  wishes gratified; a much reduced lumbar ab-
scess does, when treated in this manner, open by ulceration.
If there be any truth in the reasoning which I have employ-
ed, showing that the constitutional  disorder will be in pro-
portion to the extent  of the surface affected with disease,
that surface  is now comparatively small.

   It must, however, be granted,  that under these favoura-
ble circumstances, when the abscess leads to carious bones,
the disease is generally, though not constantly, fatal.  In-
stances have been known of pieces of mouldered vertebrae
making their way through the fistulous  remains of the ab-
scess, and obtaining an external outlet;  and yet the patient
has recovered.   As we cannot knew whether the bone be
diseased or  not, and as these abscesses so generally  arise
from that cause, we should always act with a caution sug-
gested  by the opinion  that they do  so.  When the abscess
has become  open by the ulceration  of one of the punctures,
which the surgeon has made in order to reduce its  dimen*
sions, or so  to alter its state as to  increase his chance of
dispersing it, the patient must encounter the risk  attendant
on the  disease ; but the surgeon has still much to do.  The
ulcerated part should be dressed with mild salve ; evapo-
rating washes, or poultices, should be  applied over it; in
short, every means should be employed to prevent the cyst
inflaming, in consequence of irritation  imparted  to it from
the ulcerated puncture.  Perfect quietude seems to be es-
sential at this period of the case  ; for motion  of  the loins
will induce or aggravate  inflammation  in the original dis-
eased parts.  Sometimes a considerable time elapses before 
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSE-.
150
the cyst inflames ;  and when it does, opium should be giv-
en to quiet it.   Sometimes the irritation  and inflammation
of the cyst subsides; and the  abscess becoming indolent?
the constitution is no Idnger disturbed, and the patient may
be  permitted  to  exercise for the benefit of his  genera!
health.

  Before I proceed to the relation of the  cases, from which
the preceding views of the nature and treatment of lumbar
abscesses  were taken, I think it  right to relate the  case
which first suggested to me that mode of opening these ab-
scesses which 1 recommend ; because it  shows that an ab-
scess of this kind, attended with even very favourable cir-
cumstances, may prove a fatal disease if  mismariaged.

                      CASE IV.

  A young man, about twenty-seven years of age, of a mus-
cular form, and healthy constitution, came from the coun-
try to the hospital, to obtain relief from a collection of mat-
ter which presented itself in the upper and forepart of the
thigh, beneath the fascia, and immediately below Pouparfs
ligament.   The pain which he had previously suffered in
his loins, and the impulse of matter into the tumour upon
his coughing, left little doubt of the original seat of the dis-
ease.  The fascia  of the thigh had yielded considerably to
the collected pus ; so that  it  did not descend so low as is
common, but appeared very prominent.   Although h6 had
endured considerable pain, he had not suffered much from
fever on the first formation of the abscess.

  A caustic  was applied on the tumour to give discharge to
the matter, and three days afterwards the eschar wasdivid 
160
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
 ed.—Eight ounces of very perfectly-formed,  moderately
 consistent, and inodorous pus, issued from the incision.—
 The sides of the eschar now closed up the wound, and pre-
 vented any further evacuation of matter.  This the surgeon
 did not attempt to produce, thinking the delay  would be
 useful.

   For three  days no more fluid was  evacuated,  during
 which time the young man remained perfectly well, and
 his thigh free from inflammation.—On the fourth day,  the
 eschar became so much loosened in its circumference that
 part of it gave way, and eight ounces more of similar and
 perfectly inodorous pus were discharged.  In twelve hours
 after this detachment of the eschar, he suffered much from
 fever and pain in the part, and the discharge became putrid.
 In two days the fever, which was of the hectic kind, seem-
 ed to  be established, and from the sore there flowed a co-
pious  and increasing quantity of foetid pus.   His  skin was
now hot, his face flushed, he sweated profusely in the night,
his appetite failed him, his pulse beat 120 in a minute,  his
tongue was but little altered from its natural appearance,
he had no sleep,  and was distressingly restless.  These
symptoms continued about a week without cessation ; they
then appeared slightly to remit,  and  proceeded for  three
weeks in the same manner, with some little diminution in
their severity; his strength was now greatly exhausted, the
discharge from the abscess very profuse, and in this state it
was thought right  to have him conveyed into the country.
where I am informed he gradually declined,  and in abc/'
six weeks more he died. 
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
161
 Cases of Lmmbar Abscesses dispersed without being opened-

                       CASE  V.

   I was desired to visit a young lady in the country, in or-
 der to open a lumbar abscess, which presented beneath the
 fascia of the thigh.   It was not, however, sufficiently prom-
 inent to admit of the introduction of a lancet with safety,
 but there was a very forcible impulse of matter into it when
 the patient coughed.   The patient  was about fourteen
 years of age; her lumbar vertebrae were bent into more
 than a semicircle, and it is certain that a great number of
 the bodies of the vertebrae were  destroyed  by disease.
 The  countenance was flushed, the pulse  120; the body
 emaciated, and the appetite lost.  In short, it appeared to
 me,  and the other medical attendants, that she  was  not
 likely to live.  I explained to her father, that the opening
 of the abscess would be almost certain to destroy her;  that
 if a necessity arose from its increase, it might be punctur-
 ed at  a future period, only in order to prevent its being  per-
 manently open.  I  endeavoured to  explain  to him  the
 necessity of attempting to relieve the disease on which the
 abscess depended.   With  this view I recommended rest,
 and a horizontal position, except when exercise in a  car-
 riage  was permitted for the benefit  of  her general health.
 A moderate-sized blister was also directed to be kept open,
by means of the savine cerate  on each side of the spine.
Great attention was also paid to improve her health, by
obviating errors  in the functions of the  digestive organs.
The patient lived at a considerable distance from London,
and I received,  during about fifteen months, frequent let-
ters from her father,  containing little else than expressions
 -^ exultation and thanks.  His daughter's appetite was im- 
162
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
proved, and her strength increased ;  the hectic fever had
left her ; the abscess could no longer be perceived; she
had become quite fat and robust, and had grown two inch-
es in stature within the twelve months.  After this time,
the tone of his letters varied.  He thought  the discharge
from the blisters might produce weakness ; and, I believe,
they were not continued for any considerable time, though
I urged it as strongly as I could.  The young lady, however,
recovered, and had no return of the abscess.


                     CASE  VI

  A man, between thirty and forty years of age, came from
the country to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, on account of
a lumbar abscess, which had made  its way outwards, and
protruded  the integuments of the back, on the left side of
the lumbar vertebrae.  The skin was  very prominent, and
the circumference of the abscess  considerable.  I think I
do not exaggerate, when I say, that twelve ounces of pus
were collected in the external abscess.   The  patient was
feeble, and of a sickly aspect, and I thought that the bone
was diseased.   I desired him to remain in bed,  and to keep
open a moderate-sized blister on the left side of the loins ;
endeavouring,  at the same time, to produce, by means of
medicines, an amendment  in bis general health.   In about
two months there was no  appearance of any external ab-
scess.   The patient was now desired to get up daily, and
walk in the open air, but to lie on the bed when he return-
ed. He remained in the Hospital pursuing these measures
for two months longer; and though there was not the least
appearance of  the abscess  during this period, I  could not
perceive much amendment in his general health or appear-
ance.   Indeed, as no good seemed to be done  by his rest- 
                ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.             163

dence in the hospital, I advised him to return  into the
country, requesting him, at the same time, to inform me of
the progress of his complaint or recovery ; but I never af-
terwards heard of him.

  I was induced to put down this brief account of the pre.
ceding case at the time, from the surprize which it excited
in my mind, as I had expected it to proceed in a very differ-
ent manner.   Later experience would  prevent  me from
feeling surprize at such occurrences, for I have seen several
lumbar abscesses dispersed by similar measures ; I mean,
counter irritation, and endeavours to improve the patient's
health.   Though  I could relate the  circumstances from
memory, and even refer to  some of the  subjects  of them,
yet the  narrative would be little  more than a repetition of
the fact, and it might tend  to induce students  to expect
such occurrences to be frequent; whilst, on the  contrary,
I  am ready to admit, that they probably  will be rarely met
with in general practice.
Cases of Lumbar Abscesses that have  been dispersed after
           their Contents have been discharged.

                     CASE VII.

  —r—^- Harris, thirty-five years of age, had a considera-
ble collection of matter beneath the integuments of the ab-
domen,  forming a moderately  prominent  tumour, about
three inches in diameter, and situated just above PoupartV
ligament.   The patient had suffered a great deal from pain
in his loins; and the motion of the thigh had been much 
164
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
impeded but was now tolerably free.  Indeed  there  was
no doubt that the matter had been originally formed in the
loins; from whence it was violently impelled, so as to ele-
vate the prominent integuments of the abdomen, whenever
he coughed.  By permission of Mr.  Long, under whose
care he was admitted into the hospital, I punctured the
tumour, and discharged about 24 ounces of pus, mixed  with
some flakes  of a curd-like substance.  The wound healed
readily, and no considerable alteration of his health ensu-
ed, though he found himself weaker for some days after the
operation.   At  the end of a  fortnight,  I  made a second
puncture, and let  out between six and seven ounces of a
turbid fluid.   He now thought  himself so much  better  than
after the first evacuation, that he  went out of the hospital;
but returned again at the expiration of a fortnight,  when,
by a third puncture, six ounces of purulent  matter were
discharged;  and,  after another week, four ounces more
were let out. A caustic was now applied to his loins, and
four or five peas used to keep the ulcer open ; from which
time no matter could be discovered in the abscess during
the six weeks that he remained in the hospital.

  About eighteen  months after this, he was admitted into
the hospital on account of a fever and sore throat; and it
appeared he had never experienced any farther complaint
in his loins.

   This case, I think, is very interesting, inasmuch as it con-
tributes to prove  that the cavity of a lumbar abscess may
be entirely obliterated without the cyst undergoing any of
those changes which generally take place when it is laid
open. 
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
16S
                        CASE  VIII.

    Elizabeth Smyth, aged twenty-seven, had a lumbar ab-
  scess, which presented beneath the fascia of (he  thigh.
  The previous symptoms rendered the nature of the com-
  plaint indisputable; and  as  she not  only showed evident
  marks of a scrofulous habit,  but also  felt considerable ina-
  bility in moving the spine, there was great reason to suspect
  tint the abscess originated from a disease in the bone.  She
  was likewise troubled  with  cough,  and drew in  very little
  air when she inspired.  Her appetite, too,  was often defi-
  cient, and her bowels frequently disordered.  It may also
  be added, that her brother, who greatly  resembled her, was
  at this time a patient in the  hospital,  under Mr. Long, on,
  account of a  scrofulous disease of the spine, which had oc-
 casioned an affection of the medulla spinalis.   When all the
 circumstances were taken into  account, she certainly ap-
 peared a subject by no means capable of sustaining the ir-
 ritation and disorder which the bursting of a lumbar abscess
 might be expected to prpduce.   1 therefore punctured the
 abscess immediately, and discharged from it twenty ounces
 of flaky matter; and having healed the wound, I gave her
 emetics of vitriolated zinc and copper,  and  afterwards of
 ipecacuanha,  twice  or three times a week,  for six weeks.
 At the end of this time, there  was  so little matter in the
 abscess,  that  I thought it too small to be punctured with
 safety ; and,  as her  health was  too  infirm to admit of the
 emetics being continued, I tried to produce absorption of
 the remaining matter, by passing the electric fluid through
 the abscess.   Very small electric shocks* were according-

  * These small shocks, which, for the sake of distinction, I shall call elec-
tric vibrations (a term, 1 believe, generally applied to them,) were made
  VOL. II.                   21* 
166
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
ly sent from different parts by the side of Ihe lumbar ver-
tebra?, down to the groin, and  upper part of the affected
thigh ; and, under this  treatment, the contents of the ab-
scess soon disappeared ; nor did any further collection of
matter take place during the time of  her remaining in  the
house, which was nearly two months.   The electricity also
brought on the menstrual discharge, which for a long time
had been very irregular ; and her general health was great-
ly improved before she left the hospital.!

                        CASE IX.

  Elizabeth Hart, about  thirty years of age, had suffered
greatly from pain in her loins, for ten months.   During  that
time, matter had been formed,  and made its  way down be-
neath Pou part's ligament, in such  quantity as considerably
to distend the fascia  of the thigh.   She was  much reduced
in strength, and in the appearance  of health, by this com-
 plaint; but as  her constitution was  good,  and  she  could
 move the spine with facility,  there  wa3 no reason  to sus-
 pect any disease of the  bone.

   I punctured  the abscess, and  discharged two quarts of
 very healthy pus: and  occasionally,  after the  orifice  had

 by discharging a small jar, the coated surface of which did not exceed
 fourteen square inches: and by placing the ball of the electrometer at a
 small distance from the conductor, generally about a quarter of  an inch.
 One of lhe discharging rods was then moved about on the upper part of the
 thigh, and the other on  the loins, so that the electric  fluid might pass
 through the abscess.

   f I have lately heard, that the abscess has not appeared again,  though a
 year has since elapsed', but the pain in her loins has, (as might have been
 expected,) recurred. 
                                                    jC
                 ON  LUMBAR ABSCESSES.             IS'/

 closed,  I ordered her  emetics.  She  could  not continue
 them regularly, however ;  as, during their use, her bowels
 became disordered, and she lost her appetite  and strength.
 The accumulation of matter was, notwithstanding, evident-
 ly delayed by them;  for when, at the  end of three weeks,
 I next punctured the abscess, only one  quart of serous fluid
 was evacuated.   After the space of a  month  had  elapsed,
 another quart was discharged.   During this  time she had
 taken  emetics  occasionally; but her  health  was far from
 good, and the pain  in her loins was still considerable.  1
 had now witnessed the beneficial effects of electricity in the
 case of the last patient, and resolved upon trying it here.
 It was accordingly employed three times a week, for  three
 weeks.  At first a small collection  of  fluid in the abscess
 was perceptible ; but this was gradually absorbed ; and by
 the end of the third week, there was no longer any pain in
 her loins, her health  was  greatly improved,  and she was
 able to walk about,  without  the least appearance of her
 former complaint.  She was, therefore, discharged from the
 house ;  but came once a week, for some time, to  be  elec-
 trified.*

  The two last cases  point out to notice a  remedy that is
 likely to be of much advantage in the  future  treatment of
 lumbar abscesses.  My  experience of it, however, has not
 yet enabled me to determine how far  it may  be generally
 beneficial.   In one instance where I employed it after the
abscess  had been once punctured, it kept the matter  from
 collecting for a long time ; but the patient growing tired of
 the confinement,  and  apprehensive lest the lancet should
be again employed, left the hospital without my knowledge.

 ♦This patient remains at present  in perie:t he^li'j  nor is there stty
reason to expect a relajsf 
168             dN LUMBAR AB&CESSES.

Of another, and somewhat analogous disease, in which it
was tried, though not  with complete success,  I shall here
relate the particulars;  first remarking, that all the observa-
tions which I have made on electricity applied to diseased
parts, lead me to conclude, that it acts as a stimulus, which
has the peculiar effect of accelerating  that  process which
happens to be  going on at the time.  Thus, in some states
of inflammation, it hastens suppuration,  whilst in others it
promotes dispersion.   We should therefore always endea-
vour, previous to the  use of this remedy, to bring the tu-
mour or abscess into that state in which its progress is stop-
ped,  and in which, perhaps, it is rather inclined to recede ;
and by this rule I have been guided in the application of
this remedy to lumbar abscesses.

  I have  also been attentive to proportion the number and
strength of the vibrations to the effect which they appeared
to produce on  the abscess :  their operation seemed  to be
most beneficial when  they occasioned a kind of irritation
or slight uneasiness in the part for a short time  after their
application.  But if this  sensation amounted to pain, or if
it was of too long continuance, 1 then suppose that the stim-
ulus had been employed in too great a degree.

                      CASE X.

  Israel Brooks, aged twenty-five, about two years ago, was
first seized with violent pain in his loins,  which prevented
him  from either riding or walking for some time.  About
three months afterwards, he had the rheumatism in the joint
o< ->ne of his  fingers,  which shifted to his  wrist, where it
prouu ed a thickening and  disease of that part; and at
present,  all the carpal bones  are  evidently diseased, and 
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
169
displaced.  This disease also attacked his left knee, where
it occasioned  an enlargement of the joint,  which still con-
tinues.  Two months after this, he discovered a swelling
beneath the glutaeus muscle, which has gradually increased ;
and since that time the pain in  his loins has become much
less severe, but a sensation of great weakness remains.
This abscess was shown to ine at the hospital, as an instance
of a remarkably large one ; and there was  no doubt  but
that it contained between two and three quarts  of matter.
There was also a prominence of the fascia on the front of
the thigh below Poupart's ligament, accompanied with evi-
dent fluctuation.   The several gentlemen, who examined
this latter tumour, thought they could perceive an impulse
given to it from within,  whenever the  patient coughed ;
whence it was supposed to have its rise from  a lumbar ab-
scess : but whether the abscess under the  glutaeus muscle
communicated with the loins or not, we were unable to de-
termine, as no such impulse could be felt in it.

   I gave the patient emetics of vitriolated zinc and copper ;
and kept up an eruption of pimples on  the  skin covering
the abscess, by rubbing it with a strong solution of tartaris-
ed antimony.  Gentle electric  vibrations were  also daily
passed from the loins through the front of the thigh, and also
through the glutaeal abscess.  By this treatment, continued
for two months, the tumour was  very  much reduced in
size ; that is, as far as could be judged of by the eye ; for its
situ \tion prevented  any  accurate measurement of it.  In
spite of our endeavours,  however, the patient's health had
 declinedVince his admission into the hospital; and in  pro-
 portion as he lost strength, his other local complaints be-
 came worse.  As it was  now summer-time, and he had an
 opportunity  of going to  the sea. which had  formerly been 
170
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
 of service to him,  I punctured the glutaeal abscess without
 loss  of time, let out three pints of healthy pus, and then
 healed the opening.  His weakness increased considerably
 after this discharge, and all his other complaints were much
 aggravated.   The electricity was still persevered in ;  and
 at the end of three weeks, the quantity of matter in the ab-
 scess was \ery small; I cannot suppose it was  more than
 eight ounces.  I very much  wished to have had an oppor-
 tunity of making fresh punctures in this case ; but the state
 of the patient's health obliged me,  however reluctantly, to
 discliarge him from the  hospital.

   I have always found  that  abscesses, evacuated in this
 manner, filled again to one half or  two thirds of their ori-
 ginal quantity in the space of a fortnight: so that here also,
 the  beneficial  effects  of electricity  are, in my opinion,
 sufficiently manifest.

   Of late years,  I have not, however, employed the  meas-
 ures pursued in  the cases  above  recorded; but trusted
 altogether  to such as seemed calculated to  improve the
 health, by tranquillizing and  invigorating the digestive or-
 gans.  The result of such management has been, that,  in
 general, the  abscess has disappeared for a  considerable
 time, after it has been two or three times punctured.  Af-
 ter the lapse  of some time,  however,  one of the  punctures
 made for the  discliarge of the  matter has unclosed, either
 with or without some trivial  collection of fluid previously
 being formed in  the cavity; and, I regret to add, that of
 late, in general, the disease  thus circumstanced, has ter-
 minated fatally.   Yet, I think, it will be admitted, that
abscesses which  open in this  manner, open  in a manner
producing the kast possible irritation to the constitution; 
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
171
and that  the  previous treatment which they have under-
gone, has materially tended to diminish the risk commonly
attendant on such diseases.   I conclude,  then, by relating
one case  of lumbar  abscess,  treated in the manner which
seems to  me best, which terminated fatally, as an example
of what,  I fear, will be the frequent termination of such
cases.  I will add, however, several cases, to show,  that
lumbar abscesses, when open, are not necessarily destruc-
tive diseases; and to suggest the treatment which ought to
be pursued under such adverse circumstances.

    Of Lumbar Abscesses becoming permanently open.

                      CASE XI.

   James White, aged twenty-five years, came from Essex
to be  admitted  into St. Bartholomew's Hospital,  on ac-
count of a lumbar  abscess.   He had suffered much from
pain of his loins for  twelve months ;  and for some time past
had experienced a difficulty in  lifting up  his right thigh.
There was a curvature in the dorsal vertebrae ; but that, he
informed me, was an old complaint.  Yet, from the. gen-
eral appearance of  the man, from the difficulty he  had in
moving the upper part of the trunk  upon the lumbar ver-
tebrae, and from the caution with which he attempted this
motion, I could not but suspect a disease of the spine.  Is-
sues were, therefore made in the loins; and on the 25th of
June,  I  let out two quarts of purulent fluid  from beneath
the fascia of the thigh.   He had less pain in the back  after
the operation : and  though he was teased with a cough, his
strength  did not.suffer any diminution.   On  July 7th,  I
discharged frorn the abscess fourteen ounces  more, of a
turbid brownish fluid.   On the 17th, though the tumour in
the thigh was inconsiderable, yet the part first punctured 
*7*J
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
 was elevated and  inflamed.  It seemed that the  puncture
 in the integuments had healed ; while that in the fascia had
 not  united firmly, but  had suffered the  matter to pass
 through it, so  as  to elevate the skin.  To  remedy  this,
 which threatened to lay  open the cavity of the abscess,  I
 was obliged to puncture  it in another place; and eight
 ounces of fluid were discharged.   The patient was now in
 much better health than he had been for more than a year,
 and  was able to lift up his thigh without pain.  I therefore
 set him to exercise the muscles in the neighbourhood of the
 disease, thinking that if the exertion did not produce irri-
 tation,  it might answer a good  purpose.   With this  view,
 he stood upon  the leg of the sound side,  and alternately
 lifted up and let fall the  other,  until he was somewhat fa-
 tigued.  By frequent repetition of this exercise, the mus-
 cles  of the diseased side acquired  considerable strength;
 and in a little time he felt himself (to use his own expres-
 sion) " able to go to plough."

   The fascia of the thigh  was punctured every  fortnight
 for some time,  and afterwards every three weeks.  When
 he had been nearly three  months in the hospital, he became
 tired of the confinement; and, feeling himself strong, was
 very solicitous to have the abscess opened,  and suffered to
 discharge itself.  The disease of the spine  made me unwil-
 ling to  comply with his  desire;  and I sent him  into the
 country for three weeks,  that he might ascertain, by the
journey, whether he was as strong as he supposed; think-
 ing that if he bore it without fatigue, it might be of service
 to him.  At the same time, I gave him  strict injunctions
 not to exert himself, if his loins or thign became  painful;
 and, in that case, to return again by the first conveyance.
 It was five  weeks,  however, before he came back; when I 
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
173
found that the abscess had inflamed, and burst, about twenty
days after he left town; inconsequence of which he be-
came so ill, that he could not bear removal.  He was now
in a most wretched  condition, being scarcely able to turn
in bed, from  the weak and painful  state of his loins;  his
pulse was rapid, and his skin hot, and  he had, occasion-
ally, fits of chilliness, succeeded by sweating.  He became
considerably better, however,  and continued so for some
lime, in  consequence of the attention paid to  him in the
hospital; but his health again declined; and after several
relapses, with intervals of temporary amendment, he,  at
last, sunk, and  died at the end of three months from his
re-admission.
  On opening the body after death, I found that the ab-
scess extended upwards to some diseased vertebrae.  The
diseased bone, however,  did not immediately come into
view on lifting up the peritonaeum; for the  tendinous  ex-
pansion, which covers the bodies of the  vertebras, was still
entire, and formed a kind of cyst distended with matter.
When this was opened, it was found to contain pus,  to-
gether with the fragments of three of the bodies of  the
lumbar vertebrae;  there being ten  or twelve  detached
pieces of bone lying upon the  medulla spinalis, and sur-
rounded with matter.   This was evidently a peculiar dis-
ease  of the  spine, which neither  caustics nor any other
remedy could  alter.   It greatly resembled that diseased
state which sometimes occurs in the carpus and tarsus, in
vvhich the small bones composing these parts are broken
down, and lie confined in  a  ligamentous  capsule, sur-
rounded with matter.   If the dead portions of the vertebras
had  not been thus  confined, they  might have  had  some
chance of removal; but under the circumstances already
noticed,  it is most  probable that  they  would remain, and
ict as extraneous bodies, exciting irritation, and increasing
 he disease. 
174
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
                     CASE XII.

  July, 1790.  John Tucker was admitted into St. Bar-
tholomew's  Hospital on account of a psoas abscess.   His
health had been declining for more than three years.   He
had  for a considerable  time been an  out-patient, under
the care of Dr. Austin, who had unavailingly endeavoured
to prevent the formation of this abscess by issues made in
his back, and by the administration of various  medicines.
He had suffered greatly from pain in his loins,  and fever :
the abscess was very large, and had descended very low on
the inside of the thigh ; the  integuments covering it were
natural;  the impulse of matter into the tumour, upon
coughing, very considerable.
  His pulse  was feeble, and  beat eighty-six in  a minute ;
previous  illness had exhausted his  constitution; he had a
constant cough, and, undoubtedly, much diseased lungs.—
He had little appetite, and was of a costive habit; he was
of fair complexion,  light  hair, and  blue eyes, and  his
countenance frequently flushed:  he  was,  on  all these
accounts, as unfit a subject as can well be supposed to  en-
counter the  derangement of constitution which must  suc-
ceed to the ordinary evacuation of the abscess.
  On Wednesday,  the 28th of July, I tapped the abscess
with a small hydrocele trochar, and discharged  three pints
of pus of good quality, although  in  a small  degree more
fluid  than common.  I dressed the part with considerable
caution.  I moistened the lint which I applied to the orifice
with finctura benzoes composita, over this I applied some
sticking-plaster, which was  retained by cross slips, and
afterwards varnished over with gum ; some compresses of
linen were applied  over the abscess, and gently bound on
by a  flannel-roller. 
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
17£
   On Thursday, there was no very perceptible difference
 in his health; he had slept and eat as usual, his tongue
 was moist and natural, his pulse a few strokes quicker.
   On Friday, he said, that he found his loins relieved  by
 the evacuation; that he could  perceive  no difference in
 his health, and his pulse was the same as before the opera-
 tion.  For many days his health remained unchanged ;  he
 became, he thought, a little weaker, and the frequency of
 his pulse had encreased about four strokes in a minute.
 For this  little alteration we could readily account, knowing
 that some fluids  were drained from the circulation into the
 cavity of the  abscess, and that some little exertion of the
 system would necessarily ensue.—The  abscess  remained
 without pain,  or inflammation, and his  constitution free
 from  fever; his  skin continued  in its natural state, his ap-
 petite was good, his sleep sound, and his countenance unal-
 tered.  Three days after  the  operation, I removed the
 dressings from the  punctured part; it appefted healed ; I,
 however, carefully removed the dressings every third day.
   Friday, the 13th of August,  sixteen days after the first
 discharge, the tumour having become prominent, I again
 punctured it, and evacuated its contents.  I knew the dis-
 cbarge would increase his weakness ; yet, if the collection
 were  suffered to remain, it would shortly distend the cyst
 to its  former dimensions, and my original plan of treatment
would be frustrated.
   The quantity  of the discharged fluid was nine ounces;
in appearance and chemical properties, it much resembled
blood. This bloody effusion was probably the consequence
 of laxity  of the exhaling vessels, as there had not been the
 least expression of inflammation in the  abscess.  Before I
 discharged the matter  a second time,  he  complained  of
 some pain in his loins ; but the following day  he said  he
was much  relieved,  and found himself remarkably well.
/ 
176
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
This  second puncture  was dressed like the former, and
quickly healed.
  During the time which had elapsed between the first and
second discharge, he had not been confined even to the
ward,  but often went from the hospital to see bis friends.
This, his cough, the  weak state of his health, his disinclina-
tion to live in  the hospital, and the obvious impunity with
which it was done,  induced me  to permit.  After the se-
cond evacuation, he altogether lived with his friends, prom-
ising to come  every week to let me  see the state of his
complaint;  however, the second week,  when the matter
ought the third time to have been evacuated, he failed  in
his promise.  I was now obliged to leave London for some
time ; so that  I did not see the patient again until Septem-
ber the 8th, which was four weeks and five days from  the
former evacuation ; he had refused to have the  matter let
out during mv  absence.  I now discharged, in like manner,
ten ounces offlymphatic exhalation, rather dark coloured
and turbid, as if mixed with true pus.  .The man, during the
last week, had complained of pain in his  loins, and in his
knee, both of which were relieved  as usual by the opera-
tion.
   Before the abscess was  first opened, the impulse of mat-
ter from  the loins, on coughing, was  extremely forcible,but
was now not at all  perceptible.  It appears to me,  that a
very considerable advantage  is derived from this mode of
treating these  complaints.   Whatever secretion  is made in
the abscess of the loins, will, by its gravity, descend into
the space left by the seceded  fascia  of the thigh.  The ab-
scess of the loins being  left perfectly free from distension,
will most probably contract to very little dimensions, if it
be  not perfectly abolished.   Hence, in  the subsequent
treatment of these complaints, you have only to attend te> 
ON LUMBAR ABSCEssEo.
177
the disunited fascia ;  whilst the cavity in the loins scarcely
deserves notice.
  September 22d, a fortnight after the former evacuation,
I discharged four ounces of similar serous fluid mixed with
pus.  During its evacuation, which was very speedy, I had
applied my fingers beneath Poupart's ligament, as if to ob-
struct the descent of any matter from the loins.   I then de-
sired the man to cough ; but no matter descended, and the
collection appeared to me  entirely confined to the thigh.
  I found  some  difficulty  in  introducing a trochar, when
the abscess contained so little fluid.  This was remedied
by first introducing a lancet through the fascia, and then con-
veying the trochar through the aperture made by the lancet.
  Thus, after discharging  the matter four times,  the com-
plaint was reduced from a lumbar abscess containing three
pints,  to a small collection of  matter beneath the fascia
containing  four  ounces.—What  communication this had
with the loins, and what was the state of parts there, can-
not be determined.  To appearance there was no collec-
tion.   If I had now immediately  opened the abscess, the
containing  cyst  being small,  the inflammation probably
would not  have  been considerable.  JBut the state of the
man's health induced me for a short time to defer this final
attempt, this radical cure, as I  may express it, and  to be
contented with only evacuating the matter when collected.
without suffering the collection to increase the size of the
cyst.   It might be expected, by repealing the  evacuation
that the cavity would diminish to its total abolition.  Thi
would  probably happen,  were the abscess in  the  cellulai
substance ;  but the inelastic fascia cannot contract, and the
subjacent muscles cannot  be elevated ; so that the effused
matter, though  very small in  quantity, would still  keep
them disunited. 
178
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
   I had let out four ounces of matter once in October; and
 on the 5th of November, I opened the abscess by an incision
 about an inch and a half in length at the lower part.  I in-
 troduced my finger beneath the fascia, as high as Poupart's
 ligament;  I  desired the patient to cough,  but no matter
 descended from the loins,  neither  could  I ascertain any
 communication.   The  extent of the detached fascia was
 about four inches and a half in length,  and nearly four in
 breadth.   The cyst inflamed after opening.   The hardness
 and quantity of the discharge increased for four days, and
 then gradually subsided.  His thigh was stiff and sore, so
 that he could not easily move it, but he had no particular
 pain in his loins—his pulse did not vary—his tongue was
 not furred—his sleep was not interrupted—nor could any
 derangement of his health be perceived.
   Granulations grew from the edge of the incision, and the
 opening nearly closed, and afforded scarcely any dischatge.
 —Yet, on introducing a probe through the  orifice,  I found
 that the fascia remained disunited.  With a view to pro-
 duce an union,  by exciting inflammation,  I introduced a
 seton from  this lower orifice to the upper part of the cyst-
 The fascia again infkjped, indurated, and united, only the
 track of the scion was unclosed ;  and this, by the injection
 of some spirit and water, was also soon induced  to fill up.
 In discoursing with  the patient, after opening the abscess,
respecting his health, he said, he was ten times better than
before it was  opened ; that until  this time  he had always
been subject to fits of pain, and to a state of weakness and
'aintness which he could not describe."
  After the perfect closure of the abscess, he could  extend
 and bend his thigh with freedom and ease ;  he could also
 readily put his foot  upon a chair set before  him.  This it
 would have been impossible for him tohavedonc during the
 formation or continuance of the abscess.   This freedom of 
                ON  LUMBAR ABSCESSES.             179

action in the psoas  muscle indicated considerable sound-
ness of it, and of the contiguous parts.   He still, however,
complained of much  rheumatic pain in his hips, and some-
times in his loins ;  and as I supposed his constitution might
be affected by the suppression of a long-continued purulent
discharge, and might attempt, for its relief, the formation
of a new abscess, I inserted two setons in the integuments
of the loins, with a view of preventing inflammation of the
internal parts.
  They did not, however, relieve his pains ; he complained
much of their inconvenience, and as he designed to go into
the country,  they  were discontinued.   I saw him about a
year afterwards—no alteration had taken place in the thigh,
nor no fixed  pain had attacked  the loins, but he was still
much teazed  with unsettled rheumatic pains.
  The preceding case was very unfavourable both from the
patient's constitution and  from the degree of the disease.
Yet, by four times discharging  the matter, which was  not
attended with much more pain than bleeding, it was reduced
from a lumbar abscess, containing  three pints, to a small
collection beneath the fascia of the thigh, containing four
ounces, and  without any evident  communication with the
loins.  • Each time, instead of suffering inconvenience,  he
experienced  relief;  he had no fever, neither was he re-
strained from his usual occupations.
  The final opening  might have been sooner made, but as
this was the first case in which I had pursued this practice,
1 was uncertain of the event, and irresolutely protracted it
for two months, in  expectation of amendment of his health.
When  it was  opened  no perceptible fever followed, and it
shortly got well by the treatment which I  have related.

                     CASE XIII.

   Isaac Dean, tbirty-seven years  of age, had come from
 Hampshire to London, to obtain advice for a psoas abscess. 
 180             ON  LUMBAR  ABSCESSES'.

He was admitted into the hospital under the care of the
late  Mr. Pitts.  The account which  he gave  of  himself
was, that his  business had obliged him  to  be much  on
horseback ; that he had formerly, when riding, bruised his
left testis, which accident had occasioned an  incurable dis-
ease of that  gland; he therefore had suffered its removal
about two years since in some county hospital.  Since that
time he had  frequently suffered  much  pain in his loins .
about eight months before his admission into the hospital
he had caught cold; the pain in his loins then became more
violent and constant, and much impeded the  motions of his
left thigh.  About three months after this attack of severe
pain, he perceived a tumour on the upper part of his thigh,
which  had gradually increased until the time of his  admis-
sion  into the hospital.   Since  the appearance of the tu-
mour, the pain in the loins had much abated.  The matter
now descended about four inches beneath Poupart's liga-
ment; and it received a  forcible impulse when the man
coughed.  The  fascia of the thigh at this  part was very
prominent, and the skin covering it was more red than the
rest of the integuments.
  The patient's health was not unfavourable ; his pulse was?
rather strong, beating seventy-six  in a minute, his tongue
rather pale,  his hair and eyes dark.
  Monday, 3d of  October,  1790,  by Mr.  Pitts' desire  1
introduced a  trochar into the lower part of the tumour, and
gave discharge to twenty-four ounces of pus, moderately
tenacious, and containing some  flakes of firmer matter :  1
cautiously closed the orifice, as in the former case,  applied
a compress,  and bound it moderately tight with a roller.
   I  could not in this case perceive any alteration in the
man's health deserving to be recorded, except that the
 pulse was a little quickened ;  he eat and slept as usual.
   I carefully  took off the sticking-plaster at the end of thrc
• 
                   ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.             181
 davs, and renewed a similar dressing.  On Thursday, 13th
 of October, the abscess  was now again prominent, and the
 puncture  made by the  trochar  seemed slightly inflamed.
 As I concluded the distention of the fascia caused this in-
 flammation, and supposing that if the pressure of the matter
 from  beneath was suffered to continue,  it might occasion
 it to ulcerate, I determined to prevent this effect by again
 evacuating the matter.  This  I accomplished by passing a
 trochar into the lower part of the abscess, at some distance
 from  the  former  opening; and by this  means discharged
 between eight and nine  ounces of pus, thinner and rather
 darker coloured than the former, but not tinged with blood
 as in the preceding case.  I now carefully dressed both or-
 ifices, and again applied a bandage.
  I cautiously removed the dressings, at the end of three
 days ;  the  second puncture had healed, and the first  had
 lost its disposition to inflame.   After having dressed  the
punctured parts, and  applied the bandage ;  I desired  him
 to moisten it with aq. saturn. which I thought by keeping
the skin cool, would prevent  its disposition  to inflame.
 The man  suffered no  alteration in his health from this se-
 cond evacuation.    On the 25th, at the end of a fortnight,
 the tumour being again  prominent, I  introduced a lancet
into the fascia,  and through the orifice thus made, the  tro-
char,  which discharged  six ounces of turbid serous fluid,
and  I  pursued the same subsequent  mode  of treatment.
  After another fortnight had elapsed the tumour was much
less prominent than before, and there appeared a degree of
 irritation in the skin.  The punctures showed a disposition
 to inflame.  I now desired the man to cough, but could
 discover no impulse of matter from the loins.  This I  had
not before  done, lest the exertion should affect the punc-
 lures.  which were not  so  firmly healed as in  the former
 case.   As  the  patient  had not  suffered much from dis-
  vor, n.                23* 
182
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
charge, as his health seemed fully capable of sustaining the
effects arising from  opening the abscess,  as  it was  not
probable that its dimensions could suffer further diminution
by delay,  on Friday the 2 3d  of November, I opened  the
cavity by an incision  of about  an  inch  in  length,  at  the
lower part, and immediately passed a seton  through to  the
upper part, with a view to insure the union of the fascia.
  An unusual degree of inflammation of the fascia and stiff-
ness of the affected limb followed, but  he  complained of
no particular pain in his loins further than general stiffness.
  The slight  fever which accompanied seemed rather in-
flammatory than hectical, his pulse became a little quicker
and harder, and his tongue slightly furred.   These symp-
toms gradually abated, and at the expiration  of three weeks
the fascia appeared to have adhered firmly to the subjacent
parts ; I therefore withdrew the seton.
  As he now found his health tolerably good, and being, as
he thought, recovered from what he considered as  a dan-
gerous complaint, and imagining that he was made weaker
by staying in the hospital, he went into the country, prom-
ising to inform me if any change happened ;  but I have  not
since heard of him.

                     CASE  XIV.

  February,  1791.  James Leaver is in the 21st year of
his age, has light brown hair, blue eyes; dilated pupils, pale
countenance, frequently flushed, and is  apparently  of an
irritable constitution.   About nine  months  ago he was af-
fected with a pain in his loins  when he moved, which soon
became very severe, even when he was at rest.   This pain
was accompanied with fever.   Four months afterwards he
perceived a small swelling in the upper part of his right
thigh, which has  since gradually increased, and has now
descended nearly to the middle of the thigh :  he remarked, 
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
183
that he never had the least pain in the part where the tu-
mour was formed.   After the appearance of this^welling,
he no longer experienced the same degree of uneasiness in
his loins ; and shortly after, he acquired  the power of lift-
ing up his right thigh, which he had for some time lost.
   For four months previously to his admission into the
hospital,  he had regularly profuse night sweats,  which be-
gan about twelve o'clock, but did not prevent his sleeping ;
when he  awoke he found his clothes very wet, and himself
very chilly ; he had, however, an appetite for his breakfast.
   On the 5th  of February, Sir James Earle introduced a
trochar into the most prominent part of the tumour: be-
tween two and three pints of healthy  matter were evacuat-
ed, the wound was immediately closed, and lint and adhe-
sive  plaster were applied.   The night  succeeding  the
operation he slept little, but was free  from perspiration.
On each succeeding night  he slept as usual, but had not in
the least  degree those sweats which had  been constant un-
til the discharge of the matter.
   On the 8th of February, he said he found himself no worse
for the operation, he was free from night sweats and slept
soundly.  His appetite was perfectly good, his bowels un-
affected, and his tongue moist and florid.  His pulse, be-
fore the  operation, was  ninety,  and,  for fifteen days after-
wards, it varied between  that and a hundred.   February
15th, ten days after the evacuation, his night sweats re-
turned, although in a less degree than formerly.
   February 26th,  three weeks after the  first discharge, the
tumour had now become nearly  of its original size ; the in-
teguments were much  distended; the part punctured by
the trochar  had, for three days, appeared inflamed ; and,
on the tumour being now compressed, the cicatrix gave
way, and the contained  matter oozed frqp  the  orifice.
The trochar was again  introduced through the former ori- 
184
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
 fice, and eight ounces of brownish matter discharged.   The
 wound was carefully dressed, in hopes that as the distension
 was taken off, it might close.  After the  second evacua-
 tion, the night sweats again ceased ; he said he was rather
 weaker,  but no other  alteration in his health was perceiv-
 ed.
   On the 2d of  March, while in the act of coughing,  the
 imperfectly healed wound, made by the trochar, gave way*
 Very little pus was discharged, but as it was impossible to
 heal this ulcerated opening, and  as the continuity of  the
 cyst was  now destroyed, the mode of treatment hitherto
 pursued  was frustrated.  Much inflammation of the cyst
 immediately took place, and the constitution became great-
 ly affected.   The next day, if the finger slightly compres-
 sed the abscess, it gave him  great pain ; but,  before the
 cavity of the abscess became exposed, the part was perfect-
 ly indolent.   When pressure was employed, a fetid, frothy
 matter issued from the ulcerated orifice.  The cyst, how-
 ever, was emptied, and, except when pressed, there was no
 discharge.  Such were the appearances of the part.  The
 general disturbance of the constitution was also very great;
his countenance  exhibited strong expressions of  alarm  ; if
 any one approached him he  started,  and  when any one
 touched him he trembled.   His pulse beat finom 130 to 140
 in a minute—for two  days  his bowels were disordered__
however, the inflammation of the cyst gradually abated, and
in like manner the  constitutional derangement subsided.
 At the end of about  eight days he was much amended, and
in about six weeks the abscess appeared nearly well,  and
his constitution relieved from febrile indisposition.
  In mis case it  is clear, that the second discharge of mat-
ter was too long  delayed, and  to me it appears equally evi-
dent that  thefpatient  derived much advantage from  the
mode of treatment which had been pursued; for by it the 
ON LUMBAR
ARSCE.vsLS.
185
 complaint  was reduced from a large  abscess, containing
 nearly three pints, to one which held less than eight ounc-
 es.  Yet, even in this diminished state, great.derangement
 of the constitution followed the exposure of the cavity of
 the abscess : indeed, I have little doubt, if the abscess had
 been opened whilst it retained its original dimensions, but
 that the patient would have fallen a victim to the more ex-
 tensive inflammation, and more violent fever, which would
 then have  taken place.

                      CASE XV.

  Elizabeth Ridley, aged fifty-five,  had,  for one year and
 a half before her admission into the hospital, suffered much
 from bad  health ; she then had a  severe cough, accompa-
 nied with much fever.  About ten months before she was
 admitted into the hospital, she had a very acute pain in her
 loins, which abated,  in some degree, ten weeks after  its
 first attack ; at that  time  she  observed a tumour in her
 groin, which had  gradually increased  in size.   The pain
 had been continual  though at intervals it suffered consider-
 able abatement; the veins on the fore part of the thigh had
 become varicose and the leg oedcmatous.  The tumour was
 of a circular form,  about four inches in diameter.  It had
 much protruded the fascia, and matter was violently impel-
 led  into it on coughing.  She now complained of occasion-
al pain of her stomach, of failure of appetite, and a costive
state of her bowels : her pulse was slow and feeble,  her
tongue pale; and her health considerably beneath the na-
tural standard.
  On the 8th of November, I punctured  the lower part of
the  tumour with a lancet, carrying it obliquely about half
an  inch between  the skin  and the fascia, and discharged
eleven ounces of good pu9,  but did not empty the abscess.
 The orifice of the skin aud cyst did not then correspond. 
186
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
 and on coughing there there was still perceived a consid-
 erable impulse of matter from the cavity in the loins.   1
 was unwilling,to irritate the cyst by the introduction of any
 instrument to separate the lips of the wound,  therefore I
 closed the orifice with sticking-plaster, and every thing re-
 mained quiet till the third day, when, by a fit of coughing,
 the orifice was burst open, and matter oozed from beneath
 the plaster.   If I  suffered  it  to remain open, my original
 plan of treatment would be frustrated.   1 therefore resolv-
 ed to let out the collected matter, lest distention of the fas-
 cia and integuments should  prevent the wound from healing.
 I again introduced the lancet through the same orifice, and
 wounded it  so as to make  it bleed and give a discharge to
 five ounces of pus ; the abscess, however, did not even now
 appear to be completely emptied.
  The woman suffered no evident alteration in her health,
 but became  much easier with respect to her loins.   The
 varicose veins and the oedema of the leg now no longer ap-
 peared.  These symptoms, doubtless, originated from the
 pressure in the loins, occasioned by matter, of which it was
 very evident there was a large collection.
  On the 18th, the tumour was again punctured, and eight
ounces of fluid  evacuated.  The matter  before had been
 incompletely  discharged;  now I believe  the tumour was
 entirely emptied.  This last  discharged matter was  per-
 fectly inodorous and  the thigh  uninflamed.  I made this
aperture at the side of the tumour with the* edges of the lan-
cet upwards  and  downwards, and not transversely as the
former openings had been made.  This I did that the efforts
employed  in  coughing might have less effect in impelling
 tho matter through the orifice, which soon healed.
  In the following week she complained that she was  rest-
 less and could not sleep, neither had she her usual  degree
 of appetite;  her pulse,  however, was not quickened, nor 
ON LUMBAR AJ;s<- KSSES.
187
did any other sigus of constitutional  indisposition appear.
No matter was now collected beneath the fascia, and after
waiting another week without any apparent collection being
made,on the 25th of November I introduced a lancet through
the fascia of the  thigh, with a design to leave the  cavity of
the abscess permanently open.   I did not  perceive any
matter issue from the opening.   As the integuments cover-
ing the faicia were thickened, and showed some disposition
to inflame,  1 directed the aqua plumbi acetati to be applied
to them. On the following day some matter flowed through
the orifice.   The patient supposed, if collected, it might be
a table-spoonful; nearly the same quantity continued to
discharge for about a fortnight, and afterwards it gradually
diminished, and the wound healed.   She was not affected
by  fever in consequence of this last opening, and seemed
to suffer very  little inconvenience  with respect  to  her
health.  She, however, complained much of pains resemb-
ling those  of the rheumatism, which affected  principally
her hips, though sometimes they attacked her loins; for
these pains she was placed under the care of the physician,
and as her  constitution was languid, she was recommended
to continue the medicines  prescribed for  her as  an  out
patient.
  In this case one  circumstance  appeared to me curious;
after  1 had twice discharged the contents of the abscess,
no farther  collection of matter took place.  Yet not be-
cause the cavity  of the abscess was abolished, but because
from some  little indisposition of the constitution the secre-
tion into that cavity was for a time suspended.  This, how-
ever, was rather an advantageous circumstance, for as the
cyst was empty, the contraction of the sides  was  unoppos-
ed. 
188
ON LUMBAR ABSCEssLV
                     CASE XVH.

   Charles White, thirty-six years of age, and not unhealthy,
 had a lumbar abscess, which presented beneath the fascia
 of the thigh, and  which there  was no reason to suppose
 connected with any disease of the spine.   From  this ab-
 scess, I discharged, by  puncture, twenty-four  ounces of
 healthy pus,  and healed the orifice.  The patient suffered
 some weakness and derangement of health; but they were
 not considerable.  The operation was repeated every fort-
 night ; and by the fifth time of performing it, the quantity had
 decreased to four ounces.   At the end of another fortnights
 I made  the  opening to  discharge the matter, larger than
 common,  and did  not attempt  to unite it, but directed  a
 poultice to be applied to the thigh, and  the patient to be
 kept  in bed.  No perceptible  derangement in his health
 took place in consequence of this.  ' The lips' of the wound
 granulated, which, 1 think,  is always a good sign;  the  fas*
 cia seemed to  adhere to the parts  beneath;  and in  the
 course of a month he was thought well enough to leave the
hospital, although there  was still some matter discharged
 from the wound.   In a few weeks more,  the part was en-
 tirely healed; nor  had  he afterwards any return of  the
 complaint.

                    CASE XVIII.

   William Hankes, when about twenty-eight years of age,
 had a collection of matter formed in his loins, which  de-
scended beneath Poupart's ligament, and elevated the  fas-
cia of the thigh.   The formation  of this matter had not been
attended with pain; neither were the motions of the thigh
impeded during  its collection.  The elevated portion of
the fascia was about three incbes in  length, and two in
breadth; and the  impulse  communicated to it from the 
                ON  LUMBAR ABSCESSES.             189

loins, on coughing, was distinct though not very forcible.—
I punctured the abscess, and discharged twelve ounces of
pus, in which there  were some flakes of coagulum.   The
wound healed speedily, and the patient not only suflered
no inconvenience,  but even found himself better thin be-
fore the operation.   After  three weeks' time, the  matter
which was collected gave so little prominence to the fascia,
that, when I punctured it, I was apprehensive of injuring
the subjacent  parts;  and not more than between five and
six ounces of pus flowed  from the orifice on this occa-
sion.  *A.s the quantity of matter contained  in the abscess
at first was  small when  compared with  that in  many
other  cases  which  terminated well, as  the patient also
was  young,  and apparently capable of sustaining  the de-
gree of irritation likely to ensue,  I thought there  was no
great risk  in leaving  the  orifice  unclosed.  Accordingly
a poultice  was  applied over  the part; and I hoped that
by  thus  endeavouring as much as possible to lessen in"
flammation about  the  wound, I might prevent any  con-
siderable degree of it  from taking place  in the cyst.   For
some time  the fascia felt sore,  and was painful when
the integuments were pressed ; but this tenderness  abated
in about ten days ;  the discharge also lessened, and  there
appeared ground  to  hope that the  patient would  soon
get well.  He was  now attacked with pain in his loins,
accompanied by fever: the discharge also  increased, and
had  a  foetid  smell.  The  symptoms, however, gradually
abated, but left the patient greatly reduced in strength.
After a  short interval, he again experienced a  similar
relapse and recovery, by  which  his weakness was still
farther  increased.   He  had  been occasionally troubled
with cough,  which now became very constant, but with-
out  any expectoration; and I observed  that he drew w
very little  air when  he  inspired.  As  the abscess dis
   vol. n.                24* 
190
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
charged largely, and  the  strength of his constitution was
rather declining,  I  made  a large issue in the integuments
of his loins, with a view to  lessen  the internal  disease.
This  seemed to be of great service; for  the pain of his
loins  went off,  and the discharge from the abscess abated
gradually, and at last became inconsiderable.  Still, how-
ever,  he did not recover his  health ;  and  the  country
air  was now recommended  by  Dr. Latham, who had
prescribed  for  him during  his illness,  those medicines
which his disorder  seemed  to  require.  He accordingly
left the hospital,  and, at  the end of ten months, returned
to town; when the wound in his  thigh still  continued to
discharge a small quantity of matter.  Afterwards,  a thick-
ening of the integuments on the front  of the thigh took
place-, and two or three small ulcers  formed there, which
did not readily heal,  but  were  sometimes in a better and
sometimes  in a worse state.  I saw  him occasionally,  for
two years, during which  time  he  had tried the effect of
sea-bathing.  His health,  however, was  not good, though
it did not appear to  me to  suffer  from the remains of the ab-
scess, which neither  occasioned  pain,  nor hindered  his
walking.  At last, his strength  declining, he was again ad-
mitted into the hospital,  under  Dr.  Latham'9 care.  He
was now much troubled with cough, and hectic fever; and,
under the fascia of the other thigh, opposite to the dorsum
of the ilium, a fresh abscess appeared, which, however, had
no communication with the abdomen.  The powers of his
constitution were now evidently broken, and he gradually
sunk, and died.
  Being greatly hurried during the only opportunity I had
of inspecting the body, my examination of it was very cur-
sory.   I can, therefore, only say that both lungs were irreg-
ularly and generally indurated ;  that the cavity of the ori 
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
191
ginal abscess still remained opened, but was contracted into
a narrow fistula leading from the thigh to the middle of the
psoas muscle.  There was another large abscess on the op-
posite psoas muscle, which had not yet descended to the
thigh,  where, as has been already mentioned,  there  wai
also an abscess of considerable magnitude, but unconnected
with this  in the loins.  The lumbar  vertebrae  were  per-
fectly sound.
   That the death of this man was not owing to the original
abscess in the loins, is to me very evident.  That abscess
did,  indeed, for a considerable time, greatly disturb his
constitution ; but it afterwards  became  indolent,  and ac-
quired a state incapable of exciting irritation.

                     CASE XIX.

   Having unfortunately lost the minutes which I  took of
the next case that occurred in the hospital, I can only give
such a general account of it as my memory supplies.  The
subject of it, Doods  King, who was under the care of  Mr.
Blicke, was about thirty years of age,  and of a very sickly
aspect.   The abscess presented  beneath Poupart's  liga-
ment;  it contained  at first about 20 ounces of curdly mat-
ter, and was punctured four times,  with the usual  progres-
sive reduction in the quantity of matter discharged : but
before the fifth time of opening, one of the punctured places
ulcerated.   There  was, indeed,  from the  beginning, in
this case, a great disposition in the skin to inflame and ulce-
rate, and  it  was with difficulty I could heal the orifices
made to let the matter out.   As soon as the cavity  had thus
become open, a poultice was applied to the part, and con-
finement to bed strictly  enjoined.  The  patient  became
somewhat weaker, but no fever ensued.   I did  not suffer 
192
ON LUMBAR ABftCESSEd.
  him to go about, however, for a long time, lest the motion
  of the parts should induce inflammation.  The abscess at
  last became perfectly indolent itself, and unirritating to the
  constitution ; but itdid not show much disposition to heal.
  He was  discharged in this state,  and  promised  to apply
  again if his complaint became  troublesome.  I  saw  him
  about a month  after his dismission, when he mentioned a
  design of going  into the country ; since which I  have not
 heard of him.


                      CASE  XX.

   Catharine Vallance, nineteen years old, of a healthy ap-
 pearance, but having a considerable inclination of her body
 forwards, from a former disease of the dorsal vertebras, had,
 for twelve months before I first saw  her, laboured under
 severe pain of her loins,  accompanied with fever.   There
 was at that time a large lumbar abscess, the matter of which
 had descended to the upper part of the thigh, where it dis-
 tended the integuments,  so as  to render them prominent
 and thin.  A surgeon pricked this tumour with a lancet,
 and let out more than a pint of very healthy pus ; by which
 the bulk of  the swelling was scarcely  diminished : but as
 no more matter would flow, a piece of sticking-plaster was
 applied over the orifice.   Four days afterwards  another
 surgeon, observing that the integuments were inflamed, and
 the punctured part much disposed to ulcerate, made another
 aperture, at  some distance from the former, and discharged
three pints  of good  pus; which completely emptied  the
 cavity.  The last puncture being attentively closed, heal-
ed readily;  and  the  first lost  its disposition to ulcerate.
The young woman continued  perfectly  in health for  ten
days, when some little distention of the abscess again oc- 
                 ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.             193

 curring,  the first puncture ulcerated ; in consequence  of
 which  the collected matter made its way out, and  left a
 permanent opening into the cavity.  Considerable  fever
 now came on,  the patient's pulse was rapid,  her tongue
 white, and her skin hot and dry ; but these symptoms abated
 after a short time, and she again recovered her former
 state of health; the abscess not falling into any secondary
 state of disease after the inflammation went off; nor did
 any hectic fever take place after  the first derangement  of
 the constitution had subsided.
   Another abscess  now presented itself, in the same situa-
 tion, on the opposite side.   As soon  as  this had acquired
 sufficient  prominence to give security to the parts beneath,
 it was punctured ; twelve  ounces of  healthy  pus were let
 out, and the orifice was closed.  When the matter collect-
 ed again,  the wound, made to discharge it, was suffered to
 remain  open.   The inflammation which took place in the
 cyst in consequence of  this, was very slight,  and hardly af-
 fected the constitution; the parts soon  became indolent,
 discharging but little matter, and both the abscesses healed
 gradually.
   It is now three years since that case occurred ; and I have
 lately seen the patient, who has experienced no inconven-
 ience from the complaint since that period.

                     CASE XXI.

  A young woman had a lumbar abscess presenting in the
upper part of the thigh, from which a surgeon discharged,
by puncture, nearly  a quart of matter, and healed the open-
ing.   At the expiration of a fortnight, a second puncture
was made, and twelve ounces of matter let out.  The last
orifice was closed like the first, but after a few days it nice- 
 194             ON" LUMBAR ABSCESSES.

rated, and the cavity of the abscess became exposed.   The
patient now growing very ill, was admitted into St. Barthol-
omew's Hospital.   Her pulse was weak, but not deficient
in strength;  her tongue white, and her skin hot and dry:
the discharge from the abscess was not great, but the pain
of her loins was very severe.  A large poultice was applied
to the thigh ;  and  the common saline mixture,  with small
doses of antimonials, was given.  In the course of a week,
a considerable change took place ; her pulse, though still
quick, was rather feeble ;  her tongue moist, and not furred ;
and she  had frequent  perspirations, without any  evident
cause; the pain in her loins abated considerably, and the
discharge from the abscess became copious, thin, and foetid.
She now began  to take the Peruvian bark, and in the space
of a  month gradually recovered from this state of debility.
Having acquired strength enough to sit up, and to walk a
little about the ward, she one day imprudently went into
the air, and walked until she was much fatigued.
  The consequences of this were,  a return of  the pain in
her loins ; with quickness and hardness of her pulse, white
tongue, and hot and dry skin.  As the  pain and fever went
off, they  were  succeeded by an increased discharge from
the  abscess,  and irregular perspirations,  which gradually
abating,  the  abscess at length became indolent, and  no
longer affected the constitution.   Warned by her former
experience, she now took  exercise very cautiously ; and
when she found  she could bear motion without exciting
irritation in the abscess, she went into the country, where
she  regained her health ; the abscess healed,  and she has
since continued perfectly well.
  When a permanent opening is made in a lumbar abscess,
the part generally falls into a morbid state,  and this is ac-
companied by a sympathetic affection  of the constitution. 
ON LUMBAR ABSCESSES.
195
corresponding in its nature with the local complaint.   In
the first of the two cases  just now related, both the local
and constitutional  disease were of a  more  purely  inflam-
matory  kind,  than in any other that I had  ever  seen, nor
was it succeeded by that ill-conditioned state of the sore,
accompanied with  a thin foetid discharge, and hectic symp-
toms, which so frequently  occur  m this disorder.  In the
second case,  as the patient's general health was  tolerably
good, the disease in the beginning approached to the nature
of common inflammation, then'gradually acquired the usual
state of these abscesses, but afterwards became  indolent;
the sympathetic affection of the constitution exactly corres-
ponded to the state of the abscess.  At first the fever was
inflammatory, then hectical; and when the local complaint
became indolent, the general state of the patient's health
was no longer affected.   These circumstances still more
strongly appeared after the accidental re-excitement of the
inflammatory symptoms.
   In order further  to confirm the foregoing opinions, I may
add, that I have known a considerable space of time elapse,
between the first bursting of a lumbar abscess and its assum-
ing that morbid state which is so peculiar to those diseases,
and which produces a corresponding affection of the system
in general. 
/ 
               THE
   HUNTERIAN ORATION,
           FOR THE YEAR
              1819.

          DELIVERED BEFORE
THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS,
           IN LONDON ;

               BY
  JOHN ABERNETHY, F. R. S., &c. 
 
HUNTERIAN  ORATION,
                  1819.
   IT is the expressed intention of the founders of this ora
 tion, that it should be rendered contributory to the honour
 of surgery, and of its intelligent professors ; which design
 cannot, in my opinion, be better accomplished, than by
 showing what  surgery really  is ;  the nature and extent of
 the knowledge requisite for its clear comprehension ;  the
 intellect and talent necessary for its successful practice.
   Had surgery and surgeons been merely what their names
 imply, handywork, and handicrafts, I never would have ap-
 peared before you, Gentlemen, to do them honour.  For
 honour is due alone to intellect, and can be paid to nothing
 else.   Why do  we honour those whose literary labours
 stand pre-eminent ; or those  who have exposed, or sacrifi-
 ced their  lives in  the cause of their country, or in that of
moral obligation ?  Is  it  not  on account of their having evin-
ced superior powers, or firmness of mind ? They have thus
done honour to the whole  human race, and can only be
repaid in the same  coin ; we return to them the  tribute of
honour, in proportion as they have conferred it on us.   We
indeed  honour rank,  but then it is either in blind obedi-
ence to  the laws of custom, or because we  associate  the
opinion of superior intelligence and elevation of mind with
the possession of a  dignified  station.*
  * The good qualities of the mind excite and engage our respect
or esteem. 
4
HUNTERIAN ORATIO*..
  Now, to show what surgery really is, it becomes necessary
 to divest it of that garb with which it has been clothed and
 obscured in  times of ignorance ;  and it is useful to revert
 to the history of former times, in  order to observe the cir-
 cumstances which have promoted or retarded the progress
 of the medical sciences, or communicated to them that bi-
 as, by which  they have been directed to their  present situ
 ation.
  Medicine,  or the science which has  for its object the
 prevention and cure of diseases,  was held  in  the highest
 respect by ancient nations, and its most eminent professors
 were even venerated.  But, surely, it was the beneficent
 object only of the science that attracted their applause and
 gratitude ; for the means by which the object was to be
 accomplished were either not contemplated, or were mere-
 ly supposed to be known.   Various sovereigns have, doubt-
 less, greatly promoted this science by their patronage, and
 encouragement ought to be given to it, as I shall afterwards
 show, not only by the government of countries, but also by
 the people in general.   The successors  of Alexander of
 Macedon first resolutely  opposed  the natural  feelings  and
prejudices of mankind, by patronising the dissection of hu-
man  bodies at Alexandria ; which city they had made the
great depository of knowledge, by the collection of an im-
 mense library, and which  they also strove  to make a splen-
did seat of science, and source of instruction.
  It  was at Alexandria, that persons in general first pos-
sessed the ready means of knowing what others knew and
thought, by consulting their writings collected in its stupen-
dous library.   How different must have been the state of
learning and learned men in ancient and in modern times !
What surprising changes has the invention of printing pro-
 duced !  An ancient student of any subject of nature or sci- 
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
5
 £nce must have sought for the information  which others
 possessed, by distant visits, to procure the perusal of any
 work of celebrity, or the conversation of those engaged in
 the same pursuits.  His knowledge, therefore, must chiefly
 have resulted from his own exertions, and if he deemed it
 worthy of being recorded for the  benefit  of  others,  he
 knew that it must be communicated to them very gradually
 and slowly.  His fame, as a discoverer, or improver of sci-
 ence, could never spread so as to reverberate  to his own
 ears.  His reputation must necessarily be of slow growth.
 and therefore his endeavour would be to make it  lasting.
 As he could not compare his knowledge with  that of others.
 he would strive to make his own  perfect, by completely
 mastering the subject he had engaged with, so that none
 should be able to do  more.  But now, when, by an indus-
 trious education, any one may possess himself of the knowl-
 edge of the whole world with respect to any  subject of na-
 ture, art or science ; now, when every accession of knowl-
 edge is published at annual, quarterly, or monthly periods;
 every little discovery is at once proclaimed,  lest its author
 should be anticipated ; and persons in general become de-
 sirous of contending for superiority more with one another,
 than with the subject, or with themselves.   Yet this ready
 communication of knowledge greatly tends to its increase,
 by exciting general emulation and co-operation.
   It was  at Alexandria, also, that  persons of the  medical
 profession first possessed  an  opportunity of studying  the
 aubject-matter of medical science,  the structure and func
 tions of the parts of the human body.  How absurd should
we deem the  conduct of a mechanic, whose business it was
to rectify the errors  of any complex machine,  should he
merely provide himself with the finest and fittest tools for
fhe purpose, and neglect to learn its mechanism, by which 
6
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
 alone he can be able to discover the causes of the error, or
 stoppage of its different movements, and consequently what
 is wanting to be done,  to render it again perfect or useful.
 Yet equally absurd would be the conduct of medical  men,
 were they to study botany, pharmacy, chemistry, and  natu-
 ral philosophy,  searching indeed through all the paths of
 nature, and the stores  of art,  for means of cure, and yet
 neglect anatomy, by which alone  they can be able to dis-
 tinguish the nature of  the difference  between health and
 disease, and consequently what is requisite to reconvert the
 latter into the former;  which is the only circumstance that
 can render medicine a  science.
   It seems to be my fate, Gentlemen, whenever I address
 you, to be doomed to speak of the importance of opinions ;
 yet I cannot avoid it,  the necessity of the  case  absolutely
 demands it ; for the reasoning powers of man, which, when
 well directed, lead to the discovery of truth, and the for-
 mation of useful opinions, when misemployed, elicit noth-
 ing but error and pernicious notions.  It is a very great but
 very common misemployment of our reasoning powers, to
 draw inferences from facts belonging to different subjects,
 which are incommensurate with one another. Such irrel-
 evant facts have been  often designated by the  whimsical
 and contradictory expression of false facts.   We are indeed
 sometimes induced to reason from analogy, but then the
 similarity of the facts is so precise, as to warrant us in be-
 lieving that the subjects, concerning which we thus compar-
 atively reason, are  essentially alike.
  Now without  any knowledge of anatomy, or the animal
 economy,  persons  of the medical profession, by drawing
 inferences from  mixed facts, might suppose, that  a fire was
 kindled throughout the body to warm and cherish it,  which
if in excess, might set  our juices  into  fermentation,  and 
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
thus produce partial or general disorder; they might sup-
pose, that there were elements in the body, which ought to
be combined in definite proportions, and that different dis-
eases might result from the excess or deficiency of one or
other of these elements.  They might suppose, that diseases
were of an acid or  of an alkaline nature ; they might say,
that there  were powers,  capable of performing  functions,
nay even poetically imagine essences endowed with  such
powers, and speak of animae presiding over the different
functions, and of an archaeus or master-workman superin-
tending the whole.   You know, Gentlemen, that all this
and more of the same kind has been thought and said by re-
puted  sages of the  medical profession.
   Since, then, reasoning from false, insufficient, or irrele-
vant premises is productive of error, we cannot wonder,
that when medical men in general first began to reason on
the causes  and nature of  diseases, and the effects of reme-
dies, if their speculations were wild, and the conduct which
such opinions gave  rise to, highly injurious.  We can feel
no surprise, therefore, that a large party of the medical pro-
fession should segregate  themselves,  and resolutely inter-
dict the use of reasoning in medical practice, steadfastly re.
solving, in their conduct to be guided solely by the dictates
of experience.   Neither  indeed can we wonder,  that even
erring  reason still found advocates in the  minds of men.
Now you know, Gentlemen,  that not very long after the
formation of the Alexandrian school, in the beginning of the
second century, before  the Christian aera,  Serapion and
Phillinus, pupils of Herophilus, were the founders of a sect
called  the empiric,  which was numerous, highly respecta-
ble, and which long continued to flourish, whilst the remain-
ing party of the medical  profession were distinguished by
the appellation of the dogmatic or rational  sect.   In the
very feeble and almost blind state attendant on the infancy 
8
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
 of medical  science, a caution not to attempt to advance^
 unless supported and conducted by an unerring guide, seem-
 ed really requisite, yet to prohibit such endeavours in the
 present vigorous and enlightened state  of medical science,
 would be as preposterous as to recommend the conduct pro-
 per to be  pursued in infancy,  to be continued during the
 whole state of manhood.  Though much might be said on
 this subject, it really seems unnecessary to do more than to
 remind you, Gentlemen, that the sagacious Lord l)<>,:o;. has
 in this respect also, well displayed the results of different
 dispositions or powers  of mind,  by the following simile.
   " The empirics,"  says he, " like ants, only lay by stores
 and use them ;  the rationalists, like spiders,  spin webs out
 of themselves ; but the bee takes a middle course, collect-
 ing her matter from the flowers of the field and garden, and
 digesting, and elaborating it by  her native powers."
   It was shortly after the establishment  of the Alexandrian
 school, that, as Celsus informs us, the practice of medicine
 was first separated into three parts, and each part consigned
 to a different person, one of whom was supposed to cure
 diseases by compounds of drugs and other substances ; an-
 other by regimen and plans of diet; and the third by manu-
al  operations and  instruments.  This partition seems to
have been both an effect and a cause of that confusion be-
tween the object of medicine, and the means of accomplish-
ing it, which has obtained more or less ever since that peri-
od. The bulk of medical knowledge, was, however, at that
time too diminutive, to permit this subdivision to be con-
 tinued, and we find succeeding authors treat equally on all
these curative measures.
  The advantages which we derive from anatomical knowl-
 edge are, that it enables  us to judge of the nature and prob-
 able event of it juries and diseases, hy the exact information
 we possess of the situation and connexions of every part ol 
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
9
the body ; that it enables us to perform the operations  of
surgery with confidence in ourselves, and security to our
patients ; moreover, a correct knowledge of structure is the
only foundation of all knowledge of function, without which,
we can never be able to distinguish the nature of the differ-
ence between health and disease, nor consequently what
is requisite  to reconvert the latter into the former, which,
I repeat, is the only circumstance that can render medicine
a  science.  Now, though the dissections at the Alexandri-
an school, were by no means so perfect as to produce any
of the important consequences derivable from anatomy, yet
they led the way to the general investigation  of structure
and function, and to the formation of opinions deduced from
the facts belonging to the subject under consideration.  The
body of the monkey so much resembles that of man, that a
moderately  good idea of the latter may be obtained by the
examination of the former; the desire to  understand func-
tion would also lead to experimental  enquiry ; and conse-
quently we  find Galen, whom  they say had passed  several
years at the Alexandrian school, making various  experi-
ments on animals, to determine the office of different parts
of the  body.
   Medicine was,  doubtless, much promoted by the oppor-
tunities of information which the Alexandrian school afford-
ed ;  and  it  seems to have proceeded  as prosperously  as
could  be expected, in the still  very deficient  state of ele-
mentary knowledge, for several centuries ; when a revolu-
tion happened,  by which all the sciences  of southern Eu-
rope were in common overthrown, and their lights extin-
guished,  so that a great district of the world was involved
in darkness and ignorance for many ages.   As the account
which I am giving of the causes that promoted, retarded,
or variously affected  the progress of  the medical sciences. 
10
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
will not be clearly intelligible,  without  adverting to thi^
revolution, I may be excused if I briefly endeavour to revive
it in your remembrance.  It was towards the latter end of
the fifth century, that the hardy nations of the north of Eu-
rope burst like a deluge into  the Italian territories of the
degenerate Romans, bearing down before them the ancient
seat of their government, which, having previously remov-
ed  to Constantinople, was still able  to oppose a mound
that checked the  further progress of this inundation.  In
the beginning of the seventh century, Mahomet established
his religion and dominion in the  East, subduing all Arabia ;
and his  successors extended their empire over Palestine
and Persia,  Egypt, and the northern coast of Africa,  from
whence their influence was continued over  those Moors,
who had invaded and subdued the kingdom of Spain :  such
was the extent of the Saracen dominion.   But the Mahom-
etans were prevented from entering Europe on the east by
the Roman  government at Constantinople.  The territo-
ries of the Romans were much diminished,  and were as-
sailed on  various parts  of their frontier.  The empire,
however, was still  superior  to these attacks, and according
to the simile of a  late elegant writer, it seemed  like the
trunk of an old tree, which still remained vigorous and un-
shaken  by the winds which assaulted it, and had stripped it
of its branches.  In the territory protected by the last ex-
ertion of the Roman power, science and art still survived,
though  in a state of rapid decline.   Here the works of the
Grecian and Roman writers on medicine, were chiefly pre-
served, and their languages were spoken.   Here too, when
the people in general  had become illiterate,  ecclesiastical
scholars, who had read these authors, took upon themselves
to give medical advice, but refused to shed blood, or dress
wounds or sores, which task devolved on their servants.  It 
HPNTERIAN ORA1ION.
11
was here, therefore, that surgery first made its  public ap-
pearance, clothed in the garb of a menial.
   Anatomy was wholly neglected by the Arabians, nor was
it till the beginning of the fourteenth century, that Mondi-
ni made public dissections in Italy, and by degrees, other
nations acquired " that useful boldness."  The zeal of the
great painters, who began to flourish towards the close of
the next century, and the  patronage  afforded  to  them,
greatly contributed to the  suppression of the public preju-
dice against dissection  in Italy.   Michael Angelo, Raphael,
Leonardo da Vinci, and Albert Durer, were all either fre-
quent  dissectors, or draftsmen of dissected bodies.  It is
curious to observe, how speedily in general we reconcile
our minds to that which custom has rendered familiar. The
dissection of the bodies of persons who die in the hospitals
of Paris, produces at present no indignation,  no sensation
in the public mind.   Yet even in the time of Haller, the
laws and prejudices against purloining a dead body, were
so strong, that he left  France with all possible speed,  lest
the receiver should be considered as bad as the thief.
   It was not,  however, until the  sixteenth century,  that
anatomy made any considerable advances, when some great
anatomists distinguished  themselves,  particularly Eusta-
chius and Fallopius in Italy, Sylvius and Vesalius in France.
Vesalius pursued his anatomical enquiries with so much ar-
dor and constancy, that he was able to publish seven large
folio volumes  on the anatomy of the human body, before
he was 29 years of age (1542).   These books, which enti-
tle him to the greatest  gratitude of posterity, were to him-
self, however, the  cause of much  vexation and trouble.
Even at that  time, the  authority of Galen was held in such
high respect,  that when Vesalius showed his errors,  and
his ignorance of the structure of the human body, the ha- 
12
HtTNTERIA:* ORATION.
 tred of all was turned against the defamer.  People could
 not bear to be set  right by so young a man, and even his
 preceptor Sylvius denounced perpetual enmity against him.
 I need not tell my  present auditors what scrapes Vesalius
 got into, or what injuries he sustained,  in consequence of
 the public prejudice against dissection.
  After human  anatomy  had become  moderately  wel*
known, the  different nations of Europe were involved in
war, and the same attention was  not paid to the support of
academical institutions, for  teaching anatomy and medi-
cine.   Therefore,  anatomists again had recourse  to the
dissection of animals, from which, however, they derived
very important advantages.  They were thus led to an ex-
tensive knowledge  of the comparative structure of living
beings in general,  and to  make observations  and  experi-
ments  illustrative of function.   So that by these  means,
were all the paths leading to medical science fairly thrown
open to enquirers.
  I must now relate some ridiculous circumstances, which,
however,  gave a considerable bias to the progress of the
medical sciences.  The priests, merely because they were
able to  read the Greek and Roman authors on  medicine,
were the principal physicians, during the dark ages,  as  I
may call them, of these sciences.  They became intimate,
with the barbers, because the latter were frequently employ-
ed to shave the heads of the priests, according to the uniform
of their order.  The priests also frequently employed the
barbers to shave the heads of patients, before they prescribed
washes to cool the fever of the brain, or blisters to draw the
peccant humours from the surface.   Finding these fellows
handy with edge tools, the priests taught them to bleed and
perform such little operations as they were  competent to
direct, as well as  to make salves and poultices, and to dress 
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
13
wounds and sores.  Such was the origin of barber-surgery.
 When, however, the Popes perceived that the medical
 practice of the priests took them from their proper calline.
and obliged them after various edicts,  reluctantly to relin-
quish it, the office of physician was then adopted by other
scholars upon the same claim or pretension,  that of being
able to read the Greek and  Roman writers on medicine -.
and ever since, scholastic learning, and academical honours.
have been considered  as essential attributes to the charac-
ter of a physician.
   In the fourteenth  century, these barbers  and reputed
surgeons  pushed themselves  forward into the practice  of
surgery in France, to a degree that induced the surgeons in
ordinary to petition  the legislature to interfere, and an or-
der was obtained that  the barbers should not  be permitted
to practise, except in slight cases.   In process  of time,
however, the barbers attended lectures, and became as well
informed  as the inferior  class of surgeons,  and being still
patronised and instructed by their old friends the learned
doctors, they at length obtained an establishment as regular
practitioners in France, under the title of barber-surgeons.
Of this order was Ambrose Pare, a man of original observa-
tion, great candour and abundant experience, whose works
were well calculated  to correct the bad and cruel surgery
of those times.
   Wherever  the priests practised as physicians, the barbers
performed the offices of surgeons.  As, likewise,  medical
knowledge radiated from Italy to the northern nations of
Europe, so they must have received the information mixed
with any absurdity which it might have taken up in its pas-
sage ; and this, if we had even  the discernment to  distin
guish, we seem to have wanted the resolution to reject, for
the copartnership between surgery and shaving has been 
u
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
 but newly dissolved in this country.  " Would heart of man
 e'er think it, but you'll be silent."  This foolery was con-
 tinued so nearly to the present time, that even I myself have
 often doft my cap to barber-surgeons.  Edward the Fourth,
 in the year  1461, granted a charter of incorporation  and
 privilege to barber-surgeons ; and though the distinct na-
 ture  of the two professions  gradually became  more  and
 more apparent,  yet  they were not  separated  till nearly
 three centuries had elapsed, till the year 1745.
   The legitimate practice of surgery did not, however, re-
 main uncultivated nor unpatronised by different sovereigns^
 My time does not permit me to relate various instances,
 and 1 question if more than one can be adduced, in which
 the means adopted were judicious and efficient.  Louis the
 Fourteenth, from being continually engaged in war, seems
 first to have clearly discerned the nature and importance of
 surgery,  and the proper measures by which  it might and
 ought to be promoted.   He established hospitals, colleges,
 and professorships ; he  ordered  that lectures on surgery
 should be given  by surgeons of acknowledged ability, and
 that bodies for dissection should be liberally supplied.  By
 these means, he produced such a spirit of enquiry and emu-
 lation amongst the members of our profession, that the
 French surgeons soon surpassed those of all other nations,
 and pupils from every part of Europe flocked to Paris  to
 learn anatomy  and surgery.  Asa further consequence  of
 this patronage, I may mention that it gave rise to that very
excellent work,  the memoirs of the French Academy of
Surgery, the contributors to which were laborious students
 of their profession, who regularly registered  and arranged
 all  the knowledge promulgated by preceding authors,  to
 which they  added their own observations and  experimental
 ("•nquiri^s
-> 
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
15
  It would,  in my opinion, be honourable to the surgeons
of any nation to combine and produce a rival work (due al-
lowances being made for the progressive  improvement of
the  science of surgery); for to me,  these memoirs seem,
even at present,  to stand as it were alone, and in a state of
lofty superiority.   Let me not, however,  omit to mention
that before these memoirs came forth, a similar publication
was set on foot in this country under the patronage of  the
first Professor Monro of Edinburgh.*  It is unnecessary for
me to tell you, Gentlemen, of the number and importance
of the  periodical  publications of our own country.    The
facility of publication,  which such works  afford,  prevents
useful  information from being lost,  whilst they keep alive
amongst the members of our profession in general a spirit
of enquiry, emulation, and co-operation.
  Having thus adverted to the principal  circumstances
which  have influenced the progress of the medical sciences,
it seems only necessary to show the improvements made by
the two late eminent  physiologists Haller and Hunter, in
order to place distinctly within your view the present state
of these sciences in our own country, which  is my chief ob-
ject in this address ; for indeed it would be of but little use
to look back,  except  in order to determine the direction
and means by which  we are  likely  to proceed with the
greatest advantage.
  Albert Von Haller was born at Berne, in Switzerland, in
 1708,  and died there in 1777.  He possessed a  well  pro-
portioned  assemblance of vigorous intellectual faculties.
 His memory was surprisingly quick and retentive, scarcely
 any language was unknown to him, and  all those in which

  *The Edinburgh Medical  Essays and Observations were first
 published in 1732.  The Memoirs of the French Academy of Sur
 gery in 171." 
16
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
medical  lecords  are written he both read and wrote with
facility.  He had great industry, and made himself acquaint-
ed with all that others  knew or thought relative to our
professional studies.  He had great method and discrimina-
tion, and regularly registered all the knowledge he obtain-
ed by reading or otherwise.  Of his  talents in selecting,
condensing, and arranging information from successive pub-
lications,  his numerous bibliothecae afford ample evidence.
Haller went to Leyden in 1725, where he became a favour-
ite pupil of Boerhaave,  and a fellow-student  of Albinus.
He also  took opportunities of visiting  Ruysch, to observe
his anatomical  labours.   After he  had finished his studies
and his travels, he returned to Berne, and in 1734 he taught
anatomy in an amphitheatre which the republic had estab-
lished for that purpose :  he was also physician to an hospi-
tal, and entrusted with  the care of the public library, and
cabinet of medals.  In the first year that he undertook the
latter office he formed a  regular catalogue of all the books,
and arranged and described in chronological  order more
than 5000 antique medals.   King George the Second be-
ing desirous of promoting the reputation of the University
of Gottingen, invited Haller to accept of an anatomical,
surgical, and  botanical professorship,  which he established
for him ; and Haller accepted this invitation.   The oppor-
tunities of information at  the  school  of Berne were too
small for the mind of Haller, and  he  there met with  the
usual difficulty of procuring bodies for dissection.
   Haller resided in Gottingen seventeen years, and made
physiology his principal  study.   He found the knowledge
of this subject encumbered  and perplexed with false and
absurd assertions and  doctrines, which he removed,  and
endeavoured to  make physiology as much like science as
possible.   He saw the necessity for an exact knowledge of 
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
17
anatomy, both human and comparative ; for any reasoning
with  respect to function which  is incompatible with the
facts relating to structure  must be  invalid.   He saw  no
mode by which function could be scientifically investigated,
except by experiments made  on living animals ; yet in de-
tailing these, we find frequent evidences of his being disturb-
ed by those  " compunctious visitings of nature"  which
every good mind must necessarily  feel at inflicting  suffer-
ings  on unresisting  or subdued sensitive creatures, over
which nature has given us dominion.  He examined all the
principal  vital functions with particular attention, yet he
found no spring of vital action except in irritability,  which
he believed to be a  property of the muscular fibre  alone.
He investigated the process of formation, both in the growth
and reparation of bones,  and in the formation of  the em-
bryon in the egg,  which he believed to be developed.   It
was not, however, till after thirty years of labour that he
thought himself warranted to publish his Elementa Physi-
ologic, a work that certainly contains all  that was then
known on physiology, together with  the alterations and im-
provements made by his  own  enquiries and reflections ;
and its supreme excellence, at the time of its publication,
was  testified  by the  applause  of  every nation, and by
proffers of invitation and reward  to its author by various
.rovernments.  The Nostalgia of Haller, however, induced
him after seventeen years' residence in Gottingen to return
to Berne, where he became a  magistrate  and politician,
without relinquishing his  former  studies.   Such was  the
esteem with which Haller was regarded, wherever the sci-
cnces were cultivated, that most foreigners of distinction,
 ind even princes, in passing through Switzerland, paid bom-
age by their visits to the illustrious Haller. 
18
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
  John Hunter was born in the county of Lanark, in Scot-
land, in the year 1728,  and he died in London in 1793.
He had received but little education; his mind had not been
taught to act in imitation of others ; he disliked to read, as
much as he liked to think.  When Mr. Cline addressed th&
College on this anniversary, he said,  " Much as Mr. Hun-
ter did, he thought still  more.  He has often  told me,  his
delight was, to think."   Mr. Hunter did not begin to learn
anatomy till he was eighteen  years of age ; but  when the
book of nature lay exposed to his view, he read it with fa-
cility,  interest, intelligence,  and diligence ;  and the idle
youth became a most industrious man.   Like Haller,  he
devoted himself to physiology.  Such minds  could not but
be highly sensible of the interest and importance of this stu-
dy i  they could not be contented with the mere notation of
facts, without enquiring  into their probable causes and uses.
Like Haller, he became an exact and comprehensive anat-
omist.  No structure, nor substance wanting structure, yet
possessing life, escaped his strictest scrutiny.  Like Haller,
he investigated the nature of function by experiment,  yet
how different is the conclusion of the labours and reflec-
tions,  or the  principles of the physiological doctrines of
these almost contemporary and very extraordinary charac-
ters;—the one enriched from the possessions of all others,
and  endowed with great degrees of intellectual powers ;
the other, rich only in natural genius and talent.
   Although I have not now to speak of Mr. Hunter's physi-
ological opinions, yet it seems proper to observe on the pre-
sent occasion, that he was not satisfied with those of Haller,
which he had heard delivered in his brother's lectures ; and
therefore he examined every subject for himself.  He seems
also to have wrought like an ancient student, not striving
for victory with others,  but contending  with the  subject, 
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
29
and with himself.  In the whole of his labours and reason-
ings, we may perceive a most diligent search for every fact
belonging to the subject  he  was investigating,  to form the
basis  on  which he reasons ;  the most anxious solicitude to
describe  facts with accuracy, and to avoid the least misrep-
resentation of them ; and in his reasonings, I can perceive
no inference deduced from insufficient or irrelevant premis-
es.   It is this mode of proceeding only, as I have formerly
observed, which can give value and currency to the opin-
ions of any one.  Mr.  Hunter was  convinced that life was
not the result of organization ; and though many may have
conjectured life to be something  not dependent on struc-
ture,  Mr Hunter was the first who deduced the opinion, as
a legitimate consequence of legitimate facts, that life actu-
ally constructed the very means by which it carried  on its
various processes, and that it could operate in semifluid and
even  fluid substances.  His intelligent mind further per-
ceived that no  system of physiology could be  perfect that
did not  equally explain the morbid as well as the  heal-
thy actions  of  life.  1 may  say, that he  discovered  a vi-
tal principle in physiology active in producing correct pa-
thology : therefore he appears to me as a new character in
our profession  ; and briefly to express his peculiar  merit,
I may call him the first and great physionosologist or exposi-
tor of the nature of disease.
   Haller was  a physician,  Hunter a surgeon, both were
anatomists and physiologists, both therefore equally quali-
fied, as far as their knowledge of the animal economy ex-
tended, to discern the nature and mode of cure of the disea-
ses in either department of medical science; yet, doubtless, 
20
IIU N TER1 AN OR A T10 N .
each most competent to decide upon the best means lor ef-
fecting the latter purpose in that to which he had been edu-
cated, and his attention chiefly directed.  Medicine is one
and indivisible :  it must be learned as a whole, for no part
can be understood, if  studied separately.   The physician
must understand surgery, and the surgeon the medical treat-
ment of diseases.  Indeed, it is from the evidence afforded
by external diseases, that we are enabled to judge of the
nature and progress of  those that are internal;  which ap-
peared so clearly to Boerhaave, that though his object was
to teach his pupils the  practice of medicine,  he began by
teaching them surgery.
  Yet as medical science is so  very extensive, and such ac-
curate knowledge of its various subjects is'required, the di-
vision of  it into two principal departments,  which custom
has established, may be continued with great propriety and
advantage.  So much knowledge and  talent  is requisite in
the division of surgery, for the  correct re-adjustment  of
parts which have been severed and separated by violence ;
for ensuring their unvarying motionless position,  so essen.
tial to their  tranquillity and re-union ; for suggesting and
applying suitable means to soothe or  correct the morbid
actions of susceptible surfaces ; for discriminating the great
variety of external local diseases ; and for performing the
various and complicated operations of surgery ; that it re-
quires the whole time and  ability of any individual to attain
even  moderate perfection  in this department of medical
science.   Whilst the no less extensive and important task
of unravelling the intricacies of the symptoms produced by
internal diseases, so as  to trace them to their several sourc-
es, and consequently to decide upon their proper treatment;
and of modifying the remedies employed, so as  to adapt
them to- the  varieties of circumstances and  constitutions ; 
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
23
 equally demands the concentrated observation and reflec-
 tion of the physician.  Indeed the division of medicine in-
 to two principal departments, which custom has establish-
 ed, seems also to have received the fullest sanction of expe-
 rience ;  and if we  were not to acquiesce in it, we should
 subvert the institutions of society, and throw the whole pro-
 fession into confusion.  So much, also, is to be known and
 done in either department, that if we invade each other's
 province, we must neglect properly to cultivate  and im-
 prove our own.
   There are those who think that a still further subdivision
 of the subjects of  medicine  might lead to a more  perfect
 knowledge of them.  Yet the ultimate structure of all parts
 of the body being the same, their diseases must be similar,
 and treated upon the same general principles.  If also,  to
 investigate and  understand any subject in nature,  art,  or
 science, a great deal of collateral knowledge be required,
 which serves like light shining from various points,  to illu-
 minate the object of our attention ; when we examine par-
 ticular diseases  by  the lights  emanating from others,  here
 such lights will indeed be found to be most apposite and  il-
 lustrative.  It is by comparing the nature and treatment of
 diseases with one another,  that we improve our knowledge
 and practice with respect to those of particular organs,  or
 portions of the body.  If, however, after an enlarged  edu-
 cation, if after knowing the whole, our observations were
 exclusively directed to a  part, it is probable that increase
 of knowledge might result from such concentration of at-
 tention.   Yet those, in general, who study the diseases of
 particular organs or portions of the body, think that  they
 may save themselves the trouble of more extensive research,
 and  thus  their views become as circumscribed as the ob-
jects of their attention. 
22
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
   It is both evident to reason, and manifested by the histo-
 ry of medical science, or by experience, that it can only be
 attained and improved in one way.   We must understand
 structure and function, and the changes produced in each
 by disorder and disease.  There is no short cut, nor " roy-
 al road,"  to  the attainment of medical knowledge.   The
 path which we have to pursue is  long, difficult, and unsafe.
 In our  progress,  we must frequently take  up our abode
 with death and  corruption ; we must adopt loathsome dis-
 eases for our familiar associates, or we shall never be thor-
 oughly acquainted with their nature and  dispositions ; we
 must risk,  nay even injure, our own health in order to be
 able to preserve or restore that of others.   Yet if we do
 this, our profession will be held in the highest respect; not
 as in ancient  times,  merely on account of the beneficence
 of its object,  but because it will be furl her perceived,  thai
 the means are adequate to its accomplishment.
   If, however, we are disposed thus to labour for the pub-
lic good, some concession, co-operation, and encourage-
 ment on the  part of the public,  may be by us reasonably
 expected.  Anatomical knowledge is the only foundation
 on which  the structure of medical science can  be built.
 Without this, we should but increase the sufferings of those
 afflicted with diseases,  and endanger their lives.  Oppor-
 tunities of  dissection should therefore be afforded to us.
 The bodies of persons dying in the hospitals abroad are giv-
en to the surgeons for dissection,  and even with  the acqui-
 escence of the public.  In other countries it is considered,
 that  those  who have been supported by the public, when
 unable to support themselves, die in its debt, and that their
 remains may  therefore, with justice,  be  converted to the
 public  use.   In England, however, the indigent who suffer
 *Yom illness and injury are supported and relieved chiefly 
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
23
by the liberality of that benevolence which is so creditable
to our national character ;  and much as I wish for the pro-
motion of  medical knowledge, I should be sorry if the bo-
dies of the poor were to be considered as public property
without reserve in our own country.  For better would it
seem to me, that medical  science should cease,  and  our
bodily sufferings continue,  than that the natural rights and
best  feelings of humanity should not be  equally respected
in all classes of society; or that  merely because persons
are poor, they should be prevented from paying the  last
tribute of respect and regard to their departed relatives by
attending their remains to the grave.  Yet if the directors
of hospitals, poor-houses, and prisons, were to establish it
as a regulation, that the body of any person  dying in those
institutions, unclaimable by immediate relatives, should be
given to the surgeon of the establishment for dissection.
upon his signing  an obligation 60 to dispose of it, as to give
no offence to decency or humanity, I am convinced, that it
would greatly  tend  to the increase of anatomical  know-
ledge  amongst the members of our profession in general,
and consequently to the public good.   Or indeed it migh*
be established as a law, that the  body of any person of what-
soever rank or fortune, unclaimable by immediate relatives,
should be subjected to dissection ; and thus  a  great public
good might be obtained, without any infringement on the
equality of rights.   Other  and better expedients  may in-
deed be devised ;  and the subject is so important as to de-
serve general consideration.
   Yet,  upon mentioning the foregoing suggestions to vari-
ous persons, I have been uniformly answered, that the pub-
lic would never consent to such regulations ;  for their ef-
fect  would  be,  to deny the  body the rite of Christian buri-
al.   But that the funeral service availeth not to the dead 
24
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
 is made manifest,  even by that sublime ritual itself, which
 places before our view the valueless nature of the dead bo-
 dy by the most emphatic language.   We therefore commit
 the body to the ground ; earth  to earth, ashes to ashes,
 dust to  dust.  That is to say, confident it must, according
 to the laws of nature,  resolve itself into other forms, and
 become again an undistinguished part of the common con-
 stituent matter of the universe.  Religion also " doth teach
 us for to render the deeds of mercy"  and benevolence to
 those that want them, which deeds cannot be properly ad-
 ministered to such  as suffer  from illness or injury, unless in
 consequence of our obtaining an  accurate knowledge  of
 the structure of the human body.
   There is also another point on which some  concession
 on the part of the  public is required for the promotion of
 medical knowledge.  We  are  sometimes  called upon  to
 examine the bodies of the dead,  in hopes of our being able
 to discover the cause of death for the  satisfaction of their
 relatives,  when such examination affords us no  additional
 knowledge ; for we see only the common appearances  of
 disease  with which we are familiarly acquainted :  and yet
 we are  frequently denied the same opportunity when  we
 most earnestly solicit it,  from the belief that we shall ob-
 tain important information by the investigation.  Wishing
 to exhibit the effect of such refusal by some striking  in-
 stance,  I am tempted to relate an anecdote  of Mr. Hunter,
oven though some  may not think it to his credit.   Mr. *
 Hunter, who was never afraid of speaking his mind, had at-
tended,  in concert with another  surgeon, a fatal  case of dis-
 ease in the child of a gentleman of  opulence and worldly
consequence.  Mr. Hunter had been much interested by
the case :  he had considered it,  as he was wont to do, de-
 liberately and intently ; and believing that much good migh* 
HUNTERIAN
ORATION.
25
 result  from ascertaining its nature, he had  requested per-
 mission to examine the body, which was refused.  He went
 to the house of the father, in company with the other sur-
 geon, and tried all his art of rhetoric and persuasion, but in
 vain.   When he  became convinced that his object was niir
 attainable,  he was standing,  said the relator of this  anec-
 dote, with his back to the fire, and he put his hands into his
 pockets.   " 1 saw," continued the narrator, " by his coun-
 tenance,  that  a storm was brewing  in his mind."   Mr.
 Hunter, however, gravely and calmly addressed the master
 of the  house in the following manner : '• Then, Sir,  you
 will not permit the examination to be made."—u It is im
 possible," was the absurd reply.  " Then,  Sir,"  said Mr.
 Hunter, " I heartily hope, thatyourseif, and all  your family,
 nay, all your friends, may die of the same disease, and that
 no one may be able to afford any assistance ;"  and so say-
 ing, he departed.   Such a wish could never, I  am  convinc-
 ed,  have originated in his benevolent mind ;  as indeed is
 manifested by the very terms of it, which involve the  inno-
cent with  the offending.   Temporary irritation alone incit-
ed him  to adopt this mode of expressing his strong convic-
 tion of what it became  equally his duty to perform, and
theirs to permit, for the attainment of knowledge,  the most
important to humanity.  It is easy to perceive the causes
of reluctance  in general to such examinations.  Persons
question if their departed relative'would have approved of
it • they think it disrespectful, or that some unnecessary or
indecent exposure of  the body may take place ; they sus-
pect that  we perform  these acts with levity,  or in a frame
of mind discordant with their present feelings.   It is for us
to convince them by our manners and conduct, that we on-
ly  seek  for knowledge ; and that we do so with  disposition^
 J                           D 
26
HUNTERIAN
ORATION.
suitable to the solemnity of the occasion, and in sympathy
with their feelings, and  distress.  Having  thus told you,
gentlemen, what  appears to  me chiefly necessary to be
done, on our part and on that of the public,  for the promo-
tion of medical science, I take the liberty of further observ-
ing, that to some it might seem strange that  persons in gen-
eral  do not take more  concern about it, when it  is mani-
festly of vital importance to them.   This College, sensible
of the great injury which the public sustains from the ig-
norance and fraud of empirics, petitioned parliament  to
grant it a power of control, by process of law, over those
who set up to practise surgery, without having undergone
an examination, to testify their education or ability : a pow-
er not likely  to be exercised except in cases of flagrant of-
fence ; a power also determinable in its degree and effect by
impartial judges, by the judges of the land.   To some of the
members of the House of Commons, however, this petition
appeared like an attempt to procure a monopoly of surg cal
practice, and  it was rejected.   The College still persever-
ing in its endeavour to prevent a great public evil, and de-
sirous of freeing itself from all imputation of being actuated
by interested motives, brought forward a new bill, entirely
of a public nature, which was also rejected ; so that, in
these transactions, the  College may  be said to  have lost
every thing but its honour.


   The  whole history of medical science affords no instance
of its promotion by any individual, at all comparable with
that pn duced by the man whose natal day we are now met
to commemorate.  It  is indeed a surprising example of
the scarcely expected improvement which may be effected
by the industry of an individual when exerted in a right di-
rection, and aided by that intelligence which reviews ac- 
HUNTERIAN ORATION.               27
 cumulated facts, compares, discriminates, combines and ar-
 ranges them ; whilst it also draws cautious inferences from
 them, and suggests new subjects of enquiry, and new modes
 of research.
  Of the genius, reflection,  talents, and industry of John
 Hunter I have already spoken;  but to commemorate  him
 on  the present occasion,  I  will tell you what I observed
 relative to the peculiar and distinguishing characters of his
 mind.   Surely the lineaments of the  mind must be more
 interesting than  the form and features of the body.  It  is
 the character and conduct of the former which chiefly ex-
 cite our interest respecting the latter ; and if any one were
 desirous of knowing what manner of man Mr. Hunter was,
 I could  not  wish to refer them to a better resemblance of
him, than that drawn by Sir Joshua Reynolds.   Perhaps
 my knowledge of Mr. Hunter's character may aid my ima-
 gination ; yet when I look on that picture, I feel as if I saw
 before  me an old man, a shrewd man, aye, and a benevolent
 man too, in the act and attitude  of habitual thought.
  Sir Everard Home, who had great opportunities of know-
 ing Mr. Hunter, has represented him as an honest, independ-
 ent, perfectly candid, and most industrious man, indifferent
about money, and much attached to science.  Now though
 I believe this sketch to be perfectly correct, yet there were
 finer traits of character requiring to be depicted ere I should
 recognize the  intellectual resemblance of John Hunter.
 Those who make the study of nature, and of science, or the
attainment of moral good, the ultimate object of their en-
deavours, are candid, disinterested, benevolent, and humble
minded.  They openly avow  their designs, solicit the assist-
ance of others, and assist them in return ; they note the
 slow degrees by  which they  advance in  knowledge,  their
 frequent failure?, and the imperfection of their own pow- 
218
HUNTERIAN ORATION-
ers ; they also compare the aggregate  of their advances
with the illimitable nature of those objects to  which they
have merely approximated.  Whilst those who make pow-
er, wealth, or any species of notoriety, the object of their
ambition,  are secret, selfish, suspicious, cunning, and con-
ceited.  In general, they are ashamed or afraid of avowing
their designs, and therefore obliged to enveigle the co-oper-
ation of others.   They suspect that they may be counter-
acted ; and  in proportion as they attain  their  ends, they
feel elated with their own abilities, from the belief that no
one but themselves could  have atchieved them iu the like
manner and degree.   The  choice of our objects manifests
the natural dispositions of our minds, which are confirmed
and augmented in their pursuit.
   Mr. Hunter was an excellent example of the former
class of men.  My desire to know why a man of such intel-
lectual powers did not display them in a manner more ad-
vantageous to his reputation, first  induced me to propose to
him questions, merely in order to learn how he would an-
swer them :  yet this seeming  desire of information on my
part, acting on his benevolent mind, induced him to pay me
much more attention than I had been accustomed to receive
from others.  He invited me to  come to his house, to sit
and converse with him.   I now regret that I profited so lit-
tle by the opportunities he offered me ; but I  was at that
time ignorant of the value of the information which I might
have derived from him.   That benevolence was a predom-
inant sentiment of Mr. Hunter's mind may be inferred from
hi? fondness for animals,  his aversion to operations, and
from the  zeal with which  he assisted  every poor man of
merit.  Upon mentioning my conviction  on this point to a
surgeon who knew him intimately, he replied,  " I am sure
1 have reason to think so. for I was ill, and he kindly and 
HUNTERIAN ORATION,
19
diligently attended me : nay, he brought those of his medi-
cal friends to visit me in  whose judgment he placed most
confidence.   My illness being, however, tedious, I was at
length obliged to go into the country for the  recovery of
my health.  Mr.  Hunter called  on me before my depar-
ture,  and said, ' I have been thinking, that you might want
a little money; if so, I can procure you 2001.; though, in
general,  I am the most unlikely person in this town to have
money at command.'   I  thanked him," continued  the sur-
geon, " but told him, I had been more provident than might
perhaps have been expected, therefore I did not want mon-
ey.   On  my return to town and re-establishment  in busi-
ness,  which did not take place for a considerable time,  I
took an opportunity of expressing to Mr. Hunter, my con-
tinued sense of gratitude  for his kindness in  attending me,
and for his offer of pecuniary assistance.   'Hah,' said  he,
* I offer  you money !  that is droll, indeed ; for I am  the
last person  in this  town to  have money at command.  I
have  entirely forgotten it.  But  of this 1  am assured, that
what 1 offered, I meant to perform.' "  Now, Gentlemen,
1 must restrict myself to a single instance in proof of  the
several propositions that I wish to substantiate, instead of
numbers  which I could adduce.
   The candour of Mr. Hunter's  character was evident in
all his actions.  He readily told all he knew or thought up-
on every subject ; and was  pleased in assisting others to
acquire knowledge.   It is indeed highly improbable, that a
wise and good man should be otherwise than candid.    For
wisdom teaches him not to form opinions  but  on sufficient
grounds and consideration ;  and these he would freely re-
veal,  being equally desirous that  they should be corrected.
if wrong,  and acknowledged, if right.  Sir Everard Home
rvis said, that Mr. Hunters disposition was - free from re- 
30
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
 serve,  even to a fault; for it sometimes made him appear
 harsh."  Yet harshness, I am convinced, could never have
 proceeded from a mind attuned like that of John Hunter.
 I do not wish to deny or conceal, that occasionally the can-
 dour and susceptibility of his character might incite him to
 express his vexation and indignation with a degree of en-
 orgy and openness that would give offence, and fail to pro-
 duce the good resulting from mild  remonstrance and  ex-
 planation.  Yet for  this occasional want of temper, many
 and perfectly exculpatory causes may be stated.
   Mr. Hunter's life was one of continual exertion, perplex-
 ity,  and irritation.    He  was constantly engaged  in the
 search and consideration of new facts.  " My mind,"  said
 he to me, " is like a  bee-hive ;" and the simile struck me,
 on account of its correctness.  For, in the midst of buz and
 apparent confusion,  there was  great order ; regularity of
 structure ; and abundant food,  collected with incessant in-
 dustry, from the choicest stores  of nature.
   It will be  generally admitted, that  the want of  money
 would  be an adequate cause of perplexity.  Yet to Mr.
 Hunter,  the  very means by which the necessary supplies
 were to  be procured proved sources  of irritation.   The
 search  for money led him from the more congenial pursuit
 of knowledge.  It broke into his arrangements ; distracted
 his attention ; and we find him complaining of this, like one
 aho had felt it sorely.
  Those who far precede  others must necessarily remain
 alone ; and their actions often appear unaccountable, nay
 even extravagant, to their distant followers ; who know not
the causes that give rise to them, nor the effects which they
are designed  to produce.  In such a situation  stood Mr.
Hunter with relation  to his contemporaries.   It was a com-
fortless precedence,  for it deprived  him of sympathy and 
UUNTERIAN ORATION.
31
 social co-operation ; and he felt  that his labours and mer-
 its were not known, or fairly estimated.
   None of these causes of irritation, hewever, in general
 disturbed the  patience and good-humour of John Hunter,
 who found ample consolation, in thinking of what he had
 already done, and might still do, for the attainment of know-
 ledge, the most important to humanity.
   That Mr. Hunter had a very susceptible mind can scarce-
 ly be  doubted.  Sir  Everard Home informs  us, that he
 would weep at the recital of a generous action ; and when
 shame cannot  prevent us from doing this,  neither will fear
 deter us from expressing our  indignation at one of au oppo-
 site  nature.   We  are apt to misjudge one another.   Few
 have the penetration of Sterne, and are capable of discern-
 ing how  circumstances, trivial in themselves,  by links of
 eonnection with the finer feelings of the mind, may produce
 the extremes of pain or pleasure.  Mr. Hunter hud befriend-
 ed and professionally  attended the family of a poor man of
 much talent as a painter.  He afterwards requested him to
 paint the head of an animal.  When the poitrait (ame home,
 Mr.  Hunter was delighted with it; but when  he found it
 was accompanied with a bill to a much greater amount than
 would have been charged by any other artist, he was highly
 incensed.  Can it  be supposed,  that it  was the necessity
 for paying so much money, that made Mr. Hunter angry ?
 No ; it was ingratitude, which worse than the  viper's fang
had wounded him, and produced this paroxysm of irritation.
  As a contrast,  however, to that occasional want of tem-
per which some may consider as a fault in the character of
Mr. Hunter, I  may mention that his habits of investigation,
and his slowness in communicating his own opinions, had
given him an admirable degree of patience and persever- 
32
HUNTERIAN  ORATION.
 ance in accomplishing whatever he undertook, and  this
 was conspicuous even in the common practice of his pro-
 fession.   In one  of the cases which  he has published, he
 says,—"After about an hour's conversation with the patient,
 I  made out a few simple facts."   If pressed  for time, he
 was often known to say, " I cannot tell  at present what to
 recommend: I must think of it."   For to Mr. Hunter al
 most every case  was  a study, and so  indeed  it must be
 to all those who practise their profession as a science.  I
 will here relate one out of many instances that I could ad-
 duce of the pains which he took, from benevolent motives,
 to convince persons of what  seemed to him  essential to
 their welfare.   A strong ruddy-faced farmer had a disease,
 which induced Mr. Hunter to enjoin  a total abstinence
 from fermented liquors.   "Sir," said the farmer,  " I assure
 you that I am a very temperate man ; I scarcely  ever ex-
 ceed three pints of ale in the day, and I never touch spirits."
 " But," said Mr. Hunter, "you must now drink nothing
 except water."   "Sir," said the farmer, " that is impos-
 sible, for I cannot relinquish  my  employment;  and you
 know, Sir, it is impossible to work without some support."
 Mr. Hunter perceiving that his patient was not likely to
 be readily convinced, enquired how many acres of land he
 cultivated,  and what  number  of  them was arable?  He
next asked, how many horses were kept upon the farm ?
 and then boldly asserted, that they were too few in number
for the quantity of land.  The farmer maintained that they
were sufficient, but was at length  brought to confess, that
they were worked hard.  Allow me then, said Mr. Hunter,
to  enquire  what it is that you give them to drink ?—You
see,  gentlemen, that John Hunter, like  Socrates, was> well
aware of the advantage of that mode of conducting an ar- 
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
S'd
^ument, by which the disputant is made to convince him-
self:  though,  1  dare  say, that he had  never heard of
its being employed by that philosopher.   I have heard
many patients speak of Mr. Hunter, and none without a
fond remembrance of his kindness  and attention.   I have
indeed been  told, even by them, that he was sometimes
in a passion  when  he was vexed ; which, I think, ought
to have been excused, as it was the  natural and  almost
inevitable consequence of the best dispositions ofthehu-
mai mind.   This short-lived  turbulence should, indeed,
be treated with pity  and indulgence,  when it is the le-
gitimate offspring of sensibility and integrity.*
   That Mr.  Hunter was an humble-minded man, may be
inferred from the caution and diffidence which is a striking
characteristic of all his scientific investigations.  He has,
doubtless  suppressed the communication of facts and exper-
iments, manifesting a  degree of labour and intelligence,
sufficient to give reputation to persons of ordinary charac-
ter.   Though  he endeavoured  to investigate the  nature
of diseases in  order  to  understand their treatment ; yet
he never deviated from established rules of practice with-
out  cogent reasons for his conduct.   This I mention from
being aware, that  if we presume on our  knowledge of
the  nature and treatment of diseases, we  may, like the
ancient dogmatists, do mischief.  Mr. Hunter's constant
saying was, "we are but beginning to learn  our  profes-
sion."  That he  was conscious  of the importance of his
investigations, that he saw by anticipation the  good effects
that might result from them, cannot be doubted; yet I
have heard him declare,  and I know he was accustomed to
say, that  he  was not  conscious of possessing any peculiar

           * Ah honest warmth, child of integrity.
                                          Shakspeare,
                          E 
J 4
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
talent, and that if he had promoted professional knowledge,
it seemed to him chiefly to have arisen from his disposition
to distrust  opinions and to examine  every subject for him-
self.
  Mr. Hunter was, moreover, a man of very considerable
humour.  His views of subjects in general were quick and
peculiar, and when so disposed he  could place them in
very ludicrous points of view.   I have known him to exert
his talents in  this way in a very entertaining manner; but
though I could  produce abundant  proofs of  my present
proposition, they would be unsuitable to  the gravity proper
to be  maintained on this occasion.  I have heard some ex-
press  their wonder that very sensible men  have sometimes
condescended to appear foolish ;  yet it ought not to excite
surprise, for it only shows the activity of their minds which
sometimes  relieve themselves  from the  uniformity  of
thoughtful  exertion by sportive  and irregular  actions.
They  find it "duke desiperef and have  no fear,  as others
might have, to indulge themselves in this propensity.  Thus
strong and healthy people, after the labour of the day, de-
rive recreation from the continued efforts of a lively dance,
or some agile sport.
  There is, however,  one subject  evincing Mr.  Hunter's
possession of  the kind  of talents I am now alluding to, to
which I may advert on the present occasion,  because it is
connected with our professional concerns.  Yet here also
I  must restrict myself  to one instance selected from a con-
siderable number,  and I doubt if it be the best for my pur-
pose.   Mr. Hunter's sagacity led him speedily to discover
and detect those impositions which some persons are in-
duced to practise on us.  A patient in the hospital feigned
to be afflicted with catalepsy, in which disorder, it is said,
a  person loses all consciousness and volition, yet remains in 
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
35
the very attitude in which he was  suddenly seized with
this  temporary suspension of the intellectual  functions.
Mr.  Hunter began to comment before the surrounding stu-
dents on the strangeness of the latter circumstance, and as
the man stood with his hand a little extended and elevated,
he said, you see, gentlemen,  that  the hand is supported,
merely in consequence of the muscles persevering in that
action to which volition had excited them prior to the cat-
aleptic seizure.   I wonder, continued he,  what additional
weight  they would  support, and so saying, he slipped the
noose of a cord round the wrist, and hung to the other end
a small weight, which produced no alteration  in the posi-
tion of the hand.   Then, after a short time, with a pair of
scissors he imperceptibly snipped  the cord.   The weight
fell to the ground, and the hand was as suddenly raised in
the air by the increased  effort which volition  had excited
for the support of the  additional weight.  Thus  was it
manifested that the man possessed  both consciousness and
volition, and the impostor stood revealed.
   Having thus told you,  gentlemen,  what appeared to me
as distinguishing traits in the character of the man whom
I have already eulogized for having made surgery a science ;
for having the penetration to discern  the direct path of
knowledge,  and the talents and industry to remove all the
obstacles which concealed or impeded its entrance;  for
having  conducted us to a certain  extent so prosperously,
that it must be our own fault  indeed if we do not advance
to more perfect discoveries of still obscure and remote ob-
jects :—I may then conclude, that so long as surgeons feel
an interest in the improvement and reputation  of their pro-
fession, or a value for their own character as men of sci
ence, so long will the name of John Hunter be remembered
 by them with gratitude and respect: or in Virgil's beaufi-
 lul and often quoted language I may say,
     Semper bono*, nomenqu^ eimm  hude<que manebunt* 
3b
                 POSTSCRIPT.

  This Oration comprehends the remainder of what I was
desirous  of saying with respect to  the  labours, opinions,
and character of Mr. Hunter.  It  has been printed in this
form, that it may be bound up with my lectures at the Col-
lege,  which are desigued to exhibit Mr. Hunter's opinions
of life and its  functions in the states of health and disease.
Vet, as my conduct in this publication has been lately as-
persed by Mr. Lawrence, in a point which I should be
always most eager to  defend, though, I trust, it is one of
the least vulnerable  parts of my character,  that of honesty
and fair dealing ; I feel under the necessity of adding a few
words, and, for  the first time in my life,  of  speaking  of
him, before the Public, in other terms than those  of com-
mendation.  As  an introduction to his lectures, just pub-
lished, he has placed what he has chosen to call an answer
to some charges which, he says, I have made against him.
But as neither my own, nor Mr. Lawrence's  meaning or
feelings can be understood by others without  previous in-
formation, I must therefore mention, that from a very early
period of his professional  studies, he was accustomed to
decry and scoff at what I taught as  the opinions  of Mr. Hun^
ter respecting life and its functions.  Yet as I could never
iind that he had any good reasons for this conduct,  I con-
tinued to teach them in  the midst of the  controversy and
derision  of those students who had become his proselytes.
As a  teacher of  young men  I felt  particularly anxious that
they should possess just,  benevolent, and  honourable sen-
timents, and therefore was I interested in maintaining those
opinions respecting life, which seem to warrant the further
 opinion  of the  distinct and independent  nature of mind j 
POSTSCRIPT.
37
whilst more particularly did I feel bound to maintain them,

when the contrary assertions were unsupported by facts or

arguments. *

  * I have admitted the assertion that the brain is as much an organ of
sensation and thought, as the liver and stomach are organs for the secre-
tion of bile and gastric fluid: but the  physiological question in dispute is,
how do these organs accomplish  their respective functions? The opinion
that the functions of hfe  are the result of subtile principles commixed with
the visible fabric of living beings, will, I  believe, be  soon generally ad-
mitted ; and  I contend that the liver and stomach prepare their respective
fluids  in consequence of  their vital principles, and not merely as a result
•f their organization.  Yet 1 cannot  suppose that the brain produces our
sensations and thoughts in the  same manner.  Indeed,  it is impossible to
suppose, as  a poetical writer has humorously suggested  with regard to
Milton,
                  That he from the glands of his brain
                  Secreted his Paradise Lost.
Also,  from the equal absurdity of supposing that the soft medullary fibres
of the brain feel and  think, the common sense of mankind will for ever
revolt.   As we cannot either suppose sensation  to result from any motion
or arrangement of insensible atoms,  as we have reason to believe lhat all
the vital processes are carried on in many instances without sensation, and
that Avhenit is added  that its district is limited  fo the brain, so we seera
compelled to admit that  life  influences,  through the means of its actions
and organization, something having the properties of perception, &c. is
acted on by it in return.  As Mr. Lawrence's  late publication  contains
but a repetition of assertions which 1 have  in general objected to, as ha
continues to harp upon words without  attending to thoughts, and without
even  seeming to have noticed what  I have said with relation to the sub-
jects- under discussion,  1 have  nothing further to add to the foregoing
lectures, except upon one point on which  he  has a little enlarged.  He
maintains the assertion that the  mind, like the body, is imbecile  in youth
as well as decrepit in  age.  Now that the processes and evidences of mind
should  be enfeebled and disturbed by corresponding states of the nervous
system would  be naturally  expected; but that, under other circumstan-
ces, any evident difference in the intellectual functions is observable, is an
 assertion which will,  I believe, on examination, be found  to be incorrect.
  Children are highly susceptible, and prone to continual action.  They
are vividly affected by every impression,  most of which also produce on
them an effect which  novelty gives to subjects even in adult lite. Youth
is the season for acquiring knowledge ; reflection would but retard its at-
tainment, and would be  unavailing from deficiency of facts and experience.
That the mind is often wayward and irrstional  in youth as well as iu age,
is apparent;  but that it  exhibits as powerful iniellect when excited and
when it possesses adequate means for its  exertion in childhood,  as at any
period of life, must, 1 believe, be acknowledged on a full  examination of
(he subject; which has been admirably displayed by the writings of Miss
 Edgewortb.    That children also possess the more  energetic qualities  of
 mind, those which chiefly characterize its distinct and superior nature, iu
 as o-reat a degree as  at ai.v period  of Hie, will not, I  th<nli, be denied by
 any  who hns carefully  attended to their conduct.   Yet surgeons po«sess
 particular opportunities of  mp.ln-nj: such remark?. urA Hie 'f>mmurrica' 
3b*
POSTSCRIPT.
   When I had the honour of being appointed Professor of

Anatomy and Surgery to the Royal College of Surgeons,  I

began my lectures, for reasons which 1 have  fully explain-

ed in them, with an account of what I believed were Mr.

Hunter's opinions respecting life;  and to  me,  it would

have seemed wise in the opposite party to  have  suffered

these lectures gradually to have sunk into oblivion.   On

the  contrary, however, the opinions  I had promulgated

were said to be absurd and untenable, and even ridiculed

by a writer in the Edinburgh Review.   When, afterwards,

Mr. Lawrence began to lecture  at the College, he adopted

the same line of conduct; nor were his hostile  and taunt-

ing expressions  confined, as he  says,  to his  first lectures.

The theme  of his exultation and raillery  was introduced

to enliven many others.   In the published lectures will be

found a  varnished character of myself, in which, however,

I clearly distinguish one truth, that of having always acted

as his zealous friend ;  and surely  the recollection of  such

conduct would have induced a generous mind to have gloss-

tion of instances, which are not to them very uncommon, may be useful
in the general consideration of this subject.  When  I first attended St.
Bartholomew's Hospital, one of the old surgeons was a most benevolent
man, whom all the patients loved. There was a little  boy of five years
old, whom this surgeon was to cut for the stone. The boy complained
loudly, and struggled much, during  the introduction of an instrument,
which was but a preparatory step to the operation.  The old man patted
the child on the cheek and said, " You know, my good little boy,  that I
would not hurt you if I could help it."—" I know it, Sir," said the child,
" and I will cry no more."  He underwent a severe and tedious operation.
His teeth were clinched, his lips were working, yet no sound was heard.—
A few weeks ago, an emaciated and very sickly child of seven years old
was sent into the hospital to have a  diseased knee removed.  The case
was indeed hopeless.  When the little patient had become familiar with
his new abode and attendants, and certain circumstances known with re-
spect to his health which it was proper should be ascertained, I said to the
child, for  I knew not whether he had been apprized of his doom, " I sup-
pose, my little fellow, that you would not mind having this knee removed,
which has pained you so much, and made you so very iLI "—" Oh, no,"
replied he, " for mammy has told me that  I ought."  At the time  of the
operation  he manifested  neither hesitation nor opposition,  nor did the
voire of complaint issue from his lip?. 
POSTSCRIPT.
39
 ed over  also what it might have considered as my defects.
 When I heard those lectures, 1  told Mr. Lawrence,  (for J
 had always spoken my sentiments to him with candor,) that
 he seemed to me to have done a very foolish thing in at-
 tacking my opinions in a place where I felt obliged to de-
 fend them; and added, even the consideration of the im-
 propriety of two professors in the same establishment dif-
 fering with one another, ought to have restrained him.   In
 my next lectures, which were designed more fully to ex-
plain Mr. Hunter's opinions,  by  showing the manner in
 which he had deduced  them  from the consideration of all
 the vital processes, I carefully concealed  Mr. Lawrence
 from  public view, by arguing against a party, by contend-
 ing against opinions and not against persons : nor did I ever
 mention  his name or words but in order to induce others
 to suppose that we did not differ in  sentiments.   The sen-
 tence to which I allude ran thus : " Comparative anatomy,
 also, as my brother Professor very judiciously observed in
his introductory lectures, furnishes abundant arguments to
the natural theologian, by the evidences it affords of design,
and of the adaptation of means to ends."  When, however,
I perceived that he was hurt  by these lectures, I assured
him that I  did not mean personally to  allude to  him, and
after consideration added, neither could I conceive how he
could suppose that I did, unless indeed by identifying him-
self with those writers from  whose works he had copied.
I offered also to expunge the sentence above quoted.   He
replied, " No; I do not object to it: you may do as you
 please."  I therefore inserted the  words without naming
the author.   Is it then generous in Mr. Lawrence to say,
 " that the quotation of his own  words rendered it impossi-
ble for him to shield himself under the pretext of uncertain-
 ty," or to suggest that my lectures  (which were excited a? 
r40
POSTSCRIPT.
an act of self-defence) were meant chiefly as an attack up-
on his conduct and character ?  Is it becoming in Mr. Law-
rence to hold me forth to public view as one blinded by na-
tional prejudice to the merits of persons of other countries ?
On the  contrary,  I consider all mankind as brethren, yet
all brothers have not  the same sentiments and dispositions.
The sons of science may more particularly be regarded  as
of one  family, and their residence  in different countries
cannot annul their fraternity.   Yet  surely  it is allowable
in me to suppose that the notions of our brother physiolo-
gists in France may have beei  influenced by the state  of
public opinion in  that country.   I am aware that  what I
have termed modern scepticism arose in a great degree from
good feelings; from  an abhorrence of the dreadful conse-
quences of superstition  aid bigotry, and of those of ty-
rannical restriction and oppression.  Yet in recoiling from
one kind of error, the party seem to me to have run into
an opposite one, and to have  equally deviated from the
mid-way path, which is trodden only by the unprejudiced
and considerate.   With respect to the subject of national-
ity,  however, I wish to submit a sentence, which I  re-
member to have heard in Mr. Coleridge's lectures, to Mr.
Lawrence's consideration.  There can be no sincere cos-
mopolitan, who is not also a patriot. Is it becoming like-
wise in  Mr. Lawrence to point out what he considers as the
weak parts of my lectures to general observation ? For-
tunately for  me,  indeed,  he is not  to  be my judge .  for
he is strongly prejudiced, and evidently  angry : the mem-
bers of our profession in general an. to determine the va-
lue of my humble endeavours to promote our professional
knowledge and character,  and  in their  decision I am rea-
dy respectfully to acquiesce. 
      REFLECTIONS
                ON
      GALL AND SPURZHEIiWS
             SYSTEM
                OP
PHYSIOGNOMY AND PHRENOLOGY,
                BY
      JOHN ABERNETHY, F.R.S.
SURGEON TO ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S AND CHRIST'S HOSPITALS.
F 
ADVERTISEMENT.
  Knowing that the following Address does  not contain
any thing new, the Author woiild not have published it,
if ne had not considered it to be a necessasy addition tp
those views of the diversified effects produced by vital ac-
tions, which he has exhibited in the Physiological Lec-
tures addressed to the College of Surgeons. 
AN  ADDRESS, &c.
     Gentlemen^
  THOSE sentiments and opinions which it i9 necessary
man should entertain for his proper conduct in life, seem to
be so readily acquired from the general contemplation of
nature,  and the operations of our own minds, that many
have believed them to be  innate or intuitive.  They ap-
pear also to be more and more confirmed by the researches
of science and the progressive accumulation of knowledge.
Surely no man ever deduced  opinions from a more accu-
rate, minute, and  extensive examination  of  all the vital
phaenomena,  in every variety of living being,  than Mr.
Hunter ; and none ever displayed more philosophical cau-
tion in  forming conclusions ;  yet his notions of life were
those which common sense dictates, and which were also
entertained by the most  intellectual characters  in remote
ages: this I have already endeavoured to show in lectures
addressed to the members of the college.

  Convinced of the truth and importance  of Mr. Hunter's
opinions relative to the Nature of Life, I am now desirous
of enquiring, how any portion of physiological knowledge
obtained since his time may have affected his sentiments in
general, and particularly with respect to the functions of the
most important organ in  the animal  economy of the human
i aco.  That the brain of man, and of animals similarly con- 
44>          physiognomy and phrenology*
 stituted, is a great emporium of nervous energy, that  it
 sympathises with every part of the  body, and  bestows or
 excites animation  and energy  throughout the whole, has
 not,  I believe, been disputed; yet  the experiments of Le
 Gallois, and the observations of Gall and Spurzheim, have
 rendered it highly probable that the brain of animals ought
 to be regarded chiefly as  the organization by which  their
 sentient principle becomes possessed of a great variety of
 perceptions, faculties,  and disposition  to various  kinds of
 action.  To the consideration of this subject,  I am desir-
 ous of exciting the attention of members of the medical
 profession, because their opinions  must have  great influ-
 ence with the public upon topics connected with their pe-
 culiar studies, and because there is no subject on which in-
 dividual and general welfare  so strongly  demands that
 every one should think clearly  and considerately.

  When Dr. Spurzheim, impelled by laudable enthusiasm,
and the belief that he could communicate new and impor-
tant information relative to the nature of man,  and the
means of improving his mental faculties and moral charac-
ter, came to this country,  he met with  but  very few who
would give the subject he proposed to them that patient at-
tention and consideration which are  necessary for its clear
comprehension, or that continued examination  which alone
can enable any one to form his  own opinion respecting the
merits or truth of his system.   General attention,  there-
fore, to Gall and Spurzheim's opinions seemed to have
subsided in this country, when a most  able and eloquent
advocate came forward in their behalf, asserting the supe-
riority and  excellence of their system of phrenology, and
his own conviction of the  correctness of their proposed
Jrnode  of physiognomical enquiry.   In  his judgment, r»- 
PHYSIOGNOMY AND PHRENOLOGY,
4d
 specting the former subject, I readily concur, but am in-
 competent to give an opinion upon the latter; for when I
 first heard Dr. Spurzheim's lectures,  I candidly told him,
 that  though 1 admitted his opinions might be true,  yet I
 would  never enquire whether they  were so or not; be-
 cause,  I believed the proposed mode of judging of one
 another  to be unjust, and likely to be frequently produc-
 tive  of erroneous and injurious conclusions.

   But  notwithstanding this resolution, I did not absolutely
 shut my eyes against those facts which obtruded themselves
 before  my view ;  and I acknowledge that  1 have  been of-
 ten struck with the coincidence between the character and
 talents  of persons and the form of  their heads, which was
 such  as is said  to be indicative of their peculiar disposi-
 tions and abilities.  The  intelligence and  candour of Dr.
 Spurzheim, however, induced him to say to me, that it mat-
 ters not how many coincidences we may observe ;  one con-
 tradictory fact must disprove them  all, with respect to the
 asserted locality of any organ ;  and  such contradictory facts
 have, as I believe, also presented themselves before me.

   I am aware how exceedingly difficult it  must be to de-
 cide on this point; for  though organs may be large, yet
 they may be more  extended and less prominent than usual ;
 though small, they may be active from constitutional viva-
city, education, and habitual employment; and though large
and prominent, they may  be inactive from disuse and  con.
troul.    Surely the  foregoing considerations, together  with
the numerous and  indisputable instances which we  possess.
proving  that the character and conduct of persons*  depend

 * In my opinion, Miss Edgeworfh has done the public a most impor-
 flnt service by showing, eyen to children, fin the T'aTpnt's Ae?i<rtant) that 
4t)           PHYSIOGNOMY AND PHRENOLOGY.

very much upon education, habit, and association, ought to
make us exceedingly cautious how we judge of others mere-
ly from the form of their heads.

  I anticipate nothing but mischief from Gall and Spurz*
heim's Physiognomy or Cranioscopy*  becoming generally
known and accredited.  Suppose a man to have large pro-
tuberances on that part of the head, where they are said to
indicate excess of cautiousness ;  suppose him apprized that
such excess tends  to produce  melancholy  musings and ir-
rational apprehensions, which may hold the mind spell-
bound  and appalled,  till suicide is welcomed as the only
means of escape from seemingly insupportable gloom and
horrors.  Suppose him with this information seized with a
fit of temporary despondency; will he now strive to rouse
his mind to active exertion and employ it on other subjects  ?
—will  he not rather think the effort useless and  be in-
clined to submit to his doom, from the belief that it  is the
result of unalterable organization ? Or, suppose a man to
have large knobs on  his head which are said  to  indicate
him to be a knave and a thief, can he expect assistance
or confidence from any  one ?  Must he not,  as all of noto-
riously bad character do, consider himself to be an outcast

by perseverance difficulties may be surmounted,  and abilities acquired,
or talents improved ;  also how by degrees good habits are formed, and a
good character established.  She has done  this in so inviting a  manner,
and displayed so clearly and strongly the excellence cf virtue and good
conduct, that I think  it impossible for a child to read  her book without
 resolving steadily to persevere in the path of active industry  and moral
 rectitude, whatever temporary difficulties may oppose its progress.

  * Though the former term cannot etymologically beohjeted to, yet the
 latter more clearly  defines their obirc*. rV distinguishes it from what is
  usually meant !>y  physiogn^mr 
             PHYSIOGNOMY AND PHREXOLOGV.           47

 from society, having no means of serving himself but those
 with which nature has endowed him, and which, in the
 instance and under  the  circumstances referred to,  may
 indeed  be  those  of fraud and cunning.

   If a man, like Dr.  Spurzheim, who had made the mo-
 tives of human actions a particular study, possessing also
 great intellectual powers combined with benevolence and
 caution  in decision, should from  the  survey of another's
 head suppose  that he  had discovered his character, he
 would next  observe his conduct with particular attention,
 in order to determine how far his cranioscopical inferences
 were confirmed  by facts.  Thus  would his  speculations
 only lead to an  enquiry  which of itself alone  forms  the
 fairest and surest  criterion that we can possess of judging
 of one another.  But if an unbenevolent  and inconsider-
 ate  man, who had never studied  human  nature,  were at
 once to decide from the form of the head, and  suspect or
 believe  all those who happen to be broad across the tem-
 ples of being covetous or crafty, he would surely injurious-
 ly mistake the character of many persons.

   it is said, that this system of physiognomy will assist u*
 in the education of children.   Yet their actions are suffi-
 ciently, and I think more clearly, declaratory than the form
 of their heads of their sentiments, dispositions, and talents.
 Those who have a taste for music or drawing, manifest their
 fondness for  those arts  by their earnest attention to the
 subject of them, and  their abilities by the imitations they
 attempt of whatever has particularly pleased them.

   It is asserted that this  system of Physiognomy may assist
ue in the cure of insanity.   But how that dreadful malady 
4B          PHYSIOGNOMY  AND  PHRENOLOGY.

is to be cured except by the usual medical and moral man-
agement I am not able to comprehend.  The object of the
former  is to tranquillize  or remove that state of nervous
irritation or disease which may have led to the establish-
ment of insane ideas ; whilst that of the latter is to weaken
and annul  these  irrational ideas by so occupying the mind
as to prevent their recurrence.   Nor, in my  opinion, could
the medical profession wish for a better illustration of what
may  be termed  the  moral treatment  of  insanity than
that which Doctor Johnson has laid before the  public in his
Rasselas, shewing by  what means the Prince and his sister
efFected the cure of the insane  astronomer.
  The views which Drs. Gall and Spurzheim have taken
of the nature of the dispositions and faculties of man and
animals appear to me, however,  both new and phylosophi-
cal, and these admit of being surveyed without any refer-
once to organization or its supposed situation.*   It is thus
only that 1 submit  them to you as well deserving your ex-
amination ;  for  I  think  it will be acknowledged that they
have drawn a correct portrait of human nature, whether
they be  right or  wrong in their speculations concerning

  ♦When the subject  is thus  examined, it may be questioned whether
any peculiar merit  is  due to Gall and Spurzheim for the representation
which they have given of it.  As many  learned men who have published
on the same subject, have not represented it in the  same manner; and
as the speculations  and progressive steps by which Dr. Gall was led to
Bee the subject in the  manner he has pourtrayed  must be allowed  to
be peculiar to himself; I feel warranted  in ascribing the phrenology,
even when abstracted from the organology, to thc3c ingenious aud sciea-
fS<i men 
PHYSIOGNOMY AND PHRENOLOGY-
48
certain protuberances which they have depicted.   Believ-
ing that some, pleased with the phrenology, may overrate
their physiognomy or cranioscopy, whilst others, from per^
ceivingthe uncertainty and ill-consequences of the latter
may be  inclined to undervalue the former, I am induced
for reasons already  mentioned, to urge your attention to
these  subjects.  From my deficiency in literary research,
and my neglect of  registering what I may have read, 1 am
unable to trace  the sources of my own opinions, yet as I
proceed I shall candidly avow them, without presuming to
suppose that others have not thought in the same, or in a
better manner, and to a greater extent.

   First then,  I admit, nay even admire the simple propo-
sition, that man and animals  resemble  one  another, in
each possessing, in various  degrees, instinctive  and  ur-
gent propensities to perform certain actions.  These pro-
pensities,  though they operate without  the influence of
reason, are however in man regulated by that power.  Yet
with respect to the results produced by their operation, it
may be affirmed that animals as far surpass mankind, as
man by  his rational  faculties and sentiments  becomes in
other respects superior to  them.

    OF  THE PROPENSITY FOR CONSTRUCTION.

   How very  curious is it, that at certain  seasons of the
year animals  should be seized with a propensity to  build
nurseries  for  their young  and storehouses and habitations
for themselves, without foreknowledge that they may be
wanted for future inhabitants, or at future seasons.  Some
birds begin to build before they procreate,  and the sterile
fabouring bees in constructing a storehouse for their cow- 
50
PHYSIOGNOMY AND  PHRENOLOGY^
 munity,  do not neglect to provide necessaries and accom-
 modations  for the young of the common-parent of the hive.
 How very curious  also are  the  structures which  many
 animals erect without previous plan or design, and in some
 instances without any communication with one  another.-
 How admirably suited  also are  these structures to exigen-
 cies unforeseen by the artificers.  Some hornets build the
 exterior of their nests with  agglutinated leaves,  and the
 interior cells with the same materials, reduced to  the state
 of paste or mortar,  whilst the bees which build in hollow
 trees,  requiring no protecting walls, merely build a comb
 with plates of wax resembling tiles, which are prepared
 and formed between layers constructed for this purpose on
 the  surface of their bodies.   This apparatus  and  its pro-
 ducts have been exhibited by Mr.  Hunter in his museum,.
 and you know his very interesting paper on this subject
 which is  published in the philosophical transactions.   The
 greater number  of animals, however, have no necessity
 nor propensity to build; so that this very curious instinct
 is also a very partial one.

  Gall and Spurzheim assert that this  propensity is the
 result of a  peculiar organization in a portion of the brain,
 the  exuberance of which is rendered evident even by the
 exterior form of the head.  They say that some individuals
of the human race have a strong  propensity to construct
things and an aptitude for such employment, whilst others
have no  disposition or talent of  this kind.  They assert
that both in man and  animals, those individuals who have
this  constructive  propensity  have  also  a corresponding
form of head  which is wanting in others who do not possess
it.  They make a similar assertion with respect to all the
other instincts which we are to consider, but it will not be
necessary for me te repeat it.  Now here I may  observe 
            PHYSIOGNOMY  AND PHRENOLOGY.          51

.upon the supposition of Gall and Spurzheim's views of these
subjects being correct, that the occasional, perhaps annual
recurrence of this propensity, renders it probable that it is
not organization merely which creates it, but that it arises
from temporary actions occurring in peculiarly  organized
parts; and  the rare recurrence of this instinct shows how
long such actions may be suspended so as to render or-
ganization of no effect.

   Admitting that man, like animals,  possesses  in various
degrees a natural propensity and talent for construction,
yet  no blind impulse regulates his labours;  he constructs
what his reason directs,  or his fancy suggests;  he forms
previous  plans or designs, and alters them  till  the whole
seems to accord with his  intentions; and yet none of his
works is so unalterably perfect as are those produced by
blind instinct operating  according  to  the  ordinances of
overruling Intelligence.

   OF PARENTAL AFFECTION AND ATTACHMENT.

   No instinct is, in general, more strong than that which
attaches the parent to its offspring, for it sometimes in-
duces the former to perish in defence of the latter, which
have no other protector'.  Yet  this instinct is  very va-
riable,  and  sometimes even  wanting in particular instan-
ces; occasionally, animals neglect theiryoung,  and leave
them to perish; nay, sometimes  they injure and destroy
them.  This instinct generally belongs to females, but the
male also may possess it.   All these facts are equally true
with respect to the human  race, in which this instinct evi-
dently operates independently of reason;  for though ra-
tional considerations  may  dictate and  enforce  maternal
rare, they can never produce maternal affection. 
S2
PHYSIOGNOMY AND PHRENOLOGY.
                   OF IMITATION.

   Though there is something in the constitution of animals
which causes the peculiarities of their actions, yet it is man-
ifest that many have a propensity to imitate those  of  oth-
ers,  and it is probable that this propensity, together  with
the acquired habit of doing what has been repeatedly done,
is a great source of conduct among animals of a gregarious
nature.   As man is an associating animal, he  participates
largely in this propensity, and there are some persons  who
possess the  disposition and talent of imitation in so  high a
degree that they are led to hurt the feelings of others by
offensive mimickry.

         OF THE  DISPOSITION TO  COMBAT.

  In most kinds of animals, the  activity of  the vital powers
incident to early life, is exerted in running and striving in
mock combats with one another ; and thus do they acquire
the art of self-defence, and of shunning danger.   That some
kinds of animals, and some individuals in  particular, have
a strong propensity to combat is evident, for they are  known
to fight when grievously mutilated, and even till they  die.
That man also possesses this kind of animal courage, this
propensity to combat  and contend, is  well  known  to  the
English, for it  forms a striking feature  in their national
character.  The people  actually seem fond  of  boxing,
wrestling, and cudgel-playing, and become, hardy and reso-
lute by such practices.

        OF THE PROPENSITY TO DESTROY.

  That predacious  animals have a strong propensity to de-
stroy others, is evident;  for when not impelled by want, 
            PHYSIOGNOMY AND PHRENOLOGY.          53

they injure, and kill them.  This is chiefly seen in animals
of the cat kind, though the lion, the most powerful of the
tribe, is rarely known to  commit unnecessary slaughter;
and  therefore does the rational animal, man,  admire the
character of this noble brute.   That some men are even
pleased with cruel sports and sights, and feel no compunc-
tious visitings of uature in acts which excite horror in oth-
ers, must, I believe, on examination, be admitted.  It seems,
therefore, allowable to suppose that man participates with
brutes in possessing, in a greater or less degree, a propen-
sity to injure or destroy that which he dislikes, or which his
judgment deems necessary to be destroyed.  If a  man had
that kindness of disposition which would induce him, when
he had caught an  insect that had long vexed and annoyed
him, to put it out of  the window, saying, " why should I
harm thee, the world is wide enough both for thee and me,"
unbalanced by any opposite feeling, and  uncontrolled by
the power of reason, he would suffer his house  to  be over-
run with vermin, and animals to multiply  to the detriment
of the general good, and the ultimate injury of those whom
his pity spared.

        OF AFFECTION AND ATTACHMENT.

  Some animals, on the contrary, have  a kind or affection-
ate disposition, and also an attachment to others.  That
" honest creature, (for so we call him,)  the dog, who never
bites the hand that feeds him," manifests his joy at the ap-
proach of his  master  by antic  gambols, and his  affection
and attachment by leaping up to him and licking his hands.
The dog will also resolutely fight for his master, and those
individuals who possess great hardihood and determination,
will  die in his defence.  We are fond of dogs, and attach- 
 >4          PHYSIOGNOMY  AND PHRENOLOGY.

 ed to them,  because they are so to us.  Whoever attends
 to  the affections of the mind,  will  readily perceive that
 there is nothing more infectious than feelings ; if, therefore,
 we wish  to receive kindness from others, we can only ob-
 tain it by showing kindness to  them.   In  the fox,  one of
 the dog tribe, we have an instance of an  animal with  no
 other ties than  those of nature, living a life of wedlock,
 unchangeably attached to a single female, to his home, and
 to his family.  Gall and Spurzheim  say, that man partici-
 pates with animals in having, in different degrees, instinct-
 ive propensities to.kindness and attachment, and also the
 corresponding organization  by which they suppose such in-
 stincts to be produced.

         OF THE PROPENSITY TO CONCEAL.

  That some animals secrete themselves,  and dissemble,
or are crafty  in  order to obtain their prey, or secure them-
selves from injury,  is well known; and  Gall and Spurz-
heim assert, that man has the same propensity,  in different
degrees,  which  they call secretiveness.  It is certain that
many persons are naturally reserved and uncommunicative,
and thereby apt to conceal what  it is useful that  others
should be informed of; whilst,  on the contrary, there are
those who seem to tell all they know or think,  even in op-
position to the dictates of common prudence, and thus be-
come,  not only babblers, but mischief-makers.   The pro-
pensity to secresy induces us not simply  to conceal our
opinions, but  also to pretend to others, in order to prevent
the real ones  from being discovered ;  and this is generally
«alled cunning. 
           PHYSIOGNOMY AND  PHRENOLOGY*          *5

         OF THE PROPENSITY TO HOARD.
  Some animals have a  propensity to hoard  and  lay by
things ; they bury superfluous food, and take it again when
they want it; but some hide things which can be of no use
to them, and to which they do not return.  Gall and Spurz-
heim assert that man has the same  propensity, which, in
moderation, induces laudable frugality, but in excess, cov-
etousness and theft.

                 OF CAUTIOUSNESS.

  That some animals, and some individuals of the human
race, are cautious and timid, whilst others are precipitate
and  fearless, is apparent to common observation.  The
cautious disposition in  man, produces a continual appeal
to his reason ;  and, therefore, it is, that we are in the habit
of using  the terms circumspect and considerate, as indi-
cative of this feeling.

                OF DETERMINATION.

  That  some animals and men are particularly self-willed,
or head-strong, (as the phrase is,) cannot be doubted, which
quality is not connected with any particular character, for
those of mild  tempers often possess it in  a high degree.
Gall and Spurzheim call this quality determination, and
represent it merely as giving force to volition, whatever its
object may be.   This propensity is  the chief cause of re-
fractory conduct in children ; and  it is natural that they
should wish to do whaHhey please,  for they  have not the
motives for restraining their actions which reason a.nd ex-
perience suggest.   The command of parents should, there-
fore, stand as the law of reason t» the child, which should 
56
PHYSIOGNOMY AND  PHRENOLOGY.
be  taught the necessity,  and acquire the habit, of ready
obedience to its decrees.   It is also important that the com-
mands of parents should be just, and not unnecessarily and
too frequently issued ;  lest reason in the former instance,
and the dislike of control in the latter, should induce chil-
dren to rebel against them.

  There are some who seem to wish it should be believed,
that the instincts  of animals, and the curious arts and ex-
pedients which they employ  to obtain food, and avoid in-
jury,  are  the effects of reason ; but they cannot maintain
this opinion,  except by granting  to the lowest kinds of
animals a greater share of intelligence than they  them-
selves possess,  or can have any idea of.   We may take
some  spider's eggs,  and when hatched, select a young one
who never has had any communication with his species;
and we shall find,  that in due  season, without a plan or
preparatory attempts, it will construct as curious a web as
any of his ancestry ; then secrete himself till an unwary fly
becomes entangled, which he will  suddenly seize and des-
troy.    Gall  and Spurzheim,  however,  represent these
animal propensities  as operating without reason, when ex-
cited  by external circumstances.  We have an opportunity
of witnessing  the truth  of this representation of the  subject
where wild beasts are kept.   Even the most ferocious and
precipitate animals of the cat species do not seem to be in-
sensible of kindness, or devoid of affection and attachment
to  those that feed them.   We see  the tygers pleased,  and
purring and rubbing their heads and sides against the cau-
tiously-outstretched hand of their keeper, but  if food  be
presented to them, the scene is changed in an instant; we
then  see the  symbol of fury, with outstretched claws, glar- 
            PHYSIOGNOMY AND  PHRENOLOGY.          57

 ing eyes, growling with open mouth, ready to destroy that
 which it wishes to devour.  We see them tear any thing
 presented to them, nay, even champing their food with a
 kind of rage, as if they were more gratified by its destruc-
 tion,  than  by the satiation of hunger.   Had they reason.
 they wou'd be aware that this fury is both unnecessary and
 useless.   W  sec a great variety of animal character,  we
 see the same in man ; and that these animal propensities
 operate  in him independently of reason, and often in  op-
 position to it- dictates,  is well known,  and so urgent also.
 arc their impulses that some have believed them to be
 uncontrollable, and founded upon this belief the perniciou-
 doctrine of necessity.

   Secondly.   I  admire the very explicit manner in which
 Gall and Spurzheim have shown,  that,  though man resem-
 bles animals, in possessing, in various degrees, the forego-
 ing propensities, and even most of the  inferior intellectual
 faculties, he yet differs from them in possessing others, and
 also superior rational faculties and sentiments,  which dig-
 nify  his nature, and  exalt  it  above his present station.
 Gall  and Spurzheim think  that  animals possess inferior
 intellectual faculties, which modify the information  re-
 ceived by means of the  senses,  so as to produce particular
 kinds of knowledge and talents.  Of these  inferior intel-
lectual faculties, there are two which seem exclusively to
belong to man, those of calculation and language.  There
 are some persons who have a power and facility of calcula-
 tion,  which others, of equal or perhaps superior intellect-
 ual ability, cannot by any effort acquire.  Languages are
 learned  by the ear, but it is not the acuteness of this organ
which qualifies us  to learn them;  this ability  is,  according
                           H 
68
l'HVSIOGAOMY AND PHRENOLOGY.
 to Gall and Spurzheim, the result of a separate and appro-
 priate  organization.   We do  not learn  to  speak,  as to
 write and draw,  by willing the several motions necessary
 to the accomplishment of our designs; for, in general, we
 know not the motions necessary for the enunciation of
 words.   There is,  therefore, a natural consentaneousness
 between the will and the powers which effect its purposes.*

   By the tongue we reveal our knowledge,  thoughts, and
 sentiments,  and thus, in some degree,  fix  and multiply
 them.   By the hand we render valuable  information per-
 manent, and raise a common capital  of knowledge,  from
 which all may draw an equal share of interest.  There are
 some who represent the intellectual faculties of man to be
 little superior to those of brutes, and maintain that they
 become so chiefly in consequence of his possessing organs
 ofspeech, and that surprising instrument the hand.  They,
 however, exhibit  a very  d'fferent view of human  nature
 from that on which lam now commenting,  which  shows,
 on the contrary, that these  organs  are but  the means by
 which the superior  intellectual  powers and sentiments be-
 longing to our nature accomplish their designs.

   Gall and Spurzheim assert that some persons have both
 the disposition and talent of accurately noting and remem-
 bering the particulars of each object, event, or proposition,
 and are thus qualified to become,  in an eminent degree,
matter of fact men.   We see, even in childhood, that some
 observe almost every thing, but with versatile and insuffi-

  * This ready obedience of complicated structures  to the mandates of
the will, transmit d by actions through the nervous fibres, together with
the sympathetic afiections of remote parts, excited  by  similar  actions
must, 1 think, on consideration, appear to every one a subject of great in-
terest and curiosity. 
PHYSIOGNOMY A\D PHRENOLOGY.          59
cient  attention;  whilst others,  though less  general,  are
more  accurate in their remarks.  Now. whether a ready
and exact observation be a separate talent or not, it ought
to be  cultivated  with the greatest assiduity, since by it
alone  do we acquire all the materials  of our knowledge ;
and we cannot  reason with propriety upon  ill-defined
premises.   Numerous and  unclassed  facts are,  however,
like a great collection of numbers,  wMch it  would  be
scarcely possible to remember without some  mnemonic
aid.   They must be subdivided, and associated with  one
another, or with something else in order to be remem-
bered.  Say that we even decimate a large  collection of
numbers, we can then get them  by heart, as the phrase is,
each ten in successive association with one another, and in
numeral sequence with the rest,  and thus are able to re-
member the whole collection.  We find it often eligible to
alter the arrangement of the facts from that in which they
have come b< i'ore us.  and arbitrarily or rationally to con-
nect  them with other circumstances, in order to render
their remembrance easy and permanent.

   I see no objection to the classification of the superioi
intellectual faculties  which  Gall and  Spurzheim  have
made, into comparison, analysis or causation, and combi-
nation ; because this arrangement refers to all the element-
ary powers cognizable  in the actions of the human mind :
powers which seem exclusively to belong to man.   I am
even  pleased with the  station which  the organs supposed
to be productive of these powers are said to occupy,  :'or
we find them arunged in a regular phalanx on a part of
the head peculiar to man, the summit of the loftv forehead.
As 1 have said  in the lectures addressed to this College, if
we find the head more  produced in parts peculiar to man,
M 
60
PHYSIOGNOMY AND  PHRENOLOGY.
 it is reasonable to suppose that he will possess more of the
 intellectual character;  and if in those parts common  also
 to brutes, that he will possess more of those propensities in
 which he participates with the brute creation.   We are all
 naturally physiognomists ; and  almost every observant per-
 son has remarked the amplitude of this part of the head to
 be indicative of intellectual  power.  Shakespeare denotes
 the eye  as the herald of the mind, which so quickly pro-
 claims its mandates  that he compares  it to  the  winged
 Mercury, new-lighted on a fair and ample hill, so lofty.
 that, Olympus like, it seemed  to touch the heavens.

   Though  it is very difficult  to define  the  rational  pro-
 cesses, yet it is evident  that we-compare, assort, arrange,
 separate, and combine facts for the convenience of memory,
 or for some  supposed rational purpose.   It is also appa-
 rent that they become associated in the adopted order,  and
 further connected with thoughts and feelings ; so that the
 whole chain appears in succession whenever we observe a
 single link.  It is likewise well known, that it is difficult to
 break faulty associations which may have occurred.or been
 formed through accident or design.   In collecting facts, we
 observe a kind of gradation in them,  which often suogests
 a plan of arrangement.   Yet, in accumulating facts,  we
 cannot avoid the  exertion of a  power of mind peculiar te
 man, and which is generally termed the power of drawing
ink rences from  facts or propositions.  It is by the exercise
 of this power that we form opinions of the causes, reasons
 nature,  and effects  of what we observe.  But having al-
 ready spoken at  large in the  lectures  addressed  to  this
 College, on the caution  requisite in forming opinions,  and
 on their importance, and influence on our conduct, I  be-
 lieve that I need not say more on this subject.
* 
            PHYSIOGNOMY AND  PHRENOLOGY.          01

   A kind and affectionate disposition  belongs to animals,
 and the same feeling, blended with considerations peculiar
 to man, constitutes benevolence, which is the chief excel-
 lence and  ornament of  his nature.   In  the  language  of
 Shakespeare, it may be said to be " twice blest, for it bless-
 eth him that gives, and him that  takes."  It produces the
 same  sentiment in  others, and thus becomes the bond of
 society; a source and  spring of virtuous actions, and an
 obstacle to those of a contrary nature.  No sentiment can
 produce more delight than the consideration of our having
 done  good unto others ;  none is equally permanent; and
 the constant feeling of good will to  all, "sheds a perpetual
 sunshine o'er the mind."  Benevolence  must be  con^d-
 ered as a sentiment of the mind, as something intimately
 belonging to it, and operating without the excitement of
 external causes.  Sterne, who has displayed great  know-
 ledge of the effects of feelings upon human conduct, shews
 tins, as well as the gratification  which results from  the op-
 eration of benevolence,  by saying : " 1 declare, was I in a
 desart,  I would find out wherewith in it to call foith my af-
 fections : if I  could not  do  better, I would  fasten them
 upon some sweet myrtle, or seek some melancholy  cypress
 to connect myself  to;  I would court their shade, and
greft  them kindly for their protection; I would cut my
name upon them, and swear they were the loveliest trees
throughout the forest; if their  leaves withered, I would
teach myself to mourn ; and when they rejoiced, I would
 rejoice with them."

   That persons possess this sentiment in various degrees  is
 nanifest, even from  childhood.   Its excess  renders  us
 morbidly sensitive to the distresses of others, and  its defi-
 ciency  so  indifferent that we seem to think onlv  of our- 
 62         THVSIOGNOMY  AND PHRENOLOGY.

selves.  There are some who, possessing this sentiment,
do not act in conformity to its dictates: they give pity, but
no succour.   The exhibition of their natural feelings, like
the common courtesies of the world,  thus deceive those
who confide in them.  Surely it must be the consideration
of this circumstance, joined with a detestation of deceit,
and the consciousness that it is but a duty to do unto oth-
ers as we  would they  should  do unto us, which produces
an anomaly of character both common and well known.
Many persons of great benevolence and perfect candour,
often suppress all  exhibition  of good  feelings, and treat
with harshness those  whom they neverthelcs effectually
relieve and support.   By these means putting a mask over
the face of virtue, and making it appear disgustful.

   Gall and Spurzheim think that there is an organization
which  occasions its possessor to feel and perform what is
just  and honourable  to  be done  amongst mankind ; and
they call  the  sentiment  conscientiousness.  This com-
mands us to do what is just, and to  perform  what we have
promised; and of the  imperative and controlling influence
of this sentiment over  human actions,  when  supported  by
adequate determination, we have abundant and  glorious
instances.   Brutus condemning his son, and Regulus  re-
turning to Carthage,  arc convincing and sufficient exam-
ples.

   Some, indeed, might question whether pride had not a
great influence in producing  such noble conduct.  They
knew that the eyes of the world were fixed upon them, and
that it would be shameful to deviate from what justice and
honour cammanded.   But we may observe, even in  the
dawn of life, and within the circle of a single  family, that 
PHYSIOGNOMY AND PHRENOLOGY.
63
there are some little children upon  whose promises we
can  depend, and who would not tell a falsehood to screen
themselves  from  shame  or punishment.  That persons
possess this sentiment in very unequal degrees, must, 1 fear,
be admitted ; but that none are destitute of it, may, I think,
be inferred from all representing their own conduct, how-
ever culpable, both to others and to themselves, as con-
formable, in some  respects at least, to the laws of moral
rectitude.

  Gall and Spurzheim  believe that on the outside of the
head they can discern the throne  of pride and district  of
vanity.  These  sentiments  are  of a similar  nature, and
can, I think,  belong only  to rational creatures, for they
involve rational  considerations.   They consist in an exal-
tation  of ourselves in our own opinion, above others,  on
account of some real or supposed superiority in mind, body,
or estate.  Pride is a sentiment of a more fixed and inde-
pendent nature  than  vanity.   The proud  man seems
indifferent about the good opinion of others,  and satisfied
with his own.   But vanity seems to languish without the
food of flattery;  and the vain man often appears humble
in order to obtain applause.   These sentiments, in a lim-
ited degree, may be useful, as they prevent us from doing
what might lower us in our own esteem or in that of others.
and induce conduct  which has  a contrary  tendency.  1
need not endeavour to  shew the absolute absurdity of these
sentiments, for on reflection it must be evident to every
one; I will merely  add,  that no  faulty  sentiments or pro-
pensities  can render  their possessor,  in general, more
offensive and  ridiculous.  The want of these sentiments,
with due consideration of the rights and claims of others, 
64
PHYSIOGNOMY AND  PHRENOLOU*.
according to Gall's and Spurzheim's views of these subject*,
constitutes  humility, than which no quality can render an
individual more amiable  and  useful.  The excitement
which pride and vanity may produce to laudable actions is
temporary and  trivial  in  comparison  with that caused by
humility.   The former is satisfied and apt  to cease when a
seeming triumph over others is achieved; whilst the latter
induces us constantly to contend with the subjects  on  which
we are occupied, and with ourselves.  The proud and
vain believe their achievements to result from appropriate
talents; but the humble-minded are convinced of the 1 m-
ited  nature  of their own powers,  and that all their attain-
ments have been made by successive portions  of labour and
meditation.  They also perceive how little are their pos-
sessions in  comparison  with their  wants, and  are thus
continually  excited to persevere in industry.   Humility
also is the source of gratitude.   Justice may  require us to
pay the debt of gratitude, but it is  spontaneously and re-
dundantly discharged by humility.   In proportion  as we
are humble, so  are we thankful for assistance afforded, in
formation communicated,  or good opiuion manifested.

  On the very summit of the head, above other sentiments,
instincts, and faculties,  Gall and  Spurzheim have pointed
out a protuberance, greater or less in different individuals,
which  they believe to be the  result  of  an  organization
exciting  in  us  respect  to distinguished and  intellectual
characters,  even of our own  kind,  and reverence to the
Supreme Intelligent Cause that has ordained and maintains
the order of nature, and they have called the sentiment
veneration.   If this organization be excessive when com-
bined with fear and credulity, they  think that it produces
absurd superstition; when with pride and  unbenevolence^ 
              PHYSIOGNOMY  AND PHRENOLOGY.         65

  that it may render its possessors strict and devout in per-
  forming the ceremonial duties of religion, though they live
  in violation of its most essential mandates, without either
  being humble or  charitable;  and  when combined  with
  arrogance and cruelty, that it  may qualify a man to be a
 judge or executioner in the chambers and dungeons of the
  inquisition.   That people possess this last-mentioned sen-
 timent in very various degrees, cannot, I think, on  con-
  sideration,  be denied.

    Adjoining to tlie organ of veneration, Gall and Spurzheim
 think that they have discovered organs of faith and hope5
 both of which they  consider to proceed from the  same
 sentiment.   It is impossible to hope for what we do not
  believe can happen ; and if we believe expected good may
 take place, we cannot but hope that it will  do so.   That
 some persons have  a greater  confidence than others  in
 events which they  cannot  actually predict or influence,
 may be inferred from the conduct of mankind in general.

    There are some persons who  have a particular suscepti-
 bility of mind, which causes them to perceive so acutely
 and forcibly,  that it leads to exaggeration.   They cannot
 speak of circumstances like men of sober sense, but always
 express themselves in hyperbole.  The strong perception
 of what  is great, good, and beautiful, makes them strive
 to excel,  but  it often is an ideal  excellence which they aim
 at, and not such  as  is attainable by ordinary means or
 powers.   This state of mind Gall and Spurzheim consider
 as essential to poetic talent, and they call it ideality.   Yet
 this state  of mind does not make the poet;  for he  must
have knowledge,  or materials, as weU as imagination and
                           I 
66          PHYSIOGNOMY  AND PHRENOLOGY.

abilities to design and construct those compounds of fancy
and knowledge which equally delight and inform us. This
sensibility of mind operates upon all our faculties and sen-
timents, and heightens their effect; so that it is productive
of good or evil, according to the character and abilities of
the party to whom it may belong.
  The foregoing  representation of human  nature, when
viewed  in its proper light, and with due attention, must,
I think, please every one; for it is not like  others hereto-
fore  presented to us, which appear in comparison but as
mere diagrams,  the result   of study and  imagination;
whilst this seems like a portrait from life by masterly hands.
It is  not, indeed,  exactly like any  individual, but capable,
by alterations,  of being made to  resemble  every  one; so
that  by the help  of a few touches we are able readily to
shew "Virtue her own image, Vice her own deformity,"
in all their diversities.

   I  had great gratification  in being intimate with Dr.
 Spurzheim whilst he remained in  London, and in a kind of
 badinage I proposed to him questions which he answered
 with facility, and in a  manner that shewed a very perfect
 knowledge  of  human  nature.  For instance, I  enquired
 whether he had discovered any  organ of common sense ?
 and he replied in the negative.   I then demanded in what
 that quality consisted ?  and  he answered, in the balance of
 power between  other organs. This answer shews why a
 quality so peculiarly useful is common to all, and rare in
  any : for there are but few  who have not prejudices or par- 
PHYSIOGNOMY AND PHRENOLOGY.          67
tialities,  hopes or fears, or predominant feelings, which
prevent  them from pursuing that  middle and equal course
of thought and conduct, which unbiassed consideration, or
common  sense, indicates and directs.   I enquired of Dr..
Spurzheim if there was any organ of self-control, or if not,
whence that power originated ?   He said, " It is the result
of a predominating motive: thus,  justice may control ava-
rice, and avarice sensuality."  In short, I readily acknowl-
edge my  inability to offer any rational  objection to Gall's
and Spurzheim's  system of phrenology, as affording a sat-
isfactory explanation of the motives of human actions.

   Their representation simplifies our notions of such mo-
tives, by lessening the  number of reputed  agents;  thus,
the want of benevolence and virtuous dispositions,  with ex-
citement to anger, produces  malevolence,  and this, con-
joined with concealment, malice.  I need not recite  a va-
riety  of  instances, since they  are sufficiently apparent.
We perceive that mankind may be naturally benevolent,
conscientious, and humble-minded, or the reverse ; just as
they are naturally timid or fearless, resolute or fickle, can-
did or reserved;  we perceive that they may have natural
talents, qualifying them to excel as mathematicians, calcu-
lators, linguists, draughtsmen or musicians ; and also that
they may possess various degrees and kinds of intellectual
power.   Yet, whatever may be the natural character  or
abilities of the man, he neither deserves praise nor censure,
for he is  but what nature made him.  We further perceive
that real virtue consists in  the efforts which  we  make  to
cultivate our talents,  rational powers, and moral sentiments^
and to educate and control the  inferior propensities of our
nature,  so as to  allow to each  only its proper sphere and
mode of action, thereby rendering our conduct  conforma- 
3S          PHYSIOGNOMY AND PHRENOLOGY.

ble to the acknowledged laws of moral rectitude and reli-
gious obligation.  And, if we were to examine our own
conduct and that of others by this test, we should probably
discover but little in the former, which we are  warranted
warmly to approve, or in the latter strongly  to condemn*
Nature has not only given to man good and honourable sen-
timents, but also made it his highest gratification to employ
and indulge them ; so  that we rarely deny ourselves this
supreme pleasure, except when prevented by selfish con-
siderations.

   Now, Gall and Spurzheim have represented the office
of the superior intellectual faculties and  sentiments as af-
fording motives and possessing powers that can, and oughty
to control and educate the inferior propensities.  But there
have been, and are some who seem to wish it believed that
human actions are under  the control of these inferior pro-
pensities ; allowing, indeed, that the fear of great  personal
evil may deter us  from compliance with  their urgent soli-
citations.   They also represent  the absence of guilt but  a&
the result of the want of temptation.  Yet,  if we inquire
why such degrading and disgusting views of human  nature
are presented to us 1 Why opinions  are  inculcated which
tend to weaken virtuous efforts  by declaring their ineffica-
cy ? We find that the authors of them, from a review  of
their own conduct, and that of the baser part of mankind,
are convinced that there is no virtue in  them, and there-
fore infer that others must equally want it.   Thus do they
presumptuously " call virtue, hypocrite," and malevolent-
ly " pluck away the rose from the fair bosom of innocence
to place a blister there."

   But, though the possession of original dispositions, facul"
ties and sentiments, may create a tendency to certain ac- 
PHYSIOGNOMY AND PHRENOLOGY.         69
 tions, yet Gall and  Spurzheim admit that it is education
 which produces knowledge  and character:  it is the dispo-
 sition and ability to do what has been repeatedly done, and
 with progressive  improvement, that gives us  talents  and
 habits of thinking, feeling, and acting, in a particular man-
 ner.  It is repetition, or education, by which also  motives
 are rendered so predominant that we feel the  indispensa-
 ble necessity of implicit and energetic obedience  to their
 commands, which  is called enthusiasm, and  which  has giv-
 en rise to glorious deeds, dignifying and exalting human na-
 ture far above animal existence. Religious sentiment, con-
 scientious justice, patriotism, and even personal  honour,
 have induced mankind to bear the greatest evils,  without
 betraying any of the unworthy propensities of our nature.

   Thus may even the inferior propensities acquire ascend-
 ancy and  sway : thus may avarice  induce a man to starve
 in  the midst  of plenty,  in order to increase  his useless
 store ; aud caution to abstain from  gratification, from ideal
 danger;  as though a person would not drink from  the cup
 from which others quaflod with pleasure and with  benefit,
 lest something noxious to himself alone might be infused in
 ihe liquor. Some would meet death to gratify malevolence,
ambition,  or sensuality ; but is not this the result of repe-
tition, and the  education  of bad propensities ?  Surely  we
must admit that Memo repente fuit turpissimus.

 -Even facts  and opinions may by repetition acquire a pre-
ponderance and value that did not originally belong to them.
Questionable assertions may by degrees obtain the  author-
ity and power of established facts ; and opinions, which at
first were doubtful, may in like manner acquire  a delusive
influence over the mind.  In insanity, a  man may  believe. 
TO          PHYSIOGNOMY AND PHRENOLOGY.

a part of his body to be wasted ; nor is the evidencfrof his
sight and touch, which we cannot suppose to be defective,
sufficient to convince him of his error.

  On the other hand, we may suppress and bring into dis-
use, propensities and sentiments which may have  been na-
turally strong, till they become naturally inert or  inopera-
tive :  no better proof of this can be required, or  need be
adduced, than the complete change of character  and con-
duct which is caused by  the intimation  of others, and by
habits acquired from  those with  whom wc associate ;  a
change so generally known and recognized, that its effects
have become proverbial.   " Don't tell  me," says Sancho
Panca,  " by whom you were bred, but with whom you are
fed."

  Yet that there are natural differences in the character
and talents of persons is  evident:  in infancy,  we may ob-
serve that some are delighted with  receiving and bestowing
kindness ; whilst others accept and return caresses with ap-
athy.  At a very early period we perceive a child to be re-
solute, or  undecided, fearful or incautious;  candid,  or re-
served ; liberal, or selfish.  We also discern various kinds
of talents and intellectual powers before it can be supposed
that they have been produced by education.  These natu-
ral differences of character and talent also manifest them-
selves under the most inauspicious circumstances  : a man
may be  educated  as a robber, and pursue  his profession
with'so much zeal and energy that he may acquire its high-
est  honours ; he may be  the captain of banditti: yet, if
nature has given him just and  honourable feelings, he will
sometimes violate the regulations of the gang, and commit
acts of clemency and propriety which many of his comrades 
            PHYSIOGNOMY  AND PHRENOLOGY.         1L

 may censure,  and call pusillanimous, yet none can wholly
 disapprove.   Do we not also know that great talents have
 induced self-education, and that plough-boys have become
 eminent as philosophers and poets ?

   The representation which Gall and Spurzheim have giv-
 en, places the sentiments and dispositions in their real situ-
 ation, in the head ; yet, as  the brain affects the heart and
 other parts of the body, mankind have been induced in all
 ages to believe them situated in the more evidently affect-
 ed organs; still, I could not but feel surprize that so late
 and so  eminent an anatomist and  physiologist as Bichat
 should represent the heart to be the seat of feeling, and the
 head of thought.  Anger and fright may greatly augment
 or diminish the actions of the heart; yet the intelligence
 producing either of these emotions was conveyed by the
eye or ear to the brain ; first affecting the mind, and sec-
 ondarily the heart.  Good sentiments and dispositions, with
 serenity of mind, seem to make " the bosom's lord sit
 lightly on its throne," and produce sensations which may
 be said " circa precordia ludere."  Whilst, on the other
 hand, " some  sorrow rooted in the memory, some irrasibly
 written troubles of the brain,"  make us feel "as if the full
bosom wanted to be cleansed  of that perilous  stuff that
 weighs  upon the heart."   But it is surely as simple, andl
 more correct  to  express ourselves  as Gall and Spurzheim
would have  us, by saying that a person has benevolent or
 just sentiments, as that he has a good or  an upright heart.

  I have contended, in the lectures on physiology delivered
 before this College, that there are but two opinions which
 can possibly be entertained concerning the cause of the
vital phenomena.   We must either believe that they are 
 72           PHYSIOGNOMY AND PHREN0L06Y.

 the result of properties belonging to the atoms of matter of
 which living* bodies are composed, or of some  subtile, in-
 visible, and highly mobile substance or substances, iphering
 in,  and connected with the evident  materials of living
 beings.   The  latter opinion seems to me the most proba-
 ble,  and is, I believe, that which Mr. Hunter entertained
 respecting this  subject.   I have further contended, that
 though such vital principle or principles may reasonably be
 considered adequate to produce the phasnomena of life in
 general,* viz. the prevention of putrefaction, the  regula-
 tion of temperature, the formation of new chemical com-
 binations, and  various kinds of vital actions in the substan-
 ces in which such principle or pri nciples may inhere ; thuss
 in the nervous system, transmitting actions to and from the
 brain, exciting sensation and communicating volition, and
 also actions productive of sympathy between remote parts
 of the body ; yet no such principle can be supposed to pro-
 duce sensation, for it is impossible to suppose that sensation
 can  result from any motion or arrangement of  insensible
 atoms.

  I cannot understand what present  physiologists mean,
 when they speak of circumstances in  the animal economy
 of man being the result of  his possessing larger organs for
 the developement of nervous energy.  Do they mean  to
insinuate that the nervous energy is different from vital en-
 ergy  in  general ?  Or, that the organization of the  brain
 and nerves is necessary for the preparation of vital energy ?
 Both propositions are unreasonable, and the latter contra-
 dicted by our knowing that the lower kinds of living beings,

 * Vide first two  Introductory Lectures; and first Lecture  of the yesfr 
PHYSIOGNOMY AND  PHRENOLOGY.
<j
  which  have neither brain  nor nerves, possess  vitality in
  the most energetic and permanent degree.  Neither do  1
  understand what they  mean  by attributing sensation  to
  those parts where it is supposed to take place.

    Do they really put faith in this delusion ?  The senses
  of sight, hearing, and smelling, have been  termed,  both by
  physiologists  and phrenologists, internal senses,  because
  we do not attribute the sensation to the organs  which are
  supposed to perceive; but surely we do not attribute it to
 any thing internal.   If I am in tne country, I see the distant
 hills, the nearer meadows and the contiguous trees.   1 may
 hear the tolling of a  remote parish-bell, the lowing of the
 herds in the adjacent fields, and the warbling of the bird
 perched on the spray above my head.   I may smell the
 sweet odour of the new mown hay in the adjoining fields,
 and the fragrance of the rose which  1 hold in  my hand.
 Yet, in every instance, I attributelhe sensation to the object
 which produces it, whether remote or near.   So likewise
 in touch and taste, I believe the body exciting these sensa-
 tions, to be where it really is ;  yet it must be admitted that
 perception is in every instance in the brain alone.*

   The researches of science seem  to have confirmed the
 Conjectures of Hartley relative to the functions of the nerv-
 ous  system, and shewn that there is a subtile substance,
 which he called aether, occasioning vibrations in the nerv-
 ous fibrils, and thus exciting sensation, and communicating
 volition.  These vibrations may recur as miniature vibra-
tions in  the brain, and  reproduce  sensations, and  also
imagination and thought.  They may recur  in  the same

                 * gee Introductory Lecture;.
                           K 
 ,4          PHYSIOGNOMY  AND PHRENOLOGY.

order in which they have formerly taken place, or promis-
cuously,  so as to produce perceptions which could never
have been excited by objects  in  nature.  If a person who
ha>, been "long in populous cities pent,'? goes a  day's
journey in the country, when he closes his eyes at  night,
he  is pleased with the fanciful views  of rural scenery
which present themselves before him.  Or when the nerv-
ous system is disordered, we may be annoyed or appalled
by  the appearance  of loathsome and hideous  phantoms.
In the common state of sleep, it is manifest that the actions
of life in  the nerves,  as well as in the  muscles,  generally
are in a state of  repose; so that they must be cerebial ac-
tions only which then create appearances, revive remem-
brances,  and excite the mind to  proceed with its own
imaginations, and to feel and  think as in matters of fact:
thus producing  the incidents, and the whole drama of a
dream.   Nay, even while we are awake, actions of nerves
unexcited by external  causes may take place, and produce
the appearance of persons and things, " in form as palpable'*
 as realities.*

   However, I  readily concur in the proposition, that the
 brain  of  animals  ought  to be  regarded  as the  organ-
 ization by which their percipient principle becomes vari-
ously affected.   First, because in the senses of sight, hear-
ing and  suieliing. I  see distinct organs for the  production
 of each  sensation.   Secondly, because the brain is larger
and more complicated in proportion as the variety of affec-
tions of  the percipient principle  is increased.   Thirdly,
 because  disease1* and  injuries disturb or annul  particular
 faculties and affections, without influencing others ; and]?
Ferriar on Appaxitioni. 
            Physiognomy and phrenology.          75

 Fourthly, because it seems to me more reasonably to sup-
 pose that whatever is perceptive may be variously affected
 by means of vital actions transmitted through a divers-
 ity of organization, than to suppose that such  variety de-
 pends upon original  differences in the nature of the per-
 cipient principle.

   If,  from considering the variety of our senses, and their
 total want of correspondence to the causes*which must un-
 doubtedly produce them, I mean the impulses of masses or
 atoms of surrounding  substances exciting actions in  our
 nervous fibrils, and also, from the consciousness we possess
 6f the unity of that which perceives, attends, reasons, de-
 cides, and wills, I  am compelled to admit, as I have  for-
 merly argued  in the lectures given in this College, that all
 variety of sensation results from the nature and attributes
 •f something most wonderfully and inexplicably perceptive.
 How much more strongly am  I compelled to believe that
 all those curious propensities,  faculties, and sentiments, of
 which I have  this  day spoken, are attributes of the same
 substance.  Indeed, to me it seems impossible that any ra-
 tional being should  suppose  reason and the nobler senti-
 ments of our  nature to  arise from organization,  or mere
 vital actions.

  Whilst, then, I most readily concede to what is demand-
 ed in this system of organology, that the variety of effects
produced may be the result of modifications of vital actions
transmitted through diversities of structure,  I most strong-
ly protest against the opinion, that the organs themselves
are perceptive;  or, indeed, against any opinion which im-
pugns the belief of the unity  of that which is perceptive,
rational, and intelligent.   Many of our actions are the re- 
76          PHYSIOGNOMY  AND PHRENOLOGY.

suit of complicated thoughts and feelings, each seeming to
have yielded a portion of  its  peculiar interests,  so as  to
produce a modified result.   But  how, may I ask, has this
compromise been made ?   A gentleman once humourously
answered this question by saying, that it was done by com-
mittees of the several organs, and a board of control.  But
if an intelligent, discretionary,  and controlling power  be
granted, I feel no disposition to demand any more.

  The perceptive and intellectual pha?nomena cannot be
rationally accounted for upon  the supposition that the brain
is an assemblage of organs, each possessing its  own per-
ceptiveness, intelligence, and will.  There must be a com-
mon centre,  as 1 may express it, to which all the  vital
actions tend, and from which all attention, ratiocination, de-
cision,  and volition  proceed.  Our attention may be so in-
active or absent, so occupied  by our own imaginations and
thoughts, or abstracted, that we are scarcely conscious there
is any thing surrounding us.   Though we possess extensive
perception by means of vital actions, yet we attend to but
one subject at a time.  We can direct our attention to any
of our various sensations and feelings, to the  operation of
any of our faculties  and sentiments; and, therefore, if Gall's
and Spurzheim's opinions  of  the structure of the brain be
true, that which is attentive must have communication with
all parts of this organ.  Nor can we  do  less  than admit
that  what is attentive to all  our sensations and faculties
must of itself be perceptive and intelligent.   Reason and
thought are inferences from information obtained by means
of the  vital actions, and cannot therefore be considered as
the immediate effect of such actions.  If, then  we remem-
ber our own thoughts, it must be in  consequence of their
recurrence to that  which thinks,   It is difficult to remem- 
Physiognomy anb  phrenology.          77
 ber them unless  we connect them with objects  of sense,
 with something renewable by the recurrence of vital ac-
 tions.  Brilliant  imaginations,  judicious inferences,  new
 and seemingly correct views of subjects, may be conceiv-
 ed in thought, and yet lost from not thus registering and
 fixing them.  Now, as we reason and think on all the sub-
 jects of our knowledge, it is evident that whatever performs
 these acts must have  communication with all parts of the
 brain.

   The eye cannot judge of sensations produced by the ear,
 nor the ear of those of smell, taste, and touch, yet we de-
 cide on all our sensations,  faculties, and sentiments ;  con-
 sequently,  whatever  exercises  this power must  be  acted
 upon by all parts  of the brain.

   The vital actions in the brain recur  spontaneously, and
 promiscuously in sleep,  as has been said,  so as to create
 images, and  excite imaginations, feelings,  and thoughts.
 They can also be renewed  by volition.  We may endeav-
 our to retrace the objects we have seen, till their spectre
 arise to our view ; or meditate on music we have heard,
 till the sounds seem to vibrate  on the ear.   When we see
 onlv indistinct forms and shades,  we can convert them in-
 to  finished pictures.   Thus do  we seem to recognise the
 features of our approaching  friends, when  their distance
 renders it impossible that we should distinguish them ; and
 to form as exact a resemblance of objects  in the fire and
 clouds, as could be depicted by great labour  and talent.
 Thus can  we review  all the subjects  of our knowledge.
 We can arbitrarily call to mind  the transactions of a  jour*
 ney undertaken many years ago, or con over the arguments
^>f a discourse which  we  may have lately heard.  It must, 
78           physiognomy  and phrenology*.

therefore, be admitted, that the will operates upon all part*
of the brain.

  By repeatedly calling up these  vital actions we  render
them prompt  and habitual, and  thus keep alive  in  our
memories whatever we may deem worthy of remembrance.
Yet, when we cannot  recall them, we  are, nevertheless,
confident that we have possessed the knowledge which we
seek.  We try to discover it by some circumstance with
which it was connected, and if we find but the associating
link, we  are instantly assured of  our perfect memory  of a
long chain of incidents.   In what, may I  ask, exists  this
assurance of forgotten events, or of perfect memory, when
we discover but a single link in a long chain of circumstan-
ces ? Surely we must answer, in that which has perceived
and thought.

  Of the unity of that which perceives, attends, thinks, de-
cides, and wills,  nature has  given us a consciousness which
no argument can annul, and which enquiry only strength-
ens.   I wish to avoid metaphysical discussions in this place,
but it seemed necessary to  shew that the consideration of
the phaenomena of mind, as  well as that of the phaeoomena
of life, equally enforces the opinion of  their distinct  and
independent nature ;  thus confirming the notions that it is
natural man should entertain relative to his own being, and
which are necessary to his proper conduct in life.  Uned-
ucated reason, and the utmost scientific research, equally
induce us to believe, that they are composed of an assem-
blage of organs formed of common inert matter,  such as
may be seen after death ; a principle of life and  action;
and  a sentient and rational faculty ; all intimately connect*
?d, yet each distinct from th^ other. 
physiognomy and phrenologt.
79
   The  impossibility of our conceiving how any thing in-
telligent can exist, and become connected with, so as to af-
fect or be affected by the organization of living beings, has
led to unanswerable enquiries; which,  however,  cannot
reasonably be made, except in consequence of supposing
that what is perceptive resembles the subjects of its percep-
tion, of which alone we can form  any ideas.  But it is not
irrational to conclude, that things totally different in pro-
perties may be equally different in nature, and thus has it
been inferred, that the mind does not resemble the subjects
of its perceptions, but is,  in its nature, neither mutable nor
liable to decay, like the common forms of matter by which
we are surrounded, and of which our  bpdies are composed.

   No one seems better to have understood the faculties and
sentiments of the human mind, or to  have exerted them to
better effect,  than Socrates.  As  he  was a sculptor in the
early part of his life, he  was in the habit of saying, "How
strange is it that we should take so much pains to fashion
an insensible stone into the likeness of ourselves;  and so
little  to prevent ourselves from  resembling an insensible
stone ?"  He was constantly exhorting others to try to im-
prove their talents and moral character, as he himself had
done with so much advantage and comfort to his own mind.
But what was the cause of this continual effort in behalf of
others ? or whence arose that elevation of sentiment and
perfect  self-command which  this philosopher possessed?
Surely  from the belief that his present state of existence
was but preparatory to one exalted and eternal.  After he
had drank the poison, one of his friends, anxious about his
funeral, enquired of him what were his wishes respecting a
subject, which, to any real philosopher,  must appear alto-
gether unimportant.  " Bury me," said Socrates, " whej$ 
30
PHYSIOGNOMY AND PHRENOLOGY.
you please, provided you can catch me ; for it seems that
I, Socrates, who now reason with you, cannot convince you
that  when  1 quit this lifeless body,  I  shall be no longer
present." 
PHYSIOLOGICAL  LECTURES-
ADDRESSED to
THE COLLEGE OF BURGEONS.
BY
      JOHN ABERNETHY, F.R.S.

HONORARY MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS IN IRELAND
       OF THE ROYAC MEDICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH ;
   CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF THE FACULTY OF
                MEDICINE IN PARIS.
 AND OF THE MEDICAL SOCIETIES OF ABERDEEN, PARIS, BOURDEAUX,
               PHILADELPHIA, &C ;
    fiuRGEoar to st. Bartholomew's aj»d Christ's ho6pitat,s.
             LONDON
LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN.

            HARTFORD,

        OLIVER D. COOKE & CO

               1825. 
I
Roberts & Burr,  Printers. 
                 AN

          ENQUIRY
               INTO THE
PROBABILITY AND RATIONALITY
                  OP
         MR. HUNTER'S

   THEORY OF LIFE;
            BEING THE SVBJECT OF
    THE FIRST TWO ANATOMICAL LECTURES
DELIVERED BEFORE THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF
         LONDON, IN THE YEAR 1814. 
              TO THE




            TRUSTEES




               OF THE




  HUNTERIAN COLLECTION,




               THESE




     INTRODUCTORY LECTURES




             EXHIBITING




AN IMPERFECT SKETCH OF THE CHARACTER




     AND SOME OF THE OPINIONS OF




         MR. JOHN HUNTER,




     ARE RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED




           BY THEIR OBEDIENT SERVANT,




                    THE AUTHOR. 
INTRODUCTORY  LECTURES

               IN THE YEAR  1514.
                   LECTURE X.

    IN succeeding  Sir William Blizard in the honourable
 office of Professor of Anatomy and Surgery, I think it right
 to inform  my audience that he was my earliest instructor in
 these sciences; and that I am greatly indebted to him for
 much, and most valuable information respecting them.  My
 warmest thanks are also due to him for the interest he excit-
 ed in my  mind towards these studies, and for the  excellent
 advice he gave me, in common with other students, to direct
 me in the  attainment of knowledge.
   " Let your search after truth," he would say, " be eager
 and constant.   Be wary in admitting propositions to be facts
 before you have submitted them to the strictest examination.
 If, after this, you believe them to be true, never disregard or
 forget any one of them, however unimportant it may at the
 time appear.   Should you perceive truths to be important,
 make them motives of action; let them serve  as  springs to
 your conduct."
  " Many persons," he remarked, " acknowledge truth with
 apathy; they assent to it, but it produces no further effect on
 their minds.  Truths, however, are of  importance,  in pro-
 portion as  they admit of  inferences which ought to have an
 influence on our conduct; and if we neglect to draw those
 inferences, or to act in conformity to them, we fail in essential
 duties."
  Our preceptor further contrived by various means to excite
a degree of enthusiasm in the minds of his pupils.  He dis- 
2
INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.       [lect. i
played to us the  beau ideal of the medical character :—I
cannot readily tell you how splendid and brilliant he made
it appear ;—and then, he cautioned us never to tarnish its
lustre by any disingenuous conduct, by any thing that wore
even the semblance of dishonour.   He caused the sentiment
of the philanthropic Chreines, in the Heautontimoruinenos of
Terence, to be inscribed on the walls of the hospital-surgery,
that students should have constantly before them an admo-
nition to humanity,  drawn  from a  reflection on their own
wants :  \ lomo sum ; humani nihil a me alienum puto.
  I could with pleasure enlarge on this theme, but 1 check
myself, because I am aware that what I am now saying may
rather annoy  than  gratify  the feelings of  my preceptor.
What I have stated, however, is a tribute due from me to
him ;  and I pay it on the present occasion, in hopes that the
same  precepts and motives may have the same effect on the
minds of the junior part of my audience, as they were accus-
tomed in general  to have upon the pupils  of Sir William
Blizard.
  That which most dignifies man, is the cultivation of those
intellectual faculties which  distinguish him  from the brute
creation.  We should indeed seek truth; feel its importance;
and act as the dictates of reason direct.   By exercising the
powers of our minds in the attainment of medical knowledge,
we learn and may improve  a science of the greatest public
utility.  We have need of enthusiasm, or of some strong in-
centive, to induce  us to spend our nights in study, and our
days in the disgusting and health-destroying avocations of the
dissecting-room ; or in that careful and distressing observation
of human diseases and infirmities, which alone can enable us
to understand, alleviate, or remove them : for upon no other
terms can we be considered as real students of our profession.
We have need of some powerful inducement, exclusively of
the expectation of fame or emolument: for unfortunately a man
may attain a considerable share of public reputation and prac-
tice without undertaking the labours I have mentioned,  without
being a real  student of his  profession.  I  place  before you
the most animating incentive J know of to labour truly to ac-
quire  professional  knowledge.  You will  by such conduct
possess yourselves of the enviable power of being extensive-
ly useful to your fellow-creatures, iua way the most necessa-
ry to their wants, and most interesting to their feelings. You
will be enabled to confer that which sick kings would fondly 
lect.i.J         INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.          3

purchase with their diadems ; that which wealth cannot com-
mand, nor state nor rank bestow.  You will  be able to al-
leviate or remove disease, the most insupportable of human
afflictions, and  thereby give health, the  most  invaluable of
human blessings.
  I shall not, however, gentlemen, waste your time in ex-
patiating on this  topic, because you will feel much more
than I can utter, and because all that can be said or thought
of it, seems concentrated in one brief but enthusiastic sentence
of Cicero, which therefore I quote.   In nulla re, propius ad
deos homines accedunt, quam salutem hominibus dando.
   In occupying the situation of the last gentlemen who taught
in this place, Sir Everard Home, who has pursued the path
of science which Mr. Hunter pointed out, with a considera-
ble talent for observation, and with a degree of zeal and in-
dustry, scarcely to be expected from one whose  time and
attention have been otherwise  so much engaged; I  also.
equally with him,  feel  interested in impressing on the minds
of my  audience, the advantages we  have derived from the
labours of Mr. Hunter, and from pursuing that mode of study
and enquiry which he adopted,  and inculcated :  and I am
desirous on the present occasion, to engage your attention in
the consideration of the probability and rationality of his the-
ory of life.
   The term theory, in philosophical language, like hypothesis,
denotes the  most plausible and rational mode  of accounting
for certain phaenomena, the causes of which have not been
fully developed.  In applying these terms to medical and
physiological subjects,  I  may be  allowed to define what I
think they designate, and what  I intend to convey by them.
By the word theory I mean a rational explanation of the cause
or connexion of an apparently full or sufficient series of facts:
by hypothesis,  a rational  conjecture concerning subjects in
which the series of facts is obviously incomplete.
   The formation of an hypothesis  excites us to enquiries.
which  may  either confirm or  confute our conjectures; and
which  may, by enabling us to discover the deficient  facts,
convert our hypothesis into a theory.   Believing the facts
collected by the ingenuity and industry of Mr.  Hunter, to be- 
4
INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.      [lect. i.
 sufficient to establish his opinions respecting life, 1  have
 therefore called them a theory.
   There was a time when medical men entertained so de-
 termined a dislike to the word theory, that they could scarce-
 ly tolerate the term. If any such remain, I would beg them
 to reflect that hypothesis  and theory are the natural and in-
 evitable result of thinking;  so that if they refuse to allow of
 any theory, they must prohibit all thought.
   The antipathy which some have entertained to the term
theory has arisen from its misapplication. For opinions drawn
from  very  partial  views of  subjects, sometimes having no
foundation on facts ; opinions formed by processes of mind,
similar to those which occur in dreaming, when lawless ima-
gination produces combinations and associations without
any reference to realities; opinions, as unlike what I should
understand by theory as darkness is to light, have neverthe-
less been often proposed as theories and so  denominated.
That such foolish speculations, such  waking dreams, will
mislead and deceive us, cannot be doubted; and hence has
arisen the prejudice which some have entertained against the
term.
  The greatest philosophers were, through the whole course
of their enquiries and  demonstrations, theorists.   Theoriz-
ing, according to my conception  of the word, means nothing
more than thinking correctly, in a concatenated manner, and
in conformity  to rules which I shall presently have occasion
to notice.   It is scarcely necessary for me to assert that this
kind of thinking [is useful, and promotive of Science.   For
was it not thinking in this manner on the cause of an apple
falling from a tree, that led Sir Isaac Newton to ascertain
the laws of attraction ?   Was it  not thinking thus which led
him to perceive that the operation of the  same causes might
perpetuate the regular motions of the planetary system ?
Why do we note facts with  accuracy, or collect them with
diligence ?  why do we interrogate nature by experiment ?  Is
it not because we wish to prove some of our own opinions to
be true, or the opposing opinions of others to be false ? or, be-
cause we wish to enlarge the boundaries of science in a di-
rection  in which we think they admit of extension ?  What
 induces one' person to prohibit another from theorizing ?  Is
 it not because he has himself attempted it in vain, and therfore
 deems the attempt unavailing ?
   Filings and opinions are the chief sources of all our intel- 
u:ct. 1.3       INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.           $

lectual conduct:  we ought therefore to  cultivate good and
honourable feelings, and to scrutinize opinions, with a view
to entertain none but those that appear correct;  and such an
examination, to which 1 now invite you, must be allowed to
be a proper exercise of intellect.
  Since thinking is inevitable, our  chief enquiry should be
how we ought to think or theorize; and on this point New-
ton himself has condescended to instruct us.  Our theories,
hypotheses, or opinions, for to me all these words seem to re-
fer to one and the same act of the mind—should be verifiable
or probable, and should rationally account for all the known
phaenomena of the  subject they pretend to explain;  under
which circumstances it is allowable to maintain them as good,
until others more  satisfactory be discovered.  No man who
thus theorizes need feel shame in this employment of his in-
tellectual  powers ; no man can feel arrogance,  for it is  ac-
knowledged that his theory is but a probable and rational con-
jecture.  Besides, we  never can be sure that the  series of
facts belonging to any subject is full or complete; new ones
may be discovered, that would overturn our best established
theories.
  Upon the foregoing terms alone do I wish to uphold Mr.
Hunter's theory of life; and I do so on the present occasion,
because it seems highly probable, it was his thinking in the
manner he was known to do, that caused him to survey all the
facts connected with the subject of life in general  with so
much accuracy, as well as to note  its disordered states and
sympathies in a manner which has so greatly contributed to
increase our practical knowledge.   It is highly probable that
it was his hypothesis respecting life  which incited him to en-
quiries by which he has been able to supply the deficient facts,
so as to establish his conjectures, or convert his hypothesis in-
to a theory.
  Mr.  Hunter seems to have put us into a right path, and
every step we take our prospects become more enlarged and
distinct, and we evidently approximate to the  ultimate object
which we have in view.
  Whoever duly reflects on the extent of human knowledge
and power, cannot but feel an interest in anatomical enqui-
ries : pince he must perceive that it is by means of the Organ- 
„-           INTRODUCTORY LECTURES,      Llect. i.

izalion of the body, the mind acquires all its information, and
executes all its purposes.  When, however, we engage in
anatomical enquiries, we find so great a diversity of structure
in the different parts of the body; so great a variety of expe-
dients for affecting certain purposes, all so simple in their  na-
ture, vet so adequate to their intended design, that anatomy
becomes highly interesting from the curiosity it excites, the
knowledge it imparts, and the food for meditation it affords.
  When also in the prosecution of our anatomical enquiries,.
we as it were analyze the body, or reduce it to its elementary
parts :  when we find that every organ,  and every portion of
it is composed of a few and simple vessels, a few and simple
fibres; that by these it is originally formed, kept in constant
repair, endowed with animation, sensation, and motion; we
become lost in astonishment that such important ends can be
effected by apparently such simple means.
  On reflecting how I might best accomplish the duty which
devolves to me, of giving anatomical lectures in  a place by no
means suited to anatomical demonstrations, I thought. I could
not do better than speak of the structure and functions of these
elementary component  parts  of  the body ; since  by  this
method I  should be led to describe their natural and healthy
structure and functions, which would be a proper introduc-
tion to the subsequent discussions  I have to engage in, rela-
tive to the nature and treatment of disorder and  disease.   As
it does not seem material which subject I consider first,  I
shall begin with the fibres, the only visible means by which
motion and sensation are produced; for this will lead direct-
ly to the consideration of Mr. Hunter's Theory of Life.
  In surveying the great chain of living beings, we find life
connected with a vast variety of organization, yet exercising
the same functions in each ; a circumstance from  which we
may I think naturally conclude, that life does not depend on
organization.  Mr. Hunter, who so patiently and accurate-
ly examined the different  links of this great chain, which
seems to connect  even man with the common matter of the
universe, was of this opinion.  In speaking of the properties
of life, he says "it is something that prevents the chemical
decomposition, to which dead animal and  vegetable matter
is so prone:  that  regulates the temperature of the bodies  it 
;,ect. i.j       INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.           1

inhabits, and is the cause of the actions we observe in them."
All these circumstances, though deduced from an extensive
contemplation of the subject, may,  however, be legitimate-
 y drawn from observations made on the egg.  A living egg
does not putrify  under circumstances that would rapidly
cause that  change in a dead one.   The former resists a de-
gree of cold that would freeze the latter.  And when subject-
ed to the genial warmth of incubation, the matter of it bcsin^
to move or  to be moved so as to build up the curious struc-
ture of the young animal.
  The formation of the embryon  in  gallinaceous  ova was
particularly attended to by Mr. Hunter; and he was of opin-
ion,  that motions began in various places in the cicatricula so
as simultaneously to form parts of the embryon and its appen-
dages.
  The opinions of Mr. Hunter deserve at least to be respect-
fully and attentively considered.   That  he  was a man  of
genius, according to the beautiful  definition of that quality
given by Dr.  Johnson; that he possessed the power of mind
that collects,  combines, amplifies,  and animates the  energy
without  which  judgment is  cold,  and knowledge is  inert;
cannot I think be doubted by any one who has carefully con-
sidered his  writings.  That  he  was a man  of uncommon
industry, by which he collected abundance of facts, will be
admitted by  every  one who has even beheld his  museum.
That he was a man of constant and deep reflection, is to me
equally apparent.
  Many persons have genius without industry;  others indus-
try without genius; and  many  who possess both are still
deficient, in judgment.
  I here beg permission to explain  the notions I entertain of
that act of the mind by which we form our inferences, opin-
ions,  or judgments.   I shall by this means at once unfold
what it is that, in my estimation, gives currency and value to
the opinions of any Individual, and entitles them to the atten-
tion of others.  The human mind has the power of holding as
it were in review, a series of facts or  propositions, and steadily
contemplating them so as to arrange, assort, or compare them
till we form some deduction respecting them.  This power
seems to belong exclusively to man, and is the basis of his
reasoning faculty.  That mind  is  the strongest which  can
contemplate the greatest number of facts or propositions with
riccj'.racy;  and his judgments are generally the most correct. 
INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.      Uect. t.
who omits to review none of the facts belonging to the subject
under his  consideration.  It was this power of mind that so
eminently distinguished  Newton from other men.  It was
this power that enabled him to arrange the whole of a treatise
in his thoughts,  before he committed a  single idea to paper.
In the exercise of this power, he was known occasionally to
have passed a night or day entirely inattentive to surrounding
objects.
  That Mr. Hunter was also a man of constant and deep
reflection, that he possessed this enviable power of mind, so
essential to the perfection of the intellectual character, is to
me sufficiently apparent; fori know of no opinion of his that
was lightly or loosely formed, or that was not logically and
cautiously deduced from the facts before  him; and though
from the subsequent increase of knowledge, the  validity of
some of his opinions may now be doubted,  yet  most of them
have from the same cause become more firmly established.
With all his genius, knowledge, and reflection, Mr. Hunter
was  not, however, a  brilliant character amongst us.   He
had not the happy talent of displaying the stores of his mind,
nor of communicating to others the same perception  of the
importance of his facts and opinions as he himself entertained.
Perhaps it may have arisen from my attending more  to his
facts and opinions than to his mode of explaining them, that
I have  been led to form so high an estimate of his intellectual
powers.  I can draw no other inferences from the facts than
those which  he has drawn,  and therefore am I a convert to
his opinions.
  I proceed now to consider the structure  and functions of
those fibres which  constitute the muscles, in order to intro-
duce the discussion of the probability and rationality of Mr.
Hunter's Theory as a cause of irritability.   Muscular fibres
are soft and readily lacerable in the dead body, and even
during life, when they are in a state of inaction.  They are
composed of that insoluble substance which we meet with in
the blood, and which,  from its disposition to concrete  in a
fibrous  form, is called the  fibrous  part of that fluid.   The
threads and flakes of common cellular substance, which con-
nect the muscular fibres,  and every where pervade the
structure of a muscle,  may be removed by boiling, and then
the muscular fibres may be separated, till they become too
minute to admit of further separation,  and almost elude our
unassisted sight.   Yet there are some who assert, that by 
 «-.ect. i.J       INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.           9

 the aid of powerful lenses, each fibre,  though slender as the
 threads of flimsy gossamer, appears but as a muscle in minia-
 ture, being composed of a number of smaller fibres.   There
 arc others who maintain the contrary, and affirm that they
 can see the ultimate muscular fibres.  It would seem to me
 a waste of time to detail to you the reports of various micros-
 copical observers, respecting the ultimate fibres of muscles,
 since there, is so little conenrrence or  certainty in their des-
 criptions.  The opinion which such contradictory statements
 have impressed on my mind,  is,  that perhaps the ultimate
 arrangement of matter, like its ultimate particles, may form
 a subject too subtile for human perception.  Our information
 in these respects must be limited, as our powers of perception
 have their bounds.   The imperfection of the human senses.
 floes not, however, seem a  subject of regret; because it in-
 duces  a greater necessity  for the exertions of intellect; and
 many subjects appear far more demonstrable to reason than
 to sense.
   Fontano, it must  be granted,  possessed considerable tal-
 ent in microscopical  observations; for he says, that he could
 readily distinguish the nature of any animal substance, which
 might be placed on the field  of his microscope, by regarding
 its ultimate fibres, and according to him the muscular fibres
 are much smaller than those of the nerves.  Proscasca and
 others assert, that the ultimate muscular fibres are continued
 throughout the whole length  of a  muscle.   How marvellous^
 (could we but see it,) would such a slender  thread appear,
 continued throughout the whole length of the human sartorius.
 Haller, however, affirms that  the fibres are  not  continued,
 but that one set terminating another begins.   Suspecting
 that Haller employed the solar microscope on this occasion,
 as he says he had done on others, I examined muscular fibres
 with this instrument.  Now. though I place no confidence
 in my own observation, and think the subject unimportant as
to any conclusion that may be deduced from it, yet 1 will tell
you now a portion of a muscle appeared to me when magni-
fied about 500 times.  The  fibres were slightly undulating,
and one  set terminating, another began: neither were the
sets of fibres of considerable length.   The muscular fibres
were connected by cross threads of common cellular sub-
stance.
   Mr.  Carlisle,  in whose  talents and accuracy we are all
■;UstK)sed  <o  place  confidence, in the Croonuin Lecture, 
10
INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.
[LECT. i
printed in the Philosophical Transactions for 1805, says, that
he can distinctly see an ultimate muscular fibre, which he
describes " as a solid cylinder, the covering of which is retic-
ular membrane, and the contained part a pulpy substance
irregularly granulated."   He has also described the termina-
tion of nerves in muscles.
  Muscles are liberally supplied both with blood vessels and
nerves, but nothing peculiar is perceived in their distribution.
We make them very red by injecting them, and wc see nu-
merous  nerves  entering their substance at various places.
Yet the vessels of some muscles are too minute to receive red
blood on ©ur coloured injections, so that redness though 3.
common is not an essential character of muscle.
  I here willingly relinquish the enquiry into the structure of
those  organs  in which the irritable  property chiefly resides,
in order, in the next  place, to speak of the principal phae-
nomena of irritability.
  Muscles have the  power of contracting with  surprising
celerity and force.  It seems indeed wonderful that the biceps
muscle  of the arm, which in the dead state would be torn by
the weight of a few ounces appended to it, shall  in the living
state  be capable of lifting and sustaining more than 100 lbs.
The matter  in the muscle seems neither to be increased nor
diminished during its contraction, what is lost in  length being
gained in bulk.  The voluntary contraction of muscles can-
not be long continued ;  they become weary and painful, the
contraction  remits and recurs, causing a tremulous motion.
Yet this phenomenon does not seem to be the effect of abso-
lute inability, in the irritable property, to continue in action,
for some muscles continue to act without experiencing fa-
tigue.  For instance, those of the jaws and back; for when-
ever they relax the jaw drops, and the head and body fall
forwards, as we see in persons who are going to sleep in a sit-
ting posture.  Certain sphincter muscles likewise remain in ac-
tion withoutexperiencing fatigue. Some sphincters also, I ma\
add,  are disposed to yield considerably without  impatience:
to  that their irritability resembles  that  of those  muscles
which Bichat has considered as a distinct class, and subser-
vient alone to what he calls the organic life.  The contractile
power  of muscles  is also capable of remaining in vehement
action for a great  length of time, as we see in some cases of
cramps, and still more in some cases of tonic tetanus.
   Yet  though the irritable power is not incapable of contin* 
 lect. i.]      INTRODUCTORY  LECTURES.          4;

 ued exertion, it seems evidently to be in general susceptible
 of fatigue, and inclines to  be at rest.  Jf we stimulate the
 muscles of a limb of a frog severed from the body, by voltaic
 electricity, the muscular actions are at first vivid and forci-
 ble, but they grow fainter and feebler on repeated excite-
 ment.   Yet if we wait a little till they seem to regain their
 power,  they become vivid and  forcible as at first from the
 same degree of excitement.  Such  actions may be  excited
 at intervals for twenty-four hours, though with a gradual di-
 minution in their power, after which, in general, they can be
 no longer excited, and then the muscles become permanently
 and rigidly contracted.  The foregoing facts appear to me to
 show the impropriety of the phrase, exhausted irritability,
 which is in common use to express our inability by the effort
 of our will to continue the actions of our voluntary muscles :
 it  seems manifest  that the irritability is  not exhausted but
 fatigued.
   The rigid contraction of the muscles after death, is the ef-
 fect of irritability:  it  is its last act.   A considerable force is
 required to  overcome this  contraction, or to bend the rigid
 limbs of the dead  body, when it has recently taken place.
 The force required to effect this, gradually diminishes till the
 muscles become quite pliant; and  then, and not till then, does
 putrefaction ensue.
  Mr. Hunter has known this last vital contraction to occur
 in parts severed from the body sixty  hours after their  separa-
 tion, upon the removal of causes which had impeded the
 contraction before that period ; a proof that life in a certain
degree was still resident in the part.   He observed that death
 produced by lightning, or large charges of electricity, or by
 certain kinds of injuries and diseases, prevented this contrac-
 tion, and even the coagulation of  the blood; and that putre-
faction would in such cases very rapidly take place.   From
factsof this kind,  as well as from many others, he drew an
inference, which has not I believe been disputed, and there-
fore 1 need not enter into the discussion of it at length,  that the
principle of life may in some instances be suddenly removed,
or have  its power abolished, whilst in general it is lost by de-
grees.
  The contraction of irritability takes place in some  animals-
in a very slow and gradual manner, and their muscles in gen-
eral are incapable  of sudden contraction.   Yet though the
action of their muscles is very slow, it is very powerful and 
12
INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.
LLECi.  i'
very permanent.  The American sloth supports its weight
for a very long time in one attitude, by fixing its claws into
the branches of trees ; an act which would speedily weary
muscles of an ordinary character.  The muscles of the legs
of birds that roost,  seem to have a similar power  of perma-
nent contraction.
   Mr. Carlisle has lately demonstrated a peculiar distribution
of the arteries in the limbs of these tardigrade animals, as
they are  called, and Doctor Macartney has shown that a
similar arrangement  of vessels exists  in the legs of fowls.
Such a distribution of the arteries may be subservient without
being essential to these modes of action.
  In the  human body we see instances of irritability exerting
itself after the manner it does in general in tardigrade ani-
mals.  If the iris had possessed the ordinary powers of mus-
cles, and  none else, it could not have remained, as it is known
to do, permanently contracted in a strong light, and perma-
nently dilated in a weak one.  Indeed, an anatomist who
is fond of  tlacing structure as  connected with function,
might readily persuade himself, that there  is in the iris a
distribution  of arteries,  similar  to that which Mr.  Carl-
isle has demonstrated in the limbs of sloths.   We find,  how-
ever, that sphincter muscles  in general have the power of
continuing their contraction,  though no peculiar distribution
of vessels is discoverable in them.  In the  gall bladder, the
function of which requires this slow but permanently acting
irritability, in order to express its contents in small and equal
quantites into the bowels, as the digested aliment passes into
them, we discover no peculiar arrangement of arteries.—
Though  we cannot excite any sudden contraction of that
bag, yet we  know that it can gradually  reduce itself into a
very small compass.   The skin has every where this  slow
but permanently acting, and gradually relaxing  irritability.
the effects of which are most evident  in lax and pendulous*
portions of it.  Accordingly  we sometimes observe the scro-
tum and  prepuce condensed into a surprizingly small and
very compact mass.
  Thus have we even in the human body evidences of irrita-
bility acting in various modes,  whilst  we can  equally per-
ceive that in tardigrade annuals some of their muscles act
with celerity.  In the lori,  of whose habits Vosmaer has giv-
en so interesting an^iccount, and which manifested no signs
of alacrity save in eating the food that  it liked, no  stimula-
tion nor injury could induce it to mend  its pace, but it show, 
LECT. I.]
INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.
13
ed its resentment of the attempt to make it perform impossi-
bilities, by  suddenly snapping at the stick or instrument with
which it was goaded;  and thus again demonstrated that the
muscles of its jaw were endowed with an irritability of the
more common character.
  Having thus briefly described the principal phaenomena  of
muscular action, for I forbear to notice others of less import-
ance, I proceed to review the conjectures thathave been formed
as to the causeofthese curious, sudden, and powerful contrac-
tions.  Not to speak of exploded hypotheses, I trouble you
only with those which are modern.
  J irst, then, the contraction has been  supposed to be the ef-
fect of some chemical  change occurring in  the part.  This
opinion is  I think invalidated by the reiterated contractions
which may be produced in the limbs of some animals when
removed from the body, even during twenty-four hours, if ex-
cited by voltaic electricity, and consequently when no supply
of materials can be supposed to exist within the limb, to pro-
duce such reiterated chemical changes.  The opinion is still
further refuted by observing, that these vivacious contractions
will equally take place, upon the same excitement, in the ex-
hausted receiver of an  air-pump and in the open air.  They
may also be excited underwater, under oil, in a great varie-
ty of gases;  in short, under circumstances which exclude the
presence of any chemical agent from without, to which such
changes could reasonably be imputed.
  Secondly, the contraction of irritability has been supposed
to be a property of the muscular fibres.   Properties are gene-
rally considered as permanent qualities.  Thus, the proper-
ty of gravitation is continually operating, equally when bo-
dies remain at  rest and when it produces  motion in them,
equally whilst I support this book in my hand, and when I
suffer it' to fall on the table.  If, however, so curious an oc-
casional property could belong to matter, we should naturally
expect that it would belong to some peculiar quality, or ar-
rangement of matter.   But irritability is connected  with
matter of different qualities and armngements.  The flesh of
animals and that  of fish are different in quality;  the pulpy
medusae which float in the sea differ from vegetables; yet all
are irritable, or possess thisfower of occasional contraction.
Though in general we find irritability connected with a fibrous
structure, yet, if we may trust our senses, it is not so in every
instance,   fn the hydatid, where no «iHi <-tnvture is appa- 
 U          INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.        [lecx. i.

 rent even with the aid of lenses, we still have evidence of the
 irritability of life.  If also, as I strongly suspect, the muscu-
 lar fibres be not  continued from one end of the muscle  to the
 other, irritability could not in that case be considered as a
 properly belonging to them, since any breach  of continuity
 would completely frustrate the contraction  of  the whole
 muscle.
   Thirdly, I proceed to enquire into Mr. Hunter's opinion,
 that irritability is the effect of some subtile, mobile, invisible
 substance, superadded  to the evident structure of muscles, or
 other forms of vegetable and  animal matter, as magnetism is.
 to iron, and as electricity is to various substances  with which
 it may be connected.  Mr. Hunter doubtless thought, and I
 believe most persons do think, that in magnetic and electric
 motions, a subtile invisible substance, of a very quickly and
 powerfully mobile nature, puts in motion other bodies which
 are evident to the senses, and are of a nature more gross and
 inert.  To be as convinced as I am of the probability of Mr.
 Hunter's Theory as a cause of irritability, it is, I  am aware,
 necessary to be as convinced as I am that electricity is what
 I have now supposed it to be, and that it pervades all nature.
 To obtain this conviction it is necessary that  the facts con-
 nected with  this subject should be attentively considered;
 but for such an examination I have no time ;  neither would
 it be considered as suitable to the general design of these lec-
 tures.
   Whatever notions  philosophers may be pleased to form re-
 specting matter in general, it does not appear to me that our
 physiological opinions can be effected by their decisions. Of
 the matter which for  the most part presents itself to our no-
tice, and iscognizable by the eye and  touch, we know that it
has a  property called by Sir Isaac Newton vis inertice, an in-
 disposition to move unless impelled to motion, and a disposi-
tion to continue in motion unless retarded.
  There are some philosophers  who think, that  properties
similar to those of the aggregate mass, likewise belong to ev-
ery atom of which it is composed; whilst others, on the con-
trary,  think,  that the  atoms have  very different qualities, and
that the vis inertias is the property only of the aggregate mass.
 The matter of animals and vegetables is, however, an aggre-
 gate mass ; it is as we express it,  common matter, it is inert;
 so that the necessity  of supposing the superaddition of some
 subtile and mobile substance is apparent. 
 lect. i.]      INTRODUCTORY  LECTURES.          U

   Taking it for granted that the opinions generally entertain-
 ed concerning the cause of electrical motions are true, anal-
 ogy would induce us to suppose,  that similar motions might
 be produced, by similar causes, in matter organized as it is
 found to be in the vegetable and animal systems.
   The phaenomena of electricity and of life correspond. Elec-
 tricity may be attached to, or inhere, in  a wire; it may be
 suddenly dfissipated, or have its powers annulled, or it may be
 removed by degrees or in portions, and the wire may remain
 less and less strongly electrified, hi proportion as it is abstract-
 ed.   So life inheres in vegetables and animals; it may some-
 times be suddenly dissipated, or  have its powers abolished,
 though  in general it is lost by degrees, without any apparent
 change taking place in the structure;  and in either case pu-
 trefaction begins when life terminates.
   The motions of electricity are characterized by their celer-
 ity and force ; so are the  motions of irritability.  The mo-
 tions of electricity are vibratory; so likewise are those of ir-
 ritability.  When by long-continued  exertion the power ol
 muscles is fatigued, or when  it is feeble, their vibratory or
 tremulous motions are manifest to common observation, but
 the same kind of motion may be perceived at all  times by at-
 tention, as has been shown by Dr. Woolaston in the Crooni-
 an Lecture for the year 1810.  It is then I think manifest,
 that Mr. Hunter's conjectures are the most probable of any
 that have been offered as to the cause of irritability.
   My allotted time does not permit me at present to consid-
 er the other vita.1 functions ; yet I relinquish  the subject with
 reluctance, because I have been speaking only on that point
in which it seems most difficult to persuade the incredulous,
of the probability and rationality of Mr. Hunter's Theory.
   When hereafter I shall have to speak  of the other vital
functions, I think it will appear that it is impossible  to ac-
count for the  phaenomena in any other  manner than that
which Mr. Hunter has suggested.
  In ascending the difficult and lofty  ladder of knowledge,
men of great talent and industry seem to have affixed to it
certain resting places, on which, reposing for a time from
their labours, they could tranquilly assemble their followers,
nnd contemplate more extensive views of nature, and of na- 
IS           INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.      [lect.  t.

ture's laws,  than  had before been  taken.   If after  having
stood by the side of the great teacher Newton, and learned
from  him the properties of common and inanimate matter,
wc afterwards attend to Mr. Hunter, our great instructor in
the functions of living beings, he points out to us how matter,
starting from the general mass, springs up into life in vegeta-
tion.  We see vegetables as it were self-formed and produc-
ing their own speeics.  We observe them also exerting most
of the powers which animals possess.  That they have irri-
tability is evident from the current of their sap and their se-
cretions ; nay, in some we observe  those vivacious motions
which seem chiefly to belong to animal  life, as is evident in
the Mimos;c, the'Dionsea Muscipula, and  Hcydysarum gy-
rans.  We see them like animals having alternate seasons of
action and repose ; and though in general vegetables like an-
imals arc in action during the  day and rest in the night, yet
also some vegetables like  some animals  rest in the day and
are in action during the common season of repose.
  We see animals scarcely differing from vegetables in their
functions, like them doomed to a stationary existence, with
even less appearance of organization than we usually discov-
er in vegetables, and of a structure  so simple as to admit of
propagation like vegetables by cuttings.   Yet in all the di-
versity of living beings we recognize certain processes pecul-
iar and essential to life; as the power of converting  other
kinds of matter into that appropriate to the individual it is to
form and support; the power  of distributing the nutriment,
thus converted, to every  part for its formation and supply;
the ventilation, as I may call it, of tjie nutritive fluids; the
power of preparing various dissimilar substances from the nu-
tritive fluids; and the propagation of the species.  As what
is deemed the complexity of animal life increases, we find dis-
tinct organs allotted for  each of these  functions; thus we
have organs of digestion, circulation, respiration,  secretion,
and generation, which are various  in their structure in the
different tribes of animals.
   In vegetables, and in some  of the lower kinds of animals,
no traces of nerves are discoverable.  The nervous system
begins in a simp!-' form, and seems to increase in complexity
up to man.   But this will make the subjectof the next lec-
ture.  Mr.  Hunter also shows us that there  are animals,
as for instance the torpedo and gymnotus, which have organs
liberally supplied with nerves,, forming an electric  battery 
 lect. i.'J      INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.           17

 which they can charge at will.  Such facts show to what a
 degree electricity exists in these animals, and how greatly it
 is under the influence or control of the nervous system; and
 they could not fail to make a strong  impression on the con-
 templative and deeply meditating mind of Mr. Hunter.
   What, then, may 1 ask, is the natural  inference  to  be
 drawn from the examination of this great  chain  of being,
 which seems to connect even man  with the  common matter
 of the universe  !  What but that which  Mr. Hunter drew,
 that life must  be something independent  of organization,
 since it is able  to execute the same functions with such di-
 versified structure, and even in some instances with scarcely
 any appearance of organization at all  ?
   The  experiments  of Sir Humphrey Davy seem to me to
 form an important link in the connexion of our knowledge ot
 dead and living matter.  He has solved the great  and long-
 hidden  mystery of chemical  attraction, by showing that it
 depends upon the electric  properties which  the atoms of dif-
 ferent species of matter possess.  Nay, by giving to an alkali
 electric properties which did not  originally belong to it,  he
 has been able to control the ordinary operations of nature,
 and to make potash pass through a  strong acid, without am
 combination taking place.  That electricity is something, i
 could never  doubt;  and,  therefore,  it follows as a conse-
 quence, in my opinion, that it must be  every where connected
 with those atoms of matter,  which form the masses that are
 cognizable to our senses; and that it enters into the composi-
 tion of every thing inanimate or animate.  If then it be elec-
 tricity that produces all the chemical changes, we so constantly
 observe, in surrounding inanimate  objects,  analogy induces
 us to believe that it is electricity which also performs all the
 chemical operations in living bodies; that the universal  chem-
 ist resides in them, and exercises in some degree peculiar
 powers because it possesses a peculiar apparatus.
   Sir Humphrey Davy's experiments also lead us to believe,
 that it is electricity,  extricated and  accumulated  in ways
 not clearly understood, which causes those sudden  and pow-
 erful motions in masses of inert matter, which we  occasion-
 ally witness with wonder and  dismay; that it is electricity
 which causes the whirlwind, and the water-spout, and  which
 '• with its sharp and sulphurous bolts  splits the unwedgeable
 and gnarled oak," and destroys our most  stabile  edifices;
 that it is electricity which, by its consequences, makes the
 firm earth tremble,  and throws up subterraneous matter
from volcanoes. 
18          INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.       Uect. ,,

  When therefore  we  perceive in the universe at large, a
cause of rapid and powerful motions of masses of inert mat-
ter, may we not naturally conclude that the inert molecules
of vegetable and animal matter, may be made to move in a
similar manner, by a similar cause 1
  It is not meant to be affirmed that electricity is life.  There
are strong analogies between electricity and magnetism, and
yet I do not know that any one has been hardy enough to
assert their absolute identity.   I only mean to  prove, that
Mr. Hunter's Theory is verifiable, by showing that a subtile
substance of a quickly and powerfully mobile nature, seems
to pervade every thing, and  appears to be the life of the
world; and therefore it is probable that a similar substance
pervades organized bodies, and produces similar effects in
them.
  The experiments of Sir II.  Davy seem  to  realize  the
speculations of philosophers, and to verify the deductions of
reason,  by demonstrating the  existence of a subtile, active,
vital principle, pervading all nature as has heretofore been
surmised,  and denominated the Apima Mundi.  The opin-
ions which in former times were a justifiable hypothesis, seem
to me now to be converted into a rational theory.
  It is then, 1 think, manifest, that Mr. Hunter's Theory of
Life, presents us with the most probable solution of the phe-
nomena of irritability, of  any  that has  hitherto been propos-
ed.
  The human mind has been  the same at all periods of the
world; in all ages there have been men of a sceptical dispo-
sition, disinclined to believe any thing that was  not directly
an object  of  their senses.   At all periods there have been
other men of a contemplative, and perhaps more credulous
character, who have been disposed to believe that there were
invisible causes,  operating to produce the alterations which
are vissible, and who from much less numerous facts have
drawn the same inferences that I have done.  And many of
these, from Pythagoras downwards, have  expressed their
sentiments, though with some variety, yet pretty much to the
same effect.  The Greek philosophers recognized in man, the
20f/.a,  YuXv, and  N*s, the  body, vital principle,  and mind,
whilst some used words significant of intellect, to express the
energizing principle in nature, without apparently having any
clear ideas of intelligence.
  What was called  the Anima Mundi, was, however, by 
lect.ii.]      INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.          19

many considered as a distinct and active principle, and was
not confounded with intelligence of any kind.  I  know not
how I can better exhibit to my audience the subject I am
alluding to, or better acquaint them with the general tenour
and tendencies of these opinions, than by quoting that portion
of these philosophical  notions, which Virgil is  said to have
put into the mouth of Ancfoises:

         Spiritus intus alit, totamque infusa  per artus
         Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore uiiscet.

And please to observe, gentlemen, it is Virgil says, it isAn-
ehises speaks, that which I also this day have been  saying :—«

         Inde hominum pecudumque genus, vitseque volantum
         Et quae marmoreo fert monstra sub aequore pontus.
                   LECTURE II.

  I PROCEED to speak of the structure and functions  of
the nervous fibres.
  The nerves which we observe pervading the body, appear
to be packets of very minute threads, seemingly distinct from
each other.  The nerves divide and subdivide, and in so do-
ing a certain number of threads separate from the original
packet, and appear as a distinct nerve.  It is, therefore, pos-
sible to trace a minute nerve, up to its origin, from the toe or
finger, by splitting it off from the various packets with which
it has  been conjoined.   So far does anatomical fact concur
with the physiological opinion, that every nervous filament
communicates distinctly with  the brain or  some process  of
that organ.
  This apparent continuity is, however,  lost, whenever wc
find those intumescences on nerves which are called ganglia.
for in these there seems to be a mixture or consolidation of
the nervous matter.  It is also lost wherever various nerves
unite together, and form a plexus; in which case the nervous
fibrils either coalesce, or become inextricably interwoven with
one another.
  The nerve from which the thoracic and abdominal viscera
are chiefly supplied, is beset with numerous ganglia andplex 
20          INTRODUCTORY  LECTURES.      [lecx. if.

uses; and as we cannot by our will influence the actions of
those  viscera, and as the iris,  the motions of which arc also
involuntary, is supplied with nerves from  a ganglion, it  has
been thought that ganglia, by intercepting the direct commu-
nications between the brain and the extreme  branches of
nerves, might render parts thus supplied  less amenable to
the will, and less under the influence of the general affections
of the nervous system.  It is also thought that ganglia might
serve the office of subsidiary brains,  each affording a separ-
ate source of nervous energy-                     '
  On the other hand, it ought  to be observed,  that all the
vertebral nerves, supplying parts  over which the will exerts
the most perfect control, have ganglia at their commence-
ment : and that the nerves of the leg and arm form a plexus
near their origin.  The actions of the cremaster muscle are
involuntary; yet I believe it is supplied by the same nerves,
which supply muscles that are subject to voluntary actions ;
therefore tliis opinion does not appear to me to be such as we
should receive with entire confidence.  Again,  it is further
apparent, that the functions of the abdominal and other vis-
cera are greatly affected by .disorders of the  brain, and that
the brain is greatly affected by disorders of these viscera.
  The ingenious and industrious French anatomist, Bichat,
has classed the living functions into the organic and animal:
the distinction seems a natural and  useful one, and throws
light on the physiology of the visceral nerve.   In vegetables,
and in some of the lower kinds of animals, no traces of a ner-
vous system are discoverable.   In others of the lower order
of animals, that have organs for the preparation and distri-
bution of nutriment,  they are supplied by a visceral nerve,
which it is probable  maintains amongst those organs a con-
currence of impressions and actions.  In the ascending com-
plexity of the nervous system, we find a nervous chord more
or less beset with ganglia, which supplies other parts of the
body besides the viscera, and which probably serves to main-
rain amongst them likewise a concurrence of impressions and
actions.  Wc next find at one end of this chord a kind of
ganglion, or brain, which gradually becomes larger and more
complex as we trace the series of links upwards to man, in
whom it bears a much larger  proportion to  the nervous sys-
f.:m in general than in any other animal.   The visceral nerve,
m the ascending series of animals, appears connected with
the animal nerves; and so numerous are  these connections, 
    y.zcr. ,r.j      INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.          21

    that this nerve has in the human subject obtained the title of
    the great sympathetic nerve.
      The vital organs are required to  carry on their functions
    with a degree  of regularity and order, under the  varying
    circumstances of life;  and the possession of a distinct nerve
    may enable them to continue their functions without so ma-
    terially participating in the disturbances of the animal sys-
    tem, as they must otherwise have done: yet the numerous
    connections of the visceral with the animal nerves must ren-
    der both participators in each other's disorders.
      The nerves, then, may be said to proceed from the brain,
m> * medulla spinalis, and visceral nerve, to all parts of the body
    for  their  supply.  In  thus expressing a fact, however, we
    should guard against an idea which the analogous distribu-
    tion of arteries is apt to engender.   Arteries become minute
    in proportion as they send off branches, whilst, on the contra-
    ry,  the branches of nerves are often larger than the trunk
    from which they proceeded.  It is no  unfrcquent occurrence
    formal-formed children to  be born without a brain, yet with
    a perfect nervous system.   The most rational idea, there-
    fore, we  can entertain on  the present subject, is, that  the
    nerves are formed in the parts where we find them, and that
    they are  connected to those parts of the organs from which
    we are accustomed to  say they proceed.  Nerves are vascu-
    lar, and we can inject them with subtile injections.
      Tin? nerves,  then, proceeding from, or  being connected
    with the brain,  medulla spinalis, and vice-era 1 nerve, may be
    traced, ramifying throughout the body in the manner al-
    ready mentioned, till they arrive at  the part for the supply of
 •  which they are designed.   They fhen split into  numerous
 .  branches which communicate  with each other, and again
    subdivide and  rejoin,  their communications  appearing to
    multiply as they become more minute; so that every part of
    die  body  has a kind of net-work of nerves, in proportion to
    me  susceptibility and sensibility it possesses.
      This general  and imperfect sketch of the anatomy of the
    nervous system, relates only to what  may be discovered by
    our unassisted sight.   If by means of the microscope we  en-
    deavour to observe  the ultimate nervous fibres, persons in
    general arc as much at a loss as when by the same means
    mey attempt to  trace the ultimate muscular fibres.
      Those fibres which we can split off from a nervous packet.
    ■■!■ *)v man'ipr before mentioned, though too minute toadmit
                                n 
-2-2          INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.       [lect. rri

of further subdivision, appear by the microscope to be them-
selves packets of smaller threads.  It is generally asserted
by microscopical observers, that  the  nerves and  medullary
matter of the brain and spinal marrow are the same, and are
composed of very minute fibres.  Fontano speaks confidently
on this  point; and he further says, that he has seen these
nervous fibres regenerated in the  medium which has been
formed to unite a divided nerve.   He describes the nervous
fibres in every part of the nervous system as cylindrical, pur-
suing a slightly undulating course, and being in a considerable
degree transparent.  He states also that they are larger than
the ultimate fibres of muscles.
  Microscopical observers also tell us, that though the ner-
vous fibrils in each packet appear distinct, and may be sepa-
rated from each other in the manner  already described, yet
they have nevertheless transverse communications with each
other.   Each nervous fibre has been supposed to be covered
by investing membranes similar to those of the brain;  but this
opinion  is founded on an analogy with what is observed in the
optic nerve, rather than on actual observation with respect
to others.  That they have investing membranes is clear,
and we  are told that we may dissolve the medullary or ner-
vous matter by an alkaK, and leave these investing mem-
branes; or on  the other hand,  that  we may dissolve the
investing membranes by nitric acirj, and leave the medullary
fibres.
  Having thus  spoken of the chief circumstances relating to
the anatomy of the nervous system, I shall not dwell on this
part of the subject, but hasten to the principal object of the
lecture, to consider its physiology, in order to examine how
far Mr.  Hunter's Theory of Life, seems adequate to explain
the phaenomena of the nervous functions.
   First, then, it is generally believed that all  sensation is in
the brain, and  that all  volition  proceeds  from that organ.
This proposition  requiring to be impressed so as to produce
conviction,  for  it is  the foundation on which all our future
reasoning is founded, I shall state the principal causes of this
opinion.  First, If the continuity of a nerve be intercepted at
any point between that extremity which receives impres-
sions from the  objects of sense, and which therefore may be
called the impressible or tangible extremity, and  that which
communicates with the brain, and is usually  called its senso-
rial extremity,  both  feeling and volition by means  of thai
nerve are suspended. 
 itcT. ii.]     INTRODUCTORY  LECTURES.          ^

   2dly.   If a certain degree of pressure be made upon the
 brain, both feeling and voluntary motion cease whilst it con
 tinues and return when it is removed.
   3dly.   As we have evidence that the  perceptions and  in-
 :ellect of animals increase in proportion as the brain becomes
 larger and more complex, so wc have  reason to conclude
 that these faculties are connected with that part  of the ner-
 vous system.
   4thly.  The conviction  which we generally though not
 constantly experience, that feeling exists in the part which
 receives impressions, is shown to be deceptive by  the follow-
 ing facts.  If a nerve be irritated midway between the brain
 and its extremities, severe pain is supposed to be felt in those
 extremities; and if it supplies muscles, those muscles become
 convulsed.  Thus when a disease forms about the hip joint,
 or in the loins, many persons have applied poultices to their
 knees, from a conviction that the pain was felt in the knee, it
 was the  seat of the disorder.   In like manner, persons who
 have had their limbs  amputated, can scarcely believe that
 they are removed, because of the pain and other sensations
 they still stfem to feel in them.  In either of these cases, mo-
 tions being excited in the middle of nerves, and transmitted
 to the brain, are attributed to a disordered state of those parts
 from which such motions have heretofore originated.
   If, then, it be admitted that sensation exists in the brain.
 and that volition proceeds  from that organ, it  necessarily
 follows that motions must be transmitted to and fro along the
 nervous chords, whenever they take place.  It was formerly
 supposed that these chords were passive, and might be made
 mechanically to vibrate,  but their want of elasticity and
 tension, and their pulpy origins and terminations, are circum-
 stances which render such a supposition inadmissible. Phys-
 iologists were therefore  led  to conjecture that the nervous
 fibrils were tubular, and that they contained a subtile fluid,
 by means of which such  motions were transmitted.
  Of the extensive knowledge and high intellectual powers
 of Baron Haller,  no one can entertain a doubt; and yet,  he
 could devise no other theory to account for the phaenomena
 of the nervous functions.  Ens opinions have always appeared
 to me very sensible, and they were accordant to the philoso-
phy of his own times.  He says, Si vero, cogitata nostra de
ipsa natura spirituum proferrejuberemur, activum ad motum,
a voluntate et a sensu concipiendum, aptissimum, eel em-
mum, omne sensuum acie subtilius. tamen hactenus igne et 
24           INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.      l".ct. u

aethere, et electro, et magnetica materie crassius face re  cle-
mentum, ut et contineri vasis et a vineulis coerceri aptum
sit:  et denique manifestum ex cibis nasci et reparari queat.
   Mr. Hunter's opinion of a subtile and mobile substance,
inhering in the  nervous chords, is not essentially different
from that of Haller.   He does not indeed suppose it to be
confined in tubes, neither does the philosophy of the present
time require such a supposition, for no one at present  will
doubt that a subtile substance may be attached to or inhere
in a chord without  mechanical  confinement.   \V ill not a
wire when electrified continue to be so, if surrounded by  non-
conductors?  Experiments made on the limbs of animals
with electricity,  produced in the manner first explained by
Volta, show that different parts of the body have different
conducting powers.   Skin and membrane  being  very  bad
conductors, and brain, muscle,  and blood, being remarkably
good ones.
  The celerity with which motions are transmitted from the
tangible extremities  of nerves most distant from the biain,
and the celerity, with which volition is transmitted to the mus-
cles in consequence of sensations thus induced, are sufficient
to convince us that  such  effects  must be produced by the
motions of a very mobile  substance.  It is not necessary to
suppose that when such motions are transmitted  along the
nervous chords,  an  evident  motion of the visible matter of
those chords should be induced.   Electrical  motions  take
place along a wire without occasioning any visible motion of
the metal itself.
  Formerly,  it was thought that the motions  of the nerves
that cause sensation,  were the effect of an impulse made on
their tangible extremities, which was propagated  along the
chord to the brain,  it seems to be an improvement in mo-
dern physiology, to attribute sensation to an action begun in
the nervous fibrils, in consequence of the stimulation which
they suffer from such impulses.   This opinion is contended
for by Dr. Darwin, in his paper on ocular Spectra,  published
in the Philosophical Transactions ; and  Sir Everard Home
has lui ther  shown, that the living principle of nerves has an
irritability belonging to it, resembling that of  muscles,  and
capable of causing a  contraction in them when  they are dit
vided.*
* Croonian Lecture. 
cect. h.).      INTRODUCTORY LECTURES          ->b

  The opinion that sensation is the consequence of an action
begun in and transmitted through the nervous fibrils, assists
us in understanding how our sensations may be very vivid from
the slightest impulses;  such, for instance, as take place in
the application of odour to  the olfactory nerves, for it is not
the impulse, but the consequent action, that is transmitted to
the sensorium: and why we may have no sensation from the
most violent impulses; for  such we cannot but suppose to
occur, when a man is  shot through the body, or has a limb
removed by a cannon-ball; occurrences which have, how-
ever, happened without any distinct feeling intimating the
event.
  In supposing a principle of life in nerves, similar to what is
conceived to exist in muscles, we might  naturally expect to
find certain analogies of functions in those organs.   The fa-
cility, celerity, and accuracy of the nervous actions, seem
like those of the muscles to be improved by use ; as is exem-
plified in the quick and correct perceptions of those who arc
accustomed to exercise their auditory nerves in attending to
musical sounds. A train of nervous actions having often tak-
en place, they, like similar actions in muscles,  become con-
catenated, and are liable to occur in succession,  when one of
them is accidentally induced.  Both nerves and muscles re-
quire temporary respites from action, and  are  refreshed by
sleep.
  The supposition of  actions occurring in the nerves, ex-
 })lains  many  circumstances connected with diseases.  Ve-
 lement actions may  occur in the tangible extremities of
nerves,  independent  of impulses,  and  occasion  severe
pain.  This seems to happen in the disease called tic doulou-
reux.  Ordinarily, actions beginning in the tangible extrem-
ities of nerves, are  regularly transmitted to the brain ; but in
cases of nervous pains, actions sometimes seem to begin in
the middle of nerves ; and it is  probable, that actions begin-
ning in the sensorial extremities of nerves may be productive
of illusory sensations, and excite fallacious ideas.
  If this  theory of nervous  actions could be proved, the ex-
tent of our knowledge would only lead to this conclusion, that
motions of a subtile substance, propagated to and fro in the
nervous fibrils, take place in consequence of excitement by
impulses and volition;  but  from  such motions, it seems im-
possible to account for sensation or volition.  We can con-
ceive no variety in  these motions, but what relates to degree, 
26          INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.       Llecx. «• \

duration, and succession, and it seems impossible to believe
that sensation can be the result of such motions, or that ideas
can arise from any succession or train of them.  Certain per-
sons will, therefore, 1 doubt not, continue to think that sensa-
tion, remembrance, comparison, judgment, and volition are
properties of some distinct substance.
  The essences or primitive parts of what we call-matter, are
too subtile to be perceived by our senses, and seem even to
elude our conceptions.  Is it not then most philosophical to
acknowledge our ignorance on these points, and to speak of
what we do know, the properties of  the different species of
substances in nature.  Thus we seem to be acquainted with
the properties of the aggregate forms of that substance which
is cognizable to the eye and touch, and which we  then call
matter; we seem to be assured of the existence, and to know
something of the properties, of a subtile substance which per-
vades all nature; and if we are allowed to know any  thing,
we surely may.be. admitted to know the properties of our own
minds.
  How diversified are our perceptions, .how admirably ,are
they adapted to our wants and gratifications ! for all beauty
of prospect, all melody of sound, all vauety of  odour, must
by the eye of reason be perceived to result from the masses or
molecules of surrounding matter, being in various  states of
motion or of rest: of which circumstances we have notice by
the actions they induce in our nervous fibrils.   Such varieh'
of perceptions I can only consider as the effect of the pecul-
iar properties of that which feels, remembers, reasons, and
wills, and which seems connected with the brain alone.
  The conclusion to be drawn from this examination  of the
functions  of the nervous system is curious and interesting.
\Ve perceive in exact correspondence between those opin-
ions which  result from physiological researches,  and those
which so naturally arise  from the suggestions of reason that
some have considered them as intuitive.  For most reflecting
persons in all ages have believed, and indeed it seems natural
to believe, what modern physiology also appears to teach, that
in  the human body  there exists an assemblage  of organs,
formed of common inert matter, such as we see after  death,
a principle of life and action, and a sentient and rational fac-
ulty,  all intimately connected, yet each apparently distinct
from the other.
   So intimate, indeed, is the connection as to impose on wr 
 (.f.cx. h.J*     INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.            2?

 the opinion of their identity.  The body springs and bounds a3
 though its inert fabric were alive ; yet have we good reasons
 for believing that life is distinct from organization.  The mind
 and the actions of life affect each other.  Failure or disturb-
 ance  of the actions of life prevent or disturb our feelings, and
 enfeeble,  perplex,  or distract  our intellectual  operations.
 The mind equally affects the actions of life, and thus influen-
 ces the  whole body.   Terror seems to palsy all its parts,
 whilst contrary emotions cause the limbs to struggle, and be-
 come contracted from energy. Now, though these facts may
 countenance the idea of the identity of mind and life, yet have
 we good reasons for believing that they are perfectly distinct.
 Whilst, therefore,  on the one hand, I feel  interested  in op-
 pugning those physiological opinions which tend to confound
 life with organization, I would, on the other, equally oppose
 those which confound perception and intelligence with mere
 vitality.
   In the first lecture I endeavoured to show that Mr.  Hun-
 ter's Theory of Life was verifiable, and that it  afforded the
 most rational solution of the cause of irritability, which had
 hitherto been offered  to the public.  It now appears that it
 does not essentially differ from that of the best physiologists,
 with regard to the explanation it affords of the nervous func-
 tions.   As it is impossible  to review all the phaenomena ol
 these functions in a lecture, I shall on  the present occasion
 merely direct your attention to the consideration of one other
 subject, which is, the opinions we maybe warranted in form-
 ing, respecting the connection of irritability and sensibility.
   This subject has been the cause of much controversy. Hal-
ler maintained that irritability was a distinct property inherent
 in muscles ;  to use his own words, that they had a vis insita,
independent of the vis nervea ;  which opinion has of late re-
ceived additional  corroboration  from  some experiments of
 Mr. Brodie.   Those who object to this opinion, can, I think,
only oppose it on the following grounds.  They must con-
tend either that the muscles have a kind of perception of inju-
 ry which causes them  to contract, even though they are un-
connected with the brain ;  or that the nerves are the organs
which prepare and  supply the muscles with something which
 is the cause of irritability.
   Concerning the  first  of  these suppositions, that muscles
 may hav e a perceptibility of injury, distinct from that which
wc understand to be feeling. 1  have to observe, that we can 
23          INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.      Uect. x

have no idea of sensation but what results from our own ex-
perience, which may be defined to be perception attended with
consciousness;  which kind of sensation is confined to the
brain alone.  Of any other kind of perception, it is evident
we can never form any idea.
  ]f a man's leg be amputated, and by voltaic electricity I ex-
cite contraction in its muscles for some hours, how can I
know whether they feel or not?  We naturally judge of other
subjects from ourselves,  and knowing that wc shrink from
whatever pains us, some  persons seem to conclude that the
muscles contract because they  have been hurt.  To the pa-
tient who has suffered amputation, such  a supposition would
seem absurd.  He may feel pain when no stiuiulus is appli-
ed to the limb, or he may feel ease when it is.  Nay, he con-
tinues to feel pain, or sensations, in the limb when it is rotten,
or no longer in existence; which seems to show the integrity
of the sentient principle remaining in the brain
  In vegetables, and in some of the lower kinds of animals,
no traces of a nervous system are discoverable, yet the irrita-
bility of life is manifest in all.  In the ascending series of ani-
mals in proportion as the brain becomes large and complex,
we have evidence of the perceptions and intelligence increas-
ing; a circumstance which would lead us to believe that
these faculties were connected with that part of the  nervous
system.  We have also equal reason to believe, that  neither
such perception nor intelligence is requisite for the mere func-
tions of life, for these appear to be carried on as effectually in
animals that have no brains, nay, in those which seem desti-
tute of any nervous system, as irf those which possess such
organs.   Indeed,  many of the most vivacious and  irritable
animals have the  least nervous system.   The nerves in the
lower order of animals, that   have  no  common sensorium,
may contribute to produce effects,  which, in tracing the as-
cending series, I have endeavoured/to express by the words
concurrence of impressions and actions; because intimations
of impressions and  actions occurring  in one part  may be
eommunicated to others by these inter-nunciate chords, as
Mr. Hunter called them, in cases where we are not warrant-
ed in supposing there is any sensation such as I have defined.
   Assuredly, motion does not necessarily imply sensation ;
r takes place where no  one ever yet imagined there could be
sensation.  If 1 put on the table a  bason containing a satura-
ted solution of salt, and throw into it a single crystal; the act 
LECT. II.]
INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.
of crystallization would begin from the point touched, and
rapidly and regularly pervade the liquor till it assumed a soli '
form.  Yet I know 1 should incur your ridicule, if I suggest-
ed the idea that the stimulus of the salt had primarily excited
the action, or that its extension was the effect of continuous
sympathy,  if  also I  threw a spark amongst gun-powder.
what would you think were I to represent the explosion as a
struggle resentful of injury, or the noise as the clamorous ex-
pression of pain?
  Now though chemists may solve the cause of these phe-
nomena, physiologists have yet to learn,  and probably they
never may learn, why certain actions succeed to certain can-
es in living bodies. Causes which induce muscular or nervous
actions in one part, do not induce similar actions in another.
Both muscles and nerves have'pcculiar habitudes and modes
of action, and  require  the application Gf various peculiar
excitements..  Causes which, produce no bad effect upon one
person, wiil have  a detrimental influence upon another,  and
this we say is the result of idiosyncrasy.  Thus the odour of
a cat,  or the effluvia of mutton,  the one imperceptible, the
other grateful to the generality of persons, has caused indi-
viduals to fall on the ground as though bereaved of life, or to
have their whole  frame agitated by convulsions.  Substan-
ces which induce disease in one person or animal, do not in
duce disease in others.  That pain is not. the cause of action
is  I think evident.  Nervous motions, induced by tiie will,
cause our muscles to act, but such motions occasion no sensa-
tion in  the  obedient muscles.   When, therefore, we employ
the terms in common use of a stimulus being applied, and an
action  or disease excited,  we should  remember that neither
the infliction of pain, nor absolute injury, is essential to the
production of such consequences.
  With respect to the second proposition, into which I have
resolved the objections that may be made to Hallei's opinion
of irritability being independent on sensibility, 1 have only to
remark, that the effects of pressure  made on nerves,  as well
as other observations, have  induced  the general belief that
some fluid or energy pervades the nerves for the supply of the
body.  Pressure on a nerve benumbs and paralyzes the parts
which it supplies,  which regain sensation and motion  on the
».emoval of the pressure ; yet if irritability exists in vezeta-
\>h'< and someanimah that have no nervous -?y>!em. it shows
                          F 
„0           INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.     [lecx. u

the possibility of irritability being produced without the inter-
vention of nerves.
   It has been my object to show that Mr. Hunter's Theory
of Life is a verifiable Theory, and that it affords ihe most ra-
tional explanation of the phaenomena of irritability, and of
those nervous functions that  have been considered.   It is,
however, impossible in the compass of  a  lecture, as I have
before observed, to review all the phaenomena of the nervous
functions, which it is necessary to do in order to establish it
as a rational Theory.  The contemplation of this subject at
la-g^, is fitter for meditation in the closet than for discussion
in the lecture-room.   1 shall,  therefore, merely mention by
way of exciting attention to some of the phaenomena alluded
to, that it seems impossible to account for those  which Mr.
i lunter considered as the effect of sympathies  between re-
mote organs, or for those consequences of idiosyncrasy which
have been mentioned, upon any other supposition than that
of a subtile substance, prone to act, or liable to fail in action,
pervading the  body, the affections of which can with elec-
trical celerity be propagated throughout the system.
   I have further to show that Mr. Hunter's Theory of Life
is adequate to explain the cause of the prevention of putre-
faction, and the regulation of temperature.  If the vital prin-
ciple of Mr. Hunter be not electricity, at least we have reason
to believe it is of a similar nature, and has the power of reg-
ulating electrical operations.   That  electricity  is the great
chemist both in organized and unorganized bodies,  will be
generally credited ;  and that the  power which combines
may also prevent decomposition, is too obvious to need  dis-
cussion.   That electricity is capable of augmenting and di-
minishing the  temperature of unorganized  matter is  well
known.   Does not platinum-wire drop like wax infusion
when it intervenes between the  different ends of the voltaic
battery ? and do not the spherules of rain fall to the ground
at midsummer as firmly frozen  as in  the depth of winter,
when they pass through a stratum of air refrigerated by elec-
trical operations ?  I believe  I need say no more on these
subjects.
   The varying and the strong retention of life by seeds,  and
some kinds of vegetables and  animals,  are facts which seem
more satisfactorily solved by  Mr. Hunter's Theory of  Life
than by any other. 
ijsct. ii.]     INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.
3-1
   Impressed with the difficulties of the task I have undertak-
 en, of giving lectures in  the presence of men of superior
 knowledge and talents, respecting subjects on which every
 one has formed his own opinions, which of course he thinks
 correct; though desirous of fulfilling the design of these lec-
 tures to the extent of my ability, I feel unable to display the
 subjects of them in any other way than that to which I have
 been  accustomed.  Thinking, as Mr.  Hunter taught, with
 regard to life and its functions, in health and disorder, I must
 use his language as expressive of the phaenomena we observe.
 That an attention to the sympathies of parts and organs is
 necessary to our understanding  disorder and  disease, 1 shali
 hereafter endeavour to show. That Mr. Hunter did observe
 these sympathies in a manner and to an extent that surprized
 most  professional men, is well known to all those who were
 present at his lectures on this subject.  Their surprize was
 indeed natural, because they were not then fully  acquainted
 with his views and motives.
   I mention these things, because I am aware that there arc
 some  who say sympathy is a term without any direct mean-
 ing, and that all which Mr. Hunter said on the subject of
 life, explains nothing.  What Mr. Hunter meant, I believe
 I understand ; what persons of different sentiments, whom I
 acknowledge possess great  information and ability, mean,
 when they talk in this manner, I am not so well able to dis-
 cover.  They seem to deny that life can be any thing which
 may not be seen or felt.  They seem to  wish us to believe
 that they have that  philosophical turn of mind  which ex-
 empts them from vulgar prejudices, and that no Theory ap-
 pears  to them satisfactory, neither do they propose any for our
 adoption.
   Thinking being inevitable, we ought, as I said in the begin-
 ning, to be solicitous to think correctly.  Opinions are equal-
 ly the natural result of thought,  and the cause of conduct.
 If errors of thought terminated in opinions, they would be of
 less consequence; but a slight deviation from the line of rec-
 titude in thought, may lead to a most distant and disastrous
 aberration from that line in action.  I own I cannot readily
 believe any one who tells me, he has formed no  opinion on
 subjects which must have engaged and interested his atten-
 tion.  Persons both  of  sceptical  and credulous  characters
form opinions, and we have  in general  some principal opin- 
32           INTRODUCTORY LECTURES.      Elect, u.

ion,  to  which we connect the rest, and  to which we make
shorn subservient; and this has a greater  influence on all our
conduct.  Doubt and uncertainty are so  fatiguing to the hu-
man mind, by keeping it in continual action, that it will and
must rest somewhere; and if so,  our enquiry ought to be
where it may rest most securely and comfortably to itself, and
with most advantage toothers ?  In the uncertainty of opin-
ions, wisdom would counsel us to adopt  those which have a
tendency to- produce beneficial actions.
  If I may be permitted to express myself allegorically, with
regard to  our intellectual operations,  I would say,  that the
mind chooses for itself some little spot or district where it
erects a dwelling which it furnishes and  decorates with the
various materials it collects.   Of many apartments contain-
ed in it, there is one to which it  is most partial, where it
chiefly reposes, and where it sometimes indulges its visionary
fancies.   At the same time it employs itself in cultivating the
surrounding grounds, raising little articles for intellectual traf-
fic with  its neighbours,  or perhaps some  produce worthy la
be deposited amongst  the general stores of human know-
ledge.
  Thus my mind rests at peace in thinking on the subject of
life, as it has been taught by Mr. Hunter; and I am visiona-
ry enough to  imagine, that  if these opinions should become
so established as to be generally admitted by  philosophers,
that  if they once saw reason  to believe  that life was some-
thing of an invisible and active nature superadded to organ-
ization,  they would  then see equal reason to believe  that
mind might be superadded to life, as life is to structure.  They
would then indeed still farther perceive how mind and mat-
ter might reciprocally operate on each other by means of an
intervening substance.  Thus even would physiological re-
searches enforce the belief which I may say is  natural to
man; that in addition to his bodily frame, he possesses a sen-
sitive, intelligent and independent mind  : an opinion  which
tends r\  .n r minent degree to produce virtuous, honourable,
and  useful actions. 
               PART OF THE

     INTRODUCTORY LECTURE

           FOR THE YEAR 1815,

             EXHIBITING SOME OF

        MR. HUNTER'S OPINIONS

      RESPECTING DISEASES.

 DELIVERED BEFORE THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS,
                 IN LONDON.

    BY JOHN ABERNETHY, F.R.S. &c.
PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY AND SURGERY TO THE COLLEGE- 
ADVERTISEMENT.
  The following Sheets comprise only an Extract from the
Introductory Lecture of the present year, which is designed
to explain some of Mr. Hunter's opinions respecting Dis-
eases.
  The pages are numbered, in continuation with those of the
Introductory Lectures of the preceding course, printed last
year, in order that the whole may be bound together. 
INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE.

                     1815.
                  LECTURE  XXI.

  I PURPOSE on the present occasion, to take a general
review of the subjects, which engaged our attention last sea-
son ; and, to offer some comments upon them.
  In the preceding year, 1 first exhibited the facts 1 had col-
lected, relative to those general disorders of the system, which
are so frequently produced by local disease,  injury,  or irrita-
tion.  These Mr. Hunter considered to be the result of uni-
versal sympathy, of that sympathy  which the whole system
seems to have with its several parts.  In  each of these disor-
ders, indeed, it is evident  that the whole  system is affected ;
the nervous functions are impaired or disturbed ;  as are also
those of the digestive organs, and of the sanguiferous and se-
cerning systems.   Yet we  denominate these general disor-
ders from their most prominent character.  Thus, when the
sanguiferous and secerning organs are chiefly affected,  and
the temperature of the body is subject to  considerable varia-
tions, we call the disorder fever.   Of fevers, some are violent
or inflammatory, but of short duration; some  more languid
and continued, becoming, as it were, habitual or hectical:
and there are  others,  in which the actions are  vehement,
though the powers are feeble ;  these cannot be long contin-
ued, for they are speedily destructive of life: the last also fre-
quently so strikingly resemble Typhus, as not to be  distin-
guishable from that fever when it arises from other causes.  I
also further showed that the same local excitements  would
produce intermittent and  rheumatic fevers;  and occasion
still more diversified and unexpected disorders.
   \'ow, here I would ask, to whom do we  owe the first lu* 
3(3
INTRODUCTORY LECTURE
[1815.
minous demonstration of this subject: who, first with the eye
of a physiologist, surveyed the reciprocal sympathies of the
several organs of the body, and shewed how the most com-
plex disorders may and do arise from simple causes ? W as
it not Mr. Hunter  ?  Allow me, further, to enquire, does no
good result from this physiological exhibition  of the subject ?
Its  utility might be explained by numerous instances, but I
shall restrict myself to one.   When we see that a compound
fracture, in a susceptible and debilitated patient, may so dis-
order the nervous functions, that all the organs and parts of
the body are  affected, as in that complicated malady—a ty-
phus fever; can we longer feel surprised, that disorder of the
digestive organs and poisonous miasmata should equally and
similarly impair and disturb the energies of the nervous sys-
tem, and occasion this identical fever ? Does  not this discern-
ment of the causes and nature of diseases, lead to a just ap-
preciation of various remedies, and to judicious practice ?
  Whilst considering the constitutional effects resulting  from
what Mr. Hunter called universal sympathy, I further shewed
that the nervous disturbance, induced by local irritation of re-
mote  parts, might produce effects  more or less general upon
the  nervous and muscular systems, without so materially af-
fecting the other organs of the body as to engage the atten-
tion of common medical observers; and here I spoke of pain,
sickness, swooning, rigors, convulsions, delirium, and tetanus.
  Lastly, in considering the effects resulting from these sym-
pathies, I shewed how the nervous disturbance might affect
the  feelings and functions of  the digestive organs,  and how
the  disorder so induced, might, by a reflected operation,  aug-
ment the former, and greatly and variously disturb the whole
system.
  This subject had indeed particularly attracted the atten-
tion of Mr. Hunter, who believed that the stomach had  a di-
rect sympathy with  remote organs  and parts of the body;
whilst he equally observed, how it might reciprocally affect
and be affected by  the head.  It was on this  account, proba-
bly, that  he was led to call the stomach the centre of sympa-
thies, a term, which such observations, if correct,  would ren-
der particularly apt and expressive.
  The full importance of this subject, could not, I think, have
been discovered by the most acute physiological observation.
It has been, however, manifested by the  results  of medical
u-acticc, which shew that if the disordered feelings and func- 
■*o!c.|
INTRODUCTOR1 LECTURE.
it
 tions of the digestive organs be removed, the greatest degrees
 of nervous disorder, will sometimes suddenly cease; at oth-
 ers, will be greatly mitigated, and gradually subside ; clearly
 proving, that in such eases, the one derangement is the cause
 of the other.
   To this subject, I particularly claimed your attention, be-
 cause, it seems to me perfectly demonstrable, that the contin-
 ued and aggravating irritation which the brain, and abdom-
 inal viscera, when disordered, impart to each  other, is pro-
 ductive of a state of constitution, of which, (to express m\
 notions in the briefest way  I could.) 1 said, that  it proved the
 fruitful parent of a numerous and dissimilar progeny of local
 diseases. On th.s account, the disorders of the digestive or-
 gans should  become an especial object of  attention, in the
 treatment of local diseases; for it  is in vain to expect that
 such diseases, which  may be considered as effects, should
 admit of cure, whilst the causer, that produced  them are lefi
 to  operate in-force •sufficient for their maintenance or their
 production in oilier parts of the body.
   Having thus considered  the nature and treatment, of con-
 stitutional maladies, so far as the subject is applicable to tlie
 practice of Surgery ; 1 proceeded, in the next place, to speak
 of local  diseases, and first, of those which often arise spon-
 taneously, though they may sometimes be induced by exter-
 nal injury, and which also may occur in almost  every part
 of the body.
  Here too,  it may be observed, that the whole of the  local
 affected district is disordered; that the nervous functions and
 vital energies of the part,  are either impaired, excited, or dis-
 turbed, and  that the functions of the vascular systems of the
 part are also deranged.   Yet here, likewise, we denominate
 the disorder from its most prominent character; thus, when
 the sanguiferous system is chiefly affected, we name the dis-
 ease Inflammation.  Of inflammations, as of fevers,  it may
be observed,  that some are violent and  of short  duration;
some languid and continued, or chronic; whilst,  in others,
the actions  are vehement, though  the  powers  are feeble,
and the latter cannot be long continued, for if they do not
soon subside, they destroy the life of the affected part.
  We seem to consider violent or phlegmonous inflammation
to be simply  the result of an  increased  action of vessels,
though probably this disease has its varieties ; in the other
 pecies of inflammations, the varieties are evident and nu-
                            T 
38
INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
LJ815.
 merous.   In chronic inflammation, we sometimes see  the
 substance deposited in consequence of the increased  action
 of vessels, such  as  is usually poured out in cases of  simple
 excitement, and the  subsequent organization is also of the
 common kind;  whilst, in other instances,  we  observe  the
 deposited substance to be very various in quality,  either  not
 admitting of, or not acquiring organization.  Again, in other
 cases, when organization takes place, we observe the struc-
 tures produced to be very various in their appearances and
 nature, and  thus monstrous growths are formed, such  as had
 no existence in the  original compages of the body.   When
 such morbid growths occur in the different organs of the body,
 their apparent bulk  becomes  enlarged; but their natural
 structure and functions are diminished,  and may ultimately
 be destroyed.
  As we find the same sorts and varieties of growths  taking
 place, from the same causes, in the midst of the common  tis-
 sue that connects the various parts of the body, I was led to
 speak of Tumours, though, by this means, it became  neces-
 sary to consider several diseases, which might, perhaps, with
 more propriety, have been reserved  for discussion at a future
 period.   Here, however,  the natural connexions of subjects
 were so strong, that no artificial concatenation appeared so
 well adapted to fulfil the chief object of arrangement,  that of
 preserving and displaying every fact  relating to the subject.
  I next described what I called irritative inflammation, of
 which there are many varieties, and they were briefly noticed.
 Erysipelas was separately spoken of, because we usually dis-
 tinguish it as a readily recognized  species of inflammation,
 allied in its nature to those of the irritative kind.
  Lastly, I spoke of mortification as an event, like suppura-
 tion, peculiar to  no individual disease, but a common termi-
nation to many.   It is the result of simple weakness; of want
of <• ction; of excessive action; and of other causes; and con-
 sequently requiring a proportionate variety of treatment.   On
this subject, I could not forbear starting an opinion,  which
some may think  whimsical, and others absurd, even  before
 this critical and learned assembly.   I asserted, that mortifi-
cation was not unfrequently the result of nervous disorder in
the affected  part, and further affirmed that I was well  ac-
 quainted wi^h the family  from which this disorder, with  the
subsequent alarming disease, was descended; that it was one
 of the numerous and dissimilar progeny of  the commop 
I815.J
INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
O"?
parents of local diseases; that it was a short-lived bantling,
engendered by the reciprocal and aggravating irritation of
disordered states of the digestive organs and nervous system
on each other.  It therefore followed that local applications
were of little avail in this  species of mortification, and that
the removal of the exciting causes were the chief means of
procuring a diminution and  ultimate cessation of such effects.
  In various parts of the lectures,  I endeavoured to impress
a distinction between disorder and disease.   In disorder, the
vital energies of  parts are impaired, or excited and dis-
turbed, as is manifested by errors in their feelings and func-
tions.   Disorder may therefore be said to  be  nervous, and
parts may thus perish without struggle or re-action; without
inflammatory processes, or with so trivial a degree of them
as could not, by itself, destroy vitality.
  To support these opinions by additional evidence, I would
direct  your attention to what happens in a  disordered state
of the stomach. Are not its feelings and functions disordered 1
By feelings, I do not mean those of actual  pain; there may
be inquietude without the patient's observing it, though, in
general, uncomfortable sensations are remarked, particular!)
if the attention be  excited  to them.   In  such a disordered
condition of the stomach, are not  the secretions deficient or
vitiated :  and is it not, therefore, incompetent to perform its
functions ?  We now know, for of late it has  been demon-
strated, that  secretion is regulated by the nervous energies.
Am  1  not then warranted  in asserting, that disorder is ner-
vous, and that it is manifested by errors in  the feelings and
functions  of the affected parts ? Such a disordered state of
the stomach as I now allude to, is also competent to induce
sympathetic disorders in other important organs, and greatly
and variously to affect all parts of the body.
  Now here  I beg leave to enquire, who first led the way in
noting  the various sympathies of the different organs and
parts of the body ?   Was it not Mr. Hunter ?  Many of my
audience may not know that three  or four of his lectures
were occupied in recording  the different facts he had collected
relajive to such sympathies.   They  were  arranged  under
heads,  as  sympathies of Life with Life; of Sensation with
Sensation; of \ction with Action; including all their changes
and  combinations.   1 candidly acknowledge  the reflection
which  these lectures induced in my mind.  How extraordi-
nary a  man,  thought 1. is this,  who ^onld bestow such sur 
40            INTRODLCTORY LECTURE.        Cl815-

prising labour on so hopeless a  subject.  I also  candidly
acknowledge that I now think, as probably the comprehensive
and  discerning  mind of Mr. Hunter then  perceived, that
much good may eventually be derived from patient and accu-
rate observation with respect to this subject.  \\ e find many
disorders and consequent diseases arise from sympathy, and
that the organ sympathetically disturbed, often suffers more
than that originally affected.  Yet  its disorder may not. be
susceptible of cure by medical treatment whilst the  cause re-
mains.  Our attention  ought, therefore, to be  directed in
such cases to appeasing irritation, and giving tone and tran-
quillity  to an organ of which the patient perhaps makes  no
complaint, but which is the cause of the more evident and
important malady.
  To me the philosophical turn of Mr. Hunter's mind is de-
monstrated by his caution ;  with all his facts relating to sym-
pathy, he formed scarcely any  general  conclusions.  He
distinguishes it into the  continuous, contiguous, and remote.
The two former are readily explicable.  Of the latter, I, who
have less caution, or more facts of a certain description than
Mr.  Hunter might have possessed,  do not hesitate  to say,
that  when injuries or disease of limbs bring on fevers, deliri-
um, convulsions, or tetanus,  or disturb the feeling and func-
tions of the digestive organs, that these effects are  produced
through the medium of the brain.  Whether sympathies can
take place in a more direct or less circuitous manner, may be
proposed as a question  which 1 should thus answer:—W hen
organs are supplied from the same plexuses or gangfia, it is
reasonable to suppose they  may participate in each other's
disorder.^ on this principle, the whole of the digestive organs
might rationally be supposed to sympathize with,one another,
and also the whole of the organs contained in the pelvis : dis-
order of the  stomach might be supposed likewise to affect the
oesophagus,  lungs, laiynx,  and tongue,  in consequence  of
those nervous communications with which we are well  ac-
quainted.  But it may  further be enquired, can sympathetic
feelings occur between  parts where we have not been able to
trace such nervous communications; or how do those strange
sympathies occur,  and become  established in disorder and
disease, vyhich we never observe in health ?  To me it is evi-
dent, as it was to Mr. Hunter, that  the stomach has a direct
sympathy with the most distant parts of the bodv,  and that
the heart sympathizes with the stomach; but  in "what man- 
J 816.]
INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
41
ner such sympathies are produced, or 'ikwv the morbid and
irregular sympathies which occur in diseases are occasioned,
we presume not to explain.   Yet if Mr. Hunter's opinions
of the nature of life be true, none of these facts can well be
considered as surprising.
   Disorder, which is the effect of faulty actions of nerves, in-
duces disease;  which is the consequence of faulty actions of
vessels.  There are some who find it difficult to understand
how similar swellings or ulcers may form in various parts of
the body, in consequence of general nervous disorder,  and
are all curable by appeasing and removing such general dis-
order.   The fact is indisputable.  Such persons are not so
much surprised, that general  nervous disorder should produce
local effects  in the nervous and muscular systems ; yet they
cannot  so well understand how it should locally affect the
vascular system.  To  me there appears nothing wonderful
in such events; for the local affection is primarily nervous,
and the vascular actions are consequent.   Yet it must indeed
be granted that there may be other circumstances leading to
the peculiarities of local diseases, with which, at present, we
are unacquainted.  Disorder excites to disease; and when
important organs become in a degree diseased, they will still
perform their functions moderately well, if disorder be reliev-
ed ;  which, therefore, ought to be the alpha and omega of
medical attention.
   Such were the subjects 1 endeavoured briefly to explain
during the preceding season.   1  have thus led you to the
place where we stopped,  and from  which  we are now to
proceed.  Previously, however, to our advancing, allow me
to enquire, who fust explained in  a physiological and satis-
factory manner the diseased processes i have referred to : the
formation of abscesses; the secretion of pus ; the intersticial
and other growths: the causes and circumstances of mortifi-
cation /  Was it not Air. Hunter ?   We now hear no more
of those ancient metaphors, concoction  and erosion, but we
find all the morbid changes accounted for by the perverted
action of the ordinary powers and  structures of parts ;  clear-
ly perceiving that the same powers and organization, which
by  their natural and  common  actions  produce health and
beauty of appearance,  do, when perverted, occasion disease
and deformity.
   Again, too, when we survey the infinite diversity of  local
diseases, how can we express ourselves, but in  the language 
 ;j           INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.          1.1015.

.»f Mr. Hunter, by saying, that they are the result of peculiar
or specific actions ?  To explain my meaning with respect to
this subject, 1 must request you to advert to the labours and
opinions of preceding physiologists.  Were they not looking
for mechanical contrivances, to account for the peculiar se*
c.retions which different glands produced !  Ruysch display-
ed the pennicillous, the stellated, and contorted arrangements
(called the acinous structure) of the minute and probably se-
ecrning vessels of different glands.  I also am persuaded that
Mr. Hunter,  when he put the pieces of talc within the tuni-
»-a vaginalis of a ram, and withdrew them successively to as-
certain how soon the secreted fluids acquired the puriform
character, did, when he afterwards examined the parts, ob-
serve  them with particular attention,  in  order to discover
whether some peculiarity of structure had not preceded this
peculiarity of secretion.   Baron Haller, howTever,  expressly
asserts the opinion, that, actions, living actions, have a great
share in causing the peculiarities of secretions, and the chang-
es we observe in them.   But the direct proof of this fact re-
mained to be exhibited to the public by Mr. Hunter.  It was
by observing the peculiarity of the local actions,  and conse-
quent secretions resulting from the application of different
morbific poisons, that this subject was placed in a clear and
dtstinct point of view.   In such cases  the same structure
may be very variously affected, producing different forms of
disease, and various kinds of secretions.   I do  not  dwell
upon the subject, because the  facts and inferences have not
as yet been laid before you.
  I bring forward Mr. Hunter's opinions on these subjects.
at present,  merely to shew what notions we are warranted
rn forming, relative to the causes of such  an extreme  diver-
sity of local affections,  either of an inflammatory or other
character.  If actions can be peculiar and specific, if the ef-
fect of them can be that of producing various forms of disease.
and qualiiics of secretions, when such actions are excited by
peculiar stimuli , is it not probable that the actions  which
occur in part-,  the feelings and functions of which  are disor-
dered, may spontaneously assume a peculiar character, and
t.'ais give rise to the diversity  of diseases ?  We have, as I
Miall afterwards shew you, in some  crimes positive evidence in
jroqf of this proposition.
   Now when the terms specific and peculiar  actions were
employed by Mr. Hunter, to de?ignate facts which have not 
 i.'J15.]        INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.            4.>

 and as I believe cannot be otherwise expressed, persons, who
 seem  to me to employ their minds rather in preventing than
 in promoting the  progress of science, who object to every
 thing new, and suggest nothing, boldly asserted them to be
 absurd.  They sagely observed, it was impossible that there
 could be any peculiarity of action ; because v essels could on-
 ly act more or less forcibly or frequently.   Now when Mr.
 Hunter makes use of the phrase peculiar action of vessels,
 I am sure  he meant more than he expressed, and employs it
 only on account of brevity.  For he thought that life was the
 cause of the actions  of vessels; that  it pervaded the  fluid
 blood,  and  the gelatinous and albuminous solids; that it
 built up the very organization by which it effected its subse-
 quent functions; that  the life of vessels  could modify  their
 contents ;  that life was the cause of the various secretions,
 and the forms and phenomena we observe both in health and
 disease.
   1 am persuaded Mr. Hunter's notions of disease cannot be
 apprehended, unless his opinions respecting life be previously
 understood ; and therefore did  I deem it necessary, in the
 first place, to endeavour to explain his doctrines on that sub-
 ject.   There is an obscurity in his writings, and his meaning
 cannot always be perceived, unless by that kind of illumina-
 tion which is derived from a continual reference to his ele-
 mentary opinions concerning vitality.   With  such elucida-
 tion, it may be discerned that in the lectures I last year had
 the honour of addressing to you, I did little more than deliver
 Mr. Hunter's opinions respecting diseases.   Surely, he must
 have  been a strong and  clear  sighted man,  to see so far
 through obscurity; for, till very recently, no light had ever
 shone  upon  these subjects : but of late the vital functions
 have been  so far illuminated, that any one who pleases may
 see that Mr. Hunter has pourtraved them, both in health and
 disease, with a distinctness and accuracy highly creditable to
 his penetration and discernment.
   It seemed to me proper on this occasion to review the sub-
jects which engaged our attention during the preceding year.
 to lead you to the point where we stopped,  and from which
 we are to proceed.   Yet this review has occupied so much
 time,  that  I fear 1 cannot to-day finish even one of the sub-
 jects next  in succession ; besides, I suspect it may have dis-
 qualified both myself and my audience from paying that close
 attention to  them  which is required in order to understand 
INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
[181b.
them.  There is no class amongst the students et nature that
ought more particularly to attend to the advice of Bacon, than
that of surgeons :—To look closely and intently  at the sub-
jects they are engaged in examining, in order to discern what
nature may perform or endure.  Yet when the eye has been
long employed in viewing distant objects,  it does not speedi-
ly regain its myoptic powers, and adapt itself for such a scru-
iiny as we are next to take.  I am, therefore, induced still to
detain your attention to general topics.
  The works and writings of Mr. Hunter have now been long
before the public, so that all may be supposed equally quali-
fied to form their own opinions of  his  merits;  and pertina-
ciously to persist in eulogizing his character, may seem like
arrogating to myself a power of judgment, and denying it to
others.   It is, however, the opportunities 1 have possessed
that have been the cause of the peculiarity of my sentiments
and opinions; for I am old enough to remember the state of
surgery and surgeons in this metropolis, previous to the gene-
ral promulgation of the new facts  and opinions lie added to
the stock of professional knowledge, and I believe  him to be
the author of a great and  important revolution in medical
science■:  of this I am certain, that his works produced a com-
plete revolution in my mind.  Can I then do otherwise than
acknowledge it ?  If I have to deliver facts and  opinions
which I am conscious I derived from another, can 1 appear
before any audience, either of students or brethren in the pro-
fession, like the vain daw, decorated with another's plumes,
and liable to be detected and convicted as the very worst of
pilferers,  the purloiner of another's reputation !   1 should be
ashamed on any occasion to feel either reluctant or afraid to
render honour and praise to whom  they are due; and in my
opinion they are eminently due to Mr. Hunter.
  Believing Mr. Hunter to have possessed that rare combi-
nation of qualities,  which, whenever it occurs, constitutes an
eminent character,—I mean genius, reflection, and industiy;
and that  he has made a most important revolution in science;
I cannot but regret the obscurity and intricacy of his lan-
guage, which prevents his merits from being duly appreciated.
I have furnished you with the only clue  I know of to guide
you through the labyrinth.
  There are some who possessing great powers of reflection
and accuracy of judgment, yet from deficient knowledge of
.language, and of the generally received or adopted modes of 
1815.]          INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.           4.'.

forming opinions, or from not paying attention to the proces-
ses of their own minds in  forming conclusions, are unable to
explain their thoughts to others.   I am ready to grant that
there is an obscurity  in  Mr. Hunter's writings,  the result
even of perplexity of thought.   I know not hovy  I can  ex-
press my notions of the cause and effect of this obscurity
more briefly and clearly, than by a  kind of metaphor I have
been accustomed to use on this occasion.  The products of
the fermentation of that mixture of knowledge and  talent,
which there was in the mind of Mr. Hunter, seem to me to
have been completely formed.  Yet the mass still remained
in commotion, and sufficient time had not elapsed to allow
of those products becoming  perfectly clear.  If I have not
overrated  the  value of such products,  I may urge some
claim  to  approbation for having  carefully collected  and
filtered them; to express my meaning without metaphor,—
for having sedulously endeavoured to make out Mr. Hun-
ter's opinions, and  tried, at least, to express them more dis-
tinctly.  I hcartly wish, indeed, that his opinions had met
with a better expositor; fori,  like him, have been an  un-
premeditated author, who never learned the art of literary
composition.
   May I, however, venture to suggest another reason  why
some do not understand Mr. Hunter ?  If we wish to learn
what another thinks, we must dispose our minds  to receive
instruction in the very manner it may be conveyed to us.
We  must  relinquish, for a time, all  attention  to our  own
opinions, in order to learn those  which are  to be  communi-
cated.  The same processes of mind must be gone through,
or the same results cannot be obtained;  we must follow in
exactly the same steps, or we shall  never arrive precisely at
the same  point.  It is a very ancient observation, that self-
conceit opposes a constant and sometimes an insurmountable
barrier to  instruction.  " Seest thou a man wise in his own
conceit, there is more hope of a fool than of that man."  Un-
der the influence of these considerations, I do not wonder
that young men, who will not take the pains necessary even
to learn what Mr.  Hunter thought respecting life, should be
unable to understand his general writings, and suppose oth-
ers to be as incapable as themselves.
   I should not  doubt of being able to induce any one, who
had previously no decided objection, to think as I do respect-
ing Mr. Hunter.   Only a few of the  facts on which I found 
4G          INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.          [18la.

my opinion of his character are at  present before you ; you
must  know them all, ere you can think and feel exactly
as I  do.   Conscious that I  may  tire, nay even displease
you,  by thus obtruding my individual  sentiments, resolv-
ing never  to trespass on your patience  in the  same way
again, but hereafter undeviatingly to pursue  the regular
and  beaten path of sober tuition,'may  1 now claim your
indulgence for  a short time,  whilst 1 advert  to some other
subjects, in which  Mr.  Hunter has done our profession
and mankind in general important service.
  When the description of the inflammatory  diseases is
concluded, the next subject that will engage  your attention
is that of diseases which the  absorbing  vessels  are  princi-
pally  concerned  in producing.  To  detach  all the facts
and  opinions of Mr. Hunter  relative to this subject from
the different parts of these lectures,  and to review them,
at present  would be tedious and  unprofitable; suffice it
then to say, that in perfecting the knowledge of the physi-
ology  of the absorbing  vessels,  all  nations allow  great
merit  to the  English.   On this ground even the French
seem  to admit the triumph of English physiology.   But by
whom were we led on to this victory ?  By whose personal
exertions was the laurel won ?  Surely by Mr. Hunter.
  In  the next  succeeding subjects,—the diseases induced
by the action of poisons on the  animal frame,—when I
consider the number and importance of the  facts first no-
ticed,  and the  inferences first  drawn  by  Mr.  Hunter,
together with  the consequences which have resulted from
them, I must regard him, even if he had  done nothing else,
as a  most important  benefactor to our  profession,  and to
the public.
 I shall advert to no other subjects, but merely add, that there
is one sentiment which ought, I think, to attach every English
surgeon to  the memory of John Hunter; it is that esprit de
corps which belongs to all associations of mankind.  We
should be grateful to him, for he has exalted us,  he has dig-
nified our profession. Baron Haller commenting on the char-
acter and conduct of surgeons in general, expresses his sur-
prise that no one has been particularly eminent in that pro-
fession.*   To me  it  would  have  been surprizing  had it

  * In chirurgicis, nescio  quomodo  factum  est,  ut  yix unquara
perinde ut in aliis  medicinae partibus magnis aliquis vir eminuerit
qui Jate posteros sequaces habuevit.                         '
                      ( Bibliotheca Chirurgica Init. torn. 2.1 
 1815.]         INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.           47

 been otherwise, considering the debased condition into which
 the  profession  had sunk, and in which it had remained for
 ages.   I admit, that surgery was gradually rising, and would
 eventually have obtained its proper level amongst sciences;
 when Mr. Hunter suddenly  raised it to its present elevated
 situation, from which it can never be removed.
   Mr.  Hunter became a physiologist; and to become such
 a  physiologist as he was, it was necessary that every variety
 of structure and of function should be surveyed in every vari-
 ety of living  being; that nature and nature's laws should be
 examined with the  most  minute attention,  and  upon  the
 most extended scale; that parts should be observed with
 microscopic  scrutiny, and yet that  comprehensive views
 should be taken of the whole.   Afterwards, with the enlight-
 ened eye of a physiologist, he surveyed the perverted actions
 of living bodies in the production of diseases.
   Thus did he make surgery a science.  It  is the knowledge
 of health that enables us to understand the nature of disease.
 He connected  pathology with physiology;  and it is impossi-
 ble in future ever  to disjoin  them.  He raised a solid and
 permanent pillar of physiology,  and he placed  surgery on I In-
 to p ; where it must ever remain, equal in rank and elevation
 to any other  science,  perhaps superior in utility to  all.   I>\
 so doing, it may, I think, with  truth be affirmed of him,

     -----npus exegit, quod nee Jovis ira,nec ignes,
     Nee poterit ferrum, nee edax aboleie vetustas.

   There is no path to scientific improvement in our profession.
 but that which Mr. Hunter trod.   It is the path of physiolo-
 gy.  It  is now  fairly laid open to you.  He  has been your
 pioneer.  Enter; and in proportion as you pursue it with vi-
gour and constancy, so will you arrive at knowledge, and ob-
tain renown.   Do  this; and  it  is  certain no  future Haller
will have cause to express surprize, that Surgeons have been
undistinguished characters,  in the medical profession. 
 
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES*

             EXHIBITING

        A GENERAL VIEW
                OF
   MR.  HUNTER'S PHYSIOLOGY,
              AND OP
        HIS RESEARCHES
                IN
  COMPARATIVE ANATOMY.
          DELIVERED BEFORE
THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS.
          IN THE YEAR 1817.
               BY

JOHN ABERNETHY, F.R.S. &c»

 surgeon to st. Bartholomew's and christ's hospitals.
   HARTFORD,
OLIVER D. COOKE & CO
      1825. 
 
                         TO
             THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
       Sir JOSEPH BANKS,  Bart. K.B. &c.


  Dear Sir,
        To you, the Patron and Friend of John Hunter, I
dedicate this inadequate attempt to delineate his character
and labours.
   Permit me at the  same time to assure you of my great
respect, and also of my gratitude for various acts of friend-
ship and kindness which you have conferred on me.
                  I have the honour to be,
                     Dear Sir,
        Your much obliged and obedient Servant,
                           JOHN ABERNETHY, 
 
  PHYSIOLOGICAL  LECTURES

                  W THE  YEAR 1817.

                      ------'---=

                   LECTURE I.

  AFTER  resolving to write no more lectures, nor longer
to praise Mr. Hunter, I break this resolution;  yet my con-
duct seems to need no apology, for if my  first decision was
wrong, it is creditable to retract it;  and if I am now wrong,
it is probable I shall soon  discover my  error, the candid
acknowledgment of which, would then be far better than
ingenious excuses.
  I have praised Mr. Hunter for his Theory of Life, because
it is a probable one, cautiously and philosophically deduced,
and adequate to explain the phenomena.  Therefore am I
directed by  the precepts of philosophy, and also induced  by
other reasons, which I have  partly explained in my first
Lectures, to uphold it as a good theory, till a more satisfactory
one be discovered.   I have praised him. because his percep-
tion of the healthy state of the vital processes, enabled him to
discern and investigate, the causes and effects of disorder and
disease, in a manner  and degree that have produced a most
important revolution  in medical science.   I now mean to
praise him for the great labour of his life, his Museum ; which
I may call the principal record of his deeds and opinions.
  Hitherto I have endeavoured  to make the  Anatomical
Lectures subservient to  the surgical  subjects I had  after-
wards to discuss.  Finding myself rather at a loss for such
topics, particularly because  this theatre is unsuited to ana-
tomical demonstrations, it occurred  to me, that it might be
useful to represent to my present audience, what were the
peculiar improvements Mr. Hunter made in Physiology, and
also the degree of perfection to which he brought that science.
  No study can surely be so interesting  as Physiology.—
Whilst other sciences carry  us abroad  in search of objects.
rn this we are engaged, at home, and on concerns highly in> 
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
Clect. I.
portant to us ; in enquiring into the means by which we live,
and move, and have our being.  To those however, engaged
in the practice of medicine, the study of Physiology is indis^
pensable;  for it is evident that the nature of the disordered
actions of parts or organs can  never be understood, nor ju-
diciously counteracted, unless the nature of their healthy ac-
tions be previously known.
  The study of Physiology, however, not only requires, that
We  should investigate the nature of the various vital proces-
ses carried on  in our own bodies, but also that we should •■
compare them with similar processes in all the varieties of
living beings;  not only that we should consider them in a
state of natural and healthy  action,  but also  under all the
varying circumstances of disorder an^ disease.  Few, indeed,
have  studied Physiology  thus extensively, and none in an  '
equal degree with Mr. Hunter.  Whoever attentively peru-
ses his  writings, must, I. think, perceive that he draws  his
crowds of facts from such,different and remote sources, as to
make it extremely difficult to assemble and arrange them.
  I am the more particularly induced to follow Mr. Hunter
through the separate  examination of the principal vital func-
tions, because. I know his.notions of life were deduced from
considering them severally and conjointly.   I  hope therefore
to be able,  by such an examination, to convince you of the
truth of his opinions on that subject;  for I hear there are some
who still say they think them  either unintelligible, or inad-
missible.   If these opinions be not understood, his works, I
am persuaded, will remain obscure.   They seem to me like
writings in a cypher; his notions of life forming the only key
by which they can be intelligibly read.   Yet, to examine the
vital  processes, as Mr. Hunter has done, it is necessary to
refer to the facts contained in his Museum; and to comme-
morate his labours as a comparative anatomist, which it is
particularly incumbent on some of us to do ; for so little have
they been revealed to the public in general, that even Profes-
sor Cuyier  has declared,  he knew not that there was  such a
collection as the Hunterian Museum.
   To display  the talents ancWabours of Mr. Hunter in form-
ing his Museum, it seems proper, in the first place, to notice
 those circumstances which led to this great undertaking: for
 great indeed must it be accounted, when it is considered, that
 it was  accomplished by the labour, and at the expense, of an
 individual.  Mr. Hunter was the first in this country, and 1
 believe I  may say in any country, who studied Comparative 
  lect. i.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.            S

  Anatomy and Physiology extensively, in order to perfect the
  knowledge of our own animal economy.  I admit, indeed,
  that Baron Haller was fully apprised of the advantages like-
  ly to  result from this proceeding, and  that he himself had
   frosecuted the same mode of enquiry, to a certain degree.
    am also aware, that many men may have  explored the
  structure and functions of particular tribes of animals even
  more fully than Mr. Hunter himself has done.  I am aware,
  that when the Count de Buffon engaged in his work on na-
  tural history, he might have excited Daubenton to a general
  investigation of the structure and functions of all the varieties
  of living beings; and that Professor Pallas might have fol-
  lowed the steps of Daubenton, and traced the subject gene-
  rally and extensively.  But  I am not apprized that  any
:- systems of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology were  pub-
  lished before those of Professors Blumenbach,  and Cuvier.
  Neither can I believe it possible, that such enlarged and in
  teresting views of the structure and functions of living beings
  in general, could have been formerly contemplated and not
  displayed by any man except by Mr. Hunter, who experienc-
  ed such great difficulty in communicating what he knew,
  was never satisfied with the extent of his knowledge, and
  who  cultivated Physiology, drily as preparatory to the still
  more important science of Pathology.  Of late years, many
  persons have engaged in the study of Comparative Anatomy
  and Physiology, and they  seem to feel like the discoverers of
  a new  path in science, which they  pursue with animation
  and energy, as promising to lead them to some advantageous
  and commanding situation, from which they may eventually
  discern the whole order and course of nature in the most in-
  teresting part of her works, the formation and functions of
  )iving beings.  Yet this is the very path which Mr. Hunter
  trod, unobserved, and in silence, with constant and accurate
  observation, and profound meditation.  It is  but just, that
  some one should say how far  he had proceeded, and  what
  were the general results of his observations and enquiries.
  Mr. Hunter came to London in the autumn of the year
1748, and was educated to anatomy, during ten years, in his
brother's dissecting room.  In that time, he made  many im-
portant discoveries in the structure of the human  body, and
bis  attention, from a very early period, being directed  te 
  4         PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.         Llect. i.

  Comparative Anatomy, we find him subsequently asserting,
  that among other researches in  this department, he  had in
  the same interval made preparations of the organ of hearing
  in fishes, of which he claimed the discovery.  Mr. Hunter's
  biographer, Sir E. Home, mentions, " that his desire to ob-
  tain a correct knowledge of the functions of the organs in
  the human body, first led him to examine the same kind of
 organs in various animals."
   From his brother's elegant and learned lectures, Mr. Hun-
 ter must have derived the  best physiological information  of
 the time ; the facts and opinions of every writer, collected,
 arranged, considered, and improved by the industry and tal-
 ents of Baron Haller, together with whatever later discove-
 ries or suggestions had been  made in that department  of
 science.  When  he went abroad as an army surgeon  in the
 year 1760, he had an opportunity of acquiring a knowledge
 of the animal productions of other countries, and of their sur-
 rounding seas.  But he had neither time nor opportunity for
 the collection and display of those facts which doubtless he
 constantly accumulated.  He returned to England, his mind
 teeming with  knowledge,  and full of great designs;  deter-
 mining to display  the structure, and investigate the functions
 of living beings in general, both in the states of health and
 disease.  With what extreme and unabating industry  he
 v Yvightat this great work, his biographer has also told us; he
 allowed himself but five hours daily rest, during the remain-
 der of his life.  His mornings were passed in  the Museum,
 and his days in constant experiments and dissections.
  His object  in fdrming the Museum was simple ; it was to
 display the anatomical facts which were the ground-work of
 his physiological opinions;  to exhibit the visible means, by
 which the vital processes were carried on, in all the varieties
 of living  beings, that came within his cognizance.   Mr.
 Hunter's biographer has told us how anxiously he  sought for
sources of knowledge.   In 1782,  Mr. Hunter says, his Mu-
 seum "had already cost him 10,000/. besides the labour re-
 quired in making the preparations.   Of this sum more than
2000/. had been expended in the purchase of dead animals
only."*   Opportunities of examining rare" and curious ani-
mals were also liberally afforded  to him, chiefly through the
means of that zealous patron and promoter of science,  Sir
Joseph Banks; towards whom, he always felt and expressed
♦ European Magazine for 17S2. 
    i.bct. i.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.            s

    the warmest friendship and gratitude.  Mr.  Hunter knew
    but little  of the arbitrary arrangements of natural history.
    The simplicity of his object induced an equal simplicity of
    arrangement.  The facts are displayed in his  Museum,  ac-
    cording to the order of the vital processes, which is the meth-
    od also adopted by Professor Cuvier.
      I repeat what 1 asserted in  the introductory lectures, that
    the preparations in the  Museum are records of facts.   Mr.
    Hunter would have given his money even to his own ruin, to
    have procured the evidence of any fact warranting an import-
    ant physiological conclusion;  but he admitted nothing into
♦   his collection foreign to its general design;  and scarcely any
    thing but of intrinsic value is to be found amongst the real
    gems in his cabinet.  We do not over-rate the value of his
    preparations, in comparing them with the paintings of an an-
    cient master, which are of high price because they possess a
    peculiarity of excellence that cannot be equalled. Every
    object shown by Mr. Hunter is displayed with a kind of ele-    \
    gance,  as well as with distinctness and truth.  He was not
    a man of learning, and derived but little  assistance from  the
    labours of others.  Few perceived the ultimate objects of his
    pursuit.   His inquiries into the structure of the lower kinds
    of animals, were regarded as works of unprofitable curiosity,
    and no one felt an interest in them.  Therefore, without the
    solace of sympathy, or  encouragement of approbation, with-
    out collateral assistance, did he labour to perfect his designs,
    till death deprived us of so great a benefactor to mankind:
    an event which happened on the  16th of October, 1793.
  In the autumn of the year  1776,  Sir Everard Home in-
forms us, that " Mr. Hunter was taken extremely ill, and the
nature of his complaints made  his friends as well as himself,
consider his life  to be in danger.  When he reflected on his
own situation, that all his fortune had been expended in his
pursuits, and that his family  had no  provision but what
should arise from the sale  of his collection, he became very
desirous to give it its full value, by leaving it in a state of ar-
rangement."  He therefore was anxious to have a catalogue
made, and wrote a little preface to  each department of his
Museum.  These explanations of his designs ought not, in
my opinion, to  be published ;  for they appear to be mere
sketches of what he meant in future  to have finished.  To 
0            PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.       £lect. i.

these writings, however, I shall frequently refer, because they
show the extent of his knowledge and views at that time;
which was  more than 20 years prior to the publication of
Professor Cuvicr's lectures.  On his recovery from this se-
vere illness,  his time was however occupied in increasing his
knowledge, and not in recording what he had obtained ; and
his catalogue no longer seemed the important object his ill-
ness had made it appear.  Considerations, deducible from
the imperfect state in which he left his Museum,  probably
influenced his last act; for he would not suffer it to be sold
wnless altogether; doubtless anticipating, that when it was
examined as a whole, his designs and his labours  would be
fully appreciated.  In  the pursuit of know ledge,  he  relin-
quished that of wealth, so that he  left his family  no  other
legacy than his Museum; wliich, after the lapse of several
years, was bought by Parliament, and given to this college.
Mr. Haunter's Museum has thus become our Museum ; and
I trust that every member of this college will feel that inter-
est in it,  which is commonly felt for things appertaining to
©urselves.  Belonging to a commercial nation, we visit  every
part of the world ; and have opportunities of bringing  home
whatever is  rare  and curious in  Comparative Anatomy.—
But to know the wants of the Museum, it is necessary that
we should know what it contains, and also the general de-
siderata in this department of science.   The latter may be
learned from the systematic books lately published,  and both
will be shown by the lectures of my brother professor, whose
extensive and accurate knowledge of Comparative Anato-
my, as well as of other subjects connected with medical sci-
ence, cannot but greatly redound to the credit of his industry,
comprehension, and capacity.
  Gratitude to the former of the Museum, and  also to the
donors of it, equally demand that  its value and excellence
should be publicly acknowledged and displayed;  which con-
sideration has goaded  me on to undertake and imperfectly
to execute a task, for which I feel myself not properly quali-
fied.  It is my design, on the present occasion, not only to
show you what were Mr. Hunter's  opinions respecting the
principle vital processes, but also briefly to exhibit the extent
of his knowledge in Comparative Anatomy, and to contrast it
with that promulgated of late years by Professor Cuvier.  J 
tEC'f. I.]
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
7
candidly acknowledge, however, that T have little acquain-
tance with the subject,  except what I derived from looking
over the preparations in the Museum, from reading Professor
Cuvier's lectures, and from the frank and friendly commu-
nications of our highly praise-worthy conservator, Mr. Clift.
Permit me to say,  gentlemen,  though many may know it
already,  that Mr. Clift resided  with Mr. Hunter, and was
taught by him  to exhibit  anatomical facts in preparations:
that he does credit to his excellent  instructor; that he feels
the same interest and zeal that his patron did for the improve-
ment of this department of science ; and that he-possesses
the same candour and simplicity of  character.  I am, how-
ever, aware that I may have attended chiefly to one side of
the subject, and that my partiality to Mr. Hunter, may  a lit-
tle mislead me ; I wish you, therefore, no further to  confide
in what I say, than as I confirm my  assertions by facts; and
to regard me, on this occasion, in the  light I appear to myself,
as one venturing to come  forward a voluntaiy  advocate in
the cause of Hunter versus Cuvier and others, and  in this
character I may thus address you.
   Gentlemen, (of the Jury,) I trust I can prove to your per-
fect conviction, by ample and incontrovertible evidence, that
my client died seized and possessed of very considerable liter-
ary  property, the hard-earned gainings of great talont and
unparalleled industry.  It is not, however, for the property
that" I plead, because that is already secured ; it is fenced in,
landmarks are set up, it is registered in public documents.
I  plead only, for the restitution  of a  great and accumulated
income of reputation, derivable  from that property ; which I
trust you will perceive to be justly due, and will consequent-
ly award to my client and his countiy.  In mentioning our
country, think  not, that pleader-like, I wish to bias  your
judgment.   Self-love, or nationality, which is but an exten-
sion of the same sentiment, is only productive of good when it
excites emulation; and on this  account alone, would I ever
advert to it in the cause of science.  Nation  should vie with
nation in promoting human knowledge and  happiness.  A
desire to obtain the respect of others  may  warrant us in
claiming our due ; but we should freely accord to them that
tribute of respect and applause to which they also are enti-
tled.
   I cannot easily express the  gratification 1 received from
reading Cuvier's Lectures on  Comparative Anatomy, be-
cause, in addition to the  information I derived  from them. 
8             PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      [lect. u

they enabled me clearly to discern the extent of Mr. Hunt-
er's views.  Neither can 1 tell the regret 1 felt that such a
book had not been published during the life of  Mr. Hunter,
that  he  himself might have compared the opinions derived
from more general and extended observation, with those that
had  resulted from his own peculiar modes of enquiry and
consideration.
  In praising Hunter, I by no means wish to disparage Cu-
vier ; on the contrary I acknowledge the industry with which
he has collected information by reading; and the great addi-
tions he has made to the stock of public knowledge rela-
tive to the subjects on which he treats.   I admire, also, his
clear arrangement,  and  the genius  which  is  displayed
throughout  his works.  We observe a constant  endeavour
to discover the series and order  of facts,; the variety of
means employed for effecting  the  same purpose;  attempts
to reduce a number of facts to one general principle ; in
short, the endeavour to discover the causes and nature of
whatever we observe; the hope of effecting which, appears
to be the most potent incentive to labour,  and the accom-
 Elishment its most gratifying reward.  To shew that Cuvier
 as not  wrought so hard without some animating motive, 1
quote his own words.  " Pourauoi tel animal ne se nour-
rit-il que de chair, tel autre que de vegetaux ?  D'ou celui-
ci tire-t-il la finesse  de son odorat, o'u celle de  son ouie !
D'ou vientquel'oiseau voit egalement bien a'  des distances
si differentes ?  Quelle est la source de la force prodigieuse
des muscles des oiseaux ? Cette force comment est elle em-
ployee 'a produire ce mouvement si e'tonnant du vol ? Quel-
le est la cause de l'e'tendue,  et de la variete' de sa voix ?
Tel reptile, pourquoi est-il si engourdie ?  Tel ver, comment
conserve-t-il la vie long terns apres etre divise  ?   Tel zoop-
hyte comment  peut  on vivre egalement bien quelque parties
de son corps que Pon en retranche.  Suppose-t-on qu'il pu-
isse exister  une histoire naturelle sans ces questions, et  des
milliers  d'autres semblables ?"
  Believing that no man will ever labour in the strenuous
and unremitting manner that'Mr. Hunter did, and to the det-
riment of his own private interest, without some strong in-
centive ; I have supposed, that at an early period he con-
ceived those notions  of life which were confirmed by his fu-
ture enquiries and experiments.  He began his observations
on the incubated egg, in the  year 1755, which must either
lavr suggested or corroborated all his  opinions with regard 
?txT. i.J      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
Q
to the case of the vital phaenomena.  He perceived that
however different in form and faculty,  every creature was
nevertheless allied to himself, because it was a living being;
and  therefore he became solicitous to enquire how tue vital
processes were carried on in all the varieties of aniinid, and
even vegetable existence*   In the progress of seienee, gen-
ins,  with light and airy steps,  often far precedes judgment,
which advances slowly, and  either finds, or for^s  a road
along which all may proceed with facility and security; but
the direction of the  course of j udgment is oArn suggested,
and  its actions are excited and accelerated by the invoca-
tions of preceding genius.
  Whether truth be discovered by that penetrating foresight
which is characteristic of genius, or ascertained by the more
laborious methods of experiment and induction, still, when
it is  once found, each succeeding observation serves but to
convince us of its nature and reality.  No one could be more
scmpulous in admitting propositions to be proved, than Mr.
Hunter; yet he was convinced that his opinions respecting
life were true, by a course of  patient and persevering medi-
tation, on all its phaenomena, in a  manner I shall endeavour
more fully to point out  in the succeeding lectures.  Yet these
opinions, though correspondent to those  of the wisest phi-
losophers of ancient times, were so little suited to the modes
Of thinking of his contemporaries, that it required no small
degree of hardihood, in a man of little  education, to main-
tain  them, in spite of  the apathy or derision with which they
were received  by persons of greater general learning. Such,
however, is the hardihood that conviction produces.
  When, however, conclusions are deduced by a course of
patient and persevering consideration of voluminous and mul-
tifarious evidence, it is scarcely possible to detail the causes
and  processes of thought  by  which we  have been  led to
rhem: and this, 1 doubt not, made one of the difficulties
which Mr.  Hunter encountered, in communicating his opin-
ions. By investigating the works of nature, we collect facts
from which we deduce opinions.  On the formation and
 inportance of opinions, 1 have already taken the  liberty of
expressing my sentiments before to this assembly, to which
I now beg  leave to add, that there are many who think clear-
ly, who do not think  deeply ;  and they have greatly the ad"
vantage  in expressing  themselves;  for  their  thoughts are
generally simple and  easy of apprehension. -Opinions im-
mediately deduced  from any series or assemblage  of facts 
iO           PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.       d-Ecr; w

may be called primary opinions, and they become types or
representatives of the facts from-which they are formed, and,
Tike the facts themselves, admit of assortment, comparison^,
and inference; so that from  them we deduce ulterior opin-
ions, till at length,  by a  kind of intellectual calculation, we
obtain some general  total, which in like manner becomes
the representative  and  co-efficient  of all our knowledge,
with relation to the subject thus examined and considered.
In proportion to the pains we have taken in this algebraical
process of the mind, and our assurance of its correctness, so
do we contemplate the conclusion or consummation of our
labours with satisfaction; and being unable to display to oth-
ers the different series of facts and opinions, and modes of in-
ference, we express our  certainty of the conclusion, by say-
ing, it must be so ; it is absurd to suppose otherwise; or, as
they say Dr.  Johnson was accustomed to do,  " I know I'm
right, so there's an end of it."
  Now these ultimate opinions, for so I may call them, as
being the last of a series, become primary and elementary
in the display of knowledge.   These conclusions of thought
become principles of science and of conduct.   By the prose-
cution of thought,  we are led to observe the very trunk and
roots from which the various ramifications of our knowledge
are produced, and the nature of the ground  on which the
whole is supported, so that we become assured of its securi-
ty, or admonished of its  uncertainty.  It is then,  to certain
ultimate opinions, or  physiological conclusions of Air. Hun-
ter, with, respect to the  vital processes, that I chiefly wish
on the present occasion,  to excite  your attention ;  and these
are highly important,  on account of their re-action, and the
bias they impart to our opinions in general, and also to our
conduct.
  The study of Nature has beeu compared to the working of
an inexhaustible  mine, abounding  in  rich materials; but
which require to be assorted, refined, and wrought up, ere
they can  be converted to useful purposes.  Some dig the
nude materials from the  mine, others assort and refine them;
whilst others again, construct,  with the wrought substances,
instruments of great utility in the future acquisition of know-
ledge.  Surely, I maybe permitted  to consider opinions as-
the instruments of intellect, for it both forms them and em-
ploys them in  its future  operations;  and when also they are
well constructed.' they illuminate and render intelligible sur-
rounding object ;  but when  ill formed, they only obscure. 
^£CT. I.J
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
JU
and disfigure the face of nature.  In adverting then to Mr.
Hunter's Museum, by thus circumscribing my designs, I
shall not in the least trench upon the province of my brother
Professor; for I shall not describe facts, nor detail opinions ;
1 shall not examine the materials, but merely the construc-
tion and utility of certain instruments which the hand of Hun-
ger either formed or finished.
  When  1 first had the honour of addressing themembersot
lthe College in this theatre, I knew it would  be expected
that I should  eulogize Mr. Hunter; and  nothing loth, 1
declared that he seemed to me to possess that rare combina-
tion of intellectual powers which qualified him equally to ex-
tend the boundaries of knowledge and to establish principles
of science and practice.   Of his opinions,  I said 1 knew of
none that had  not been cautiously and legitimately deduced
from theiacts before him,  and though the progress of science
might  have since invalidated some, yet most of them, from
the same cause, had become more and more  firmly estab-
lished.  In proof of the latter part of this proposition, I ex-
cited your attention to his opinions respecting life,  which the
progress of science  seems to me  to have most perfectly con-
firmed.  The probability  of his opinions on this subject, is to
be  inferred from analogy; their rationality, from their  ade-
cuiatencss to account for all the  vital phenomena.  As Sir
H. Davy's experiments fully prove that electricity may be
superadded to, and that it enters into the  composition of all
'those substances we call matter; I felt satisfied with this es-
tablishment of the philosophy of Mr.  Hunter's  views,  nor
thought  it necessary to proceed further, but merely  added,
" It is  not meant to be  affirmed that electricity is life.   1
only mean to  argue in favour of Mr. Hunter's theory, by
shewing that a subtile substance of a quickly and powerfully
mobile nature, seems to  pervade  every thing, and appears
to be the life of the world, and  that therefore it is probable
a similar  substance pervades organized bodies,  and is the
life of these bodies."  I am concerned, yet obliged to detain
 vou by  this recapitulation, because my meaning has been
 either misunderstood or misrepresented.
   Mr. 1 lunter was the first physiologist who placed in clear
 array the various vital functions before our view,  so as to en-
 ehje jus to jud^e of their nature and  probable cause.   He 
;2           PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.       [lect. i.

told us that life was a great chemist, and even in a seemingly
quiescent state,  had the power of resisting the operation  of
external chemical agency, and thereby preventing the de-
composition of those bodies in which it resided.   Thus seeds
may lie buried far beneath the surface of the earth for a great
length of time without decaying, but  being thrown up, they
vegetate.  Mr. Hunter shewed us that this chemist, Life;
had the power of regulating the temperature of the substan-
ces in which it resides.  Seeds possessing the principle of
life being placed within the influence of the atmosphere,  and
in contact with moisture, produce heat, form sugar to edul-
corate the first nutriment of the young plant, and in short,
bring about all those phaenomena which characterize incipi-
ent vegetation.  He further shewed us,  that Life, by its
chemical processes, could convert a great variety of dissimi-
lar substances, into one kind of generally  distributed nutri-
ment, and could also prepare from it a still greater variety of
dissimilar substances.   Mr.  Hunter shewed us  that Life
was also an  architect, that it built up a great variety of curi-
ous structures or edifices, in which it continued to reside and
execute  its  future functions.  No unprejudiced person can,
I think, possibly doubt  that it is by the active power of Life
such effects are produced.  Mr. Hunter shewed that the ac-
tions of life are various, that in nerves they are rapid, though
not so forcible as in muscles.   By such actions he accounted
for the sympathies of remote organs,  and the instantaneous
effects produced on, and by the brain,  from, and in the remot-
est parts of the  body.  He shewed  that the most obvious',
and in general most surprizing manifestation of vital activity, s
which is called irritability, was not necessarily connected +
with a muscular structure; and when apparently connected
with the same structure, was subject to considerable varia-
tions in its actions.  By means of the active powers of life, he
also saw how it was possible that fluids should undergo those
modifications, that are known  to take place, from the affec-
tions  of the vessels in  which they are contained.   Having
convinced himself of these facts, he inferred that Life was a
principle, active in all its functions, and that by acting in va-
rious modes and degrees it produced the diversified phenom-
ena by which it is characterized.
  I shall on the present occasion, add a few words, to what
is contained in my former lectures, to shew the nature and
probability of Mr. Hunter's opinions respecting Life, be-
cause J am unwilling  to leave any excuse for saying, that
they are either unintelligible, or inadmissible. 
 i,ect. i.]       PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURE.-,          i.

   The progress  of science, since Mr. Hunter's  time, ha.,
 wonderfully manifested, that the sun-beam when dissected
 by a prism, is not only separable into seven colorific rays of
 different  refrangibility, producing the iridiscent spectrum;
 but also into  calorific rays  refracted in the greatest degree,
 or intensity, beyond the red colour, and into rays not calo-
 rific, refracted in like  manner to the opposite side  of the
 spectrum beyond the violet colour; and that the calorific
 and uncalorific rays produce effects similar to those occa-
 sioned by the two kinds of electricity; and thus afforded ad-
 ditional reasons for  believing that subtile mobile substances
 do enter  into the composition of all those bodies which the
 sun illumines, or its beams can penetrate.   Late observa-
 tions induce the belief, that even light may be incorporated
 in a latent state with animal substances, and afterwards eli-
 cited by a kind of spontaneous separation, by vital actions,
 or by causes that seem to act mechanically on the substance
 in which it inheres.*  All  the late  discoveries in  science
 seem to realize the speculations of ancient philosophers, and
 shew that all the changes and motions which occur in sur-
 rounding bodies,  as well as in those which live, are the effect:
 of subtile  and invisible principles existing in them, or acting
 on them.
   Mr. Ellis,  who with such great industry and intelligence
 has  collated all the scattered evidences  relative to the pro-
 duction of heat in living bodies, and added so much to the
 collected knowledge, seems  to think that all the phaenomena
 of the variations of temperature  in them, may be accounted
 for by known  chemical processes.  Here, however, 1 must
 observe,  that  Mr. Hunter's opinion of life having the power
 of regulating  temperature was deduced, not only from his
 experiments related  in the Philosophical Transactions, but
 also from observing,  that in certain affections of the stomach,
 the heat of the body is subject to great  vicissitudes,  whilst
 respiration and circulation remain unaltered; and also that
 parts of the body  are subject to similar variations, which ap-
pear inexplicable upon any other supposition than that of lo-
cal nervous excitement or torpor, or some similar affections
of the vital powers of the part which undergoes such transi-
tions.  His  views with respect to tliis subject  are confirmed
by the  late  experiments of Mr. Brodic. t  As the circula-

 ♦See Dr.  Hulme's and  Dr. Macartney"? papers in  tho Philosophical
 Transactions.
       f Philosophical  Transaction*,  1811.  Cromian Lecture. 
 m            PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTUixES.      llkcv.

 .ion of the blood will  continue in warm  as well as in cold
 blooded animals without the influence of the brain, provided
 respiration be artificially kept up in the former by means of a
 ■pair of bellows, Mr. Brodie severed  the  connection of the
 brain' from the top of the medulla spinalis, which in effect
 instantly kills the animal, and  thereby prevents further suf-
 fering in the experiment,  and then maintained artificial res-
 piration,  and  consequent circulation, for more than twe
 hours.   Yet under these circumstances the body coole'd as
 rapidly and regularly as that of another animal in whom res-
 piration and circulation  ceased upon the division of the me-
 dulla spinalis.   This experiment shews that the change pro-
 duced by respiration on the blood is not of itself alone suffi-
 cient  to  maintain  the  ordinary temperature  of animals.
 Chemical science  has not yet explained how  the intense
 heat and  light are produced, which are occasioned by the
 transit of electricity through the air.   That  the powers of
 life regulate electrical actions is evident;  and may they not
 in this manner produce some of those variations of tempera-
 ture to which 1 have just referred ?  But admitting that the
 refined operations of modern chemistry should actually shew
 us the means by which the variations of temperature are in
 every instance produced,  they would not explain the cause
 of those actions-by which such means are rendered eliicient;
 which actions constitute the essential difference between liv-
 ing and dead bodies.
   Neither would chemical science,  by explaining the regu-
 lation  of temperature, unfold  the cause  of the other vital
 phnenomena;  for instance, the prevention of putrefaction
 and iiritability.  The heat of incubation would hurry on the
 putrefaction of a dead egg, but the white and yolk of a living
 one. which we cannot  suppose to be organized,  do  not pu-
 triiv, though they undergo changes subservient to the nutri-
 tion of the young animal they are designed to support.   Doc-
tor  Macartney,  who has of late particularly attended to this
subject, gives it as  his opinion, "that when  fluids  change
their composition, it is often by some vital action in them-
 selves, instead of a fermentative process, or the mechanical
operation of solids upon them, as is commonly supposed."*
 Were  irritability shewn to be an electrical  phenomenon,
and I consider it already demonstrated that they are electric-
 al actions which cause  the various combinations and decom-
positions so constantly occurring in all  parts of living bodies^
♦See article Incubation, in Dr. IWs Encyclopaedia. 
j,ect. i.]     PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES,

and upon  which their formation and functions so greatly de-
pend ;  yet the consideration of the vital phenomena proves
that such electrical operations are under the influence and
control of the vital powers.  I am aware that IIkic is an ob-
scurity in my first  lectures, arising from my not explicitly
declaring my sentiments; which did not then appear neces-
sary, and even now may perhaps be deemed presumptuous
and improper.  In my opinion, experimental science has not
as yet informed us of more than reason has suggested, from
the consideration of the general phaenomena of nature; which
is, that the  motions and  changes occurring in  surrounding
bodies, and  in our own, are the results of some subtile  sub-
stance or substances, which enters into their composition, or
acts upon them.
   But  if science were eventually to demonstrate that heat,
light,  and electricity, are different things,  that there are va-
rious kinds of subtile substances, then I should be obliged to
suppose that there was also a subtile substance belonging to1
living bodies, a principle of life, which had the amazing pow-
er of kindling and controlling the destructive element of fire,
and regulating the actions of that still more sudden and pow-
erful agent, electricity.  Neither by so doing should 1 trans-
gress the  rules of philosophy; for in suggesting a theory,  it
should not only be probable, but adequate  to explain all the
phaenomena.   1 am aware,  however, that there may be
some contemplative and unprejudiced men, who,  perhaps a
iittle elated by the progress of science,  may think  me hasty,
and that I had better have waited to see what  her ample
page might have eventually unfolded.   To them I bow  with
respect, and  assure them, that. 1 would have done so,  had
*he subject been merely an abstract question in  Physiology. ■
  Few however are they who contemplate the nature of life
"in the calm lights of mild Philosophy;" nor do  I affect to
include myself among that very small number.   In  becom-
ing the advocate of Mr. Hunter's Theory of Life, 1 knew  I
should irritate what many might consider as a very formida-
ble Party.   Formidable,, because some of them possess ex-
tensive information, are subtle disputants, have words at will
to make the worse appear the better aigument, and arc wri-
ters even by profession.   Yet I  feared them not,  because I
j;ne»y\ that words do not make, bnt merely adorn'iv^Mie.euJr-* 
I.G
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.       [lect. i.
   Nevertheless I thought it prudent to entrench my subject
   behind a little fortification made of the most approved rules
   of reasoning; and neither this outwork, nor the subject itself,
   has even been assailed.  Yet assertions have been made
   which I am concerned to feel it  an indispensable duty pub-
   licly to  answer in this place.  1 shall conclude all the indi-
   viduals  which compose this party,  under a general denomi-
   nation,  which I think appropriate to them, and call them
   the Modern Sceptics.
    First then, I am  instructed, that I ought to consider  life
   to be a property of certain structures,  as gravitation and
   elasticity are said to be properties of  matter.  With this in-
  junction, however,  I  cannot comply, because  I can only   '•'•
   think or consider in one way.  I must deduce rational infer-
   ences from the facts belonging to any subject, or from anal-
   ogies existing between that subject and others better under-
_   stood.   Now there is no analogy between the permanent
   and invariable  properties of gravitation and elasticity,  and
   the occasional and variable properties of life.  Therefore, if
   I judge  from analogy, I must think as I have hitherto done,
   that life is more like electricity or magnetism, because its
   operations  are  occasional;  it may vary in degree, and ad-.
   mits of being annulled or abstracted,  without evident differ-
   ence in the subject to which it has belonged.   My precep-  *
   tors, suddenly shifting their ground, call upon me to consider
   life as an effect resulting from the combined action of cer-
   tain structures.  I  own 1 am not disposed to follow such
   leaders, yet if 1 do,  I discover that they wish me to consider
   life to be nothing; which I take to be the plain English of the
   Physiology contained in some late French publications relat-
   ing to this subject.
    When Sir Isaac Newton explained the laws of attraction,
   and of the motion of those substances we call matter; though
   he wished only to announce facts, without attempting to ac
   count for them, though  reluctant  to hypothesis, he after-
   wards felt obliged to suppose that  there might be an aether,
  forming a bond of connection and reciprocal action between
   their distant masses and molecules.  In the anatomical lec-
   tures which 1 have had the honour of delivering inthis theatre,
   when speaking of the ultimate fibres of the body, I observed
   that they varied  in the  properties  of rigidity,  pliability,
  strength, and elasticity;  and that such properties could nor
 .  be considered to be dependent on the quantity of matter con-
   tained in the fibres,  which would be estimable by weight,  to 
&ect. i.]       PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.           n

which such properties bear no proportionate relation; and,
consequently, that these  properties  must be attributed to
certain powers of attraction and repulsion operating in vari-
ous modes and degrees, between the atoms of which such
fibres are composed.  However minute the atoms may be
which compose those visible and tangible substances we call
matter, Sir Humphry Davy's experiments shew, that each
atom is surrounded by electric substances possessing powers
of attraction and repulsion;  and which substances are  not
only capable of acting upon the integral parts of bodies,  but
also upon the largest masses of matter.  These electric sub-
stances produce  decomposition  and recombination, and by
such means destroy the mechanical properties which had be-
fore obtained.   Thus we see the toughest wood slowly de-
cay, or suddenly consumed by fire.
  So numerous are the phaenomena  in nature, that suggest
and enforce the  belief that subtile substances  may and do
pervade  others more gross and inert, and produce effects
in and upon them; that  no surprise can be excited upon
finding that contemplative  men have in all ages adopted
and inculcated this opinion.  Yet it was not till of  late
years, by observing the phaenomena of electricity and mag-
netism,   that  decisive  evidences  of this proposition were
obtained. In  considering these subjects, we  observe  the
utmost boundaries of human  knowledge, for all our inform-
ation must be derived from our senses,  which can never
give us  any cognizance of the atoms which compose  sur-
rounding bodies.  Yet this horizon of our views has been
always distinctly seen by long-sighted observers; and  ad-
vanced as we are in knowledge, we can see no  further.^
Persons of different characters of mind have  thought,  and
may think differently;  for neither  can confute the other.
One party, considering the more gradual and rapid changes
which take  place in surrounding bodies, and all the phae-
nomena of motion and of rest, as effects of some subtile, in-
visible substance or substances pervading all nature, whilst
the other may  attribute them to inherent propensities in the
atoms themselves.
   I have led you thus far, Gentlemen,  to shew you  the
rock  on which  the ancient fortress of scepticism stands
erected,  and it  is evidently so unimpregnable that it  has
been a secure retreat for ages, and may still continue to
be  so.   Whilst its tenants keep within their own territories,
or  even  demean themselves peaceably abroad,  I for  one,;
                           4 
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURE^!       ftEcr. it
would never attempt to molest them,  nor prevent thenr
from the fidl enjoyment of their native apathy and inactivity
of mind.  But  when they make excursions to annoy then-
neighbours, and in disguise too, it seems necessary to  un-
mask them, and send them home again*
  If,  however,  those professed sceptics, whom I have incor-
porated under the title of Moderns, really suppose that they
have  no opinion on certain subjects, they deceive them-
selves ;  for by repeatedly thinking that there may be nothing
which is not an object of sense, they at last bring themselves
to believe  that there is nothing  which is a positive opinion,
and also a creed found to have various conveniences. Else
whence arises their zeal  to make proselytes and to refute the
opinions of others, who,  perceiving the deficiencies and fal-
libility of our senses, believe that there are many things far
more demonstrable to reason than to sight.
  Mr. Hunter's opinions may   be denied, but  cannot be
refuted.   It is, however, easier to*maintain  a proposition
diametrically opposite to truth,  than  one originating in  any
intermediate  degree of error.   Those,  therefore, who at-
tempt to account for the vital phaenomena upon any other
supposition than the one I have had the honour of advocating
in your presence, would lead us into such a maze of absurd-
ity, that reason and common sense forbid us to follow them.
  Now, in applying the philosophical opinions of the wisest
men  to account for the  functions of life, according to the
views which Mr. Hunter hadvtaken of that subject, I have
been charged with imagining causes,of which  Physiologists
are not competent judges.  It  has teen said, this is not on
the record, nor before this court.  You know, Gentlemen,
that the plea  of the incompetency of the court, is often urged
when a party suspects a verdict may be given against them.
If, however, Physiologists be not competent judges of this
cause, no writ  of certiorari to any other tribunal,  can, I am
convinced, with propriety be granted.  I cannot but smile,
when I hear or  read of the functions of life being the effect
of the vital forces;  because the expression seems to me the
very ne plus ultra of philosophical caution.  So flimsy a veil
is drawn before the subject, as not to conceal any thing; for
every one is convinced that nothing can exert no forced  and
consequently that these forces must either be the attributes
of the atoms which compose an organized body, or of sonic
subtile  and invisible substance superadded to,  and  inheren>
in it. 
*axt. i.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.           13

  It has been  said that Comparative 'Anatomy contradicts
Mr. Hunter's opinions respecting life, for where there is no
organ, there is no function.   If nature did not design an
animal to see, no eye is constructed; but how the want of
an organ can  affect the general question of what  life may
be,  I am too  dull-sighted to discover.  It will be shewn,
and  I think it must be admitted, that life is an organ builder,
as well as a  performer on  the instruments it constructs.
That organization alone, does not  produce the functions
which belong  to  life, must,  I  think, also  be  granted.  A
man may sleep  with his  eyes  open,  and  his friend stand
before hiin with  a light; yet, the organization of the retina
does not enable the  sleeper to perceive the image of his
friend, though vividly depicted  on  its surface.  Food may
also be received  into the stomach, and  the circulation in
that organ go on as  usual,   yet its  organization docs not
cause digestion,   unless vital  actions regulate those elec-
trical operations  upon which the  preparation of the food-
dissolving juices of that organ depend.  On the contrary. 1
may observe,  that Comparative Anatomy informs us, the
same vital processes of, the prevention  of decomposition,
regulation of temperature,, action,  assimilation and growth
are effected in structures extremely diversified :  and  fur-
ther, that observations  on  disease demonstrate  the  per-
verted actions of the same  structures to produce  a [great
variety of effects, which is a proof that the  actions of lite do
not depend merely  on organization.
  I will not condescend to particularize or parry the absurd
attempts that  have been  made to ridicule Mr.  Hunter's
Theory of Life.   I will only inquire, why we are to be  pro-
hibited from thinking, if we conform  to  the most approved
rules of ratiocination? Why  these sceptics tiy  to ridicule
what they cannot refute/ and whence  arises the irritability
they have displayed?  The nature of this kind of irritability
is, indeed, well  .known  to  Physiologists, it is  but the
common consequence of debility when excited.  But what
is the exciting cause, what provocation has been  given to
them? It must be  as I surmised ; they have opinions and are
yritated at any thing contradictory which  they cannot op-
pugn.   The very term of superaddition is discordant to
their ears; the supposition that there may beany thing which
is not an object of sense, or actual  demonstration,  torments
them; they themselves perceive, that the superaddition of life
i> structure, may, indeed, warrant  the  supposition of a  6ul»- 
20          PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.        Uec*. i.

stance having the properties of perception, and volition being
superadded to life;  and that there may be "more things in
heaven and earth, than they in their philosophy dreamt of."
Should such opinions gain ground, the privileges of scepti-
cism seem  endangered; their proselytes may no longer  re-
ceive with perfect confidence the assurance of philosophical
liberty, the assurance that, because they are sensitive and
rational creatures,  true  philosophy, therefore, consists in
gratifying  their senses, and acting as their reason dictates,
for their own advantage, independently of all other consider-
ations.  Wherefore do they tell us, that we know not why
a muscle acts, or a  nerve feels, and that both are properties
of organization ?  Is it not because they  wish  to persuade
others, as perhaps they may  have brought themselves to
believe, "that when the brains are out, the man is dead?"
Yet surely, it does not necessarily follow, that perceptivity
and consciousness are annulled, because those actions have
ceased by which they have hitherto been affected or mani-
fested.
  I have heard it said that I was wrong in bringing forward
a metaphysical subject before this assembly; yet no one can,
I think,  account Mr.  Hunter's  Theory  of Life to be
metaphysical; for we infer ho more than we do with respect
to electricity, that it is equally probable there is an electric
fluid and a vital principle.  Permit me to repeat, that I ex-
cited your attention  to the consideration of this subject, not
only because it affords a strong proof of Mr. Hunter's genius
and reflection,  but  because I felt assured, that without un-
derstanding his opinions respecting life, no one can under-
stand his  general Physiology, or  that  Pathology which it
was my principal duty and desire afterwards to explain.
He  seems  to me to have written  under a persuasion that
others knew what he did respecting the vital functions, and
had thought as he had done, and his merit  as a  Physiologist,
has therefore been less generally perceived from the want of
this previous information  and reflection.
  What Mr. Hunter thought about sensation I  know not;
what I think, I willingly declare, whien  is, that it can be
neither the result of organization,  nor an  affection  of mere
life.  In reasoning on the motions of the matter which sur-
rounds us,  and also of that of which we are composed,  we
must grant either that the atoms are motive,  or that they
are impelled to move.  So also in reasoning with respect
|o sensation, if the  atoms be not sentient, it is  impossible 
 lect. i.]       PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          21

 to suppose that sensation can result from the arrangement or
 motion of insensible atoms.
   If to think and act in this manner be considered as an error,
 I must be shown that it is one,  before I can alter either my
 opinions or  conduct.   Till then, I shall glory in entertaining
 the same opinions as Pythagoras, Plato, Socrates, and a host
 of others whom I need not mention, have done.  It will be
 my  boast and future endeavour to show by Physiological ar-
 guments, that in this instance also, what has been perceived
 by the penetrating eye of intellect, on a distant and general
 observation, becomes more and more apparent on a close and
 accurate examination  of the subject.  I say, it will be my
 boast, because I know that the opinions 1 allude to are pro-
 ductive of nothing  but good to humanity,  individually and
 collectively. I admit, that the belief that man  is a machine
 does not  tend to alter his  natural and established motions,
 and consequently, that there have been many good and moral
 sceptics.  But 1  also know, that the good dispositions will
 want that excitement and  energy which the opposite senti-
 ments produce, whilst  the  bad  will be left without control.
 It is equally apparent  that the belief of the distinct and in-
 dependent nature of mind, incites us to act rightly from prin
 ciple;  to relieve distress, to repel aggression, and defend those
 who are incapable of protecting themselves; to practise and
 extol whatever is virtuous, excellent,  and honourable; to
 shun and condemn  whatever is vicious and base ; regardless
 also of our  own personal feelings and interest, when put in
 competition with our duty.
   We all seek for  truth, and on her approach, and in her
 presence, are ready to sacrifice, without hesitation or reluct-
 ance, our most favourite opinions;—but to exchange opinions
 for other opinions, as in this case seems required of us, when
 the barter is so disadvantageous, would be the highest absurd-
ity.  We should  give up that which is in every respect,  and
in the greatest degree, useful and dignifying, and what expe-
 rience has proved to be durable, for that which is pernicious
and  derogatory, and which evidently cannot  last; for the
specimens presented to us are composed of such flimsy and
ill-connected materials, that they will not bear even common
handling and examination.
   Whoever considers the operations of intellect, will, I think,
perceive,  that when conviction is  not forced upon the mind,
by something resembling mathematical demonstration, wr
form our own opinions.   We think as we have been instruct 
'22           PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.       [lect. t.

ed to think, or as those do with whom we associate. Thoughts
become concatenated, and by repetition habitual and estab-
lished.  There is a strongly  imitative or gregarious disposi-
tion, even in intellect; most people think as well as act with
a party, and hence results the good or evil derived from asso-
ciation.  That in France, in a nation where the writings both
of its philosophers and wits have greatly contributed to de-
moralize the people, I do not therefore vvonder that those of
their  anatomists and physiologists should represent the sub-
ject of their  studies in a manner conformable to what  is
esteemed most philosophical or clever.  But that in England,
»he chief excellence of whose  inhabitants is, that they are a
thinking people, who consider the probable ends of conduct
from  its beginning; that in this country,  particularly after so
arduous an examination, and  so  rational an explanation of
the vital  phaenomena have  been presented to us by Mr.
Hunter, the mere opinions of some French anatomists, with
respect to the nature of life, should be extracted from their
general writings, translated, and  extolled, cannot, I think,
but excite the surprise and indignation of any one fully ap-
prized .-of their pernicious tendency.
   The  education and course of life of medical men tend to
make them sober-minded, moral, and benevolent; and their
professional avocations equally require, that they should pos-
sess such  characters and  dispositions.   On  no other terms
can they be admitted with confidence  into the bosoms of
those families which may require their medical aid.  Who-
ever therefore inculcates opinions tending to subvert morality,
benevolence, and the social interests of mankind, deserves
the severest reprobation from every member of our profession,
because his conduct must bring it into distrust with the pub-
lic
   If what I said in the  introductory Lectures  has irritated
the party of Sceptics,  what I now say, may anger them still
more.  But I fear them not; they can only shoot at me with
the shafts of ridicule, or spit  at me the venom of their malice;
both  of which modes of assault I actually laugh at;  for the
experiment has been  tried, and I know, that  though these
things may tickle, they can never annoy me.   To express
my opinions on this subject  a little technically, 1 may say,
such means have no effect upon sound or naturally defend-
ed surfaces;  some point must be exposed, or morbidly sus-
ceptible,  ere they can occasion either pain or irritation.   If,
however the Sceptics  had ever the power to injure me, still} 
mct. ii.]       PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURE?.           33

should not fear them; because 1 place between us the undis-
guised truth, which they  can neither conquer nor confront.
For  truth possesses a power which poets have represented
by symbols; like the jEgis of Minerva, or the spear of Ithu-
riel, it has the power, not  only of protecting and maintaining
what is right, but of revealing, abashing, and appalling, whan
is wrong.
                  LECTURE  XX.

   THE propensity  to observe and compare  surrounding
objects, seems natural to man.   We  find even children
pleased with examining and assorting stones, spars, metals,
and other specimens  of mineralogy ; still more gratified with
those beautiful objects, flowers; and even in a greater de-
gree with  moving beings,  which,  on that account, claim a
kind of alliance with  themselves.  Yet so diversified are the
subjects of nature, in each of these departments,  that it re-
quires the constant application of any  individual to render
himself a distinguished character either as a mineralogist, a
botanist, or a zoologist.  Linnaeus, whose knowledge of nat-
ural  history was so extensive and exact, perceived the neces-
sity  of, some system of  mnemonics, by which  we  might
remember and survey the whole.  He therefore formed  an
arbitrary arrangement of these subjects, and  chiefly  from
their  external characters.  The advantages resulting from
this  plan were striking.   It was perceived how  we  could
thus  learn parts in detail, and also contemplate the extreme
diversity and extent of the system of nature; as well as how
we might arrange any additional knowledge that was obtain-
ed, so as to make it a part of one orderly whole.
  The minds of men seem to have  been fascinated by the.
method which Linnaeus had  adopted ; for it was applied to
subjects where no artificial  memory was required.   Even
diseases were thus arranged ; and the attention being direct-
ed to their  external characters, it was taken from its true
object, which should  be to enquire into their intrinsic nature.
This is a striking though not singular instance, showing, that
even grave and learned men, reputed pliilosophers,  have a 
24
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.     ilect. it.
  Jiropensity, like sheep or like school-boys, inconsiderately to
  bllow the leader.
   That the arrangement of Linnaeus is unnatural, and unsuit-
 able to the purposes of Comparative Anatomy, is evident;
 but we need not defame the memory of so great a contribut-
 or to general improvement, by supposing that he was ignor-
 ant of the advantages and disadvantages of his own scheme,
 particularly as he has himself so frequently acknowledged the
 latter.  Though he thought it right to arrange the subjects
 arbitrarily, and chiefly by their external characters, because,
 those but little informed could then co-operate with the more
 erudite, he must have known that he  violated the  arrange-
 ment of nature; for even with respect to plants, he separated
 the  individuals of their families, and placed them  apart
 amongst strangers with which they had no natural connection.
 Of his twelve BotaniG Classes, there are but two which have
 a claim to be considered natural; and even in these, it is not
 unexceptionable.  I allude to the classes Tetradynamia and
 Syngenesia.  Surely, too, Linnaeus must have perceived that
 he committed still greater outrages against  natural order in
 the  animal kingdom.   I would never advise my young
 friends, to endeavour to raise their own reputation, by at-
 tempting to depress that of another; for general observation
 speedily detects what  each has  done for the promotion of
 science; and their respective merits are impartially appreci-
 ated by the  public ;  therefore the attempt to undervalue
 another, becomes  an offence against public opinion, and at
 the same  time, " shows a most pitiful  ambition in him that
 uses it."
   Mr.  Hunter knew nothing about systems; when he met
 with an animal  he had never dissected, he cared but little by
 what name it was called, to what family it belonged,  with
 what others it was associated, either by natural or artificial
 ties.  He  chiefly  wished to know, how its food was digest-
 ed : how its blood circulated; how it respired; what were its
 feelings, instincts, and habits; how it  secured  or  defended
 itself from injury ;  how  the multiplication of its species was
 effected and insured.  Yet,'by noting  the facts relative to
these subjects, it surely must be interesting to observe, how
much his  arrangement  and exhibition of structures  corres-
pond to those lately displayed in systematic works;  in which
also will be found an arrangement of the animal kingdom,
more suited to the purposes of Comparative Anatomy,  than
that of Linnaeus. 
■dt. ii.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          25

  In asserting the claims of Mr. Hunter,  I should not omit
to mention that he was  a very candid man, and freely di-
vulged whatever he knew or thought, as far as his powers
of communication enabled him.  His biographer says, " his
disposition was candid and free from reserve, even to a fault;
for it sometimes made him appear harsh."  Doctor Hunter,
in his Lectures, frequently mentioned his brother's opinions
on different physiological subjects.  Mr. Hunter himself be-
gan to give lectures in the year 1770.   Since the year 1705
the preparations in the Museum have been arranged as they
now are, and publicly exhibited.  That Mr. Hunter's facts
and opinions respecting physiology in general, have gradually
become known to the nations on the continent, have been
adopted and incorporated with their knowledge of that sci-
ence, is to me very manifest.   I mention only one instance in
evidence of this proposition.  In some late foreign systems of
Physiology, the nerves are called organs of calorification ;
though without adequate reasons being assigned for so novel
a denomination.  That his facts and opinions, relative to the
comparative structure and functions of animals, should have
travelled in like  manner,  and met with a similar reception,
does not seem improbable.   Both Professors Camper and
Blumenbach were in London, and were, as I believe, well
acquainted with Mr. Hunter's  labours.  Such were  the
circumstances that promoted  the diffusion of Mr. Hunter's
discoveries and opinions.   No one could be more fully aware
of the uncertainty of knowledge than he was ; and this occa-
sioned his tardiness  in publishing either his discoveries or
opinions; which may have given a seeming priority to the
works of others, and prevented the knowledge that  flowed
from him from being traced to its proper source by the public
in general.   On the contrary, however, I cannot but suspect,
that the great illumination which Comparative Anatomy and
Physiology have of late received on the continent, has in a
considerable degree  resulted  from reflected light, originally
emanating from materials which Mr. Hunter brought togeth-
er, and from his brilliant physiological discoveries.
  In advocating the cause of Mr. Hunter as a Comparative
.Anatomist  and Physiologist,  all I can do is to tell  when I
think ho first ascertained certain facts,  or drew certain con-
clusions.  Yet I know it  is difficult to prove these proposi-
tions, and as I havC said.   I shall be often obliged to  refer to

                      lecture 1. pa^'' * 
■n            PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      l'Lect. ii>

his writings, in 1776, to show the extent of his information
and views at that time.  If, however, 1 fail to prove his title
to priority of discovery, or opinion ; still I feel persuaded that
what I shall say of him will not be deficient in interest, for I
cannot suppose any one will^believe, that the unlettered John
Hunter borrowed his evidently original opinions; or that the
works of his own hands were copied from those of others.  If
others preceded him, he will still appear like Ferguson  the
astronomer; who, whilst  a shepherd's boy, drew accurate
charts of the Heavens, knew the course of the planets, was
acquainted with the nature and application of the mechanic-
al powers, constructed various time-keepers,  planned 'and
executed sun-dials  in different aspects  for  his neighbours;
and when at length  his fame attracted the notice of the sur-
rounding gentry, and a subscription was raised to send him
to Edinburgh, that such rare talents might not remain uncul-
tivated ;  he was, as he said, surprised to  learn that all he
knew, and  much more, had'been already known.  Both in-
stances will serve  to show the extent of knowledge which
rarely-gifted individuals are capable  of acquiring by their
own observation, ingenuity, industry, and reflection.
  In the first department of his Museum, Mr. Hunter dis-
plays the firm and rigid parts Gf vegetables and animals;  the
substances or joints which connect them;  and  the powers
which move them; as if he had thought it proper  to define
what living beings were,  before he proceeded to show how
they were  formed, and what processes were  carried on in
them.  Mr. Hunter thought that there was a principle of life
in vegetables as well as in animals, and  noted the identity of
the vital processes in both.  He adverted also to the similar-
ity of their morbid processes; to the thickening of the leaves
in vegetables, from the irritation of insects;  and  the growth
of excrescences from  the  same cause.   How  extremely
beautiful is the nest formed by the increased, but not unheal-
thy actions of life, for the young of the CynipsRosae (Linn.) ?
He observed how exactly correspondent to the processes of
animal life is the exfoliation of the dead  leaf in the autumn.
If the leaf and stem equally and simultaneously perish, if a
branch suddenly wither,  the leaves tenaciously adhere  by
cohesive attraction; the detachment of the dead from the liv-
ing parts being apparently the consequence of vital actions
in the latter.  There is one experiment of Mr.  Hunter's I»
may mention, because  it  displays the reflective character of
his mind, and the persevering industry with  which he prose- 
,v-(/r. n.J
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURE^.
27
 cuted every subject that excited his attention.  Having set
 beans in a  tub filled  with earth,  which had perforated
 apertures in various directions, he contrived mechanism to
 keep it constantly revolv ing round an axis, to show that the
 ordinary operation of gravitation had no effect in producing
 the extremely varied course which the young plants took in
 order to arrive at the surface.
   Specimens of-some plants, parts of which undergo sudden
 motions, stand first among the preparations in the Museum.
 Jtespecling this  subject  Mr. Hunter observes in his MS. in
 1776,  "All plants are  not endowed with evident motions,
 yet in some, such motions occur in  parts of them, and ap-
 parently from the application  of particular stimuli, as the
 rising and setting of the sun, &c.  Some also are affected by
 touch, so as immediately to be put in motion by it.  Of the
 nature of the organization subservient to these motions, we
 are ignorant.  We know not whether  they may arise from
 organs formed purposely to produce them, or from all the
 neighbouring parts being joined in consent to  occasion this
 effect.  It seems probable, however, that the power is anal-
 ogous to the irritability  of muscles."
   Next are exhibited;the nutritive fluids both of vegetables
 and animals, and also the .fatty substance which makes so
 considerable a part of the body in the latter class,  because
 all their different structures must  be formed from these nu-
 tritive materials.  The nutritive fluids, or blood of animals,
iind the sap of some vegetables spontaneously coagulate; but
 in other vegetables,  the addition of acetate of lead is neces-
 sary to produce  coagulation.  The nutritive fluid, or blood
 of insects, and  the lower kinds of animals, is  shewn to be
 colourless,  with the exception of that of some worms which
 liave  red blood; and that in reptiles and fish, the red colour
 which is so generally considered as characteristic of that fluid
 begins to be  added.  Though blood is so subtile a fluid as
to be capable of permeating the minutest vessels of the body,
 yet that part which spontaneously coagulates, becomes very
firm, tough, and insoluble; often also assuming  a fibrous
 appearance.  From the exact similarity of these fibres to
 those of which  muscles are chiefly  composed, which Mr.
 Hunter has taken great pains to exhibit in preparations you
 will  observe  in  the Museum, he inferred  the  identity; an
inference which modern chemistry has since  established.
   With respect to animals, Mr.  Hunter observes in M.S.
 i77C, "In  the  more imperfect animals, it is very jn-obabk. 
25         PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURED         Uect. -a.

tliat there are no fixed parts, but that all parts are irritable
and have  motion, like the urinary bladder or an  intestine.
As animals become complicated, and have various motions,
especially the progressive, then such  motions are more di-
vided or partial; for  which purpose it  is necessary there
should be  substances whose firmness and  structure, and
mode of connection, should divide and determine the mo-
tions  to particular parts.  These structures  arc differently
placed indifferent animals.  In the earth-worm, caterpillar,
and nereis, the 4firm structure is the skin,  which is divided
into rings,  all of which have motion on each other, and into
these are  muscles inserted, so that a variety of particular
motions  is produced.   In insects, spiders,  and  lobsters,
whose firm parts are more complicated and answer a greater
variety of purposes, we find the fixed parts still more dense.
In the two former they arc of a horny, and  in the latter of a
calcareous nature.   These parts also make a covering for
the animal, but there are processes of them going deep for
the attachment  of muscles.  In  tortoises, lizards, snakes,
&c. though they have firm external coverings,  yet there is
an internal apparatus for motion, which is principally bone.
In  the more  perfect animals,  external firm parts are rarely
found.  They have an internal osseous skeleton, so that the
muscles and  their attachments are reversed; and thus we
find them  arranged in the fish, fowl, and quadruped."  Mr.
Hunter adds, " shell is a substance made use of in the ani-
mal kingdom, chiefly as a defence against accidents, serving
the purpose of a retreat  1"
  This extract convinces me that there is scarcely any thing
in Professor Cuvier's Lectures, relative to the construction
of animals, with which Mr. Hunter was unacquainted ; and
it must  be interesting to observe the  correspondent views
which these  highly informed men have taken of  the same
subjects.   As Mr.  Hunter's object was Physiology,  or  an
enquiry into the functions of Living Beings, he has not been
solicitous  to  exhibit all the facts relating to  their construc-
tion.  Professor Cuvier, has, on the contrary,  devoted his
first seven Lectures to display the latter subject, in so ample
and satisfactory a manner, as cannot, I think, fail to gratify
the reader.   Some animals arc soft and undefended ;  some
iuhabit shells ; some may be said to have an external artic-
ulated skeleton,  serving  also as a defence; and the rest  an
internal skeleton.   He remarks, it is curious, that insects,
having an external articulated skeleton, possess snch a com- 
 ut. ir.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURE©.            ■&

 bination of motive powers, that some of them walk, run,
 leap, swim, and fly with as much facility, as beasts, birds,
 and fish, exercise one or more of these faculties.  Professor
 Cuvier thinks that they are indebted for  these advantages,
 to the numerous articulations which their rase or skeleton
 possesses.   It might strike a person who had not considered
 the subject, that there were animals possessing both an in-
 ternal and external skeleton,  as those of the  reptile tribe.
 The muscles of insects, however, act upon the external case,
 which is therefore similar to the skeleton.   The shells of tor-
 toises  are to be considered merely as armour, as defences
 against injuries,  which the animals have neither the power
 to oppose, nor agility to avoid.   Even amongst the higher
 order of quadrupeds, some wear this kind of armour, as the
 rhinoceros;  and many have such  thick hides, as  protect
 their possessors from trivial injuries; hides like the leathern
 doublet of Iludibras, which

            "Though not ball, was cudgel proof."

   In the construction  of animals, we find  nature proceed
 ing upon an uniform plan, and by variation  of the same
 means, contriving to  produce beings extremely diversified
 in form and faculty.  It has been observed that Compara-
 tive Anatomy furnishes abundant facts to the natural theo-
 logian, shew ing that intelligence must have operated in the
 construction of  living  beings, by the evidence it affords of
 design, and of the adaptation of means to ends.   This obser-
 vation is however more perfectly verified by human, than  Ivy
 Comparative Anatomy; for so well  is man acquainted with
 his own wants and desires,  and with the structure of the hu-
man body, that he must be a dull, inconsiderate, or perverse
 character, who  can contemplate the organs and structures
 which compose it, without a  feeling of admiration.  The
very reverse however  happens in Comparative Anatomy.
 Many of the animals we dissect, are, when living, concealed
from our view;  they are hid beneath the surface of the earth,
or the waters; they fly aloft in the air; or secrete themselves
in the recesses of the forest; so that  we have little acquaint-
ance with their habits,  or peculiar wants and desires.  We
cannot therefore, so well perceive the reasons of those vari-
eties of formation we discover,  nor judge of their adaptation
to the peculiar exigencies of the being that possesses them.
 In many instances also the organization is extremely obscure,
and in some  it is probable that it never can be developed. 
:>o
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.     £l«ct.  h.
   There are minute animals, the motions of which are ex-
tremely vivacious,  and in which all the processes of life are
€arried on with great celerity and vigour, yet no organization
can be detected in  them, even by the aid of the microscope.
We are, therefore, obliged to conclude either, that there
may be organization which is wholly undiscernible; or that
life can execute its functions unconnected with those kinds
of organization which we  observe in animals in general.
Whatever may be the  structure of animals, we cannot how-
ever but perceive, that each possesses means of procuring
sustenance adequate to its wants; so as to ensure its perfec-
tion of health and growth, and powers to continue its  species,
<\hich seems to be the consummation of animal existence.
Neither can we avoid remarking, how admirably the per-
ceptions and faculties of animals -are adapted to the situation
which they occupy in the graduated scale of existence.  As
far also as we can discern, we perceive the same evidences
of design and admirable contrivance;  and the facts we learn
from the examination of the structure and functions of living
beings in general, may indeed be said, "to come more home
to every man's .business and bosom," than any we collect
from the study of Nature  in other departments of science.
  You find displayed in the beginning of the Museum,  many
forms of the moving powers or muscles; and also the uses of
elastic ligament are shewn", which sometimes  produces mo-
tion, and sometimes retains parts in certain positions,  by its
mechanical properties, Without the expense of muscular ex-
ertions.  It is this substance which keeps open the valves of
shells and the claws of lobsters, so that no power is exerted
but in  closing them; it is this substance also which supports
the heads of animals,  without muscular effort, whilst they
are grazing.
   1 remind you, gentlemen,  that Mr. Hunter,  who did not
consider life to be dependent on organization, vvas I believe
the first who clearly ascertained and publicly announced the
fact, that muscles, after contracting to their utmost,  might
gradually acquire a new sphere of contraction.  This fact
was first ascertained by the following case, which I relate,
because I believe it is not generally  known.   A lady who
nad both kneepans broken and greatly retracted, came to
London, many years after this accident, and consulted Mr.
Hunter on her case.   Almost every other surgeon would
have  considered it  hopeless.  He, however,  who was con-
stantly thinking about  the reparative processes, began  to en- 
SECT. II.]
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTUREb.
.3.
 quire whether the long union which had taken place between
 the distant portions of the bone was of a ligamentous and un-
 yielding nature.  To ascertain this point, he endeavoured tr>
 force the upper portion still higher, anil found that the lower
 followed it, and that a motion of the leg  was thus produced.
 The  muscles were however unable to move the retracted
 part of the patella,  because they had already withdrawn it
 to the utmost extent of their original power.  Mr.  Hunter
 saw no reason  why muscles, thus circumstanced, might not
 acquire  a new sphere of contraction, yet he saw no mode
 by which they were likely to do so, except through the influ-
 ence of the will of the patient;  and to persuade persons to
 will what  must appear to them  an  impossibility,  was the
 chief difficulty he had to encounter in his  endeavour to ascer-.
 tain the proposed subject of enquiry.  He persuaded his pa
 tient to sit on a table, and suffer her legs to swing backwards
 and forwards.  This they did in the same manner and from
 the same causes that a pendulum does.  She could indeed
 retract the limbs further under the table than their pendulous
 motion would carry them, by the agency of their flexor mus-
 cles, but she could  neither  check their motion in this direc-
 tion, nor prolong it in the  opposite: one, by any exertion of
 the extensors.  Mr. Hunter urged the patient to sit  at inter-
 vals for an hour or more a day, wishing the exertion of such
 powers might take place; and she promised to comp'y wi:h
 his request.   After  a time, she became  persuaded  she had
 in a degree acquired her object, and  thus  encouraged,  her
 will became more energetic, and the muscles more obedi-
 ent to its mandates; till  it was evident to others that she
 could check the receding motion of her limbs, and  prolong
 the advancing one.  Mr.  Hunter then attached weights to
 her feet, to increase the demand  for muscular effort, and
 thus, by degrees, did the patient acquire the power of ex-
 tending the legs on the thighs, and the consequent ability to
 stand and walk.  That muscles may acquire a new sphere
 of contraction, was  afterwards fully proved by other cases;
 and Mr. Hunter has put up in his collection of anatomical
 facts,  illustrative  of the vital functions, the biceps muscle of
 both arms of the same subject; the one, which is of its natural
 length, measures eleven inches; the other, which  has be-
 come contracted in consequence of the arm being broken,
and the bones overlapping, measures only five inches.   Nev-
ertheless,  in this state, the bones having become firmly
 jnited, the shortened muscle acquired a  new sphere of con- 
 $2          PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      irtor. n*

 naclion.   The particulars of this last case  are recorded by
 Sir Everard Home, in a Cromian lecture,  published in the
 Philosophical Transactions for 1795.
  Mr. Hunter next displays the anatomical facts relating to
 Ihe formation of bone, and exhibits specimens of that variety,
 ihe black  periosteum of the silk fowl of Guinea.   He also
 shews the various kinds of joints and  substances by which
 the bones  are connected.  The formation of shell, and the
 growth of horns, are likewise exhibited  by various prepara-
tions.  As these subjects have been.already considered in
 this theatre, I have no wish to say any thing about them on
 the present occasion, except in reference to one particular.
  Every  one at all acquainted with the mind of Mr. Hunter
 must be assured that  he could not fail to be much  interested
 with the facts relating to the  annual renewal  of  the stag's
 horns. Those of other  animals last for life,  and yet the
 large  and  curiously-branched horns  of the  stag, though
 formed of equally durable materials, are cast off annually,
 and replaced with a celerity of growth  that would scarcely
 be credited by any Physiologist who was not well acquainted
 with the fact. Of Mr. Hunter's observations on this subject
 1 shall speak hereafter;  at present I only wish to mention
 that he  particularly  noticed  the fact at that time not com-
 monly known or attended to, that, if a stag be  castrated,
the horns, which  are shed annually, are not afterwards re-
 newed;  so that the animal having lost the male powers, no
 longer exhibits their  external characters.   We do not find,
 however, Mr. Hunter drawing any inference from this fact^
 for it warrants none other than the want of the beard in man,
would do, from  a similar cause, provided  he also became
 baldfaced annually.   On the contrary, however, we find
 him much excited by observing, that when the sexual char-
 acter  is annulled by age,  the appropriate external signs are
 not only discontinued, but sometimes opposite ones exhibited.
 He really seems interested in observing, that old  women
 iometlines  become bearded,  and that the old hen pheasant
 forms and displays the beautiful plumage of the male bird.
  In some late works on Physiology, 1 find it suggested, that
 the formation of one part or organ, creates a necessity for
 the formation of another; and therefore it  happens,  I pre-
 sume, according to  this  mode of reasoning, that men be-
 come bearded and stags wear horns.   Yet these writers
 have not  suggested any reason for the occasional  exhibition
 of the delusive signs to which I have been referring,  and  I 
 csct. ii.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.           35

 suspect that the consideration of this subject in general,  has
 been  omitted, in drawing such conclusions as I have just
 referred to.
   According to Mr. Hunter's notions of life, those occurren-
 ces which denote the sexual character are to be considered
 as  the  effects  of  sympathies  existing  between  remote
 parts of the body ; which, like other instances of sympathy,
 are liable to occasional failure  and considerable variation.
 That  such sympathetic actions are the effect of unknown
 laws,  he could never have  doubted; but he  thought he per-
 ceived a spirit and design in these  laws very different from
 those which produce results in dead matter.  In the  latter
 the results are immediate and uniform, so that they may be
 predicted ; whilst in the former they sometimes do not take
 place, and appear more like the effects of option than neces-
 sity; they also are subject to considerable  varieties; neither
 is their result in many  instances immediate ; yet  the actions
 tend to produce some remote effect or good to the individual
 in which they occur.   That such were Mr.  Hunter's ideas
 of the  vital actions may be  inferred from his unphilosophical
 language,  which imputes design to unintelligent agency.
   Mr.  Hunter seems first clearly to have perceived that we
 could not judge of the vital actions  from other subjects, and
 therefore that the zoonomia must be made a separate study
 and pursuit by comparing the vital processes with one another
 in the  same animal, and in all the varieties of living beings.*
  Under the influence of these notions, we cannot be surprised
 that he is interested  in  recording the facts, which seemed to
 him to  shew that when age  has annulled the principal sex-
 ual powers, their appropriate external evidences are not only
 discontinued, but sometimes those of an opposite character
 ar^ displayed.!
  The  difference of form and character between the male
 and female of most  animals is in geueral  considerable and
 striking, and denoted by circumstances very diversified,  but

  * If, indeed, all the phaenomena of life were produced by the super-addition
 of a subtile substance, or substances capable of causing chemical composition,
decomposition, variations  of temperature, and actions, according to the sug-
gestion contained in the first lecture, phge 15, without being regulated by
uny other vital energy, but acting in conformity to pre-established laws; still
the results are so different from what we observe from the operation of the
same causes in matter in general, that the laws of life must be peculiar, and,
therefore, require to be made a separate study.
  t Mr. Hunter's paper on this subject will be found in the Philosophic?l
Transactions  for 1780. 
H           PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      [lect. u~

not reducible to any general rules.  Yet this difference does
not seem a consequence of necessity, for there are some spe-
cies of animals in which it scarcely can be said to exist, rind
in others the female is the  larger and stronger,  partaking
m oe of what we usually deem the masculine character.
  That the characteristic signs of either sex  art;  in general
deficient, in proportion to the deficiency of the most essential
and important  of the  sexual  organs, must be  admitted.
Yet as the  cases denoting  this fact in  the  female, are  not
common, it may be proper to refer to some  of them.   Mr.
Pott removed the ovaries of a woman which had  been pro-
truded from their natural situation into the groins, like hernia
in common. The uterus never afterwards menstruated, the
breasts wasted, and the body became muscular and robust.
Mr. Pears relates the case of a woman born without ovaries,
in whom the other sexual organs were formed, though they
remained in a dwarf and inefficient state.  She never man-
ifested any of the attributes of the feminine character.  She
was broad-shouldered, and small roundthehips, like a man.*
  How fond Mr. Hunter was of animals,  how closely  he
observed their form, habits, modes of action, and progression,
Sir E. Home has already told us in this theatre.   He pre-
served, the skeletons of most of the animals he had  dissected,
and there are probably 300  specimens in boxes, which he
had no room to display, neither is there space enough in this
building. That he was an observant and accurate ccompar-
ative osteologist is also apparent from his last  papers in  the
Philosophical Transactions, containing a commentary on fos-
sil bones, found in caves near Bayreuth, and elsewhere. Mr.
Hunter has, however, exhibitied and contrasted some of the
skeletons of animals, and preserved specimens of those of rare
and curious forms; he also collected the heads of persons of
different nations.  Yet still I am aware that the Hunterian
Museum may by some be considered as deficient in the de-
partment of osteology, and, as has been before observed, the
minute  examination of the  form of animals did  not come
within the scope of.Mr. Hunter's designs.
  Having derived much gratification from reading Professor
Cuvier's remarks on this subject, and  believing that there is
mu< h food for meditation even in a skeleton, I shall put togeth-
er, some observations on the form and mechanism of that of
* Philosophical TxansacUons for 1805 
 4,ect.  n.3      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.           *s

 the human subject; for  as anatomy is chiefly taught as the
 ground-work of medical  and surgical knowledge, such ob-
 servations are not in general incorporated  with systematic
 treatises on that subject.
   The head is formed into the bony cavity,  which contains
 the brain, called the cranium ; and the face which is the seat
 of four of the senses, that are situated near the organ of sen-
 sation, volition, and other faculties.  In proportion to the size
 and complexity of the brain, with reference to the size of the
 nervous system, do animals appear to possess various kinds
 and degrees of  perception and intelligence.  Camper  and
 Hunter, at the same-time, attended to the apparently  des-
 cending series in the construction of the heads of animals.  The
 head of the African does really in some degree,  and in some
 individuals more particularly, approximate  in form to  that
 of the monkey; in the sloping direction of the forehead, the size
 and depth of the temporal fossa, in  the flatness of the nose.
 the projection of the teeth, and  the  diminution of the chin.
 We also observe this approximation in other parts of the Af-
 rican skeleton ; in the length of the  loins, and in that of the
 fore-arm and leg, compared to the arm and thigh ; in the flat-
 ness of the foot, and projection of the heel.  In  the  head  of
 the monkey we distinguish the same things, but in so aggra-
 vated a degree, that we at once recognize the head of a brute,
 possessinglittle cranium  and much face, a mere approxima-
 tion of form to the human head,  a mockery, with which,  in
 general, we are more disgusted than pleased.  In the quad-
 ruped,  the forehead is nearly an horizontal continuation of
 the face, and the jaws,.so greatly extended, that the cranium
 is but little apparent, and the face constitutes the chief  part
 of the head.  In the bird and in the fish we observe the same
 circumstances,  but in a much more  striking degree.   So
 greatly did these observations interest Sir Joshua Reynolds.
 that, in his portrait of Mr. Hunter,  he has left  his portfolio
 open at that part where this descending series is sketched.
   This is the first time, on the present occasion, that I have
 to call your attention to the very curious and problematical
 concatenation which exists in all the  works of Nature. In the
 African, we perceive alink connecting the human form with
 the extremely diversified  forms of the brute creation.   I can-
 not forbear to add, that though  there is an approximation in
the form of the  African to that of brutes, there is none in his
nature; for well educated  Africans  have displayed grea'
powers of mind- 
0
 iti           PHVS10L0GICAL LECTURES.      ilect. «.

   Camper also remarked, that the heads of persons of intel-
 lect, were generally characterized by a large and prominent
 forehead ;  and that in the Greek antique head, the forehead
 is made to project beyond what is natural, or has been ever
 observed.  It has, I believe, been a question  among artists,
 why we are  so fascinated  by the sculpture of the Greeks.
 The intellect  of the Greeks seems superior to that of most
 other nations ; their philosophers, poets, orators, and design-
 ers, have all left us models difficult to imitate, almost impossi-
 ble to surpass.  With a kind of intuitive perception of the re
 xaXov, of whatever is excellent or beautiful, they formed an
 ideal perfect head, and have exaggerated  those circumstan-
 ces in which  the human head differs from that of a brute; yet
 with a delicacy that leaves the excess beyond  what is natur-
 al to man, not readily distinguishable.  The head of a brute
 has its forehead oblique, or declining towards a horizontal
 line, drawn from the top of the face; and the sides  of the
 forehead converge from the orbits, so as to make it narrower
 at the top than at the bottom.  The Greeks made the human
/orehead advance a little before a  perpendicular line, and
 they raised it  to an uncommon height.  They made  it  also
 diverge from the orbits, so as to be broader above than below.
 The eyes of  animals are placed at the sides of the head, so
 that they see laterally,  and some even behind them.  The
 human eyes  are made to look forwards; whenever they
 glance to a side, they indicate  either fear or  distrust.   The
 Greeks seem to  have paid attention to this point; the eyes
 are made to look strait forwards, and the outer edge of the
 orbit is so wrought up, as seemingly to preclude a contrary
 vision.   The eyebrow  is a feature peculiar  to the human
 face ;  and I think it must be regarded chiefly  as an organ  of
 expression.  In the antique head, this part is finished with
 much labour and skill.  The bridge of the nose is also pecul-
 iar to the human face; it is represented very prominent,  or
 raised much  above the level of the orbits.   The Greeks
 thought it  most beautiful when it proceeded in  a strait line
 from the forehead,  whilst the Romans preferred it arched.
 The nostrils are formed as little like a snout  as possible;
 they are apertures for respiration, and for smelling, in the hu-
 man subject, and  their motions contribute  to  expression.
 The orifice of the mouth, though occasionally used for eat-
 ing: seems chiefly constructed in the  human face, for  the ar-
 ticulation of our words; and the motions of the lips are also
 strongly indicative of our feelings.  The Greeks represented 
 lect. ii.]     PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.             31

 the mouth according, to these views of the subject.  They
 made it as little like a devouring aperture as possible.  They
 made the orifice of small dimensions ; the lips thin, but mus-
 cular and expressive; and they sometimes even flattened the
 arch of the jaws in an excessive degree.  The chin, which
 is peculiar to the human countenance,  they made to project
 very considerably, and in the males they represented it broad-
 I forbear  to say more, because this is a subject rather of taste
 than of science ; yet design all this, effect  but  this, and you
 will form  the front of Jove himself.
   Doctors Gall and Spurzheim tell us that brutes have a fore-
 head and  hind-head,  but they want the middle part of  the
 head, which is peculiar to  man.  Man is a long-headed ani-
 mal ; there is a great extent of brain between the fore  and
 hind parts.  The top of his head is arched, and in some in-
 dividuals, in a  peculiar degree, so that the hair  falls to either
 side, and  hence results the naturally parted forelock; and it
 is there that our new cranioscopists believe they can discover
 signs indicative of moral sentiments  and excellence.  Per-
 haps some spice of vanity may be  perceived in Milton's de-
 scription of the head of Adam, for it seems to be copied from
 his own.

          His fair large front and eye sublime declared
          Absolute rule ; and hyacinthine locks
          Down from his parted forelock manly hung,
          Clustering ;

   Doctors Gall and Spurzheim further tell us, that the  in-
 stincts or  propensities of brutes may be judged of from  the
form of their heads, and assert the same with regard to the
human  subject; which latter assertion does  not appear dis-
cordant to general observation.  For if the human head be
 more produced in those parts peculiar to man, so does its pos-
sessor frequently appear to have  more of the intellectual
character; or if in those parts common to him and brutes, so
has he more of the propensities in which he participates with
animals in general.  Even this was observed by the Greeks,
who, to use Dr. Spurzheim's  own  expression,  " never com-
mitted such an  absurdity as to put the head of a gladiator on
 the shoulders of a philosopher, or the reverse."
   The speculations of these gentlemen appear to me very in-
genious, and calculated to unravel some of the intricacies of
the human character, as well as to establish ajustelistinction 
H6            PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      CLtcr. k,

bet ween the faculties of animals and those of man.  The pe-
culiar original dispositions and talents which certain individ-
uals possess, must either be ascribed to original qualities of
mind or to causes which may produce them.  To me,  who
think it absurd to suppose that perception and volition are the
result of organization, or an affection of mere life, and conse-
quently who believe them to be properties of something dis-
tinct, it is even pleasing to perceive how any thing essential-
ly perceptive  and possessing  consciousness  and  volition as
the natural and  seemingly necessary adjuncts of perception
may be variously affected, and consequently prone to certain
actions.   To me,  the plurality of our senses has always ap-
peared  a strong argument for the individuality of mind.   I
see, I hear, I  am variously affected.  1 am more delighted
with the objects I behold, or more charmed  with the melody
I hear.
  If Doctors  Gall and Spurzheim tell us, that in conse-
quence of certain conformations of our brains,  we have pro-
pensities, such as brutes also possess, productive of good or
evil according to the degree or direction  in which they are
exerted, they  only attempt to account for facts of which we
are all conscious. ■ Men are by nature brave or fearful, gen-
erous or covetous, candid or cunning, fickle or determined ;
and these original qualities, though they admit of being con-
trolled and suppressed,  cannot be altogether annulled.  Our
great student  of human nature and conduct, whose repre-
sentations of them must ever render him the delight, admira-
tion,  and  glory  of  his countiy, has  also metaphorically
pourtrayed that mixture of good and  evil which belongs to the
human character.   "Our web of brain is as a mingled yarn,
the good and ill together;  our virtues might be proud,  if our
vices whipp'd  them not; and  our vices would despair, were
they not cherished by our virtues."
  There is nothing in the assertions of Drs.  Gall and Spurz-
heim contradictory to the results of general observation and
experience.  It is admitted that the superior intellectual fac-
ulties can and  ought to control the inferior  propensities.  It is
admitted that  we may possess organs, which,  nevertheless,
may be inactive, from  natural torpor or want of education.
General observation and experience  proclaim, that suscepti-
bility is the chief incentive to  action, that it is the source of
genius ; and that the character of man greatly depends upon
his education and habits.  AY e educate our faculties; what
is at first, accomplished  with difficulty, by repetition is easily 
^ct. n.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          3*

performed,  and becomes more  perfect and established by
habit.   Trains of perceptions and  thoughts  also become
firmly concatenated, and occur in  succession.   Even our
feelings  undergo the same kind of education and establish-
ment.  Casual feelings of good-will, by repetition, strengthen
and produce lasting friendship;  whilst trivial  sensations of
disgust,  in  like manner,  may occasion  inveterate  hatred.
When the remembrance of our perceptions recurs, they are
often concatenated with other perceptions,  modified by re-
flections, and associated with feelings; and it is by means of
the repetition of such trains  of perceptions, thoughts, and
feelings,  that habits of thinking and  acting are acquired and
established.  Yet such  reflections and associations are pro-
duced and regulated by the actions of our own minds; and
it  is therefore evident, of whatever materials Nature may
have made us, she; has at least given us great powers of form-
ing and fashioning ourselves.  Had the dispositions and pow-
er's of our minds been similar, human life would  have been
dull and monotonous.   Their variety enables us by educa-
tion to attain different kinds and degrees-of excellence, and
to be useful to one another.
   The very supposition of the organs which are said to form
the distinctive characters of the human race, appears to me
extremely ingenious.  Every one knows that some individu-
als are more prone to the accurate notation of facts;  others
to their comparison,  and to forming judgments from analogy;
others to the investigation of causes; and  others io those
jtportive combinations of similar and dissimilar  things pro-
ductive of vv it and humour; which facts  are attributed to the
organization of the brain being more active or developed in
different parts.  I need not tell you, gendemen,  that I went
to school a long while ago, and  that what I was there taught
has become established by repetition and  habit, so that I
sannot readily express my meaning, without the use of the
old terms, cause and effect; it seems proper, therefore, to
t?xplain what I wish to express by them.
   in several medical books published of late, I read, that we
have  no knowledge of cause or. effect, save what  results
from the continued observation of the priority of the one, and
the consequence of the other.  1 was however taught to be-
lieve that we had by enquiry attained a rational assurance of
the nature of cause and effect in a great number of instances,
and might,  by a continuance of the  same endeavour,  proba-
Slv obtain it in ethers.   All our know ledge is derived from 
 40           PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      [lect. ix.

 our perceptions,  and they inform us, that if one body in mo-
 tion impinges on another free to  move, the latter receives
 part of the motion of the former according to the degree and
 direction in which the force has been applied.   If, therefore,
 f push a bullet contained in a tube, in a horizontal direction,
 I infer that it moves for the same reason, or from  the same
 kind of cause.  But if I put the tube in an oblique or perpen-
 dicular  direction, I find the bullet move with  different_de-
 grees of velocity and force from another cause, gravitation.
 if I explode gunpowder in the lower part of a tube held in a
 perpendicular direction, containing also a bullet, I  find the
 ball  forced upwards for a time by one cause, and  then  it
 descends in consequence of another.  My senses may in-
 deed inform me of the appearances of light and shade, in the
 surfaces of spherical and many-sided figures;  but if,  after
 having studied all that human ingenuity and industry has dis-
 covered relative to these subjects, I am  able, in the absence
 of the object, to represent upon paper a spherical or many-
 sided figure, do 1 not manifest a knowledge of the causes of
 light and shade beyond that which my perceptions alone
would  have produced 1  If also,  I can at will present the
 angle of a prism to a luminous body, so as to produce the
 regular  exhibition of the rainbow colours, do I- not exhibit
 a knowledge of the causes of such effects ?   If indeed the re-
tailers of  such sentences as 1  have been commenting on,
 merely design to inform us that we have no knowledge of the
precise means by which a cause  produces an effect,  they
 surely need not have exhibited so much parade in shewing
 what is constantly  seen and acknowledged.   If  however
they mean to  insinuate, that we have no knowledge of cause
or effect beyond that which results from mere observation,
they publish at the same time, a libel on the human under-
standing ; a prohibition to  rational  enquiry, and a most se-
vere satire on themselves.
  Should the  result  of our general enquiries, or attention to
the  subjects proposed to us by  Drs.  Gall and Spurzheim,
eventually induce us to believe that the peculiarities of our
feelings  and faculties were the effects of variety of excite-
 ment transmitted through  a  diversity of organization,  they
 would tend to produce mutual forbearance and toleration.
 We  should perceive how nearly impossible it must be that
 persons  should think and feel exactly alike upon any subject.
 We should not arrogantly pride ourselves oh our own virtues
 and  knowledge,  nor condemn  the errors and weakness  of 
:.cct. h.}      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
41
others ;  since they may depend upon Causes which we can
neither produce nor readily counteract.  The path of virtue
is plain and direct, and its object distinctly before us; so that
no one can miss either,  who has resolution enough never to
lose sight of them by adverting to the advantages  and allure-
ments, with which he may be presented on the one hand,
or the menacings with which he may be assailed on the other.
Yet no one, judging from his own feelings and powers, can
be aware  of the kind and  degree of temptation or terror,  or
the seeming incapacity to resist them,  which may have in-
duced others to deviate.  Now, though, from the foregoing
considerations,  1 am pleased with the speculations of Drs.
Gall and  Spurzheim, 1 am  however quite incompetent to
give any opinion as to the probability of what they have sug-
gested;  because I see no mode by which we can with pro-
priety admit or reject their  assertions, except by pursuing the
same course of investigation that they themselves have fol-
lowed ;  a  task of great labour and difficulty, and one  which,
for various reasons, I should  feel great repugnance to under-
take.
  After these general observations on the form of the human
head, the mansion of the mind, and the index of its charac-
ter, 1 proceed to describe that of the teeth, which commonly
make a part of the skeleton.   In man, they must be regarded
chieflv as  the means by which he masticates his food; yet
Mr. Hunter did not, in my opinion, consider the teeth ot
animals in general as subservient principally to this purpose,
but placed them in his Museum, for reasons that will here-
after  be explained,  among  the instruments and weapons
that are allotted to animals.
  The four front teeth, in man, have their edges  overlapping
each other, like  the blades  »f a pair of scissars, and  seem
well calculated to cut in slices the food which admits of such
a division.  The side front teeth, which correspond to those
teeth in animals,  called tusks and tushes, fangs  and  venom
teeth, are in the human subject, round in front, flatfish be-
hind ; they  increase in size  as they project from  the guin,
tiW having attained their greatest magnitude, they become
suddenly and obtusely pointed.  They have long roots in-
 cited deeply in the  jaws, and the pointed termination of
their bodies projects a little beyond the level of the line made
by the edges of the other teeth.   These teeth seem well cal-
culated for breaking into small pieces hard substances, and
ihus preparing'  them for the action of the grinders.   All the 
 4?          PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.       llbct. u.

 back teeth in the human subject are grinders, and there are
 two small and three large on either side, in each of the jaws.
   That nature meant man to grind his food by means of his
 teeth, is to be inferred, not only from their form, but from the
 mechanism of the joints of his jaws, from the great strength
 and various actions  of his. muscles- of mastication, and from
 the lever formed by the coronoid  process to increase then-
 power.  I do not know, however, that we are warranted
 to infer from the teeth alone what kind  of food nature  de-
 signed us to live on.   Some vegetables and animals are pe-
 culiar to certain districts, and will not thrive in other situa-
 tions; whilst other  kinds of vegetables and animals,  arc
 found more generally distributed over the surface of the globe.
 Grass and corn thrive every where.   Man  also seems an
 universal animal.  He can and does live in some places upon
 vegetables only, whilst in a Greenland winter, his chief sus-
 tenance is derived from, oil and fish.  Nature may have given
 man means to grind his food, that he may extract the great-
 est quantity of nourishment from a deficient supply of it;  and
 he can by mixing different kinds of food Qualify substances
 for trituration, which by themselves would  be unsuited to
 that process.  It is also one of his characteristics, and in
 which he seems much to delight, that he is a.cooking animal.
 The human teeth, are also of great use in the articulation of
 our words.
   I should certainly not fulfill one of my objects  in these
 Lectures,  which is to display, to the extent  of my ability,
the merits of Air.  Hunter, were I to omit in some part of
them, to notice the surprising labours he bestowed, in  inves-
tigating the structure and functions of animals of the  whale
kind.  In all  the works of nature,  we  perceive extreme va-
riety.  The teeth are not only various in.their formation and
re-production, but also in the substances of which they are
formed, and the purposes which they serve: and as some of
the whales present a very curious instance of this sort, I trust
1 shall be excused, if I introduce the subject on the present
occasion.  In Mr. Hunter's paper relative to the structure
and functions of animals of the whale kind, there is abundant
evidence of the peculiar character of his mind.  We sec the
student  of nature on the  most extended  scale, solicitously
enquiring into all those particulars which adapt these ani-
mals to the peculiar situation they occupy in the scale of ex-
istence.   The horizontal  direction  of the tail, so different
Tom that offish, and the cause of  the peculiar strength of 
 lxt.ii.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          -'

 the flexor muscles, analogous,  as he says,  to the lumbar
 muscles of animals, is shewn to be calculated to raise the
 most prominent part of the animal, where the blow-hole is
 placed, above the surface of the water for respiration; whilst
 the horizontal motiensofthe tail are equally adapted to depress
 it to the depths of the ocean in search of food.  The motions
 of the tail cause these animals to move up-and down in a cur-
 vilinear direction, which makes  them appear hump-backed,
 and thus the dolphin is generally represented.  We see this
 in porpoises when they swim slowly and near shore, alter-
 nately respiring and grubbing along the bottom.   Yet these
 creatures can, with their powerful tails, scull  themselves for-
 wards in a strait direction with surprising speed, passing a
^hip whilst she is going at the rate often miles an hour,  with
 the same apparent celerity, as if she were lying at anchor.
   The back bone of this tribe of animals, is formed as in
 quadrupeds* ; it has not the flexibility nor lateral motion of
 that part in fishes, neither have they  side oars or fins,  and
 therefore they are unable to pursue the  quickly varied and
 versatile motions of the finny tribe.  They say, however, that
 a squadron of porpoises will encompass a shoal of herrings
 and drive them into a small bay to devour them.   Though
 many of the whale tribe have teeth, they probably chiefly feed
 upon medusae, sepias, shrimps, &e. which they find on the
 shores and depths of the ocean, or when pressed by hunger,
 they may destroy and  devour one another.   Mr. Hunter
 found the eye of some kind of whale undigested in the stom-
 ach  of the grampus.   We cannot consider them as preda-
 cious animals, for these in general, are suspicious, cunning,
and solitary, whilst the whale tribe have an opposite charac-
 ter.  The porpoises accompany our ships on the voyage, and
 they say the dolphin has been known to come to the shore
 when called for food he had been accustomed to receive ; ob-
 servations and stories of this kind may have formed the basis
 of different poetical fictions.
  For so monstrous a creature as the great whale, when thus
 constructed to obtain a supply of food for its vast bulk, would
 appear to us, were we ignorant of the means which nature
 has contrived, a subject of the greatest difficulty.  But she
 has made his mouth an enormous trap, and  has  given  him
 whalebone teeth, the fringed edges of which form a finely

  *  Mr. Hunter has  put up  a preparation of the intervertebral sub-
stance, which i? similar to that of quadrupeds in general, 
i(i           PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.     1'i.Ecr. i.:.

meshed net to encompass his prey.  We must suppose him
groping along the bottom of the ocean, hisjaws extended, his
mouth a vast chamber, twenty or thirty feet  in length, and
ten or twelve in breadth, filled with water, containing medu-
sae, sepiae, shrimps and  small fish,  when gently closing his
jaws, they are encompassed in a net formed by the decussa-
ting fibres of the fringed edges of the whalebone teeth.   The
tongue, which is soft like a feather bed, and  very thick, being
applied to  the  roof of the mouth,  the  water is  expressed
through the  apertures of the net, and then  the food is swal-
lowed.  Thus is the most powerful Leviathan obliged to ob-
tain his livelihood by the exercise of the wily arts of the fish-
erman.
  Mr.  Hunter supposes, that the oil and spermaceti  which
these animals form in such abundance, not only serves to give
them buoyancy, but also proves a storehouse of nutriment in
cases of failure in the ordinary supply of food ; for he found
the cells that contain  spermaceti empty in some  instances,
which he thought, indicated that the animal had been for a
long time without food.  The whole of the  whale  tribe have
also complicated stomachs like  those of ruminants,  which
enable them to extract the greatest quantity of nourishment
from whatever food they may obtain.  I must not pursue this
subject further,  but merely  recommend those who wish  to
do justice to  Mr. Hunter, and form a fair estimate of his la-
bours and merits, to peruse this paper with consideration.*

                   *  Philos. Trans. 1787.,
                 LECTURE ZXZ.

  THE head is placed on the top  of a column of bones,
which, from their having in general a kind of turning motion
on one another, are called vertebrae, and the whole pile is
called the vertebral column.  The base of the column rests
upon  a wedge-shaped bone, interposed between the side-
bones of the pelvis.   Each vertebra  has belonging to it, a
part called its body, which is of an oval or circular form, and
presents two plain surfaces to the bone  above and below,
which are cemented together by the intervertebral substance. 
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
45
The bodies of the veterbne appear in front of the pillar, laid
oik; upon another, like the stones with which a column is
erected.  They chiefly support the weight of the head and
trunk, and  regularly and considerably increase in size, as
they descend, because the weight  is  proportionately aug-
menting.                   .,        •          i  r
  The intervertebral connecting substance  is composed ot
concentric layers of tough, strong, and unyielding ligaments,
which extend for about a quarter of an inch from the circum-
ference of the body towards its centre, when the connecting
substance appears softer, and is  manifestly  elastic ;   which
appearance continues till it approaches the centre, when the
still connecting matter becomes pulpy and inelastic.   1 he
exterior concentric layers of strong unyielding ligament serve
for security.  The quantity of elastic  substance interposed
between the several vertebrae, is not so great as to occasion
any insecurity in their connexion, yet the aggregate elastici-
ty of the whole, renders the vertebral column very springy ;
so that the head rides upon its summit, undisturbed by jars,
and as upon a pliant spring.  The central inelastic matter ad-
mitting of a ready variation of form, though not of bulk, serves
as a pivot facilitating the  motion of the vertebrae  on one
another.   Doctor Maclaurin in his lectures delivered more
than half a century aep, was accustomed to illustrate its use
by comparing it to a bladder partly filled with water, and
placed  between  two trenchers; in which  case, the water
would readily diminish in bulk as the  circumference of the
trenchers became approximated on  the one side, and would
occupy the increasing space  on the other.   As the exterior
ligaments are unyielding, this variation of form in the  central
pivot could never have taken place, had not an elastic sub-
stance intervened between them.           #
   It is interesting and creditable to human intellect, which
thus penetrates into the designs of  nature,  to know,  that in
the great fish, the squalus maximus, or basking shark ot 1 en-
nant,  this,  then  merely suppositious, structure is actually
found.   There is in the centre of the intervertebral connec
tion a bag of water, and so great is the elasticity of the sub-
stance by which it is surrounded, that when Mr. Clift cut into
the bag, the expansion of the elastic matter, projected the
fluid to the height of four feet in a large and perpendiculai
stream, compressing the bag into a  small compass, and fore
ing its sides into numerous wrinkles. 
•iC
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.     [iect. m.
   Behind the body of each vertebra there is a bony ring, and
these rings, when opposed to one another, constitute a canal
for the protection and transmission of that important part, the
medulla spinalis.  From  these rings, seven processes are
'continued, four of which serve to make joints, connecting the
vertebrae with one another.  There are two ascending and
iwo descending articular processes.  Two  processes also
.stand out laterally, and are called transverse, and one back-
wards,  which, being in general pointed,  is named spinous.
These latter processes chiefly serve to give attachment to the
muscles which support and move the vertebral column.
   I  pon the form of the articular processes, the degree and
kind of motion which takes place between the several verte-
brae, seem entirely  to  depend.  In the neck,  the opposing
surfaces of the articular processes are smooth and oblique
planes, a  form which admits of a limited and equal degree of
sliding motion forwards and backwards,  from  side  to side,
and also  of a turning or vertebral motion of one bone on
another.  We know that the vertebral column in the  neck,
admits of an equal motion in these different directions, so that
we  can touch the breast  with our chins, the back with our
hind head, and the shoulders with either ear.   We can also
turn the neck, so as to describe  with our face a complete
semicircle.   In the last motion, the effect is, however, aug-
mented by the peculiar turning of the first vertebra upon the
second, which will be separately described hereafter.  In the
neck we  find the spinous processes short and horizontal, so
as to afford no obstacle to the extension of that part, and we
find them .formed in a similar manner, in all animals which
have long necks and carry their heads far backwards.
   In the  back, wc  find the articular processes formed into
perpendicular planes, which preclude any motion either for-
wards or backwards,  or any  turning of one vertebra upon
another;  a form which allows only of a  motion from side to
side, to which, however, the ribs present  an insurmountable
obstacle.  In the back, we find the spinous processes sloping
considerably downwards, and absolutely  locked together, by
 a sharp ridge of one being received into a  groove of the other.
We find, also, the rib connected to the transverse processes,
 so that every circumstance concurs to prevent any  motion,
 save that which results from the elasticity of the interverte-
bral substance.  If seems, therefore, evidently the intention
 of nature, to make the vertebral column,  in the back, a fix«d
 support for the ribs to move upon. 
IECT. III.]
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES,
41
    In the  loins, we find the articular processes very differ-
 ently formed from what they are either in the neck or back.
 The descending ones are shaped like half an oval, the convex
 surface of which is received into a cavity of corresponding
 figure in those which ascend, which form is admirably adapt-
 ed to admit of the suddenly turning horizontal motion which
 takes place in this part of the vertebral column.   It also free-
 ly admits of motion from side to side, but does not allow of it
 in any considerable degree either forwards or backwards.
 Indeed had such  motions been permitted beyond a certain
 extent, the abdominal viscera would  have been injuriously
 compressed by the ribs.   Neither is much motion, in this di-
 rection, requisite, because we can carry forwards and back-
 wards the trunk of the body, by moving the pelvis upon the
 rounded heads of the thigh bones.   The spinous processes oi
 the loins extend horizontally, so as not to  interfere with out
 another in  the turning motion, but their great breadth is pro-
 hibitory of extension beyond a limited degree.
   The head is  joined on to the first vertebra,  (which, from
 supporting this globe on its shoulders, is generally called the
 atlas,) by two oval processes placed obliquely  and received
 into corresponding, cavities  in the upper articular processes
 of this vertebra.   The form of the bones precludes any hori-
 zontal or turning motion of the head upon the atlas, and ad-
 mits only of a slight yielding forwards and backwards.  The
 condyles are placed so exactly parallel  to the centre of gravi-
 ty, that when we sit  upright, and go to sleep in that posture,
 the weight of the head  has a tendency to preponderate equal-
 ly in every direction, upon the slightest  inclination in the line
 of gravity; as we see in those who are dozing in a carriage.
 Nay, their heads sometimes revolve in a circle, like the head
 «f Harlequin on  the stage.   The  head and atlas turn round
 upon the second vertebra;  the upper  articular processes of
 which, as well as the lower ones of the  atlas, are formed into
 nearly horizontal planes, a form well calculated to admit of
 this motion.  They are not, indeed, perfectly horizontal, but
 shelve a little to either side,  so as to admit of a part of the lat-
 eral motion formerly mentioned.   The second  vertebra has
 growing up from its  body a tooth-shaped  process, and it is.
 therefore, usually called the vertebra dentata.  This proces-.
 is tied to the head by ligaments of surprizing strength, which
 are loose enough to allow the intended motion, but no more.
This  ready horizontal  movement is requisite,  to enable  us
suddenly to  turn our eves to different objects.  If the hear' 
4o
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      [lect. hi:
turned on the top of the pillar, there would be insecurity, un-
less some especial contrivance, not essential to the head or
vertebral column, was instituted,  as may  be  inferred from
facts  observable in Comparative  Anatomy.  The head is
attached to the very summit of the column in the centre, by
extremely strong ligaments, whilst in the circumference it is
secured, not merely by  other ligaments, but also by those
powerful muscles which  constantly support it, and occasion-
ally move it in various directions.
  The spinous processes of the vertebrae are connected to one
another by what is called an elastic ligament, with the ob-
\ ious properties of which, every one is familiarly acquainted,
from haying encountered it at their meals,  in the necks of an-
imals, where it forms the ligamentum nuchae, which supports
the head of the animal whilst grazing,  without the expense
of muscular exertion.  It is yellow, tough,  firm,  and power-
fully elastic.
  The spinous processes are situated so far behind the centre
of motion,  that if they had been tied together by unyielding
ligaments,  these must have  been formed of  considerable
length, to allow of the greatest degree of bending of the col-
umn, and then they would have been useless and wrinkled
in its common position.   The elastic ligament admits of the
utmost motion of the column,  and, by its powerful elasticity,
tends to restore it, and retain it in its natural form.   The
elasticity of the substance, interposed between the bodies of
the vertebras,  also co-operates in  restoring the column to its
natural figure.  If we take the vertebral  column of a young
subject separately from the other parts of the skeleton, and
forcibly bend it in different directions, we find it suddenly
and forcibly recoil, and assume its proper shape.  The ver-
tebral column is not straight;  it comes forwards in the neck
and loins,  so as to appear like the top and bottom of a per-
pendicular pillar, but in the back it projects posteriorly, and
describes a segment of a large circle.   In consequence of this
form, the back  part  of the  chest, the blade bones of the
shoulder, and the weighty muscles of  the  back,  project be-
hind the centre of gravity, and become equiponderant to the
weight in front; and we know,  that in an upright posture,
the whole weight of the upper part of the body is so perfectly
balanced on the base of the vertebral column, as to have an
equal propensity to preponderate in every direction.
   Though the motion taking place between  the individual
vertebrae is small, and such as can produce no  alteration in 
 'UcT in .]     PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.           49

 the form  of the vertebral canal,  injurious to the medulla s-pi
 nalis, yet the effect of the conjoined motion of all the verte-
 bral is considerable ;  and appears still greater when observed
 in the motions of the head,  which it supports.  We can in-
 cline  the head  far forwards, backwards,  or to either side,
 and nearly in an equal degree.
   Had the vertebral column been formed straight, and the
 same extent of motion given to  the head, the  weight would
 have so preponderated, that its support would not only have
 been difficult, but it  might have operated injuriously to the
 fabric of  the column  itself.   As the column is constructed,
 when cither end of it  is projected in one direction, the other
 can be carried in the opposite,  and the balance  preserved.
 Thus, when  the loins are brought forward, the neck and
 head can be carried backward,  so as to preserve the line of
 gravity perpendicular to the basis of support; and vice versa
 in all directions.
   By constant  practice, the muscles are so habituated to
 produce these opposite and balancing motions,  as involunta-
 rily to do  so with the greatest exactness, as well as to co-op-
 erate with the elasticity of the column, in restoring it to its
 proper direction and  form.   The requisite actions are slight,
 transient,  and varied, and  therefore  produce no  fatigue.
 This circumstance, together with the disposition  of the col-
 umn to maintain its usual  form,  and the  ease  attendant on
 these  motions, cannot be better exemplified than in the in-
 stance of riding on horseback.  A practised and  fearless ri-
 der will fold his saddle cloth into a cushion, place it on the
 back of a rough trotting horse, and sitting on it, keep his seat,
 undisturbed by  suffering all the  suecussions of the steed to
 be transmitted to the body,  above the pelvis, and  preserving
 that part  fixed,  by constantly keeping the line of gravity of
 the whole  perpendicular to  tne basis of support.   Thus do
 we enjoy the most springy ease of motion, and perfect fixity
 of position, with scarcely any muscular exertion,  and with-
 out any effort of mind, for volition cannot regulate the action
 of muscles in this manner, and those who, from  apprehen-
 sion, seek security in  their own efforts,  lose it, in  proportion
 as they strive to obtain it.
  The vertebral  column in the  back affords support to the
 twelve  ribs, one end of which  lies  imbedded in  cavities
 formed between their bodies, and their tubercles are con-
 nected to the transverse processes.  The  ribs successively
and  considerably increase in length, as far as  the seventh,
                            o
                            I) 
 ^0           PHYSIOLOGICAL  LECTURES.      [lect. nr-

 which causes the cavity they encompass to become larger;
 they then diminish in length,  and the cavity of the chest be-
 comes smaller.  The seven upper ribs are  connected by
 gristles to the breast bone.  The five lower have their gristles
 united with each other, or have no connection except with
 the vertebral column.  The breast bone is placed very ob-
 liquely, so that at the top it is very near the  vertebral col-
 umn, whilst at the bottom it is very distant.   The ribs, in
 proceeding from the dorsal vertebrae, first take a direction
 backwards, and then rather suddenly turn forwards, so that
 the vertebral  column projects into the cavity of the chest..
 This circumstance,  and the oblique position of the sternum,
 both contribute to render the weight, before and behind the
 vertebral column, equiponderant upon its basis, in the man-
 ner I have formerly mentioned.
  The upper or  pectoral extremity of man, is  divided into
 the shoulder, which is composed  of two bones;  the arm of
 one; the fore-arm of two; and the liand of many.   The
 blade-bone  of the shoulder is placed behind the chest, and
 not, as in brutes, by the side.  It is in  common so situated
 that the cup to which the arm is joined, and from which it
 hangs, projects exactly in the lateral direction, and conse-
 quently the weight of the arm has  no tendency to move its
 socket forwards  or  backwards, but merely  to depress it.
 Though the bones of the shoulder can be  moved forwards and
 backwards, upwards and downwards, even in a considerable
 degree; yet the joint of the shoulder can never approach te
 the breast bone as it  does in quadrupeds. The  effects re-
 sulting from these circumstances are,  that when the arms
 hang in their natural direction, the general line of gravity of
 the upper part of the body undergoes no change; but if the
 hands be brought either forwards or backwards, the weight
 proportionately preponderates, and the wliole  body moves
 upon the base of the vertebral column.   The extent of mo-
 tion of the  shoulder joint in the directions that have  been
 mentioned,  greatly augments the sphere of motion of the arm
and hand.
  The joint of the  shoulder i3  kept* from approaching the
 front of the chest by the collar bone, which is nearly strait,
 though projecting a little forwards towards its middle, so as
 to give a slight convexitjrof outline to the top  of the chest
 and bottom of the neck..   The end of the collar bone, which
 rests upon the sternum, is bulky and of a somewhat  trian-
 gular form, but it rests in a thick bed of cartilage, which pre- 
i«ect. m.J
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
^i
 vents its shape from being apparent.  The scapular end of the
 collar bone is flat, and connected in a  horizontal direction
 with a like-shaped projection of the blade bone, which forms
 the end of the shoulder.
   When the trunk is bowed forwards, the hands swing in the
 same direction, and then the weight of the arm drags forward
 the shoulder joints.  In  weakly children whose  bones are
 deficient in firmness, the collar bones yielding under these cir-
 cumstances, become convex in front, and the bulky sternal
 extremities are in some degree dislodged from their cartila-
 ginous beds.   The blade bone is also drawn forwards on the
 convex ribs, so that the back part projects  beneath the skin.
 The weight of the shoulders and  head  now bears, in some
 degree,  upon the walls of the chest, being transmitted by them
 to the vertebral column, by which means they also become
 deformed.
   So commonly do these causes operate in the manner I have
 mentioned, that we rarely see exactly such a collar bone as
 I  have endeavoured to describe;  they must have been very
 healthy when young,  who  have such  collar bones  as are
 represented in the Grecian  statues.  To prevent the defor-
 mities incident to the causes I have mentioned, parents are
 accustomed to brace  their children's shoulders backwards ;
 nor do I think the practice wrong, where it is required, and
 when it is conducted with moderation;  but surely  we ought
 to caution the public  against the absurdity of bracing the
 shoulders back, beyond what is natural, till the blade bones
 come in contact with the vertebral column, for this destroys
 tiie natural balance of the body, and is more likely to produce
 than to prevent deformity.
  The joint by which the arm is connected with the shoulder, is
 a ball and socket joint, admitting of motion in eveiy direction.
 Even those animals,  whose pectoral  extremities seldom
 move in any other direction  but forwards and backwards for
 the purposes of progression, have a similarly constructed
 joint.  The advantage derived from this mechanism seems
to be, that it admits of the motion of the  Umh,  or of the body
 singly.  Thus, when at rest, the limbs may be moved with-
out disturbing the position of the body,  and when the limbs
are injured, slight variations in the posture of the body are
 permitted,  without communicating motion to the limb.
  The elbow joint moves like  a hinge,  backwards and for-
 wards.   Now, if the first joint be a ball  and socket, and the
seconp1 a hinge, it is manifest that the  hand  may be put in 
$2
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.       [lect. hi.
almost every possible position within the area of that space,
the circumference of which it is competent to describe by it's
utmost extent of motion.  There are, however, two bones in
the fore-arm; and one of them alone  lias its motions restricted
to those of a hinge.   This is called the ulna, and is the bone
which  sends backwards  a projection, We name the elbow.
The top of the elbow gives a surface for the attachment of the
tendinous fibres of the extensor muscle, and affords a  lever
to increase  its power.  The lever in the human  subject, is,
however, inconsiderable, compared with what we observe
in animals,  the power of whose progressive motions greatly
depends on the drawing backward of this part.  We observe
this in our dogs, and horses, and other animals; and it forms
the first apparent joint in their pectoral extremities ; for the
arm and shoulder blade lie  hid in the bulk and circumfer-
ence of the body.   The back part of the elbow in man, is
formed into a smooth and somewhat triangular plain surface,
upon which we occasionally lean.   That nature designed
this for an occasional resting place, is to be inferred from the
coarse  texture of the skin which covers it,  which is  similar
to that  placed over the lower part of the kneepan.
  The  form of  the corresponding articular  surfaces of tho
bone of the arm and ulna, freely admits an extensive motion
forwards  and backwards, and absolutely prevents any other.
The bone of the arm has a groove formed in it, with lateral
risings, and the ulna has  a middle projection with lateral de-
pressions.  This groove  making a kind of hinge for the ulna
to move on, is formed obliquely, its upper part inclining to-
wards the body.  When, therefore,  we bend the elbow, the
fore-arm  does not come in opposition to the arm, but carries
the hand  to the trunk of the body.   When'we bend the el-
bow, we generally wish to  approximate or apply the hand
to some part of our persons; and in consequence of the ob-
lique direction of the pulley, we accomplish by one motion,
what would have required two, had the groove been  formed
straight,  as it is in animals.  That part of the ulna which is
next the radius, for so the other bone of the fore-arm is called,
is hollowed out into  a semicircular  cavity, in which the ra-
dius revolves to a certain degree.   The  top of the radius is
formed into a shallow cup,  which fits on to a convexity of
much  greater  extent of surface  in the  bone  of the  arm.
Therefore,  the  cup  can move forwards and backwards, in
correspondence with the motions of the ulna, and can also,
in any  state of flexion or extension  of the joint, turn rouno^ 
ject.  m.J     PHYSIOLOGICAL  LECTURES.
63
 upon its own axis.  The radius has also a semicircular con-
 vex surface, which is lodged in the excavation of the ulna,
 and at the same time revolves in that cavity to a certain de-
 gree.   Such is the mechanism by which we are enabled in
 any state of flexion and extension of" the  elbow,  to turn the
 hand prone or supine,  for whilst the radius is revolving upon
 its axis above, it travels round the ulna  below, and carries
 with it the hand.
   The surface, which the fore-arm presents  to make the
 joint of the wrist, is an oblong cavity of little  depth.  It is
 formed chiefly in the radius, and partly in a piece of carti-
 lage, continued from the end of that bone over the extremity
 of the ulna.  The side surface of the radius, which is applied
 to the ulna, is hollowed out into  a semicircular  cavity,  re-
 ceiving a corresponding convex surface of the ulna; so that
 the hand and the cartilage, continued from the radius, moves
 round upon the end of the ulna.
   The wrist is composed of eight little bones placed in two
 rows.   They  form  an arch slightly convex on the  back of
 the  hand.  There  are projections in front on either side,
 forming its basis or spring.  These are secured together by
 the carpal ligament which is  of prodigious strength.   There
 is a motion between the  two rows of carpal bones, so that
 when the wrist is bent, the arch of the carpus forms a kind of
 knuckle without any angular projection.  We find the same
 structure  in the  second  apparent joint  of the fore-legs of
 quadrupeds.   What seems  a knee is the wrist, and they
 kneel cupon the knuckle of the carpus.   The  fabric  of this
 part is particularly  strong.   Its arched form secures it from
 injury from above, the carpal ligament from below; but it is
 equally uninjured  by  forees applied to  its side, else how
 could boxers strike  with such force, or animals leap as they
 are known to do.
   The four metacarpal bones, which are interposed between
 the carpus and fingers, are made large at either end,  to form
joints,  and small in the middle, to afford room  and arrange-
 ment to muscles,  which move the fingers from side to side.
 Their bulky ends, which join on to the carpus, are connected
 by nearly  plain surfaces, and  admit of no manifest motion.
 The other ends, which support the fingers, are formed into
 rounded heads, and the first bones of the fingers have cup-
 shaped corresponding cavities, so  that considering the skele-
 ton merely, we might suppose  the joint was  one  of the
 ball and socket kind, admitting of motion in all directions 
■54
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES
[CECT. II|.
We find, however,  that the ligaments are so arranged as to
limit the motions of the joints chiefly to those of flexion and
extension, allowing indeed of slight motion from side to side,
and a slight horizontal turning of the finger on the end of the
metacarpal bone,  which motions are greatest in the fore and
little fingers.  The articular surface of this convex end of the
metacarpal bones continues so far backwards and forwards,
that we can extend the fingers a little beyond a right line
with the metacarpus, and we can bend them to more than a
right  angle.  The metacarpal  bones are so connected  by
ligaments and muscles, as to prevent these ends separating
from one another, and spreading, when we grasp  convex
bodies; and the end of the metacarpal bone,  which supports
the little finger, has a powerful apparatus  of muscles  ex-
pressly  allotted to it, to keep it. firm, in opposition to  the
power of the  thumb, when we  grasp bodies with force.
  The bones of the fingers  are made  a little convex  behind,
but flat in front, for the convenience of grasping.  The se-
cond and third joints of the fingers are formed  into hinges,  ad-
mitting  only  of flexion and  extension.  The lasi  bones of
the fingers are very small, the nail  causing  the apparent
breadth of the end of the finger.
  The thumb consists of three bones, the first of which is ar-
ticulated to the carpus, and the joint appears like a hinge,
though  from the looseness of the ligaments, it admits of a
small degree of motion in very various directions; which mo-
tions appear more considerable than they really are, when
their effect is observed, as the extremity of so long a radius
as the thumb makes.   In consequence of this freedom of mo-
tion, we are  enabled to apply the end of the thumb to each
of the fingers and to different parts of the hand, and also to
place the thumb in direct, opposition to the power exerted by
the whole of the fingers and hand, in grasping.   The second
joint of the thumb resembles the first joint of the fingers,  not
only in the form of the bones, but also in the arrangement of
the ligaments, which limit the motions nearly  to those of a
hinge, and the last joint of the thumb, is like either of the
two last joints of the fingers, a perfect hinge.
  The fingers and thumb are of unequal length, and, on  this
account, they are peculiarly adapted  for grasping spherical
bodies whicli are most difficult to seize and to hold.  If, for
instance, we  take hold of a pocket globe, placing one of its
poles in the hollow of our hand, we find all our fingers an(J 
LECT. III.]
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURE^
J-.T
 the thumb opposing each other upon some parallel oflatitude,
 and thus giving the greatest security to our grasp.
   When the elbow-joint is fixed, the hand describes a com-
 plete semicircle, in pronation and supination ; and the extent
 of its motion, in these directions, may be increased by varia-
 tions in the position of the elbow and shoulder.  As the hand
 moves through a yet more considerable portion of a circle in
 the utmost flexion and extension of the wrist, as it admits in
 all these motions of being carried  to one side or the other, it
 is obvious that we can take hold of bodies in any point of the
 very  considerable area, the circumference of which, the hand
 is competent to describe, when the other joints of  the  arm
 are moved to their  greatest extent. The  excellence of the
 mechanism of the pectoral extremities of man is proved by its
 results.  The structures are so  strong,  and the  powers so
 great, that we can seize, and hold, and pull, and push, and
 strike, with great power, and in such surprisingly varied di-
 rections ; and yet the joints and powers are so nicely formed
 and adjusted, that we can also take hold of the smallest ob-
 jects, and guide them with the  greatest gentleness, nicety,
 and diversity of motion, by which means we are enabled to
 model and design the minutest objects.
   The weight of the head, arms, and upper part of the body
 rests, as has been shewn, in equilibrioon the bone which sup-
 ports  the base of the vertebral column.  This wedge-shaped
 hone  is called the os sacrum, they say, because  that part of
 the animal was frequently offered  in sacrifices.   It is very
 broad above and narrow below, so that the weight which it
 supports would only tend to depress the broader part of the
 wedge into the narrower space, and render the fabric more
 ecure.   The sacrum is convex behind, and concave in front,
 for it  forms a part of a somewhat circular bony cavity placed
 at the bottom of the belly and called the pelvis or basin. The
 :-acrum terminates by a smooth surface of small extent,  and
 ablong in the lateral direction, on which  there moves back-
 wards anel forwards a little bone which is called the os coc-
 wygis, from  its supposed  resemblance to a cuckovv's beak.
 This bone is occasionally thrust  backwards, but is usually
 held forwards by muscles connected to it, and affords the last
 bony  support for the weight of those bowels which may grav-
itate into the cavity of the pelvis in particular positions of the
 body.
  This little bone is analogous to the tail of animals, which is
^noveabje on the end of the sacrum, and composed of. man*: 
 .56           PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.     [i.ect. tn.

 pieces of various form in different animals.   I mention  this
 merely as one of the proofs, though it is far from the best, of
 the uniformity of the plan, and the diversity of the means and
 ends we observe in the construction of animals.   The tail
 very commonly serves to animals the purposes of a switch, a
 balance, and a rudder.   It is, however, a hold-fast in such as
 possess the cnuda prehensilis,  whilst to the kangaroo it is a
 prop and a leaping-pole, and to the beaver it serves as a
 trowel.
   The sacrum derives support from the two side bones of the
 pelvis, by extensive surfaces, which converge as the wedge
 diminishes.   These bones form a kind of circle, and are unit-
 ed with  each other in front,  and thus is the bony circumfer-
 ence of  the pelvis  completed.  The back part of the circle
 being continued from the sacrum, forms an arch on which the
 weight of the body is supported.  No one can, I think, view
 this part  of the skeleton without being struck with its archi-
 tectural construction.  The wedge forms the key-stone of an
 arch, on  which, not only the weight of the upper part of the
 body, but also of those loads which we occasionally sustain,
 is supported.   The side  bones are expanded  above  the brim
 of the pelvrs forming the  hips,  and give support to the viscera
 contained in the belly.   The  hips are much more expanded
 in females than in males.   The ancients, who had a clear and
 strong  perception of whatever is beautiful and useful in the
 human figure, and who, perhaps, delicately exaggerated beau-
 ty to render it more striking, have represented Venus as
 measuring one-third more across the hips than the shoulders,
 whilst  in Apollo, they  have reversed these  measurements.
 The lower part of the side bones arc formed into oblique pro-
 tuberances,  upon which we sit, and here we have a fatty
 cushion to rest upon.  These prominences are placed paral-
 lel to the line of gravity, so that when we sit  upright upon
 them,  the weight of the body is here again found to be in a
 state of equipoize.   The cavity of the pelvis in  the human sub-
ject's not placed as it is in brutes, in the same direction with
 that of the belly.   Were  it so, the contents of that cavity
 would  be continually gravitating towards its inferior aperture.
 Even the pelvic viscera  cannot be said to gravitate towards
 the inferior aperture of the  pelvis, in the ordinary positions of
 the body; whatever presses in that direction must be protru-
 ded.
   The weight of the whole upper part of the body i? trans-
 mitted from the arch described by the bones of the polvR to 
mct. hi.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
5?
a second arch, made by the form of the heads and necks of
the thigh-bones.  Their heads,  which are very  perfectly
rounded, making a considerable portion of a sphere, are lodg-
ed in deep cups, the brims of which are particularly high in
the upper and outer  part, where the re-action of the ground
against our descending weight, would ordinarily  tend to dis-
lodge them, had not such an occurrence been thus guarded
against.  These cups are placed  a little in front of a perpen-
dicular line let fall from the top of the sacrum.  As the weight
of the greater part of the pelvis, and of the muscular buttocks
is placed behind the sockets, so when we stand upright,  the
whole of the incumbent weight is perfectly balanced on  the
rounded heads of the thigh-bone,  and the most trivial varia*
don in the direction of the weight occasions the body to incline
towards that part, at which it takes place.
  The hip-joint is the most complete ball and socket joint in
the human skeleton, and the socket can move upon the ball
with the most perfect facility, and with the nicest gradation and
variation.  Thus, when we stand upon one leg,  we have the
power of balancing the weight upon the rounded head of the
thigh-bone.  There are two modes  of balancing, either by
moving the incumbent weight upon the area of support, or by
moving the basis of support under the incumbent weight.—
By the connection of our lower  extremities with the pelvis,
we possess the ability of balancing our weight in both these
ways.   No better demonstration of this need be given, than
what is  exhibited in  those  amphitheatres, where feats of
horsemanship are displayed.  We  there see a man  stand
with one foot on the saddle, and maintain his balance, when
his horse is at full  speed.  This he  does when his body is
placed horizontally, and with one arm and leg extended in
opposite directions.   To maintain so perfect a balance, it is
necessary that the weight of the body should move in various
directions, and with nicely adjusted gradations upon the head
of the thigh-bone, and also, that by the motions of the knee
and ancle, the support should be equally varied under the
incumbent weight.
   The weight of the body is transmitted from the arch of the
pelvis, to a second arch made  by the form of the heads and
necks  of the thigh-bones, the basis of which rests against the
side of the bone near its top, and protrudes  that part of the
bone outwards, and the bottom in a contrary direction, so ae
 m bring the knee-joint nearly under the general line of gravi- 
oX/
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
[leci. UV
 ty of the whole body, and from this joint, the weight is transr
 mitted in a perpendicular direction upon the arch of the foot.
   I must not dwell upon the form of the bones or the structure
 of the joints in these pelvic or lower, extremities, lest I should
 set my audience asleep.  Suffice it then to say, that when the
 knee-joint is extended so that the leg makes a perpendicular
 line with the thigh, and the ankle bent, so that the foot forms a
 right angle with the leg, each of these joints is rigid and im-
 moveable.  Such is their position when we stand; the whole
 limb forming a pillar for our  support, and no motion can
 take place but at the top or bottom, at the hip or foot.   But
 when the knee is bent, and the foot stretched out, as happens
 in  progression, the same joints are loosened, and a lateral
 motion admitted, which is useful in the direction of our steps.
 The knee is secured in its extended state,  so  necessary for
 our support, by muscles which are incomparably the strong-
 est in, the whole body; and which hold the kneepan elevated
 to the top of a pully formed in  the front of the joint.   But
 when the muscles are weak, then indeed are " the pregnant
 hinges of the knee disposed to crook," and.yield to the incumr
 bent weight.   By the same muscles we are let down easily
 into our chairs, and they are the agents which raise us up
 again.
  There are those wdio, having by habit preserved the motion
 of their joints to the greatest extent,  and of their  muscles to
 the greatest degree of action and yielding', can lower them-
 selves gradually so as to sit upon their heels.  These muscles
 therefore are employed to break our  fall, if it takes place in
 the most dangerous direction backwards.  The strong  mus-
 cles in front of the body, more potent from the lever  with
 which they operate,  being attached far before the centre of
 gravity, also concur in bringing forwards the  chest and head,
 and protecting diem  from injury.  We see children, when
 in danger of falling backwards, by these means suddenly sit
 down upon the ground.   Nature has also formed the lower
 limbs of children, whose powers are feeble and unpractised
in balancing, so short as greatly to diminish the risk of injury
from  falling.   Most young animals  are formed with short
limbs apparently for the same reason.  Such formation, how-
ever, cannot be considered as the result of necessity, for when
the mother suckles her young, whilst standing, their limbs ap-
pear of a preposterous length.  When we fall forwards, we
fall  as a quadruped stands, our outstretched arms protecting
the upper part of the body, an$ our bended knees the lower' 
 fi2CT.ni.]     PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          £,•;.

When we stand on one leg, the weight of the whole body, as
well as of those loads which it occasionally sustains, is trans-
mitted by the bones of the leg upon the arch of the foot, which
is very convex, and well adapted for its support, from whence it
is transmitted to the heel behind, and to the ends of the metatar-
sal bones which form the first joints of the toes, so that it rests
upon the ground.   Chiefly, however, the weight is supported
upon the ends of the metatarsal bones belonging to the great
and little toe, which have  a strong apparatus of muscles to
keep them steady and preserve them in their relative situation
to the heel.  Thus is our  weight supported on  an arch and
transmitted  to the ground  by a tripod : forms well known to
be best adapted for giving  support and security of position.
Nature, however, gave  us powers of grasping with our feet,
and thus further securing our position, but  these wc  in gene-
ral lose for want of using them.  They say, a Chinese will sit
perched upon a ship's boom when it swings to leeward ; and
it is recorded, that Milo could stand with one foot on a quoit,
and no man in Greece could push or pull him off.   If this be
true, he must have been not only a very strong man, but a
very heavy one, and a most expert balancer.
  The arch of the tarsus, like that of the carpus, can also re-
sist the effect of forces when applied against it sideways. \\re
can walk on the ends of the metatarsal bones, and in that
case, the short toes do but seem to increase the extent of sur-
face on which we are supported.  This security against inju-
ry in this direction, is further manifested in quadrupeds ; for
the tarsus is the structure of  the second  apparent joints, in
their pelvic or hind limbs, joints which correspond to the car-
pus in front, and.which are  usually called  the hocks. In
those animals that leap to great heights or distances, the os
calcis projects, so as to  form a most enormous lever, and we
judge of the animals powers by observing this projection.
  Such is the mechanism of our lower limbs, nor need I en-
deavour to shew its excellence, by the effects resulting from
it.  Every one knows from what heights we can leap, to what
heights we can spring, and to what distances we can bound,
without injury; as well as how swiftly we  can run, how firm-
ly we can stand, how nimbly  we can dance, and how per-
fectly we can balance  ourselves  upon the smallest  surfaces
of support. Yet there are a few circumstances, which, I think,
deserve consideration.   Gravitation seems  to  be the  chief
cause which gives fixity of position-to some parts,, and conse-
quent freedom of motion to others.   When we stand upon 
 CO          PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      Uecy. m,

 one limb, we balance our weight upon the head of the thigh
 bone, and no effort is required to maintain our position, but
 what is necessary to secure the knee and ankle joints in that
 state in which they admit of no motion.
   Thus standing,  all the other limbs are free to move, and
 can be moved with great power, because they  are connected
 to a perpendicular column which owes its stability to its great
 freight.  In the sculptured figures of the ancients, if a man is
 represented standing on one leg, he seems as firmly fixed to
 the ground as a fast-rooted tree; and  associating freedom
 and power of motion with this stability, we seem to expect
 the continuance of that action, which the figure is represented
 to have begun.  When we stand upon both  legs, we can
 transfer the weight from one to the other, with very little va-
 riation in the position of our bodies.   The oblique direction
 of the thigh bones, the consequent approximation of the knees,
 and the transmission of the weight, in a perpendicular direc-
 tion on the arch of the foot, seems to me designed to give  us,
 this facility.
  In progression, the supporting limb should be perpendicu-
 larly under the centre of gravity of the whole body, and thc-
 advancing one is brought forwards in a curvilinear direction.
 This course is the result of the rolling of the head of the thigh
 bone in its socket,  and by it the  advancing limb is brought
 forwards without striking the other, and carried to a position
in which it is more directly under the centre of gravity of the
body, when that is also brought forwards, than it would have
 been, had the limb moved in a straight line.   The free and
nrm step of the soldier is the result of the circumstances I have
 mentioned.  We are more struck and convinced of this,  by
 observing that caricature of marching which is exhibited  by
 opera dancers on the stage, for these gentry will raise the ad-
 vancing limb above a horizontal line drawn from the front of
 the pelvis, and, performing sundry  evolutions with the foot,
 will afterwards gently deposit it where it ought to be placed in
 ordinary progression:  afterwards, throwing the weight of the
 body perpendicularly upon it, they exhibit the same extrava-
 gancies with the other limb.   AH which we  deem elegant,
 because we associate the idea  of elegance with security of
 support obtained without effort.  As a contrast to such pro-
 gression as 1 have described, I request you to observe, that of
 a very fat man, who walks with his legs far apart, and you
 will see that he is obliged to shift the weight of his body from 
-lect. in.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
61
 one leg to the other, by a considerable degree of lateral mo-
 tion of the body at every step he takes.
   All the large muscles that act upon the thigh bone,  turn it,
 and consequently the whole limb outwards, so that it appears
 evidently the intention of nature, that we should walk with
 our feet slightly turned to that direction ; but I will not detain
 you,  by shewing in what various ways this position of the
 limb contributes to the facility of our motion, and the securi-
 ty of our  support.
   Yet there is one circumstance I may mention, though it re-
 lates to a subject rather curious than useful.  There appears
 amongst men, as amongst horses,  two distinct forms, one cal-
 culated for strength, the other for  speed or agility.  The for-
 mer is chiefly  characterized  in man by the shortness of the
 neck and loins, the greater proportionate breadth of the shoul-
 ders, the broad and highly arched foot, with a much project-
 ing heel.   The latter is distinguishable by  the length of the
 neck and loins, the length of the thighs, by a narrower and long-
 er foot, with a less projecting heel.   Persons of the form thai
 indicates strength are generally shorter than those of the oth-
 er figure, so that we associate an idea of the height of a person
 with his make.  This subject  was  remarked by Hogarth,
 who says, that if the figures of Quin and Garrickwerc repre-
 sented of the same size, an observer would suppose Garrick
 to have been a tall man, and Quin  a short one.  Yet the con-
 trary being the  fact, he accounts for the deception, by saying,
 that Quin was a tall man of short proportions, and Garrick k
 short man with  tall proportions.   The Farnesian Hercules
 is an admirable representation of the strong form of man, but
 no one can observe the figure without at once perceiving, that.
 it  is far better calculated for  cleansing the  Augean stables,
 than for catching the stag of CEnoe.
   Many of the bones which compose the skeleton arc con-
 nected together  without admitting of motion  upon one an-
 other; and in this case,  portions of elastic gristle  are inter-
 posed  between  them  to prevent jarring, and they are tied
 together  by  unyielding and  exceedingly  strong ligaments.
 When bones move upon one another, when a true joint is for-
med,  the corresjxmding surfaces of each bone are covered
by gristle, which is exquisitely smooth  or polished.  Be-
tween these smooth surfaces, ahquor, like the white of eggs, is
effused to prevent their adhesion, and to facilitate their motion.
The escape of this synovial liquid from the joint is prevented
|)y capsules; and the  bones are firmly tied togedier by hga 
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
[l-kct. hi.
ments of surprizing strength, which are so contrived as freely
to admit those motions that the bones are adapted for, and to
prevent any other.  All the parts composing the joints pos-
sess so little natural sensibility, that notwithstanding  the vio-
lent pressure and rapid motion they undergo, we are scarce-
ly sensible of the parts, at which such motion is effected.
  1 feel that some apology is requisite for detaining your at-
tention so long upon circumstances familiarly known, but not
in general sufficiently contemplated, which  I have been in-
duced  to do, because we are far better judges of the causes
requiring mechanism, and the effects resulting from it, than
ive are of the vital processes.  Therefore, from this  least in-
teresting part of anatomy, we derive the strongest conviction
of there being design and contrivance in the construction of
animals.  Equal evidences of design and contrivance, and of
adaptation of means to ends may be observed in the con-
struction of the frame-work, as I may call it, of other animals,
as in that  of man, which subject seems to me very happily
displayed  in Professor Cuvier's lectures.   Yet there are
some who presume to find fault  with the mechanism of the
human skeleton.  An excellent anatomist once said,  there
was not a well made joint in the whole body;  but  he  was
then talking as a carpenter, like one who had  no means of
judging of the works of nature, but by comparing them with
our own limited designs and performances.  It  was hovvev-
ever the comparing the mechanism of the hand and foot that
led Galen, who they say was a sceptic in his youth, to the pub-
lic declaration of his opinion that intelligence must have op-
erated in ordaining the laws by which living beings are con-
structed.  That Galen was a man of very  superior intellect
could be  readily proved  were it  necessary.  I have  often
known the passage I allude to, made a subject of reference,
but not of quotation, and therefore I  recite it on  the pre-
sent occasion, and particularly because it shews that Galen
was not in the least degree tinctured with superstition.   '* In
explaining these things,"  he says,  " I esteem myself as com-
posing a solemn hymn  to the great architect of our bodily
frame; in  which I think there is more true piety, than in sac-
rificing hecatombs of oxen, or in burning the most costly per-
fumes ; for 1 first endeavour, from his works, to know him
myself, and afterwards, by the same means, to shew him to
others, to inform them how great is his Wisdom, his Gooi-
juess, his Power." 
.Ilect. n.       PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.        fC

   There are, however, other structures in the body besides
 what I  have just denominated the  frame-work.   Doctor
 Hunter could never demonstrate the back part of the human
 throat, the passages by which we swallow and  respire, and
 the mechanism,  by which the extremely diversified intona-
 tions of the human voice are produced, without enthusiasm.
 Who, also, can examine the lachrymal parts of the human
 eye, without admiratioh ?  But why do we admire  these
 things .'  Is it not  because we understand them ? We  see
 the necessity for contrivances, and we find them construct-
 ed beyond our highest expectations, and  perfectly adequate
 to effect the purposes for which we believe them designed.
 The same conclusion, must, therefore, in reason, be drawn
 from the  examination of the structures  we meet with in
 living beings, as that which has been deduced from the con-
 sideration of the works of nature  in general, by the most in-
 telligent and best informed men. That what we understand,
 seems excellent in a degree far exceeding our ordinary con-
 ceptions, yet appearing more and more so in proportion as it
 is minutely examined and attentively considered ; and that
 we understand so much of the works of nature, as to warrant
 us in concluding, that we can only cease to admire, when
 we fail to understand.
                  LECTURE XV.

                    ON DIGESTION.

  THOSE  bodies which we call living, are chiefly charac
terised by their powers of converting surrounding substance*
into their own nature ; of building up the  structure of their
own bodies, and repairing the injuries they may accidentally
sustain.  They not only differ considerably from each other
.n their size  and  external form, but also in  their internal
structure. Vegetables imbibe watery fluids from the earth.
in which saline and other matters are dissolved or suspended,
and these, in the very vessels of the vegetable, become the
nap or nulrit n c fluid of the plant.  This ascends with celerity
and force; forms the  leaves, flowers, and fruit, in which it is
more particularly exposed to the influence of light, heat, an* 
64
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.     [lect. ir.
air; then returns and augments the woody stems and trunk,
impregnates them with juices which concrete ;  and eventu-
ally descends to the roots, to nourish and increase them, and
in various instances,  to  form means and  materials, for the
future production of vegetables of the same kind.
  Such is the view of the nourishmet of vegetables, exhibited
of late by Mr. Knight, in his papers published in the Philo-
sophical Transactions, and which has been drawn  from the
results of numerous well contrived  and satisfactory experi-
ments.  The ascending sap has in it no marked peculiarity,
being equally fitted to form the leaf,  the flower, and  the fruit;
for he has engrafted the stalk, upon which  each of these has
been produced, upon  the same kind of stem.  Also, by di-
viding the descending vessels, he has stopped the formation
of the parts below; and by performing this experiment in the
root, he has prevented the  growth of the potatoe, and even
caused it to  be injected from these  descending vessels by
which it is formed and supported.
  In viewing the subject, according  to this sketch, we cannot
but feel surprize, that the vessels of plants should imbibe the
raw juices of the earth,  however impregnated, and so sud-
denly convert them into sap, which is a very peculiar fluid 5
for it seems a  more wonderful kind of digestion than that
which takes place even in  the stomachs of animals.  Here,
however, the experiments of Mr. Knight seem to aid our
conceptions, by shewing, that the returning vessels impreg-
nate the plant with juices, which concrete, and are probably
dissolved in the ascending watery sap, enriching it with nour-
ishment,  and it  may be, chemically aided in its formation.
Mr.  Knight finds that the specific gravity of the wood of trees,
is diminished by the ascent of the sap.   Thus, when the
genial warmth of the spring excites  those actions which im-
bibe the juices of the earth,  and cause the ascent of the sap,
the plant seems  bursting with life and  nutriment.   The
leaves bud in every  part, and  are  formed with surprizing
celerity.   When, however, the  tree has attained its full
extent of annual growth, the returning sap is more especially
employed in storing the interstices with materials to serve for
nourishment in the succeeding spring;  and to this Mr. Knight
attributes the increased specific gravity of  wood felled in the
winter season.
  It is in the leaf, however, that  the distributed fluids of
plants seem to undergo their chief elaboration ; 'for here they
are more freely  exposed to the  influence of light, heat, and 
tncT. iv.]
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
65
air; much, also, is manifestly thrown off by perspiration; and
much is probably added, so as to render these juices compe-
tent to form, under the agency of the vital energies, that ex-
treme diversity of substances which we meet with in the leaf,
the flower, the trunk, and the roots.
   In animals, the matter by which they are nourished, is in
general taken  into a receptacle or stomach, where it un-
dergoes a process called digestion ;  and so analogous are the
functions of life in vegetables  and the lower kinds of ani-
mals, that Mr. Hunter considered  this circumstance as the
chief criterion of distinction  between the two classes.   I
believe him to have been the first person who broached and
established the now generally  received opinions respecting
digestion.   His observations and  reflections suggested to
him, that the liquors secreted  by or poured into the stomach,
had the surprizing power of dissolving the  dissimilar food by
which different animals are nourished, and of converting it
into a substance sui generis ; this  being the first and most
important step to sanguification, or its ultimate  conversion
into that nutritive fluid which is distributed to every part of
their bodies, for their formation and support.
   Mr. Hunter knew that the  gastric fluids were neither acid
nor alkaline, nor endowed with any predominant quality,
such as would induce us to suppose they had these wonder-
working powers.  He was fully apprized  of the  variety of
substances from which  different animals  thus derive their
nourishment.  He  mentions  that  the voracious  caterpillar
which eats such quantities of the leaves of plants, digests
only their juices, and voids the leaf dry, which  will after-
wards unfold itself in warm water as tea-leaves do.  He
knew that the fibrous matter of vegetables, and the husks of
^rain, are in general not susceptible of digestion by the gastric
fluids; and yet that  some  insects live upon them.   Indeed
they first pour upon the woody substance a liquor  which
dissolves it, and in this state they swallow and digest it.
  Thus  also does  that foe to literature, the book-worm,
make his way through the most massy folios, solving the
most difficult passages,  and  digesting all as he proceeds.
Indeed he pours his sauce, or  cooking liquors with such pro-
fusion, as to tinge and affect the texture of the leaves to some
Stance round  the  circumference of the  tunnel  which  he
                          10 
cc
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
[tEGT'. ir.
 makes.  Some creatures also thrive best upon  animal sub-
 stances in a disgusting and  noxious state of putrefaction.
 Therefore it is evident, that life can, by means of  the  fluids
 it prepares, convert to its own purposes substances which
 are ordinarily most innutritive or pernicious.
   Although the gastric fluids have no sensibly distinguishing
 character,yet Mr. Hunter knew that  they not only coagu-
 lated milk, but white of egg, and other nutritive  fluids; thus
 first rendering them solid, that they might be detained in the
 stomach till  they underwent  the  peculiar solution, called
 digestion.*  He knew that the gastric fluids checked and
 prevented the natural decomposition of animal and vegetable
 matter; that if putrid meat were swallowed by a hungry dog,
 it quickly lost all foetor, and that no fermentation or putrefac-
 tion of food ever takes place  in the stomachy if the gastric
juices be healthy; tlierefore it followed that  digestion  could
 not be the result of any common fermentative process.  Nay,
 he further knew that the gastric fluids sometimes dissolved
 even the stomach itself.   Mr. Hunter could not wonder that
 such an event did not more frequently take place ; for when
 persons die of disease, the gastric fluids have not for a long
 time been prepared, or they have been of an unhealthy quali-
 t*r, so that they are incompetent to  dissolve the smallest
 quantity of the most digestible food, if taken into the stomach.
 Mr. Hunter could  never wonder that the gastric fluids did
 not act upon the living stomach, for  he full well knew that
 life was a chemist which regulated  its own chemical opera-
 tions, and controlled the effect of foreign  chemical agency.
 He was, I believe, the first whojplainly told  the public, that
 chemical agents do not in general act upon living, as they do
 upon dead animal matter.  He knew that worms live in the
 stomach, and yet that a meal of dead worms would form no
 innutritive  repast to an hungry dog.  He must have known
 also that the peculiar fluid which digests the  food is  not se-
creted  at all times, but only when the stomach is excited by
the stimulus of  food, and even then but under favouring cir-
cumstances.  If in this state persons are suddenly killed by
accident, the gastric fluids will continue for some time to act,
not only upon the food, but also upon the stomach itself, so
as to form a large aperture by which the fluids escape.

  * He says he bad examined this subject, and found the  coagula-
tion to take place in the various kinds of animals, downwards  as fat
 as fish. 
 lbct iv.J      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.           C7

   Having reflected upon all these circumstances, and made
numerous experiments on the subject of digestion, we find
him afterwards employed to open the body of a patient (who
died when attended by Sir John Pringle, then President of
the Royal Society,) in which a partial  solution of the stom-
ach had taken place.  The appearance was to Sir John both
new and unaccountable;  but  when Mr. Hunter  told him
that it was not the effect of disease, but of solution by the
gastric fluids; that  he  had frequently seen it,  and  that it
made one of the reasons which induced him to believe diges-
tion to be the effect of a solution of the food by the gastric
fluid ; the president urged him  to draw  up a paper on the
subject; which was printed in the year 1772, in the G2d vol-
ume of the Philosophical Transactions.  This paper attracted
the attention of SpaJanzani and others, and led them to make
and publish  experiments  tending to demonstrate the fact,
which is thus announced in the conclusion of Mr.  Hunter's
observations ; "that digestion neither depends on mechanical
powers, nor contractions of the stomach, nor on heat;* but
on something secreted in the coats of the stomach, and thrown
into its cavity, which there assimulates the food to the nature
of the blood."
   As,  however, Mr. Hunter, in a second paperon digestion;
has published  his own commentary on the proceedings of
those,  who may be said to be  his coadjutors in the proof of
the fact, but  who might appear to himself and the  public as
competitors iu  the discovery,  I need not say any thing res-
pecting this subject. Yet there is one point which I feel it
a duty to advert to.   Mr.  Hunter, whom I should not have
believed to be very scrupulous about inflicting sufferings upon
animals,  nevertheless censures Spalanzani for the unmean-
ing repetition of similar experiments.   Having resolved pub-
licly to express my own opinions with respect to this subject,
I choose the present opportunity to do it, because I believe
Spalanzani to have  been one of those who have tortured and
destroyed animals in vain.  I do not perceive that in the two
principal subjects which he sought to elucidate, he has added
any important fact to our stock of knowledge: besides, some
of his experiments are of a nature that  a good  man would
have blushed to think  of, and a wise man would have been
ashamed to  publish; for they prove no fact requiring to be
proved, and only  show that the aforesaid Abbe  was a filthy-
minded fellow.
   * He might have substituted the word fermentation, for heat, for it
 yould more plainly have conveyed fa,is meaning. 
BS
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES,      (lect. ir.
  The design of experiments is to interrogate nature; and
surely the enquirer ought to make himself acquainted with
the Language of nature, and take care to propose pertinent
questions; he ought further to consider the probable kind of
replies that may be made to his enquiries, and the inference?
that he may be wan-anted in drawing from different res-
ponses ; so as to be able to determine whether by the  com-
mission of cruelty he is likely to obtain adequate instruction.
Indeed before we make experiments on sensitive beings, we
ought further to consider whether the information we seek
may not be  attainable  by other means.  I am aware of the
advantages which have been derived from such experiments
when made by persons of talent, and who have properly pre-
pared themselves, but I also know that these experiments
tend to harden the feelings,  which often leads to the unneces-
sary and  inconsiderate performance of them.   Surely we
should endeavour to foster, and not to stifle, benevolence,
the best sentiment of our nature,  that which is productive of
the greatest gratification and advantage both to its possessor
and to others.   Considering the professors in this place as the
organs of the court of the college; addressing its members, 1
feel that I act as becomes a senior  of this Institution,  whilst
admitting the propriety of  the practice under the foregoing
restrictions, I at the same time express an earnest hope that
the character of an English surgeon may never be tarnished
by  the commission of inconsiderate or unnecessary cruelty.
I need not,  Gentlemen, caution you, who must feel anxious
to maintain the respectability as well as the reputation of the
medical character, against publishing experiments disgust-
ing to common  decency.
  Now though Mr. Hunter clearly perceived that liquors
could be and were prepared, possessed of surprising powers
of assimilating the food to the nutritive fluids of the animal,
he  was likewise equally apprized of the  variety of means
which nature has instituted to prepare the food for digestion,
and facilitate the action of the gastric fluids.  With this in-
tention, some animals are made to grind or comminute their
food with their teeth, but this is not essential to the function
of digestion, neither does it take place in the majority of ani-
mals.   Therefore Mr. Hunter seems, in his Museum, to
have placed the teeth  amongst the weapons and instruments
which are allotted to animals.
  Many carnivorous animals,  he observes, divide their food
no  further than is  necessary to enable them to swallow it;
and all animals whose foodreouires this degree of subdivision 
lect. iv.J     PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
69
must have means to effect it.  Mr. Hunter has shown that
cuttle-fish have beaks like birds; and that worms have osseous
teeth fixed in the fleshy circles that form their  mouths.  He
has placed the  preparations which show these and similar
facts in a department of his Museum,  allotted to show pecul-
iarities belonging to individuals of any species or genus of
animals,  which  do not belong to others of  the same kind;
and  not among the preparations displaying the anatomical
facts  relating to digestion  in general.   Mr.  Hunter studied
anatomy as a physiologist, he investigated structure, in order
to understand function, and he has omitted  to record or ex-
hibit  many anatomical facts,  with which he  doubtless was
acquainted, because they did not seem to lead to a physio-
logical conclusion.
  I f erbivorous animals in  general grind their food with their
teeth ; nay, those who spend a life of leisure and repose, are
made to  ruminate or remasticate  their food, whilst other
vegetable feeders, and I may cite the horse as  a familiar in-
stance, wdiose life is probably destined to more continual ex-
ertion, do not ruminate.   The horse however has a  constant
propensity to feed, and the food passes readily  from his small
stomach;  therefore,  he would waste a great deal  of food,
had not Nature provided him with most capacious intestines,
and contrived to produce a kind of second  stomach and di-
gestion in that part of the  bowels called the intestinum cae-
cum.
  Mr. Hunter was fully  apprized that many of the insects,
of the lower kinds of animals and some fish, have teeth of
various sorts fixed in their stomachs  to divide and commi-
nute their food.  He was convinced that birds do not swallow
stones from mere stupidity as Spalanzani  supposed, but to
serve as temporary teeth, or as mill-stones to grind their food
under the operation of their powerful gizzards.  In his paper
on the stomach of the gillaroo trout, he says that, " the En-
glish  trout swallows  shell-fish, and also pretty large smooth
stones, which serve for shell-breakers."  He also says, :'the
mullet has a stronger stomach than the gillaroo trout, but that
they have neither the power, nor motion, nor horny lining of
true  gizzards."
  Gizzards, like teeth, serve to subdivide the food, and Uiere-
by increase the surface on which the gastric fluids  may act
so as to facilitate its solution.   Though birds in general have
gizzards for this purpose. Mr. Hunter knew, that those which
feed on flesh have them formed with their muscular and inter 
70           PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.     [lect. u.

nai coat so thin, as scarcely to be recognizable  for such or-
gans.  By feeding a rook with bread,  he found that the
muscular power of his stomach became much increased, and
its lining much  thickened and hardened ; a fact correspond-
ing to many other observations he had made, showing that
the vital powers could alter the organization of parts, so as to
adapt them to exigencies.
  Another mode of preparing food  for solution by the gastric
fluids, is by a kind of maceration, generally in warm and
moist places, a kind of cooking process, for which probably
the complex stomachs of ruminating and other animals are
designed.   In ruminating animals which have four stomachs,
the first or paunch,  is a reservoir from which the food is
thrown up to be remasticated ; the fourth digests the food :
but the exact function of the intermediate stomachs is un-
known.  Mr. Hunter has not omitted to display the contriv-
ance by which in the calf, the milk is made to pass directly
into the fourth  stomach for  digestion, without entering the
others.  The crops of birds  and various other animals are
also to  be considered as  macerating  pouches, and which
gradually supply materials for the operation of the gizzard.
Their contents are likewise sometimes regurgitated, for thus
does the bee store its cell  with honey, and some birds  ieed
their young.
  Mr. Hunter was fully apprised that many of the insects,
and of the  lower kinds of animals have complex stomachs,
crops,  and gizzards;  and he  has shown these  facts among
the peculiarities to which I have already referred.
  That digestion, or the solution of the  food by the gastric
fluids, takes place in some particular district, and not  else-
where, is, Air.  Hunter says, to be inferred, from observing
that in fish and serpents, which swallow more  prey at  once
than the stomach can contain, that portion of their food only,
which is in the  stomach, is dissolved, whilst that which is in
the gullet undergoes no such change.   Also, from observing
thatthe yolk of the egg, which is conveyed into the intestines
of the chicken, ascends into the  stomach before it can be di-
gested, Mr. Hunter was fully apprized, that parts of a single
stomach might secrete the solvent liquors, and not the whole
bag.  He observes, that part of the stomach in several ani-
mals, is covered by cuticle, like the first, second,  and  third
stomachs of those which ruminate.  This occurs in the pec-
cari, hog, rat, and horse.  The fact of digestion occurring
partially in the stomach, he says,  is also evident in that of a 
 lect. it.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          j j

 dog, into which a large piece of meat has been swallowed at
 once.  Towards the great end, the food will be found but
 little altered, towards the middle more, and towards the py-
 lorus it will be similar to that which is found in the duode-
 num.   Mr.  Hunter was apprized, that the duodenum in
 some animals, might l>e considered as serving to digest the
 food; for it is formed of considerable capacity, resembling  a
 stomach, and is chiefly recognized by anatomists as that in-
 testine, in consequence of the biliary and pancreatic ducts
 terminating in it.  He also perceived, that when the pylorus
 is not detentive, the gastric fluids might flow into the duode-
 num, and there complete the process of digestion.
   The solvent liquors are secreted from the lining of the
 stomach, or sometimes poured into it from glands situated at
 its upper opening.   The latter is commonly found in  birds,
 because the lining of their stomachs is formed for trituration,
 and consequently not for secretion.  Yet the same kind of
 structure is met with in  other  animals,  and even among
 quadrupeds as in the beaver.  According to Mr. Hunter's no-
 tions of secretion, it must  have appeared to him a subject of
 no importance whether the  gastric liquor was secreted by
 particular glands or otherwise ; for secretion  is an universal
 function, and can take place as well from surfaces as glands.
 He  was indeed anxious to note every variety of structure.
 and, as I believe, also in order to observe whether any thing
 could be found contradictory to his opinion that the several
 vital functions  were the result  of the actions of a principle
 distinct from the organization in which it adhered.
   It must surely be curious and interesting to all, to be in-
 formed, that his opinions respecting secretion, opinions at. the
 time which seemed almost inexpressible  to himself,  and in
 comprehensible to others,  have been most perfectly verified
 by experiments subsequently made with a view to determine
 facts relative to digestion.   Mr.  Hunter thought that a sub-
 tle principle of life  was diffused throughout the body, that it
 inhered in  the solids, and was the cause of their different vi-
tal affections; that it pervaded certain fluids, which it could
either modify, decompose, or recombine,  and thus produce
the extreme variety of new substances, that may and do re-
sult  from one  kind  of nutritive and universally  distributed
fluid.  He had no mode to express the idea;  nor could any-
one discover a better than by  saying, that specific and pecu-
liar actions will produce specific and peculiar secretions.   I
v>ave already told you, Gentlemen,  how these terms wei^ 
7-2           PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES       LtEcr. in

cavilled at.   Mr.  Hunter thought, that the vital  principle
was particularly accumulated in the brain, in those animals
which possessed such an organ, and that it seemed in them a
kind of source of vital energies, and that the nerves were in-
ternunciate chords, by which the affections of life were re-
ciprocally communicated.  The verification of Mr. Hunter's
opinions must interest all, because they show how justly we
may infer causes, by the industrio is observation, and patient
and accurate contemplation of effects ; and therefore the
result is creditable to human intellect, and gives us confidence
in 'other opinions  which are thus deduced.  1 shall briefly
relate the experiments to which I have just alluded.
  Doctor Haighton, after having fed a hungry clog  whose
stomach was  empty, with flesh meat, divides the eighth pair
of nerves which go from the brain,  to  be distributed to the
stomach, and thus prevents or disturbs those vital actions,
which are necessary to the preparation  of the gastric fluid.
Consequently, when after many hours,  he kills  the dog, he
finds the  food in the stomach perfectly undigested, and but
little changed.  He perforins a similar experiment, but only
divides one of the nerves of the eighth pair, and the dog be-
comes dyspeptic, having eructations and manifest uneasiness
about the stomach; which symptoms continue  for several
weeks: and though the dog eats the food which is given to
him, he becomes much emaciated, yet gradually recovers, as
the divided nerve re-unites and resumes its functions.  In like
manner, Mr. Brodie having observed, that the administration
of arsenic was  uniformly followed by profuse secretion of
mucus and watery liquors  into the stomach,  divides the
nerves of the  eighth pair in dogs, and then administers the
poison, but no secretions  are afterwaids  effused into the
stomach.*
  Professor Harwood of Cambridge gives to two dogs, equal
in age, health, and appetite, equal quantities of flesh meat.
They were pointers : and he suffers one  of the dogs to do
what nature indicated to be favourable to digestion, to lie
down by  the fire and go to sleep ; but he entices the other into
the fields, and causes him to hunt about for game.  After some
hours he kills  both dogs, and finds the food in the stomach of
the dog which had been kept in constant exercise, undigested
and but little changed ; whilst in the other it had, in the same
time, not only been digested by the stomach, but converted
•  Philos. Trans 1014. 
■*Axt. iv.]     PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURE^.           : ;

into chyle by the intestines, and was rapidly passing through
their absorbent vessels in the high road to the sanguiferous
system.
  No one is disposed to doubt  the results of these experi-
ments, for every one is more or less convinced, by his own
feelings, that affections of the mind, and bodily exertion, will,
by disturbing or otherwise occupying the nervous energies,
diminish or prevent appetite  and digestion.
  The pylorus, or opening by which the stomach communi-
cates with the intestinal tube, is variously formed in different
animals, allowing or preventing, in various degrees, the tran-
sit of alimentary matter.  Ih the human stomach it is a small
circular and muscular aperture, admitting of occasional dila-
tation, so as sometimes to give passage to a body of the diame-
ter of half a  crown, yet ordinarily so contracted as to  detain
even fluids in the cavity of the stomach ; else how could wc
distend it with liquors as we sometimes do.   It may be useful
to mention a case which serves to illustrate the degree in
which such detention may occasionally occur.  A miserable
woman took opium during the  night in St. Bartholomew's
Hospital in  order to destroy herself, and before she was no-
ticed next morning her purpose was nearly accomplished.
With scarcely  any hopes, I injected into her stomach,  by
means of a varnished catheter introduced down the oesopha-
gus from the right nostril, some lemonade, to which cordials
and a solution of sulphate of zinc were added, in hopes  of ex
citing the stomach and provoking it to vomit.   Having  inject-
ed in repeated doses what appeared to me to be a fully suffi-
cient quantity,  and waited till no hopes of success remained,
[ left the room.   Some of the students, however, knowing the
ease to be desperate, injected more of the liquor, and when
the  body was afterwards examined, the stomach and gullet
were found filled and distended up to the throat; nay, asmall
quantity of the liquor had actually overflowed the rima glot-
ridis, and descended by the windpipe into the lungs.  On the
'.■ontrary, however, the pylorus in the horse gives  ready pas-
sage to liquids,  and even to the fibrous part of the food.
  That animal will drink at once three or four  times more
water than  his stomach can contain,  which passes rapidly
through his intestines till it arrives at  his capacious caecum,
where it lodges.
   He continues to eat in like manner, and the surplus  of food
must readily pass through the pylorus before it has been cora-
pletelv digested;  on which account he would wnste a great
                           I1 
74
PH v'SIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
Llect. IV:
 deal of food, had not nature contrived to produce a kind of
 second stomach and digestion in that part of the bowels call-
 ed the intestinum caecum.  Mr. Coleman, professor  at  the
 veterinary college, suffered a  thirsty horse, which was to be
 killed, to drink as much water as he chose, and after  six
 minutes, the alimentary canal being examined, it was found
 that the water had passed from the stomach through the small
 intestines, a distance of sixty feet,  and was collected  in the
 caecum.  Mr. Coleman supposes that nature has allotted to
 the horse but a small stomach, that the food mii;lit not,  by
 being accumulated, impede the action of the diaphragm, and
 affect that free respiration which his speed of progression re-
 quires.
   Having shown what  Mr. Hunter knew and thought with
 respect to digestion, as carried on in cavities allotted for that
 purpose, it  is proper to add,  he was fully apprized that the
 same process could take place without the preparation and
 aid of solvent liquors.
   Both analogy and observation warrant the supposition, that.
 some animals have no digestive organs, and that their vessels,
 like those of vegetables, imbibe and distribute what becomes
 nutritious in the vessels themselves.   No one has, I believe,
 seen digestive organs in  the tenia; from various apertures we
 are able to inject different  kind of vessels, so that this animal
 appears to be very vascular in every part, which is, 1 believe,
 as much as is known respecting its anatomy-   In the  fluke,
 also,  whose food is gall,  and which lives and multiplies in the
 biliary ducts of sheep, we see the gall imbibed from an orifice
 into a vessel which sends off branches to all parts of the ani-
 mal, apparently becoming its distributive or nutrient vessel.
 If this be true, bile, which is formed from  the  blood  of the
 sheep, is reconverted into the blood of the fluke,  and  forms-
 the fleshy substance of this animal.   It was one of the distin-
 guishing characters, and greatest perplexities  of Mr.  Hun-
 ter's  Physiology, that he asserted vessels could modify their
 contents, so that a kind of digestion may be said to take place
 every where by the immediate action of the vital powers.
 The structure of the last mentioned animals, as far as it is
known, is  exhibited in the collection -,  and the preparations
 were  given to Mr. Hunter by Mr. Carlisle, who made  them
whilst a student.
  The hydatid seems to be nourished in like manner.   Anal-
ogy would induce us to  believe that it was nourished, like
vegetables, by absorption from without.  Of.its organization 
 :.v.cr. iv.]     PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          7:

 how ever, we are perfectly ignorant, for no evident structure
 can be discerned, even by the aid of the microscope.  These
 animalcules are found in the natural cavities, or in those
 formed in consequence of disease, in the bodies of other ani-
 mals.  We meet with them in the abdomen, in bursas muco-
 <ii', and in cysts in the brain, liver, and other organs.  The
 form of one species is a globular or oval bag, which has an
 undulatory motion,  when  put  into tepid water.   The bag
 contains a transparent fluid.  Young hydatids form upon the
 bag,  are detached when very small, float about in the liquor
 of the cavities in which they dwell,  to grow and  to multiply
 as their parents have done.  Now, in a physiological point of
 view, we must consider hydatids to be nourished  by  absorp-
 tion from without, or suppose the bag to be a digesting cavity,
 though no aperture is discernible.  In the-department of the
 Museum allotted to display the structure of the digestive or-
 gans, Mr. Hunter has first, put up  some hydatids,  as if  to
 mark the uncertainty of our knowledge with regard to the
 nourishment of this and some other animals.
   With such exceptions, all other animals  have  a digesting
 cavity, and the lowest orders appear to have no other organs,
 the whole interior being stomach, and the whole animal form-
 ing only  the walls by which it is surrounded and  supported,
 as is  exemplified in actinias and medusa'.   Mr.  Hunter,  in
 his MS. of the year 1776,  writes as follows:  '• The appara-
 tus necessary for digestion is as simple as any tiling wc can
 well conceive.   Jt only requires a bag or cavity fit to contain
 the substance to be digested, joined with the power of furnish-
 ing the fluid capable of digesting the said substance.  It  is
 therefore to be considered as a gland and a cavity.   Indeed,
 it  is necessary, that another apparatus  should be added; a
 system for absorbing the digested food and nourishing the bag,
 as well as preparing the fluid it  secretes."   Before this time,
 Mr. Hunter had injected the vessels of medusas from the
 stomach with coloured glue, and their distribution is particu-
 larly beautiful.   He was well acquainted with the fact that
 fluids may be imbibed from  various apertures in the branches
 or members of these animals, and conveyed through tubes in-
 to a common cavity, which I merely mention to show that he
 was acquainted with that form of animal called rhizostomeor
-root-mouthed.
   \s an evidence of an animal  being little else than  a stom-
 ach,  Mr.  Hunter has exhibited a specimen of the  actinia
 pssociata.   The mouth, which  is surrounded  by  tentacular 
 76           PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURER.      ttEcr. i\

 leads into a cavity,  like the finger of a glove, the animal be-
 ing no more than the substance which forms the walls of this
 cavity.  Mr.  Hunter, in his MS. proceeds to say,  ''that in
 some animals the  stomach has but one aperture, serving
 equally to receive the food, and reject its residue.  In others
 a distinct aperture is allotted for each of these functions.  As
 the digestive organs become complicated,  we find the stom-
 ach or digesting cavity has added to it an intestinal  tube, in
 which the food undergoes still further changes;  pjid this tube
 is also subdivided into two parts, and different functions are
 allotted to each.  Glandular structures are also added, which
 prepare fluids subservient to the functions of the intestinal
 canal."
   In the small intestines, the food is converted,  in the higher
 order of animals,  into chyle, which is a fluid very much re-
 sembling blood, and chiefly differing from it in its colour; so
 speedily and so nearly is the ultimate object of sanguification
 accomplished.   The effect produced on the food in the intes-
 tines will be in proportion to the secreting surface of the c^-
 nal, which pours on it peculiar liquors, and to the duration
 of its stay in the bowels.   These objects are accomplished
 by the length and convoluted form of the canal; by its lining
 projecting and being formed into  plaits, cither transverse,
 longitudinal, spiral, or reticulated; by the formation of smaller
 fossae or larger sacculi.   Every variety in the animals here-
 after mentioned is displayed,  and so beautifully are the pre-
 parations injected, and so neatly put up, that these objects,
 which we generally view with disgust,  attract the attention
 of strangers, who regard them as the most beautiful prepara-
 tions in the whole collection.   It is nearly at the commence-
 ment of the intestinal tube, that  the  bile  and pancreatic
 liquors are poured into it.   Mr. Hunter, in his paper on diges-
 tion,  says "it appears from  many  experiments,  that the
 digested or animalized part, when carried into the intestine,
 clings  to the internal coat,  as if entangled among  the villi;
 whilst the excrementitious part and bile are found lying un-
 connected, in the gut, and as if  separated from the other."
 This  fact was more fully explained, and  also exhibited in
 this theatre, by Mr.  Astley Cooper,  when he held the office
 of professor of Anatomy and  Surgery to the College.  He
 told us, that the gastric juices first dissolved that food which
 was most susceptible of digestion, thus affording an argument
against much variety of viands;  that the substance dissolved
was discoverable in the solvent, and gave a character to th§ 
 lect.  iv.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          7;

 solution ; thus the chyle prepared  from animal or vegetable
 substances partook of the nature of such substances, and if
 dried  and  burned, emitted the same odour,  and produced
 similar results to those which occur from the decomposition
 of the same substances before they have undergone such so-
 lution.  Nay, he told us further, that the chyle formed from
 animal matter rapidly putrefied, whilst that  prepared from
 vegetables wTas slow in undergoing a similar change.  As an
 abundance of nitrogen seems to be the  base  of animal sub-
 stances, so its disposition to combine with hydrogen,  and
 to form ammonia,  seems readily  to  break  up the  general
 bond of union of the parts forming the compound.  Whilst
 engaged in examining the ehyle, he also examined the lymph
 which the absorbent vessels contain, and his chemical friends.
 who were  men of great knowledge and ability, report,  that
 it is in all respects like the blood, except that it wants the
 globular particles and colour of that fluid, a proof that these
 vessels, as well as others, modify their contents, which is a
 physiological subject I shall subsequently have to discuss.
   Mr. Cooper showed us how firm a substance the digested
 aliment had become,  and how tenaciously it  adhered to the
 villous surface or lining of the intestines, so that  it might be
 mistaken for a part of that surface;  and how turgid the ves-
 sels of the intestines appeared when the chyle  was separated
 from their villous coat,  the whole surface appearing as if
 highly  inflamed or subtilcly injected.  This he attributed to
 the digested aliment having acquired, in consequence of un-
 dergoing the process of digestion, the property which is char-
 acteristic of the blood; that of spontaneous coagulation, so
 as to become solid and tough, in which state the coagulum
 of either may firmly adhere to the surface with which it hap-
 pens to be iu  contact.
  The gastric fluids are detained in the stomach, and there-
 fore not wasted, and the last mentioned  circumstance inter-
 ested me, because it showed how the succus intestinalis is
 prevented from being wasted, and its action confined to that
 substance which it is designed to convert into chyle, whilst
 the excrementitious matter alone remains loose in the calibre
 of the intestines, and at liberty to be urged on by their peri-
staltic  actions.  Nay, Mr. Cooper further showed  us that
the same circumstances also obtained in the large intestines,
 that portion of the alimentary matter which could be modified
and rendered meet  for absorption, acquiring an adhesive
property and  clinging to the surface,  which accomplished
 these purposes. 
 78           PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.     [i:..;».  iv

   It is vv ell known that a great and sudden change is wrought
 in the contents of the alimentary  canal,  immediately on its
 transit from the small into the large intestines, that a valve
 is formed to prevent any communication between them in a
 retrograde course;  that the commencement of the large  in-
 testines, usually called the caecum, is in herbivorous animals
 particularly capacious, and apparently calculated for  detain-
 ing the alimentary matter; and in  some,  as  in the horse.
 this portion  of the  alimentary canal is of surprising  magni-
 tude ; that the extent of surface of the  liniug of the large  in-
 testines is much more ample in herbivorous than in carnivo-
 rous animals.   So that from these and  other observations, it
 is believed thatthe residue of the alimentary matter undergoes
 a great change in them, produced by the qualities  of the li-
 quors they secrete, and that this change prevents a spontane-
 ous chemical decomposition of the  contents, and conduces
 to the extraction of whatever may be useful from the residue
 of the food.   But I shall not detain your attention on f his sub-
 ject,  because I have already briefly expressed my opinions
 respecting it.   I omit many things,  for 1  only attempt to ex-
 plain what 1 believe were Mr. Hunter's  opinions on certain
 points in physiology.  Sir E. Home has already told us how
 industriously he noted the varieties  of the  formation of this
 part of the alimentary canal in different animals.
   Though I must not proceed to describe in detail the facts
 which Air. Hunter exhibits, with respect to the structure of
 the digestive organs of different animals,  yet I shall mention
 in what variety they are displayed, because  it will show you
 ■in some degree, the extent of his researches in Comparative
 Anatomy; and also, because you will find the other vital or-
 gans, provided they aelmit of it, exhibited in the same ani-
 mals, in  all the different departments  of the Museum.   A
 great number of other animals will, however,  be  found  in
 other departments, which are not included in this, for tliough
 such  animals may exhibit interesting varieties in other vital
 organs, they contain  no remarkable  peculiarity in those con-
 cerned in  digestion.  Mr.  Hunter examined the structure ol
 echini, Crustacea,  and some molusca with particular atten-
 tion, and  caused drawings of exquisite beauty to.be made ot
 them.  I  take this opportunity to show you some  of these
(drawings, and  to inform  you that  there are probably one
 thousand  of them belonging to the collection.  Mr. Hunter
 was particularly fond of drawings and paintings, and conse-
 quently rather fastidious as to the representations given of the 
 .'.E«r iv.]       PHYSIOLOeiCAL LECTURES.            70

objects in which he took so great an interest.  There was no
poor artist of talent in this town, that he did not befriend to
the utmost of his power.   Every man of genius was, indeed,
his brother,  and he felt a fraternal interest in his success.
    Mr.  Hunter has shown,  in his Museum, the digestive
  cavities amongst—

                          ZOOPHYTES.
    In polypes, actinia, zoanthus, and medusae.

                        ECHINODERMATA.
   Various echini,  asteriades, holothuriae, and sipunculus nudus.

                            insects.
   Gryllus cristatus, gryllo-talpa, ceshna, musca tenax (Lin.), cicada.
  sees, beetles, silk-worm, termites.

                          CRUSTACEA.
   Crabs, lobsters, and cray-fish.

                            VERMES.
   Aphrodita  aculeata,  amphinome,  nereis, terebella, lumbricas te'
  restris, hirudo.

                animals  inhabiting others.
   Hydatigena, tamia, ascaris, echinorhynchi.

                           molusca.
   Sepia officinalis, loligo, octopus,  lepas aurita, and  others.  Core-
 nula diadema, chiton, haliotis, doris, clio, bulla aperta, chama, pec-
 ten, mya, teredo navalis, ascidia intestinalis, clavata, salpa.

                             fish.
   Skate, torpedo,  sturgeon,  various  sharks, tetraodon,  lamprey.
 annarrhichas, (gillaroo trout), mullet.

                          REPTILES.
  Testudo, lacerta agilis-, gecko, alligator, rana, siren, lacertina.

                            BIRDS.
  Swan,  common pigeon,  crowned pigeon,  ostrich,  cassowary oi
New South Wales, East Indian bittern, Solan goose, pelican, turkey,
 raven, rook,  crow, and gull.

                          MAMMALIA.
  Man,  dog,  lion,  beaver,  porcupine, hare,  rat, ant-eater, mani.v
opo.^um,  wombat,  ornithorynchus, sloth, bear, peccari, hog, guine:-.-
T>i?, olf. goat, flk.  deer, ramrl,  hrr-o  rariotis cetac^. 
30           PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      [lsct. v



                  LECTURE V.

            ON THE ABSORBING VESSELS.

   NEXT to the organs which  digest the food,  there are
displayed in the Museum those vessels Which imbibe it from
the bowels, and convey it, in the higher classes of animals,
into the sanguiferous system.
  Mr.  Hunter, having convinced himself by observations
and experiments which are published, that these vessels are
the only ones which perform the  function of absorption, at-
tributed the removal of every thing in the interior of the  body
to these minute, highly susceptible, but undiscernible agents.
Believing that secretion or deposition was a process  very
generally going on throughout the body, he used to call the
absorbents, the  modelling vessels, from  perceiving  that  if se-
crction exceeded absorption in any part, increase of bulk and
deformity  would ensue.  He was led on by degrees to be-
lieve, that these vessels, acting in excess, took away the very
substance of which parts or organs were composed, so  as to
create  large  chasms in them.   Seeing what things  were
done, and under what circumstances they took place, he was
led to advert to the causes which excite or diminish the ac-
tions of these wonder-working vessels; but the advantages
we have derived, in the practice of our profession, from the
researches  of Mr. Hunter with respect  to this subject,  have
already been  the theme of several lectures which 1 have had
the honour of delivering in this theatre.
   When his opinions on the functions of the absorbents  were
first  promulgated,  they appeared to others, not merely  wild,
but absolutely incredible; and when he was asked, how he
could suppose it possible for these vessels to do such things
as he attributed to them; he answered, nay, I know not, un-
less they possess powers similar to those which a caterpillar
exerts, when feeding on a leaf.   I  relate  this  anecdote,
merely to show that Mr. Hunter was one of those who could
believe there must be means adequate to produce effects,
though they were undiscoverable by our senses.  If is inter-
esting to know how generally opinions, which he first broach-
ed and established respecting the absorbents, are now received
and  adopted; for it is a striking proof of the facility and  firm-
ness with which we believe what is probable, when we have 
  Ltur. v.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL  LECTURES.           a\

  no motive for contesting or denying it.  All seem convinced
  of things scarcely explicable without  requiring  that kind of
  proof which some are accustomed to demand on other occa-
  sions.
    The first preparation which Mr. Hunter has put up in this
  department  of his collection is a common hyacinth root;
  which 1 cannot believe exhibits any thing more than may be
  observed with a glance of the eye, in the windows of our
  houses,  during the spring season.   We see the succulent
  roots descending from the tuber, and the leaves beginning to
  bud.  1 cannot believe that Mr. Hunter, or others, have ever
  seen the minute absorbing vessels which must,  nevertheless,
  exist in these roots, consequently, I conclude that he exhibit-
  ed this preparation merely as an argument;  as if he had said,
  you must grant me that there are vessels to imbibe the juices
  of the earth which afterwards become the sap or  nutritive
  fluid of the plant; and I am convinced there are similar ves-
  sels to perform a similar function in all parts of animal bodies.
  .After having been teased and perplexed by sceptics, he could
 only reply from analogy, and therefore, I suppose he put up
 this root,  which though it shews little  to the eye of sense, he
 thought might demonstrate much to the eye of reason.
   Mr. Hunter, however, has exhibited in this department of
 his Museum, many specimens of what may be considered as
 the trunks of these undemonstrably minute vessels.  He also
 injected them in whales, to show their analogy to those found
 in other mammalia, and that they were very minute vessels,
 even in such monstrous animals.
   I was acquainted with Mr.  Hunter at a period of his life
 when he must have greatly interested any one, who  duly ap-
 preciated the results of his talents and labours, or who had any
 sympathy for the highly susceptible mind of genius, rendered
 still more so by excess of exertion, and  the perturbed feelings
 incident to bodily disease.  He seemed to me conscious of his
 own desert, of the insufficiency and uncertainty of his acquire-
 ments, and of his own  inability readily  to communicate what
 he knew and  thought.   He felt irritated by the opposition he
 had met with in establishing his opinions; and still  more by
finding, when lie had  surmounted this  difficulty,  that those
opinions were, by the malice of mankind, ascribed to others.
All which, 1 think, may be fairly inferred from a single sen-
tence he one day addressed to me:  " I know, 1 know," said
he, " I am but a pigmy in knowledge; yet I feel as a giant,
when compared with these men."   It interested me to find 
 $2            PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      Llect. t.

 amongst the manuscripts to which I so frequently refer, a long
 extract from a French author, who was said to have taught
 the same opinions relative to absorption before him.   Mr-
 Hunter has made his own commentary upon several of the
 passages, and as it seemed to him that by nothing short of a
 new construction of  words and sentences could any resem-
 blance of opinions be made to appear, he was induced to add,
 "This reminds me of a dispute that took place between a.
 zealous convert to the Newtonian philosophy, and a Hutch-
 insonian, in which the latter having, by garbling and transpos-
 ing certain  passages from the  Scriptures, seemingly made
 good a very absurd proposition; the latter retorted,  Yea but
 it is also written,  Judas went out and hanged himself; more-
 over it is added,  Go  thou and do  likewise."   Those  who
 were acquainted with Mr. Hunter,  know full well that he
 had a great deal of drollery in his composition.
  No one can read Mr. Hunter's works without being con-
vinced that he was a man of perfect candour ami scrupulous
 veracity.  Such a character must be its best biographer, and
 I am much gratified that he has, to a  certain extent,  pub-
 lished his own account  of  his  deeds  and designs.    The
first editor of the European Magazine, printed in 1782, was
well acquainted with Doctor Hunter and his brother, and be-
ing desirous of giving, in that work, an account of the distin-
guished schools of science both at home and abroad, he began
with the lectures of these brothers.  That the account and
anecdotes of Mr; Hunter are genuine,  the editor has given
me the most positive assurance, adding,  " I received the ma-
terials from his own hand."   Here John Hunter speaks for
himself, but is made to tell his story with simplicity and effect,
 by the friendly aid of the then editor* of the magazine. That
Mr. Hunter acquired the best physiological knowledge of the
dme from his brother's lectures cannot  be doubted, but he
was  not satisfied  without examining facts for himself and
forming his own opinions. Therefore we find Mr. Hunter as-
serting that all this kind  of knowledge had been the result of
his own personal observations and reflections ; he does  not
say that his opinions are new, but only  that they are new to

  * Mr. Perry, now editor  of the Morning Chronicle,  who superin-
tended the publication of the European Magazine at its commence-
ment, though but for a very short time.  I have annexed his account
of Mr. Hunter, to this publication, because it is brief ; and it must, I
think, be interesting to all  to be informed what were the intentions
and objects of Mr.  Hunter,  in his  lectures and labours. 
 i.ect. v.|     PITYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.           83

him.  It was the malicious transfer of his facts and opinions
to others,  which, as 1 believe, first induced him to read, or
rather to get books read to him ; and we find him in every in-
stance candidly acknowledging the claims and merits of his
predecessors, whenever he discovered them.
 ON THE ORGANS FOR THE DISTRIBUTION OF NOUR
                       ISHMENT.

   It has been already remarked, that in  some minute, and
 even vivacious animals, no organization is discernible, and
 therefore nothing can be known in them, respecting the sub-
 ject now under consideration.
   There seems,  however, to be a veiy exact  coincidence of
 opinion bet ween Hunter and Cuvier, as to the structure of
 the fresh-water polypes, (as they are called,) the hydra of Lin-
 naeus.  Professor Cuvier believes,  that polypes are formed of
 a  pulpy  substance, having pores that imbibe nourishment,
 which becomes arranged so as to constitute their bodies, and
 to produce their shoots, or offspring.   Mr. Hunter says, " I
 have an idea that some animals  absorb their nourishment
 similar to a sponge, and dispose of it immediately to their owe
 increase."
   To me, however, who confide more in the  eye  of reason.
 than in that of sense, and would  rather form opinions from
 analogy, than from the imperfect evidence of sight,  it seems
 too hasty an inference to conclude, that in the minute ani-
 mals, there are no vessels nor other organization because we
 cannot see them ; or that polypes are  actually devoid of ves-
 sels, and merely of the structure described, because we can
discern no other.  Were it, however, really  so, such facts
 would then only  show with how little, and with what various
 organization life  could accomplish its principal functions of
 assimilation, formation, and multiplication.   Who has seen
 the multitudinous, distributive, and absorbing  vessels, and all
 the other organization which doubtless exist  in the vitreous
 humour of the eye, than which no glass ever  appeared more
transparent  or more  seemingly inorganic ? How strange b
it,  that anatomists, above all others of the members of the
community of science, should hesitate to admit the existence
of what  they cannot discern, since they,  more than all the
rest, have such constant assurance of the imperfection and
fallibility of sight? 
84
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES'.
[leci. V
  Amongst  the zoophytes, Professor Cuvier says, that in
medusa? and similar animals,  vessels arise from their digest-
ive cavities,  which do not return, but exhaust their contents
in deposition, effusion, and transpiration.  It is ascertained
that Air. Hunter injected the vessels of medusa? from the di-
gestive cavity, in some of the specimens preserved in the Mu-
seum in the year 1779, and these vessels appear beautifully
distributed throughout the substance of the animal, frequent-
ly communicating like the threads of network.  In animals
thus nourished,  in which there is no circulation, there can be
no distinct respiratory organs; neither do they want them,
for their blood or nutritive fluid is every where  exposed to
circumambient  air.
  In the animals included in the class of vermes, according
to the arrangement in Professor Cuvier's lectures, many of
which have  red blood, and therefore its motion is more appa-
rent, we meet with the first generally acknowledged instance
of circulation.   They have a dorsal vessel running the whole
length of the animal, which is large in the middle, and be-
comes  gradually smaller towards either end.   Sometimes
there are dilatations in it, causing it to appear as if  varicose ;
and there are lateral dilatations which may be considered as
hearts; or the whole tube may be regarded as the heart of
the animal.  This vessel is displayed  in the Museum in the
common earth-worm. The animals of this class have in gen-
eral large vessels on each side  lying in contact with the air-
vesicles or lungs, which arc considered as the venous trunks
returning the blood to the dorsal vessel.  They are exhibited
in the Museum injected in the leech.   Mr.  Hunter says,
" they are the vena? cava?, or great returning veins of the body,
and also the pulmonary veins  ; for in them the blood is aera-
ted."   His mode of expressing this two-fold office, is by say-
ing, " such veins are both corporeal and pulmonary."
  It must be exceedingly  difficult to inject  the vessels of
vermes, so as to display their communications ; nor do 1 find
that Mr. Hunter has made any preparations to demonstrate
the various branches of the dorsal vessel or its returningveins.
What is asserted in general with respect to this subject, has,
I believe, been chiefly discovered by observations made with
the microscope on those animals when living.  Mr. Hunter;
in expressing his observations on the manner in which the
body is supplied from the dorsal vessel in these animals, says,
they have not one aorta or distributive trunk, but many aorta\
Prolebsor Cuvier, in his account of the organs for the distribu 
lect. v.]       PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
85
  lion of nourishment in the class of vermes, principally ap-
  peals to the evidence of  what may be seen in the arenicola,
  or lumbricus marinus of  Linnams.  Sir Everard Home, be-
  ing particularly desirous of examining the  circulation in this
  animal, on account of its having external branchia?, sent for
  Air. Clift to the coast of  Sussex for this purpose ; and  their
  conjoint observations on the vessels and  circulation in this
  and other vermes, are printed in the Philosophical Transac-
  tions for 1016.
   That Mr. Hunter was as  well acquainted with the cir-
  culation in animals of the worm kind, as any of his succes-
  sors, is, 1 think,  evident from his writings.   He says, ''they
  have (ho most simple kind of circulation, which is, when the
  blood,  propelled by the heart,  becomes aerated in its circu-
 lating passage."   He also says, the motion of the blood is a
 kind of undulation ; which phrase, though not sufficiently ex-
 planatory, must, 1 think,  principally have been suggested bv
 what is observable in animals of this class.   1 am, however,
 aware that the motion of the blood in the vessels of the chicken
 and its appendages before they are conjoined, and a circula-
 tory  motion consequently established, might have suggested
 the  same  expression.  In worms, we see the dorsal vessel
 pretty suddenly filling, till it is distended with blood; it  then
 contracts, urging on its contents, till it is empty,  when,  after
 a time, it  is again replenished.  Thus wave follows wave,
 but the  cause of this interrupted, or seeming undulatory mo-
 tion,  has not perhaps been fully explained.  Analogy would
 induce  us to consider the systole and diastole of the dorsal
 vessel, as  similar to  what  is  observed in the heart of the
 higher classes of animals,  and that the tardiness of the circu-
 lation is the cause of this apparently undulatory motion.
   The spiracula or trachae in the sides of worms terminate
 in vesicles, which are considered as theirrlungs.   They are
 numerous and distinct,  situated all  along tie sides of the ani-
 mal  in contact with the lateral blood-vessels.  These  air-
 vesicles, or lungs of worms, are exhibited by beautiful prepar-
 ations in the Hunterian Collection;  and in some instances,
 vesicles are also shown in  the back of the animal.
   It is  scarcely credible  with  what patience Mr. Huntei
 examined the structure of the lower kinds of animals.  He
 contrived spectacles with  glasses of different degrees of mag-
 nifying power, so that by  a slight alteration of the position of
 his head, he could look through the one or the other.   Mr.
t lift tells me. he would stand for hours motionless as a statuej, 
■0
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
[lect. y.
 except that with a pair of forceps in either hand he was
 picking asunder the connecting fibres of the vessels of parts,
 till he had unravelled the whole  structure.  Thus did  he
 make the preparations of the amphinome flava, and aphrodita
 aculeata, which you will find in the Museum.   In the form-
 er, he thought he had  distinctly  traced numerous minute
 vessels, which he considered as absorbents, extending from
 the bowels, laterally, nearly the whole length of the animal.
 and terminating in  small  vesicles,  which lie in contact with
 the respiratory organs.   In the former he  found numerou
 minute tubes continued from the intestines, which are of con-
 siderable  length, and which, after ramifying towards their
 extremities, terminate in little oval cells or caxa. which are
 lodged in the sides of the animal, in contact with the puh.io
 nary  vcsieh-•«.
   There are different preparations of these  parts in the Mu-
 seum, and when the intestines happen to contain a whitish
 substance, it is also seen in  the tubes and cellv, when the
 bowels contain a blackish matter, it is likewise found in these
 appendages.  What Mr. Hunter thought respecting this
 subject is not known.  Such tubes  may be considered either
 as terminating in the intestines, or proceeding from them.
   In  order to attempt the investigation of this subject, I re-
 quested Mr. Clift to inject the alimentary canal of the aphro-
 dita with  fine injection,  and it passed into  these numerous
 tubes, and caeca, all of which  are fully distended; but we
 cannot observe that the injection has gone further.   1  show
 you this preparation, and you see these ca?ca in their natural
 situation,  from which they are removed in the other speci-
 mens.  I  beg  leave  also  to mention, that being desirous to
ascertain how far the distributive vessels of the  lower kinds
 of animals  admitted  of being injected from their  digestive
 cavities,  as is the  case in medusa?, and  also to observe,.
 whether any tranJSLidation took place through their  sides, 1
 requested .Mr. CWt to inflate and inject with subtile liquors.
 the digestive organs  in echini, insects, and vermes; and as
 far as his enquiries  have yet extended, he  finds the canal
 similar lo that of the higher classes, neither air, nor  injection
 impelled, escapes from it, either through its sides, or by pro-
 ceeding into vessels.
  According to the present arrangement of the subjects of
Comparative Anatomy, insects  form the next class to zoo-
 phytes, and worms  succeed to insects.   I have  told you
what  Mr.  II unter knew  and thought about the structure and 
 LircT. v.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.            87

 functions of worms ; first, because it is probable  that analo-
 gy, as well as his own observations, which may indeed have
 been biassed by analogy, led him to believe, that the circulat-
 ing and respiratory organs of insects were similar to those of
 vermes.   Like Swaminerdam and others, he considered the
 dorsal vessel as the heart of the insect, and it is  exposed in
 his Museum in the bee,  the preparation  being marked,  the
 heart of the bee.   We find bees, beetles,  and silk-worms in-
 jected in the  Hunterian Collection, but how, no one can tell.
 1 should not have supposed that Air. I lunter  would hav <-
 injected  from the spiracula or orifices of the trachea?, with
 which he was w«ll acquainted.   Yetjthe injection, wherever
 impelled,  might have been effused, or  have  got  into  and
 pervaded the air-vessels, which is supposed to be the case.
 by those who put faith in the modern opinions respecting the
 anatomy of insects.  Mr. Hunter also believed, that the pul-
 monary organs of insects were similar to those of the vermes,
 and he says,  they not only serve to ventilate the flood,  but
 to give levity to the body  of the animal in those  insects which
 fly.  He says, the vesicles are larger in beetles, whose bodies
 are heavy,  than in the lighter kinds of flying  insects.   He
 further mentions,  that the vesicles or lungs of the flying insects
 are different from those of others; as they extend throughout
 Ihe whole length of the body.
  You probably  know,  Gentlemen, that the present belief
 with respect to the nutrition of insects is, that the digestive
 aliment absorbed from the  bowels passes on by the same
 tubes to all parts of the body, and that trachea?, or air-vessels.
 are equally distributed, so as to produce a general and com-
 plete aeration of  the nutritive fluid.  It  is further believed
 that the glands of insects are merely composed of contorted
 tubes.   Yet  the crustaeeous animals, (formerly accounted
 insects,) spiders, some phalangia, and scorpions, are admitted
 to be of a different structure, and to possess both circulating
 organs and lungs  like those  of vermes,  f^yonnet, Cuvier,
 and others, assert that the dorsal vessel found in insects gives
 off no branches, and that no motion of fluids can be perceiv-
 ed in them,  even  by the  aid of the microscope.  Professor
 Cuvier says,  ' tout le corps est nourri par une fluide stagnant.5
 Yet even vessels  can produce a free and  forcible motion of
 their contents, as  is evident in vegetables, and in  the absorb-
ents of the higher classes of animals.   If there were no cur-
 rent in the fluids  of insects, how could liquors mn so f;oel>
 js they arc known to do from the contorted tubes  that form 
 88           PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      lleci. v.

 their  glands ?  Professor Cuvier is disposed to consider the
 irritability of animals as greatly dependent on the aeration of
 the blood; and ascribes the vivacity and power of insects to
 ils  great exposure to air.  Yet this opinion cannot, I think,
 be maintained as a general inference in physiology: for what
 animals are  more agile, powerful,  and indefatigable than
 fish, and yet we have  reason to believe their blood is very
 imperfectly aerated ?
  I have done, as lam convinced Mr. Hunter  would have
 done, candidly acknowledged his opinions, and readily ad-
 mit them to be erroneous, if they are shown to be so.  I cannot,
 however, but imagine how he would have rubbed his head, and
 thought, and wrought, till he had satisfied his mind repecting
 this subject; when, if he became convinced that the modern
 opinions were right, we may  readily suppose what a train of
 reflections would have succeeded. How curious must it ap-
 pear that these very vivacious and powerful little creatures,
 which also possess such a complex apparatus of muscles,
 should be nourished in a manner not unlike that of vegetables;
 that the food, when digested, should be absorbed from their
 bowels, and that the  absorbing system should become  the
 distributive one, without the aid of any pumping engines or
 hearts to urge on the current.
  To Air. Hunter, however, who believed life to be a prin-
 ciple  independent  on structure, which could exercise its
 functions with diversity of means, none of the circumstances
I have alluded to could excite  wonder.  He would labour,
 as he always had done,  to  ascertain facts, and the additional
facts would, on this,  as on  other occasions,  only serve to
confirm his already well established theory.
  In  the present  class of animals denominated Crustacea,
 Mr. Hunter examined the lobster with particular attention,
 and has left most beautiful  drawings, as well as preparations,
 demonstrating its anatomy in  general.  He  was  probably
 induced to make this attentive examination from  considering
 it as a large specimen of the insect kind, in which the struc-
 ture common to the whole  tribe might  be more  readily dis-
covered and displayed.   With  respect to its circulating  and
 pulmonary organs he says, '• The heart which is unilocular,
 prepels the blood throughout the  body, which fluid receives
 purification in its passage;  and that the blood returns, both
 from the body and from the lungs to the heart, which it throws
 out, in a mixed state, equally to the body and lungs."   Ev-
ery one is acquainted with the pulmonary apparatus of lob- 
v,bct. v.)      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
3S
sters and crabs, that pith-like production  that is drawn out
of their bodies with their legs when they are torn off.
  Ascending to the newdy established class of molusca, I find
Mr. Hunter acquainted with all the facts which have war-
ranted later Comparative Anatomists in making this distinc-
tion ;  so that, he might himself have formed the arrangement,
had his mind been directed to the subject of classification.
Speaking of the  situation of the  heart in the multiform ani-
mals  now included in this class, he says,  it is very various,
and seems chiefly to depend on that of the lungs: also that it
is differently situated, even in  animals of the same kind, as
in the snail and slug.   With respect to its structure, he says.
in the snail, and in  many of the inhabitants of shells,  it is
composed of an auricle and ventricle, whilst in others it has
two auricles and one ventricle.   He thinks that in the single
heart with two  auricles, it  is formed, as it is in reptiles, to
receive the blood both purified and unpurified, and to throvy
it out in a mixed state.  He distinguishes in this class of ani-
mals between the corporeal and pulmonary hearts, observing,
that the snail has a heart for the former circulation and not
for  the  latter.   He  particularly examined, and  was  tho-
roughly acquainted with the circulating and respiratory or-
gans  of the cuttle-fish, which are displayed with his usual
perspicuity and  accuracy,  by preparations m the Museum,
and also  by beautiful drawings, two  of which have been
lately published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1816,
by  Sir Everard Home.
  As no one can doubt Mr. Hunter's knowledge of the cir-
culation in fish and reptiles, 1 shall say nothing on this  sub-
ject, except remarking,  on account of the physiological in-
ference the fact admits of, that the fish has only a pulmonary
heart.  11 is composed of an auricle and ventricle, the former
receives the blood returned from all parts of the body,  and
the latter propels it through the  gills, where, having under-
gone the change produced by respiration, it returns by vessels
which, ending  in a single trunk, form the great distributive
vessel or aorta of the animal; to which no heart is connected ;
so that the  blood receives no additional impulse besides  that
derived from the action of its containing vessels.   I herefore,
these extremely agile, powerful,  indefatigab e, and vivacious
creatures are supported  by a  languid circulation and trivial
resoiratory process : a fact which warrants the  conclusion,
thatthe  powers of life can  be  exerted  according to their
*l!otred manner, without that quick supply of materials, or 
30          PHYSIOLOGICAL LECT/lREfc.       I.lect. ri

great degree of change produced in the circulating fluids by
respiration, both of which many physiologists have been ac-
eustomed to consider essential to the production and mainte-
nance of such high degrees of vital action.
  In order to explain the varieties of hearts met with in dif
ferent animals, Mv. Hunter seems to have sought for some
generic term, simply expressuig the  number of cavities found
in them, without any reference to the connections or  office.-,
of those cavities ; and his friends must have supplied him with
the terms which he employs, Monocoilia, Dicoilia, Tricoilia,
and Tetracoilia.   He considers the heart as a pump,  which
forcibly impels the fluid it contains into the vessels.  Where
there  are two cavities, he says, one is an auricle, and the
other a ventricle.   The auricle is a cistern or reservoir, from
which  the contents are suddenly forced into the more efficient
cavity or pump.  Sometimes there is a heart or pump to the
pulmonary circulation, and none to the corporeal; and some*
times there i3 one for the latter and not for the  former, and
sometimes one for each.  Even in the quadruped and bird.
in which the heart appears most complex, he says, it is equal-
ly simple, there is a heart for either circulation, but these are
united into one organ.
  In advocating Mr. Hunter's reputation as a general  phy-
siologist, I ought not to omit to commemorate his labours in
examining the circulation of the blood in the higher classes
of animals.  Doubtless the phenomena of the constant sup-
ply of blood to every part, and the building up and repairing
the structure of the body, must have appeared to him so cu-
rious and wonderful, as to induce him to admit nothing upon
the authority of others, and to examine every fact for himself.
  Though I now engage in a  subject which more especially
1 have a right to discuss, as it relates to human anatomy, yet
I must not weary you by detailing facts familiarly known, or
proving propositions which are generally admitted.   Were I
also to advert to the doctrines of others, 1 should have to col-
late  asserted facts  and opinions, irreconcileable  with one
another, and to engage in controversial discussion; yet why
should  I bandy about the ball of controversy, wasting both.
my own labour and your time, if 1 know I must let it fall at
the conclusion, just where 1 took it up  at the beginning ?  It
seems best for a lecturer simply to say what he thinks. anC 
 lect. v.]       PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          3J

 why he thinks it, because it is the only way in which he can
 feel, and consequently create an  interest in that which he de-
 livers.  I shall  therefore merely tell you what  I have been
 taught by Mr. Hunter to think with respect to the principal
 parts of the subject of the distribution of nourishment in the
 higher classes of animals.
   First, then, I  find Mr. Hunter examining the structure of
 the arteries or tubes by whieh the blood appears to be carried
 to every part of the body.   He is neither clear nor confident
 in his description of them;  and yet 1 know not that,any one
 has described them better.  Internally thoy are membranous
 tubes, which is  a  common character .of all sorts of vessels,
 the polished  surface of the membrane  admitting their fluid
 contents to pass along with the greatest facility. He knew
 that exterior to this, and not far from it, there  was some sub-
 stance, thin,  but particularly strong and unyielding,  which
 caused the vessel  to have a regular circular form when dis-
 tended.  He found that  when the trunk of the distributive
 vessels, the aorta, was injected with a force equal to  ninety
 pounds, this part suddenly cracked, and the external  elastic
 matter of the vessel readily yielding, it became distended by
 the effused injection, into a bulky, but irregular,  form.
   Mi. Hunter thought that the great quantity  of elastic mat-
 ter which surrounds large arteries was well calculated to pre-
 vent that injury to the vessels, which the powerful propulsion
 of blood by the heart might otherwise occasion.  Nay, he ob-
 served that the quantity of clastic matter was greatest where
 it appeared most wanted, that it was greater on the convex
 part of the arch of the aorta than on the concave.  He fur-
 ther observed, that certain arteries, which are  occasionally
 much elongated, have a far greater share of elasticity in their
 longitudinal direction than  others.  The quantity of elastic
 matter surrounding arteries also gradually diminishes as these
 tubes recede from the  heart, and  the impulse of that organ di-
 minishes ; which well known fact corroborates the opinions I
 have  iust mentioned.  The elasticity of the large  arteries
 may also lighten the labour of the heart by the kind of suction
 it may sometimes occasion.
   Mr. Hunter knew, that in cases of haemorrhage, the arte-
 ries would gradually contract upon their diminished contents,
 to a much smaller  calibre than common ;  and he measured
their areas in the contracted state in which they were found
 \n a horse that had been bled to  death.   He then distended
 (hem- so as to destroy the effect of this vital contraction ; and 
 a*          PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.       [leci. r.-

having suffered them to regain that calibre which their elas-
tic property naturally determines, he again  measured their
areas, and found that the aorta had contracted, in the first in-
stance, to more than one-tenth of its natural diameter, the
iliac to one-sixth, and the crural to one-third. He  also ob-
served, that arteries corresponding to the radial of the human
subject, and others of the same  size, were  closed.  1  also
think it evident, in the common operations of surgery, that ar-
teries of no inconsiderable magnitude,  which have bled ve-
hemently, and in a large stream immediately after their divi-
sion, very speedily cease to bleed, and remain with their orifi-
ces so  closed, that they  are scarcely discernible.   1 have
seen the radial and ulnar arteries of the human subject, ap-
pear like impervious  chords.   This happened, indeed,  in
young  patients.   Yet, Mr. Hunter never attempted  to de-
monstrate muscular fibres in arteries; he says there is a red-
dish substance surrounding the tube near the internal coats,
which he believed to be the structure possessing irritability.
Specimens of arteries thus contracted,  and contrasted with
others of the same size, but of their natural  dimensions, are
exhibited in the Museum.  Mr. Hunter must have  been ac-
quainted,  from his brother's  lectures, with  the inconclusive
experiments of Haller, relative to the irritability of  different
parts of the body.  He adopted another and a better mode
of determining, whether parts possessed a  power of vital con-
traction.   Observing  that this power in muscles produced
contraction after the ordinary functions of life had ceased, he
tried whether, and for what length of time, parts could con-
tract in this manner.  Thus did  he satisfy himself,  that the
arteries of the funis umbilicalis had vital energies remaining
in them sixty hours after its detachment.
   Mr.  Hunter's notions of life were peculiar.   He thought
that it was an active principle, which, by operating in various
modes  and degrees, produced the different phenomena by
which its existence is characterized.  He knew that parts,
in which no muscular structure was evident, were neverthe-
less irritable,  and that the  modes of contraction  and relaxa-
tion of muscular parts were various.   He seems by no means
satisfied, that all the phenomena of muscular relaxation can
be accounted for, on the supposition of the abatement or ces-
sation of an active power.   YVithout, therefore, pretending
to determine  the modes of action of the sanguiferous tubes,
seeing  that they have a power of vital contraction upon the
diminishing quantity of their contents, knowing that vessels 
 iect v.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.           9.3

 alone  are capable of producing a quick and forcible current
 of their contained fluids, as is evident in the ascent of sap of
 vegetables, and still more so in the acceleration of the current
 of the fluids contained in the absorbing vessels of animals, as
 they approach to the trunk of the system, we seem warranted
 in concluding,  as Mr.  Hunter has done,  that  the different
 degrees of power allotted to different parts of the arterial
 system, is given to them for the purpose of aiding in carrying
 on the circulation.
  When the blood is projected by that powerful engine,  the
 heart,  into the large  arteries,  little energy on their part is re-
 quisite to urge on the rapid current; but in proportion as the
 heart's influence diminishes, power is allotted to the vessels
 to aid  in its propulsion.   There are some  modern physiolo-
 gists, and those of high repute, who consider the heart, by its
 actions alone, as fully adequate to maintain the circulation,
 and consequently discredit the irritability of arteries, except
 of those which are called capillaries.  But where, I would
 ask, am I to suppose that these capillaries begin ?   I rannot
 observe the sudden  and deep blush of shame,  or extreme
 paleness of terror, without being  convinced that arteries of
 no inconsiderable size possess vital activity; we cannot be-
 lieve that the heart's influence can be partially exerted,  de
 termining the blood into one set of vessels in preference to
 another.  How then can we account for the vehement he-
 morrhages which take place from  inflamed  arteries, unless
 we admit vessels of magnitude to possess vital activity ?   Do
 we not know that an hemorrhagic action is a natural phe-
 nomenon in some parts of the body, that arteries occasionally
 pour the blood so impetuously into the corpus  cavernosun"
 and spongiosum, as suddenly and forcibly to distend them ?
  I can scarcely  believe that if an anatomist were injecting
 the principal artery  of  the dura  mater, and had  burst its
 trunk,  he could,  with the utmost efforts,  expel so large a
 quantity of injection, and compress  the brain to the degree
 that we sometimes find it t© be by blood, when that vessel is
 torn and irritated by injury.   Yet the same vessel docs  not
 bleed when exposed.  Can we account for such  facts from
 the actions of the heart alone ?  How also, I would ask,  am
 I to account for the vehement throbbing of all the large arte-
 ries of the arm, even as  far as the axilla,  which may be
sometimes observed,  when an abscess forms at the end of ont
of the fingers ?   How am I to account for the distinct pulsa-
 tion we often perceive in  the  carotid, or abdominal aorta, 
*Ji
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
[tegt. v..
unless some vital activity be admitted to exist even in the
larger vessels ?   We may indeed, in some instances, aceouni
for the phenomena which we observe, by supposing constric-
tion to have occurred in the capillaries of the large pulsating
trunk ; but this  supposition appears to me  very inadequate
to explain the whole of the phenomena of such occurrences.
   Our physiological theories should be adequate to account,
for all the vital phenomena, both in  health and disorder, or
they never can be maintained as good theories.
   Air. Hunter enquired if the area of arteries increased as
they receded  from the heart, and for this purpose examined
the trunk  of the  common carotid, which  runs to some dis-
tance without giving off any  branch of importance.   He
found it largest at the end furthest from the heart.   I le was
convinced that the conjoined aree  of all the minute arteries
must greatly exceed that of the aorta, where it emerges from
the heart, and therefore that every portion of blood projected
by the heart was moving into an increasing space.
   Air. Hunter, who believed that, in living beings nothing
was  constructed or done in vain,  could never have observed
the very curious  contortions of some arteries, which he has
taken much pains to display in his Museum, nor those of the
great vessels as they enter the skull,  without supposing that
some purpose was effected by them.  Neither could he con-
lemplate'the coalition of currents of blood moving in contrary
directions, which is produced by the arteries communicating
and conjoining with one another, without admitting that it
must tend to retard the velocity of the motion of such oppos-
ing currents.   Mr.  Hunter therefere joined in the physiolo-
gical belief, that  all the  circumstances we observe  in the
distribution and  ramification  of  arteries,  are calculated to
produce  a rapid current of the blood through the larger ves-
sels,  in order that it may arrive unchanged at the part for the
supply of which it is designed; and that other circumstances
there occurring, are intended to retard its motion,  so that it
may be modified and rendered subservient  to the purposes
of secretion and nutrition.
   Now you know, Gentlemen, that some physiologists sup-
pose the velocity of the  current of blood to be equal in all sets
of vessels.  With respect to this subject, I will merely  refer
you to an experiment of Hale's, in his Hemastaties. Having
estimated the probable force of the  heart, he put a tube  into
the aorta of a dead  dog,  and kept it filled  with water to a
height which  would give an equal propulsion to the supposed 
ixct. v.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES           'j0

power of the heart. Under these circumstances, having open-
ed the abdomen, he cut  along the tube of the intestines, at
that part most remote from the  mesentery, and observed the
water running tardily from the orifices of the divided arteries.
He then divided the mesentery at tlie edge next  the intes-
tine, where the vessels being  larger,  the water ran  rapidly
from them; and when he opened a vessel of considerable size, it
gushed from it with the same velocity and force that blood is-
sues from the same sized vessel when divided ina livinganimal.
[ refer you to tliis experiment, because it seems far  belter cal-
culated to display the effects likely to result from the circum-
stances we observe in the distribution and ramification of
arteries, than any we may make with tubes of our own con-
struction.
  Mr. Hunter was convinced that arteries terminate in veins ;
for if we inject the former with any subtile fluid,  it quickly
and freely  returns by the latter.   I know  not,  however,
whether the magnitude, of some of the communicating tubes;
vvas ascertained till of late years.  I have in my  possession
a hand which  was injeted with wax about thirty years  ago,
and  the wax passed freely from the arteries into.the veins*
so as to afford a beautiful exhibition of the network of small
veins, which proceed to terminate in  the larger trunks, in a
manner which I had never before seen demonstrated, except
by  injections of quicksilver.  In dissecting  this  hand, the
vessels which transmitted the injection from the arteries into
tlie veins were apparent.   Some artifice is, however, neces-
sary to our success, in  making these  preparations.   We
should suffer a part to become slightly putrid, before wc in-
ject  its  vessels,  which produces a yielding state of them,
favourable to the transit  of the injection.   Yet there are ar-
teries wdiich terminate in veins, so  small, as not,  in  their
natural and healthy state, to transmit even coloured blood,
so that there is, in fact, something similar to a speculation 6T
Iloerhaave's, something like  a descending series  of vessels.
It also evidently appears, that the great mass of the blood is
freely transmitted from the arteries into the veins, so that, it
rapidly and regularly circulates ; and we therefore conclude,
mat but asmall jiortion passes into  the finer vessels, there to
undergo those modifications which fit it for the production of
the secretions, and the various materials for the nutriment of
die body.
  The veins freely communicate w ith one another, and join
>ug together, they form tubes ofappareutiv larger dimensions. 
9G            PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      uect. v.

but of less actual  calibre than the branches by which they
were formed ;  so that in these vessels the blood is obliged to
pass through converging  channels, which  eventually end in
the two vene cave, the conjoined aree of which are incon-
siderable when compared with the space the blood has occu-
pied in all the minute veins of the body.   Consequently, if
the heart pumps out an ounce and a half of blood at each ac-
tion into the arteries, and the same  quantity is returned, in
the same time, to that organ by the  veins,  it must be urged
in the like interval from the small arteries into the veins, and
run with accelerated velocity as it approximates to the heart.
Of this circumstance we may, I think, be convinced by ocu-
lar  demonstration,  even in the ordinary practice of our pro-
fession.  There is  much more space in the veins than in the
arteries, which prevents any trivial obstruction in the former
channels from impeding the transmission  of the blood into
them through the latter.   The superficial veins which mean-
der on the surface of the body are beset with numerous valves,
or flood-gates, which prevent the blood from moving in a re-
trograde course, and oblige it  to go onwards towards the
heart.  The blood sometimes returns to the heart, chiefly by the
deep-seated veins which accompany corresponding contiguous
arteries, and at others more abundantly through those on the
surface. Air. Hunter believed that veins possessed vital activ-
ity but it must be of the kind allotted to the nmsclesof tardigrade
animals, and  such as various parts of our bodies are also en-
dowed with.   Indeed the large veins near  the heart are said
to evince an irritability of the more common kind.   The na-
ture of the irritability of veins may enable them  to adapt
their calibre to their contents.  Air.  Hunter argues that, as
the vena porte in the liver performs the function of an artery,
it probably is  irritable.   We know that it fails to secrete, or
secretes with  profusion; that sometimes it prepares healthy,
and at others faulty, bile, which variation of function can
scarcely be supposed to take place in a perfectly passive ves-
sel.
  The blood  returning from all parts of the body is,  in the
higher classes  of animals, propelled from the right side of the
heart through  the lungs.  To observe the circumstances re-
sulting from the conjoined actions of the heart and respiration,
Mr. Hunter contrived  a pair of bellows by which he Could
maintain the latter process in an artificial manner,  and thus
he was enabled to observe how greatly the heart's action de-
pends on its continuance.  He says,  " the nearest depend- 
 lsct. v.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          97

 ence of the heart is upon the lungs, for a stoppage of respira-
 tion produces a stoppage of circulation; and a renewal of the
 former is  attended with a renewal of the  latter.  Thus, in
 my  experiments with artificial breathing, the  heart soon
 eeased to act, whenever 1 left off acting with my bellows:
 and upon the renewal of artificial breathing, it in a very short
 time renewed its action,  first by slow degrees, but becoming
 quicker  and quicker till it came to its full action." Mr.
 Hunter displays the subject of the structure  and uses of the
 lungs,  according to our present notions.  He says,  •' that as
 the function of the lungs becomes augmented in animals, so
 are their cells minute, and the pulmonary vessels subdivided,
 by which means the surface of the air and the blood exposed
 to reciprocal influence is proportionately increased.  Carbon
 is evidently thrown off, and a change produced, of the precise
 nature of which we are ignorant, but which is rendered evi-
 dent to our senses by a change of colour; for the purple cur-
 rent acquires a scarlet hue, or, as it is commonly expressed,
 the venous blood becomes arterious.  Chemists have consid-
 ered the  change as contributory to the production of animal
 heat; which opinion may indeed be true, though the manner
 in which it produces such an effect, has not  as yet been ex-
 plained."  Mr. Hunter, who believed that life  had the
 power  of regulating temperature, independently of respira-
 tion, says  nothing of that process as directly contributing to
 such an effect.  ' He says " breathing seems  to render life to
 the blood ; and the blood conveys it to every part of the body."
 Yet he believes the blood derives vitality also from the food.
 The experiments of Mr. Brodie, which I have mentioned
 in the first lecture of this year, seem  satisfactorily to show,
 that the transitions of colour, which are produced in the blood
 by respiration  and  circulation,  are not of themselves alone
 adequate to occasion a change  of temperature.   I am at a
 loss  to  know  what chemists  now think  respecting heat,
 whether they consider it to be a distinct species of matter, or
 mere motion  and vibration.  Among the curious revolutions
which this age has produced, those of chemical opinions have
 a fair claim to distinction.  To show which, I may mention,
 that a lady * on her first marriage,  was wedded to that sci-
entific champion who finally overthrew the  dominion of phlo-
giston, and established in its stead the empire of caloric ; and
after his decease, on her second nuptials,  was united to the,

  * Madime LavoNirr. who afterwards married Count  Runaford.
                           74 
 98            PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      [uct. v.

 man,  who vainly supposed he had subverted the rule of ca-
 loric,  and restored  the antient but long banished dynasty of
 motion and vibration.  In this state of perplexity, 1 cannot
 advance with prudence or probable security one step farther
 than Mr. Hunter has led me.  1 must believe respiration to
 be essential to life, and that life has the power, by its actions,
 of maintaining and regulating temperature.
   Mr. Hunter suggested that the blood ought, for  numerous
 reasons, to be considered as a living fluid, and  adds, " that
 the blood has life, is an opinion I have started for above thir-
 ty years, (which must have been in the year 1760,) and have
 taught it, for nearly twenty of that time, in my lectures."   I
 quote this passage merely to show how early he had acquired
 those notions of life, which I consider as the primary stimulus
 of his meritorious and highly useful  exertions.   He wonders
 that this opinion had not been more deeply impressed on the
 minds of medical enquirers, because the blood undergoes
 evident changes from variations in the state of the health, and
 the actions of the vessels. Life is generally attributed to so-
 lids only, yet these are formed from the blood, which could
 not give them what it did not possess.  He says, that in the
 years  1755—6, when making drawings of the changes which
 took place in the incubated egg,  he was  particularly struck
 with the well known fact, that the yolk and white, which we
 cannot suppose to be organized, did not putrify ;  and this led
 him to believe that fluid and semi-fluid substances might have
 a principle of life diffused through them.
   Every one must be convinced thatthe power of the heart
 is very considerable, even from observing the thickness and
 compactness of its fleshy structure.  Dr. Hales estimated its
 force as equal to a little more than 70lbs.   That it could not
 act with the enormous force which some have  attributed to
 it, Air. Hunter inferred  from finding that a force of 90lbs.
 burst the  inelastic part of the aorta.  Mr. Hunter believed
 that the forcible projection of an additional quantity of blood
 from the heart into the arteries, produced a sudden motion in
 the whole column contained in these tubes, and occasioned
 the-r almost simultaneous pulsation in every part.  He could
 not doubt that if they were contracted, they would be distend-
.ed by  the impulse of additional fluid ; yet with reference to
 this point, he observes, that upon laying bare an artery, no
 distention of the  tube is apparent; and that  the  distention
 seems io take place in proportion as it is covered or com-
 pressed. 
ituT. vi]       PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES,          OS

  Such, then, is the view Mr. Hunter has exhibited of the
circulation in the higher classes of animals ; and on contem-
plating it, we perceive how every part of the body may duly
receive its allotted portion of nourishment and life, as well as
how each part  may receive less or more than its ordinary
quantity, in consequence of the vital actions of its own ves-
sels.
  I do not perceive, however, that  his representation of the
circulation differs materially from that of the best physiologists
who preceded him.   But he has the merit of examining ev-
ery point for himself, and under all the varieties of circum-
stances ;  as well as of ascertaining what before appeared ob-
scure and uncertain.   This theory of the circulation has been
assaulted, and yet, as far as I can perceive,  without being
either injured or invalidated.   Therefore I am disposed to
maintain it, for the same reasons that 1 am his theory of life,
because  both are probable, cautiously and philosophically
deduced, and  adequate to explain all the phenomena of
health, disorder, and disease;  which  I think cannot be said
of any other theory relative to either of these subjects.
                  1ECTURE  VI.

          ON SECRETION AND NUTRITION.

   AT the conclusion of the former lecture, I exhibited a
kind of sketch of Mr. Hunter's facts and opinions relative to
the circulation of the blood, and the change wrought in that
fluid, by respiration,   lhave now to enquire  wherefore does
the blood circulate ?  Is it not for  the  nourishment  of the
body, and the preparation of various fluids and substances
subservient to the animal economy ?  We believe, for reasons
which I need not detail on the present occasion, these objects
to be effected by means of minute vessels, which go off from
the extreme arteries, and which sometimes terminate by open
orifices, effusing or depositing their contents;  whilst some-
times they lead on to other channels, which collect and con-
vey the fluids they receive, to certain reservoirs or surfaces.
These  vessels which prepare and separate something from
the circulating fluids are called the secerning vessels.   It is
curious to observe Mr.  Hunter's expressions with regard to
•h'«--e agents.   " I woidd not."  says he, " call them arteries; 
 100          PH1SIOLOGICAL LECTURES.     Uect. vi.

 they are workers, they are the labourers."  He would not
 consider them as concerned in the circulation  of the blood,
 they are the chemists and the architects of the body.  That
 such vessels could separate from the blood something that
 was formally present in that fluid, might  be  easily credited.
 But how they could prepare that extreme diversity of fluids
 and substances which they are known to  do, formed a prob-
 lem that was never solved till the time of Hunter.   He
 thought that the vital principle of the vessel, acting on that
 of its fluid contents, produced these chemical changes.   He
 thought that there was a correspondence or concert of affec-
 tion and  action between  them, a  harmony as he calls  it.
 Thus did he attempt to explain how a morbid  state of fluids
 could induce an unhealthy action of vessels, and how the lat-
 ter could reciprocally occasion the former.  W as he not, in-
 deed, a strong and clear-sighted man,  who  could see so far
 through the obscurity in which these subjects were involved,
 in his time /   But the sun of science has since shone on them,
 and we now see distinctly the probability and rationality of
 his theory.   Sir 11. Davy's experiments prove  that they are
 electrical actions, by which all combinations and decomposi-
 tions of matter are occasioned, and  that what is called elec-
• tricity pervades every thing whether solid or fluid.  In speak-
 ing of digestion, it has been already  shown, that actions pro-
 ductive of secretion are regulated by the general powers of
 life, by the energies  of the nervous system.  Every one now
 seems convinced, by direct experiments, that vessels so mod-
 ify their contents, that the liquids  and substances  which the
 absorbents take up, become lymph,  a fluid resembling blood,
 in their transit through those vessels; and that the chyle im-
 bibed from the bowels is undergoing continual  modifications
 as it proceeds through these channels to the sanguiferous sys-
 tem.  Yet, as I  have mentioned in my former lectures, the
 most direct proof of  the truth of Air. Hunter's opinions re-
 specting secretion was given by himself, and at a time when
 these subjects were involved in darkness, by showing the ef-
 fects resulting from the application of morbific animal poisons.
   From observation and analogy, Mr. Hunter was induced
 to believe, that the coagulation of the blood was an effect re-
 sulting from the vital principle, and similar to that contraction
 which takes place in muscles, after the cessation of the or-
 dinary functions of life.   He mentions that in animals killed
 by lightning, or large charges  of electricity, in those which
 have been hunted to death, or destroyed by violent blows on 
LKtT. vi.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          10.

die stomach, he had observed that the blood did not coagu-
late, neither did the muscles become rigid.
  That the powers of life  inhere in any distinct  substance
which  makes  no part of the visible structure of the body.
may indeed, in every instance, be doubted, but if this be con-
ceded, the consideration of the vital phenomena oblige us to
admit that there is a principle of life pervading the blood,  so
that Mr. Hunter's opinions on that subject cannot  well  be
disputed, and appear to be fully established by Sir H. Davy's
discoveries.   Y et his opinion of the coagulation of the blood
being occasioned by  its vitality has  neither been proved  by
himself, nor disproved by others.   It is  a detached opinion
making no part of the general discussion relative to the vita.
ity of the blood ;  and therefore it is strange that so much has
been said and written about it.  Those who do not under-
stand, or who dislike Mr. Hunter's opinions, have in general
furiously assailed this detached and seemingly unsupported
one, yet without in the least injuring or altering it;  whilst
others, who are advocates  for Air. Hunter's theories have
hurried to its defence, as if all would be lost should this singh
opinion be destroyed.  Thus both parties seem tp have been
led away from the main subject.   How seldom do we con-
sider propositions with the deliberate exercise of those powers
of observation  and reason with which we are  endowed .'
We are partial to our opinions, and consequently prejudiced
against those  of others.  In argument we strive for victory
rather than seek for truth.   That self-conceit which leads us
chiefly to attend to our own opinions and feelings, and to dis-
regard those of others, renders us indocile, unfits us for  pa-
tient and impartial consideration, and is a great obstacle to
the progress of science, as  well as to human happiness m
general.                     ,        .            ,
   Mr. Hunter believed that the secerning arteries,  having
prepared tl* various kinds  of nutritive materials for building
and repairing the different structures of the body, deposited
the atoms from their open orifices with such regularity, as m
a ercat degree to achieve this surprizing purpose.  He how-
ever believed that the life of the parts assisted m producing
their  arrangement.   The  occurrences met with in disease
afford the strongest confirmation of these opinions; every hbre
being subject to sudden and unnatural  increase, mutation.
or removal.           ,      . .     .      ,     . ,       ,
   In consequence of the opinion that each particle was de-
posited by nn appropriate vessel, he was induced to add  that 
 ■iCr*         PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      L'lect. t.

 every peat of the body may in this sense be said to be equally
 vascular; what is meant by increased vascularity depending
 upon the greater size or number of the vessels, which trans-
 mit the blood, allowing them to be more  distended with red
 blood, or our coloured injections.   Further, he observes that
 an increase of apparent vascularity may be the result of ves-
sels passing through parts to terminate elsewhere.
  Now, though Mr. Hunter attributed so much to the agency
■of vessels, he believed that life,  in various instances, formed
 these active tubes.  His opinions might indeed be biassed by
 what he had observed in the cicatricula of the egg, but he
thought that vessels might be formed in  effused gelatinous
 matter, as he says they are in the areola of the egg, called
 cicatricula.   In speaking of the latter subject, he says, "The
 arteries are the very first active parts of the system.  We
 find them in action before they  are connected to  the heart,
 and in this state they are the only parts that have strength, so
 that we can dissect them without injection, the other parts
 readily giving way."  He seems confident that vessels form
 separately, and afterwards become united with one another ;
 and he believed that vessels might also be thus formed and
 conjoined in  the gelatinous substances effused previously to
 the growth or reparation of parts.
  In the upion  by adhesion, he supposed that though new
 vessels might be produced, the original divided vessels pullu-
 lated and inosculated,  and  became  pervious and entire as
 they were before their  division, so that  blood or injection
 would permeate them as before.   He thought, that wdien
 parts were united by a common vascular substance,  the ves-
 sels and vital agency of the parts divided  could gradually
 convert the common uniting medium into its own nature.
 Thus does he suppose that  the nervous fibres are produced
 and elongated through the common uniting medium by which
 a divided nerve is  conjoined.  We see surprisingly rapid
 growths take place either naturally or in consequence of dis-
 ease ;  yet at the very summit of the growth, we must admit
 that there are nerves, because there is feeling; that there are
 absorbing vessels, because  there is absorption.  Medicines
 imbibed from the surface, are conveyed into the sanguiferous
 system through the originally existing absorbent  channels,
and the blood is returned in like manner from the summit of
 the new-formed part; through the pre-existing veins.   The
 original structures must therefore have  grown to the very
 summit of the newly-produced substance, or similar park
 must have been formed in it and conjoined with them. 
  ?ct. vi.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          JO;

   With  regard to arteries in general, he says, ktThat they
have within themselves considerable powers of increase, both
in magnitude and length, as well as of producing new shoots ;
all which is evident at the time of the  formation of the new
horns in the stag, and also in utero-gestation.  Such actions,
likewise,  extend  by sympathy to a considerable  distance
from the part immediately engaged in any increase of growth
both in the arteries and in the returning veins."
   Mr. Hunter has put up in his Museum several  prepara-
tions to show the  celerity with which the processes produc-
tive of union are carried  on.   Yet, as the effusion of injection
may redden parts and give them the appearance of vascular-
ity, so that we are liable to be deceived,  I shall not refer to
these preparations in evidence of this fact.
   Mr. Hunter was convinced  that life might remain  in a
dormant state,  in detached parts, for sixty hours, as has been
mentioned in the first lectures.  He therefore could not won-
der at the facts with  respect to transplantation or engrafting
of portions of animal bodies  with which he was acquainted ;
yet he says that the transplanted part must have  life,  to ac-
cept of the union,  because he believed, that a correspondent
and co-operating  action was necessary for its accomplish-
ment.
   Mr. Hunter observing how firmly the gum sometimes at-
tached itself to a transplanted tooth, and thinking the comb
of a cock  resembled the  gum in its texture, transplanted  the
tooth of a  dog and set it in the comb, where it became  firmly
fixed.  He next  transplanted a gland taken from the abdo-
men of the cock,  to a similar situation in  the belly of a hen,
where it also  became attached, and  as he believed, nour-
ished,  for  he probably thought he had injected it from  the
general arterious system.  The uniting medium by which it
is firmly connected  is certainly • very vascular, yet I  do not
see that any injection has passed into the vessels of the trans-
planted gland. The preparation is in the Museum, so that
you can examine  it for  yourselves.  Mr. Hunter probably
believed that it was nourished, from its neither wasting nor
decaying.  As, however, the evidence was not very distinct,
he next transposed the spur of a young hen to the leg of the
•ock, and that of the latter,  to the leg of the former bird,
which spurs grew, and thus set the subject at rest in his mind.
It may seem, however,  curious, that the  hen's spur grew to
a greater size on the cock's leg than it would have done upon
the parent animal, which Mr. Hunter considered as a proof
•f the greater vigour of constitution of the  male bird. 
 104         PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      [lect. vt.

   Aext to the organs concerned in the circulation and aera-
 tion of the blood, Mr. Hunter displays the various kinds of
 kidnies allotted to different animals as a specimen of glands
 in general, and as the agents by which the impurities are car-
 ried off from the circulating blood.   Carbon and water, with
 trivial quantities of saline and animal  substances, are dis-
 charge 1  from that fluid from the surfaces of the body, both
 from the skin and lungs.  The kidneys also cany off redun-
dant water from the blood, which is a proper vehicle for salts
 casually received or accidentally formed; but which is like-
 wise made to suspend various kinds of solid animal matter.
 \s many of the old  materials of the body, and some of the
 unassimilatcd matter of our food, are insoluble  in water, na-
 ture has given the kidnies powers of converting various kinds
of animal matter into a peculiar and very soluble substance,
 lately recognized and denominated urea.  So soluble is it
that we may evaporate the water of the urine to a consider-
able degree without precipitating the urea; and  when we add
large quantities of water to urine,  the urea will pervade the
whole, and be dissolved in it, so as to be  distinguishable  in
every portion by appropriate tests.   Lime removed from our
bones, or taken into the circulating vessels with our food, be-
comes also dissolved in  the water of the urine  by means  of
phosphoric acid,  which the human  kidney  prepares  in  so
large a proportion, that the superfluous acid will redden the
vegetable blue, and dissolve more lime than is usually  found
in urine.  That the phosphoric acid could not exist formally
in the blood, but is prepared  in the secretory vessels of the
kidney, must be evident to every one on consideration.   Yet
in herbivorous animals, who take into the circulation a great
deal of flint with their food, the urine is rendered alkaline  in
order to dissolve that kind of earth.
  I have been induced thus briefly to advert to  the functions
 of the kidney, because the  quantity and quality  of its pro-
ducts can be ascertained, and thus throw light upon the sub-
ject of secret ion in general.   When water abounds in the
blood, whether from more being imbibed from  the digestive
organs, or less being earned off from the surfaces of our bo-
dies, the quantity separated by the kidney is proportionately
increased,  and vice versa.  Thus do the secretions become
vicarious to one another, and conjointly tend to maintain the
»>i-oi>>r quantity and quality of the circulating fluids.
  The qualities of the urine also demonstrate how much se-   J
<-<• vti- -n is effected by different states of the nervous system ie 
£.ect.  vi.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
105
general.   When the kidney is rendered irritable from various
causes, and persons are in that state usually termed hysterical,
it scarcely separates any thing but water from the blood,
which is, indeed, produced in an inordinate quantity; and it
is probable,  that a different state of the nervous system, may
render the kidney incompetent to transform the animal matter
into urea, and thus prove a cause of foul and deficient urine.
How curiously  and universally are the  nervous functions
sometimes disturbed by trivial causes ?  Even harsh and dis-
cordant sounds, affecting the brain, may disturb the functions
of the kidney; so that there may be some who,  " when the
bagpipe sings in the nose, cannot contain their urine."
  Those of the medical profession must readily accord with
the additional remark  of Shakspeare, that such affections,
which may well, indeed, be called "■ masters of passion, sway
us to their mood in what we like or loathe."  For we well
know, that our patients and ourselves, from disturbance of
the nervous functions of the digestive organs, producing such
affections of the brain, may become irritable, petulant, and
violent  about trifles, or oppressed, morose, and desponding.
Permit me, however, to add, that those of the medical pro-
fession  must be equally apprized, that when the functions of
the mind are not  disturbed by such  affections,  it displays
great energy of thought, and evidence of established charac-
ter, even in death.  Have we not lately heard, that the last
words of Nelson, were, " Tell Collingwood to bring the fleet
to an anchor ?"   Shakspeare has also represented Mercutio
continuing   to jest,  though  conscious  he  was mortally
wounded; the expiring Hotspur, thinking  of nothing,  but
honour; and the dying Falstaff still cracking his jests upon
Bardolph's nose.   I request you to  excuse this digression,
which I have been induced to make from perceiving, that if
such facts were duly attended to, they would prompt  us to
make a more liberal allowance  for each other's conduct un-
der certain  circumstances, than we are  accustomed to do;
and also incite us to the more  active and constant perform-
ance of the great business of human life, the education of the
mind;  for,  according  to its knowledge and dispositions, do
we possess the ability of contributing both to our own welfare
 and comfort, and to those of others.
   The saccharine diabetes is  a disorder which elucidates in
 a very striking manner the nature  and effect of the vital ac-
 tions in the process of secretion.  If the stomach does not
 digest vegetable food, so considerable a portion of it is some- 
iOti
PHYSIOLOGICAL lectures;
[lect. Vi
times imbibed from the bowels, as to render the serum of the
blood turbid, though not sweet.  In the kidney, the vital ac-
tions combine the vegetable substance into something resem-
bling  sugar,  which,  being very  soluble  in the water of the
urine, in this form obtains an outlet from the body.  Thus
those who have trivial and temporary incompetency to digest
vegetable food, have also a corresponding degree of sacchar-
ine diabetes, which is often unnoticed; but when the disorder
of the stomach eausing.this failure of digestion is established
and permanent, the diabetes is constant,  if vegetable sub
stances be eaten.*
  ON THE ORGANS OF PERCEPTION AND  VOLITION.

  Atter the exhibition of the organs by which animals arc
nourished; their curious structures built up, and their various
liquors and  substances prepared,  Air.  Hunter shows the
nervous system,  or the means by which parts of  the  body
seem to have sympathetic communication with one another,
and  with the brain, which is commonly believed  to be the
organ of sensation and volition.  I have nothing to add with
respect to this subject in general, to what is contained in the
introductory lectures.  When I wrote them, I had not indeed
attended to Mr.  Hunter's views of the nervous system in the
lower kinds of animals; neither had I read Professor Cuvier's
Lectures.  It is therefore proper, on the present occasion, to
mention  that both these zealous and industrious  enquirers
into the structure of animals, seem to acknowledge that there
are some beings, in which they have not been able to discover
any regular nervous system ;  yet upon dissecting them, they
meet with fibres which they believe to be  nerves.   Mr.
Hunter has shown these kind of threads in the sipunculuf
nudus.
  In animals of the worm kind, which are formed of a series
of rings, the nervous system is also composed of an equal se-

  * la saying this. I by no means deny that diabetes may not also result from
disturbed vital actions in the kidney. Dr. Sanders, of Edinburgh, informs.
me that he has of late particularly attended to the state of the medulla spin-
alis and vertebral nerves^ both in chorea and diabetes, and  that he finds their
vessels very turgid, with other signs indicative of their having been in a stats*
of considerable disorder; which state, in diabetes, however, may either L^
\ cause or effect of renal irritation. 
 uhct. vi.j     PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          1G~

 ries of connected ganglia, each ganglion supplying diat ring
 of the animal to which it corresponds, so that each ring may
 be considered as possessing a perfect nervous system.  The
 connection between the ganglia may also be supposed to pro-
 duct effects  which I have endeavoured to express in my fivst
 lectures by the words " concurrence of impressions  and ac-
 tions."  When animals, whose nervous system is thus con-
 structed, have such sensations as we possess, and recognize
 in the higher classes of animals,  when they are sensible of
 light, sound,  odour, and touch, the upper ganglion which sur-
 rounds the oesophagus must be considered as the brain, and
 from this,  nerves  may  be traced -to the eyes, antennae, and
 feelers.  Air. Astley Cooper tells me, if the longitudinal
 nerve be divided in the earth-worm,it can no longer regulate
 its motions.  When a worm is divided, each part moves and
 crawls by its own powers,  but if the longitudinal nerve be
 divided, when the worm is entire, the motions of either end
 so counteract each other, thatthe animal cannot crawl, which
 shows that the volition-of the worm proceeds from its  brain,
 and cannot operate on the parts beyond the divided nerve.
   In insects and  Crustacea, the nervous system is similar to
 that of worms.
   In malusca, there is no'longitudinal source of nerves anal-
 ogous to the medulla spinalis.  There is an upper ganglion,
„ similar to that considered as the brain in the animals just
.mentioned, and a  lower one to supply the viscera and the rest
 of the body.  Air. Hunter says in his MS., " There are two
 large nerves descending-on either side of the oesophagus, and
 then uniting into one, forming a ganglion at their  union,
 which  he  thinks serves the office of the sympathetic  or vis-
 ceral nerve,  and the medulla spinalis."
   In fish  and reptiles,  the nervous system approximates to
 that which is found in the higher classes of animals.   In the
 former, it is extremely small.  The brain and medulla spin-
 alis of the squalus maximus is exhibited in the Museum.   It
 therefore appears  that fish, such agile, powerful, indefatigable
 creatures, which  are also  so surprisingly retentive of life,
 have not only a very languid circulation,  scanty respiratory
 process, but also a disproportionately small nervous system.
 We need  not indeed  marvel at such facts,  because the ani-
 mals in which the energies of life seem greatest,  are those in
 which neither circulating organs nor nerves are discoverable.
   Mr. Hunter has in his MS. particularly described the va-
 ■rieus forms  of the brain in the lower classes of animals, an4 
  108         PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.       [lect. vi.

 iias exhibited specimens, showing its varieties, in his Museum.
 As this organ becomes large  and complex,  so, it is well
 known, do animals proportionately possess various percep-
 tions, propensities, faculties, and sentiments; which induced
 Mr. Hunter to believe that it was the organ of sensationtand
 other properties originating in that source.
   These circumstances being shown, the different organs of
 sense are next exhibited ; and the structure of the eye of the
 fish and bird appears to have  been particularly examined
 and contrasted by Mr. Hunter.  But I must not enter into
 this subject, for it would be useless to begin without proceed-
 ing;  and if 1 proceeded,  I  should  weary both  myself and
 my audience before I returned to the point from which 1 had
 set out.  Neither do I perceive that any conclusion can  be
 drawn from the most patienl investigation of the subject, ex-
 cept  that which has been deduced in the  introductory lec-
 tures ; that vibratory actions occurring in the nerves, in con-
 sequence of impressions made on them,  are transmitted to
 the brain, and variously affect that which is  perceptive.  It
 is evident to reason  that our perceptions have no rational cor-
 respondence to the causes producing them; and nature may
 have allotted to animals Various kinds and degrees of per-
 ception adapted to their wants, and the situation they occupy
 in the scale of existence.  No one can guess what kind  of
 vision belongs to  the fly.  There are probably 25,000  hex-
 agonal lenses or menisci on its surface, or the same number of
 distinct visual organs, as some comparative anatomists would
 have us to believe.  Some animals may have great suscep-
 tibility to light, odour, and sound, and yet may  not possess
 great general susceptibility.  We find indeed, in many in-
 stances, organization adapted to function, and yet it is highly
 improbable that we shall ever be able to explain function by
 means of our knowdedge of organization.
   Having promised to endeavour to confirm, by  additional
 physiological arguments, the theory of nervous and muscular
 actions proposed in my first lectures, I proceed to redeem this
 pledge.  That life continues in detached parts of vegetables
 and animals, seems evident,  from the continuance of  irrita-
 bility ; and to this subject only, I excited your attention in
the introductory lectures.  On the present occasion, I wish
you to consider, that all the vital functions are, occasionally,
equally manifest in  the detached part; for when  such parts
possess powers of supplying and distributing nourishment,
growth and formation will continue, so that the detached part 
  i fct. vi.]     PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTUKE>.           109

  becomes as perfect and complete as the body from which it
  was removed.  This happens in vegetables and zoophytes.
   In animals of more complicated structure, also, reproduc-
  tion of parts takes plnce, to a degree that often excites won-
  der, because we are apt to judge of other things by ourselves.
  or by those which we are most accustomed to observe.   The
  claws of lobsters, when torn off, are renewed.  It is said, that
  the divided parts of an earth-worm,  if cut in two, will  each
  become perfect; and that the head of the snail, and eye of
  the newt, will grow again, when removed.  \ et, I would
  ask, what is there in these facts more surprizing, than in the
  reproduction of the stag's horns, and  of the plumage of birds;
  or in the formation of superfluous limbs in the lo-tus, or of
 monstrous excrescences in the adult ? All parts are original -
  ly formed by vessels ; and why  may not these agents  form
 them anew, or produce them superfluously ?
   In the lower kinds of animals, different parts of the body
 may each be considered as possessing a perfect nervous sys-
 tem.  Those animals which are capable of great degrees of
 the reproductive  processes, have great tenacity of life, and
 powers of continuing its functions without the ordinary sup-
 ply of food.  It is said, that frogs and toads have lived in hol-
 lows of wood and stones, so that it is probable they were sup-
 ported only on the reputed " cameleon's dish," the air, and
 the moisture it  contains.   Snails will live when covered up
 in a glazed pan for more than a year.  Now, though I do not,
 under such circumstances, see any thing astonishing in the
 instances of reproduction  which are reported to have taken
 place, yet I should hesitate to admit that the brain was  ever
 perfectly reproduced, till such a fact was established by ob-
 servations on the future life of the  animal, and by subsequent
 accurate anatomical examination. As far as I have observ-
 ed, divided earth-worms, and most decapitated snails, perish;
 and I know that we may decollate the latter very complete-
 ly, and yet but partially remove the brain ; the  reproduction
 of which would not then appear so wonderful, for even in the
 higher classes of animals,  the life of parts seems to operate
 so as to convert surrounding substances into their own nature
 and structure.
  In the  higher classes of animals, in which distinct organs
 are allotted for carrying on the vital functions, if parts be de-
tached, they necessarily perish, for the springs of the vital ac-
tions are  removed.    There can  be  no supply of blood or
,^rvous energy, for the detached parts are cut off from their 
no           PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.     Uect. vi.

■sources.   There is no manifestation of the existence of life
in the detached part, except by the delay of putrefaction, and
the continuance, for a time, of the phenomena of irritability.
   To this striking evidence of the existence of life in detach-
ed parts, 1 directed your attention in  the introductory  lec-
tures ; nor do 1 perceive any reason to add to what was then
said, in order to persuade an unprejudiced person that it is a
superadded power, only inherent in the visible structures to
which it is competed.  Baton the present occasion, I would
ask, whether irritability alone is capable of causing all the
phenomena which take place in the  reproductive processes I
have now referred  to ?   Can  it alone produce assimilation
and decomposition, and all the varieties of growth and organ-
isation ?   Those who think the phamomena of life depend
on organization, must  necessarily suppose as many kinds of
life as of structures, and still assign no cause for the produc-
tion of such structures.   Those who think that irritability de-
pends  upon nerves, must do so  by a violation of their own
principles, for they must suppose the hydatid to  have nerves,
tjiough none can be demonstrated, even by tl*e aid of the
microscope.  Yet if they choose to contend that the pheno-
mena  of irritability in  detached parts which possess nerves
are  maintained  by their presence, it is impossible to refute
them,  for we cannot remove the nerves without /destroying
Xhe irritable substance.  The  arguments  which invalidate
their supposition are, that irritability exists where we have no
evidence of nerves, and that it bears no proportion to the
magnitude of the nervous system.
   From the perplexities and obscurity of other  opinions, let
me turn you  attention for a moment to contemplate the sim-
plicity and clearness of Mr. Hunter's Theory of Life.  In
all its  functions he recognized an active principle, capable of
producing motions in matter that would not move without it,
and of controlling  motions to which,from other causes, such
matter has a propensity, and of exerting its powers in differ-
ent modes and degrees in the structures or substances in which
it inhered.  He thought that a  similar vital principle was dif-
fused throughout the body in different degrees, and to use the
expressions with' which his friends have furnished him, that
the materia vitse diffusa communicated with the vital ener-
gies of the brain,  by means of actions transmitted through
the nerves or internunciate chords, as he called them ; he also
 considered these actions to be productive of the sympathetic 
   r-FXT. vi.]       PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          II f

   effects referred to in the introductory lectures, and which arc
   wholly unintelligible upon any other supposition.
      In forming our opinions on the subject of sensation,  I ad-
   mit that a choice of difficulties is presented to us ; and I pre-
   fer that which seems the least.  If I judge, as  I own is na-
   tural, of other things by myself,  I shall be led into a dilemma
   that a man of great intellectual powers and acquirements has
   been, and whom I have already praised for the important ad-
   ditions he has made to our knowledge of the functions-of the
   nervous system.   As we perform certain actions in conse-
   quence of reasoning, he was induced to believe that brutes
   act in a similar manner from a similar cause.  Regardless oi
   the opinions of great  numbers of highly  intellectual  men,
   that instinct is a blind impulse, unconscious of the end which
   it effects, he maintains his own, and is consequently obliged,
   as he proceeds, to suppose that brutes have tradition.  But 1
   am sure, had he continued to examine their actions to the ex-
   tent lie might have done, he would have been compelled.
   either to relinquish his dogma, or to assert things still more in
   credible.   It would require more intellect and ability than
   falls to the lot of any human individual, by experiment, in-
   duction, contrivance", and practice, to accomplish  what ani-
   mals perform without education or communication with one
   another.  The full consideration  of this  subject, induced a
   philosopher to conclude, that the actions of animals were the
   result of* laws established by an intelligent cause, and to ex-
   press the  opinion by the brief but emphatic exclamation :
   " Dens est anima brutorum."   Yet further, as  animals per-
   form certain actions in consequence  of feeling, the gentle-
   man alluded to is led on to suppose, that similar actions in
   vegetables are also the result of feeling; nay, he even attri-
   butes to them, the more subtile sensations of smell and taste,
   and believes them to be undoubtedly actuated by the passion
   of love.  As he has published all this in a scientific work, con-
   taining many highly valuable observations, 1 conclude that
   he was firmly convinced of what he  has asserted; which
   jhows how opinions are acquired and established.  We have
   only to think in a certain manner repeatedly,  and we shall
   become  convinced  of what at  first might have appeared
   doubtful,  or even improbable.   It is therefore prudent,  be-
   fore wc indulge in certain trains of thought, and suffer them
*   fo become habitual  and predominant,  to consider their ulti-
   mate tendency and probable influence on our conduct, both
   -v'th re^et to ourselves and others  It  is surely niht, be 
112          PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      [lect. vr

fore we enier a path which we mean to pursue, to enquire
whither it may lead us.
  The long continuance of life, when the brain is removed in
tortoises, the  dissections of that organ by Doctors Gall and
Spurzheim, the  late experiments of Le Gallois and Dr. Wil-
son Phillip, showing that the vital functions can be carried on
in warm as well as in cold blooded animals,  after the brain
has been removed, provided, indeed, artificial respiration be
kept up in the former class, all tend to show, what Compara-
iive Anatomy also teaches, that the brain is not essential to
i he vital functions.   There are animals which have no brains,
and in proportion  as they possess them, so do they appear to
have sensation,  volition, and other faculties.  Every portion
of newly acquired knowdedge only corroborates  the already
well established opinion, that sensation, volition, and the in-
tellectual faculties are connected with the brain alone.
   Theaexperiments of M. Le Gallois show that there is an
analogy in the functions of the medulla spinalis in the higher
and lower classes of animals.  In the latter,  it is a series of
connected gangalia, each supplying the portion of the body to
which it corresponds ; and even in quadrupeds we sometimes
observe the medulla spinalis to swell out in  portions, so as
to appear like a series of connected ganglia, as is evident in
the preparation which Mr. Hunter has exhibited  of that part
in the lion.  The  experiments of M.  Le Gallois, show that
the nervous influence of portions  of the  body, corresponds
with that part of the medulla spinalis to which their nerves
are connected; that it forms a kind  of centre from which
nervous  actions radiate,  and to which they tend.   Yet
according to the view I have exhibited of the nervous func-
tions in the introductory lectures,  it appears  necessary that
such  actions should be transmitted to and from the brain in
order to communicate sensation and volition.
   AI. Le Gallois  seems, however, to suppose, that sensation
continues in the medulla spinalis after the brain is removed.
Now were I  to entertain the same opinion, I might be led on
to suppose that a  duck decapitated  by  the  side of a pond,
which has been known to runa few steps into the water, and
swim a few strokes from the shore,  was voluntarily taking
refuge from injury in an element where it had formerly found
security, was gratified by  the feeling derived from it,  and
elated at accomplishing its object.  The mind revolts from
tie supposition that nature would have  formed the  lower
kinds of animals  doomed to destruction,  so  defenceless, or, 
^lect. vi.      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          m

that they should repair the injuries they sustained  in the
manner they are known to do, did they possess the sensibili-
ty of the higher classes.  Sensation seems allotted to animals
in different degrees, and  faculties adapted  to their peculiar
situation.  Were  it however possible that I should believe
all that seems required of me, and go on to attempt to account
for the phaenomena of life upon such principles, 1 know event-
ually I should be compelled to believe that atoms were sen-
tient, and intelligence universal.
   The opinion that sensation, volition, and other faculties at-
tendant on perception, are connected with the brain alone is
natural to most men, confirmed by reasons so strong and
clear, that they have convinced those of the greatest intellect
in different aeras and countries, and it is corroborated by all
the discoveries in science.   I have already observed, that we
know nothing  but the properties of the different substances
we recognize in nature; of the subject which supports these
properties we seem, in every instance, to be equally ignorant.
Air. Hunter's proposition,  that  the phaenomena of life are
produced by something wdiich  is superadded to  structure,
cannot, 1 think, be disputed.  But if this be granted, the facts
which have been mentioned, call upon us also to admit, that
life is not essentially perceptive; and I further contend, that
reason absolutely  prohibits  our  supposing, that perception,
with its concomitant attributes of consciousness and volition,
and its various  attendant faculties, propensities, and senti-
ments, can be the result of any arrangement or motion  of
insensible atoms.  I know, indeed, I may be asked how 1
can suppose a distinct sentient principle to be formed, added,
or connected ?   To which 1 answer, it is impossible to enter-
tain any supposition on these subjects, because we can have
no knowledge  but what is derived  from our perceptions.
Yet I can  firmly believe, that there may be, and are things,
of the nature of which we can never entertain the least idea,
from their having no correspondence to the objects  of our
senses.   To me it seems,  that true philosophy shows us the
imperfection of our senses,  and  limitation of our powers;  so
that by a kind  of light which it elicits from our own ignor-
ance, it instructs us in the lessons of humility.
   By adopting the opinions which I feel it my duty to incul-
cate, we not only avoid many difficulties and absurdities, but
also perceive the scheme of nature to be beautiful and benev-
olent ; and we are excited to actions useful to others, and
honourable to ourselves.   Nature has given life  and active
                           1^ 
i 14          PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURE:      [llct.  *;.

power to vegetables, which occasionally evinces its activity^
even in them, by irritable motions.   The irritable actions of
life are however more particularly  allotted to  the animal
kingdom.   She has superadded to life sensation, but confined
the sentient principle to the brain alone, and yet enabled il
to perceive all that happens in the body, and even in remote
objects, as well as to regulate those actions which may con
tribute to the welfare of the perceptive individual.  She has
allotted sensation and faculties in various degrees to animals,
adapting both their feelings and dispositions to the situation
they occupy in the graduated scale  of existence.  She has
made man in the highest degree sensitive and  intelligent.
She has given him reason and sentiments of so exalted and
commanding a nature, that under their excitement he will
sustain and encounter what his nature as an animal  most
dreads and abhors.  At the call of honour, or under the con-
viction of right, he will endure  torture with seeming apathy
or derision, and welcome death with smiles.  In the exercise
of his intellectual powers he is abstracted from his body, and
unconscious of its existence.  But I forbear to say more; for
I have not received the appointment  of professor of moral
philosophy to the college.   Yet it is a part of my duty to place
before you, Gentlemen, a specimen of what 1  believe to be
the ancient Greek philosophy of life, and a sample of some
modern French physiology  on  the  same subject, for your
consideration and choice.
  Now though 1 have forborne to consider the structure of
the organs of sense in general, I wish to say a few words on
that of the human skin, which is  capable, in all its parts, of
distinguishing what are called the tangible properties of sub
stances, because the skin forms the surface of the  body, and
there is probably an analogy in the coverings of all kinds of
animals.   Had the skin been exposed to the air, it would
have either become dry and horny from evaporation, as wc
see in the dead subject when the cuticle is removed, or en-
crusted, from the same cause, by  the residue  of the  fluids  il
pours forth.  It is therefore necessary that it should be de-
fended by an outer garment impermeable to moisture.   The
cuticle, which seems a compact,  though thin   substance.
through which the water effused beneath it, when we are
blistered, does not  even transude, appeal's well  calculated 
 -:a vi.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.           \\^

 for this purpose.   It is most exactly fitted to  the surface of
 the true skin, descending into every groove, and rising over
 every eminence.   Yet however neatly fitted this water-proof
 garment may be, it would be liable to be wrinkled or displac-
 ed by friction, were it not firmly connected to the skin by a
 net-work  of very minute, soft, and  seemingly  mucaginous
 fibres, which are therefore denominated the rcte mucosum.
 This part is variously coloured in different persons;  it is taw-
 ny in some,  freckled in  others, and black in  the  African.
 'I hese investments of the skin do not appear to be  sensible,
 and doubts have been entertained whether  they are in any
 degree vascular.
   We must, however, I think, admit that vessels  arrive at
 the surface of thecutiele, through  which gaseous and water}
 fluids containing  some mucilaginous and saline substances
 are eliminated from the circulating  system.   We see the
 sweat escaping from regular pores, and  not irregularly trans-
 uding, as  if it passed through interstices in the cuticle. Sub-
 stances rubbed on the skin gain entrance into the absorbing
 vessels, and it is very improbable that they pass through the
 compact cuticle, in order to arrive at their orifices.  We see
 the ducts of the oil-bags terminating on the surface of the cu-
 ticle.   It seems here right to  observe,  that myriads of oiL-
 bags are disseminated throughout the skin, from which ducts
 proceed to the surface of the cuticle to anoint it every where ;
 and that it is most liberally oiled in parts subject to the great-
 est friction or evaporation. If we throw  water upon our arms,
 we find it repelled in globules, as from a greased  surface.
 Every hair also receives a small covering from thecutiele, as
 it penetrates that  substance; which covering so tenaciously
 adheres to it, that in taking off the cuticle, when the skin is
 slightly putrid, we tear the bulbs of the hair from the beds in
 which  they grew, and they remain firmly connected to the
cuticle in consequence of this investment.
  There are processes of the skin entering the interior of ani-
mals ; and though these differ materially from it in appear-
ance, yet an analogy of structure may be traced in them, so
that they may fairly be considered as internal skins.  Their
surfaces to which also the air  may have access, are every
 vvhere  besmeared with mucus, and therefore they are com
monly called the  mucous membranes  of animals.   Mucus
is an animal substance,  admirably adapted for  the defence
of the surfaces which it  covers.  It is mild  and unstimulat-
;n°, possessing a viscidity which causes it to cling to the 
 116          PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      [ieot. vi

 surface it is designed to defend, and being particularly immis-
 cible with other fluids, it is not likely to be removed by the li-
 quids contained  in cavities formed of such membranes, or
 even by the current of fluid  when  passing through tubes of
 the same construction.  In evidence of this, I may mention,
 that the surfaces of fish are smeared over with mucus, which
 is liberally poured out  from  the orifices of numerous ducts,
 rendering the surface of these animals particularly slippery,
 preventing also any adhesion between them and the element
 in which they move, and serving the same purpose in facilita-
 ting their transit through the water,  that greasing the bottom
 of a boat is known to do.  Yet though they swim through
 the water with such celerity, the skin is never denuded of
 mucus.
  There are intermediate surfaces in animal bodies, between
 those which I have described as external and internal skins,
 and these are also defended by appropriate lackers,  which,
 however, 1 shall  not detain you by  describing.  Yet I wish
 you to observe, how  admirably the cerumen  of  the ear is
 adapted,  from its obvious qualities, to defend and keep moist
 that process of the skin which lines the tube of  the ear.   Its
 tenacity causes it to cling to the surface it is designed to pro-
tect ; it is not liable to dry into a crust, as mucus does, nor to
 become rancid and acrid, like oil.  Its bitterness, they say,
 also renders it disgusting to insects,  which might in our sleep
 seek to nestle in that passage.   The necessity for the lining
of the tube of the ear being kept constantly moist  is evident,
for when the cerumen is  deficient  in quantity, or faulty in
 quality, theui the oscillations of sound, or the pulsation of the
vessels, produce vibrations in the tube, causing noises, which
patients compare to the rustling of  leaves, or the gushing of
waters, and the beating of hammers.
  Though the exact  structure of the  coverings of animals
 appears to be less accurately known than that of most other
parts, yet from the general  consideration of the  subject, I
think we are warranted in concluding, that Nature has either,
from the texture  of the substances with which she has invest-
 ed them, or the  qualities of those with which they  are be-
smeared, cut off all communication between the interior of
living beings, and the elements in  which they live,  except
 what takes place through tubes or passages which she her-
self has formed.   Even in vegetables  we observe  some sur-
faces besmeared with adhesive wax, others varnished with
resin, whilst the grasses are glazed with transparent flinL 
s-lct. vi.j     PHYSIOLOGICAL  LECTURES           n?

   After the exhibition of the structures already adverted to,
Mr. Hunter calls our attention to the fat of animals, which
he considers as not  actually making a part of the body, the
animal being much  the same with or w ithout it.   We find his
attention, however, excited by the great increase of fat in
hybcrnating  animals, prior to their becoming torpid ; and
there are contained  in his AIS. many observations and expe-
riments which he requested his pupil,  Dr. Jenner, to make
for him, relative to this subject, in hedgehogs.
   The exterior coverings of animals are next shown, which
are to be considered as their clothing or their armour, and re-
specting them, it seems worthy of remark, that they are all
made of the same kind of material, which  is impenetrable to
moisture.   Hairs, feathers, scales, and horny cuticle, resem-
ble each other in this particular, and  also in their chemical
analysis.
   Mr. Hunter has  shown the analogy of the formation of
feathers and hairs.  Each is formed by a vascular substance,
which ascends to some distance up their shafts.  I lairs are
bulbous rooted,  and the stronger ones are  more deeply im-
planted in the skin.   The capsule of the bulb, which is tough
and shining, being opened, is found to contain a very vascular
pulp which can be injected, and  ascends up the shaft of the
hair so as successively to form it at the bottom; and thus to
increase its length.  1 cannot suppose this circumstance was
commonly known at the time  Mr. Hunter made these prepa-
rations, for a knowledge of this fact much diminishes our sur-
prise at the accounts we have  received of the plica polonica,
in which disease the hairs arc said to be ill-formed, matted,
and to  bleed from their roots.
  The hairs are sometimes straight, and sometimes curved or
waving, and when of the latter kind they intermix and form
a fleece.  In birds and beasts the stronger hairs and feathers
make an external coat, and beneath this we find a downy or
furry vestment of the same parts,  but of a more delicate struc-
uire.
  These garments of animals are, from their  texture,  bad
conductors of heat,  and well  calculated to prevent external
heat or cold from affecting the animal temperature.
  The garments of animals also exclude moisture, from being
oiled,  either by unctuous fluids transuding from the skin, or
from their being applied by the voluntary act of the animal;
Nature having given to birds in common, and particularly to 
'.in         Pin bluLOGICAL LECTURES.       uect. v:

i hose that are aquatic, as well as to many animals, oil bag-
tor that purpose.
  The coverings of many animals seem merely designed for
their defence, as the shells  of tortoises, armadillos, and  the
scales of the manis.   The coarse scales and spines of fishes,
the bucklers of the sturgeon, and hard projections of the skin
of the crocodile, all serve  the same purposes.  The porcu-
pine  and hedgehog have quills like those of birds, but they
want the fibrous part or plumage, and are remarkably strong
and pointed.  They may indeed be considered as a defence
to the animal, when they lie horizontally ; but as it is well
known these animals, when attacked, suddenly squat down,
bringing their fore  and hind legs near together, and putting
their head between their fore-legs, then contracting their skin
in a direction towards their belly, by an appropriate muscle,
the quills are raised, and a  chevaux de frise of pointed spears
presented in every direction to  the assailant.   When  the
horny or crustaceous investments of animals are of one piece
and unyielding, there is a necessity, whilst the animal is grow-
ing, for casting these coverings and forming new ones, adapt-
ed to the increased bulk of the  animal;  and we find that
snakes and lobsters thus cast their skins or shells.
  Mr. Hunter next displays the weapons and instruments
which Nature has allotted  to animals; and here we find  ex-
hibited the  spurs of the  cock, the retractile nails of the  cat
kind, which must be  considered as weapons; whilst  the
fixed nails of other kinds of animals may be regarded as in-
struments,  with which  they scratch or burrow.   The hoof
of the horse is shown; for it is used as a weapon.  The horns
of animals,  being displayed elsewhere, are not included in
this department of the Aluseum.
  The teeth seem to have  been considered by Air.  Hunter
chiefly as weapons and instruments.  Though teeth do  not
usually grow, yet those in  the front of the mouth of the ani-
mals, now called rodentia, are continually growing, so that
they  project and prevent the animal from masticating,  if not
worn down by gnawing, according to the intention of nature.
The  venom bags, and tubular teeth, or fangs of serpents, by
which the  wound is inflicted and the poison injected,  are
shown,  and also the stings of scorpions, bees and wasps.
  Those animals which cannot hunt their prey, and would
become victims of its resistance, can, by such means, instantly
deprive  it of power, and speedily of life.  Such animals also
as depend upon casualty for support, are generally formed te 
iECT. vi.)      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          l ih

sustain long abstinence without that decline of power which
occurs in others, and for the occasional digestion of enormous
quantities of food.  It is, however, but a small part of the
highly  interesting subject, of the means  by which various;
animals obtain their sustenance, that falls within the province
of the Comparative Anatomist to discuss ; it is that part onlr
which relates to structure, the rest belonging to the Natural
Historian.   The proboscis of animals  is to be considered a--
an instrument, and that of the elephant is here shown.
  In this department of his Museum,  Mr.  Hunter also di:
plays the electrical organs of the torpedo and gymnotus, his
account of which is published in  the Pliilosophical Transac-
tions.  I have already suggested in the first lectures, what
reflections  they probably  induced.  He has put  up equal
portions of the brain and medulla spinalis of the raia torpedo,
and a more common ray fish of equal  size,  so that they ap-
pear like the front and  back view of  the same preparation.
in order to show the disproportion, and the  immense size oi
the nerves which go to the electrical organs. How strange
and unexpected  is this mode  of defence and assault, which
probably palsies the prey or assailant.  Even the polype
seems  to have a power  of inflicting sudden death; but by
what means,is not, I believe, ascertained.  The worm which
it seizes, is  swallowed without resistance, or  its struggles
would lacerate the tender body of its devourer.  I have thus,
as briefly as possible, told you what are the facts, and their
arrangement, which Mr. Hunter has  exhibited, relative U
these parts of the animal economy in general.
  An adherence to the chief object of these lectures, which
is to exhibit Air. Hunter's opinions relative to the principal
v ital functions, has obliged  me to hurry through these last
departments of the Museum, and  prevented me from notic-
ing many interesting facts belonging to less important parts
of the  subject.  I may, however,  mention that  Air.  Clift
informs me, when Dr. Schrcibers, of Vienna, whose account
of the  anatomv  of the  siren lacertiiia is published in the
Philosophical Transactions of the year 1801,  (which is flu
only animal known to possess both lungs and gills, and con-
sequently fitted to live both in air and water,)  inspected the
preparations of the pulmonary and other organs of that ani-
mal contained in the Museum, he was surprized to find that
Mr. Hunter knew nearly, if not  all the facts relating to it-
anatomy, which he himself had been able to communicate to
♦he public.  Two species of the *irc:i were examined by Mr- 
!20         PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      [leci. vir

Hunter, one of which was brought from South Carolina, in
i 753, and afterwards bought by him.  Also, after Dr. La-
tham had  published his account of the conformation of the
larynges of various birds,*  he was surprized to find that Mr.
Hunter had exhibited most of the facts contained in his paper
on that subject, and  several varieties, with which  he was
unacquainted, but which he deemed worthy of being com-
municated  to the public.   Now almost all (he preparations
m the Huntcrian Collection were made before the year 1730,
and have been publicly exhibited since the year 17G.3.   We
must, therefore, consider Mr. Hunter as the discoverer of all
the  facts, ascertained by  his  preparations, that were not
publicly known before that time; whilst the open evidence
c.nd communication of his labours entitle him  further to be
regarded as the prime mover in those investigations, and as the
source of that light, by which the subject of the comparative
structure and functions of living beings in general, has of late
been so highly illumined.
                 LECTURE  VZX.

  IT is one of the characteristics of livings being, that they
multiply their species; which they sometimes effect in con-
sequence of subdivisions of their bodies, or by the production
of shoots, that afterwards become detached.   Both these
modes  are evident in vegetables and polypes.  In general,
however, the  multiplication of the species is effected by the
production of seeds and eggs,  containing nutriment  for the
germ of the future vegetable or animal, which, thus support-
ed, grows till it acquires powers of deriving nourishment from
other sources.  Those animals, which multiply their species
in this manner, are said to be oviparous.   Sometimes the ova
seem to be hatched within the body of the parent, and, under
such circumstances, the animals are said to be ovoviviparous.
This mode of multiplication is frequent in the lower kinds of
animals,  but  it is met with also  in the class mammalia,
amongst the oppossum tribe.  From observing the peculiar-
ities of structure in the sexual organs of the animals last men-
tioned, Mr. Hunter was convinced that they did not produce
their youpg li&e  other quadrupeds; yet he was unaided to
* Linnean Transactions, Vol. iv. 
i-Kcr. vn.]     PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          121

get the American oppossum to breed in this country.  The
facts have been ascertained, since our more free communica-
tion with New-Holland.   That large animal, the Kangaroo,
produces a young one, not exceeding twenty grains in weight,
which is received into the abdominal pouch of its parent, and
being there protected from cold and injury, clings to the nip-
ple of its mother,  and takes sustenance according to its
wants.  It is curious to  observe the difference of  form be-
tween the parent and its young  offspring.  The mother has
monstrous hind legs, by which  she springs to a surprizing
distance, whilst her fore paws are very diminutive, serving
merely  to feed  and to scratch With.  On the  contrary, the
young Kangaroo has monstrous fore-paws, with  which it
clings to the nipple of its mother, and scarcely any hind legs ;
so that its form, at its birth, is suited to its present exigencies,
and not to its future modes of life.  By degrees, the young
Kangaroo fills and distends the abdominal pouch, and peeps
abroad through its aperture, which gives the first intimation
to others, that its parent has become a mother.
   The common mode of the multiplication of the species, in
the higher order of animals, consists in the exceedingly min-
ute ovum, containing no nutriment for the growth of the em-
bryon, but merely its germ.  Yet this possesses powers of
extracting nourishment from the vessels  of its mother ; and
when the young has attained a certain degree  of perfection,
it is expelled from her body, and is, or will become, a minia-
ture resemblance of its progenitors.   Animals that bring
forth their young in this manner are called viviparous.
   There are organs allotted for the  formation of the ovum
called female, but it never increases beyond a certain point,
unless excited by the application of a peculiarly stimulating
substance prepared by other  organs, called male.   Some-
times both kinds of organs are found in the  same vegetable
or animal, and sometimes the organs of each sex are allotted
to different individuals.  How far the prerogative of the fe-
male organs may extend with respect to their power of form-
ing the  rudiments or primordia of the  embryon before the
peculiar stimulus is applied which is  said to fecundate the
ovum, is probably unknown.  The female organs of plants,
will, I believe,  prepare a seed, though  no fecundation has
taken place.  The progress of the formation of the young
vegetable in the seeds of different plants is known to vary
considerably.   In  the  common bean, the plumula or first
shoot is  very evident, and even  well formed.  Experiments 
 1-22          PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURE:?,       illli-. v :

 m vegetables might tend to elucidate the extent of the pow-
 ers allotted to the female organs.   Frogs and  fish prepare
 and exclude their membranaceous ova prior to fecundation ;
 and some degree of organization is  discoverable in that  part
 which would produce the embryon, if fecundated.  Female
 birds prepare and deposit their crustaeeous ova when seclud-
 ed from the presence of the male.  From the magnitude of
 some of them, and the facility with which they are obtained,
 they have been  made subjects of interesting examination by
 various physiologists.
   Air. Hunter began his examination in those of the hen  and
 goose in the year 1755, and the industry and accuracy with
 which he noted  all the changes occurring during incubation
 are evident.   He has put up in his Museum two sets of eggs,
 showing these changes from the first few hours of incubation
 to the maturity  of the chick, and consequent conclusion of
 that process.  As many of the  appearances, however,  are
 evanescent, or destructible by immersion in spirits, he procur-
 ed  beautiful drawings to be made of them by the best artists.
 It seems proper  to mention, for it exhibits the peculiar char-
 acter of his mind, that at the time of his death he was engag-
 ed in some additional investigations of the same subject.
  These were the inquiries  by  which  he was chiefly con-
 vinced that life was a great architect.  He believed that vital
 actions begin simultaneously in various parts of the  semi-
 opake  and whitish areola  which is called the cicatricula.
 He says that there is a zone  of bloody points at a distance
 from the part where the rudiments of the chick begin to form.
 He suspects that blood is first formed, and vessels afterwards.
 He is certain that vessels forming in  different parts of  the
 areola, afterwards coalesce, and that the foetus is not develop-
ed, but built up.*  I kept some pullets last winter  secluded
 from the male bird, and Mr. Clift examined the cicatricula of
 the eggs which they laid in the spring by the microscope.
 without being able to observe any difference in  the organi-
 zation of the  cicatricula of these and other eggs.   He  says,
 that there is the same appearance of opake spots in the  cir-
cumference of the areola at a little distance from its disk, and
the same kind of  central opacity, which, after  the heat of
 incubation has been applied for some time, become, accord-

 * 1 have already mentioned that he believed that the vital processes weir
carried on in the same manner in the uniting medium of parts that have been
divided or removed. 
lkct. vn.j     PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          12C,

ing to Mr. Hunter's  description of them, a zone  of bloody
points where vessels form, which afterwards communicate
with other vessels proceeding from the centre.
  There have been some persons, who, from thinking forma-
tion impossible,  have been led on to suppose that the rudi-
ments of all mankind existed  in  their  first parents.  There
are many who believe that there is some primary fibre from
which all  the rest are produced.  I would ask them how
and where they suppose this fibre to be formed ?  If they an-
swer in the ovary, they even then admit Air. Hunter's opin-
ion, that life has the power of forming a fibre.   The ovum is
formed in the ovarium by a secretion from its  vessels.  It is
impossible to suppose even a fibre to be secreted; we  are
therefore obliged to suppose such a fibre to be formed,- either
by the vessels of the ovarium, or by the vital powers inherent
in the ovum.
  The ovum is formed in a capsule of the ovarium, and is
free to move when an  aperture is produced, either, by  its
bursting, or ulceration.  How far, I would ask, can we sup-
pose the formative actions to have proceeded in so minute a
substance as the ovum of viviparous animals?  It is  so min-
ute as to be with difficulty discernible even by the microscope,
nay, even after it has been for some time resident in the ute-
rus, as has been testified both by Harvey and Hunter.   Yet
this atom, escaping frOm its  cell, and failing to get into its
proper  receptacle, the womb, being like a  seed endowed
with vital powers, shoots forth roots,attaches itself to surround-
ing parts, extracts nourishment from them, and in due season
forms  a perfect but extra-uterine foetus. Such cases, you
know, are not of unfrequent occurrence.  It seems, there-
fore, highly probable that  the ovum, being endowed with
plastic  powers,  forms its own parts, and proceeds in such
formation to different degrees in different animals and vege-
tables ; yet such actions are not continued beyond a certain
point, unless the appropriate  stimulus be applied to excite
 them.
   It appears then to be the prerogative of the female organs
 to produce an ovum, which, when excited by the application
 of some substance prepared by the male, becomes capable of
 beginning or continuing those actions which eventually pro-
 duce  a new living  being possessing  properties and powers
 similar to those of its parents.
   Without this  magic application, plants  may drop  their
 f,eeds. and oviparou? animals deposit their eggs, vvrjich though 
124          PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      [lect. vh.

they do not seem destitute of life,  yet never continue its ac-
tions, but slowly decay.  On the  contrary, after they have
received this specific excitation, they become surprizingly re-
tentive of life;  and though its actions are often suspended by
adverse circumstances for a great length of time, neverthe-
less they afterwards may begin to  build up the very curious
structures of plants and animals, endowing also each  struc-
ture with its  appropriate  degree  and  function  of vitality.
Some speculators indeed have imagined that the primordium
vita? originated in the male; an opinion that involves in it
much absurdity, which  I shall  not attempt to expose.  It
seems  refutable by the  former argument.  The stimulating
substance is a secretion; and we  cannot suppose that  any
thing which is organic can be at once secreted;—it must be
built up.   1 beg leave to remind you,  Gentlemen, that it is
not my intention to dispute about Mr. Hunter's opinions, but
merely to display them.
  If the male merely prepares a stimulus, it is requisite that
it should possess powers of peculiar excitation, and that the
ovum should be endowed with a corresponding  and appro-
priate excitability; and it seems  further necessary that such
appropriate peculiarities should be restricted to the individ*
uals which belong to certain species  or genera of vegeta-
bles and animals.  If such properties were not thus limited,
but general,  hybrid  productions  might become common;
and as the offspring resembles its parents, great diversities
of vegetables  and animals would be produced, so as event-
ually to destroy all  the  original and striking  distinctions of
form and character which Nature has instituted.  Nature
has also made mules in general  unprolific,  as  if she  had
said, "Thus  far may you  go,  but  no farther."  I  know
that some exceptions to this rule are occasionally to be
met with, but to these  the grammatical adage  seems par-
ticularly appropriate, " Exceptio probat Regulam."
  The offspring may more particularly resemble the  male
or the female parent, or equally  resemble both, as is evi-
dent in the common mule.   Now, thinking  as Mr.  Hun-
ter did about  the formation of the embryon  and its  future
growth, this resemblance must have  appeared  to  him ex-
tremely curious ; and  he used, in his lectures, to record
every instance that came within his own  knowledge, with
his usual  accuracy  and fidelity.   He recited instances of
children who had never seen their parents, resembling them,
not only most exactly in form, but also in manners, and 
 r.ECT. vn.]     PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          125

 .n peculiar and whimsical habits.  He mentioned also cases
 where children acquired the same diseases at the same period of
 life to which the parent had also been subject at the same age.
 He dwelt upon the resemblance of twins,  and (as in his lec-
 tures on  sympathies) actually wearied his audience  by the
 number of facts he recorded,  and the minuteness and accu-
 racy with which  he detailed them.
   Such instances, however, are not only curious,  as demon
 strative of the powers and progress of the vital actions, but
 they also  deserve general consideration; for children  resem-
 ble their parents not only in person but in mind.  Nature has
 made us  to love youth, health, and beauty of  form;  to de-
 light in amiable dispositions, and  admire various kinds of in-
 tellectual excellence.   She has given us propensities which
 tend to perfectionate the human race; but we. for mere lucre.
 become wedded  to age, disease, and deformity,  malignity.
 folly, and even insanity.  " Quid non mortalia pectora cogis,
 auri sacra fames !"  But if, like Prometheus, we presume
 to give  life  in opposition to the laws of Nature, we shall re-
 ceive the same punishment, for our children will become the
 vultures that will  prey upon our vitals.
   In investigating this part of the  works of Nature, the mul-
 tiplication of the species, we perceive, as in other instances
 the same  uniformity of design, and diversity of means; the
 same gradation,  and seeming concatenation in their  series.
 Yet this concatenation, though delightful  and interesting to
 our observation, is perplexing to our understanding; for each
 link of the chain  is perfectly independent  of the other, nor
 does any necessity for such series  and order, or seeming con-
 nection appear.   Still, however, it produces on the mind ef-
 fects similar to those which are derived from viewing a highly
 finished picture, wherein the shades and variety of light and
 colour are so softened down and  blended together, that it is
 difficult to say where the one ends  or the other begins.
  In examining the sexual organs of vegetables, we find the
 males and females in general  included in the  same flower,
 and sometimes  so arranged, that the  pollen of the males is
 likely to fall upon the stigmata of the females,  both of which
 circumstances seem calculated to ensure fecundation.   Yet.
 in other instances, we find the male organs in one flower, and
 the females  in another of the same plant.   Again, in  other
 instances, the  male and female flowers  are  on different
pla its, so  that the process of fecundation is left to be effcted
    {he sport of winds, or the occupation of the bee. which
& 
i2h
PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.
[lect. VII.
having collected the pollen, or bee bread, from  the  male
flower, transports it lieneath his hairy thighs to the  female,
which he visits, to suck the honey from its nectary; and thus
undesigningly applies  part of the  pollen to the  stigmata.
When the male and female parts  are included in the  same
flower, we find each of them varying in number from one to
twenty and more.  We  find in some instances the males
proportionately much more numerous than the  females, and
in others  the number  of females far exceeding that of  the
males; and we are unable to assign any adequate  reasons
for the facts we observe.   Yet in examining all the works ol
Nature we find the same difficulty; we know not why those
works are formed as they are.  It is a problem  that can only
be solved after Captain Shandy's method, by saying, " It is
the will of Heaven, brother," which, as he replies, is cutting
the Gordian knot, without attempting to untie it.
  in the seeds of most plants,  much more nutritive matter is
found than is necessary to supply the young plumula,  till it
acquires means and powers of deriving sustenance from other
sources, and this surplus  affords  nourishment to  animals
which feed on such seeds or grain.  In the various kinds of
fruits, a great quantity of esculent matter is produced, which
must be considered as designed for the food of  animals.  In
the accomplishment of this object, we again observe an ex-
treme diversity of means; sometimes the seeds  are contained
in the centre of the fruit; and sometimes set in the circumfer-
■ >nce, or surface.  Sometimes the little embryon of the young
plant, with the esculent substance, is included in a firm case.
 In those  plants, which thrive  every where, the  seeds  are
light, and scattered abroad by the air ; and some are curi-
ously feathered to prolong their flight, whilst others,  adapted
 ro peculiar situations,  are  heavy.   Even animals are made
to disseminate vegetables which serve them  for food; for,
having eaten the seeds, some pass undigested through their
 bowels, and vegetate where deposited, in ground thus also
 manured.   The  seeds of some vegetables probably contain
 scarcely any thing but the germ of the young plant, and do
 not therefore vegetate, but under favouring circumstances.
  Those of the mushroom kind are perhaps as good an instance
 as can be produced.  The multitudinous seeds appear to the
  niked eye a most subtile and light dust, which when diffused
 through the air, forms an evanescent cloud.
   Nature has made also some animals monoicous, and  placed
  he male and female parts in the same individual; though  in 
 /-E(t. vn.j      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.         i;

 general she has allotted them to different individuals, partic-
 ularly in the higher classes, and given to each its distinguish-
 ing sexual  character.   The male is in general the largest and
 the strongest; but there are exceptions to this rule, showing
 that this ordinance is not the result of necessity.  As the vital
 powers of animals speedily decay  and shortly cease, the pro-
 duction of successors becomes a most important object.*  Na-
 ture has therefore given animals of different sexes the strong-
 est propensities,  so to communicate with one  another  as to
 produce the fecundation of the ovum, and she has limited this
 propensity to  individuals of the same species, and ordained a
 repugnance to gratify  such desires with others.  She has
 caused such desires to occur only annually in some animals.
 and at different periods in others ;  at times, how ever, favour-
 able to the production  or support of the future young.  The
 sexual organs seem to wither during the sterile interval, and
 most surprizingly  to enlarge during the breeding  season,
 which affords us  a means of judging of what are the sexual
 organs in the lower kinds of animals.   This temporary ex
 citement of the vital actions, and correspondent alteration in
 the appearance of the  organs, seem to have  interested the
 mind of  Mr. Hunter ;  and he has put up as a contrast, the
 organs which prepare the fecundating fluid of the  sparrow.
 as they appear during these different seasons.
  There is a circumstance relative to the female of the human
 race that deserves the consideration of the philosophical phy-
 siologist.  A monthly discharge takes place from the uterine
 cavity ; it is of a nutritive quality, resembling blood, and from
 its quantity, languor and weakness is induced whenever it
 occurs.  Why Nature  should have doomed the  human fe-
 male to the periodical loss of so much nutriment and propor-
 tionate powrer,  is  a problem that can only, in my opinion,  be
 solved by supposing that it relieves uterine irritation, and mi-
 tigates the extreme of sexual desire; thus enabling her to con-
 form to the laws of morality,  and the social compacts that are
established between us.
  That Mr. Hunter viewed the whole of this subject in the
 li"ht I have endeavoured to represent it, seems manifest from
the arrangement he has adopted ;  for he has exhibited all the
varieties of  the sexual  organs, first in vegetables and after

 * How exceedingly various is the duration of life in different veget
ables and  animals!   Yet for this variety we can discern no adequatt
CdUSC. 
123          PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      [lect. vit.

wards in animals.   He has also shown the females as they
are found before and after impregnation.   His mind, how-
ever, seems to have been greatly excited by the diversity of
means which Nature has contrived to secure the life of the
defence less young, and to supply it with  nourishment suited
to its tender age, when it is incapable of supporting itself.
  In his paper on bees, he appears much interested in observ-
ing,  that their eggs are deposited  in separate  cells, before
which  there  is a kind of platform; that  the  labouring bees
bring regular supplies of bee bread, at stated times for the
young maggots;  that when these begin to spin  and assume
Their pupa state,  the labourers close the mouth of their cells,
and cease to bring them food; that  they return exactly at the
time when the maggot has undergone its metamorphosis and
become a perfect bee; that they now  unclose his cell and
bring him honey, the sweet food which is to be his future sup-
port, and which he is afterwards to collect and lay by, with
such incessant toil during the summer season, to  serve .as a
common store for himself and the community, when the incle-
ir.cnt winter has cut off those sources from which it has been
obtained ; and that, on the very day following his transforma-
tion, he is sent off with the swarm to participate in its  provi-
dent industry.
  In his paper on the secretion from the crops of brooding
pigeons, he observes, that it is not alone in the class mamma-
lia, that Nature has ordained the parent to supply nourish-
ment to the young from its  own body, for that  pigeons feed
their young with a secretion from their crops, which they
bring up and project into the throats of their offspring.   This
secretion does not take place except at the required time, and
it occurs chiefly in the male bird, to which the office of feed-
ing the young is principally allotted.  We account for the se-
cretion  of milk in the  breasts of females, from  their sympa-
thetic connection with the other sexual organs, but the fact
just mentioned cannot be accounted for in this  manner, nor,
indeed, upon any law of necessity.  Mr. Hunter, whose ha-
bit it was to think upon every subject, seems inclined to attri-
bute it to a feeling of fondness; for he observes, that the male
bird acts in the same  manner when he caresses his mate.
Nor is this supposition improbable ; for we know that certain
feelings evidently affect the different secretory organs of out-
own bodies.
   Mr.  Hunter  exhibits the nests of birds  and  field-mice
amongst the preparations, which display the anatomical foci* 
 lect. vii.]    PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.         129

relative to the nourishment and defence of the young.  This
seems on a par with the hyacinth root which I formerly men-
tioned.  Neither show any thing which is not known to  the
most ignorant, but  both  evince what were his  habitual
thoughts, and at the same time display a simplicity of char-
acter by no means common.
  Dull indeed must that mind be, which could examine the
extreme variety and ingenuity of the means employed for the
protection andsupport of the offspring, and  their adequate-
ness to the purpose  for which they seem intended, without
feeling the strongest excitement.   The subject in general,
however, belongs to the natural historian.  The department
of the anatomist ends; after having recounted those circum-
stances which relate to the structure and animal economy of
living beings, that are calculated for the purposes just recited.
According to this division of the subject, 1 may mention, that
whilst some animals build nests or habitations  to cherish
their  young, others have them formed in their own bodies.
Of this 1 have already mentioned one instance, when speak-
ing of the marsupial quadrupeds which are ovoviviparous.
The Pipa or Surinam toad excludes its eggs like other ani-
mals  of the same kind, yet  the young toads become after-
wards lodged in separate cells on its back.  The pouches of
marsupial animals are permanent,  and they suckle their
young, but there are no cells in the back of the Pipa during its
unimpregnated state, nor do these cells appear to secrete any
thing; neither have they any communication with the inte-
rior pf the animal; all  which circumstances Mr. Hunter
took much pains to examine and display.  Why this great
toad should differ in this manner from others of  the same
kind, how the cells are formed, or the young get into them, is
not 1 believe known; yet surely no one who has attentively
examined and considered the works of Nature, can doubt of
there being good and sufficient reasons for this peculiar devia-
tion from the commonly established  structure and economy
of such animals.
  It is from the consideration of the means by which the
continuance of the different species  of animals is  ensured,
that we derive the firmest conviction of the works of Nature
being neither the effect of necessity, nor of chance; and there-
fore it follows that they must be the effect of causes and laws
inscrutable by man.  The young of some animals are born
with very  perfect senses and powers,  so that they scarcely
need  maternal care.  Yet as young animals cannot have
                            18 
iSO         PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      [lect. ws

experience, and must be exposed to danger from their defi-
ciency of size and strength, the mother generally nurses them,
and  directs their conduct,  till they are able to procure their
own sustenance, and secure or defend themselves.  When
the mother must seek her food, and be absent  from her nur-
sery, the young are born with scarcely  any vision; whilst
others have such perfect senses and powers as to be able to
accompany their mother in search of food.   The most help-
less and imperfect offspring is that  of the human race ; but
the long nursing which  is required, creates and strengthens
reciprocal attachment between it and its parents, which con-
tinues throughout life ; so that according to the laws of Na-
ture, children  are disposed to return such kind attentions
when age-shall have reduced their parents to feebleness and
second childhood.   How opposite to all this is the mode by
which the cuckoo species is continued ?  The parent has no
solicitude about  its young; yet Nature has taught it to en-
sure the  continuance of the species by depositing its egg in
other birds' nests.   How curious is it that the just hatched
cuckoo  should have peculiar appendages to its wings, with
which it can confine the legitimate offspring against the sides
of the nest, and that it should possess instincts which cause
it to  protrude them one by one out of its cavity ?*  How cu-
rious also is the mode  by which the continuance of the spe-
cies of the oestrum equi is effected ?  Surely it is wonderful
that tliis fly, as if endowed  with intelligence, or instructed by
experience, should never deposit its eggs,  but in those parts
of the horse to which that animal  can apply its mouth, so that
they may be swallowed.  By this means the larvae are pro-
vided with a warm lodging and plenty of food during the win-
ter season, and are not expelled till.spring, in order to under-
go their metamorphosis into perfect flies.  I must not proceed
further in this endless  subject, the full investigation of which
has convinced the most intelligent of mankind, that the order
of Nature is the result neither of necessity  nor chance.
   Every part seems perfect in its design, and calculated for
the good of the individuals which compose it; yet these indi-
viduals are often supported at the expence or by the destruc-
tion of others-  The less powerful animals herd together, and
set watches to warn them  of approaching danger; as they
are exposed to invasion, and the destruction of their compan-
ions by the solitary and  fierce tyrants of the forest that issu^

   l; Cuckoos however have been known to hatch their own eggs. 
    t.i:ct.vii.]      PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.         IS!

    from their secret dens.  Nature has however made the ani-
    mals that are liable to destruction exceedingly prolific,  so
    that their race cannot well be exterminated; whilst she has
    made destructive animals in general unproductive; and when
    it happens otherwise, we find means which counteract their
    excessive multiplication.  Why Nature has formed carniv-
    orous animals, or produced such a variety of living beings, is
    a problem difficult to explain.  Yet, this being a part of hei
    plan, we cannot but admire the means by which it is accom-
    plished ; for every thing contributes to promote the welfare
    of the individuals in their proper sphere, and to ensure the
    continuance of their kind according to its destined proportion,
    so that centuries  elapse without the  extinction of a  single
    species.  All animals seem  also to be put under the domin-
    ion of man ; and as his species multiplies, it fosters and feeds
    the useful and innocent,  and destroys those of a contrary
    character.
       From observing the art with which predaccous animals
    entrap their prey,  and the fury with  which they destroy it,
    some are inclined  to represent the scheme of N. attire as one
    of fraud and rapine. Yet,  surely, it  is better that animals
     should suddenly perish for the good of others, than that they
    should  be doomed to linger, and ultimately to  starve, from
     that want which  excess  of multiplication must necessarily
     produce.  Be it also remembered, that many of these crea-
     tures have little sensation, that all are far less sensitive than
     man, and that they neither anticipate the future,  nor reflect
     on the past; so that their sufferings are transient, and neces-
     sary to-general good.  There are some who are inclined to
S    represent the sufferings of animals as calamitous;  but surely
     they have not considered that pain is Nature's monitor; and
\   contributory to the welfare of the sufferer, by teaching it to
  \  avoid what is injurious.   Neidier do they seem to have re-
     flected that it is the necessary reverse of pleasure; and that
    1 without enduring the occasional penalty of the one, we should
    > not enjoy the more continued comfort and delight of the
     other.
    •   It seems strange, that some minds appear  to delight m
     blaming what  they do not understand, and feel a repugnance
     io believe, that any thing may originate in causes  which they
     cannot comprehend ; and, therefore, probably they are indu-
     ced to suppose a kind of necessity.  All nature is full, says
     one reputed philosopher.   Whatever can be, is ; says anoth-
     ■ar.  Bwfli would be  far more easy to show cause why v>f 
132          PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      ttECT. vir

should believe that there is a plenum of matter, than of con-
trivance.
  On the contrary, however, the most intelligent men who
have studied the works of nature to the greatest extent, and
with the greatest attention,  have been convinced, that they
are the results neither of necessity nor of  chance ; and, con-
sequently, that intelligence must have operated in ordaining
the scheme and order of the universe.  The common sense of
the bulk of mankind, who judge from general observation,
leads them to entertain the same opinion.  Both agree, that
in examining the wrorks of Nature, whatever they understand
seems most admirable ; and when they cease to admire, con-
clude that they do not understand;  for " 'tis but a part they
see,  and not the whole."  They also clearly  perceive that
partial evil tends to general  good.
  You,  Gentlemen, must  examine  this highly interesting
subject for yourselves;  for when I consider what might be
said  and shown with relation to it, I feel ashamed of the inad-
equateness of the representation Ihave given;  which, never-
theless,  1  hope  may be useful, by  exciting you to enquiry.
You must either form your own opinions, or confide in those
of others.  To form correct opinions  it is necessary that all
the facts belonging to any subject, should be attentively ex-
amined  and  considered, without prejudice or partiality ; and
this is no light labour.   It is a task more suited to an ancient
Grecian philosopher, than to one of the  present school; for
the latter  is  busied in collecting new  facts, in adding to the
stock of knowledge, and is consequently apt to take partial
views of subjects, and not sufficiently to contemplate the gen-
eral  system of nature.
   I have now led you round the  gallery of the Museum, and
have briefly  informed you what probably were the designs of
Mr. Hunter, in the preparation and arrangement of the sub-
jects there exhibited.   Having  restricted myself to the con-
sideration of those facts only, which form the basis of his;
opinions relative to the principal vital  processes; I have been
prevented from noticing many important circumstances, be-'
longing to other subjects, in anatomy and physiology.  The
gallery  of the Museum, is, however, but a small portion of it,
and throughout the  whole, we observe Mr. Hunter's solici-
tude to procure evidences of every important fact relative to
the subjects in which he was so greatly interested ;  and also
the same genius and reflection displayed, in endeavouringi to
interpret the works  of Nature, and to arrange and  conca^p- 
    lect. vii.]     PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.          133

    nate the facts, according to their scries and order, so that each
    should  be distinctly seen, both by itself and in relation to
    others.
      Now, though what I have said  is so incommensurate to
    the merits of the man I have endeavoured to eulogize, or with
    the claims of the subject I have attempted to discuss, yet 1
    flatter myself that I have attained the objects ] had in view
    in writing these Lectures.   I wished to show in what man-
 ,   ner Mr. Hunter had examined the various vital processes.
    and also the general extent of his researches in Comparative
    Anatomy,  and consequently from what an extensive and
    well arranged series of facts, his notions of life had been de-
    duced.   Yet it is almost necessary to pursue the same course
    of reflections, that he himself has done,  to be fully aware of
    the intensity of thought with which he has considered many
    parts of the  subject. In  thus asserting the claims of  Mr.
    Hunter, I hope that I shall not be  considered as blind to the
    merits of others, or  reluctant to acknowledge the  valuable
    information which wre have received from other anatomists
    since his time.   I wished also to corroborate,  by  additional
    arguments,  the opinions I merely alluded to in my former
    lectures, and which I consider to be those of the most intel-
    lectual  of the Greek philosophers,  that perceptivity, and the
    various properties of mind, are not  attributes of mere life, but
    probably of a distinct substance.
      Mr. Hunter's Theory of Life has however been said to be
    absurd  and untenable, and even has been held up to ridicule
    by  those attached to the physiological opinions  that  have
    chiefly issued from some of the writers of the French school.
    What those, who are advocates for such opinions think, it  is
    difficult to  determine, because they do not explicitly declare
    their sentiments.  There is a mysticism in their expressions
\   and manner, calculated to delude the ignorant, and perplex
    those who have not fully considered the subjects under discus-
  \ sion.  Therefore, it seemed right to place distinctly before
   1 you, in the first lectures of this year, the only opinions which
   ' the mind of man is capable  of entertaining, relative to the
   S causes  of motion in matter.   In exploring the cause of the
    Contrary states of motion and rest, the mind's eye alternately
    dimmed andl dazzled,  becomes weary and confused, and
    ceasing from the fruitless search,  fixes itself upon a partial
    view of the  subject, which it thinks it has obtained.  We
    feel a strong conviction, that a more subtile and mobile sub-
    stance, or a more attenuated species of matter pervades, acts 
134         PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.      [lect. vii.

upon, and is the cause of motion in that which is more gross
and inert.
  Who can observe  the  seemingly vital  effects which the
warmth of the sun produces, even in common matter, or the
terrific and destructive consequences of intense heat, withoi.it
thinking that heat must be essentially active,  or  that it ex--
cites actions in something that is so.
  Who also can observe the quick and powerful motions of an-
imals, without believing that something active is incorporated
with them? The consideration of the vital phaenomena call
u]xm us to admit, that there is some power of controlling, ex-
citing,  and modifying those chemical changes, to which the
atoms composing them have, under certain circumstances, a
propensity, as well as of arranging the materials in diversified
structures.   Philosophy must always be founded in Nature,
and its rules be adapted to the subjects to which they belong.
It is natural to man to observe, to enquire,  to reason, to be-
lieve in various degrees up to perfect conviction; and we may
perform any of these  acts, according to the precepts of phi-
losophy.  Scepticism has no right  to boast of an exclusive
claim to be accounted philosophical.  Confidence may also
be as philosophical as doubt.  It is absurd to expect mathe-
matical demonstration in subjects  which do not admit of it,
and the absurdities of determined doubters have been exposed
by writers both of a serious and satirical cast.
  Now, though the changes occurring in common matter are
extremely  diversified,  and highly contributory to  all the
wants of living creatures, they are still so uniform as to afford
a plea for maintaining, that they may be the effect of inherent
propensities in the atoms of wnich this matter is composed.
But to suppose that all the varieties of vital action and other
facts belonging to the structure and economy of living beings,
which we have been  lately considering, are the results of in-
herent propensities in the atoms of matter,  unassigned and
unsupported by intelligence, seems to me too absurd to require  ,
any attempt at serious  or formal refutation.  I have there-  ,
fore, never,  except in  one instance, paused to make  those
reflections which the  subject so constantly and naturally ex- ^
cite, and now,  in conclusion, I will only observe,  that upon
the supposition just  mentioned, we must be led to expect
the phaenomena to be more uniform or more diversified; nor
could we imagine it possible,  that there should be that regju^
larity in  their series, and that adaptation of means to  endL
-^liich we so constantly observe.                         T 
   Ee^t. th.J    PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.           \3»

     It has been said that " an undevout astronomer is  mad ;r
   yet  he  only contemplates the immensity and  order of the
   works of Nature, and the causes of the varieties of light and
   seasons, so serviceable to the living beings which inhabit this
   planet,  and, as he infers, to those of others.   But what shall
  & we say  of the  anatomist who observes  the structure and
   functions of those beings, who examines their extreme variety,
   and regular gradation and connection, without any feeling
   or perception that Intelligence has operated in ordaining the
")  laws of nature ?  We judge of others by ourselves, and assu-
 -  redly such a character must,  by the bulk of mankind, be con-
   sidered as possessing either a deficient or perverse intellect.
     The opinion that Intelligence must have ordained the order
   of Nature, is not only impressed  by her decrees upon the
   bulk of mankind,  but is confirmed by the observations and
   reflections of the most observant and intellectual individuals
   of the human race.   Those who think that intelligence may
   exist distinct from organization, are disposed to admit that the
   intelligence with which-they are endowed,  may have a sepa-
   rate existence.  Those who think that perception is not es-
   sential to life, but is an attribute of something different, are
   also disposed to admit the separate existence of perception
   and intelligence; and thus do these two opinions produce and
   support each other.  Both opinions are natural to most men,
   and confirmed  by the observations and consideration of the
   most intellectual of the human race.
    Gentlemen, I was presumptuous enough in the first lecture
  to imagine myself that honourable character,—a British ad-
  vocate.  I also imagined that you were impannelled as a jury,
  a tribunal in which we glory, and by whose decision we must
  abide.  Now, however inadequate 1 may be to perform the
\ part I have arrogated to myself, you are fully competent to
 ■ discharge the duties  of the tribunal I have supposed you to
  form.   You have the ability to decide, and the power to pun-
  ish.  You can inflict the severest of all punishments, that of
  which the greatest despots stand in awe, those who may be
  slid to be ''safe from the bar, the pulpit, and the thin],*/' yet
  tremble at  the strong and open expression of general disap-
  probation.   The medical republic should legislate for itself,
  ibf the public in general know little of our peculiar studies,
  ind may consequent^ estimate  our opinions with respect t 
136          PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.     [lect-  vir.

certain  subjects at a much  higher value than really belongs
to them.  We should not therefore suffer crude speculations
to go forth, bearing the seeming stamp of medical authority,
when they are contrary to the sentiments of the bulk of the
profession, derogatory to its character, and injurious to so-
ciety.
   In arguing the  subject relative to the opinions which we
are warranted to form respecting the nature of life, 1 dis-
claim having any allusion, in what  I have said, to those of
particular persons ; and I have, as much as possible, endea-
voured to conceal all perception of  individuals, by massing
them together in a crowd.  I contend with no man about his
opinions ; for charity instructs me to believe that each forms
the most correct opinions he is capable of doing.  I contend
only against the promulgation of those that have a pernicious
tendency.  In the assumed character of a British advocate,
I must  be an advocate for liberty; but then, it is for British
liberty,  for rational liberty, for liberty without licentiousness,
for the liberty that our laws allow,  which confirm to every
individual his natural rights, giving him licence to think and
act as he pleases, or deems proper, so long as his actions do
not tend to the detriment of other individuals, or to that of
society in general.  Let me not either derogate from my  as-
sumed character  by neglecting to remind you, Gentlemen,
that the consideration of the quo animo is the vital principal
of the  British law.  There may  be inconsiderate persons
who commit error without adverting  to its diffusively baneful
consequences; who, thoughtless of the course and contingen-
cies of human life, may undesigningly broach opinions tend-
ing to weaken and destroy  others which form  the spring of
every generous and noble action, and our only support under
oppression and  affliction.  There may be those who do not
perceive how our  notions respecting life  can influence our  /
conduct.  But  this indeed  surprizes me, because  Voltaire
was so well  acquainted with the evil tendency of his own
doctrines, that he checked the conversation of his compan-
ions, whilst the servants remained in the room, lest, observed
lie, we should have our throats cut.
   That ignorance may not, however,  be hereafter pleade/d
in mitigation of your verdict, I deem it my duty, with the ut-
most brevity, to represent  the effects of different  opinions
upon human actions.  For this purpose, I first select the case
of -a powerful monarch, railed by historians Sardanapalus  ;
who chose,  for reasons perhaps best  known  to himself, to
write his own epitaph, as follows.  -: Eat, drink, and be 
   z.acT. vn.]       PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.         137

   merry; for the rest is nothing;"'an epitaph, says Aristotle,
   fit for a hog.  It cannot be doubted, that Sardanapalus was
   one of those  who  considered the  grave.to be a "place of
   eternal rest."  To show  the effects of the contrary senti-
   ments, I would ask, is it credible that Socrates, after drink-
   ing the poison, would have calmly discoursed on philosophical
   subjects with his friends ; or that Brutus would have stabbed
   the Roman he most loved, rather than  suffer his  country to
   be enslaved, had they not formed a proper estimate of human
   life,  and considered themselves but as performing a part, in
   the presence  of immortal and intelligent  observers  ?   Or
   wdiy does the untutored Indian deride the cruel torments of
   his enemies, but that he also believes he is going  to the land
   where his father is gone, and would feel shame to be  recog-
   nized a degenerate son ?
     Being desirous to avoid all  personality, and to contend
   only against opinions, it seemed necessary to denounce those
   that I meant to  oppose, at the very outset, and in the  first
   lecture ; for if we try to hit a mark, and others are to judge
   of our success or failure, it is necessary to place the object.
   distinctly in the view of the observers.  Vet even in ascribing
   opinions and conduct to a party, under the  denomination of
   modern sceptics, I may give offence ; for some may suppose
   themselves comprehended in it, tliough they do not actually
   belong to it;  whilst others may even think it unwarrantable
   to suppose that there can bo any such party as I have de-
   scribed.  Hesitation in decision is natural to many charac-
   ters, and caution, to a certain extent, is  an indispensable
   ingredient in  all those who have any pretensions to be ac-
   counted philosophers.  But the party I allude to arc not real
   sceptics, and  their  professions  and conduct form a curious
   example of a vis inertia;  for after resolving not to think on
  certain subjects, they argumentatively endeavour to prevent
^  others from thinking; whilst on the one side they reject a
  very few propositions, merely because they are deficient in
   a kind of proof that the subject does not allow of, and  that
  cannot be rationally required; on the other, they admit a host
  ,of absurdities, apparently without examination.   Therefore,
  upon the very grounds of their own doubt, they marshall and
  exercise pernicious and discordant opinions, drawn from eve-
   ry possible  and  remote source, with which they assail the
  opinions of others, that at least may be said to be innocent
  and useful, but which also confer a dignity on human nature,
  and evil*'  us to generous and honourable anions.   I feel  ♦ 
 138         PHYSIOLOGICAL LECTURES.     [lect. m.

 to be my duty,  Gentlemen, to prevent, if possible,  the ban-
 ners of physiology from being purloined and carried into such
 a service ; and yours not to suffer those of our profession iu
 general, to appear in so disgraceful and mischievous a con-
 test.
   There are " Smellfunguses"  and  " Mundunguses"* in
 science.  1 pity the man who can  survey all the wonders of
 the vegetable and animal kingdoms, who can journey through
 so delightful a district, and afterwards exclaim, " all is bar-
 ren."   Still more do  I pity those, though the sentiment is
 mixed with strong disapprobation of their conduct, who, after
 having seen much to  admire, shall, when they meet with a
 circumstance they do not  understand, presumptuously dare
 to arraign the wisdom and benevolence of Nature.  In the
 progress of science, many things which at one time appeared
 absurd and productive of evil, have afterwards, upon an ac-
 cession of knowledge, been found to be most wise and benefi-
 cent.  I deem no apology requisite Gentlemen, for endeav-
 ouring to impress on  your minds certain axioms relating to
 philosophy in general, when they are directly deducible from
 the subjects of our peculiar studies.  I have constantly and
 carefully avoided every argument foreign to the subject,  so
that, if occasionally I may have appeared to sermonize, I
have quoted both the chapter and verse of my text from the
Book of Nature,  I address you, Gentlemen, as students of
that great book, and earnestly exhort you to study it with such
sentiments as I have  endeavoured to inculcate.  The con-
viction that every thing tends to some immediate or eventual
 good, is the greatest incentive  to its study.  It was this con-
viction that excited Hunter to such continual enquiry, or in-
volved him occasionally in the depths and perplexities of
intense thought; for he was never satisfied without being able
to assign an adequate  reason for whatever he observed in the
structure and economy of animals.  This conviction makes /
the study of Nature highly interesting, and may indeed be
said to render labour delightful, or to medicate the pains
attendant on its toil.  To those who entertain such sentiments
 as I have endeavoured to inculcate, every thing seems ani-
mated, beneficent, and useful; they have the happy talent of
discovering even
       " Tongues in the trees, books in the running brooks,
       Sermons in stones, and good in every thing."
  * Characters thus  denominated, and pourtrayed by Sterne in bis
Sentimental Journey. 
APPENDIX.
  Extract from the European Magazine for 1782, containing v
    Syllabus of a course of Lectures on the principles of surge-
    ry,delivered by Mr. John Hunter, F.R.S., St. James's, Lon-
    don; with Anecdotes of his Life.

    THIS very celebrated Course consists of near an hundred
  Lectures.—It begins in the month of October, and continues
  till April, and  is given  every other evening, from  seven  to
  eight o'clock, the honorarium being four guineas.
    Mr.  Hunter's Lectures do not contain a Course of Practi-
  cal Surgery, with the Operations necessary for different ca-
  ses—but his purpose is  to give a comprehensive view of the
  system, and investigate the principles upon which the prac-
  tice of surgery is founded, viz.—To show the actions of the
  body and its parts when  in the diseased state, with the actions
  and effects of nature to recovery—and the  necessary and
  proper  assistance to be  given by the Surgeon.  The princi-
  ples of diseases are the first parts of surgery to be learned.
  They arc to the Surgeon wdiat the first principles of the math-
  ematics are to the practical geometrician, without the knowl-
  edge of which a man can neither be a philosopher nor a Sur-
  geon.   In our research  after diseases,  says Mr. Hunter, we
  ought  not  only to understand the case, which becomes the
  immediate object of Surgery, such as inflammation, suppu-
  ration,  mortification, &c. but also the cause of the effect; for
  without this knowledge  our practice must be very confined,
  very precarious, and often applied too late.  This knowledge
,  opens to the Surgeon varieties of treatment.  It teaches him
  in one instance to remove the cause—in another to increase
  the effect—in another to change it to some other disease—
  and gives him,  what is the most essential point, the knowl-
  edge of the proper moment  for the surgical operation, where
  an operation is necessary.  In the animal body the power  of
  peroration to a state of health arises out of the Animal from 
14U
APPENDLY
its own mechanism and action.   If the animal was in ait ca-
ses equal to the task, there would be no occasion for the Sur-
geon ;  but it is necessary in many cases to assist nature by
the introduction of artificial powers—to increase the living
powers of the Animal when they, are inadequate—to retard
them when violent—or to change them when wrong.  Both
the chemical and mechanical powers are made use of in Sur-
gery.—Chemistry is  introduced to destroy what cannot  be
altered—and mechanics  frequently restore what had been
accidentally or artificially destroyed.  It is not only neces-
sary for a Surgeon that he should know the different parts of
an  animal,  but he should know their uses in the machine,
and in what manner they act to produce their effect.   He
ought not only to know the  whole of any one simple action,
or the knowledge of all the actions singly—but he should as-
certain their correspondence—mark their relations,  and ac-
quire a competent idea of the compound actions and general
fabric  of the machine. Operations  should  never be  intro-
duced  but in cases of absolute necessity,  A Surgeon should
never  approach a victim for an operation but with humilia-
tion—it is a reflection upon the healing art.  He is then like
the  Savage in arms,  who performs by violence what a civ-
ilized nation would accomplish by stratagem*
  Mr.  Hunter having observed,  that the greatest part of the
books published in Surgery, contain little else than relations
of cases, and modes  of treatment, and that the practitioners
have been too easily satisfied with a collection of facts, with-
out embracing the catalogue of diseases as a system, proposes
in his course to examine the theory and principles of diseases
in a regular  series.   His doctrines are drawn from personal
observations made in  the course of an indefatigable life, with
the  constancy of a most adventurous mind.  His ideas, his
mode of reasoning, as well as his arrangement of diseases are
new; and he therefore has received little aid from books or
from other professors.  The novelty of his ideas occasion also
the  application of new terms; and those which he has given.
he may consider as  clear and explanatory, since they are
adopted by others, and brought into use.
  The Course begins with the Physiology, Gr natural History
of the Animal; but so far only as is  necessary to the under-
standing the principles of diseases; in which new ideas and
new arrangements of the subject are introduced.
  The Physiology of Diseases follows—the action of medi-
cines—and brings him to the consideration of diseases in gem
eral.                                                   * 
APPENDIX.
141
   The  Diseases  of accident being the most  obvious and
simple,  in preventing the natural operations of the Animal.
begin the Surgical part of the Lectures, in which he explains
the most simple modes of restoration.
   Then follow the diseases whose mode of action is similar
to those arising from accident.
   As the treatment of diseases arising from accident is vari-
ous, those  which are the most simple come  first in view.
This leads him therefore to explain,
   The first mode of union of separated parts, called " Union
by the first intention," and
   Inflammation.
   On both these subjects he is very full, especially the latter,
as it is one of the first principles in most diseases, and pro-
duces a variety of effects.
   Inflammation leads him to  the second mode of the Union
of parts; as happens in wounds where the first mode has
failed, or has been neglected.   This also leads him to
   The Union of Parts originally in contact only as the natu-
ral cavities, but united for very wise purposes, and  which
are called Adhesions.
   The cure of many diseased parts, as fistulas,  indurated tu-
mors, &c.
   The diseases of bones.
   The knowledge and cure of gun-shot wounds.
   Inflammation also makes a principal part in all specific dis-
eases, as the Small-pox, Lues Venerea,  Cancer, &c.—and
therefore he takes great  pains to investigate its principles.
   Then follows Suppuration, and those actions are illustrated
by the consideration of
   Compound  Fractures,  Hydrocele,  Suppuration of tlu
veins after bleeding; gun-shot wounds, &c.
  And,  in the second place, by the various diseases arising
from spontaneous suppuration, as abscesses, diseases of the
bones, diseases of the joints, &e.—-This leads him to the con-
sideration Of                          ,111
   Granulations, their course, progress,  kinds and use; and
also of
   Cicatrization.
  After Inflammation and its general consequences,  he pro-
ceeds to treat of specific  diseases, such as
   The Lock Jaw.
   Scrophula.
   Poisons in general. 
142
APPENDIX.
  Peculiar Poisons, as the Lues Venerea, Cancer, &,c. &c.
  This Course of Lectures is illustrated by a collection of
diseases, and of Comparative  Anatomy, which, in point of
curiosity,  accuracy, and comprehension, is equal to any col-
lection in the world.  It  has been made by Mr.  Hunter
himself, and what chiefly contributes to its extraordinary
value and advantage is, that he knows the particular history
of the greater part of the diseases, which he has preserved—
the patients were under his observation in the Hospitals—he
has  minuted the progress, and  accounted for the various
appearances and effects of each disease, with a fidelity that
now renders his collection a most instructive school for the
Student.
            ANECDOTES OF MR. JOHN  HUNTER.

  We have introduced the Syllabus of the Course of Mr.
Hunter's Lectures on Surgery in this place by choice, as he
is the brother of the celebrated anatomist, Dr. Hunter, whose
Lectures made the subject of our first number.  When so
eminent an example occurs of congenial talents and contem-
porary distinction in two brothers,  it would be an outrage to
separate them.   We might have been permitted to deviate
from regular order for the sake  of so extraordinary  and so
splendid a circumstance; but when no method  nor  link is
broken, it would have been unpardonable to have overlook-
ed the opportunity of gratifying the honourable pride of man
in the exhibition.  Dr. Hunter having settled in  London,
sent for his brother John, who accordingly came to England,
being at that time in his eighteenth year.   He immediately
applied himself to the study of anatomy and surgery;  and,
for several  years, he  was employed in the dissecting-room,
where he suddenly began to display his uncommon abilities. ■
The doctor was  anxious  that he should go into  partnership
with him, and in the year 1758, declared him to be fully ad-
equate to the important office of a Teacher; but Mr. Hun-
ter, with a modesty which is always the attendant of geniue,
felt insuperable embarrassments and objections  to speaking
in public, and  he declined the advantageous a id honourable
offer, on account of his aversion to public speaking, and his
extreme diffidence' of his own  abilities and skill.   But he
Continued in the same anatomical pursuits till the year 1700 : 
APPENDIX.
14J
when, anxious for a more enlarged field of observation, he
went out as Surgeon General to the Army, first to Belleisle,
and afterwards to Portugal.  In this extensive scene, he in-
defatigably studied the nature  and treatment of  gun-shot
wounds ; and he acquired great credit from his humanity and
talents.  He has constantly, in his practice, been an enemy
to operations—he has resorted to them unwillingly, in the last
resource, although no practitioner has been more distinguish-
ed for a steady and skilful hand  in an operation than himself,
where necessity drew him to the expedient.—On the peace in
1763, he returned and settled in London as a surgeon, and
came, in a very short time, to the possession of an extensive
practice.  Now it was that he  began to form his system.   In
books he found, as we have mentioned, no other  lights in the
investigation of surgery, than what arose from the enumera-
tion of independent facts and cases, without reasoning and
without principles.  He totally rejected books, and took up
the volume of the animal body.—He was as indefatigable in
his pursuits, as he was adventurous in his conduct.   Though
an enemy to operations on others, he was regardless of him-
self,  and exposed his person to all the active and artificial
powers, by which he might ascertain the properties, and trace
the effects  of medicine on the human frame.  He was not
deterred by the shocks which  such trials must necessarily
give  to his  constitution; nor by the fatigue,  labour, and loss
to which they exposed him.  He began at the same time to
form  his collection of diseases; and  for this purpose he at-
tended the various hospitals, in order to see the curious cases,
and to observe, with his own eyes, the progress of  the vari-
ous diseases, which he might procure into his custody.   He
from this time also emoloyed himself in forming his collection
of comparative anatomy.  The whole together has cost him
more than 10,000/. besides the labour it has required  in the
preparations.  Of this sum more than two thousand pounds
have been expended in  the purchase of dead animals only.
In the year 1703,  he was chosen Surgeon to  St. Georees
Hospital;  and in the v->urs 1772, 1773, and 1774  having
"collected his ideas and observations, he assembled the pupils
of that Hospital, together with  a few chosen friends,  and
read  to them, without expense, a course of lectures on the
principles of surgery.  In the  vear 1776, he was appointee
Surccon Extraordinary to His Majesty.   Prior to  his going
abroad, he had been present at the dissection ol more than
tw-  thousand human bodies, and in the year 1754 or 55, dk - 
144
APPENDIX.
covered the structure of theplaccnta, and the «ommunication
between the mother and placenta.  He had also employed
himself a good deal, even at this time, in comparative anatomy,
and had discovered the absorbing system in fowls, and in the
crocodile, which is one of the amphibii, proving by experi-
ments that the red veins did not absorb.  This was published
by Dr. Hunter, in his Commentaries, in 1762.   Since his re-
turn, as we have already mentioned, he has been particularly
earnest in his attention to comparative anatomy.  He has a
house and gardens in the country, on  purpose for his experi-
ments  on living animals and vegetables.  For the last five   -
years he  has employed in his house an ingenious draughts-   ,
man, who is engaged, at a regular salary, for ten years; and
also another person, engaged for the same time, to manage    i
and keep his preparations in order.  He means to class the
animal world according  to their structure, in which  he has
made considerable advances. His objection to standing forth
as a public teacher still continued—and it was only overcome
by the intercessions of his friends, and by his own conscious-
ness that he might be useful to students, in explaining the  prin-
ciples and analogies which he had observed in diseases, and
reducing thereby the art to a more regular and less precari-
ous system.  Dr. Hunter's library is, perhaps, the finest in
Europe in choice, scarce, and valuable copies, and  it cost
16,000/.  Mr.  Hunter's  is comprehended in a few cases, and
were it not^ he says himself, for the presents made him  by
contemporary  authors,  would hardly have consisteel  of a
hundred volumes.   His  opinions, therefore, are all his own,
drawn from personal observation;—he does not say that ev-
ery doctrine is new—some of his opinions may  have  been
given before—but they are new to him.  He acts in his char-
acter of a public lecturer, with" the disinterestedness that has
marked his conduct through life ; for  though the honorarium
is only four guineas, the course continues six eioht! is ;  where-
as there are courses of lectures, comprehending borii anato-
my and surgery, which are gone through in the  short space
of six weeks.   We by no means think ourselves qualified to
pronounce on the merits of living teacher--.   It is our business-
to state the simple facts, and to be cautious that, iu our col-
lection of the materials,  we are neither imposed on ourseh  rs.
nor impose on our readers.





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