The Hunterian Oration : delivered February 14, 1861 / by William Coulson.

  • William Coulson
Date:
1861
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Hunterian Oration : delivered February 14, 1861 / by William Coulson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    that he was eminently free from that which Lord Bacon designates as the greatest of all errors, the mistaking or misplacing the farthest end of knowledge, that is, the object for which know- ledge is cultivated. His desire of knowledge was no idle curiosity—no pursuit of mere intellectual delight—no vain desire of distinction—no thirst for gain ; his end was the attainment of know- ledge—the attainment of truth—in order princi- pally to the benefaction of his fellow men. [Nothing proves more clearly that Hunter placed our knowledge of living organization on its true basis, than the fact that his views have been confirmed by near a century of observation, and that the immense progress of Surgery since his time can be mainly traced to the method of investigation which he initiated, and to the scien- tific principles which he established. Take, for example, the vast field of inflamma- tion. Have recent investigations done much more than stamp with the seal of truth the original principles established by Hunter?]* It is hardly necessary for me to repeat what has been so often remarked by my predecessors, that the chief claims of Hunter to our respect * lu the delivery of the Oration the passages between brackets were omitted.
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