Volume 1

Catalogue of the anatomical and pathological preparations of Dr. William Hunter; prepared by J.H. Teacher.

  • Hunterian Museum (University of Glasgow)
Date:
1900
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Catalogue of the anatomical and pathological preparations of Dr. William Hunter; prepared by J.H. Teacher. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    agiiinst it, pointing out the difficulties and dangers on anatomical grounds that were bound to attend it, e.g., the difficulty of knowing beforehand if there were adhesions. If operation were to be done^ he advised the trocar and cannula, but he thought, from what he had seen both in the Hving and in the dead body, that a patient will have the best chance of living longest under it [the disease] who does the least to get rid of it. His attitude towards the major operation, artificial anaesthesia being unknown and sepsis the rule after operations, was certainly a wise one. There are, besides, in the same volume papers on necrosis of bone^ and on the symphysis pubis.'^ All of these papers are represented in the museum by numerous preparations. The originals of the illus- trations are for the most part readily identified. Nothing more by him appeared in Medical Observations and Inquiries till 1770. There are many investigations referred to in the Medical Com- mentaries which have left their marks on the museum, but the most interesting were those on congenital hernia and the lymphatics. William Hunter had recognized the nature and origin of congenital hernia, and to demonstrate exactly how it was produced, he set John to work at an inquiry into the descent of the testicles in the foetus. This John carried out with the most complete success. His paper was illustrated by three plates taken from dissections, which now form a series of preparations among the most beautiful in William Hunter's museum. It was a first-rate piece of work.^ The most important part of the Commentaries is that which relates to the Lymphatic System. His own discoveries in this system William Hunter regarded, and was accustomed to describe, as the greatest discovery, both in physiology and pathology, that anatomy has suggested since the discovery of the circulation. Very valuable his work certainly was, but he seems to have over- estimated the extent to which he was a discoverer; he had been anticipated to a greater extent than he was inclined to allow, and part of his discovery turns out to be really an error. He claimed to have proved that the lymphatic vessels are the ' An account of a diseased tibia, Medical Observations and Inquiries, vol. ii, p. 303. 2 A singular case of separation of the ossa pubis, ibid., p. 321. ■'This paper and an account of some experiments on absorption by veins were reprinted in Ohnervalions on some parts of the Animal Economy, which was first issued in 1786, and forms vol. iv. of Palmer's edition of John Hunter's Works. London, 8vo, 1837.