DOCSLIB.ORG

The Remarkable Surgical Collection of John Hunter

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Remarkable Surgical Collection of John Hunter The remarkable surgical collection of John Hunter CHARLOTTE GRAY Few figures loom so large in the history of surgery as John Hunter (1728-1793), but few Canadian physicians have the opportunity to pay their respects to the great pio- neer of scientific surgery. One rea- son is that the collection of speci- mens Hunter bequeathed to suc- ceeding generations of doctors is 8000 km away, in England; another is that the Hunterian Museum, housed at the Royal College of Sur- geons in London, is not widely known even among those doctors who cross the Atlantic. John Hunter revolutionized his chosen field. When he embarked on surgery as a career in 1748, by travelling to London from his native Lanarkshire in Scotland to assist his elder brother William in his anato- my school, he was entering a profes- sion with a dubious reputation. Eighteenth century physicians, well paid and with university degrees in medicine, regarded surgeons as tradesmen or rogues. Surgery was still a crude art; the majority of operations performed were either amputations, removal of stones from the bladder or skull-trepanning, to relieve pressure on the brain. Train- ing consisted of walking the wards behind an established surgeon, and attending privately owned, and often unreliable, anatomy schools. Lack of basic anatomical knowledge, anes- thetics, aseptic techniques and, most John Hunter revolutionized his chosen field. When of all, organized systems of teach- ing, meant that quacks abounded he embarked on surgery as a career in 1748, he and mortality was high. Patients who survived celebrated the anniver- was entering a profession with a dubious saries of operations with more heart- reputation. Single-handedly he raised the felt prayers of gratitude than they celebrated marriages or births. professional and social status of the John Hunter started his career by surgeon. The Hunterian Museum the usual route. He assisted his allows visitors a fascinating glimpse into the working life of a man Charlotte Gray is a CMAJ regular contributor living in Ottawa. known as "the father of modern surgery". CAN MED ASSOC J, VOL. 128, MAY 15, 1983 1225 brother's demonstrations of anatom- ical dissections, and he studied the rudiments of surgery under William Cheselden at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, and Percival Pott at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London. But in his anatomical investigations he was already developing the exper- imental approach to the study of physiology which would transform surgery from an art to a science. In 1760, after 12 years in the unwhole- some atmosphere of the dissecting room, his health began to deterio- rate and he was advised to find a healthier occupation. After 6 months' rest he was commissioned as an army surgeon and in 1761 posted to Belle Ile off the northwest coast of France, and later to Portugal. In his spare time the young army surgeon delved into such natural history phe- nomena as how lizard tails regener- ate and whether fish can hear. The material Hunter assembled during his army service formed the nucleus of his collection, the comple- tion of which occupied the remain- ing 30 years of his life. Unlike Henry Wellcome, the founder of London's other great collection of medical artefacts (most of which are today housed at the Science Muse- um, London: Can Med Assoc J 1982; 126: 712-720), Hunter was not motivated by joy of acquisition alone. He collected to illustrate his theories, in particular of the cons- The museum is dominated by its most infamous exhibit: the skeletons of the tant adaptation in living things of giant", along with the Sicilian dwarf and the American giant. structure to function. His collection sequently rose to eminence. In Lon- in his museum. Many of the con- was a vital adjunct to his post-army don these included Astley Cooper of temporary anatomy schools had col- career as a teacher. Guy's, Abernethy of St. Bar- lections of preserved human tissue In May 1763 Hunter left the tholomew's, Cline of St. Thomas's, for use during demonstrations and army to start his own anatomy and Edward Jenner of vaccination lectures, but Hunter's was unique school in London and build up a fame. Others were among the first because it contained so many animal practice. In 1767 he was elected a to promote medical education in and pathological items. Hunter fellow of the Royal Society and in America: John Morgan and William wanted his pupils to study compara- the following year he gained the Shippen helped found the medical tive anatomy, so they would under- diploma of the Company of Sur- faculty of the University of Pennsyl- stand the increasing complexity of geons. By 1768 his days were full; vania. The philosophy these pupils structures from the simplest organ- his mornings were devoted to his took with them was a whole new isms to the most highly developed own practice; his afternoons were approach to surgery. Although a mammals, and functional anatomy, spent at St. George's Hospital where surgeon himself, Hunter regarded so they would appreciate the rela- he was surgeon; in the evenings he surgery as a mutilation of the pa- tionship of structure to function. taught. He constantly updated his tient and an admission of failure to There is no doubt that he realized teaching notes on the basis of find- cure. He told his students, "Sur- his collection's value, because on his ings from newly completed studies. geons tend to forget that they are death he made it clear he wanted it Blunt and outspoken, Hunter was not masters but only servants. They kept together. In 1799 the Company frequently at odds with colleagues can assist the natural powers within of Surgeons accepted the collection who refused to change their lecture all living flesh but cannot replace and ia 1811 a specially built new notes from year to year. His own them." museum was opened at the head- reputation as a teacher attracted When Hunter died in 1793 there quarters of the company, by now pupils of great promise. Many sub- were an estimated 13 687 specimens renamed, under a new charter, 1226 CAN MED ASSOC I, VOL. 128, MAY 15, 1983 the Royal College of Surgeons of London. During the 19th century the collection expanded rapidly, thanks to gifts from fellows and scientists, and to the efforts of eminent curators - two of whom went on to become directors of the British Museum. By the outbreak of war, in 1939, the museum held approxi- mately 63 000 specimens in five large rooms, each with two galleries. Disaster struck on the night of May 10, 1 .4 1. Several incendiary bombs hit the museum and the college and, as Elizabeth Allen, the present curator of the Hunterian Museum remarks wryly, "Old bones and alcohol burn well." The invertebrate and instrument rooms were completely demolished; the unrivalled collections of comparative osteology, physiology and pathology were badly damaged. Fortunately Hunter's fine collection of zoological and anthropological paintings, including three by Stubbs, survived, along with four tables of arteries, veins and nerves bought back from Padua by the 18th century diarist John Evelyn. The present museum opened in 1963, in the rebuilt College of Surgeons. Today the collection contains over 3590 surviving Hunterian specimens, including 1900 normal and 1545 pathological items, plus some 2500 additional specimens. Despite the loss of so much material, the museum still attracts between 6000 and 7000 visitors a year. Most come because it is a shrine to John Hunter, but others come to see the unrivalled comparative anatomy section, and the rare pathological specimens. The museum is arranged according to the scheme in Hunter's original catalogue. Normal structures are divided into two main groups: the first demonstrates how organisms adapt for everyday survival, and the second demonstrates adapta- tions geared to preservation of species. The two groups are separated by Hunter's collection of pathological specimens illustrating his opinions on the nature of diseases, and his experiments and observations on surgi- cal cases. The museum is, however, dominated by its most infamous exhibit: the skeleton of the "Irish giant", Charles Byrne. Born in Ireland in 1761, Byrne was brought to England when he was 21 years old to be exhibited as, at 8 ft 2 in (248.9 cm), "the tallest man in the world". It is unclear how Hunter got hold of Byrne's body; one account suggests that Byrne, knowing the Gelusil tablets aid patient anatomists compliance in more ways than were anxious to acquire his remains, ar- one. Convenience of Portability ranged on his death to be placed in a lead coffin and -Fresh Minty Taste. Gelusil buried at sea. However, Hunter bribed the undertakers liquid for the home and Gelusil with $1000 to deliver the body to him and then prepared tablets for patients on-the-go. the skeleton in the large boiler of his Earls Court home. Gelusil or Gelusil 400 for However, he never opened the skull, so he failed to individual patient needs. observe the hypertrophic pituitary gland that had caused Byrne's condition. Today, Byrne stands tall in a glass case in the middle of the Hunterian Museum, flanked by two abnormal skeletons dating from the 19th century the "American giant" whose skeleton mea- sures 6 ft 8.5 in (204.5 cm) and the "Sicilian dwarf', a . little lady of 19.8 in (50.3 cm). In the museum's gallery are the skeletal remains of notorious criminals. These ghoulish exhibits are the target of much interest among IccPPI the younger students who visit the museum, to the Reg TM. Parke, Davis & Company, dismay of curator Allen.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Collection Summary Biographical Note Historical Statement
    Page 1 of 9 Collection Summary Title Fenwick Beekman Image Collection Date Span cc. 1750-1930 Collection Size 47 items Repository New York Academy of Medicine Library Biographical Note Historical Statement Dr. Fenwick Beekman (1882-1962) was a distinguished surgeon and New York native. He attended Columbia University and received a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1907. Later he served as head of child surgery at Bellevue Hospital. He went on to become a founding member of the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Plastic Surgery. A historian as well, he wrote about 18th-century British surgeon John Hunter and owned a collection of materials related to him. Dr. Beekman served as the 23rd president of the New York Historical Society from 1947 to 1956. In 1952 he retired from active practice. Prior to his passing in 1962, he donated his collection of Hunter materials to the New York Academy of Medicine. Collection Description Scope and Content The collection is primarily made up of images related to Dr. John Hunter, including reprinted portraits of Hunter, his associates, and protégés. The collection also contains a hand-drawn ground plan for Dr. Hunter’s home and several maps. There are numerous cartoons by English and French artists which can be dated from the eighteenth century through the twentieth century. The Beekman Collection also contains several photostats related to Bellevue Hospital where Dr. Beekman served as head of child surgery. Arrangement of the Collection The collection is arranged in a series of 7 folders, each containing between 2 and 24 items.
    [Show full text]
  • John Hunter's Private Press A
    John Hunter's Private Press A. H. T. ROBB-SMITH is curious, considering thc detailed study of every as- pect of John Hunter's life, how little attention has been paid to the fact that most of his books were printed in his own house. There are at least sixteen other medical men who printed their own books, of whom, from a typographical point of view, Charles Estienne is the most famous, though his great anatomy was printed by his stepfather Simon de Colines. John Hunter's first book, The Natura2 History of the Human Teeth, was published in 1771 by Joseph Johnson of St. Paul's Churchyard, being printed by Thoinas Spilsbury of Snowhill, with sixteen engravings by Jan van Ryrnsdyk. Jolmon was one of the leading publishers of the second half of the eighteenth century, a kind-hearted man who would oftcii Suy from iinpecunious authors manuscripts which he had no intention of pub- lishing. In addition to Hunter's book, Johnson published for Joseph Priestley, Erasmus Darwin, Maria Edgeworth, and the Reverend John Newton. Newton was curate of Olney when William Cowper came to the little Bucks village to recover from his first mental breakdown, and though the gloomy parson had a disastrous effect on the poet's health, yet it was he who persuaded Jolulson to publish Cowper's poems which gave him and his readers so much pleasure. Hunter's printer Spilsbury was also one of tile leading lncnlbcrs of tllc trade; he had taka1 ovcr William Stralmljunior's premises on his death and was noted for his accuracy and integrity.
    [Show full text]
  • John Hunter Was Born Into a Farming Family in Scotland
    •JohnJohn Hunter: Hunter overview was born into a farming family in Scotland. At the age of 20, he moved to London to be an assistant to his brother William. William was a successful physician/doctor who had started an anatomy school in London. He also specialised in childbirth. John was very interested in anatomical research and had a talent for precise dissection. Apparently, John had another job which was to rob graves at night to supply bodies for his brother’s anatomy school. John worked as an army surgeon during the Seven Years War (1756-1763) where he dealt with gunshot wounds and amputations. Edward Jenner was one of his students. He became famous in his own lifetime, known as the ‘father of scientific surgery’. Interesting Fact John Hunter was accused of ‘Burking’ in a recent newspaper article. ‘Burking’ is named after William Burke and William Hare who were accused of committing ten murders over the course of a few months in Edinburgh in 1828. It was said that they did this to supply anatomy schools and surgeons with fresh bodies to dissect. Hare gave evidence against Burke and so got away with the murders. Burke, however, was hanged. Timeline of John Hunter 1728 born 1760 became army surgeon 1763 left army to set up medical practice in London 1767 injected self with pus from the sores of gonorrhoea patient. The patient also had syphilis and it took Hunter 3 years to recover using standard mercury treatment. Shows that he was willing to try radical, scientific methods in the name of research.
    [Show full text]
  • John Hunter and Venereal Disease
    Anznals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (I98I) vol. 63 John Hunter and venereal disease D J M Wright MD Department of Medical Microbiology, Charing Cross Hospital Medical School, London Key words: HISTORY OF MEDICINE; HUNTER, JOHN; VENEREAL DISEASES; SYPHILIS; GONORRHOEA Summary both diseases did not affect the same part (4). John Hunter's contribution to the understanding He was therefore persuaded, in the interests of venereal disease is reviewed. Hunter's evidence of economy of diagnosis, that as both syphilis for the unitary nature of these diseases is and gonorrhoea could be transmitted by sexual examined and the advances he made in diagnosis, intercourse and often occurred together they pathology, and management are considered. were but one malady (4). He explained that the different clinical symptoms and appear- Introduction ances of syphilis and gonorrhoea were deter- mined by the part of the body that was affected Nowhere in the I8th century does the con- (6). When the skin was affected ulceration ventional surgeon-anatomist merge more com- resulted, while if mucous membranes such as the pletely into the experimental pathologist than vagina or urethra were involved in the disease with the career of John Hunter. He was the process, then a discharge developed. His post- inspiration for both Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (i) mortem dissections of the urethrae of two and according to medical folklore he inoculated corpses, retrieved from the hangman, of men himself with the 'venereal poison', becoming a who had suffered from gonorrhoea revealed 'martyr to science' (2). In the Miner Library signs of purulent inflammation and no ulcers verbatim notes of Hunter's lectures on venereal or 'absorbative reaction' (7) characteristic of disease (3) there is the statement, 'I produced in syphilis (8).
    [Show full text]
  • A Memoir of William and John Hunter
    time and the bodies were dissected, or “an anatomy was held” in a hall crowded with eager witnesses, by a demonstrator, the students having no chance to do any practical dissection with their own hands. In 1752 an act was passed providing for the dissection of the bodies of all persons executed for murder in Great Britain. The ostensible purpose of the Act was to make the penalty of homicide more infamous and similarly, in order to diminish the increasing prevalence of burglary and highway robbery, then still punishable with death, a Bill was introduced into the House of Commons in 1796, providing that the bodies of persons executed for those crimes should also be handed over for dissection. But, on the ground that it annihilated the difference between murder and the lesser forms of crime (though the older grants had failed to recognize any such difference) the Bill failed to secure acceptance. It was not until 1832 that the so-called Warburton Anatomy Act was passed providing a legal way in which an ample supply of anatom- ical material could be secured by all reputable schools and teachers. Peachey gives a list of the private teachers of anatomy in England between 1700 and 1746 with some account of their activities. It is inter- esting to Americans to find Dr. Abraham A Memoir of Will iam and John Hunt er : By Chovet among those mentioned, because he George C. Peachey, William Brendon and Son, came to this country and attained a distin- Plymouth, G. B., 1924. guished place in the profession in Philadelphia.
    [Show full text]
  • Joanna Baillie and Sir John Herschel Judith Bailey Slagle East Tennessee State University, [email protected]
    East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University ETSU Faculty Works Faculty Works Spring 1-1-2018 Joanna Baillie and Sir John Herschel Judith Bailey Slagle East Tennessee State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Citation Information Slagle, Judith Bailey. 2018. Joanna Baillie and Sir John Herschel. The Wordsworth Circle. Vol.49(2). 85-92. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in ETSU Faculty Works by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Joanna Baillie and Sir John Herschel Copyright Statement Authors are entitled to use their work any way they see fit os long as they acknowledge its appearance in TWC. This document was originally published in The Wordsworth Circle. This article is available at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University: https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/3212 Joanna Baillie and SirJohn Herschel Judith Bailey Slagle East Tennessee State University Joanna Baillie(l 762-1851), the Scottish poet themselves or the community. I knew and dramatist, was raised in a family of scientists: Malthus, he used to come frequently to Hamp­ her uncles, the renowned physicians and anatomists, stead to visit a Sister, and a most humane and un­ William and John Hunter, and her brother, Mat­ assuming good man he was" (Slagle 975-75). thew.
    [Show full text]
  • Nature Dissected, Or Dissection Naturalized? the Case of John Hunter's Museum
    museum and society, 6(2) 135 Nature dissected, or dissection naturalized? The case of John Hunter’s museum Simon Chaplin* The Royal College of Surgeons of England/King’s College London Abstract At his death in 1793 the museum of the surgeon and anatomist John Hunter contained over thirteen thousand specimens and objects. Although many were the familiar stuff of natural history, the core of the collection consisted of over seven thousand human or animal body parts or ‘anatomical preparations’. They were testament to and the product of Hunter’s assiduous work as a dissector of dead bodies; a practice which, though becoming more widespread among medical practitioners, nevertheless possessed discomforting associations of personal and public impropriety. This paper explores the way in which the display of anatomical preparations served to legitimize dissection as a mode of natural historical inquiry, and by extension defused some of the social and moral anxieties surrounding the activities of private anatomy teachers in Georgian London. Keywords: anatomy, anatomical museums, natural history, dissection, public display One day last week Mr John Hunter opened his very curious, extensive and valuable museum at his house in Leicester-fields, for the inspection of a considerable number of the literati…. What principally attracted the notice of the cognoscenti was Mr Hunter’s novel and curious system of natural philosophy running progressively from the lowest scale of vegetable up to animal nature. Mr Addison has a paper upon this subject in the Spectator, in which, as a moralist, he touches with his usual feeling and perspicuity; but is reserved for Mr Hunter’s genius and ardent zeal in his profession to develop, in this instance, the wisdom of Providence in its works.
    [Show full text]
  • Title: John Hunter and the Earliest Description of Three Congenital Cardiac Conditions
    Title: John Hunter and the Earliest Description of Three Congenital Cardiac Conditions Author: Hutan Ashrafian Address for Correspondence: The Department of Surgery and Cancer 10th Floor, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (QEQM) Building Imperial College London at St Mary’s Hospital Campus Praed Street, London, W2 1NY, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 3312 7651 Fax: +44 (0)20 3312 6309 Email: [email protected] Eligibility: Clinical Lecturer in Surgery, Imperial College London SpR in General Surgery, London Deanery Word Count: 1418 words John Hunter and the Earliest Description of Three Congenital Cardiac Conditions Medical knowledge underwent significant advances during the 18th century's Age of Enlightenment. The development of reason and the scientific method coalesced to offer objective appraisal of diseases and their treatments. During this time a handful of luminaries stood out to lead the scholarship of medicine into a new era. John Hunter (1728-93) was one such individual who spearheaded the application of science to surgery. He was raised in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland as an aspiring naturalist during the Scottish Enlightenment, but also gained experience as an apprentice cabinet-maker. At that time this profession offered an understanding of cutting-edge design, manual craft dexterity and innovation exampled by the works of Thomas Chippendale and other design masters of the Georgian era. Finally John was fortunate enough to receive a formal grounding in anatomy and surgery through his elder brother William Hunter following a sink or swim test with an arm dissection. William who remains to be considered as one of the greatest obstetricians and teachers of anatomy trained his brother over 11 years with further clinical exposure at Chelsea Hospital with William Cheselden and at St.
    [Show full text]
  • SIR JOSEPH BANKS Papers, 1773-1815 Reel M469
    AUSTRALIAN JOINT COPYING PROJECT SIR JOSEPH BANKS Papers, 1773-1815 Reel M469 Fitzwilliam Museum 32 Trumpington Street Cambridge CB2 1RB National Library of Australia State Library of New South Wales Filmed: 1964 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820), Baronet, was born in London and educated at Harrow, Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. He became interested in botany as a schoolboy. His father died in 1761 and, inheriting considerable wealth, he was able to devote his time to natural science. In 1766 he joined HMS Niger and collected rocks, plants and animals in Newfoundland and Labrador. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1766. In 1768 he led a small party of scientists and artists on HMS Endeavour on its voyage to the Pacific. Supported by James Cook, they amassed a huge collection of plants, insects, shells and implements and produced extensive drawings and notes during their travels to Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia. On his return to England in 1771 he received a doctorate at Oxford University. In 1772 Banks led an expedition to the western islands of Scotland and Iceland. In 1776 Banks bought a house at Soho Square in London where his library and collections were held and where he met and corresponded with scientists throughout Europe. Daniel Solander was his librarian, succeeded in time by Jonas Dryander and Robert Brown. In 1778 Banks became president of the Royal Society, an office he held for the rest of his life, and he was created a baronet in 1781. He was a member of numerous other learned societies and developed the royal gardens at Kew.
    [Show full text]
  • John Hunter, the Father of Scientific Surgery
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5 John Hunter, the father of scientific surgery AUTHORS Kelly A. Kapp, MS4 Glenn E. Talboy, MD, FACS Department of Surgery, University of Missouri, Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, MO CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Kelly Kapp, MS4 UMKC School of Medicine M4-129 2411 Holmes St. Kansas City, MO 64108 © 2017 by the American College of Surgeons. All rights reserved. CC2017 Poster Competition • John Hunter, the father of scientific surgery 34 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 In era of bloodletting and imbalances of the four Early years and professional career humors, John Hunter (1728–1793) challenged John Hunter’s life has attracted interest for more than 200 tradition and defined surgical scholarship. He years (Figure 1). Wendy Moore, a medical journalist in introduced the modern approach to surgery: London, wrote a well-received biography in 2005 titled The Knife Man.1 James Palmer, a surgeon in the early 19th century, Begin with a thorough understanding of anatomy compiled Hunter’s major publications in four volumes in 1835 and physiology, meticulously observe the and added a short biography that includes many of Hunter’s symptoms of disease in a living patient and letters to Edward Jenner, his favorite house pupil.2 Stephen Paget, surgeon and son of Sir James Paget, one of the foremost post-mortem findings of those that died of it, surgeons of Victorian England, wrote a biography in 1897 that then, on the basis of the comparison, propose included letters to Hunter’s family and contemporaries.3 Most an improvement in treatment, test it in animal of this article draws facts from their books.
    [Show full text]
  • The Works of William Hewson, F. R. S., with an Introduction and Notes
    t <13 I PART II. CRITICAL ANALYSIS. Art. I.- -The Works of William Hewson, F. R. S., with an Introduction and Notes. By George Gulliver, F. K. S., Surgeon to the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards. London, 1846. 8vo. Pp. 360. Printed for the Sydenham Society. In the summer of 1741, a young Scot, at the age of 23, from the parish of Kilbride, in the Middleward of Clydesdale, went to London with the intention of finishing, in the schools of the me- tropolis, his education as a medical and midwifery practitioner. At that time, Scotland was poor, with little commerce, very imperfect agriculture, and no manufactures deserving the name; while so- ciety was in an unsettled and precarious state, partly in conse- quence of the effects of the Union not yet having been fully de- veloped, partly in consequence of the great body of the older aristocracy being rather attached to the Stewart family, and from ignorance and prejudice little disposed to look with confidence or cordiality to the Hanoverian succession. At this time, the po- pulation of Lanark, the county town, did not exceed 2000,* while that of Glasgow, the trading capital of the county, and the largest in Scotland, was only a little above 17,000.-f* Four years previously, the violence of an Edinburgh mob had proved most unequivocally the weakness and inefficiency of the municipal authorities, in setting law at defiance and taking the administra- tion of the laws into their own hands; and four years after this period, the rebellion in favour of the Stewart family had shown how unable the existing government was to protect both of these towns, and save them from the severities and exactions of an irregular, but enthusiastic and ferocious military force.
    [Show full text]
  • THE THREE WILLIAMS - HUNTER, HEWSON and CRUIKSHANK: Their Unique Contributions to Our Knowledge of the Lymphatics
    31 Lymphology 28 (1995) 31-34 THE THREE WILLIAMS - HUNTER, HEWSON AND CRUIKSHANK: Their Unique Contributions to Our Knowledge of the Lymphatics A.J. Miller, A. Palmer Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery Divisions, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois, USA Arts in London (2) does not make him look particularly appealing, and he apparently was not. A small man, he was jealous, difficult, high-strung and arrogant. He and his assistants undoubtedly overdid their enthusiasm for the "absorbents," as they often termed the lymphatics, because they considered them to be the only absorbing vessels of the body (3). William Hunter established the famous Great Windmill Street anatomic theatre, the site of which is now the St. James Tavern (Fig. 2). Time changes geography, but we know that it was at this site that he housed his superb anatomical museum, which now resides at the Fig. 1. William Hunter (1718-1783). University of Glasgow. And it was from this platform that in his outspoken manner he came close to a correct definition of the role of Starting about 1740, "a vigorous the lymphatics. He and his colleagues were not experimental approach struggled with the just talk; they did careful anatomical dogmatic systems of the earlier part of the investigations of the lymphatics in man, other century," (1) and it was in this era that the mammals, amphibians and fish. "three Williams" arrived on the London scene. It was a time when Benjamin Franklin William Hunter, the outspoken curmudgeon was living in London. A friend to both (he called himself "forthright"), with the help William Hunter and Hewson, he moderated a of William Hewson and William Cruikshank, conflict between them, and subsequently his brilliant assistants, impressively defined Hewson dedicated his fine book to Franklin the importance of the lymphatic system.
    [Show full text]