History of Civilization in England, Vol. 3 of 3

by Henry Thomas Buckle

[856] ‘Some idea may be formed of Hunter's extraordinary diligence, by the fact, that his museum contained, at the time of his death, upwards of 10,000 preparations, illustrative of human and comparative anatomy, physiology, and pathology, and natural history.’ Weld's History of the Royal Society, London, 1848, vol. ii. p. 92.

[857] ‘I have tested the conflicting evidence of these observers by dissection of the heart in the lobster; and you will perceive by this preparation that it is more complicated than even the Danish naturalist supposed, and fully bears out the opinion of Hunter in regard to the mixed nature of the circulation in the crustacea.’ Owen's Lectures on the Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of the Invertebrate Animals, 2nd edit. London, 1855, p. 318. ‘Cuvier, misled by the anomalous diffused condition of the venous system, supposed that there was no circulation of the blood in insects; yet the dorsal vessel was too conspicuous a structure to be overlooked. Such, however, was the authority of the great anatomist, that the nature of the heart began to be doubted, and the strangest functions to be attributed to it. Hunter, however, who was prepared to appreciate the true state of the circulating system in insects, by his discovery of the approximately diffused and irregular structure of the veins in the crustacea, has described, in his work on the blood, all the leading characters of the circulation in insects as it is recognized by comparative physiologists of the present day.’ Ibid. p. 383. Compare Hunter's Essays and Observations on Natural History, London, 1861, vol. i. p. 108.

[858] ‘The class called Sepia has the organ of hearing, though somewhat differently constructed from what it is in fishes.’ An Account of the Organ of Hearing in Fishes, in Hunter‘s Works, vol. iv. p. 294. At the bottom of the page Mr. Owen observes, in a note, ‘This is the first announcement of the existence of an organ of hearing in the Cephalopoda.’

[859] ‘Hunter discovered that the molluscous inhabitant of a shell had the power of absorbing part of its dwelling.’ Owen's Lectures on the Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of the Invertebrate Animals, London, 1855, p. 544. ‘Every shell-fish has the power of removing a part of its shell, so as to adapt the new and the old together, which is not done by any mechanical power, but by absorption.’ Anatomical Remarks on a New Marine Animal, in Hunter's Works, vol. iv. p. 469, edit. Palmer. In a note to this passage, it is said, that ‘the doctrine of the absorption of shell has been lately’ (i.e. in 1833) ‘adduced as a new discovery.’

[860] ‘His keen observation did not fail to detect several errors which preceding naturalists had fallen into, especially with regard to the formation of the wax, which he proved to be secreted, not collected, by the animal.’ Ottley's Life of Hunter, p. 122. ‘The wax is formed by the bees themselves; it may be called an external secretion of oil, and I have found that it is formed between each scale of the under side of the belly.’ Observations on Bees, in Hunter's Works, vol. iv. p. 433.

[861] ‘In the terminating part there are a number of perforations into the cochlea, and one into the semicircular canals, which afford a passage to the different divisions of the auditory nerve.’ Observations on the Structure and Œconomy of Whales, in Hunter's Works, vol. iv. pp. 383, 384. ‘The semicircular canals of the cetacea, described by Hunter in the paper on Whales, a structure which Cuvier rightly states that Camper overlooked, but incorrectly claims the discovery as his own.’ Preface to vol. iv. of Hunter's Works, p. xxi.

[862] Dr. Adams, in his somewhat hasty Life of Hunter, says (pp. 27, 28), ‘Mr. Hewson always claimed the discovery of lymphatics in birds.’ But the truth is, that Hewson never claimed it. He says, ‘It may be necessary to mention here, that the dispute between Dr. Monro and me is, who first discovered the lacteals of birds? for as to the lymphatics in their necks (mentioned in this gentleman's note), these we both allow were discovered by Mr. John Hunter, about ten years ago.’ And, again, ‘These lymphatics in the necks of fowls were first discovered by Mr. John Hunter.’ Hewson's Works, edit. Gulliver (Sydenham Soc.), pp. 102, 145.

[863] Hunter's Works, vol. iv. pp. xxi. 176.

[864] ‘See Nos. 3731, 3734, 3735, in the Physiological series of the Hunterian Museum, in which there are evidences that Mr. Hunter had anticipated most of the anatomical discoveries which have subsequently been made upon the embryo of the Kangaroo.’ Rymer Jones' Organization of the Animal Kingdom, London, 1855, pp. 829, 830.

[865] ‘The muscularity of arteries, of which John Hunter made physiological proof, is now a matter of eyesight.’ Simon's Pathology, London, 1850, p. 69. ‘To prove the muscularity of an artery, it is only necessary to compare its action with that of elastic substances.’ … ‘When the various uses of arteries are considered, such as their forming different parts of the body out of the blood, their performing the different secretions, their allowing at one time the blood to pass readily into the smaller branches, as in blushing, and at another, preventing it altogether, as in paleness from fear: and if to these we add the power of producing a diseased increase of any or every part of the body, we cannot but conclude that they are possessed of muscular powers.’ Hunter's Works, vol. iii. p. 157. See also vol. iv. p. 254. Mr. Gulliver, in his edition of Hewson's Works, London, 1846, says (p. 125), that Hunter's ‘experiments on the functions of the arteries are supported by the latest and best observations on their structure.’