arrived in Port Phillip in 1840. In 1864 he was appointed Lecturer on Surgery in the Melbourne University, and he retained the position for several years. A s a remarkable instance of his physical powers of locomotion and endurance, it m a y be mentioned, that in May, 1841, accompanied by two friends, Messrs. Edward Hobson and Henry Broadribb, and four blackfellows, he walked from Melbourne to Port Albert, being thefirstoverland expedition of the kind. Their regular start was from Lyall's station, n o w known as the Inlets, and for five days they had rather rough and hungry times of it, for their stock of provisions running out, they had nothing to eat, and (great fact for the teetotallers) for the five days actually lived on water! Dr. Barker died in June, 1885.
DR. EDWARD BARKER
C. WATKIN, M.R.C.S.E. and L.A.C.L., late of Shaldon, Devon, commenced business at 180 Bourke Street East, in May, 1851, and advertised himself as ready to work on the following annual scale:—A family, ,£10 10s. ; one person, ,£5 5s. If in indifferent circumstances the charges would be reduced to one-half the amounts. Confinements were to be extras, and consultations from 9 to n a.m. daily.
DR.
the same time appeared a notification which will recall to the recollection of many still living, an individual long gathered to his fathers, but, w h o in his day, attracted some attention and m a d e a wonderful deal of noise in our city :—
DR. ALEXANDER HUNTER.—About
VTOTICE.—To the Poorer Classes of Melbourne and its Vicinity.—Dr. Hunter, -1-" Consulting and Operating Surgeon, has made arrangements to devote from 9 to 10 o'clock every morning, to giving advice free, to all those classes w h o are anxious to consult him, but who, from circumstances, are unable to pay for it. 162 Great Collins Street, Eastern Hill.
This Doctor Hunter was a tall, sallow-faced, black-haired, well-whiskered, and well-developed individual, admittedly a clever operating surgeon, but too fond of the steel, for his first impulse on seeing a patient was (like some of our present practitioners) to effect an operation of some kind if possible. H e did not get on very fraternally with his contemporaries, as, though several of them were his professional superiors in every way, he regarded them with an amusing mixture of compassion and disdain, deeming them not abreast with the scientific requirements of the age. But it was as a stump orator, that Dr. Hunter appeared in the zenith of his fame, for he was the most bumptious talker and veriest political quack in creation. H e once found his way into the Legislative Assembly as member for East Melbourne, where his parliamentary career was as fruitless as an immense soap-bubble.
EARLY SURGICAL OPERATIONS.
Surgery in Melbourne performed its first recorded feat on the night of 4th April, 1839. It was the occasion of the visit of Lady Franklin, wife of the Governor of V a n Diemen's Land. She was staying at Fawkner's Hotel, and amongst the Melbournians w h o turned out in the evening to give her a vociferous welcome, was one Isaac Smith, a carpenter by trade, w h o discharged a shaky blunderbuss in her honour; but the piece burst, and blew off one of the unfortunate fellow's hands. The sufferer was removed into a tavern, and the Colonial Surgeon (Dr. Cussen) amputated the limb from the elbow. T h e patient was not long in recovering, and a few pounds generously left by her Ladyship as a solatium, compensated for the mishap. T h e first experiment with ether was made in Melbourne in July, 1847. Mr. James Egan, a settler on the Goulburn, was amusing himself one day on a shooting excursion, when the barrel of his gun burst and shattered his right arm. H e was conveyed for more than a hundred miles to Melbourne, and placed under the care of Dr. Thomas, w h o decided on amputating the limb under the influence of ether. T h e operation was performed on 2nd August in the presence of Drs. Campbell, Greeves, and Playne. T h e experiment was a success, and Egan was soon restored to health. Ether was not long in the ascendant before it was partially superseded by chloroform, and the first Melbourne operation undertaken with its aid happened on the 27th May, 1848. A Mrs. Barr,
