WILLIAM HUNTER. 229 cure, that the forceps (midwifery instruments in general, I fear), upon the whole, has done more harm than good." William Hunter sacrificed nothing to pomp : he was indifferent to common objects of vanity, — but having no family which might inherit the fruits of his toil, he nobly resolved to bequeath them to the public, in a durable and beneficial form. He was not a man of ardent temperament — he had in him little of the fire of genius, but he was highly useful in his generation ; and he is one of many proofs of the eminence and importance to which a good understanding, a ready percep- tion, and a retentive memory, may conduct the man who commences Hfe with very few other pos- sessions. When he invited his younger friends to his table, they were seldom regaled with more than two dishes ; when alone, he rarely sat down to more than one : he would say, " A man who cannot dine on this, deserves to have no dinner." After the meal, his servant (who was also the attendant on the anatomical theatre) used to hand round a single glass of wine to each of his guests. These ti'iHes are mentioned as a trait of the old manner of professional life, and as a feature of the man who devoted seventy thousand pounds to create a museum for the benefit of posterity.
