37
those, which were derived from it, was like a mock rainbow, the reflection of a reflection.
If our profession, Mr. President, could furnish any modern names, which vie with that of John Hunter in originality and genius, they might perhaps be found in such men as Bichat and Abernethy. No doubt the very mention of the latter specimen of departed excellence, will make many who now hear me, feel something like the sentiment conveyed in the following line :
- " Et redit ex turuulo vivificatus homo."
His genuine eccentricities—his fascinating manner of imparting knowledge to others—his acuteness of intellect—and his moral worth—will be immediately remembered and admired.
As a zealous cultivator of surgery, John Abernethy could not have been passed over in silence on an occasion like the present; for not only did he strenuously exert himself for forty years in inculcating, in the most pleasing style, some of the most valuable doctrines of John Hunter; but he was himself the source