THE
HUNTERIAN ORATION.
Mr. President and Gentlemen,
THE duty which I have now to perform, like many others, discovers its real difficulty only on actual approach: for what can appear easier or more inviting than an exposition of the claims of so rare and remarkable a man as John Hunter to our especial remembrance and gratitude ? Yet, be it recollected that this has been the subject-matter of three-and-twenty anniversaries, and that commonplace eulogies or laureate phrases would be ill suited to the genius of the place, and offensive to the dignity of the subject.
With Mr. Hunter’s biography the world is now as fully acquainted as authentic materials permit, or as inquiry is proper and profitable to survivors. The minutest circumstances are interesting which throw additional light upon the constitution and habits of so
