Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 5.djvu/89

Rh no branch of medical science which demands more patient and assiduous toil than this; it was more especially so at that period, when there were few aids to anatomical knowledge. He communicated his project to Dr Nicholls, who had declined lecturing, in favour of Dr Lawrence, who gave him little encouragement, and he retired, as many others similarly situated have done, to meditate on his own secret hopes, and to await a fit opportunity for commencing his designs. It thug happens in the lives of many young men, that wiser heads caution them against embarking in schemes they have long cherished, and in which, after all, they are destined to be successful. The ardour and perseverance of youth often accomplish undertakings which appear wild and romantic to the sterner and colder judgment of the aged. To William Hunter the wished-for opportunity soon occurred, whereby he was enabled to put his plans to the test of experience. A society of navy surgeons at that time existed, which occupied rooms in Covent Garden, and to this society Mr Samuel Sharpe had been engaged as a lecturer on the operations of surgery. This course Mr Sharpe continued to repeat, until finding that it interfered too much with his other engagements ; he resigned in favour of William Hunter, who gave his first anatomical course in the winter of 1746. It is said that when he first began to speak in public he experienced much solicitude ; but the applause he met with inspired him with that confidence which is so essential an element of all good oratory. Indeed, he gradually became so fond of teaching, that some few years before his death, he acknowledged that he was never happier than when engaged in lecturing. The profits of the first two courses were considerable; but having with much generosity contributed to supply the pecuniary wants of his friends, he found himself so reduced on the return of the next season, that he was obliged to postpone his lectures, because he had not money to defray the necessary expenses of advertising. An anecdote is mentioned by his biographer Symmons, very characteristic of the early difficulties which are experienced by many men of genius. Mr Watson, one of his earliest pupils, accompanied him home after his next introductory lecture. He had just received seventy guineas for admission fees, which he carried in a bag under his cloak, and observed to his friend, "that it was a larger sum than he had ever been master of before." His previous experience now taught him more circumspection; he became more cautious of lending money, and by strict economy amassed that great fortune, which he afterwards so liberally devoted to the interests of science. His success as a lecturer before the society of navy surgeons was so decided, that its members requested him to extend his course to anatomy, and gave him the free use of their room for his lectures. This compliment he could not fail to have duly appreciated, and it may be regarded as the precursory sign of that brilliant career which he was soon afterwards destined to pursue.

In the year 1747, he was admitted a member of the Incorporation of Surgeons, and after the close of his lectures in the spring of the following year, he set out with his pupil, Mr James Douglas, on a tour through Holland and Paris. At Leyden, he visited the illustrious Albinus, whose admirable injections inspired him with the zeal to excel in this useful department of anatomy. Having made this tour, he returned to prepare his winter course of lectures, which he commenced at the usual time.

Mr Hunter at this time practised surgery as well as midwifery; but the former branch of the profession he always disliked. His patron, Dr Douglas, had acquired considerable reputation as an accoucheur, and this probably induced him to direct his views to this line of practice. Besides this, an additional inducement presented itself, in the circumstance of his being elected one of the surgeon accoucheurs to the Middlesex hospital, and afterwards to the