Page:The Hunterian oration, for the year 1819.djvu/57

 Hunter, and none without a fond remembrance of his kindness and attention. I have indeed been told, even by them, that he was sometimes in a passion when he was vexed; which, I think, ought to have been excused, as it was the natural and almost inevitable consequence of the best dispositions of the human mind. This short-lived turbulence should, indeed, be treated with pity and indulgence, when it is the legitimate offspring of sensibility and integrity.

That Mr. Hunter was an humble-minded man, may be inferred from the caution and diffidence which is a striking characteristic of all his scientific investigations. He has, doubtless, suppressed the communication of facts and experiments, manifesting a degree of labour and intelligence sufficient to give reputation to persons of ordinary character. Though he endeavoured to investigate the nature of diseases in order to understand their treatment; yet he never deviated from esta-