"Time, which obliterates2 the fictions of opinion, confirms the decisions of nature."
Whoever has wandered to the south side of Lincoln's Inn Fields, will have found himself in one of the "solitudes3 of London"—one of those places which, interspersed4 here and there amidst the busy current that rushes along every street and ally, seem quite out of the human life-tide, and furnish serene5 spots, a dead calm, in the midst of tumult6 and agitation7. Here a lawyer may con1 over a "glorious uncertainty," a surgeon a difficult case, a mathematician8 the general doctrine9 of probability, or the Chevalier d'Industrie the particular case of the habitat of his next dinner; but, unless you have some such need of abstraction from the world, these places are heart-sinkingly dull. You see few people; perhaps there may be a sallow-looking gentleman, in a black coat, with a handful of papers, rushing into "chambers10;" or a somewhat more rubicund11 one in blue, walking seriously out: the very stones are remarkably12 round and salient, as if from want, rather than from excess, of friction13. The atmosphere from the distance comes charged with the half-spent, booming hum of population.
Immediately around you, all is comparatively silent.
If you are in a carriage, it seems every moment to come in contact with fresh surfaces, and "beats a roll" of continued vibrations15; or, if a carriage happen to pass you, it seems to make more noise than half a dozen vehicles anywhere else. You may174 observe a long fa?ade, of irregular elevations—upright parallelograms, called habitable houses; but, for aught you see, half of them may have been deserted16: the dull sameness of the fa?ade is broken only by half a dozen Ionic columns, which, notwithstanding their number, seem very serious and very solitary17. You may, perhaps, imagine that they bear a somewhat equivocal relation to the large house before which they stand. You may fancy them to be architectural relics18, inconveniently19 large for admission to some depository within, or that they are intended as a sort of respectable garniture to the very plain house which they partly serve to conceal21 or embellish22; or quiz them as you please, for architects cannot do everything, nor at once convert a very ugly house into a very beautiful temple.
But, stop there!—for temple it is—ay, perhaps, as human temples always are, not altogether unprofaned; but not so desecrated23, we trust, but that it may yet contain the elements of its own purification. It enshrines, reader, a gem24 of great value, which nothing extrinsic25 can improve, which no mere26 art can embellish—a treasure gathered from the ample fields of nature, and which can be enriched or adorned27 only from the same exhaustless store. Though humble28, indeed, the tenement29, yet, were it humbler still, though it were composed of reeds, and covered in with straw, it would remain hallowed to science.
It holds the monument of the untiring labour of a great master—the rich garnerings of a single mind—the record, alas30! but of some of the obligations mankind owe to the faithful pioneer of a Science which, however now partially31 merged33 in clouds and darkness, and obscured by error, still exhibits through the gloom, enough to assert its lofty original, and to foster hopes of better times.
The museum of John Hunter (for it is of that we write) is one of the greatest labours ever achieved by a single individual. To estimate that labour aright, to arrive at a correct notion of the man, the spectator should disregard the number of preparations—the mass of mechanical and manipulatory labour which is involved—the toil34, in fact, of mere collection; and, looking through that, contemplate35 the thought which it records; the general175 nature of the plan; the manner in which the Argus-eyed Author has assembled together various processes in the vegetable creation; how he has associated them with their nearest relations in the animal kingdom; and how he has traced the chain from link to link, from the more simple to the more compounded forms, so as to throw light on the laws dispensed36 to Man. The spectator should then think of the Hunterian portion of the museum as the exhausting harvest of half a life, blessed with no greatly lengthened37 days; a museum gathered not in peaceful seasons of leisure, nor amid the ease of undiverted thought, but amidst the interrupting agitations38 of a populous39 city—the persistent40 embarrassments41 of measured means—the multiform distractions42 of an arduous43 profession—the still more serious interruptions of occasional indisposition—and, finally, amidst annoyances44 from quarters whence he had every right to expect support and sympathy—annoyances which served no other purpose but to embitter45 the tenure46 of life, and to hasten its termination.
Our space will not allow us to dwell more on this subject or the Museum just now. But where is our excellent conservator—where is Mr. Clift, the assistant, the friend, and young companion of John Hunter? He, too, is gathered to his rest. He, on whose countenance47 benevolence48 had impressed a life-long smile—he who used to tell us, as boys, so much of all he knew, and to remind us, as men, how much we were in danger of forgetting—is now no more. How kind and communicative he was; how modest, and yet how full of information; how acceptably the cheerfulness of social feelings mantled49 over the staid gravity of science. How fond of any little pleasant story to vary the round of conservative exposition; and then, if half a dozen of us were going round with him the "conticuere omnes," when, with his characteristic prefatory shrug50, he was about to speak of Hunter. Then such a memory! Why once, in a long delightful51 chat, we were talking over the Lectures at the College, and he ran over the general objects of various courses, during a succession of years, with an accuracy which, if judged of by those which had fallen within our own recollection, might have suggested that he had carried a syllabus52 of each in his pocket.
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We had much to say of Mr. Clift; but, in these times of speed, there is hardly time for anything; yet we think that many an old student, when he has lingered over the stately pile reared by John Hunter, may have paused and felt his eyes moistened by the memory of William Clift.
When Mr. Abernethy lectured at the College, there was no permanent professor, as is now the case; no Professor Owen, of whom we shall have to speak more in the sequel. Both the professorship of anatomy53 and surgery, and also that of comparative anatomy, were only held for a comparatively short time.
It is not very easy to state the principle on which the professors were selected. The privilege of addressing the seniors of the profession has never, any more than any other appointment in the profession, been the subject of public competition; nor, unless the Council have had less penetration54 than we are disposed to give them credit for, has "special fitness" been a very dominant55 principle. Considering the respectability and position of the gentlemen who have been selected, the Lectures at the College of Surgeons, under the arrangements we are recording56, were certainly much less productive, as regards any improvement in science, than might have been reasonably expected.
The vice57 of "system" could not be always, however, corrected by the merits of the individual. One result, which too commonly arose out of it, was, that gentlemen were called on to address their seniors and contemporaries for the first time, who had never before addressed any but pupils. It would not, therefore, have been very wonderful, if, amongst the other difficulties of lecturing, that most inconvenient20 one of all should have sometimes occurred, of having nothing to say.
Mr. Abernethy was appointed in 1814, and had the rare success of conferring a lustre58 on the appointment, and the perhaps still more difficult task of sustaining, before his seniors and contemporaries, that unrivalled reputation as a lecturer which he had previously59 acquired. As Mr. Abernethy had been all his life teaching a more scientific surgery, which he believed to be founded on principles legitimately60 deducible from facts developed by Hunter; so every circumstance of time, place, and inclination,177 disposed him to bring Mr. Hunter's views and opinions under the review of the audience at the College, composed of his seniors, his contemporaries, and of pupils from the different schools. He was, we believe, equally desirous of disseminating62 them amongst the one class, and of having them considered by the others. At this time, no lectures of Mr. Hunter had been published; and Mr. Abernethy thought that, to understand Hunter's opinions of the actions of living bodies, it was expedient63 that people should have some notion of what Mr. Hunter considered to be the general nature of—"Life."
We hold this point to be very important; for all experience shows that speculation64 on the abstract nature of things is to the last degree unprofitable. Nothing is so clear in all sciences as that the proper study of mankind is the Laws by which they are governed. Yet we cannot, in any science, proceed without something to give an intelligible65 expression to our ideas; which something is essentially66 hypothetical.
If, for example, we speak of light, we can hardly express our ideas without first supposing of light that it is some subtle substance sent off from luminous67 bodies, or that it consists in undulations; as we adopt the corpuscular or undulatory theory. It would be easy to form a third, somewhat different from either, and which would yet pretend to no more than to give a still more intelligible expression to phenomena68.
Now this is, as it appears to us, just what Mr. Abernethy did. He did not speculate on the nature of life for any other reason than to give a more intelligible expression to Mr. Hunter's other views. At that time there was nothing published, showing that Mr. Hunter's ideas of life were what Mr. Abernethy represented them to be; they might have been remembered by men of his own age, but this was not very good for controversy69; and as that was made a point of attack35, it is well that the since collected "Life and Lectures of John Hunter," by Mr. Palmer, have given178 us a written authority for the accuracy of Abernethy's representations.
In theorizing on the cause of the phenomena of living bodies, men have, at different times, arrived at various opinions; but although not so understood, it seems to us that they all merge32 into two—the one which supposes Life to be the result of organization, or the arrangement of matter; the other, that the organization given, Life is something superadded to it; just as electricity or magnetism70 to the bodies with which these forces may be connected. The latter was the opinion which Mr. Abernethy advocated as that held by Mr. Hunter, and which he honestly entertained as most intelligibly71 and rationally, in his view, explaining the phenomena.
That such were really the views held by Mr. Hunter, a few passages from the work, as published by Mr. Palmer, will show. "Animal and vegetable substances," says Mr. Hunter, "differ from common matter in having a power superadded totally different from any other known property of matter; out of which various new properties arise36." So much for a general view. Next, a reference to particular powers: "Actions in animal bodies have been so much considered under a chemical and mechanical philosophy, that physiologists72 have entirely73 lost sight of Life;" again showing how correctly Abernethy had interpreted Hunter's notion of the necessary "Key," as Abernethy phrased it, to his views; Hunter says: "For unless we consider Life as the immediate14 cause of attraction occurring in animals and vegetables, we can have no just conception of animal and vegetable matter37." Mr. Hunter, in relation to the idea of life being the result of organization, shows how faithful an exposition Abernethy had given of his views. "It appears," says he, "that the Living Principle cannot arise from the peculiar74 modification75 of matter, because the same modification exists where this principle is no more."—Vol. i, p. 221. And in the same page: "Life, then, appears to be something superadded to this peculiar modification of matter."
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Then as to one of the illustrations employed by Abernethy, Hunter, after saying that he is aware that it is difficult to conceive this superaddition, adds: "But to show that matter may take on new properties without being altered itself as to the species of matter, it may not be improper76 to illustrate77 this. Perhaps magnetism affords the best illustration. A bar of iron, without magnetism, may be considered as animal matter without life. With magnetism, it acquires new properties of attraction and repulsion," &c.
Mr. Abernethy, as we have said, advocated similar views; and, we repeat, founded his reason for so doing on what he conceived to be the necessity of explaining Mr. Hunter's ideas of life, before he could render his (Hunter's) explanation of the various phenomena intelligible. In all of this, he certainly was expressing Mr. Hunter's own views, with that talent for ornamenting78 and illustrating79 everything he discussed, for which he was so remarkable80.
Abernethy multiplied the illustrations by showing the various analogies which seemed to him to be presented in the velocity81, the chemical, and other powers of Life and Electricity; and, with especial reference to the extraordinary discoveries of Sir Humphrey Davy, added such illustrations, as more recent achievements in chemical science had placed within his grasp; and thence concluding it as evident that some subtile, mobile, invisible substance seemed to pervade82 all nature, so it was not unreasonable83 to suppose that some similar substance or power pervaded84 animal bodies. He guarded himself, however, both in his first and again in his second Course of Lectures, from being supposed to identify Life with electricity, in a long paragraph especially devoted85 to that object. In his second Course, in 1815, he proceeded to enumerate86 John Hunter's various labours and contributions to science, as shown by the Museum; imparting great interest to every subject, and in so popular a form, that we wonder now, when (as we rejoice to see) there are some small beginnings of a popularization of physiology87, that there is not a cheap reprint of these Lectures.
Keeping, then, his object in view, we cannot see how, as a180 faithful interpreter of John Hunter, Abernethy could have done less; and if any theory of life at all is to be adopted, as necessary to give an intelligible impression to phenomena, one can hardly quarrel with that which takes the phenomena of life on one hand, and those of death on the other, as the means of expressing our ideas. When we see a man dead, whom we had contemplated88 alive, it certainly seems that something has left him; and whether we say "something superadded,"—the "breath" or "Life," or by whatever term we call it,—we appear really to express in as simple a form as possible the facts before us. It seems to us that, after all, John Hunter did little more; for the illustration or similitude by which we endeavour to render an idea clear, has in strictness nothing necessarily to do with the idea itself; any more than an analogy, however real the likeness89, or a parallelism, however close, represents identity.
We should have thought it, therefore, of all things in the world the least likely that a representation of any theory of Hunter's should have disturbed the harmony which ought to exist between men engaged in scientific inquiries90. It shows, however, the value of confining ourselves as strictly91 as possible to phenomena, and the conclusions deducible from them. Nothing could possibly be more philosophical92 than the terms in which Mr. Abernethy undertook to advocate Mr. Hunter's views of life. His definitions of hypothesis, the conditions on which he founded its legitimate61 character, the modesty93 with which he applies it, and the clearness with which he states how easily our best-grounded suppositions may be subverted94 by new facts, are very lucid95 and beautiful, and give a tone to the lectures (as we should have thought) the very last calculated to have led to the consequences which followed.
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con
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| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
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obliterates
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| v.除去( obliterate的第三人称单数 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭 | |
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solitudes
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| n.独居( solitude的名词复数 )；孤独；荒僻的地方；人迹罕至的地方 | |
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interspersed
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| adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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mathematician
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| n.数学家 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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rubicund
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| adj.(脸色)红润的 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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friction
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| n.摩擦，摩擦力 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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vibrations
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| n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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inconveniently
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| ad.不方便地 | |
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inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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embellish
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| v.装饰，布置；给…添加细节，润饰 | |
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desecrated
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| 毁坏或亵渎( desecrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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gem
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| n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel | |
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extrinsic
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| adj.外部的；不紧要的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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tenement
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| n.公寓；房屋 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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merge
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| v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体 | |
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merged
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| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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dispensed
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| v.分配( dispense的过去式和过去分词 )；施与；配（药） | |
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lengthened
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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agitations
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| （液体等的）摇动( agitation的名词复数 )； 鼓动； 激烈争论； （情绪等的）纷乱 | |
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populous
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| adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的 | |
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persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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embarrassments
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| n.尴尬( embarrassment的名词复数 )；难堪；局促不安；令人难堪或耻辱的事 | |
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distractions
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| n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱 | |
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arduous
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| adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的 | |
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annoyances
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| n.恼怒( annoyance的名词复数 )；烦恼；打扰；使人烦恼的事 | |
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embitter
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| v.使苦；激怒 | |
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tenure
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| n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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mantled
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| 披着斗篷的，覆盖着的 | |
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shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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52
syllabus
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| n.教学大纲，课程大纲 | |
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53
anatomy
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| n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织 | |
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54
penetration
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| n.穿透，穿人，渗透 | |
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55
dominant
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| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
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recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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57
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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58
lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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legitimately
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| ad.合法地；正当地，合理地 | |
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legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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62
disseminating
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| 散布，传播( disseminate的现在分词 ) | |
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expedient
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| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
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speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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69
controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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70
magnetism
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| n.磁性，吸引力，磁学 | |
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intelligibly
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| adv.可理解地，明了地，清晰地 | |
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physiologists
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| n.生理学者( physiologist的名词复数 )；生理学( physiology的名词复数 )；生理机能 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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modification
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| n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻 | |
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improper
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| adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的 | |
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illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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ornamenting
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| v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的现在分词 ) | |
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illustrating
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| 给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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velocity
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| n.速度，速率 | |
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pervade
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| v.弥漫，遍及，充满，渗透，漫延 | |
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unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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enumerate
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| v.列举，计算，枚举，数 | |
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physiology
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| n.生理学，生理机能 | |
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contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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subverted
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| v.颠覆，破坏（政治制度、宗教信仰等）( subvert的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某人）道德败坏或不忠 | |
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lucid
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| adj.明白易懂的，清晰的，头脑清楚的 | |
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