MEMOIR OF JOHN HUNTER. 23 



of character, and an independency of thought, which 

 have rarely heen surpassed. 



Having returned home in the summer of 1748, 

 and finding nothing there upon which to employ his 

 energies, John Hunter addressed himself to his bro- 

 ther William, requesting permission to visit him in 

 London, and making an offer, at the same time, to 

 assist him in his anatomical employments. In an- 

 swer to his letter, he received a very kind invitation 

 from his brother, and immediately joined him. 



Mr Hunter arrived in London in the month of 

 September, about a fortnight before the commence- 

 ment of his brother's course of lectures. Dr Hun- 

 ter immediately introduced him into the dissecting- 

 room, where his first essays were so promising, that 

 Dr Hunter did not hesitate to pronounce that his 

 brother would make a good anatomist, and that he 

 should not want employment. Under the instruc- 

 tions of Dr Hunter, and his assistant Mr Symonds, 

 he now enjoyed every opportunity of improvement, 

 all the practical anatomy at this time carried on in 

 London being confined to this single school. 



In the following summer, the celebrated Chesel- 

 den, at the request of Dr Hunter, permitted John 

 to attend Chelsea Hospital ; and here he was ini- 

 tiated into the first rudiments of surgery. 



In the succeeding winter, Mr Hunter was so far 

 advanced as to become Demonstrator of Anatomy, 

 assisting and directing the pupils in the dissecting- 

 rooms, while his brother confined his attention al~ 



