MEMOIR OF JOHX HUNTER. U7 



my, the progress of which was altogether unex- 

 ampled, and the labours connected with which just- 

 ly place his scientific even above his professional 

 reputation. 



In this new line of pursuit, Mr Hunter com- 

 menced by investigating the structure of the more 

 common animals, and making preparations of such 

 parts as appeared, by analogy or otherwise, to throw 

 light upon the animal economy. It was not his in- 

 tention to make dissections of the whole of these 

 animals, but to institute an inquiry into the various 

 organizations by which the functions of life are per- 

 formed, and thus attain to a knowledge of general 

 principles. The design was nearly as original as 

 it was great, for little, if any thing of the kind, had 

 hitherto been accomplished. 



It was at this time Mr Hunter detected the ex- 

 istence of lymphatic vessels in birds. He also traced 

 further than had previously been done, the ramifica- 

 tions of the olfactory nerves, and discovered the 

 course of some of the branches of the fifth pair of 

 nerves those nerves, a minute attention to th j 

 functions of which is even now leading to some of 

 the most interesting discoveries of modern times. 

 His observations on the latter of these subjects were 

 made in the summer of 1754; and in them he had 

 the assistance of Dr Smith, then a student in Lon- 

 don, afterwards Savilian Professor of Geometiy, and 

 Lecturer on Physiology at Oxford. Short notices 

 regarding their labours were published in 1786, in 



