MEMOIR OF JOHN HUNTER. 



was a.so a favourite subject of inquiry, and one in 

 which he was at all times engaged in prosecuting 

 some experiments. 



It was his favourite amusement in this retreat tt 

 walk about among his birds and beasts, attending to 

 their habits and actions. The fiercer animals were 

 those to which he was most partial, and he had se- 

 veral of the bull kind, from different parts of the 

 world. Among these was a beautiful small bull 

 which he had received from the Queen, with which 

 he used to wrestle in play, and entertain himself 

 with its exertions in its own defence. In one of 

 these contests, the bull overpowered him, and got 

 him down ; and, had not one of the servants acci- 

 dentally passed by, and frightened the bull away, 

 the frolic would probably have cost him his life. 



About this time, he was requested by Sir John 

 Pringle, then President of the Royal Society, to 

 draw up a paper for the consideration of that learn- 

 ed body. This paper led the way to many others ; 

 and throughout his life, and more especially during 

 the next ten years, he was unremitting in supplying 

 the Society with communications. We may state 

 in a few words, the more immediate occasion of thav 

 to which we have just adverted. Sir John Pringle 

 Having lost a patient, engaged Mr Hunter to exa- 

 mine into the cause of death. At the examination, 

 a portion of the stomach was, to the astonishment 

 of the by-standers., found so entirely dissolved, as to 

 D 



