16 MEMOIR OF 



His fame, however, rested chiefly, during his life, 

 upon his success as a teacher of anatomy, and in this 

 capacity he raised himself at once to the top of his 

 profession. He was so intent on making his students 

 understand him, and he was so fully master of the 

 subject himself, that his clear and animated flow of 

 eloquence never failed to rivet their attention and 

 he became, wherever he taught, the idol of his 

 pupils. His lectures on anatomy were real analyti- 

 cal experiments. The subject was placed before the 

 class y tissue and muscle and blood, vessel and bone, 

 were laid bare in their turn, their use and position 

 exemplified to the eye, and enforced by the most 

 lively and precise description; while the student was 

 at the same time receiving the most valuable lessons 

 in practical dissection. 



Dr. Godman had a remarkable capacity for con- 

 centrating all his powers upon any given object of 

 pursuit. What he had once read or observed he 

 rarely, if ever, forgot. Hence it was that, although 

 his early education was much neglected, he became 

 an excellent linguist, and made himself master of 

 Latin, French, and German, besides acquiring a 

 knowledge of Greek, Italian, and Spanish. He 

 had read the best works in these languages, and 

 wrote with facility the Latin and French. His cha- 

 racter and acquirements are justly portrayed by a 

 distinguished journalist, in the extracts which fol- 

 low. "The tributes," said he, "which have been 

 paid in the newspapers to the late Dr. Godman, were 

 especially due to the memory of a man so variously 



