ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY 



the blood-supply was cut off from above the aneurism, 

 thus temporarily preventing the ceaseless pulsations 

 from the heart, this blood would coagulate and form a 

 clot before the collateral circulation could become es- 

 tablished or could affect it. The patient upon whom 

 he performed his now celebrated operation was afflicted 

 with a popliteal aneurism that is, the aneurism was 

 located on the large popliteal artery just behind the 

 knee-joint. Hunter, therefore, tied off the femoral, 

 or main supplying artery in the thigh, a little distance 

 above the aneurism. The operation was entirely suc- 

 cessful, and in six weeks' time the patient was able to 

 leave the hospital, and with two sound limbs. Nat- 

 urally the simplicity and success of this operation 

 aroused the attention of Europe, and, alone, would 

 have made the name of Hunter immortal in the 

 annals of surgery. The operation has ever since 

 been called the "Hunterian" operation for aneurism, 

 but there is reason to believe that Dominique Anel 

 (born about 1679) performed a somewhat similar opera- 

 tion several years earlier. It is probable, however, 

 that Hunter had never heard of this work of Anel, 

 and that his operation was the outcome of his 

 own independent reasoning from the facts he had 

 learned about collateral circulation. Furthermore, 

 Hunter's mode of operation was a much better one 

 than Anel's, and, while Anel's must claim priority, 

 the credit of making it widely known will always be 

 Hunter's. 



The great services of Hunter were recognized both 

 at home and abroad, and honors and positions of honor 

 and responsibility were given him. In 1776 he was 



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