HUNTERIAN ORATION. 29 



Mr. Hunter was the first who deduced the 

 opinion, as a legitimate consequence of 

 legitimate facts, that life actually construct- 

 ed the very means by which it carried on its 

 various processes, and that it could operate 

 in semifluid and even fluid substances. His 

 intelligent mind further perceived that no 

 system of physiology could be perfect that 

 did not equally explain the morbid as well 

 as the healthy actions of life. I may say, 

 that he discovered a vital principle in 

 physiology active in producing correct pa- 

 thology. Therefore, he appears to me as 

 a new character in our profession ; and 

 briefly to express his peculiar merit, I may 

 calFhim the first and great physionosolo- 

 gist or expositor of the nature of disease. 



Haller was a physician, Hunter a sur- 

 geon . both were anatomists and physiolo- 

 gists, both therefore equally qualified, as 

 far as their knowledge of the animal 

 economy extended, to discern the nature 

 and mode of cure of the diseases in either 

 department of medical science ; yet, doubt- 



