156 
COLLEGE OF SURGEONS. 
THE HUNTERIAN ORATION. 
February 14, 1843. 
[We make no apology for the following sketch of the profes- 
sional career of Sir Charles Bell. His reputation as a surgeon 
stood deservedly high, but as a physiologist he occupies the 
noblest station. To the veterinary student his name will be 
ever dear ; for some of his most valuable elucidations of the 
nervous system were early developed at the Examiners’ Board. 
We proffer our warmest thanks to Mr. Arnott for the truly 
interesting account he has given us of the gradual progress of 
the affair.] 
“Sir Charles Bell was born in 1775, and, after studying some 
years at the high school of Edinburgh, began the study of ana- 
tomy under his brother John. That brother, twelve years older 
than himself, was already in high repute, both as a surgeon and 
as a lecturer. The instructions of such a teacher could scarcely 
have been heard without profit by an ordinary pupil : their effect 
upon Charles Bell was shewn by the publication, in his twenty- 
second year, of the first volume of his ‘ System of Dissections’ — 
a work marked by his characteristic originality. 
“ At an early age he was appointed Surgeon to the Royal Infir- 
mary ; but the feuds which at that time distracted the profession 
in Edinburgh, as well as other causes, induced him to try his 
chance in the metropolis of the world, and Mr. Bell came to Lon- 
don in 1806. The rest of his career is well known to you : at 
any rate, it is unnecessary to dwell on the professorships which 
he held, or the other marks of public distinction which were 
heaped upon him. I will content myself with touching upon a 
few of the more prominent points of his genius and character. 
“As a surgeon Sir Charles Bell ranks high, ‘if not first in the 
very first line.’ His Letters on the Diseases of the Urethra, his 
Surgical Observations, and other works, shew how deeply he had 
studied, and how diligently he had practised, the art which he 
professed. His dexterity and coolness as an operator were re- 
markable ; yet he went to operations with the reluctance of one 
who has to face an unavoidable evil ; in this respect resembling 
Hunter, and many other first-rate surgeons. Like Cheselden, 
who is said always to have turned pale when about to cut for the 
stone. Bell’s cheek was often seen to blanch on proceeding to 
operations performed with the utmost self-possession and skill. 
