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The Scottish Nation
Hunter


HUNTER, a surname obviously derived from the chase, and from the great superiority of the Normans in the sports of the field, it is supposed, on good grounds, that the families of this surname in Scotland are of Norman extraction. They are accustomed to carry in their armorial bearings three dogs of chase with three hunting horns. “In the castle and domains,” says Robertson, “of the great barons, who were ‘lords of entire bailiwicks,’ appropriated frequently for the accommodation of the sovereign, it appears that various offices exclusively belonging to the sports of the field existed. Johne le Hunter de la foreste de Paisley and Hugh and Richard, the hunters of Stragrife (Renfrewshire), appear in the Rag Roll Caled. iii. P. 118; as also does Aylmer de la Hunter of the county of Ayr,” (Ayrshire Families, vol. iii, p. 168.] the office, whatever it was, held by the original bearers of this name, is supposed to have been similar to that of forester, from the fact that the motto of the Foresters of Corstorphine (now represented by the earls ov Verulam, in England) was “Hunter! Blow your horn.” In the remarks on the Ragman Roll, the Aylmer de la Hunter above mentioned is said to be the ancestor, “for certain, of the Hunters of Arneil, designed of Hunterston and of that ilk.”

      Nisbet (System of Heraldry, vol. i, p. 332) says: “As for the antiquity of the name, Gulielmus Venator, (which I take for Hunter,) is a witness in the charter of erection of the bishopric of Glasgow by David I., when he was prince of Cumberland. In a charter of King Alexander II., of the lands of Manners to William Baddeley, upon the resignation of Nicol Corbat of these lands and others, the lands of Norman Hunter are exempted, as the charter bears ‘Quas Nicolaus corbat nobis reddidit, excepta terra quondam Normani Venatoris quam Malcolmus frater Regis Willielmi ei dedit.’ for which see the Haddington collections.”

      The most ancient families of the name in Scotland were the Hunters of Polmood in Peebles-shire, and the Hunters of Hunterston in Ayrshire. With regard to the former, which is now extinct, Dr. Pennecuik, in his Description of Tweeddale, has inserted a copy (of a translation) of a charter, pretending to be from Malcolm Canmore, to the ancestor of the family, which, says Robertson, if not a foolish translation of a genuine charter, is certainly framed on the traditionary story of the origin of the family, and even in that light possesses considerable interest. It is in these words: “I Malcolm Kenmure, king, the first of my reign, gives to thee Normand Hunter of Polmood, the Hope up and down, above the earth to heaven, and below the earth to hell, as free to thee and thine as ever God gave it to me and mine, and that for a bow and a broad arrow when I come to hunt in Yarrow.

                        And for the mair suith,
                        I byte the white wax with my tooth,
                        Before thir witnesses three,
                        May, Mauld, and Marjorie.”

A subsequent writer says, “From the strictest inquiry no such charter exists, though there is strong presumption that William the Lyon did make a similar grant of lands to Norman Hunter, a refugee, who having followed William the Conqueror into England, fled from the arbitrary oppression of his successors to seek shelter in Scotland.”

      Thomas Hunter of Polmood, who died 20th March 1765, had executed a disposition and deed of entail on the 28th of the previous January, in favour of Alexander Hunter, merchant in Edinburgh, who, though bearing the same name, was no relation. As this deed was executed on deathbed, it was liable to reduction, if an heir could be found. Thomas Hunter, the last possessor of the estate, was descended from a natural son of Robert Hunter of Polmood, who died in 1689. The estate had been destined to the bastard and the heirs of his body, with a special declaration that, in the event of failure, it should return to the granter, his nearest heirs male, and assignees whatsoever. On the death of Thomas Hunter two persons came forward, each claiming to be the heir to the estate, one an old man called Adam Hunter, and the other a man of the name of Taylor, who afterwards withdrew his claim. After nearly fifty years’ litigation, both the court of session and the House of Lords, to which the case had been appealed, decided that Adam Hunter had not established his pedigree. An ancient prediction that “The Hunters of Polmood were never to prosper,” seems in this case to have been verified. Mr. Alexander Hunter died at Edinburgh, 22d January 1786, and was succeeded by his nephew, Walter Hunter, Esq. of Polmood and Crailing, whose eldest daughter, Elizabeth, the wife of the eighteenth Lord Forbes, came into possession of Polmood.

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      Of the Hunterston line, Crawford (Officers of State, p. 360 Note) says that he had “very carefully perused their writs,” and that “from charters they appear to have had at least a part of the estate they possess in Cunningham while the Morvilles were lords of that country, as far back as the reign of Alexander II.” (Between 1214 and 1249.) From Mungo or Quintegern Hunter, the tenth in possession of Hunterston, and the ninth in direct descent from Norman le Hunter above mentioned, descended the Hunters of Abbotshill. Andrew Hunter, D.D., the eighth of this family, was the eldest son of Andrew Hunter, Esq. of park, writer to the signet, and Grizel Maxwell, a daughter of General Maxwell of Cardoness, in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright, one of those who, at the Revolution, accompanied the prince of Orange to England. He was born at Edinburgh in 1743, and having studied for the church, was in 1767 licensed by the presbytery of Edinburgh. In 1770 he was presented to the New church of Dumfries, and soon after he sold Abbotshill, and purchased Barjarg in Nithsdale, which had previously belonged to James Erskine of Barjarg and Alva – one of the lords of session – and which is now the designation of the elder branch of the Hunterston family. In 1779 Dr. Hunter was presented to the New Greyfriars church, Edinburgh, and whilst there, was appointed the colleague of Dr. Hamilton in the divinity professorship of the university. In 1786 he was translated to the Tron church of that city. Several of his sermons on particular occasions have been published. He died on 21st April 1809. By his wife, Marion Shaw, eldest daughter of the sixth Lord Napier, he had four children. His eldest son, William Francis Hunter of Barjarg, advocate, married Jane St. Aubyn, daughter and eventually heiress of Francis St. Aubyn of Collin-Mixton, by Jane Arundel, coheiress of the Arundels of Tolverne and Truthall in Cornwall, and through them representative of the earls of Devon. In compliance with the wishes of his wife, he assumed the name of Arundel. Dr. Hunter’s youngest son, the Rev. John Hunter, was appointed in 1832, one of the ministers of the Tron church, Edinburgh. From the Hunters of Abbotshill, the Hunters of Doonholm and Bonnytown, Ayrshire, the Hunters of Thurston, East Lothian, and the Hunters of Brownhill, of whom sir David Hunter Blair of Blairquhan, Ayrshire, is the head, are descended.

      The above-mentioned Mungo Hunter of Hunterston’s eldest son, Robert, succeeded to the estate, and was one of the ayrshire gentlemen who subscribed the band in defence of the reformed religion, 4th September, 1562. His grandson, Patrick Hunter of Hunterston, was a member of the committee of war for Ayrshire during the troubled time of 1647; and, in 1662, he was fined £600, by one of the arbitrary acts of the earl of Middleton. His third son, Francis, is supposed to have been ancestor of the Hunters of Long Calderwood in Lanarkshire, of which family was the celebrated Dr. William Hunter and his brother John, the eminent surgeon and anatomist, memoirs of whom are subsequently given below. Their sister, Jane, was the mother of the celebrated Dr. Mathew Baillie, and the distinguished poetess Joanna Baillie.

      Patrick’s eldest son, Robert Hunter of Hunterston, had four sons. The second son, Robert, acquired by purchase in 1686, the lands of Kirkland, Ayrshire, and was the ancestor of that family. The fourth son, John, was father of General Robert Hunter, who died governor of Jamaica in 1734, and was ancestor, – by his lady, Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Orby of Burton Pedwardine in the county of Lincoln, baronet, and widow of Lord John Hay, second son of the second marquis of Tweeddale, – of the Orby-Hunters of Croyland Abbey, Lincolnshire.

      The male line of the family of Hunterston terminated with Robert Hunter of Hunterston, who died in 1796, leaving a daughter, Eleonora, who married her cousin, Robert Caldwell, when the latter assumed the name of Hunter, having in his wife’s right become proprietor of the estate of Hunterston. He died in 1826, leaving issue.

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      The firs Hunter of Burnside, of “the lands and barony of the Dod,” Forfarshire, David Hunter, is noted as having, when a member of the Scots Estates, protested against the delivering up of Charles I. To the English parliament in January 1647. A descendant of his, the Mr. Hunter of Burnside of that day, was “out” in the rebellion of 1745, and afterwards escaped to France. He is mentioned in ‘Roderick Random.’ He was killed by a Frenchman in a brawl. His grandson, General David Hunter of Burnside, married a daughter of William Douglas, Esq. of Brigton, Forfarshire, a descendant of Archibald fifth earl of Angus, called ‘Bell-the-Cat,’ and great-granddaughter of Robert Douglas, bishop of Dunblane, who was deprived of his see at the Revolution. She died in 1846. Her son, Major William Hunter, younger of Burnside, was military secretary at Sidney, when Sir Richard Bourke was governor of New South Wales. He afterwards went to India, as aide-de-camp to his uncle, General George Hunter, in Scinde, and died there in 1845, before his father, General David Hunter of Burnside. His eldest son, David Hunter, succeeded to the estate, and died at Prospect-hill, Douglas, Isle of Man, October 1, 1847, aged 26 years, leaving a son, William George Hunter, born at Prospect-hill, Isle of Man, on the 5th May preceding.

HUNTER, WILLIAM, M.D., an eminent physician and lecturer on anatomy, elder brother of the celebrated John Hunter, a memoir of whom follows, was born May 23, 1718, at Long Calderwood, Lanarkshire. His father, whose grandfather was a younger son of Hunter of Hunterston, was proprietor of the estate of Calderwood, and he was the seventh of ten children. With the intention of studying for the church, he was, at the age of fifteen, sent to the university of Glasgow, where he spent five years. But having become acquainted with Dr. Cullen, then established in practice in Hamilton, he chanted his views, and devoted himself to the profession of medicine. In 1737 he went to reside with Dr. Cullen, and remained with him for three years, when it was agreed, that, after completing his studies, he should be received into partnership with him. In November 1740 he repaired to Edinburgh, to attend the medical classes, and in the ensuing spring proceeded to London, and at first lived as a pupil in the house of Dr. Smellie, the accoucheur. Having become known through a letter of introduction from Mr. Foulis, printer in Glasgow, to his countryman, Dr. James Douglas, that eminent physician engaged him as an assistant in making dissections for a splendid work on the anatomy of the Bones, which he was then preparing for publication. Dr. Douglas died in the following year, but Hunter continued to reside in the family to superintend the education of his son. During this period he attended the anatomical classes in St. George’s Hospital.

      In 1745 Mr. Hunter communicated a paper to the Royal Society, respecting the structure of the cartilages of the human body; and in the following winter he commenced a course of lectures on surgery and anatomy. In 1747 he was admitted a member of the college of surgeons; and in the subsequent spring he accompanied his pupil on a tour through Holland to Paris. On this occasion he visited the anatomical museum of the great Albinus at Leyden.

      In 1750 he obtained the degree of M.D. from the university of Glasgow, on which he quitted Dr. Douglas’ family, and, taking a house in Jermyn Street, began to practise as a physician. He had previously practised surgery and midwifery, and was appointed accoucheur to the British Lying-in Hospital. He now relinquished the surgical department of his profession, and soon became the first accoucheur in London. In 1756 he was admitted a licentiate of the Royal college of physicians, and was soon after elected a member of the Medical Society. In the first volume of their ‘Observations and Inquiries,’ published in 1757, appears Dr. Hunter’s History of an Aneurism of the Aorta; and he was an important contributor to the subsequent publications of the Society. In 1762 he published his ‘Medical Commentaries,’ and subsequently added a supplement, the object of which was to vindicate his claim to some anatomical discoveries, in opposition to Dr. Munro, Secundus, and others. The same year he was consulted on the pregnancy of Queen Charlotte, and in 1764 was named one of the physicians extraordinary to her majesty. In 1767 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, to which, the year following, he communicated his Observations on the Bones of a supposed Mammoth, found near the river Ohio, in America. In 1768 he became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and the same year, at the institution of the Royal Academy of Arts, he was appointed by his majesty professor of anatomy. The most elaborate and splendid of his publications, ‘The Anatomy of the Human Gravid Uterus,’ folio, illustrated by thirty-four large plates, appeared in 1775. In 1778 he published ‘Reflections on the Section of the Lymphysis Pubis,’ designed to show the inutility of that surgical operation. In 1780 he was chosen a foreign associate of the Royal Medical Society at Paris, and in 1782 of the Royal Academy of Sciences in that city. On the death of Dr. Fothergill, in January 1781, he was unanimously elected president of the Royal College of physicians of London. His portrait, painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, is preserved in the Hunterian museum, Glasgow. An unfinished painting by Toffany, represents him in the act of giving a lecture on the muscles, at the royal academy, surrounded by a group of academicians.

      He is described as having been in person “regularly shaped, but of slender make, and rather below the middle stature.” Devoting himself entirely to his profession, he was remarkable for his simple, frugal, and temperate habits. When he invited company to dinner he seldom offered them more than two dishes, and he was often heard to say that “a man who cannot dine on one dish deserves to have no dinner.” A single glass of wine was handed to each of his guests, and so finished the repast. He was an early riser, and spent all his leisure time in his Museum. He ever retained a warm feeling for his native country, and on one of his visits to Scotland, before he became famous, as he and Dr. Cullen were riding one day in Lanarkshire, the latter pointed out to him his native place, Long Calderwood, at a considerable distance, remarking how conspicuous it appeared. “Well,” said he energetically, “if I live I shall make it more conspicuous.”

      Having, by his extensive practice and economical habits, acquired a large fortune, he determined to set apart what was sufficient for his own wants, and devote the remainder of his wealth, which continued to accumulate, to the founding of a museum. Accordingly, in 1770, he purchased a spot of ground in Great Windmill Street, London, where he built a house and anatomical theatre, and collected a most extensive and magnificent museum, which, after his death, was valued at £150,000. It consisted of specimens of human and comparative anatomy, fossils, shells, corals, and other curious subjects of natural history, with the most splendid collection of Greek and Latin books that had been accumulated by any person since the days of Dr. Mead. It was also enriched by a cabinet of ancient coins and medals, for the duplicates of which government paid his executors £40,000, and added them to those in the British Museum. Of a part of this collection, his friend Dr. Combe published an accurate catalogue in 4to, in 1783.

      Dr. Hunter had been subject to attacks of irregular gout since 1773, and at one time he intended to pass the remainder of his days in retirement in his native country; but the expenses of his museum prevented him from relinquishing his practice. He died, unmarried, at London, March 30, 1783; bequeathing the whole of his extensive museum to the university of Glasgow, with £8,000 in cash for an appropriate building for its reception, and a further sum of £500 per annum to bear the charges of its preservation.

      One of his sisters had married the Rev. James Baillie, professor of divinity in the university of glasgow, and was the mother of the celebrated Dr. Matthew Baillie, and Joanna Baillie the eminent poetess. The family property of Long Calderwood was left to his nephew, Dr. Baillie, who generously gave it to John Hunter, who had unfortunately had a quarrel with his brother some years before. – Dr. William Hunter’s works are:

      Medical Commentaries, part i.; containing a plain answer to Dr. Monro, jun. Lond. 1762, 4to.

      Supplement to the first part of Medical Commentaries. Lond. 1764, 4to.

      Anatomical Description of the Human Gravid Uterus; illustrated with thirty-four plates. Lat. And Eng. Birmingham, by Baskerville, 1775, large folio.

      Anatomical Description of the Human Gravid Uterus, and its contents. Lond. 1794, 4to. Edited by Dr. Baillie. A superb Work, and of uncommon merit.

      Lectures on the Gravid Uterus, and Midwifery. London, 1783, 8vo.

      Two Introductory Lectures to his Anatomical Course of Lectures; with Papers relating to a plan for establishing a Museum in London, for the improvement of Anatomy, Surgery, and Physic. Lond. 1784, 4to. Posth.

      On the Structure and Diseases of Articulating Cartilages. Phil. Trans. Abr. viii. 686. 1743.

      Observations on the Bones, commonly supposed to be Elephant’s Bones, which have been found near the river of Ohio in America. Ib. Abr. xii. 504. 1768.

      Account of the Nyl-ghau, an Indian Animal, not hitherto described. Ib. xiii. 117. 1771.

      A New Method of Applying the Screw. Ib. Abr. xiv. 28. 1781.

      History of an Aneurism of the Aorta; with Remarks on Aneurisms in general. Med. Obs. And Inq. I. 323. 1755.

      History of an Emphysema. Ib. ii. 17. Cured.

      Singular Observations on particular Aneurisms. Ib. 390.

      Summary Remarks on the Retroverted Uterus. Ib. v. 388. 1778.

      On the uncertainty of the signs of Murder in the Case of Bastard Children. Ib. vi. 266. 1784.

      Cases of Mal-conformation of the Heart. Ib. 291.

      The Cure of a severe Disorder of the Stomach by Milk, taken in small quantities at once. Ib. 310. Appendix to the same, by Mr. Hay. Ib. 319.

HUNTER, JOHN, a celebrated anatomist and surgeon, and medical writer, younger brother of the preceding, was born at Long Calderwood, of which his father was proprietor, parish of Kilbride, Lanarkshire, February 13, or, according to some accounts, July 14, 1728. The former is the date in the parish register. He was the youngest of ten children, and at the time of his birth his father was nearly seventy years of age. His education was neglected, and it appears that when about the age of seventeen he went to Glasgow, and assisted his brother-in-law, a Mr. Buchanan, in his trade as a cabinetmaker. Hearing of the success of his elder brother, William, in London, he offered his services to him as an anatomical assistant, and was invited by him to the metropolis, where he arrived in September 1748. Having immediately entered upon the study of surgery, first at Chelsea Hospital, and afterwards at St. Bartholomew’s, his improvement was so rapid, that in the winter of 1749 he was able to undertake the charge of the dissecting-room. In 1753 he entered as a gentleman commoner in St. Mary’s Hall, Oxford, and the following year he became surgeon’s pupil at St. George’s Hospital, London. In 1755 he was admitted to a partnership in the lectures delivered by his brother, when, applying himself assiduously to the acquirement of a knowledge of practical anatomy, he extended his inquiries from the human body to the structure of the inferior animals, and procured from the Tower, and from the keepers of menageries, subjects for dissection.

      His health became so much impaired by his constant application, that he was obliged to retire from the dissecting-room; and, in May 1756, he became house surgeon of St. George’s hospital. In October 1760 he was appointed, by Mr. Adair, surgeon in the army, and in 1761 was at the siege of Belleisle. In the subsequent year he accompanied the army to Portugal, and served as senior surgeon on the staff till the peace in 1763, when he returned to England on half-pay, and immediately commenced practice. Having purchased a piece of ground at Brompton, about two miles from London, he there formed a menagerie, and carried on his experiments in a house which he built, for the purpose of studying the habits and organization of animals. In the beginning of 1767 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. The year following he was appointed surgeon to St. George’s Hospital. Among others of his house pupils was the celebrated Dr. Jenner, the introducer of vaccine inoculation, who boarded in his house in 1770 and 1771. Mr. Hunter’s first publication, a treatise ‘On the Natural History of the Teeth,’ appeared in 1771. In the winter of 1773 he commenced a course of lectures on the theory and principles of surgery, in which he developed some of those peculiar doctrines which he afterwards explained more fully in his printed works. His profound acquaintance with anatomy rendered him a bold and expert operator, but his fame chiefly rests on his researches concerning comparative anatomy. In January 1776 he was appointed surgeon extraordinary to the king.

      In 1781 Mr. Hunter was chosen a member of the Royal Society of Sciences and Belles Lettres at Gottenburg, and in 1783 of the Royal Society of Medicine and Academy of Surgery at Paris. In the latter year he purchased a leasehold in Leicester Square, where he erected a building for his museum, lecture-room, &c. He now became one of the first surgeons in London, and acquired an extensive practice. With his friend, the celebrated Dr. Fordyce, he instituted a medical society, called the Lyceum Medicum Londinense, the meetings of which were held in his own lecture rooms. In 1786 he was appointed deputy-surgeon-general to the army, and the same year he published his celebrated work on the venereal disease. About the same time appeared a quarto volume by him, entitled ‘Observations on Various Parts of the Animal Economy,’ consisting of physiological essays, most of which had been inserted in the Ph8losophical Transactions. Having, at various times, read before the Royal Society many valuable communications, in 1787 he received the gold Copleyan medal. In July of the same year he was chosen a member of the American Philosophical Society. On the death of Mr. Adair, in 1789, he was appointed inspector-general of hospitals, and surgeon-general to the army, and about the same time was admitted a member of the Royal College of surgeons in Ireland. In 1792 he was elected an honorary member of the Chirurgico-Physical Society of Edinburgh, and became one of the vice-presidents of the Veterinary College, then just projected in London. The last of his publications that he prepared for the press was his ‘Treatise on the Blood, Inflammation, and Gun-shot Wounds,’ which was published posthumously in 1794, with an account of his Life by his brother-in-law, Sir Everard Home, who had been for six years a pupil in his house, after Mr. Hunter’s marriage to his sister, and in the last years of his life became his assistant, and also succeeded him in the lecture room. Mr. Hunter died suddenly in the board Room of St. George’s hospital, October 16, 1793, in the 64th year of his age. He had long been afflicted with an organic disease, which on occasions of excitement, affected his head and his memory, and brought on severe spasms; and, on a post mortem examination of his body, it was discovered that, among other morbid changes that had occurred, the arteries both of the heart and brain had undergone ossification. His museum was purchased by Government for £15,000, and transferred to the Royal College of Surgeons for the benefit of science. His portrait is subjoined.


[portrait of John Hunter]

He had married, in 1771, the daughter of Mr. Robert Home, surgeon in the army, by whom he had two children. His widow, who was an accomplished lyric poetess, and the authoress of ‘The Son of Alknomook,’ and ‘Queen Mary’s Lament,’ which, with other pieces, were collected into a volume, and published in 1806, survived him till January 7, 1821. – Mr. Hunter’s works are:

      The Natural History of the Human Teeth; explaining their structure, use, formation, growth, and diseases. London, 1771, 4to.

      Practical Treatise on the Diseases of the Teeth; intended as a Supplement to the Natural History of those parts. Lond. 1778, 4to.

      A Treatise on the Venereal Disease. London, 1786, 4to.

      Observations on certain parts of the Animal Economy. London, 1786, 1787, 4to.

      A Treatise on the Blood, Inflammation, and Gun-shot Wounds; by the late John Hunter. To which is prefixed, an Account of the Author’s Life, by Everard Home. London, 1794, 4to.

      On the Digestion of the Stomach after Death. Phil. Trans. Abr. xiii. 354, 1772.

      Anatomical Observations on the torpedo. Ib. 478. 1773.

      On certain Receptacles of Air in Birds, which communicate with the Lungs, and are lodged both among bye fleshy parts and in the hollow bones of those animals. Ib. 530. 1774.

      Observations of the gillaroo Trout, commonly called in Ireland the Gizzard Trout. Ib. 530.

      Account of the Gymnotus Electricus. Ib. 166. 1775.

      Experiments on Animals and Vegetables, with respect to the Power of producing Heat. Ib. 685.

      Proposals for the Recovery of People apparently Drowned. Ib. xiv. 63. 1776.

      A short Account of Dr. Maty’s Illness, and of the appearances in the Dead Body, which was examined on the 3d August, 1776, the day after his decease. Ib. 217. 1777.

      Of the Heat, &c., of Animals and Vegetables. Ib. 278. 1778.

      Account of a Free Martin. Ib. 521. 1779.

      Account of a Woman who had the Small-Pox during Pregnancy, and who seemed to have communicated the same Disease to the Foetus. Ib. 628. 1782.

      Of an Extraordinary Pheasant. Ib. 723.

`On the Organ of Hearing in Fishes. Ib. xv. 308. 1782.

      An Experiment to determine the Effect of Extirpating one Ovarium on the number of young produced. Ib. xvi. 256. 1787.

      Observations, tending to show that the Wolf, Jackal, and Dog, are all of the same species. Ib. 264.

      Observations on the Structure and Economy of Whales. Ib. 306.

      Some Observations on the Heat of Wells and Springs in the Island of Jamaica, and on the Temperature of the Earth below the Surface, in different Climates. Ib. 377. 1788.

      A supplementary Letter, on the Identity of the Species of the Dog, Wolf and Jackal. Ib. 562, 1789.

      Observations on Bees. Ib. xvii. 155. 1792.

      Observations on the Fossil Bones presented to the Royal Society, by his Serene Highness the Margrave of Anspach, &c. Ib. 440. 1794.

      His Opinion of the Nature of Puerperal Fever. Med. Com. Iii. 322, 1775.

      Observations on the Inflammation of the Internal Coats of the Veins. Trans. Med. And Chir. I. 18. 1793.

      An Account of the Dissection of a Man who died of the Suppression of Urine, produced by a collection of Hydatids between the Neck of the Bladder and Rectum; with Observations how Hydatids grow and multiply in the Human Body. Ib. 34.

      Case of a Gentleman labouring under the Epidemic Remittant Fever of Bussorate, in 1780; drawn up by himself, with an account of various circumstances relating to that Disease. Ib. 53.

      Observations on Intersusception; with an appendix, by Mr. Home. Ib. 103. 1793.

      A Case of Paralysis of the Muscles of Deglutition cured by an artificial mode of conveying Foods and Medicines into the Stomach. Ib. 182.

`Experiments and Observations on the Growth of Bones. Ib. ii. 277. 1800.

HUNTER, ALEXANDER, an ingenious physician and naturalist, was born in 1730. He studied at Edinburgh, where he took the degree of M.D. He afterwards established himself as a medical practitioner first at Gainsborough, then at Beverly, and finally at York, where he attained high reputation in his profession, and was a principal contributor to the foundation of an asylum for lunatics. He was a fellow of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh. He died in 1809, in the 80th year of his age. – His works are:

      Georgical Essays; in which the Food of Plants is particularly considered, several new Composts recommended, and other important articles of Husbandry explained upon the Principles of Vegetation, (by a Society instituted in the North of England, for the improvement of Agriculture.) London, 1770-74, 4 vols. 8vo. Vols. v. and vi. Lond. 1804.

      Outlines of Agriculture; addressed to Sir John Sinclair, Bart., President of the Board of Agriculture, York, 1795, 8vo.

      A New Method of raising Wheat for a series of years on the same Land. York, 1796, 4to.

      An Illustration of the analogy between Vegetable and Animal Parturition. Lond. 1797, 8vo.

      Culina Famulatrix Medicinae; or Receipts in Cookery, worthy the notice of those Medical Practitioners who ride in their Chariots with a Footman behind them, and who receive Teo-Guinea Fees off their rich and luxurious Patients. By Ignotus; with a Medical Commentary. York, 1804, 8vo.

      Lecture on the Sulphur Water of Harrowgate. York, 1806, 8vo.

      Men and Manners; or, Concentrated Wisdom. York, 1809, 12mo.

      New edition of Evelyn’s Sylva and Terra. Lond. 1812, 2 vols. 4to.

HUNTER, HENRY, D.D., a distinguished divine, was born, of poor parents, at Culross, in 1741. After studying theology at the university of Edinburgh, he became tutor to Mr. Alexander Boswell, afterwards a judge of the court of session, under the title of Lord Balmuto; and, subsequently, he was employed in the same capacity in the family of the earl of Dundonald. In 1764 he was licensed to preach the gospel, and two years afterwards was ordained one of the ministers of South Leith. In 1769 he visited London, when his sermons attracted so much attention that he received a call from the Scots congregation in Swallow Street, Piccadilly, which he declined; but, in 1771, he accepted an invitation from the congregation at London Wall, and about the same time received from the university of Edinburgh the degree of D.D. He first published several single sermons, preached on different occasions, which, with some miscellaneous pieces, appeared in a collected form in two volumes after his death. In 1783 he published the first volume of his ‘Sacred Biography, or the History of the Patriarchs, and Jesus Christ,’ which was completed in seven volumes, and has gone through several editions. Having entered upon a translation of Lavater’s writings on ‘Physiognomy,’ he visited that celebrated philosopher in Switzerland, and, in 1789, he published the first number of the work, which ultimately extended to five volumes 4to, embellished with above eight hundred engravings, the cost price of each copy being thirty pounds! In 1793 he reprinted a Discourse, by Robert Fleming, first published in 1701, ‘On the Rise and Fall of the Papacy,’ supposed to contain some prophetic allusions to the events of the French Revolution, which has frequently been reprinted since. He had likewise begun the publication, in parts, of a popular ‘History of London,’ which his death prevented him from completing. Dr. Hunter was for many years secretary to the corresponding board of the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge in the Highlands and Islands, and chaplain to the Scots corporation in London. He died, October 27, 1802, in the 62d year of his age, leaving a widow, with two sons and a daughter.

      His works are:

      Sacred Biography; or the History of the Patriarchs and of Jesus Christ. Lond. 1783, &c. 7 vols. 8vo.

      Essays on Physiognomy, designed to promote the knowledge and love of mankind; by John Casper Lavater. Translated from the French, and illustrated with more than 800 engravings, accurately copied; and some duplicates added from originals. Executed by or under the inspection of Thomas Halloway. Lond. 1789-98, 5 vols. 4to.

      Sermon, preached February 3, 1793, on the occasion of the trial, condemnation, and execution of Louis XVI., late King of France; with some additions and illustrations. London, 1793, 8vo.

      Letters of Euler to a German Princess, on different subjects in Physics and Philosophy. Translated from the German; with original Notes, and a Glossary of foreign and Scientific Terms. Lond. 1795, 2 vols. 8vo. Afterwards reprinted with notes by Sir David Brewster.

      Sermons. Lond. 1795, 2 vols.

      Studies of Nature. Translated from the French of St. Pierre. Lond. 1796, 5 vols, 8vo. The 5th volume of this work is supplemental, and contains the much admired Tale of Paul and Virginia.

      Saurin’s Sermons. Translated from the original French. Lond. 1796, 8vo.

      A History of London and its Environs. 1796, &c. Published in parts.

      Lectures on the Evidences of Christianity; being the completion of a plan begun by Mr. Fell. 1798.

      Travels to Upper and Lower Egypt; undertaken by order of the old Government of France. Translated from the French of C.S. Sonnini. Illustrated with 40 engravings. Lond. 1799, 3 vols. 8vo.

      Sermons, and other Miscellaneous pieces; to which are prefixed, Memoirs of his Life and Writings. Lond. 1805, 2 vols. 8vo. Posthumous.

HUNTER, JOHN, LL.D., an eminent classical scholar and philologist, the son of a respectable farmer in the upper district of Nithsdale, was born in 1747. While yet a boy, he was left an orphan in straitened circumstances, but received a sound elementary education, and studied at the university of Edinburgh, supporting himself by teaching, like many others similarly situated, who afterwards attained to a high rank in literature. His scholarship attracted the notice of Lord Mondoddo, who for some time employed him as his clerk. In 1775 he was elected, by competition, professor of humanity in St. Andrews, and he continued to teach that class till the close of the session 1826-27, a period of more than half a century, when he was appointed principal of the united college of St. Salvador and St. Leonard. In 1797 he published a correct and valuable edition of Horace, extended into two volumes in 1813. In 1799, he brought out an edition of the works of Virgil, with Notes. He also published an annotated edition of Livy, and composed an invaluable disquisition on the Verb, printed as an Appendix to Ruddiman’s Rudiments. An extremely beautiful and subtle grammatical essay, written by him, ‘On the Nature, Import and Effect of certain Conjunctions,’ is inserted in the Edinburgh Philosophical Transactions, 1788. The article ‘Grammar,’ in the seventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, contains a digest of his most valuable speculations regarding the Nature of the Relative Pronoun, the Tenses of the Verb, &c., chiefly collected from his own verbal communications, by the then sub-editor of that extensive and useful work.

      Dr. Hunter died of cholera, January 18, 1837, in the 91st year of his age. He married while in the employment of Lord Monboddo, and left a large family.

HUNTER, WILLIAM, a medical writer and naturalist, was born in Montrose, and studied at Marischal college and university, Aberdeen, where he took the degree of M.A. in 1777. He served an apprenticeship to a surgeon, with whom he remained four years, and after acquiring a thorough knowledge of medicine, he obtained a situation on board an East Indiaman; from which he was transferred in 1781 to the East India Company’s medical establishment at Bengal. Between 1784 and 1794 he acted as secretary to the Asiatic Society, and professor and examiner at the college of Calcutta, and also as surgeon to Major Palmer’s embassy with Dowlat Raj Scindia; in which capacities he had the best opportunities of studying the languages and literature of India. From 1794 to 1806 he was surgeon of the marines, and for some years inspector-general of hospitals in the island of Java. He died of a fever in India in 1815, when preparing to return to Scotland, after an absence of 38 years. – His works are:

      Concise Account of the Kingdom of Pegu, its Climate, Produce, Trade, Government, and Inhabitants; with an Inquiry into the Causes of the variety observable in the Fleeces of Sheep, in different climates. And a Description of the Caves of Elephanta, Ambola, and Canara. Lond. 1785, 8vo.

      Account of some artificial Caverns near Bombay. 1788, 12mo. The same. Archaeol., vii. 286. 1785.

      An Essay on the Diseases incident to Indian Seamen, or Lascars, on Long Voyages. Calcutta, 1804, fol.

      History of an Aneurism of the Aorta, Memoirs Med., v. 349. 1799.

      On Nauclea Gambir, the Plant producing the Drug called Gutta Gambier. Trans. Linn. Soc., ix. 218. 1807.


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