The Hunterian oration, delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons, February 14, 1853 / by Bransby B. Cooper.

  • Cooper, Bransby Blake, 1792-1853.
Date:
1853
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Hunterian oration, delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons, February 14, 1853 / by Bransby B. Cooper. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    the blood is not only alive itself, but during its cir- culation it imparts life to every part of the body, thus being the living support to the whole fabric, even the nerves themselves are supported by it, for they do not convey life to parts, but only direct their motion, and without the blood they would themselves become dead. While alive the blood is always fluid, and. if its life be not suddenly or violently taken away, it coagulates as it dies, and its component parts recede from one another. All this seems to show that Hunter entertained some strong opinion as to the existence of a peculiar principle of life in the blood, and it shows at the same time what I mentioned before, that he was well aware of the great importance of -this fluid; imbued with this conviction, he commenced his labours in forming the Hunterian Museum with what he considered most essential to organization—the sap and the blood. The blood, he says, conveys to parts the means of nutrition and growth, so from blood new solids are formed, when, in consequence of disease or violence, there has been a loss of the part, or when there is a necessiijy for its production.'' The following experi- m'ents seem to have been instituted with the view of establishing the fact, that the blood of a living animal could, even under the stimulus induced by the intro- duction of the part of another animal into itself (by engrafting) nourish and support it, so as to convert it into a part of itself. Hunter transplanted a human tooth into the comb of a cock, where it not only became fixed, but actually became part of the organic B 2