1728-1793. Scottish surgeon, pathologist, and
comparative anatomist. His main contribution
to medicine was his insistence on rigorous
scientific method. He was also the first to
understand the nature of digestion. He
experimented extensively on animals, and
collected a large number of specimens and
preparations (Hunterian Collections), which
are now housed in the Royal College of
Surgeons, London. He trained under his elder
brother William Hunter (1718-1783), anatomist
and obstetrician, who became professor of
anatomy in the Royal Academy 1768 and
president of the Medical Society 1781. His
collections are now in the Hunterian museum
of Glasgow University.