His benevolent disposition led him to feel a great deal in regard to operations. Like Cheselden and Hunter, he regarded them, as in a scientific sense they truly are, the reproach of the profession; since, with the exception of such as become necessary from accidents, they are almost all of them consequent on the imperfection of Medicine or Surgery as a science. Highly impulsive, Abernethy could not at all times prevent the expression of his feelings, when perhaps his humanity was most earnestly engaged in his suppression of them. It was usually an additional trial to him when a patient bore pain with fortitude. One day, he was performing rather a severe operation on a woman. He had, before commencing, said a few words of encouragement, as was usual with him, and the patient was bearing the operation with great fortitude. After suffering some seconds, she very earnestly, but firmly, said, "I hope, sir, it will not be long." "No, indeed," earnestly replied Abernethy; "that would indeed be horrible." In fact, he held operations as occupying altogether so low a place in our duties, and as having so little to do with the science of our profession, that there was very little in most of them to set against that repulsion which both his science and his humanity suggested. As he advanced in life, his dislike to operations increased. He was apt to be fidgetty and impatient. If things went smoothly, it was all very well; but if any untoward occurrence took place, he suffered a great deal, and it became unpleasant to assist him; but he was never unkind to the patient. It is, however, not always easy to estimate correctly the amount of operative dexterity. Hardly any man will perform a dozen operations in the same manner. We have seen a very bungling operator occasionally perform an operation extremely well; whilst the very worst operation we ever saw was performed by a man whose fame rested almost entirely on his dexterity; and what made it the more startling, was that it was nothing more than taking up the femoral artery. But whether it were that he was not well, or had been careless _in the site_ of his first incision, or in _opening the sheath_ of the vessels before he passed his ligature, or all of these causes in conjunction, we could not tell, because we were not quite near enough; but we never witnessed a more clumsy affair. The conditions calculated to ensure good operating, are few and simple; there are _moral_ as well as medical conditions; and no familiarity ever enables a surgeon, on any occasion, _safely_ to dispense with any of them. When they _are all_ observed, operating usually becomes steady and uniform; when _any_ of them are dispensed with or wanting, there is always risk of error and confusion. We are afraid that we should be hardly excused in a work of this kind, were we to lay down the canons to which we allude. We cannot, therefore, enter any further into the subject.