Now, Abernethy might have continued to labour as Hunter did in collecting facts as the materials for axioms, or as elements for future and more extensive generalization; or he might have at once taken Mr. Hunter's views, so far as he had gone, and, working on them with his remarkable aptitude for perceiving the more salient and practicable relations of facts, have applied them at once to practical purposes; gleaning more facts as his extremely acute observation might have enabled him on the way. He pursued, perhaps, neither course exclusively; but the latter appeared to be the one he chiefly adopted; and, from the more immediate fruition it affords, no doubt it was best adapted to the existing exigencies of a practical profession. John Hunter was a man of indefatigable industry, and exceedingly _circumspect_ in his observance of facts. Abernethy was fagging too, but more impulsive and not so dogged; mere facts were mere bores to him; he panted for _practical_ relations, and was most wonderfully quick in perceiving them. His vision was as penetrative as Hunter's had been circumspect and cautious. Hunter would have sifted all the useful things out of any heap, however heterogeneous; Abernethy would have looked through it, at once found the one jewel that it concealed, and left the rest for the next comer. They were both most perfectly honest and truthful, both careless of money, both enthusiastic in science—that is, both ardent in the pursuit of truth, with that kind of feeling which does not stop to examine the utilitarian relations of these pursuits; but which, carried on by a continually increasing impulse, takes the good for granted, and is impelled by the love of truth for its own sake. But, interesting as it is to contemplate those requisitions which, as indispensable, are common to the successful investigators of science, it is yet more so to observe the _distinctive_ characters of John Hunter and John Abernethy. The former, with many ideas to tell, and most of them new, had a difficulty in expressing himself. With more need than any man before him for additional facilities in this way, he had a restricted vocabulary. Again, in making use of it, his style was seldom easy, often obscure; so that things which, when thoroughly understood, had no feature more striking than their simplicity, were often made to appear difficult, and by many readers, no doubt, had often been left unexamined.