Page:Reflections upon ancient and modern learning (IA b3032449x).pdf/248

 Substance of what has been said in this Matter, is this; that Hippocrates speaks (t) in one Place, of the Usual and Constant Motion of the Blood: That in another Place, he calls (u) the Veins and Arteries the Fountains of Humane Nature, the Rivers that water the whole Body, that convey Life; and which, if they be dried up, the Man dies: That in a Third Place, he says, (w) That the Blood-Vessels, which are dispersed over the whole Body, give Spirit, Moisture and Motion, and all spring from one; which one (Blood-Vessel) has no Beginning, nor no End, that I can find; for, where there is a Circle, there is no Beginning. These are the clearest Passages that are produced, to prove, that Hippocrates knew the Circulation of the Blood; and it is plain from them, that he did believe it as an Hypothesis; that is, in plain English, that he did suppose the Blood to be carried round the Body by a constant accustomed Motion: But that he did not know what this constant accustomed Motion was; and that he had not