Page:The Harveian oration, delivered before the Royal College of Physicians, Wednesday, June 27th, 1877 (IA b22314623).pdf/18

 consider it a duty that it owes to itself no less than to the memory of the illustrious author to publish these notes, entire or in part, so as to complete as far as possible the history of the subject to which our attention is specially directed. Coupled with Schlegel's admirable Commentatio de Motu Sanguinis, which has received too little attention in this country, the two would form a not inappropriate memorial of the natal year of William Harvcy, of which we celebrate the three hundredth anniversary in 1878.

Every detail concerning Harvey's early studies appears to command our interest; I, therefore, make no apology for presenting you with a few details concerning his first lectures. The volume, which is carefully bound in leather, with some pretensions to elegance, contains about 99 pages of foolscap paper, reduced to a size of 6 inches by 8. The binding was evidently an after- thought, and the loose pages may have been used for one or more years before they were put into their present form, because they bear the marks of having been folded lengthways twice over, so as then to occupy a very small space of about S inches by 2. There is also evidence that Harvey used the book in its present form for his lectures; for he had attached, by scaling-wax, threads of twine along the inner side of the cover, under which he could slip any further notes for