Page:The Harveian oration, delivered before the Royal College of Physicians, Wednesday, June 27th, 1877 (IA b22314623).pdf/22

 at a spelling-bee, is as interesting a feature as the physiological fact embodied in the section.

The next section is devoted to an examination of the structure of the heart and its contents. Harvey's initials are attached to such sentences as "Hinc cur potius arteria oriri a corde quam vena, non vidco;" as-" Quare de principio venarum, puto a corde." He commences the consideration of the use of the heart with the statement-" Hæ duo lacuna (the two ventricles) cysternæ sanguinis et spiritus;" the latter, he subsequently says-"in totum corpus hinc distribuitur." Much comparative anatomy is intro- duced; and we meet, probably for the first time in English medical literature, the designation of "bishop's miter" as applied to the left auriculo-ventricular valve. Harvey heads the next division of his subject "Historia, Transitus Sanguinis et quomodo spiritus fiat." In this he discusses the question of the transmission of the blood through the foramen ovale, which he regards as a foetal arrangement, describing at the same time the changes occurring in the ductus Botalli. The substance, colour, and temperature of the heart are considered; and here, as clsewhere, there are suggestions manifestly derived from clinical practice. Under the heading "Motus," Harvey dwells upon difficulties, which he subsequently sur- mounted, in understanding the movements of the