Page:The Harveian oration, delivered before the Royal College of Physicians, Wednesday, June 27th, 1877 (IA b22314623).pdf/39

 our knowledge of disease of the brain; and yet, whether we dwell upon the physiology of the cerebro-spinal system, the chemical changes which it controls, the localisation of function, the relation of nutrition and nerve force, or the minute patho- logy of the brain and spinal cord, it is impossible not to be struck by the progress made by labourers of the present and most recent periods. In this field alone, of all the wide regions of medical science, we find no evidence that our Harvey instituted any special inquiries and obser- vations. In his manuscript lectures on anatomy, the brain and spinal cord are treated in the most summary manner; and although his works afford proofs of his pathological knowledge,* of his acquirements and practice in surgery,t and of his acquaintance with and performance of operations in obstetrics, we search in vain for a sign that he even appreciated the importance of the nervous system. The significance of this part of our

et passim. Ibid., p. 254. Harvey here speaks of his surgical operations as a common thing; and it is particularly interesting to note that in an age when the "ferrum candens" was still in vogue for the arrest of hæmorrhage, he says: "I have occasionally, and against all ex- pectation, completely cured enormous sarcoceles by the simple means of dividing or tying the little artery that supplied them, and so preventing all access of nourishment to the part affected." + Harvey's essay on Parturition affords satisfactory evidence that he was not a mere theorist, but that he personally engaged in the practice of midwifery. He appears to have paid attention to the process of parturition of animals as well as of the human female (Sydenham Society's edition, pp. 521, et segg.; see also p. 534).
 * The Works of Harvey, Sydenham Society's edition, pp. 90-197,