Page:The Harveian oration - delivered at the Royal College of Physicians, London, on October 18, 1884 (IA b21778929).pdf/30

 countries and many tongues-may be lost sight of, and be so decomposed that they pass out of common use?

At this hour, and still in the lifetime of our honoured President whom may God long preserve-the phrase "Continued Fever" has passed into practical disuse; and this has been due, mainly if not exclusively, to the industry and genius which led him to disintegrate the name, trace out the causes, and define the maladies, that had long passed under that common term.

2°. Again, there are certain days by which the memory of great men is perpetuated. From very olden times until now; and, from the far east to the far west, "days" are set apart for the purpose of recalling individual lives. Ceremonies, of all kinds, have been parts of these human, national, and instinctive acts. They begin in the smallest families with the "Birthdays" and they stretch out to the acts of the greatest Nations.

This is St. Luke's Day," in the calendar of millions. There are days still set apart, compared in antiquity with which the observance of St. Luke's Day is but a modern event. Two hundred and eighty years have passed since Harvey was a member of this College: for two hundred and fifty-six years his great work (de motu cordis et sanguinis) has been before the world: two hundred and twenty-seven years have elapsed since he was buried in the quiet little church of Hempstead. And yet, only one year has passed since this College removed his remains still "lapt in lead" from the vault in which they had lain so long, and placed them in the safer keeping of new and carefully selected marble.

With us, although it is not so named, this is "Harvey's Day," and three hundred years have passed since he was born. How long this commemoration will continue we cannot tell. Our knowledge of the future, if we have any, is