Page:The Harveian oration 1866.djvu/45



Long even before the general discovery by Fabricius, the valves at the orifices of the vena cava and pulmonary veins, and of some other veins, had been described by Béranger and Sylvius; those at the orifices of the hepatic veins had been noticed by Stephanus and Vesalius; those of the coronary veins by Eustachius; those of the crural by Posthius; those of the renal by Alberti; those at the orifice of the vena azygos by Cannani.

Moreover the general existence of valves in veins was discovered by Paul Sarpi at the same time as by Fabricius. The fact must therefore have been familiarly known among anatomists long before Harvey's discovery of the circulation.

Sprengel, Vol. IV. Sect. 11, ch. 4.

One reason why Harvey's demonstration did not at once carry conviction to all who read it, may have been