Page:The Harveian oration 1904.djvu/32

THE HARVEIAN ORATION, 1904 II separate jar by itself and the remainder of the viscera in a larger vessel. We are told by Pliny that in later times an examination of the body was made after death in order to ascertain the nature of the disease which was the cause of death. Thus these men had an opportunity of learning something of anatomy and pathology. They may have gained some insight into the intricate problem of the action of the heart, the movement of the blood, and the changes of heart and vessels produced by disease; no nation of antiquity had such opportunities. Did they discover anything? I think I can demonstrate to you that they did obtain a partial knowledge of the circulation; they did not solve the problem, but they approached it as nearly as did the Greeks, and probably from them the Greeks obtained such knowledge as they possessed in early times.

Certain of the contents of the medical papyri are at present almost incomprehensible, partly on account of the difficulty of translating technical terms; these parts I shall not refer to at all; those portions which are more easily understood still present difficulties, and translations must necessarily be free and at times vague. It must be remembered that the hieratic script was not 1. Pliny, Nat. Hist., xix, 5