Page:The Harveian oration delivered at the Royal College of Physicians June 26, 1889 (IA b22361285).pdf/9

 world, though perhaps of much honour to the authors.’

These remarks clearly show that Harvey’s discovery was regarded with suspicion long after his death, and there can he no better proof than this affords of the great truth having been unsuspected by his predecessors, notwithstanding the remarkable passages which are to be found in the works of older writers. It is certainly most interesting to observe how nearly the circulation was described by some of these, and how centuries elapsed without a single mind awakening to a full perception of the subject.

It was not that the authors were neglected; on the contrary, their works were among the class books of the day, and their very words prized and commented upon. With the knowledge we now possess, it is difficult to understand how it happened that so little effect ensued from an acquaintance with the words of Aristotle, which were known to physicians two thousand years ago. He wrote as follows: ‘The blood of all animals palpitates in their veins (meaning arteries), and by the pulse is sent everywhere simultaneously;’ and, further, he adds: ‘Thus do all the veins