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diff --git a/2939.txt b/2939.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..42d735b --- /dev/null +++ b/2939.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1088 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of William Harvey And The Discovery Of The +Circulation Of The Blood, by Thomas H. Huxley + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: William Harvey And The Discovery Of The Circulation Of The Blood + +Author: Thomas H. Huxley + +Posting Date: January 6, 2009 [EBook #2939] +Release Date: November, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM HARVEY *** + + + + +Produced by Amy E. Zelmer + + + + + +WILLIAM HARVEY AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD + +By Thomas H. Huxley + + +[1] + + + +I DESIRE this evening to give you some account of the life and labours +of a very noble Englishman--William Harvey. + +William Harvey was born in the year 1578, and as he lived until the year +1657, he very nearly attained the age of 80. He was the son of a small +landowner in Kent, who was sufficiently wealthy to send this, his eldest +son, to the University of Cambridge; while he embarked the others in +mercantile pursuits, in which they all, as time passed on, attained +riches. + +William Harvey, after pursuing his education at Cambridge, and taking +his degree there, thought it was advisable--and justly thought so, in +the then state of University education--to proceed to Italy, which +at that time was one of the great centres of intellectual activity in +Europe, as all friends of freedom hope it will become again, sooner or +later. In those days the University of Padua had a great renown; +and Harvey went there and studied under a man who was then very +famous--Fabricius of Aquapendente. On his return to England, Harvey +became a member of the College of Physicians in London, and entered into +practice; and, I suppose, as an indispensable step thereto, proceeded +to marry. He very soon became one of the most eminent members of the +profession in London; and, about the year 1616, he was elected by the +College of Physicians their Professor of Anatomy. It was while Harvey +held this office that he made public that great discovery of the +circulation of the blood and the movements of the heart, the nature of +which I shall endeavour by-and-by to explain to you at length. Shortly +afterwards, Charles the First having succeeded to the throne in 1625, +Harvey became one of the king's physicians; and it is much to the credit +of the unfortunate monarch--who, whatever his faults may have been, +was one of the few English monarchs who have shown a taste for art and +science--that Harvey became his attached and devoted friend as well +as servant; and that the king, on the other hand, did all he could to +advance Harvey's investigations. But, as you know, evil times came on; +and Harvey, after the fortunes of his royal master were broken, +being then a man of somewhat advanced years--over 60 years of age, in +fact--retired to the society of his brothers in and near London, and +among them pursued his studies until the day of his death. Harvey's +career is a life which offers no salient points of interest to the +biographer. It was a life devoted to study and investigation; and it +was a life the devotion of which was amply rewarded, as I shall have +occasion to point out to you, by its results. + +Harvey, by the diversity, the variety, and the thoroughness of his +investigations, was enabled to give an entirely new direction to at +least two branches--and two of the most important branches--of what +now-a-days we call Biological Science. On the one hand, he founded +all our modern physiology by the discovery of the exact nature of the +motions of the heart, and of the course in which the blood is propelled +through the body; and, on the other, he laid the foundation of that +study of development which has been so much advanced of late years, and +which constitutes one of the great pillars of the doctrine of evolution. +This doctrine, I need hardly tell you, is now tending to revolutionise +our conceptions of the origin of living things, exactly in the same +way as Harvey's discovery of the circulation in the seventeeth century +revolutionised the conceptions which men had previously entertained with +regard to physiological processes. + +It would, I regret, be quite impossible for me to attempt, in the course +of the time I can presume to hold you here, to unfold the history of +more than one of these great investigations of Harvey. I call them +"great investigations," as distinguished from "large publications." I +have in my hand a little book, which those of you who are at a great +distance may have some difficulty in seeing, and which I value very +much. It is, I am afraid, sadly thumbed and scratched with annotations +by a very humble successor and follower of Harvey. This little book is +the edition of 1651 of the 'Exercitationes de Generatione'; and if you +were to add another little book, printed in the same small type, and +about one-seventh of the thickness, you would have the sum total of the +printed matter which Harvey contributed to our literature. And yet +in that sum total was contained, I may say, the materials of two +revolutions in as many of the main branches of biological science. If +Harvey's published labours can be condensed into so small a compass, you +must recollect that it is not because he did not do a great deal more. +We know very well that he did accumulate a very considerable number of +observations on the most varied topics of medicine, surgery, and natural +history. But, as I mentioned to you just now, Harvey, for a time, took +the royal side in the domestic quarrel of the Great Rebellion, as it +is called; and the Parliament, not unnaturally resenting that action of +his, sent soldiers to seize his papers. And while I imagine they found +nothing treasonable among those papers, yet, in the process of rummaging +through them, they destroyed all the materials which Harvey had spent a +laborious life in accumulating; and hence it is that the man's work and +labours are represented by so little in apparent bulk. + +What I chiefly propose to do to-night is to lay before you an account of +the nature of the discovery which Harvey made, and which is termed the +Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood. And I desire also, with +some particularity, to draw your attention to the methods by which that +discovery was achieved; for, in both these respects, I think, there will +be much matter for profitable reflection. + +Let me point out to you, in the first place, with respect to this +important matter of the movements of the heart and the course of the +blood in the body, that there is a certain amount of knowledge +which must have been obtained without men taking the trouble to seek +it--knowledge which must have been taken in, in the course of time, +by everybody who followed the trade of a butcher, and still more so by +those people who, in ancient times, professed to divine the course of +future events from the entrails of animals. It is quite obvious to +all, from ordinary accidents, that the bodies of all the higher animals +contain a hot red fluid--the blood. Everybody can see upon the surface +of some part of the skin, underneath that skin, pulsating tubes, which +we know as the arteries. Everybody can see under the surface of the skin +more delicate and softer looking tubes, which do not pulsate, which are +of a bluish colour, and are termed the veins. And every person who has +seen a recently killed animal opened knows that these two kinds of tubes +to which I have just referred, are connected with an apparatus which +is placed in the chest, which apparatus, in recently killed animals, +is still pulsating. And you know that in yourselves you can feel the +pulsation of this organ, the heart, between the fifth and sixth ribs. I +take it that this much of anatomy and physiology has been known from the +oldest times, not only as a matter of curiosity, but because one of the +great objects of men, from their earliest recorded existence, has been +to kill one another, and it was a matter of considerable importance to +know which was the best place for hitting an enemy. I can refer you to +very ancient records for most precise and clear information that one of +the best places is to smite him between the fifth and sixth ribs. Now +that is a very good piece of regional anatomy, for that is the place +where the heart strikes in its pulsations, and the use of smiting there +is that you go straight to the heart. Well, all that must have been +known from time immemorial--at least for 4,000 or 5,000 years before the +commencement of our era--because we know that for as great a period as +that the Egyptians, at any rate, whatever may have been the case with +other people, were in the enjoyment of a highly developed civilisation. +But of what knowledge they may have possessed beyond this we know +nothing; and in tracing back the springs of the origin of everything +that we call "modern science" (which is not merely knowing, but knowing +systematically, and with the intention and endeavour to find out +the causal connection of things)--I say that when we trace back the +different lines of all the modern sciences we come at length to one +epoch and to one country--the epoch being about the fourth and fifth +centuries before Christ, and the country being ancient Greece. It is +there that we find the commencement and the root of every branch of +physical science and of scientific method. If we go back to that time +we have in the works attributed to Aristotle, who flourished between 300 +and 400 years before Christ, a sort of encyclopaedia of the scientific +knowledge of that day--and a very marvellous collection of, in many +respects, accurate and precise knowledge it is. But, so far as regards +this particular topic, Aristotle, it must be confessed, has not got very +far beyond common knowledge. He knows a little about the structure of +the heart. I do not think that his knowledge is so inaccurate as many +people fancy, but it does not amount to much. A very few years after his +time, however, there was a Greek philosopher, Erasistratus, who lived +about three hundred years before Christ, and who must have pursued +anatomy with much care, for he made the important discovery that there +are membranous flaps, which are now called "valves," at the origins +of the great vessels; and that there are certain other valves in the +interior of the heart itself. + +Fig. 1.--The apparatus of the circulation, as at present known. The +capillary vessels, which connect the arteries and veins, are omitted, on +account of their small size. The shading of the "venous system" is given +to all the vessels which contain venous blood; that of the "arterial +system" to all the vessels which contain arterial blood. + +I have here (Fig. 1) a purposely rough, but, so far as it goes, +accurate, diagram of the structure of the heart and the course of the +blood. The heart is supposed to be divided into two portions. It would +be possible, by very careful dissection, to split the heart down the +middle of a partition, or so-called 'septum', which exists in it, and to +divide it into the two portions which you see here represented; in which +case we should have a left heart and a right heart, quite distinct from +one another. You will observe that there is a portion of each heart +which is what is called the ventricle. Now the ancients applied the term +'heart' simply and solely to the ventricles. They did not count the rest +of the heart--what we now speak of as the 'auricles'--as any part of the +heart at all; but when they spoke of the heart they meant the left and +the right ventricles; and they described those great vessels, which we +now call the 'pulmonary veins' and the 'vena cava', as opening directly +into the heart itself. + +What Erasistratus made out was that, at the roots of the aorta and +the pulmonary artery (Fig. 1) there were valves, which opened in the +direction indicated by the arrows; and, on the other hand, that at the +junction of what he called the veins with the heart there were other +valves, which also opened again in the direction indicated by the +arrows. This was a very capital discovery, because it proved that if +the heart was full of fluid, and if there were any means of causing that +fluid in the ventricles to move, then the fluid could move only in +one direction; for you will observe that, as soon as the fluid is +compressed, the two valves between the ventricles and the veins will be +shut, and the fluid will be obliged to move into the arteries; and, +if it tries to get back from them into the heart, it is prevented from +doing so by the valves at the origin of the arteries, which we now +call the semilunar valves (half-moon shaped valves); so that it is +impossible, if the fluid move at all, that it should move in any other +way than from the great veins into the arteries. Now that was a very +remarkable and striking discovery. + +But it is not given to any man to be altogether right (that is a +reflection which it is very desirable for every man who has had the good +luck to be nearly right once, always to bear in mind); and Erasistratus, +while he made this capital and important discovery, made a very capital +and important error in another direction, although it was a very natural +error. If, in any animal which is recently killed, you open one of those +pulsating trunks which I referred to a short time ago, you will find, as +a general rule, that it either contains no blood at all or next to none; +but that, on the contrary, it is full of air. Very naturally, therefore, +Erasistratus came to the conclusion that this was the normal and natural +state of the arteries, and that they contained air. We are apt to think +this a very gross blunder; but, to anybody who is acquainted with +the facts of the case, it is, at first sight, an exceedingly natural +conclusion. Not only so, but Erasistratus might have very justly +imagined that he had seen his way to the meaning of the connection of +the left side of the heart with the lungs; for we find that what we now +call the pulmonary vein is connected with the lungs, and branches out in +them (Fig. 1). Finding that the greater part of this system of vessels +was filled with air after death, this ancient thinker very shrewdly +concluded that its real business was to receive air from the lungs, and +to distribute that air all through the body, so as to get rid of the +grosser humours and purify the blood. That was a very natural and very +obvious suggestion, and a highly ingenious one, though it happened to be +a great error. You will observe that the only way of correcting it was +to experiment upon living animals, for there is no other way in which +this point could be settled. + +Fig.2,--The Course of the Blood according to Galen (A.D. 170). + +And hence we are indebted, for the correction of the error of +Erasistratus, to one of the greatest experimenters of ancient or modern +times, Claudius Galenus, who lived in the second century after Christ. I +say it was to this man more than any one else, because he knew that the +only way of solving physiological problems was to examine into the facts +in the living animal. And because Galen was a skilful anatomist, and +a skilful experimenter, he was able to show in what particulars +Erasistratus had erred, and to build up a system of thought upon this +subject which was not improved upon for fully 1,300 years. I have +endeavoured, in Fig. 2, to make clear to you exactly what it was he +tried to establish. You will observe that this diagram is practically +the same as that given in Fig. 1, only simplified. The same facts may +be looked upon by different people from different points of view. Galen +looked upon these facts from a very different point of view from that +which we ourselves occupy; but, so far as the facts are concerned, they +were the same for him as for us. Well then, the first thing that Galen +did was to make out experimentally that, during life, the arteries are +not full of air, but that they are full of blood. And he describes a +great variety of experiments which he made upon living animals with the +view of proving this point, which he did prove effectually and for all +time; and that you will observe was the only way of settling the matter. +Furthermore, he demonstrated that the cavities of the left side of the +heart--what we now call the left auricle and the left ventricle--are, +like the arteries, full of blood during life, and that that blood was of +the scarlet kind--arterialised, or as he called it "pneumatised," blood. +It was known before, that the pulmonary artery, the right ventricle, +and the veins, contain the darker kind of blood, which was thence called +venous. Having proved that the whole of the left side of the heart, +during life, is full of scarlet arterial blood, Galen's next point +was to inquire into the mode of communication between the arteries +and veins. It was known before his time that both arteries and veins +branched out. Galen maintained, though he could not prove the fact, that +the ultimate branches of the arteries and veins communicated together +somehow or other, by what he called 'anastomoses', and that these +'anastomoses' existed not only in the body in general but also in the +lungs. In the next place, Galen maintained that all the veins of +the body arise from the liver; that they draw the blood thence and +distribute it over the body. People laugh at that notion now-a-days; but +if anybody will look at the facts he will see that it is a very probable +supposition. There is a great vein (hepatic vein--Fig. 1) which rises +out of the liver, and that vein goes straight into the 'vena cava' (Fig. +1) which passes to the heart, being there joined by the other veins +of the body. The liver itself is fed by a very large vein (portal +vein--Fig. 1), which comes from the alimentary canal. The way the +ancients looked at this matter was, that the food, after being received +into the alimentary canal, was then taken up by the branches of this +great vein, which are called the 'vena portae', just as the roots of a +plant suck up nourishment from the soil in which it lives; that then it +was carried to the liver, there to be what was called "concocted," which +was their phrase for its conversion into substances more fitted for +nutrition than previously existed in it. They then supposed that the +next thing to be done was to distribute this fluid through the body; and +Galen like his predecessors, imagined that the "concocted" blood, having +entered the great 'vena cava', was distributed by its ramifications all +over the body. So that, in his view (Fig. 2), the course of the blood +was from the intestine to the liver, and from the liver into the great +'vena cava', including what we now call the right auricle of the heart, +whence it was distributed by the branches of the veins. But the whole of +the blood was not thus disposed of. Part of the blood, it was supposed, +went through what we now call the pulmonary arteries (Fig. 1), and, +branching out there, gave exit to certain "fuliginous" products, and +at the same time took in from the air a something which Galen calls the +'pneuma'. He does not know anything about what we call oxygen; but it +is astonishing how very easy it would be to turn his language into the +equivalent of modern chemical theory. The old philosopher had so just +a suspicion of the real state of affairs that you could make use of his +language in many cases, if you substituted the word "oxygen," which we +now-a-days use, for the word 'pneuma'. Then he imagined that the blood, +further concocted or altered by contact with the 'pneuma', passed to +a certain extent to the left side of the heart. So that Galen believed +that there was such a thing as what is now called the pulmonary +circulation. He believed, as much as we do, that the blood passed +through the right side of the heart, through the artery which goes to +the lungs, through the lungs themselves, and back by what we call the +pulmonary veins to the left side of the heart. But he thought it was +only a very small portion of the blood which passes to the right side of +the heart in this way; the rest of the blood, he thought, passed through +the partition which separates the two ventricles of the heart. He +describes a number of small pits, which really exist there, as holes, +and he supposed that the greater part of the blood passed through these +holes from the right to the left ventricle (Fig 2). + +It is of great importance you should clearly understand these teachings +of Galen, because, as I said just now, they sum up all that anybody knew +until the revival of learning; and they come to this--that the blood +having passed from the stomach and intestines through the liver, and +having entered the great veins, was by them distributed to every part of +the body; that part of the blood, thus distributed, entered the arterial +system by the 'anastomoses', as Galen called them, in the lungs; that +a very small portion of it entered the arteries by the 'anastomoses' in +the body generally; but that the greater part of it passed through the +septum of the heart, and so entered the left side and mingled with the +pneumatised blood, which had been subjected to the air in the lungs, +and was then distributed by the arteries, and eventually mixed with the +currents of blood, coming the other way, through the veins. + +Yet one other point about the views of Galen. He thought that both the +contractions and dilatations of the heart--what we call the 'systole' +or contraction of the heart, and the 'diastole' or dilatation--Galen +thought that these were both active movements; that the heart actively +dilated, so that it had a sort of sucking power upon the fluids which +had access to it. And again, with respect to the movements of the pulse, +which anybody can feel at the wrist and elsewhere, Galen was of opinion +that the walls of the arteries partook of that which he supposed to be +the nature of the walls of the heart, and that they had the power of +alternately actively contracting and actively dilating, so that he is +careful to say that the nature of the pulse is comparable, not to the +movement of a bag, which we fill by blowing into it, and which we empty +by drawing the air out of it, but to the action of a bellows, which is +actively dilated and actively compressed. + +Fig 3.--The course of the blood from the right to the left side of the +heart (Realdus Columbus, 1559). + +After Galen's time came the collapse of the Roman Empire, the extinction +of physical knowledge, and the repression of every kind of scientific +inquiry, by its powerful and consistent enemy, the Church; and that +state of things lasted until the latter part of the Middle Ages saw the +revival of learning. That revival of learning, so far as anatomy +and physiology are concerned, is due to the renewed influence of +the philosophers of ancient Greece, and indeed, of Galen. Arabic +commentators had translated Galen, and portions of his works had got +into the language of the learned in the Middle Ages, in that way; +but, by the study of the classical languages, the original text became +accessible to the men who were then endeavouring to learn for themselves +something about the facts of nature. It was a century or more before +these men, finding themselves in the presence of a master--finding that +all their lives were occupied in attempting to ascertain for themselves +that which was familiar to him--I say it took the best part of a hundred +years before they could fairly see that their business was not to follow +him, but to follow his example--namely, to look into the facts of nature +for themselves, and to carry on, in his spirit, the work he had begun. +That was first done by Vesalius, one of the greatest anatomists who ever +lived; but his work does not specially bear upon the question we are +now concerned with. So far as regards the motions of the heart and the +course of the blood, the first man in the Middle Ages, and indeed the +only man who did anything which was of real importance, was one Realdus +Columbus, who was professor at Padua in the year 1559, and published a +great anatomical treatise. What Realdus Columbus did was this; once +more resorting to the method of Galen, turning to the living animal, +experimenting, he came upon new facts, and one of these new facts was +that there was not merely a subordinate communication between the blood +of the right side of the heart and that of the left side of the heart, +through the lungs, but that there was a constant steady current of +blood, setting through the pulmonary artery on the right side, through +the lungs, and back by the pulmonary veins to the left side of the heart +(Fig.3). Such was the capital discovery and demonstration of Realdus +Columbus. He is the man who discovered what is loosely called the +'pulmonary circulation'; and it really is quite absurd, in the face of +the fact, that twenty years afterwards we find Ambrose Pare, the great +French surgeon, ascribing this discovery to him as a matter of common +notoriety, to find that attempts are made to give the credit of it to +other people. So far as I know, this discovery of the course of the +blood through the lungs, which is called the pulmonary circulation, is +the one step in real advance that was made between the time of Galen +and the time of Harvey. And I would beg you to note that the word +"circulation" is improperly employed when it is applied to the course of +the blood through the lungs. The blood from the right side of the +heart, in getting to the left side of the heart, only performs a +half-circle--it does not perform a whole circle--it does not return +to the place from whence it started; and hence the discovery of the +so-called "pulmonary circulation" has nothing whatever to do with that +greater discovery which I shall point out to you by-and-by was made +by Harvey, and which is alone really entitled to the name of the +circulation of the blood. + +If anybody wants to understand what Harvey's great desert really was, +I would suggest to him that he devote himself to a course of reading, +which I cannot promise shall be very entertaining, but which, in this +respect at any rate, will be highly instructive--namely, the works of +the anatomists of the latter part of the 16th century and the beginning +of the 17th century. If anybody will take the trouble to do that which +I have thought it my business to do, he will find that the doctrines +respecting the action of the heart and the motion of the blood which +were taught in every university in Europe, whether in Padua or in Paris, +were essentially those put forward by Galen, 'plus' the discovery of the +pulmonary course of the blood which had been made by Realdus Columbus. +In every chair of anatomy and physiology (which studies were not then +separated) in Europe, it was taught that the blood brought to the liver +by the portal vein, and carried out of the liver to the 'vena cava' +by the hepatic vein, is distributed from the right side of the heart, +through the other veins, to all parts of the body; that the blood of the +arteries takes a like course from the heart towards the periphery; and +that it is there, by means of the 'anastomoses', more or less mixed up +with the venous blood. It so happens, by a curious chance, that up to +the year 1625 there was at Padua, which was Harvey's own university, a +very distinguished professor, Spigelius, whose work is extant, and who +teaches exactly what I am now telling you. It is perfectly true +that, some time before, Harvey's master, Fabricius, had not only +re-discovered, but had drawn much attention to certain pouch-like +structures, which are called the valves of the veins, found in the +muscular parts of the body, all of which are directed towards the heart, +and consequently impede the flow of the blood in the opposite direction. +And you will find it stated by people who have not thought much about +the matter, that it was this discovery of the valves of the veins which +led Harvey to imagine the course of the circulation of the blood. Now +it did not lead Harvey to imagine anything of the kind. He had heard +all about it from his master, Fabricius, who made a great point of +these valves in the veins, and he had heard the theories which Fabricius +entertained upon the subject, whose impression as to the use of the +valves was simply this--that they tended to take off any excess of +pressure of the blood in passing from the heart to the extremities; for +Fabricius believed, with the rest of the world, that the blood in the +veins flowed from the heart towards the extremities. This, under the +circumstances, was as good a theory as any other, because the action of +the valves depends altogether upon the form and nature of the walls +of the structures in which they are attached; and without accurate +experiment, it was impossible to say whether the theory of Fabricius +was right or wrong. But we not only have the evidence of the facts +themselves that these could tell Harvey nothing about the circulation, +but we have his own distinct declaration as to the considerations which +led him to the true theory of the circulation of the blood, and amongst +these the valves of the veins are not mentioned. + +Fig. 4.--The circulation of the blood as demonstrated by Harvey (A.D. +1628). + +Now then we may come to Harvey himself. When you read Harvey's treatise, +which is one of the most remarkable scientific monographs with which I +am acquainted--it occupies between 50 and 60 pages of a small quarto in +Latin, and is as terse and concise as it possibly can be--when you come +to look at Harvey's work, you will find that he had long struggled with +the difficulties of the accepted doctrine of the circulation. He had +received from Fabricius, and from all the great authorities of the day, +the current view of the circulation of the blood. But he was a man +with that rarest of all qualities--intellectual honesty; and by dint of +cultivating that great faculty, which is more moral than intellectual, +it had become impossible for him to say he believed anything which he +did not clearly believe. This is a most uncomfortable peculiarity--for +it gets you into all sorts of difficulties with all sorts of +people--but, for scientific purposes, it is absolutely invaluable. +Harvey possessed this peculiarity in the highest degree, and so it was +impossible for him to accept what all the authorities told him, and he +looked into the matter for himself. But he was not hasty. He worked at +his new views, and he lectured about them at the College of Physicians +for nine years; he did not print them until he was a man of fifty +years of age; and when he did print them he accompanied them with a +demonstration which has never been shaken, and which will stand till the +end of time. What Harvey proved, in short, was this (see Fig. 4)--that +everybody had made a mistake, for want of sufficiently accurate +experimentation as to the actual existence of the fact which everybody +assumed. To anybody who looks at the blood-vessels with an unprejudiced +eye it seems so natural that the blood should all come out of the liver, +and be distributed by the veins to the different parts of the body, that +nothing can seem simpler or more plain; and consequently no one could +make up his mind to dispute this apparently obvious assumption. But +Harvey did dispute it; and when he came to investigate the matter he +discovered that it was a profound mistake, and that, all this time, the +blood had been moving in just the opposite direction, namely, from the +small ramifications of the veins towards the right side of the heart. +Harvey further found that, in the arteries, the blood, as had previously +been known, was travelling from the greater trunks towards the +ramifications. Moreover, referring to the ideas of Columbus and of Galen +(for he was a great student of literature, and did justice to all his +predecessors), Harvey accepts and strengthens their view of the course +of the blood through the lungs, and he shows how it fitted into his +general scheme. If you will follow the course of the arrows in Fig. 4 +you will see at once that--in accordance with the views of Columbus--the +blood passes from the right side of the heart, through the lungs, to the +left side. Then, adds Harvey, with abundant proof, it passes through the +arteries to all parts of the body; and then, at the extremities of their +branches in the different parts of the body, it passes (in what way he +could not tell, for his means of investigation did not allow him to say) +into the roots of the veins--then from the roots of the veins it goes +into the trunk veins--then to the right side of the heart--and then +to the lungs, and so on. + +That, you will observe, makes a complete circuit; and it was precisely +here that the originality of Harvey lay. There never yet has been +produced, and I do not believe there can be produced, a tittle of +evidence to show that, before his time, any one had the slightest +suspicion that a single drop of blood, starting in the left ventricle of +the heart, passes through the whole arterial system, comes back through +the venous system, goes through the lungs, and comes back to the place +whence it started. But that is the circulation of the blood, and it was +exactly this which Harvey was the first man to suspect, to discover, and +to demonstrate. + +But this was by no means the only thing Harvey did. He was the first +who discovered and who demonstrated the true mechanism of the heart's +action. No one, before his time, conceived that the movement of the +blood was entirely due to the mechanical action of the heart as a pump. +There were all sorts of speculations about the matter, but nobody had +formed this conception, and nobody understood that the so-called +systole of the heart is a state of active contraction, and the so-called +diastole is a mere passive dilatation. Even within our own age that +matter had been discussed. Harvey is as clear as possible about it. He +says the movement of the blood is entirely due to the contractions of +the walls of the heart--that it is the propelling apparatus--and all +recent investigation tends to show that he was perfectly right. And from +this followed the true theory of the pulse. Galen said, as I pointed +out just now, that the arteries dilate as bellows, which have an active +power of dilatation and contraction, and not as bags which are blown +out and collapse. Harvey said it was exactly the contrary--the arteries +dilate as bags simply because the stroke of the heart propels the blood +into them; and, when they relax again, they relax as bags which are no +longer stretched, simply because the force of the blow of the heart +is spent. Harvey has been demonstrated to be absolutely right in this +statement of his; and yet, so slow is the progress of truth, that, +within my time, the question of the active dilatation of the arteries +has been discussed. + +Thus Harvey's contributions to physiology may be summed up as follows: +In the first place, he was the first person who ever imagined, and still +more who demonstrated, the true course of the circulation of the blood +in the body; in the second place, he was the first person who ever +understood the mechanism of the heart, and comprehended that its +contraction was the cause of the motion of the blood; and thirdly, he +was the first person who took a just view of the nature of the pulse. +These are the three great contributions which he made to the science of +physiology; and I shall not err in saying--I speak in the presence of +distinguished physiologists, but I am perfectly certain that they will +endorse what I say--that upon that foundation the whole of our knowledge +of the human body, with the exception of the motor apparatus and the +sense organs, has been gradually built up, and that upon that foundation +the whole rests. And not only does scientific physiology rest upon +it, but everything like scientific medicine also rests upon it. As +you know--I hope it is now a matter of popular knowledge--it is the +foundation of all rational speculation about morbid processes; it is +the only key to the rational interpretation of that commonest of +all indications of disease, the state of the pulse; so that, both +theoretically and practically, this discovery, this demonstration of +Harvey's, has had an effect which is absolutely incalculable, and the +consequences of which will accumulate from age to age until they result +in a complete body of physiological science. + +Fig.5.--The junction of the arteries and veins by capillary tubes, +discovered by Malpighi (A.D. 1664). + +I regret that I am unable to pursue this subject much further; but there +is one point I should mention. In Harvey's time, the microscope was +hardly invented. It is quite true that in some of his embryological +researches he speaks of having made use of a hand glass; but that +was the most that he seems to have known anything about, or that was +accessible to him at that day. And so it came about, that, although he +examined the course of the blood in many of the lower animals--watched +the pulsation of the heart in shrimps, and animals of that kind--he +never could put the final coping-stone on his edifice. He did not know +to the day of his death, although quite clear about the fact that +the arteries and the veins do communicate, how it is that they +communicate--how it was that the blood of the arteries passed into the +veins. One is grieved to think that the grand old man should have gone +down to his tomb without the vast satisfaction it would have given to +him to see what the Italian naturalist Malpighi showed only seven years +later, in 1664, when he demonstrated, in a living frog, the actual +passage of the blood from the ultimate ramifications of the arteries +into the veins. But that absolute ocular demonstration of the truth of +the views he had maintained throughout his life it was not granted to +Harvey to see. What he did experience was this: that on the publication +of his doctrines, they were met with the greatest possible opposition; +and I have no doubt savage things were uttered in those old +controversies, and that a great many people said that these new-fangled +doctrines, reducing living processes to mere mechanism, would sap the +foundations of religion and morality. I do not know for certain that +they did, but they said things very like it. The first point was to +show that Harvey's views were absolutely untrue; and not being able to +succeed in that, opponents said they were not new; and not being able to +succeed in that, that they didn't matter. That is the usual course with +all new discoveries. But Harvey troubled himself very little about these +things. He remained perfectly quiet; for although reputed a hot-tempered +man, he never would have anything to do with controversy if he could +help it; and he only replied to one of his antagonists after twenty +years' interval, and then in the most charming spirit of candour and +moderation. But he had the great satisfaction of living to see his +doctrine accepted upon all sides. At the time of his death, there +was not an anatomical school in Europe in which the doctrine of the +circulation of the blood was not taught in the way in which Harvey had +laid it down. In that respect he had a happiness which is granted to +very few men. + +I have said that the other great investigation of Harvey is not one +which can be dealt with to a general audience. It is very complex, and +therefore I must ask you to take my word for it that, although not so +fortunate an investigation, not so entirely accordant with later results +as the doctrine of the circulation; yet that still, this little treatise +of Harvey's has in many directions exerted an influence hardly less +remarkable than that exerted by the Essay upon the Circulation of the +Blood. + +And now let me ask your attention to two or three closing remarks. + +If you look back upon that period of about 100 years which commences +with Harvey's birth--I mean from the year 1578 to 1680 or thereabouts--I +think you will agree with me, that it constitutes one of the most +remarkable epochs in the whole of that thousand years which we +may roughly reckon as constituting the history of Britain. In the +commencement of that period, we may see, if not the setting, at any rate +the declension of that system of personal rule which had existed under +previous sovereigns, and which, after a brief and spasmodic revival in +the time of George the Third, has now sunk, let us hope, into the limbo +of forgotten things. The latter part of that 100 years saw the dawn +of that system of free government which has grown and flourished, and +which, if the men of the present day be the worthy descendants of Eliott +and Pym, and Hampden and Milton, will go on growing as long as this +realm lasts. Within that time, one of the strangest phenomena which I +think I may say any nation has ever manifested arose to its height and +fell--I mean that strange and altogether marvellous phenomenon, English +Puritanism. Within that time, England had to show statesmen like +Burleigh, Strafford, and Cromwell--I mean men who were real statesmen, +and not intriguers, seeking to make a reputation at the expense of the +nation. In the course of that time, the nation had begun to throw off +those swarms of hardy colonists which, to the benefit of the world--and +as I fancy, in the long run, to the benefit of England herself--have +now become the United States of America; and, during the same epoch, +the first foundations were laid of that Indian Empire which, it may be, +future generations will not look upon as so happy a product of English +enterprise and ingenuity. In that time we had poets such as Spenser, +Shakespere, and Milton; we had a great philosopher, in Hobbes; and we +had a clever talker about philosophy, in Bacon. In the beginning of the +period, Harvey revolutionized the biological sciences, and at the end of +it, Newton was preparing the revolution of the physical sciences. I know +not any period of our history--I doubt if there be any period of the +history of any nation--which has precisely such a record as this to +show for a hundred years. But I do not recall these facts to your +recollection for a mere vainglorious purpose. I myself am of opinion +that the memory of the great men of a nation is one of its most precious +possessions--not because we have any right to plume ourselves upon their +having existed as a matter of national vanity, but because we have a +just and rational ground of expectation that the race which has brought +forth such products as these may, in good time and under fortunate +circumstances, produce the like again. I am one of those people who +do not believe in the natural decay of nations. I believe, to speak +frankly, though perhaps not quite so politely as I could wish--but I +am getting near the end of my lecture--that the whole theory is a +speculation invented by cowards to excuse knaves. My belief is, that so +far as this old English stock is concerned it has in it as much sap +and vitality and power as it had two centuries ago; and that, with due +pruning of rotten branches, and due hoeing up of weeds, which will grow +about the roots, the like products will be yielded again. The "weeds" +to which I refer are mainly three: the first of them is dishonesty, the +second is sentimentality, and the third is luxury. If William Harvey had +been a dishonest man--I mean in the high sense of the word--a man who +failed in the ideal of honesty--he would have believed what it was +easiest to believe--that which he received on the authority of his +predecessors. He would not have felt that his highest duty was to know +of his own knowledge that that which he said he believed was true, and +we should never have had those investigations, pursued through good +report and evil report, which ended in discoveries so fraught with +magnificent results for science and for man. If Harvey had been a +sentimentalist--by which I mean a person of false pity, a person who +has not imagination enough to see that great, distant evils may be much +worse than those which we can picture to ourselves, because they +happen to be immediate and near (for that, I take it, is the essence of +sentimentalism)--if Harvey had been a person of that kind, he, being +one of the kindest men living, would never have pursued those researches +which, as he tells us over and over again, he was obliged to pursue in +order to the ascertainment of those facts which have turned out to be of +such inestimable value to the human race; and I say, if on such grounds +he had failed to do so, he would have failed in his duty to the human +race. The third point is that Harvey was devoid of care either for +wealth, or for riches, or for ambition. The man found a higher ideal +than any of these things in the pursuit of truth and the benefit of his +fellow-men. If we all go and do likewise, I think there is no fear for +the decadence of England. I think that our children and our successors +will find themselves in a commonwealth, different it may be from that +for which Eliott, and Pym, and Hampden struggled, but one which will be +identical in the substance of its aims--great, worthy, and well to live +in. + + + +[Footnote 1: A Lecture delivered in the Free Trade Hall, November 2nd, +1878.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of William Harvey And The Discovery Of +The Circulation Of The Blood, by Thomas H. Huxley + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM HARVEY *** + +***** This file should be named 2939.txt or 2939.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/3/2939/ + +Produced by Amy E. 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