登陆注册
5463700000056

第56章 CHAPTER IV THE RENAISSANCE AND THE RISE OF ANATOMY

"We will now consider how the attraction of aliment and the process of nutrition takes place in plants; for in animals we see the aliment brought through the veins to the heart, as to a laboratory of innate heat, and, after receiving there its final perfection, distributed through the arteries to the body at large, by the agency of the spirits produced from this same aliment in the heart."[30] There is nothing in this but Galen's view, and Cesalpinus believed, as did all his contemporaries, that the blood was distributed through the body by the vena cava and its branches for the nourishment of all its parts.[*] To those who have any doubts as to Harvey's position in this matter I would recommend the reading of the "De Motu Cordis" itself, then the various passages relating to the circulation from Aristotle to Vesalius. Many of these can be found in the admirable works of Dalton, Flourens, Richet and Curtis.[31] In my Harveian Oration for 1906[32] I have dealt specially with the reception of the new views, and have shown how long it was before the reverence for Galen allowed of their acceptance. The University of Paris opposed the circulation of the blood for more than half a century after the appearance of the "De Motu Cordis."

[30] De Plantis, Lib I, cap. 2.

[*] Cesalpinus has also a definite statement of the circlewise process.--Ed.

[31] J. C. Dalton Doctrines of the Circulation, Philadelphia, 1884; Flourens Histoire de la decouverte de la circulation du sang, 2d ed., Paris, 1857; Charles Richet Harvey, la circulation du sang, Paris, 1879; John G. Curtis Harvey's views on the use of Circulation, etc., New York, 1916.

[32] Osler An Alabama Student and Other Biographical Essays, Oxford, 1908, p. 295.

To summarize--until the seventeenth century there were believed to be two closed systems in the circulation, (1) the natural, containing venous blood, had its origin in the liver from which, as from a fountain, the blood continually ebbed and flowed for the nourishment of the body; (2) the vital, containing another blood and the spirits, ebbed and flowed from the heart, distributing heat and life to all parts. Like a bellows the lungs fanned and cooled this vital blood. Here and there we find glimmering conceptions of a communication between these systems, but practically all teachers believed that the only one of importance was through small pores in the wall separating the two sides of the heart. Observation--merely looking at and thinking about things--had done all that was possible, and further progress had to await the introduction of a new method, viz., experiment. Galen, it is true, had used this means to show that the arteries of the body contained blood and not air. The day had come when men were no longer content with accurate description and with finely spun theories and dreams. It was reserved for the immortal Harvey to put into practice the experimental method by which he demonstrated conclusively that the blood moved in a circle. The "De Motu Cordis" marks the final break of the modern spirit with the old traditions. It took long for men to realize the value of this "inventum mirabile" used so effectively by the Alexandrians--by Galen--indeed, its full value has only been appreciated within the past century. Let me quote a paragraph from my Harveian Oration.[33] "To the age of the hearer, in which men had heard and heard only, had succeeded the age of the eye in which men had seen and had been content only to see. But at last came the age of the hand-- the thinking, devising, planning hand, the hand as an instrument of the mind, now re-introduced into the world in a modest little monograph from which we may date the beginning of experimental medicine."

[33] Osler: An Alabama Student, etc., pp. 329-330.

Harvey caught the experimental spirit in Italy, with brain, eye and hand as his only aids, but now an era opened in which medicine was to derive an enormous impetus from the discovery of instruments of precision. "The new period in the development of the natural sciences, which reached its height in the work of such men as Galileo, Gilbert and Kepler, is chiefly characterized by the invention of very important instruments for aiding and intensifying the perceptions of the senses, by means of which was gained a much deeper insight into the phenomena than had hitherto been possible. Such instruments as the earlier ages possessed were little more than primitive hand-made tools. Now we find a considerable number of scientifically made instruments deliberately planned for purposes of special research, and as it were, on the threshold of the period stand two of the most important, the compound microscope and the telescope. The former was invented about 1590 and the latter about 1608."[34] It was a fellow professor of the great genius Galileo who attempted to put into practice the experimental science of his friend. With Sanctorius began the studies of temperature, respiration and the physics of the circulation. The memory of this great investigator has not been helped by the English edition of his "De Statica Medicina," not his best work, with a frontispiece showing the author in his dietetic balance. Full justice has been done to him by Dr. Weir Mitchell in an address as president of the Congress of Physicians and Surgeons, 1891.[35] Sanctorius worked with a pulsilogue devised for him by Galileo, with which he made observations on the pulse. He is said to have been the first to put in use the clinical thermometer. His experiments on insensible perspiration mark him as one of the first modern physiologists.

[34] Dannemann: Die Naturwissenschaften in ihrer Entwickelung..., Vol. II, p. 7, Leipzig, 1911.

[35] See Transactions Congress Physicians and Surgeons, 1891, New Haven, 1892, II, 159-181.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 找寻魅果

    找寻魅果

    女大学生梦语馨意外穿越修仙世界,摇身一变成为天狐少年白风,小狐狸呆萌可爱,狐少年英俊帅气,背负狐族的家族使命,背负父母的血海深仇,找寻狐仙魅果,开启了漫长的修仙成长之路。
  • 黄河异事录

    黄河异事录

    传说,黄河上有一个最神秘的职业——黄河捞尸人。他们繁衍上千年,经历了无数奇诡往事,也掌握着黄河最大的秘密。我自小随身为捞尸人的爷爷在黄河上干着捞尸的营生,耳闻目睹了各种诡异的现象。一次,爷爷从黄河里捞出一具藏在巨型龟壳里的棺材,由此引出一桩桩离奇事件。我、爷爷、叶教授、古枚笛四人经历无数艰难险阻,九死一生,在浩荡不息的黄河中寻找着上古的秘密。阴兵渡河、幽灵船、鱼骨神庙;龟型巨棺、死亡灵蛊、巨型石碑出世,真相尚未水落,谜团蜂拥而至,我们一行四人更落入一个步步为局的阴谋之中……
  • 神奇精灵王座

    神奇精灵王座

    “叮……恭喜宿主抽取到精灵武装,元气妹抖—皮卡丘。”夏诺的目光不由扫向不远处高冷地靠在树上的皮卡丘。“系统你没搞错吧?我的皮卡丘似乎是公的。”ps.作者新人小白,文笔不行,是一只单纯的口袋迷,这部小说也是打算写给自己看的,各方面多有不佳之处还望各位海涵……
  • 九歌异闻录

    九歌异闻录

    现世车祸,九歌误以为自己死了,本想到地府报到,却被黑色漩涡卷入一个古代世界。这是一个仙、神、妖、魔、鬼、人并存的时空。在现世,九歌只是一个略有本事的神棍,到了这一世,各种光环加身,斩妖除魔成了她的强项。偶尔她会梦回前世,偶尔她会想起现世,偶尔她又会眷恋这一世。直到三世的碎片拼完,才知道,原来有个男人陪她走了三生三世。
  • 渐悦竹溪

    渐悦竹溪

    北魏三十年,帝后喜得一女,封号齐乐公主,举国欢庆。“不是我无心,而是上天既赐予我天生的容颜与地位,必将剥夺我生命中最重要的东西。”人生有四感,即喜怒哀乐爱憎恶;亦有贪嗔痴念欲。但作为一名地位高上且受万民敬仰的公主,齐锦悦除了能感受到“乐”之感外再无法体会到其他的心情。即使是那个如嫡仙般的男子也帮不了她,但尽管如此,命运的红线却依旧纠缠不清。潺潺流水,云雾缭绕,一处玉做的亭子中,正坐着一名白衣男子与粉衣女子。“阿欢,纵使天下女子奇多,我只心系于你。只望执子之手,与子偕老。”“好,执子之手,与子偕老。”湖面波澜不惊,一条鲤鱼游过,打破了湖面上粉白相拥的倒映。
  • 带着游戏系统拯救明日方舟

    带着游戏系统拯救明日方舟

    “喂,小家伙,别玩电脑了,想不想听我讲个故事?”[不要,我要玩游戏。今天《瓦伊凡传说:不死雷电》就要开放下载了,我等了一年啊。]“真巧,我说的也是这个‘不死雷电’故事。而且,我知道很多游戏里不会出现的细节哦。”[啊可恶!这游戏又跳票了!一年了已经!我要退款!]“啊可恶!你不能退款!你还没见识到你爷爷我当年美丽飒爽的英姿呢!”[啊可恶!我凭什么不能……等等爷爷您说什么?]“嗯……没啥。既然现在游戏跳票了,那想不想听我讲故事啊。”[那您说。]“这是‘不死雷电’和罗德岛的传说,一个拯救世界,拯救自己的故事。”
  • 乡烟袅袅

    乡烟袅袅

    那个大雾弥漫的早晨,树上挂满了梨花一样的霜雪,湿漉漉的空气里,像塞满了一团团的棉花,隔了两步远就看不清对方的脸,只能听到鸟的叽叽喳喳声和枝头冰凌清脆的碰击声。人们像早有种预感,心里被雾包裹着,憋得透不过气来。果然,客车开出村不远,在一个二道拐路口,一头扎进了十几米深的山崖。车上坐着十五个上学的孩子。司机是村支书鲁振国的儿子。油箱在磨擦中起火爆炸。一车人全部遇难。一接到电话,镇委何书记把任务交给了新上任的副镇长张秋月。车子七拐八拐,拐上了一条崎岖不平的进山小路。在车上,司机老王把两年前鲁村发生的这件大事告诉了她。
  • 变身萌娃女二

    变身萌娃女二

    一次意外,一场车祸,眼睛一闭一睁,陈泽·思汗的屌丝人生离奇般破灭……新的人生即将开启!当“宅男”外卖小哥撞上了“逗比”位面系统,变身萌娃女二,变身上位,捣乱打脸,强拆CP,耽美百合,男女通吃,豪门末世,古代现代,神话修仙,玄幻修真,有趣的事情可就多了!宿主:镜子里的是仙子吗?位面系统:不是!那是你啊!宿主:是么?我能有这么萌么?位面系统:那当然咯!你可是我最满意的作品!欢迎加入萌哒哒的粉丝群,群1号码:421947402新建一个催更群:欢迎加入青池゛旧时光ㄟ,群2号码:671935739诚邀广大小伙伴进群催更哟。
  • 诺贝尔文学奖文集:倔犟的姑娘

    诺贝尔文学奖文集:倔犟的姑娘

    诺贝尔文学奖,以其人类理想主义的伟大精神,为世界文学提供了永恒的标准。其中所包含的诗、小说、散文、戏剧、哲学、史学等不同体裁。不同风格的杰作,流光溢彩,各具特色,全面展现了20世纪世界文学的总体各局。这些路数迥异的作家,虽语种不同、观念不同、背景不同,但他们那高擎思想主义旗帜的雄姿是相同的,他们那奋勇求索的自由精神是相同的。而他们的雄姿,无不闪现于他们的作品之中;他们的精神,无不渗透于这些作品的字里行间。这套丛书所承载的,正是他们那令万世崇敬的全部精华。一套丛书,为我们竖起了一座20世纪的文学丰碑。
  • 追妻无门:女boss不好惹

    追妻无门:女boss不好惹

    青涩蜕变,如今她是能独当一面的女boss,爱了冷泽聿七年,也同样花了七年时间去忘记他。以为是陌路,他突然向他表白,扬言要娶她,她只当他是脑子抽风,他的殷勤她也全都无视。他帮她查她父母的死因,赶走身边情敌,解释当初拒绝她的告别,和故意对她冷漠都是无奈之举。突然爆出她父母的死居然和冷家有丝毫联系,还莫名跳出个公爵未婚夫,扬言要与她履行婚约。峰回路转,破镜还能重圆吗? PS:我又开新文了,每逢假期必书荒,新文《有你的世界遇到爱》,喜欢我的文的朋友可以来看看,这是重生类现言,对这个题材感兴趣的一定要收藏起来。