AN ANATOMICAL DISQUISITION 



ON THE 



MOTION OF THE HEART AND 

 BLOOD IN ANIMALS 



INTRODUCTION 



As we are about to discuss the motion, action, and use 

 of the heart and arteries, it is imperative on us first to 

 state what has been thought of these things by others 

 in their writings, and what has been held by the vulgar 

 and by tradition, in order that what is true may be 

 confirmed, and what is false set right by dissection, 

 multiplied experience, and accurate observation. 



Almost all anatomists, physicians, and philosophers, 

 up to the present time, have supposed, with Galen, that 

 the object of the pulse was the same as that of respira- 

 tion, and only differed in one particular, this being 

 conceived to depend on the animal, the respiration on 

 the vital faculty ; the two, in all other respects, whether 

 with reference to purpose or to motion, comporting 

 themselves alike. Whence it is affirmed, as by 

 Hieronymus Fabricius of Aquapendente, in his book 

 on " Respiration," which has lately appeared, that as. 

 the pulsation of the heart and arteries does not suffice 

 for the ventilation and refrigeration of the blood, there- 

 fore were the lungs fashioned to surround the heart. 

 From this it appears, that whatever has hitherto been 

 said upon the systole and diastole, on the motion of 



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