DISCOVERY OF CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD. 299 



and medicine. Of his attainments in jurisprudence I know nothing ; 

 of his anatomical and physiological knowledge I will say more 

 anon, merely premising that it was truly marvelous and in advance 

 of the times; in theology, according to the opinion of Calvin and 

 others, he was a heretic, since he entertained antitrinitarian notions. 

 He had written two books, the respective titles of which are, "De 

 TrinitatisErrorihus" (1531) and" DeChristianismi Restitutio" (1533), 

 which latter he had the frankness to send to Calvin for corrections 

 and suggestions. Calvin denounced it promptly to Cardinal Tonron 

 as heretical, whereupon the cardinal laughed heartily at one heretic 

 accusinsT another. It has been said, and it is to be feared with too 

 much truth, that John Calvin was stirred not so much with holy zeal 

 or fanaticism as by hate, as he had received a letter from this medico- 

 lesral theologrian, now tied to the stake, awaiting the horrid tort- 

 ures, and death, by slow fires about to be kindled at his feet, which 

 letter animadverted, perhaps not very sweetly, upon the errors and 

 absurdities of Calvin's " Institutes." This letter, be it understood, was 

 in reply to a violent one which Calvin had written to this poor victim 

 concerning his opinions. Time will not allow me to tell the whole 

 story of how Calvin vindictively threatened him, and drew up thirty- 

 eight articles of accusation against him, and how the poor, unfortunate 

 man fled and disguised himself, and was subsequently arrested and 

 tried by a grave council of sixty, who, after deliberating three full 

 days on his heresy and the degree of punishment to be inflicted, fixed 

 upon a heavy fine, and death by slow, torturing fires ; and that all his 

 manuscripts and copies of his works were to be burned witli him and 

 to furnish a part of the fuel with which to execute this fiendish sen- 

 tence. Yet so it came to pass that this unfortunate scholar expiated 

 his crime of heterodoxy in this tragical manner, and so effectually was 

 the order for the burning of his works carried out, that only a single 

 copy of one of his books is now believed to be in existence, and that 

 is not a little scorched by fire. 



You may wonder wlio this ))Oor victim was, and why he is intro- 

 duced here in a sketch of the history of the discovery of the circula- 

 tion of the blood. 



It was Michael Servetus, whose Spanish name was Miguel Ser- 

 vede, born in the year 1509, at Villanneva, in Aragon near Saragossa, 

 in Spain. He was educated, as before hinted, in three professions, in 

 jurisprudence and theology in the University of Toulouse, in medicine 

 at Paris. He practised as a physician, and wrote at least one medical 

 treatise. He also wrote, most unfortunately, two theological books, one 

 an abstruse metaphysical work, already alluded to, " The Restitution 

 of Christianity," which, though it ended in his ruin, contained words 

 and ideas which have immortalized his name. Of this wonderful book 

 a copy exists in the Bibliothuque Imperiale at Paris, of which M. Flou- 

 rens. Perpetual Secretary of the Academy of Sciences, proudly says, 



