Larkey and Temkin 291 



For it [that is, the newly discovered "use"] is . . . the preparation, yea ahiiost the generation 

 of vital! spirites, which after are perfected in the hart. That is to say, the inspired ayre it 

 receiveth, through the mouth, and nostreles, it beyng brought, by the conveiance of the 

 rough arterie through the substauncc of the lunges: the which instrument ceasselh not to 

 mixe the same ayre, with that bloud, which is brought unto it, by the arteriall vcvnc, from 

 the right ventricle of the hart. For this same arteriall veyne, besides that it bringeth bloud, for 

 nourishment, is so large, as that it may serve for other use also. And this bloud by styrring, 

 through the continuall movyng of the lunges, is made thinne, and together with the ayre 

 mixed, which thus, by the same refraction, and beatyng together, is prepared: so that, the 

 ayre, and bloud, together mixed, are received by the braunches of the veniall Arterie, and at 

 length, by the trunke of the same veyne, sent into the left ventricle of the hart: but so wel 

 mixed, and attenuated together, as that to the hart, small labour at all is left: after which 

 small elaboration, the hart (as it were) laying to the last hand, to the makyng of the vitall 

 spirites, that, by meanes of the great arterie, they might be distributed to all the partes of 

 the body it was most recjuisite." 



In favor of this extended theory Cohimbus cites additional arguments. The 

 lung could not exist without "vital blood." But since neither the pulmonary 

 artery nor vein are really "arteries," the lung (as he thought) is not supplied 

 by any artery at all and it must, therefore, be assumed that the vital blood 

 originated in the lung itself. Besides, every physician judges blood to be ex- 

 pectorated from the lungs by its having the same characteristics as arterial 

 blood.^ 



As said before, most of Columbus' passages touching upon pulmonary cir- 

 culation are taken over by Banister. But instead of being spread over two dif- 

 ferent parts, they are incorporated into one book (book VII) which treats "of 

 the makyng of the hart, and of the Instrumentes ministryng to his function: 

 commonly called, The Vitall or Spirituall partes." Banister succeeded in pre- 

 senting such a smooth text that the reader is not always aware whether he or 

 Columbus is speaking. For instance, having reported about the coronary ar- 

 teries and the subtle inferences which according to Columbus might be drawn 

 from their functions. Banister continues: "Albeit he [that is, Columbus] re- 

 ferreth the case to the more sapient Philosophers to discusse. And so it shal 

 be sufficient, here, truly to describe the partes of the body, how they are, and to 

 what use created, least I meddle over farre in such misteries."^ Without compar- 

 ing the texts, the reader will not easily realize that the whole last sentence with 

 the exception of the last clause is still a literal translation of Columbus! 



Yet the different arrangement leads to a slight difference of emphasis. The 

 passage on the function of the lungs comes early in Banister's context so that 

 the reader is immediately confronted with the full scope of the theory. For 

 Banister, the discovery of the path the blood travels and of the function of the 

 lungs belong together. He makes this clear by the formulation in which at the 

 outset of book VII he contrasts Columbus' opinion with that of the Galenists. 

 "Contrariwise Realdus Collurnbus sayth, that the bloud, sent from the right 

 ventricle of the hart, by the arteriall Veyne, into the lunges, there takyng the 

 mixture of ayre, is drawne, by the veniall arterie, into the left ventricle of the 

 hart, whereas, beyng almost made before, it is now perfected vitall spirite."^ 



