20 THE GROWTH OF TRUTH 



not the well-known work of Luciani, the distinguished 

 Professor of Physiology at Rome, appeared recently in 

 German dress, edited by Professor Verworn, and spread 

 broadcast views to which, with a chauvinism unworthy 

 of their history, our Italian brethren still adhere. It 

 has been well said 'that he alone discovers who proves', 

 and in the matter of the circulation of the blood, this 

 was reserved for the pupil of Fabricius. Skipping many 

 arduous years we next meet him as Lumleian Lecturer 

 to the College. 



III. 



The really notable years in the annals of medicine 

 are not very numerous. We have a calendar filled with 

 glorious names, but among the saints of science, if we 

 know an era it is as much as can be expected perhaps 

 because such men are less identified with achievements 

 than representative of the times in which they lived. 

 With many of our greatest names we cannot associate 

 any fixed dates. The Grecians who made Hippocrates 

 possible, live in memory with some theory, or a small 

 point in anatomy, or in regard to the place of their 

 birth; while the 'floruit' cannot always be fixed with 

 accuracy. 



Hippocrates himself, Erasistratus, Galen, and Araetius 

 have no days in our calendar. We keep no festival in 

 their honour as the churches do those of St. Jerome and 

 St. Chrysostom. It is not until after the Renaissance 

 that certain years (anni mirabiles) stand out in bold 

 relief as connected with memorable discoveries, or with 

 the publication of revolutionary works. Nevertheless, 

 only a few in each century ; even the sixteenth, so rich 

 in discoveries, has not more than five or six such years, 

 and not one of them is connected with work done in 



