THE GROWTH OF TRUTH 25 



*-a long and formidable procedure, as the whole 

 anatomy of the thoracic organs was discussed. I dare say 

 there was a prolonged break between the morning and 

 the afternoon lecture ' for a fine dinner ', such as Pepys 

 described, when, on February 27, 1663, he went with 

 Harvey's pupil, Scarborough, to Chirurgeons' Hall and 

 was used with ' extraordinary great respect '. Towards 

 the close, after discussing, in novel and modern terms, 

 the structure and action of the heart, Harvey summed 

 up in a few sentences the conclusion of the matter. 

 They stand as follows in the Praelectiones (published 

 by the College in 1886): 



W. H. constat per fabricam cordis sanguinem 

 per pulmones in Aortam perpetuo 

 transferri, as by two clacks of a 

 water bellows to rayse water 

 constat per ligaturam transitum sanguinis 

 ab arteriis ad venas 

 unde perpetuum sanguinis motum 

 in circulo fieri pulsu cordis. 



Probably few in the lecture hall appreciated the full 

 meaning of these words, which to some must have 

 seemed a blot on the whole performance ; while others, 

 perhaps, all with the feelings of the fishes after St. 

 Anthony's well-known sermon, 



Much delighted were they, 

 But preferred the old way, 



returned to their homes wondering what he would say 

 on the morrow when the ' divine banquet of the brain ' 

 was to be spread before them. 



One thing was certain the lecture gave evidence of 

 a skilled anatomist of remarkably wide experience and 

 well versed in literature from Aristotle to Fabricius. 

 While Harvey could agree with John Hunter, who 



