FRA PAOLO. 225 



hydraulics, acoustics, animal statics, atmospheric pressure, 

 the rising and falling of objects in air and water, the re- 

 flection of light from curved surfaces, spheres, mechanics, 

 civil and military architecture, medicine, herbs" and 

 "anatomy." And, in almost every one of these great 

 fields, Sarpi made discoveries of the highest importance. 

 He first observed the dilatation and contraction of the uvea 

 of the eye ; first found the valves in the human veins, and 

 first discovered the circulation of the blood (Harvey ex- 

 perimentally demonstrated this afterwards), and invented 

 artificial respiration. He made the first maps of the moon, 

 anticipated Kepler in his observations on the reflection 

 of light from curved surfaces, first recognized the effects 

 of refraction, and declared that the sun is fed, and that 

 stars are suns. He announced that heat is motion, and 

 exemplified its generation by heating iron with a hammer; 

 that light is motion, and that it comes to us in waves or 

 pulsations through a medium less material than the atmos- 

 phere ; that sound is motion, but not (as he thought) 

 motion of the atmosphere, for it travels against the wind 

 and through water, moving like light in waves or pulsa- 

 tions ; that color is caused by the atmosphere and by the 

 reflection of different rays of light ; and then he identifies 

 sound, color, heat and light together, thus correlating 

 these physical^phenomena. The desire is strong to dwell 

 upon Sarpi' s researches in these fields, but it must be 

 foregone to turn to his discoveries in magnetism. Un- 

 fortunately, here the actual records are meagre. He 

 wrote a treatise on the magnet, which, after his death, 

 remained, with his other manuscripts, in the Servite Mon- 

 astery, where he spent his life. As late as 1740 his 

 literary remains were minutely examined and arranged in 

 order by the learned Fra Giuseppe Bergantini. Twenty- 

 six years afterwards they, with the buildings in which 

 they were stored, were completely destroyed by fire. 



While Sarpi's original treatise on the magnet was thus 

 lost, a brief record of its contents is contained in his biog- 

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