THE BIRTH AND GROWTH OF SCIENCE IN MEDICINE. I 9 



We all know that the truth as to the pulmonary circulation 

 was first ascertained, while it was reserved for Harvey 

 to demonstrate the systemic circuit. The method of 

 experiment as an adjunct to observation, instead of being 

 delayed for hundreds of years as it had been amongst the 

 Greeks, was now, thanks to Galen, an instrument ready 

 to hand. And thus it came about that, when a man 

 arose, deeply imbued with the true spirit of science, and 

 capable of using this instrument with intelligence and an 

 open mind, his study of the circulation was at once 

 rewarded by a discovery of capital importance. 



One does not commemorate the name of William 

 Harvey in this oration merely from a sense of duty : he 

 truly stands as one of the landmarks in the history of 

 medical science. His was the first scientific discovery 

 of absolutely first-rate importance to be made by the 

 application of the methods and spirit now revived from 

 ancient times : he possessed the vision, the power of 

 imagination, as well as the needful industry and patience 

 in gathering his facts and devising his experiments. 



Harvey has left us two treatises of unequal greatness. 

 The ' De Motu Cordis ' has no need of any introductory 

 disquisition on scientific method, for it, itself, is the 

 method incarnate. It is the mature work of a master 

 who is sure of his ground : it sweeps us along from 

 one short chapter to another, each filled with accurate 

 observation and close reasoning so that no hesitation or 

 doubt is possible to the reader. And we feel that this is 

 because the methods open to Harvey had been adequate 

 to solve the problem at issue ; the times were ripe for his 

 discovery. But he also essayed to solve other biological 

 problems for which his means were not adequate, and the 

 ' De Generatione,' which he was reluctant to publish, is 

 reading of a different kind. The most instructive part 

 of this treatise is perhaps the introduction on scientific 

 method — " Of the Manner and Order of acquiring Know- 

 ledge." Here Harvey, in his later age, sets forth the 

 principles which had guided him, with Aristotle as his 



