488 CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD. 



rewarded with persecution, accused of " con- 

 founding all medical theory, and of rendering 

 physiology unintelligible." Truly may it be said, 

 that prejudice is a frightful ogre, and bigotry a 

 very fiend. Then arose Bacon with a holy zeal, 

 and cried, " Only let men awake and fix their 

 eyes one while on the nature of things ; another 

 while on their application to the benefit of man- 

 kind." The ghostly ministers of superstition had 

 long denounced the knowledge of nature as dan- 

 gerous ; but Bacon showed it to be " more beau- 

 tiful than any apparel of words that can be put 

 upon it," and the true foundation of human hap- 

 piness, without which even religion is perverted 

 into an engine of oppression and misery. 



It is not my object to examine all the meta- 

 physical, mechanical, and chemical theories of 

 life, that have arisen and passed away since the 

 time of Harvey. So vast are the troops of error, 

 that to notice them all in detail would be an 

 endless task. It would doubtless be far better 

 to establish one important truth, than to refute a 

 thousand errors; or, as Bacon observes, " to set 

 up one great light, or branching candlestick of 

 lights, than to go about with a watch-candle in 

 every corner." Yet as it is necessary to know 

 what has been done, that future inquirers may 

 know what remains to be accomplished, I shall 

 devote the remainder of this chapter to a brief 

 review of the leading doctrines on which the 

 modern systems of medicine have been founded. 



