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In some respects I am ill equipped for my 

 office; of the history of the practice of Medicine 

 from the time of Galen to the time of Harvey 

 I am almost ignorant, I fear wilfully ignorant. 

 Well indeed may we turn our eyes away from 

 those centuries wherein one of the chief callings 

 of man fell into unexampled and even odious 

 degradation ; yet I trust that in me this igno- 

 rance and this aversion may be compensated by 

 some familiarity with the history of thought in the 

 Middle Ages, a familiarity acquired during thirty- 

 six years of abiding interest, and occasional study. 



The discovery of the circulation of the blood 

 by William Harvey is eommonly regarded among 

 scientific discoveries as pre-eminent if not unique. 

 I can quote but two opinions on this matter, both 

 taken beyond our own land. In France, Dr Dar- 

 emberg exclaims " Voici Harvey ! Comme au jour 

 de la creation le chaos se de*brouille, la lumiere se 

 s^pare des tenfcbres ! " In Germany, Dr Baas says 

 that Harvey stands alone in respect of the world 

 of life ; that his discovery of the inner working of 

 the microcosm takes a place equal to, if not indeed 

 higher than, those of Copernicus, Kepler and 

 Newton in respect of the macrocosm. It will be 



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