A HISTORY OF SCIENCE 



was born at Folkestone. His education was begun at 

 the grammar-school of Canterbury, and later he be- 

 came a pensioner of Caius College, Cambridge. Soon 

 after taking his degree of B.A., at the age of nineteen, 

 he decided upon the profession of medicine, and went 

 to Padua as a pupil of Fabricius and Casserius. Re- 

 turning to England at the age of twenty -four, he 

 soon after (1609) obtained the reversion of the post 

 of physician to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, his appli- 

 cation being supported by James I. himself. Even at 

 this time he was a popular physician, counting among 

 his patients such men as Francis Bacon. In 1618 he 

 was appointed physician extraordinary to the king, 

 and, a little later, physician in ordinary. He was in 

 attendance upon Charles I. at the battle of Edgehill, in 

 1642, where, with the young Prince of Wales and the 

 Duke of York, after seeking shelter under a hedge, he 

 drew a book out of his pocket and, forgetful of the 

 battle, became absorbed in study, until finally the 

 cannon-balls from the enemy's artillery made him seek 

 a more sheltered position. 



On the fall of Charles I. he retired from practice, and 

 lived in retirement with his brother. He was then well 

 along in years, but still pursued his scientific researches 

 with the same vigor as before, directing his attention 

 chiefly to the study of embryology. On June 3, 1657, 

 he was attacked by paralysis and died, in his eightieth 

 year. He had lived to see his theory of the circula- 

 tion accepted, several years before, by all the eminent 

 anatomists of the civilized world. 



A keenness in the observation of facts, characteristic 

 of the mind of the man, had led Harvey to doubt the 



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