THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND MEDICINE. 343 



antagonism to animistic hypotheses and animistic phrase- 

 ology. It offers physical explanations of vital phenom- 

 ena, or frankly confesses that it has none to offer. And, 

 so far as I know, the first person who gave expression 

 to this modern view of physiology, who was bold enough 

 to enunciate the proposition that vital phenomena, like 

 all the other phenomena of the physical world, are, in 

 ultimate analysis, resolvable into matter and motion, was 

 Kene Descartes. 



The fifty-four years of life of this most original and 

 powerful thinker are widely overlapped, on both sides, 

 by the eighty of Harvey, who survived his younger con- 

 temporary by seven years, and takes pleasure in acknowl- 

 edging the French philosopher's appreciation of his great 

 discovery. 



In fact, Descartes accepted the doctrine of the circu- 

 lation as propounded by "Harvaeus medecin d'Angle- 

 terre," and gave a full account of it in his first work, 

 the famous " Discours de la Methode," which was pub- 

 lished in 1637, only nine years after the exercitation 

 " De motu cordis ; " and, though differing from Harvey 

 on some important points (in which it may be noted, in 

 passing, Descartes was wrong and Harvey right), he 

 always speaks of him with great respect. And so im- 

 portant does the subject seem to Descartes, that he re- 

 turns to it in the " Traite des Passions," and in the 

 " Traite de PHomme." 



It is easy to see that Harvey's work must have had 

 a peculiar significance for the subtle thinker, to whom 



