Nov. I, 1883] 



NATURE 



ourselves with the thought that the storm coming from 

 south-east argued well for an ice-free interior. When it 

 cleared a little we strained our eyes to trace any moun- 

 tains which would break the ice horizon around us, which 

 everywhere was as level as that of the sea. The desire 

 soon " to be f/itic: " was as fervent as that of the searchers 

 of the Eldorado of yore, and the sailors and the Lapps 

 had no shadow of doubt as to the existence of an ice-free 

 interior. And at noon, before reaching camp No. 12, 

 everybody fancied he could distinguish mountains far 

 away to the east. They appeared to remain perfectly 

 stationary as the clouds drifted past them, a sure sign, 

 we thought, of its not being a mass of clouds. They 

 were scanned with telescopes, drawn, discussed, and 

 at last saluted with a ringing cheer. But we soon came 

 to the conclusion that they were unfortunately no moun- 

 tains, but merely the dark reflection of some lakes further 

 to the east in the ice desert. 



A. E. NORDENSKJOLD 



(To be contiimcd.) 



THE RE-ENTOMBMENT OF 

 HARVEY 



WILLIAM 



FOR two hundred and twenty-six years the mortal 

 remains of the immortal discoverer of the circula- 

 tion of the blood rested, unburied, in a vault of a little 

 church in the parish ot Hempstead, about seven miles 

 from Saffron Walden, in Essex. 



Harvey died on the 3rd of June, in the year 1657, 

 being then in his eightieth year, but the precise place of 

 his death is not known. He fell, full of days and honours, 

 and retained his faculties so completely to the last day of 

 his life that he directed his apothecary, Samboke, what to 

 do in the w^ay of treatment. He beckoned to Samboke to 

 take blood from under the tongue as the speech was 

 failing, — aline of treatment which would have little favour 

 in these days, — and as the sun of June 3 went down he 

 went down also. His death, no doubt, took place in 

 London, and probably near to Smithfield. 



Cn June 26, twenty-three days after the death, the 

 body of William Harvey was laid in the vault at Hemp- 

 stead. In the interval a cast had been taken from the 

 face for a rough and ready sculptor to work from, 

 and the body, after a custom of the time, rolled first, 

 in all probability, in a cere cloth, had been inclosed in a 

 leaden chest. It was then conveyed to Hempstead, a 

 distance of about fifty miles, in those days a journey of 

 no slight importance. The body was followed by many 

 of the Fellows of the College of Physicians out of town, 

 and it may be that some of them went as far as Hemp- 

 stead. Certainly one scholar, though he was not a 

 Fellow, namely Aubrey, the historian, was present when 

 the body was put into the vault. " I was at his funeral, 

 and helpt to carry him into the vault." These are 

 Aubrey's words. The vault referred to had been built by 

 Eliab, the merchant brother of the anatomist, and over it 

 was erected a chapel connected with the church at the 

 north-eastern corner. The vault was afterwards filled 

 with the bodies of members of the Harvey family, some 

 few " lapt in lead,'' like their great relative, others laid in 

 coffins. 



For nearly two centuries little seems to have been 

 recalled of the remains of the anatomist. They lay with 

 their kindred in the village sepulchre without reference 

 being made to them. In 1S47 Dr. Richardson, F.R.S., 

 then assisting Mr. Thomas Browne, a surgeon in Saffron 

 Walden, was told one day by a cottager that the great 

 Dr. Hcvvey was buried in Hempstead Church, and next 

 day discoveiLA th^t it was really Harvey the anatomist 

 and physiologist, ana vv-^^ {hg body, " lapt in lead" as 

 Aubrey described, lay there t-^bably as it had originally 

 been placed. 



At that time the foot of the leaden cnc. ,.,^. ^^^^^^ |j^g 



open window of the vault. There was then no opening 

 in the lead, but the upper surface towards the middle 

 of the body was beginning to show signs of sinking in. 

 There was much dust and several stones on the chest, 

 which were removed. The remains were reported upon 

 after this by Dr. Tyler Smith, who had visited the place, 

 to the Royal College of Physicians, and in 1859 the 

 College deputed the late Dr. Alexander Stewart and 

 Dr. Quain to visit and report. They made their report, 

 and some changes were carried out in the vault ; but the 

 window, although protected by the addition of iron bars, 

 was left open, and, under the influence of air and damp, 

 the lead began to give way. 



From time to time Dr. Richardson visited the place 

 and reported on the changes which were in progress. In 

 the lower part of the lid of the leaden chest the sinking be- 

 came so increased that a kind of oblong basin was formed, 

 in which rain water, beating in from the window, accumu- 

 lated. Then an opening, taking the shape and size of one 

 of the sound openings in a violoncello, was formed, and 

 water was admitted into the shell itself. Twice it seemed 

 filled with thick pitchy-looking fluid, and although the 

 opening was temporarily filled up with solder, the repair 

 did not last very long. 



In 1878 Dr. Richardson made another visit to Hemp- 

 stead, and on November 30 of that year published in 

 the Lancet a full report on the condition of the re- 

 mains, together with six illustrations. The report created 

 considerable attention, and led the way to the alteration 

 that has been recently efl"ected. In January, 1S81, the 

 beautiful tower of the old church at Hempstead sud- 

 denly fell, dragging a portion of the church with it. It 

 was found that the Harvey vault and chapel were not 

 injured, but that the leaden shell in which Harvey was 

 laid was again filled with water, and that the preservation 

 of the case could not be much longer insured. In Feb- 

 ruary, 18S2, the Royal College of Physicians, formed a 

 committee to undertake the duty of placing the remains 

 in a position in which they would be permanently re- 

 tained. The result was that the College obtained permis- 

 sion of the representatives of the Harvey family to remove 

 the remains from the vault and to place them in a solid 

 marble sarcophagus in the Harvey chapel above. Such 

 is a succinct history of the proceedings previous to the 

 removal and re-entombment on October 18 of this year. 

 The ceremony of the 18th was extremely simple. As 

 was befitting, a number of the Fellows of the College — 

 eight in all — bore the remains from the vault along the 

 northern side of the church to the western entrance, and 

 so through the aisle to the entrance of the Harvey chapel, 

 on the left of the chancel. The vicar of Hempstead, 

 the Rev. R. H. Eustace, and the curate, the Rev. J. Escreet, 

 led the procession ; then came the bearers with their 

 charge on a bier; after them, four of the representatives 

 of the Harvey family ; and, next in order, the President, 

 all the office-bearers, and the Fellows of the Royal College 

 of Physicians who had come to take part in the ceremonial. 

 After a short service the leaden case was placed in 

 the sarcophagus. On the breastplate of the case the 

 original inscription — 



Doctor 



William . Harvey 



Decesed. The . 3. 



Of Jvne 1657. 



Aged 79 years 



was still quite perfect, as was also a rough metal cast of 

 a face with a small imperial from the lower lip to the 

 chin. After the remains had been laid in the marble, 

 the President of the College, Sir William Jenner, placed 

 on them a leaden case containing the College edition 

 of the complete works of Harvey. The volume was 

 the Latin edition of 1766, edited for the College by 

 Mark Akenside, including in the first pages a life 



