45J: Proceedings of the Ohio State Academy of Science 



a French physician, in 1651 to show that the lacteals ended in 

 the thoracic duct which leads to the subclavian vein into which 

 it pours its contents which has been partially absorbed from 

 the intestine. The food thus received by the blood would at 

 once proceed to the heart and from there be sent all over the 

 body. If Pecquet had published his book thirty years before, 

 his discovery would have been received as an impossibility. 

 This simply shows what an influence the work of Harvey haJ 

 upon the minds of men. Another argument was brought for- 

 ward by Rudbeck in 1653 in publishing an account of another 

 set of vessels that did not carry blood nor chyle but a clear 

 watery fluid. These vessels are now called lymphatics. Rud- 

 beck showed that these vessels carried their contents away 

 from the tissues and toward the heart. 



The importance of Harvey's work was not so much that 

 the facts of the circulation of blood were made clear as it was 

 the great field that it opened up for future discovery. The 

 methods of experiment that Harvey used were a lesson for all 

 future generations. After all of Harvey's study and descrip- 

 tion he never saw the connection of the arteries to the veins 

 yet he said there must be a connection of some sort. This 

 connection was the result of a course of reasoning with him, 

 and it was left for Malpighi, after Harvey's death, to demon- 

 strate the capillaries. Harvey had no microscope by which 

 he could see them. He did all that was possible for him to 

 do with the limited facilities at his disposal. 



Many writers claim the honor for the discovery of the 

 circulation of blood belongs to other men before his time, such 

 as Servetus, Columbus, Caesalpinus and others. AVe have- 

 already discussed these men and their work and I think the 

 place that they occupy in this history is clear. It was sup- 

 posed that Sarpi made the discover}^ before Harvey and that 

 Harvey copied his work, but it was found later that Sarpi had 

 a chance to borrow a copy of Harvey's book and copied it 

 largely for his own work. This manuscript was found after 



