THE SEQUOIA 
Thomas Aquinas in the thirteenth, each the foremost scholar of 
his day. But naturally a wider and deeper knowledge of bio- 
logical phenomena was necessary before philosophical biology 
could have a strong foundation. Hence the philosophy of 
zoology dates from the awakening of science in the seventeenth 
century. 
From the time that the Big Tree was a mere seedling up to 
the time that it measured fully 13 feet in diameter, there was 
scarcely a single discovery in the field of natural science worthy 
of record. One event, however, which occurred when the tree 
measured only 12 inches in circumference is of some interest. 
Silk was one of the treasures obtained from the Far East. Its 
production was carried on solely by the Chinese, who jealously 
guarded the silkworms and their eggs. The story is that two 
monks travelling in China succeeded in smuggling some eggs out 
of the country by concealing them in a hollow cane, and brought 
them into Europe. In the warm climate of the south the eggs 
developed into strong healthy worms. From such a humble 
beginning arose the extensive silk industry of southern Europe. 
The stagnation of the study of anatomy for more than a 
thousand years was due to an extravagant admiration of Galen, 
over-confidence in his writings, and the failure of men to make 
observations for themselves, or to believe what they saw with 
their own eyes. Vesalius (born in 1514) was the first anatomist 
to assert independence, and to him is due the credit of laying 
the foundations of modern anatomy. Vesalius dissected the 
human body and accurately described what he found. He estab- 
lished a school of anatomy at Padua, and among his students was 
Fabricius, the teacher of Harvey, who startled the world in 1619 
with his discovery of the circulation of the blood. This discov- 
ery, which revolutionized the study of physiology, and gave new 
impetus to the study of anatomy, met with bitter opposition 
from the followers of Galen, but Harvey successfully defended 
himself. 
The opposition to Harvey set men to thinking, and investiga- 
tion began. All forms of life were studied with all available 
means. Harvey, from an investigation on the development of 
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