Harvey's Views on the Use of the Circulation of the Blood

chapter 10, Book XII, chapter 5, Kn. Vol. X. Commentaries on the

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Book on Nourishment of Hippocrates, Commentary III, chapters 8, 10, 23, Commentary IV, chapters 4, 6, Kn. Vol. XV. Commentaries on the Book on the Humors of Hippocrates, Commentary III, chapter 31, Kn. Vol. XVI. Commentaries on the Sixth Book of Hippocrates on Epidemic Diseases, Commentary VI, chapters 1-3, Kn. Vol. XVII, Pars II.

[147] For the views of Columbus see his book: De Re Anatomica, Lib. VI, VII, XI, cap. 1, 2, 4; XII and XIII.

[148] Columbus: De Re Anatomica, Lib. VII, 180, l. 1-6.

[149] Harvey: Prelectiones, 33 and 35 right; 74 and 75 left. On the Motion, etc., XVI, Syd. 73, l. 12-17 and l. 24-28; Op. Omn. 74, l. 15-19 and l. 24-28; Do., XVIII, Syd. 83, l. 9-27; Op. Omn. 84, l. 31 to 85, l. 14. On Generation, LIII, Syd. 392, l. 14 to 393, l. 5; Op. Omn. 409, l. 13 to 410, l. 5; Do., LX, Syd. 452, l. 20-28; Op. Omn. 472, l. 1-7. On Uterine Membranes and Humours, Syd. 568, l. 8-27; Op. Omn. 587, l. 19 to 588, l. 5.

[150] Harvey: On the Motion, etc., Syd. 32, l. 39 to 33, l. 31; Op. Omn. 34, l. 24 to 35, l. 19. In Galen's book, from which Harvey here quotes, the quoted passage is preceded by a corrected statement of the mechanics of the valves of the heart, and a declaration that their mechanics were unknown to Erasistratus. Then follow these words:--

"If this be so, O followers of Erasistratus, let us omit all else and consider only what is in controversy. As to the vena cava, which conveys blood from the liver into the heart, in which of two ways are its membranes [i.e. the segments of the tricuspid valve] inserted: do they extend from the interior [of the ventricle] outward, or contrariwise, from without inward? But perhaps this is of no great moment!"

The preceding words are immediately followed by the words quoted by Harvey. The context shows that the phrase "from without inward" indicates the true insertion of the "membranes" of the tricuspid valve, according to both Galen and the facts. Harvey himself refers his quotation from Galen to the treatise "On the Doctrines of Hippocrates and Plato, Book VI." It is from chapter 6 of that book. The Latin text quoted by Harvey, and that from which the quotation in this note has been translated, may be found in the Ninth Juntine Edition of Galen's works, consisting of Latin translations by various hands. This edition was published in Venice in 1625, three years before the publication of Harvey's treatise. The title of the edition is: Galeni Opera ex Nona Juntarum Editione, etc. Venetiis, apud Juntas, MDCXXV, Cum privilegiis. The passage quoted in this note is: "Prima classis," folio 264 D, l. 53-56. Harvey's quotation is: folio 264 D, l. 56 to folio 264 (verso) E, l. 3. The Greek text of the passage quoted in this note is to be found in Kn. Vol. V, 550, l. 9-15; Mül. 541, l. 4-9. The Greek text of Harvey's quotation is in Kn. Vol. V, 550, l. 15 to 551, l. 6; Mül. 541, l. 10 to 542, l. 2. The Latin rendering printed in the Juntine edition gives the true meaning of the Greek text, but in a rather lumbering fashion.

[151] The transit of the blood from the right to the left ventricle.

[152] The Galenic work entitled: "Is Blood Naturally Contained in the Arteries?" Kn. Vol. IV, 703-736.

[153] Harvey: On the Motion, etc., V, Syd. 32, l. 39 to 34, l. 22; Op. Omn. 32, l. 24 to 36, l. 15. The second Galenic passage above, which refers to the origin and contents of the arteries and to the aortic valves, is printed in italics and with quotation marks in the first edition of Harvey's treatise, and Harvey's own words regarding this passage seem to mean that it is a verbal quotation from Galen. But neither in Galen's treatise entitled "Is Blood Naturally Contained in the Arteries?" nor in the sixth book of his treatise On the Doctrines of Hippocrates and Plato, does more than the last part of this seeming quotation occur. The rest appears to be merely a sound statement by Harvey of Galenic doctrines, for which abundant authority can be found in the two treatises aforesaid. See especially for the origin of the arteries: On the Doctrines of Hippocrates and Plato, Book VI, chapter 3, Kn. Vol. V, 524, l. 13 to 525, l. 3; Mül. 512, l. 4-13; and for the contents of the arteries: