Medical investigation in seventeenth century England — John Shaqi
Medical investigation in seventeenth century EnglandBodemer, Charles W.
History
Medical investigation in seventeenth century England
Bodemer, Charles W.
Boyle, Robert, 1627-1691; Embryology -- England -- History -- 17th century
Browne greatly admired Harvey's work on generation, considering it "that
excellent discourse ... So strongly erected upon the two great pillars
of truth, experience and solid reason."[27] Browne carried out a variety
of studies upon animals of all kinds, in them joining Sense unto Reason,
and "Experiment unto Speculation." Thus in his studies of generation, he
made observations and also performed certain simple chemical
experiments. Noting that "Naturall bodyes doe variously discover
themselves by congelation,"[28] Browne studied experimentally the
chemical properties of those substances providing the raw material of
development. He observed the effects of such agents as heat and cold,
oil, vinegar, and saltpeter upon eggs of various animals, recording such
facts as the following:
Of milk the whayish part, in eggs wee observe the white, will
totally freez, the yelk with the same degree of cold growe thick &
clammy like gumme of trees; butt the sperme or tredde hold its
former body, the white growing stiff that is nearest it.... Egges
seem to have their owne coagulum within themselves manifested in
the incrassations upon incubation.... Rotten egges will not bee
made hard by incubation or decoction, as being destitute of that
spiritt, or having the same vitiated.... How far the coagulating
principle operateth in generation is evident from eggs wch will
never incrassate without it. From the incrassation upon incubation
when heat diffuseth the coagulum, from the _chalaza_ or gallatine
wh. containeth 3 nodes, the head, heart, & liver.[29]
It cannot be said that Browne attained to any great generalizations
regarding embryogeny on the basis of his rather naive experiments, but
they are indicative of the effects of the "new learning" in one area of
biology. Actually, Browne appears more comfortable in the search for
patterns conforming to the quincunx, as in _The Garden of Cyrus_, and
although he may well have been in search of something like the later
Unity of Type, he uses his amassed details of scientific knowledge most
effectively in support of nonscientific propositions. Thus, he uses the
facts of embryonic development, alchemy, and insect metamorphosis as a
part of his argument for the immortality of the human soul:
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