Harvey, William, 1578-1657; Physicians -- England -- Biography
Harvey was so good a Latin scholar, and during his stay in Italy had
acquired such a perfect colloquial knowledge of the language that it is
clear he thought with equal facility in Latin or in English, so that it
is immaterial into which language he put his ideas. He uses therefore
many abbreviations, and whole sentences are written in a mixture of
Latin and English, which always sounds oddly to our unaccustomed ears,
and often seems comical. Thus, in speaking of the lungs and their
functions, he says, "Soe curst children by eager crying grow black and
suffocated _non deficiente animali facultate_," and in speaking of the
eyes and their uses, he says, "Oculi eodem loco, viz., Nobilissimi
supra et ante ad processus eminentes instar capitis in a Lobster ...
snayles cornubus tactu pro visu utuntur unde occuli as a Centinell to
the Army locis editis anterioribus." Sometimes he embodies an important
experimental observation in this jargon as in the example, "Exempto
corde, frogg scipp, eele crawle, dogg Ambulat."
The more important and original ideas throughout the notes are
initialled WH., and this seems to have been Harvey's constant practice,
for it occurs even in the books which he has read and annotated, whilst
to other parts of his notes he has appended the sign [Greek: D].
The lectures were partly read and partly oral, and we know from the
minute directions laid down by the Barber Surgeons Company the exact
manner in which they were given. The "Manual of Anatomy," published by
Alexander Reid in 1634, has a frontispiece showing that the method of
lecturing adopted in England was the same as that in use throughout
Europe. The body lay upon a table, and as the dissections were done in
sight of the audience, the dissecting instruments were close to it.
The lecturer, wearing the cap of his doctor's degree, sate opposite
the centre of the table holding in his hand a little wand[2] to
indicate the part he mentions, though in many cases the demonstration
was made by a second doctor of medicine known as the demonstrator,
whilst the lecturer read his remarks. At either end of the table was
an assistant--the Masters of the Anatomy--with scalpel in hand ready
to expose the different structures, and to clear up any points of
difficulty. The audience grouped themselves in the most advantageous
positions for seeing and hearing, though in some cases places were
assigned to them according to age and rank.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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