Harvey, William, 1578-1657; Physicians -- England -- Biography
"There are similar comparisons," says Sir George Paget, who analysed
these lectures, and published an account of the manuscript, "of the
brain with a military commander, the leader of an orchestra, an
architect, and the prius motor, and of the nerves and muscles with the
respective subordinate officers."
His treatise on the movement of the blood must have been passing
through the press at the time he gave these lectures, and the subject
of the circulation must therefore have been uppermost in his mind. He
compares the heart to the other organs thus:--
An WH. potius.
Cor, imperator, Rex. [Whether the heart should not rather be
considered as the Emperor or King,]
Cerebrum, Judex, Serjeant-Major, praepositi [whilst the brain is
the judge, serjeant-major, or monitor].
IV
THE ZENITH
Year by year Harvey continued to deliver the Lumleian lectures at the
College of Physicians and to attend his patients at St. Bartholomew's
Hospital. He soon obtained an important and fairly lucrative practice.
On the 3rd of February, 1618, he was appointed Physician Extraordinary
to James I. or in the language of the time, "The king, as a mark of
his singular favour, granted him leave to consult with his ordinary
physicians as to his Majesty's health," and at the same time he
promised him the post of a Physician in Ordinary as soon as one should
become vacant. This promise he was unable to fulfil, but it was
redeemed by his son Charles I., who appointed Harvey a Physician in
Ordinary in 1631 and remained his friend through life.
We can still obtain glimpses of Harvey's practice during the ten
years which preceded the issue in 1628 of his "Anatomical Essay on
the Movement of the Heart and Blood." Aubrey tells us that "he rode
on horseback with a footcloth to visit his patients, his man still
following on foot, as the fashion then was, which was very decent, now
quite discontinued. The judges rode also with their footclothes to
Westminster Hall, which ended at the death of Sir Robert Hyde, Lord
Chief Justice. Anthony, Earl of Shaftesbury, would have revived it, but
several of the judges being old and ill-horsemen would not agree to
it." The footcloth was originally a mark of dignity, and it is still
seen in its full splendour hanging over the backs of the horses in a
state pageant and in a debased form on those drawing the hearse at a
funeral.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account