HARVEY. 59 It is probable that Harvey was too much oc- || cupied in the pursuit of knowledge, too intent I upon making discoveries in the world of science, I to have cultivated the habit of quickly discrimi- I Bating ordinary diseases, or to have become very i| expert and ready in the employment of the re- [t sources and expedients of the practical art of me- dicine. That his business declined after the pub- ! lication of his doctrine of the circulation of the ' blood, he himself complained of, and ascribed to the opposition and jealousy of his rivals ; but it is more likely that the habits of abstract speculation in which he now began to indulge caused him to neglect the usual arts of gaining the confidence of the public, which if a physician once possess, he needs not the countenance, and may boldly set at defiance the envy, of his professional bre- thren. The example of Harvey may be regarded, therefore, as a splendid illustration of the truth of the opinion of a late celebrated physician, as de- clared in his posthumous work — " That the most successful treatment of patients depends upon tke exertion of sagacity or good common sense, guided by a competent professional knowledge." If anatomy alone were sufficient to make a great physician, who ever could have been put in com- petition with Harvey ?
