Page:The Harveian oration 1905.djvu/14

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THE HARVEIAN ORATION.

to the main events of his career, even though they be quite familiar to all present.

As regards the work which Harvey accomplished, his fame must always be pre-eminently associated with his great discovery of what is commonly spoken of as the "Circulation of the Blood," though his published treatise is really on the "Movements of the Heart and of the Blood." His activity as an observer and investigator ranged, however, over a far wider field than this, but it will suffice to mention his work on "Generation," which was the outcome of patient and extensive observations and experiments, and a work of conspicuous originality and interest; while it is well known that he put together materials under the heading, "Medical Observations and Pathology," no doubt of great practical value, and probably intended for publication, but which unfortunately were either destroyed or dispersed by the fury of a revolutionary mob, or consumed in the Fire of London. Assuming that I may speak on your behalf, I once more affirm that we implicitly and unhesitatingly believe in the absolute priority of Harvey's claim to the discovery of the circulation of the blood, a claim which has been amply and eloquently demonstrated and vindicated in this place by previous Harveian Orators, as well as by others elsewhere, both in speech and writing, who have a right to speak with unimpeachable authority. Its magnitude and far-reaching effects have been described in