If Vesalius laid the foundations of modern human anatomy, Harvey created a new science - physiology, a science that studies the function of human and animal organs. I.P. Pavlov called Harvey the father of physiology. He said that the doctor William Harvey spied on one of the most important functions of the body - blood circulation and thereby laid the foundation for a new department of precise knowledge - animal physiology.
History shows that most discoveries have antecedents who prepare them. It is known that a discovery, like a chicken born from an egg, matures in several stages, and even a genius rarely manages to go through these stages alone. More often than not, one scientist discovers some fact that does not fit into existing ideas, another offers an explanation, and a third proves the validity of the hypothesis. These stages are equally important and necessary, but the last stage is usually visible. This happened when the blood circulation opened. The palm went not to the one who prepared the discovery, but to the one who formulated it.
The Spanish thinker and naturalist Miguel Servet, who expressed the idea of the existence of a pulmonary circulation in 1553, was accused of heresy in the same year and burned at the stake of the Inquisition in Geneva. This happened mainly due to theological disagreements with J. Calvin, who, for the same reasons, executed 50 people over the course of four years and exiled even more. Six years later, R.M. Colombo, who inherited the chair of Vesalius in Padua, put forward his theory of the pulmonary circulation and escaped punishment. But he received God's punishment - he died that same year.
Miguel Servetus was born in 1511 in Spain (Villanuevo in Aragon). He studied law and geography, first in Zaragoza, then in France, in Toulouse. For some time after graduating from university, Servetus served as secretary to the confessor of Emperor Charles V. While at the imperial court, he lived for a long time in Germany, where he met Martin Luther. This acquaintance aroused Servetus' interest in theology. Although Servetus was self-taught in this area, he nevertheless studied theology deeply enough that he did not agree with the teachings of the church fathers in everything. He did not hide his views, so he met with hostility from representatives of the clergy. At the age of only twenty years, he ventured to write a theological work in which he denied the dogma of the Holy Trinity.
Yielding to the persuasion of his friend, the court physician of the Prince of Lorraine, Servet thoroughly studied medicine in Paris. His teachers were, like Vesalius, Silvius and Gunther. Contemporaries said that it is hardly possible to find an equal to Servetus in knowledge of the teachings of Galen. Even among learned anatomists, Servetus was known as an excellent expert in anatomy.
After graduating from the Faculty of Medicine, Servet settled in the town of Charlier in the Loire Valley, where he began practicing medicine. But the fame of a heretic, like a shadow following on his heels, prevented him from leading the quiet life of a provincial doctor. The local priest, who enjoyed the support of the highest church authorities, began to persecute him at every turn. As a result, Servetus had to flee and hide in Lyon for some time.
Mysteriously, Servetus became the house physician of the Archbishop of Vienna, in whose palace he spent twelve quiet years, working on solving some issues of medicine and faith. Servetus used to send manuscripts of his works to Calvin. One day he once again sent Calvin his comments about his book on the organization of the Christian religion, and received in response a letter filled with anger and indignation.
Several years later, in 1553, Servetus secretly printed one thousand copies of the book “The Restoration of Christianity,” which he had previously kept in manuscript for seven years. The Catholic Church declared it heretical. Fleeing from persecution by the Inquisition, Servet fled from Vienna to Italy. On the way, he stops in Geneva, trying to find protection from Calvin. Naive and simple-minded, Servetus imagined that his dispute with Calvin on the topic of faith was of a purely theoretical nature and that Calvin would not transfer his anger to him personally. Before Servetus had time to settle down in Geneva, he was captured and imprisoned by order of Calvin. He was accused of denying the divinity of Christ, tried and, according to the verdict of the church court of Geneva, burned at the stake on October 27, 1553.
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In the book of Servetus there are statements dedicated to blood circulation in the lungs. It is difficult to establish how Servetus arrived at his idea. However, he gave a description of the pulmonary circulation, thus refuting Galen's theory about the passage of blood from the left half of the heart to the right through small holes in the atrial septum. Published in a theological treatise, which was also banned by the Inquisition, Servetus' discovery remained unknown to doctors. But is it for everyone? A few years after the death of Servetus, the pulmonary circulation was rediscovered by Real Colombo.
Colombo was born in 1516 in Cremona (Lombardy), studied in Venice and Padua. In 1540, he was appointed professor of surgery in Padua, but then this department was transferred to Vesalius, and Colombo was appointed his assistant. In 1546 he was invited as professor of anatomy to Pisa, and two years later Pope Paul IV appointed him professor of anatomy to Rome, where he worked until the end of his life (1559). Colombo's work "On Anatomy", where thoughts about the pulmonary circulation were expressed, was published in the year of his death.
William Harvey was familiar with Colombo's idea of the pulmonary circulation, absolutely identical to Servetus's; he himself writes about it in his work on the movement of the heart and blood. No one can say whether Harvey knew about Servetus’ work. Almost all copies of the book Restoring Christianity were burned.
Another predecessor of Harvey is the Italian Andrea Caesalpina (1519-1603), professor of anatomy and botany in Pisa, physician to Pope Clement VIII. In his books “Questions of the Doctrine of the Peripatetics” and “Medical Questions,” Caesalpinus, like Servetus and Colombo, described the transition of blood from the right half of the heart to the left through the lungs, but did not abandon Galen’s teaching about the leakage of blood through the septum of the heart. Caesalpinus was the first to use the expression “blood circulation,” but did not put into it the concept that was later given by Harvey.
William Harvey, the founder of modern physiology and embryology, was born on April 1, 1578 in the city of Folkestone, located on the southeast coast of England in Kent. His grandfather, John Harvey, raised sheep. Father - Thomas Harvey - maintained a postal station for communication with the center of the county - the city of Canterbury. By his second marriage, he and his wife Joana Hoke had nine children - seven sons and two daughters. In 1605, after the death of his second wife, Thomas Harvey left Folkestone and settled in London.
At less than eleven years old, William graduated from Johnson's private elementary school. Seeing his son's good academic progress, the father takes the boy to Canterbury Royal School to continue his education. The preparation at school was thorough. In high school they wrote essays in Latin in prose and verse. Schoolchildren were only allowed to speak to each other in Latin and Greek.
At the age of 15, William entered the University of Cambridge, where he began his medical education. The University of Cambridge, founded in the 13th century, consisted of a number of colleges, as did Oxford. On May 31, 1593, Harvey was accepted to study at Goville Cayuse College. Medical studies here were planned for six years. He did not finish his college education, the reason was his illness.
William decided to complete his education abroad. The University of Padua, founded at the beginning of the 13th century, was best suited for this purpose. The teaching of medicine began there in 1250, and in the 14th century the medical faculty was already well organized. For three centuries, this university was considered one of the best, if not the best, in Europe. Harvey went there at the end of 1599 - beginning of 1600.
In Padua, Harvey listened to lectures by Hieronymus Fabricius (1537-1619) of Acquapendente, a student of Gabriel Fallopius, who headed the department of anatomy after his teacher, and Galileo Galilei. It will soon be five years since the famous anatomist Fabricius lectured in the new anatomical theater built for him by order of the Venetian Senate. Fabricius spent twenty-five years studying the valves of veins in different parts of the body. Having studied in detail the structure of the organs of the human body, he did not take up their function, did not have time to do this. Under the threat of persecution by the inquisitors, he was forced to abandon scientific research forever in the prime of his strength and talent.
From the first days of his studies, Harvey became Fabrice's most diligent student. He did not miss a single one of his lectures, and during the lectures he caught every word. The whole atmosphere of Padua aroused interest in anatomy. Just half a century ago, the great Vesalius lived here and created his world-famous work.
In the spring of 1602, Harvey brilliantly conducted a doctoral disputation. He showed excellent knowledge on all the questions asked at the debate. After the debate, a vote took place. All the professors voted unanimously to award Harvey the degree of Doctor of Medicine.
At the very beginning of 1603, Harvey returned to England. His first concern was to obtain a doctorate in medicine in his homeland, from an English university. After receiving a second doctorate from Cambridge University, he decided to practice medicine in London. But this required a license, which was issued only after passing the exams. The exam was scheduled for May 4, 1603. Harvey answered all questions brilliantly and received a license giving him the right to practice in London and other cities of England.
But this was not enough for his irrepressible nature; he strives to become a permanent member of the College. On 7 August 1604, after passing three oral examinations and a fourth before the entire College, he was elected a candidate member of the Royal College of Physicians. His election as a member of the College of Physicians took place on June 5, 1607. Subsequently, he occupied the Department of Anatomy and Surgery at the College and worked there until his death.
At the age of 26, William achieved his initial goal. Now William could think about marriage. His bride was a modest, serious girl, Elizabeth Brown. Her father, Dr. Lancelot Brown, was physician to Queen Elizabeth and, after her death, to James I. Brown intercedes for his son-in-law to obtain a position as physician in the Tower. Despite authoritative support, Harvey's appointment to the Tower was denied.
From February 1609, Harvey served as junior and then chief physician at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London. Harvey worked at this hospital for over thirty years. It was founded in 1123 under Henry I. Previously, it was administered by the Catholic Augustinian order. Under Henry VIII, when he broke with the Vatican and liquidated all Catholic orders and monasteries in England, it was removed from the subordination of the church.
Harvey had many private patients, in whose treatment he used his own special techniques. Unlike most doctors of that time, he did not like complex multi-layered recipes, drugs consisting of a dozen or more components, although precisely such recipes had a special price in the eyes of the public. Practitioners bought prescriptions from pharmacists for their famous colleagues.
Harvey, like Hippocrates, placed his main hopes on the forces of nature, sought to create hygienic conditions for the patient, provide proper nutrition, and prescribed baths. His recipes were simple and contained only the basic active ingredients. Nowadays, this approach is recognized as correct. But then colleagues criticized Harvey for violating the principles of treatment. They did not approve of the fact that, relying on the forces of nature, he often adhered to wait-and-see tactics and expectation. Such doctors were called “wait-and-see doctors.”
Among Harvey's patients was the famous philosopher Francis Bacon, a man of irritable, melancholic and hysterical character. Not without reason, he reproached the doctors of his time for their penchant for scholastic reasoning and for neglecting the study and generalization of observations from their practice. Bacon recommended that doctors start compiling a collection of medical observations, descriptions of medical histories, discussing and classifying them. He owns the aphorism “All medical art consists of observations.” Bacon died of pneumonia. He caught a cold while filling tanks with snow while studying the effects of cold as a means of preserving meat.
In February 1618, William Harvey was invited to be his physician by James I, then Charles I, with whom he moved to Oxford for a short time. Upon returning to London, Harvey withdraws from public life in order to devote himself entirely to his research. The result was a description of the systemic and pulmonary circulation.
William Harvey came to the conclusion that a snake bite is dangerous only because the venom spreads through the vein from the site of the bite throughout the body. For English doctors, this insight became the starting point for reflection that led to the development of intravenous injections. It is possible, the doctors reasoned, to inject this or that medicine into a vein and thereby introduce it into the entire body. But German doctors took the next step in this direction by using a new surgical enema on humans (as intravenous injection was then called). The first injection experience was made by one of the most prominent surgeons of the second half of the 17th century, Mateus Gottfried Purman from Silesia. Czech scientist Pravac proposed an injection syringe. Before this, syringes were primitive, made from pig bladders, with wooden or copper spouts embedded in them. The first injection was performed in 1853 by English doctors.
After arriving from Padua, simultaneously with his practical medical activities, Harvey conducted systematic experimental studies of the structure and function of the heart and blood movement in animals. He first presented his thoughts in another Lumley lecture, which he gave in London on April 16, 1618, when he already had a large amount of observational and experimental material. Harvey briefly formulated his views by saying that blood moves in a circle. More precisely, in two circles: small - through the lungs and large - through the whole body. His theory was incomprehensible to listeners, it was so revolutionary, unusual and alien to traditional ideas. Harvey's Anatomical Inquiry into the Movement of the Heart and Blood in Animals appeared in 1628 and was published in Frankfurt am Main. In this study, Harvey refuted Galen's teaching about the movement of blood in the body, which had prevailed for 1500 years, and formulated new ideas about blood circulation.
Claudius Galen and all his followers believed that the bulk of the blood is contained in the veins and communicates through the ventricles of the heart, as well as through openings (“anastomoses”) in the vessels passing nearby. Despite the fact that all attempts by anatomists to find the holes in the septum of the heart indicated by Galen were in vain, Galen's authority was so great that his statement was usually not questioned. The Arab physician Ibn al-Nafiz (1210-1288) from Damascus, the Spanish physician M. Servetus, A. Vesalius, R. Colombo and others only partially corrected the shortcomings of Galen’s scheme, but the true meaning of the pulmonary circulation remained unclear until Harvey.
Of great importance for Harvey's research was the detailed description of the venous valves that direct the movement of blood to the heart, first given by his teacher Fabricius in 1574. The simplest and at the same time the most convincing proof of the existence of blood circulation, proposed by Harvey, was to calculate the amount of blood passing through the heart. Harvey showed that in half an hour the heart ejects an amount of blood equal to the weight of the animal. Such a large amount of moving blood can only be explained based on the concept of a closed circulatory system. Obviously, Galen's assumption about the continuous destruction of blood flowing to the periphery of the body could not be reconciled with this fact. Harvey received another proof of the fallacy of his views about the destruction of blood on the periphery of the body in his experiments of applying a bandage to the upper limbs of a person. These experiments showed that blood flows from arteries to veins. Harvey's research revealed the importance of the pulmonary circulation and established that the heart is a muscular sac equipped with valves, the contractions of which act as a pump forcing blood into the circulatory system.
Having refuted Galen's ideas, Harvey was criticized by contemporary scientists and the church. Opponents of the theory of blood circulation in England called its author the name “circulator”, which was offensive to a doctor. This Latin word translates as “wandering medicine man”, “charlatan”. They also called all supporters of the doctrine of blood circulation circulators. It is noteworthy that the Paris Medical Faculty also refused to recognize the fact of blood circulation in the human body. And this is 20 years after the discovery of blood circulation. The fight against Harvey was led by Jean Riolan the son (1577-1657).
In 1648, Riolan published the work “Manual of Anatomy and Pathology,” in which he criticized the doctrine of blood circulation. He did not reject it as a whole, but expressed so many objections that, in essence, he crossed out Harvey's discovery. Riolan personally sent his book to Harvey. The main feature of Riolan as a scientist was conservatism. He knew Harvey personally. As physician to Marie de' Medici, the French dowager queen, mother of Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I, Riolan came to London and lived there for some time. Harvey, as the king's personal physician, when visiting the palace, met with Riolan, demonstrated his experiments to him, but could not convince his Parisian colleague of anything.
Riolan's father was the head of all anatomists of his time. He, like his son, bore the name Jean. Father Riolan was born in 1539, in the village of Montdidier near Amiens, and studied in Paris. In 1574 he received the degree of doctor of medicine and in the same year the title of professor of anatomy. Then he was dean of the Paris Faculty of Medicine (in 1586-1587). Riolan the father was a famous scientist: in addition to medicine, he taught philosophy and foreign languages, left many works on metaphysics and the works of Hippocrates and Fernel; outlined the doctrine of fevers in “Tractatus de febribus” (1640). He died in 1605.
Jean Riolan son was born, studied and received his doctorate in medicine in Paris. Since 1613, he headed the department of anatomy and botany at the University of Paris, and was physician to Henry IV and Louis XIII. The fact that, as the first physician to Henry IV's wife Marie de' Medici, he followed the disgraced queen into exile, treated her for varicose veins and remained with her until her death, enduring countless hardships, speaks volumes about his spiritual qualities.
Riolan the son was an excellent anatomist. His main work, “Anthropographie” (1618), wonderfully describes human anatomy. He founded the "Royal Garden of Medicinal Herbs", a scientific institution, conceived in 1594 by Henry IV. Under the pseudonym Antarretus he wrote a number of polemical articles against Harvey. Through the efforts of this magnificent scientist, the outstanding physician Harvey was slandered at the faculty: “He who allows blood to circulate in the body has a weak mind.”
A devoted student of Riolan the son of Guy Patin (1602-1672), one of the luminaries of the then medicine, the physician of Louis XIV, wrote about Harvey’s discovery: “We are living through an era of incredible inventions, and I don’t even know if our people will believe descendants are aware of the possibility of such madness.” He called Harvey's discovery “paradoxical, useless, false, impossible, incomprehensible, absurd, harmful to human life,” etc.
Patan's parents prepared him to become a lawyer, and at worst they agreed to become a priest, but he chose literature, philosophy and medicine. In his immense zeal as an orthodox follower of Galen and Avicenna, he was very distrustful of the new means used in medicine in his time. Paten's reactionary attitude may not seem so wild if we remember how many victims the craze for antimonial drugs brought about. On the other hand, he welcomed bloodletting. Even infancy did not save from this dangerous procedure. “Not a day passes in Paris,” writes Patin, “when we do not prescribe bleeding from infants.”
“If medicines do not cure, then death comes to the rescue.” This is a typical reflection of the era when the satire of Molière and Boileau ridiculed the scholastic doctors, who, as they aptly put it, stood with their backs to the patient and their faces to the “holy scriptures.” For his conservatism that knows no bounds, Moliere ridiculed Guy Patin in “Malade imaginoire” (“The Imaginary Invalid”), showing him in the person of Doctor Diafuarus.
The famous French poet and critic Nicolas Boileau, called Depreo (Boileau-Despre?aux, 1636-1711), subjected the Paris Faculty to scathing criticism in “L’Arrêt burlesque” (“The Ridiculous Prohibition”), which, following Riolan, rejected blood circulation. But, of course, this was not why Louis XIV appointed Boileau as his court historiographer in 1677 at the same time as Racine...
For a long time, the Paris Faculty of Medicine was a hotbed of conservatism; it consolidated the authority of Galen and Avicenna by parliamentary decree, and deprived doctors who adhered to the new therapy of practice. The Faculty in 1667 banned blood transfusions from one person to another. When the king supported this saving innovation, the faculty went to court and won the case. Harvey found defenders. The first among them was Descartes, who spoke out in favor of blood circulation, and thereby greatly contributed to the triumph of Harvey’s ideas.
In the last years of his life, Harvey studied the individual development of animals. In 1651, his second treatise, “Research on the Origin of Animals,” was published, in which he first expressed the idea that “all living things come from eggs.” In the absence of a microscope, Harvey, naturally, could only guess about many essential patterns of embryonic development; it is not surprising that not all of his assumptions were confirmed later. However, he was the first to formulate the theory of epigenesis and established that the chicken embryo develops not from the yolk of a chicken egg, as Aristotle said, and not from the protein, as Fabricius believed, but from an embryonic circle, or spot, as Harvey called it.
Harvey expressed and substantiated the idea that animals during the period of embryonic development go through the stages of development of the animal world, that is, that ontogeny repeats phylogeny. However, in explaining the causes of embryonic development, Harvey adhered to vitalistic views. As a result of his comparative anatomical and embryological studies, Harvey first derived the well-known formula: “Ex ovo omnia” (“everything living” comes from the egg).
Only in the 20th century did it become known that Harvey had a predecessor. In 1572, the Dutch anatomist and physician Volcher Coiter (Coiter V., 1534-1576) gave a scientific description of the development of the chicken embryo, laying the foundation for the science of embryology.
In 1654, Harvey was unanimously elected president of the London College of Medicine, but declined the position for health reasons. Harvey continued to suffer from gouty pain. When they became unbearable and did not go away with a cold foot bath, he took opium tincture. In May 1657, he became so weak that the very thought of leaving the room seemed terrible to him.
Harvey died suddenly. In the morning, at about ten o'clock, June 3, 1657, he wanted to say something and discovered that his tongue was paralyzed. He immediately realized that this was the end. He made a sign to Sambrock, the apothecary from Blackfriars, to let him bleed from his tongue. But it did not help.
Harvey's body was transported from Rowehampton to London, to Cockayne House, where it was embalmed and, instead of a coffin, placed in a lead shroud that followed the outline of the body. Harvey was buried in the family crypt in the town of Hempstead (Essex), fifty miles northeast of London.
William Harvey (years of life - 1578-1657) - English physician and naturalist. He was born in Folkestone on April 1, 1578. His father was a successful merchant. William was the eldest son in the family, and therefore the main heir. However, unlike his brothers, William Harvey was completely indifferent to fabric prices. Biology did not immediately interest him, but he quickly realized that he was burdened by conversations with captains of chartered ships. Therefore, Harvey happily began studying at Canterbury College.
Below are portraits of such a great physician as William Harvey. These photos refer to different years of his life; the portraits were made by different artists. Unfortunately, cameras did not exist at that time, so we can only roughly imagine what W. Harvey looked like.
Period of study
In 1588, William Harvey, whose biography is still of interest to many today, entered the Royal School, located in Canterbury. Here he began to study Latin. In May 1593 he was admitted to Keyes College of the famous Cambridge University. He received a scholarship in the same year (it was established by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1572). Harvey devoted the first 3 years of his studies to “disciplines useful for a doctor.” These are classical languages (Greek and Latin), philosophy, rhetoric and mathematics. William was especially interested in philosophy. From his writings it is clear that Aristotle's natural philosophy had a very great influence on the development of William Harvey as a scientist.
For the next 3 years, William studied disciplines that relate directly to medicine. Studying at Cambridge at that time consisted mainly of reading and discussing the works of Galen, Hippocrates and other ancient authors. Sometimes anatomical demonstrations were given to students. The science teacher was required to conduct them every winter. Keyes College received permission to perform autopsies twice a year on the bodies of criminals who had been executed. Harvey received the title of bachelor in 1597. He left Cambridge in October 1599.
Journey
At the age of 20, burdened with the “truths” of medieval logic and natural philosophy, having become a fairly educated person, he still knew practically nothing. Harvey was attracted to natural sciences. Intuitively, he understood that it was they who would give scope to his sharp mind. As was the custom for young men of that time, William Harvey set out on a five-year journey. He wanted to strengthen himself in distant countries in his timid and vague inclination towards medicine. And William went first to France and then to Germany.
Visit to Padua
The exact date of William's first visit to Padua is unknown (some researchers place it in 1598), but in 1600 he was already the "headman" representative (elected position) of students from England at the University of Padua. At that time, the local medical school was at the height of its glory. Anatomical research flourished in Padua thanks to G. Fabrizius, a native of Acquapendente, who first occupied the department of surgery, and subsequently the departments of embryology and anatomy. Fabricius was a follower and student of G. Fallopius.
Introduction to the achievements of G. Fabrizius
When William Harvey arrived in Padua, G. Fabricius was already at a respectable age. Most of his works were written, although not all of them were published. His most significant work is “On Venous Valves.” It was published during Harvey's first year in Padua. However, Fabricius demonstrated these valves to students as early as 1578. Although he himself showed that the entrances to them are always open in the direction of the heart, he did not see a connection with blood circulation in this fact. Fabricius's work had a great influence on William Harvey, in particular on his books "On the Development of the Egg and Chick" (1619) and "On the Ripe Fruit" (1604).
Own experiments
William wondered what role these valves played. However, for a scientist, mere reflection is not enough. What was needed was experimentation and experience. And William began with an experiment on himself. Having bandaged his hand, he discovered that it soon became numb below the bandage, the skin darkened, and the veins swelled. Harvey then experimented on a dog, which he bound both legs with a cord. And again, the legs below the bandages began to swell, the veins swelled. When he cut a swollen vein in his leg, dark, thick blood dripped from the cut. Then Harvey cut a vein in the other leg, but now above the bandage. Not a single drop of blood came out. It is clear that the vein below the dressing is filled with blood, but there is no blood in it above the dressing. The conclusion suggested itself as to what this could mean. However, Harvey was in no hurry with him. As a researcher, he was very careful and carefully checked his observations and experiments, without rushing to draw conclusions.
Return to London, admission to practice
Harvey in 1602, on April 25, completed his education, becoming a doctor of medicine. He returned to London. The University of Cambridge recognized this degree, which, however, did not mean that William had the right to practice medicine. At that time, licenses for it were issued by the College of Physicians. In 1603, Harvey turned there. In the spring of the same year, he took exams and answered all the questions “quite satisfactorily.” He was allowed to practice until the next exam, which was to be taken in a year. Harvey appeared before the commission three times.
Working at St. Bartholomew's Hospital
In 1604, on October 5, he was accepted as a member of the College. And three years later, William became a full member. In 1609, he petitioned to be admitted as a physician to St. Bartholomew's Hospital. At that time, work in this hospital was considered very prestigious for a practicing physician, so Harvey supported his request with letters from the president of the College, as well as some of its members and even the king. The hospital management agreed to accept him as soon as there was free space. In 1690, on October 14, William was officially enrolled on her staff. He had to visit the hospital at least 2 times a week, examine patients and prescribe medications to them. Patients were sometimes sent to his home. William Harvey worked at this hospital for 20 years, despite the fact that his London private practice was constantly expanding. In addition, he continued his activities in the College of Physicians, and also carried out his own experimental research.
Speech at the Lamlian Readings
William Harvey was elected Warden of the College of Physicians in 1613. And in 1615 he began to act as a lecturer at the Lamlian readings. They were founded by Lord Lumley in 1581. The purpose of these readings was to improve the level of medical education in the city of London. All education at that time was reduced to the presence of autopsies on the bodies of criminals who were executed. These public autopsies were organized 4 times a year by the Society of Barber Surgeons and the College of Physicians. The lecturer speaking at the Lamlian readings had to give an hour-long lecture twice a week for a year so that students could complete a full course in surgery, anatomy and medicine in 6 years. William Harvey, whose contribution to biology was invaluable, performed this duty for 41 years. At the same time, he also spoke at the College. The British Museum today houses a manuscript of Harvey's notes for the lectures he gave on April 16, 17 and 18 in 1616. It's called "Lecture Notes on General Anatomy."
W. Harvey's theory of blood circulation
In Frankfurt in 1628, William's work "Anatomical Study of the Movement of the Heart and Blood in Animals" was published. In it, William Harvey first formulated his own theory of blood circulation, and also provided experimental evidence in its favor. The contribution he made to medicine was very important. William measured the total amount of blood, heart rate and systolic volume in the body of a sheep and proved that all the blood must pass through its heart in two minutes, and in 30 minutes an amount of blood equal in volume to the weight of the animal passes. This meant that, contrary to what Galen said about the flow of more and more portions of blood to the heart from the organs that produce it, it returns to the heart in a closed cycle. And the closure is ensured by capillaries - the smallest tubes connecting veins and arteries.
William becomes physician to Charles I
At the beginning of 1631, William Harvey became physician to Charles I. The king himself appreciated the contribution to science of this scientist. Charles I became interested in Harvey's research and placed the royal hunting grounds at Hampton Court and Windsor at the disposal of the scientist. Harvey used them to conduct his experiments. In May 1633, William accompanied the king on his visit to Scotland. It is possible that during his stay in Edinburgh he visited Bass Rock, where cormorants and other wild birds nested. Harvey at that time was interested in the problem of embryonic development in mammals and birds.
Moving to Oxford
In 1642, the Battle of Edgehill (an event in the English Civil War) took place. William Harvey went to Oxford to fetch the king. Here he again took up medical practice, and also continued his experiments and observations. Charles I appointed William Dean of Merton College in 1645. Oxford was besieged and taken by Cromwell's supporters in June 1646, and Harvey returned to London. Not much is known about the circumstances of his life and his activities over the next few years.
New works of Harvey
Harvey in 1646 published 2 anatomical essays in Cambridge: “Studies of the Circulation”. In 1651, his second fundamental work, entitled “Research on the Origin of Animals,” was also published. It summarized the results of Harvey's research, which he conducted over many years on the topic of embryonic development of vertebrate and invertebrate animals. He formulated the theory of epigenesis. The egg is the common origin of animals, as William Harvey argued. Subsequent contributions to science by other scientists have convincingly refuted this theory, according to which all living things come from eggs. However, for that time, Harvey's achievements were very important. A powerful impetus for the development of practical and theoretical obstetrics was the research in embryology carried out by William Harvey. His achievements ensured his fame not only during his lifetime, but also for many years after his death.
last years of life
Let us briefly describe the last years of the life of this scientist. William Harvey lived in London in his brother's house (or in the suburb of Roehampton) from 1654. He became president of the College of Physicians, but decided to decline this honorary elective position because he considered himself too old for it. In 1657, on June 3, William Harvey died in London. His contribution to biology is truly enormous, thanks to him medicine has greatly advanced.
HARVEY, Harvey William
HARVEY, Harvey William(Harvey William, 1578-1657) - English physician, physiologist and embryologist, one of the founders of scientific physiology and embryology. In 1597 he graduated from medicine. Faculty in Cambridge, and in 1602 the University of Padua (Italy) and received a diploma of Doctor of Medicine from the University of Padua.
Returning to England, he received a second diploma - Doctor of Medicine from the University of Cambridge. In London he was a professor at the Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Surgery, chief physician and surgeon at St. Bartholomew. Since 1607, member of the Royal College of Physicians.
W. Harvey refuted the hypothetical constructions created by his predecessors and discovered the basic laws of blood circulation. Having measured the value of the systolic volume, the frequency of heart contractions per unit time and the total amount of blood, he indicated: “in the whole body there is no more than 4 pounds of it, as I was convinced of this on a sheep.” Based on this, W. Harvey argued that the teaching of C. Galen, which had prevailed for 1500 years, according to which more and more new portions of blood flow to the heart from the organs that produce it (gastrointestinal tract and liver) so that for it to leave the heart through the veins and arteries irrevocably to all organs of the body, where it is completely consumed, is erroneous. He allowed the same blood to return to the heart through a closed cycle. W. Harvey explained the closed circle of blood circulation by the direct connection of arteries and veins through the smallest tubes; these tubes - capillaries - were discovered by M. Malpighi only four years after the death of W. Harvey. He was the first to attribute to the liver the role of a protective, barrier organ.
W. Harvey had developed ideas about the functions of the circulatory system by 1615, but his classic work “Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus” (“Anatomical study of the movement of the heart and blood in animals”) was published only in 1628 After its publication, W. Harvey was subjected to severe attacks and accusations from his contemporaries and the church for encroaching on the authority of ancient scientists and the religious-idealistic worldview that then dominated natural science. Assessing the significance of W. Harvey’s discoveries for the development of science, I. P. Pavlov wrote: “Harvey’s work is not only of rare value the fruit of his mind, but also a feat of his courage and selflessness.”
W. Harvey is rightly considered one of the founders and creators of modern embryology. In 1651, his second book was published - “Exercitationes de generatione animalium” (“Research on the generation of animals”). It summarized the results of many years of research into the embryonic development of invertebrates and vertebrates (birds and mammals) and concluded that “the egg is the common origin of all animals” (“Ex ovo omnia”). Not only oviparous animals, but also viviparous animals - mammals and humans - come from eggs. This statement of W. Harvey was truly a brilliant guess, since he could not yet know about the existence of the mammalian egg, discovered only 175 years later by Russian scientists. scientist K. M. Baer. W. Harvey came to the idea of a mammalian egg as a result of observations of the very early stages of an embryo covered with a chorion. The inability to use a microscope to study the early stages of embryo development was the reason for a number of incorrect conclusions by W. Harvey. However, the most important factual discoveries and some of W. Harvey’s ideas in this area have not lost their significance until recently. He refuted the idea of spontaneous generation, arguing that even the so-called. worm-bearing animals have eggs; finally established the place in the chicken egg where the formation of the embryo begins (the “scar” or cicatricula). W. Harvey was an opponent of the theory of preformationism (q.v.), believing that organisms develop from eggs “by adding parts that separate one after another,” and introduced the concept of epigenesis (q.v.). His research on mammalian embryology served as a major impetus for the development of theoretical and practical obstetrics.
Essays: Opera omnia, a Collegio Medicorum Londinensi edita, Londini, 1766; Anatomical study of the movement of the heart and blood in animals, trans. from Latin, ed., 2nd, Leningrad, 1948.
Bibliography: Bykov K. M. William Harvey and the discovery of blood circulation, M., 1957; Gutner N. History of the discovery of blood circulation, M., 1904; Pavlov I.P. Complete works, vol. 5, p. 279, vol. 6, p. 425, M.-L., 1952; Semenov G. M. The significance of William Harvey in the history of the study of ontogenesis of animals and humans, Tashkent, 1928; G a s-t i g 1 i o n i A. History of medicine, p. 515, N.Y., 1941; K e e 1 e K. D. William Harvey, L., 1965, bibliogr.; P a g e 1 W. a. W i n d e r M. Harvey and the “modern” concept of disease, Bull. Hist. Med., v. 42, p. 496, 1968, bibliogr.
Harvey(Harvey) William (04/01/1578, Folkestone 06/03/1657, London), English naturalist and physician. In 1588 he entered the Royal School in Canterbury, where he studied Latin. In May 1593 he was admitted to Keyes College, Cambridge University. Harvey devoted the first three years of his studies to the study of disciplines useful for a doctor - classical languages (Latin and Greek), rhetoric, philosophy and mathematics. He was especially interested in philosophy; From all of Harvey's subsequent works it is clear that Aristotle's natural philosophy had a huge influence on his development as a scientist. For the next three years, Harvey studied disciplines directly related to medicine. At that time at Cambridge this study consisted mainly of reading and discussing the works of Hippocrates, Galen and other ancient authors. Sometimes anatomical demonstrations were given; the science teacher was required to do this every winter, and Keyes College was authorized to perform autopsies on executed criminals twice a year. In 1597 Harvey received the title of bachelor, and in October 1599 he left Cambridge.
The exact date of his first visit to Padua is unknown, but in 1600 he already held the elected position of headman - the representative of English students at the University of Padua. The medical school in Padua was at the height of its glory at that time. On April 25, 1602, Harvey completed his education, received his doctorate in medicine and returned to London. On October 14, 1609, Harvey was officially admitted to the staff of the prestigious St. Bartholomew's Hospital. His duties included visiting the hospital at least twice a week, examining patients and prescribing medications. Sometimes patients were sent to his home. For twenty years Harvey acted as the hospital's physician, even as his private practice in London continually expanded. In addition, he worked at the College of Physicians and conducted his own experimental research. In 1613 Harvey was elected warden of the College of Physicians.
In 1628, Harvey's work Anatomical study on the movement of the heart and blood in animals (Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus) was published in Frankfurt. In it, he first formulated his theory of blood circulation and provided experimental evidence in its favor. By measuring the systolic volume, heart rate and total amount of blood in the body of a sheep, Harvey proved that in 2 minutes all the blood must pass through the heart, and within 30 minutes an amount of blood equal to the weight of the animal passes through it. It followed that, contrary to Galen’s statements about the flow of more and more new portions of blood to the heart from the organs that produce it, the blood returns to the heart in a closed cycle. The closure of the cycle is ensured by the smallest tubes - capillaries connecting arteries and veins.
At the beginning of 1631, Harvey became the physician of King Charles I. Interested in Harvey's research, Charles provided him with the royal hunting grounds in Windsor and Hampton Court for experiments. In May 1633 Harvey accompanied Charles I on his visit to Scotland. After the Battle of Edgehill in 1642 during the English Civil War, Harvey followed the king to Oxford. Here he resumed medical practice and continued observations and experiments. In 1645 the king appointed Harvey dean of Merton College. In June 1646, Oxford was besieged and taken by Cromwell's supporters, and Harvey returned to London.
Little is known about his activities and circumstances of life over the next few years. In 1646, Harvey published two anatomical essays in Cambridge, Exercitationes duae de circulatione sanguinis, and in 1651 his second fundamental work, Exercitationes de generatione animalium, was published. It summarized the results of Harvey's many years of research concerning the embryonic development of invertebrates and vertebrates, and formulated the theory of epigenesis. Harvey argued that the egg is the common origin of all animals and all living things come from the egg. Harvey's research in embryology served as a powerful stimulus for the development of theoretical and practical obstetrics.
From 1654 Harvey lived in his brother's house in London or in the suburb of Roehampton. He was elected president of the College of Physicians, but refused this honorary position, citing his advanced age.
Was born William Harvey(William Harvey, 1578-1657), English physician, anatomist, physiologist and embryologist, who created the doctrine of the circulatory system.
Harvey described the systemic and pulmonary circulation, proved that the heart is the active principle and center of blood circulation, and that the mass of blood contained in the body must return back to the heart. Harvey clarified the question of the direction of blood flow and the purpose of the heart valves, explained the true meaning of systole and diastole, showed that blood circulation provides tissues with nutrition, etc. He presented his theory in the famous book published in 1628 "Exercitatio Anatomica De Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus",
served as the basis for modern physiology and cardiology.
In the circulatory system described by Harvey, however, the most important link was missing - capillaries. It was replenished by an Italian biologist and doctor Marcello Malpighi(Marcello Malpighi, 1628-1694), who used a microscope to discover the smallest vessels connecting arteries and veins.
Unfortunately, many of the leading representatives of medical science reacted to the new discovery either coldly or sharply negatively. Almost another century and a half passed before doctors fully understood the significance of Harvey's research, and realized that many clinical signs, which until then were considered independent pathological entities, such as shortness of breath and dropsy, were associated with cardiac dysfunction.
BIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM HARVEY (1578 - 1657)
HARVEY, WILLIAM (Harvey, William, 1578-1657), English physician, anatomist, physiologist and embryologist.
Born on April 1, 1578 in Folkestone (Kent, England) in the family of a successful merchant. In 1588 he entered the Royal School in Canterbury, where he studied Latin. Since childhood, he was distinguished by a thirst for new knowledge and absolute indifference to commercial matters. Although William was the eldest son in the family and the main heir, he did not want to follow in his father’s footsteps and decided to connect his life with science and medicine.
In May 1593, William Harvey was admitted to Cambridge University College, and in the same year he received a scholarship in medicine, established back in 1572 by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Harvey devoted the first three years of his studies to the study of “disciplines useful to the physician” - classical languages (Latin and Greek), rhetoric, philosophy and mathematics. He was especially interested in philosophy. From all of Harvey's subsequent works it is clear that Aristotle's natural philosophy had a huge influence on his development as a scientist.
For the next three years, Harvey studied disciplines directly related to medicine. At that time at Cambridge this study consisted mainly of reading and discussing the works of Hippocrates, Galen and other ancient authors. Sometimes there were anatomical demonstrations. The science teacher was required to do this every winter, and the college was authorized to perform autopsies on executed criminals twice a year.
In 1597, Harvey received the title of bachelor, and in October 1599 he left Cambridge. According to the custom of schoolchildren of that time, Harvey sets off on a five-year journey, hoping to improve his knowledge of medicine in distant countries. First he went to France, then to Germany, but then, as many graduates of the medical faculty of Cambridge University did at that time, he went to Padua to further improve his education.
The exact date of his first visit to Padua is unknown, but in 1600 he already held the elected position of “headman” - the representative of English students at the University of Padua, and in 1602 he defended his doctorate.
Anatomical Theater of the University of Padua.
University of Padua (around 1537-1542)
The medical school in Padua was at the height of its glory at that time. Anatomical research flourished thanks to Fabrizia d'Acquapendente(Hieronymus Fabricius ab Acquapendente, 1537-1619), who first occupied the department of surgery, and then the department of anatomy and embryology. Fabricius was a student and follower Gabriel Fallopia(Gabriele Fallopio, 1523-1562).
When Harvey arrived in Padua, Fabricius was already an elderly man, most of his works had been written, although not all had been published. His most significant work, About venous valves
(De venarum ostiolis, 1603) with drawings of these valves, was published in the first year of Harvey's stay in Padua. But Fabricius demonstrated these valves to students back in 1578. Although the scientist himself showed that the entrances to them are always open in the direction of the heart, he did not see in this fact a connection with blood circulation, and did not understand their significance. For Fabricius, these anatomical formations seemed to be just a detail of the structure of the veins.
The work of Fabricius had an undoubted influence on Harvey, as did his books About the ripe fruit
(De formato foetu, 1604) and About the development of the egg and chick
(De formatione ovi et pulli, 1619).
Monument to Fabrizio d'Acquapendente in Padua.
William Harvey pondered the role of the valves opened by the teacher. But thinking alone is not enough for a scientist. We need experience, experiment. And Harvey began with experimentation on himself. Having tightly bandaged his hand, he saw how the hand below the bandage soon became numb, the veins swelled, and the skin darkened. Then Harvey performed an experiment on a dog. He tied both her paws with string. And again, below the bandages, the paws began to swell and the veins began to swell. When the bulging vein in one paw was cut, thick, dark blood dripped from the cut. The vein was then cut on the other leg, but above the bandage. Not a single drop of blood came out of the cut.
It is clear that below the ligation the vein is filled with blood, but above the ligation there is no blood in it. What could this mean? The answer suggested itself, but Harvey was in no hurry to answer it. He was a very careful researcher and checked his experiments and observations many times, without rushing to conclusions
Harvey's experiments, reproduced by him in his famous book
"Exercitatio Anatomica De Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus".
On April 25, 1602, William Harvey successfully completed his education, received the degree of Doctor of Medicine and then returned to London. The degree he received was recognized by the University of Cambridge, but this did not mean that Harvey could practice medicine. The license was issued by the College of Physicians, where William Harvey applied in 1603. He took the exams in the spring of that year, and “since he answered all the questions quite satisfactorily,” he was allowed to practice until the next exam, which was to take place a year later. Harvey appeared before the examiners three times and on October 5, 1604 he was admitted to the College.
In 1607 he became a full member of the College of Physicians, and two years later he applied to be admitted as a physician to St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Work in this hospital was considered very prestigious for a practicing physician, so Harvey supported his request with letters from the president of the College and its other members, and even the king himself. The hospital management agreed to hire him for this position as soon as a position became available. On October 14, 1609, Harvey was officially admitted to the staff. His duties included visiting the hospital at least twice a week, examining patients and prescribing medications. Sometimes patients were sent to his home. For twenty years, William Harvey acted as the hospital's acting physician, even as his personal private practice in London continually expanded. In addition, he worked at the College of Physicians and conducted his own experimental research.
Being the holder of diplomas from two universities, Harvey quickly became a fashionable doctor in London, and, in addition, he managed to marry very profitably and successfully. He practiced with all his might in the noblest families of England, and his friendship with Francis Bacon helped him get the position of “extraordinary physician” of King James I. In 1623, he was appointed court physician. Young Charles I also inherited Harvey's favor. In 1625, Harvey became an honorary physician at his court.
But Harvey is more interested in science. He dissects various animals, most often cats, dogs, calves. The scientist also dissects human corpses: the prohibition on dissecting corpses no longer existed. And every time he examined the veins and arteries, cut the heart, studied the ventricles and atria. Every year Harvey understood the network of blood vessels better and better, the structure of the heart ceased to be a mystery to him.
In 1613 Harvey was elected warden of the London College of Physicians, and two years later he became professor of anatomy and surgery at the same college. From 1615 he also became a regular lecturer at the Lamlian Readings. These readings were established in 1581 by Lord Lumley with the aim of improving the standard of medical education in London. At that time, all education boiled down to attending public autopsies of executed criminals, which were organized four times a year by the College of Physicians and the Society of Barber Surgeons. At the Lamlian readings, the lecturer was required to give an hour-long lecture twice a week throughout the year, so that in six years the students would complete a full course of anatomy, surgery and medicine. Harvey served in this capacity for forty-one years. At the same time, he lectured on anatomy at college. Manuscript of his notes for lectures dated 16, 17 and 18 April 1616 entitled Lecture notes on general anatomy
(Prelectiones Anatomiae Universalis) is kept in the British Museum.
Ideas about blood circulation before the discovery of William Harvey.
Before William Harvey created his doctrine of blood circulation, medicine was dominated by the cult for almost one and a half thousand years. Galena of Pergamon(ca. 130 - 201 AD), apparently the longest and most reactionary cult in the history of science.
Galen(Galenus) - one of the most famous Roman doctors and naturalists. Often Galen, in the Latinized form, is called Claudius Galenus, which, however, is considered erroneous. Being of Greek origin, Galen was born in Pergamon, an important center of Hellenistic culture in Asia Minor, located 75 km north of Smyrna (modern Izmir). At the age of 15, Galen began studying philosophy, but already at 18 he became seriously involved in medicine. Among his teachers were several outstanding Greek physicians of that time - Satyr, Fician, Stratonicus. In 150 he wrote a philosophical treatise About medical experience
, which survives in Arabic translation.
After receiving his initial medical training in Smyrna, he went to study anatomy with the followers of Herophilus and Erasistratus in Alexandria, the main center of Greek science and medicine, where the practice of dissecting human corpses began under the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty c. 300 BC
For some time, Galen worked in Alexandria, improving his knowledge of medicine and paying special attention to the study of the human skeleton.
After returning to Pergamon in 157, he became a physician to gladiators and athletes. He gained extensive experience in practical medicine and surgery and began conducting physiological experiments. Around 159, while conducting experiments on pigs, Galen discovered the functions of the nerves that control the voice: for example, by tightening or loosening ligatures, he could regulate the activity of these nerves. Around the same time, he studied the complex structure and functions of the muscles involved in breathing.
In 162, already having a solid reputation, Galen left Pergamon to work in Rome. Galen was an extremely successful practicing physician; he often undertook to treat those patients whom other doctors rejected as hopeless. He had many students, performed dissections and experimented. We know of several famous patients of his in Rome. Among them were Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Roman praetor and future governor of Palestine.
Four years later, Galen travels to Greece (such trips are typical of that era) and, for unclear reasons, again remains in Pergamon. However, when a plague epidemic began among the troops in Aquileia in 168, the emperor sent for Galen. He arrives immediately and then returns to Rome with the emperor as the personal physician of his eleven-year-old son and heir Commodus. So from 169 he became the court physician (archiatr) of the Roman emperors.
Judging by Galen's scientific works, the next six years were the most productive of his life. Responsibilities at court did not take up much time, and he was free to study with students, visit patients, and conduct experiments and dissections. In 175, Commodus went to the East, where his father was then, and Galen maintained a constant and very successful practice in Rome. Three years later, Emperor Marcus Aurelius died, and Commodus was killed in 192. Galen wisely returns to Pergamum.
There he completed his last great work and compiled a catalog of his own works. This is the most valuable source of data about his life, and is often considered one of the first autobiographies known in literature; in any case, this is undoubtedly the first autobiography of a doctor. Galen died in Rome or Pergamum ca. 200 g.
The collected works of Galen that have survived to our time exceed in volume all the medical works written before him. For us they are the main source of information on ancient medicine. Most of the works of that era, with the exception of those that survived under the name of Hippocrates, have been lost. And medical works written after Galen are mostly based on his works, or are simply repetitions or compilations of them. Usually his works are referred to by a single “modern” edition, which claims to be relatively complete. This is a publication by K. Kühn (1754-1840) in 22 volumes, published in 1821-1833. It includes 122 individual works. After the publication of this edition, a number of Galen's works were discovered. Many of his works have been completely lost; some have come down to us only in Arabic translations made in the 9th or 10th centuries.
Both in the East and in the West, Galen was considered an indisputable authority almost until the 16th century. Without a doubt, his writings significantly influenced the development of medicine. His huge work was especially authoritative in the Middle Ages Method of healing
(De methodo medendi), also known as Great Science
(lat. Ars magna, Greek " Mega techne"), which existed in several shortened versions. It was this, in a more or less vulgarized form, that formed the basis of the education of medieval doctors.
However, starting from the 17th century, this book had almost no influence on medicine.
Books on anatomy and physiology contain extensive factual material and are closest to science in spirit. They also had the greatest influence: translated into Latin and published in the 16th century, these works became the basis for the development of modern scientific medicine. Many terms in modern medical language directly go back to Galen or to the Latin translations of his works. Other works are devoted to pathology, hygiene, issues of dietetics and therapy, and pharmacology. There are commentaries on the works of Hippocrates, polemical works on medicine, works on philosophy, logic and philology. Many of his medical writings were of great importance in the Middle Ages, but only books on anatomy, physiology, hygiene and pathology contributed to the development of modern medicine.
Galen enjoyed the greatest medical authority in the ancient world after Hippocrates, and in his time he was truly a pioneer in the study of the physiology of the circulatory system. He studied in detail the purpose and mechanism of breathing and predicted that someday it would undoubtedly be possible to recognize that component of the air that a person breathes and which is the essence of “pneuma” and on which both combustion and respiration are based.
Galen paid great attention to palpitations and irregular heart activity. He studied the influence of gender, age, climate, sleep, hot and cold baths on the rhythm of the pulse and in labor Ars sphygmica
cited 27 types of pulse. He regarded an increase in heart rate as a more reliable sign of an increase in temperature than detecting fever by touch.
An experienced surgeon, Galen, declared anatomy to be the foundation of surgery. He proposed a method for obtaining medicines by mechanical and chemical processing of natural raw materials and extracting active ingredients from them. Paracelsus later called these drugs “galenic.” Galenic preparations include tinctures, extracts, syrups, liniments, waters, oils, alcohols, plasters, mustard plasters. They differ from new galenic preparations in a lower degree of purification from ballast substances.
In his writings, Galen mentions the coronary arteries, about which representatives of the Alexandrian school already had information. He was the first to describe arterial aneurysms and cited the observation of purulent pericarditis in animals, suggesting its presence in humans as well. Through experimental work, he proved the pumping function of the heart and showed that the heart, removed from the chest, continues to pulsate regardless of the nervous system. Based on this, he came to the conclusion that the impulse to contract arises in the heart itself.
However, regarding circulation, he put forward a fantastic hypothesis, which was considered dogma for almost one and a half thousand years in the medical world. Galen taught that blood is formed in the liver from food taken and from there passes through the inferior vena cava to the right side of the heart, where it is cleansed of impurities, which are then excreted through the lungs. The blood purified in this way is distributed through the venous system and enters individual organs.
At the same time, Galen argued that part of the blood penetrates from the right ventricle into the left through invisible pores, thus passing into contact with the air entering through the pulmonary veins
. This “pneuma”, or “spiritus vitalis”, was distributed, according to Galen, in the body through the arterial system. The nature of this pneuma should have simultaneously explain why, when opened, the arteries do not seem to contain blood.
Throughout the Middle Ages, it was believed, just as Hippocrates, Galen and Aresius believed, that the heart cannot be sick. The prevailing idea was that any heart disease was incurable, incompatible with further life and immediately entailed death. Galen's views, including erroneous ones, were canonized by the church (so-called Galenism) and reigned supreme in medieval and Arab medicine until the 15th-16th centuries.
One of the first and more significant steps forward in the field of knowledge about the circulatory organs, since ancient times, was made by an anatomist from Bologna Mondino dei Luzzi(Mondino dei Luzzi, ca. 1275-1327), who wrote the first manual of anatomy for the needs of medical practice, based, in contrast to Galen, at least in part, on dissections of human corpses ( Anatomica,
1316). Although he had already given some indications that blood from the heart enters the lungs, however, he was not yet able to abandon the dominant views of Galen on blood circulation.
Important information was obtained only during the Renaissance, along with the development of anatomy, although for a long time in universities, according to tradition, the teachings of Galen were adhered to and scholasticism dominated. Despite this, some brave and free-thinking scientists began to engage in research and oppose experience to dogma. Two remarkable events in the 15th century were of great importance for the development of medicine. This includes, first of all, the bull of Pope Sixtus IV at the end of the 15th century, which allowed dissection of human corpses, which made it possible to study human anatomy. The second is Guttenberg’s invention of a method of printing books, thanks to which scientific knowledge could be spread.
In the history of anatomy and physiology of the heart, one cannot fail to mention Leonardo da Vinci(Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519). He described all four cardiac cavities, while Galen attributed only two ventricles to the heart. He regarded systole as the most important phase of the cardiac cycle, more important than diastole. He was the first to express doubts about Galen's views. Inflating the lungs with air, he established that air from the bronchi cannot be driven into the heart by any effort. On this basis, he came to the conclusion that arteriae venosae- i.e. through the pulmonary veins, in our concept, air does not enter the heart, as was commonly believed until that time.
Leonardo da Vinci (Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519).
Self-portrait.
From the accurate and visual drawings of the heart and blood vessels left by Leonardo, and from the accompanying notes, it is clear that, for his time, he had an extremely accurate understanding of the anatomy of the heart and blood circulation.
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However, only Andrey Vesalius(Vesalius, Andreas, 1514-1564) fully realized that Galen's anatomy was based on observations made on animals, especially monkeys. He began to systematically perform autopsies on human corpses and published the first complete textbook of human anatomy - About the structure of the human body(De Humani Corporis Fabrica, Basel, 1543 ) , in which he provided new information, including about the heart. He was the first to describe an aortic aneurysm without suggesting its relationship with syphilis. In the second edition of his work (1555), he raised objections to the doctrine of the existence of invisible holes in the interventricular septum and expressed the judgment that blood cannot pass directly from the right ventricle to the left.
Andrei Vesalius (Vesalius, Andreas, 1514-1564).
Already before this Spaniard Miguel Servet(Miguel Serveto, ca. 1509-1553), physician and theologian, in a treatise “Christianismi Restitutio” provided clear evidence of the existence of pulmonary circulation, which, by the way, was already known in 1290 to an Arab doctor in Damascus Ibn an-Nafis al-Qwarazi(Ibn an Nafis al Qurasi). Servetus' discovery did not attract the attention of medical circles, since it was presented in a theological work, which was declared heretical and survived only in three copies. The rest, together with the author - an opponent of Calvin's teachings - were burned at the stake.
Miguel Serveto (ca. 1509-1553).
Ibn an Nafis al Quarasi.
It is not known whether Servetus was familiar with the discovery R. Colombo(Matteo Realdo Colombo, 1516-1559) from Cremona, successor of Vesalius in Padua, who described the pulmonary circulation several years later in his work “De Re Anatomica libri XV” , published after his death (1559).
Jacopo Berengario da Carpi(Jacopo Berengario da Carpi, 1470-1550) described heart valves (1552).
J. Canano(Giambattista Canano, 1515-1579) drew attention to the fact that blood in the veins moves centripetally and described venous valves (1540). The latter have already been mentioned Theodorite(Theodoretus, 5th century AD), bishop in Syria; and then Vesalius’ teacher J. Sylvius (Jacobus Syivius, 1478-1555), who described the oval hole in the heart of the fetus; as well as Vesalius himself.
Fabricius d'Acquapendente(Hieronymus Fabricius ab Acquapendente, 1537-1619), teacher of William Harvey, wrote a review of venous valves and attached to it a graphic representation of the valves ( De venarum ostiolis, 1603).
Arantius (Giulio Cesare Aranzio, 1530-1589) discovered the connection of the umbilical vein in the fetus with the inferior vena cava, named after his name ductus venosus Arantii, and the ductus arteriosus connecting the aorta to the pulmonary artery, undeservedly named after Leonardo Botalli. ductus arteriosus Botalli.
Of William Harvey's predecessors, the greatest success in the study of blood circulation was achieved by A. Cesalpino(Andreas Cesalpino, c. 1519-1603), who introduced the name circulation .
A. Cesalpino (Andreas Cesalpino, around 1519-1603).
He considered the heart as the center of blood movement and pointed to the centripetal flow of blood in the veins. He described in detail the heart valves, the pulmonary circulation, noted differences in the structure of the pulmonary arteries and veins, similar to the differences in the structure of the systemic arteries and veins, but he did not yet have a clear idea of the systemic circulation. Cesalpino discovered the connection between the portal and inferior vena cava, described the connection between the dilation of the arteries and the contraction of the heart, and drew attention to the question of the possible existence of communication between the arteries and veins ( Questionum medicarum libri II , 1593).
Monument to A. Cesalpino in Pisa.
Gabriele Fallopio (1523-1562) corrected Vesalius's description of the cerebral arteries and described the nerve plexus in the heart.
A. Piccolomini (Arcangelo Piccolomini, 1525-1586) described the fetal heart, mentioning the foramen ovale. In addition, he correctly described the arrangement of valves in the jugular veins and in the veins of the extremities, designed to prevent the flow of blood back when changing position.
But only William Harvey found the courage and strength to completely deviate from the prevailing view in science and become the herald of a new teaching and defend it even at the cost of personal sacrifice.
The great discovery of William Harvey.
There are truths that today, from the heights of our knowledge, seem completely obvious, and it is difficult to even imagine that there was a time when people did not know them, but, having discovered them, still argued about something. One of these truths is systemic circulation in living organisms
- was born especially painfully and difficultly. During the one and a half thousand years of the dominance of the cult of Galen in medicine, obviously the longest and most reactionary cult in the history of science, people believed that arterial and venous blood - liquids - were different, and since the first “carries movement, warmth and life”,
then the second one is called “nourish the organs”.
In 1616, during his lecture at the Lamlyan Readings, William Harvey first expressed the belief that the blood in the human body circulates continuously, or as he put it - "circulates".
At this lecture he gave an account of his painstaking anatomical research, which completely convinced him that the blood in the blood vessels is in continuous movement, always in the same direction, and that the central point of circulation is the heart. Thus, Harvey refuted Galen's theory that the center of blood circulation is the liver.
About fifteen years have passed since the day when the young doctor watched his bandaged hand swell. The mystery of the path of blood in the body has been solved. Harvey outlined the blood circulation pattern. But, having talked about his discovery at a lecture, he refused to publish it.
The cautious scientist began numerous new experiments and observations, which he conducted over the next ten years. He was thorough and unhurried, and only in 1628, when Harvey was already fifty years old, not at home in England, but in distant Frankfurt, his "Anatomical study on the movement of the heart and blood in animals"
(Exercitatio Anatomica De Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus). A thin book of only 72 pages made him immortal.
"Exercitatio Anatomica De Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus".
In this book, Harvey accurately described the work of the heart and distinguished between the pulmonary and systemic circulation. He wrote that during the contraction of the heart, blood from the left ventricle enters the aorta, and from there, through vessels of smaller and smaller cross-sections, it reaches all corners of the body. By measuring the systolic volume, heart rate and total amount of blood in the body of a sheep, Harvey proved that in 2 minutes all the blood must pass through the heart, and within 30 minutes an amount of blood equal to the weight of the animal passes through it. It followed that, contrary to Galen’s statements about the flow of more and more new portions of blood to the heart from the organs that produce it, the blood returns to the heart in a closed cycle.
Harvey believed that the heart is a powerful muscular sac divided into several chambers. It acts like a pump that forces blood into the vessels (arteries). Heart beats are successive contractions of its parts: atria, ventricles; these are external signs of the “pump” working. Blood moves in circles, always returning to the heart, and there are two of these circles. In a large circle, blood moves from the heart to the head, to the surface of the body, to all its organs. In the small circle, blood moves between the heart and lungs. There is no air in the vessels; they are filled with blood. The general path of blood: from the right atrium to the right ventricle, from there to the lungs, from them to the left atrium. This is the small circle of blood circulation. It was discovered by Servetus, but Harvey did not know this: after all, Servetus’ book was burned.
Blood leaves the left ventricle along the systemic circuit. First, through large, then through increasingly smaller arteries, it flows to all organs, to the surface of the body. The blood makes its way back to the heart (to the right atrium) through the veins. Both in the heart and in the vessels, blood moves only in one direction: the valves of the heart do not allow reverse flow, the valves in the veins open the path only towards the heart.
Along with this, Harvey proved that the heart beats rhythmically as long as there is life in the body, and after each contraction of the heart there is a short break in its work, during which this important organ rests.
How is the closedness of the cycle ensured, i.e. How blood gets from the arteries to the veins, Harvey did not know - without a microscope you cannot trace the path of blood in the capillaries. But for Harvey it was clear that the transition of blood from arteries to veins should be sought where the smallest branches of the arteries and veins are located, and he was convinced of this. Harvey's assumptions were proven correct. Marchetti(Domenico de Marchetti, 1616-1688), showing the existence of communication between the smallest branches of arteries and veins through vascular injection (1652). Capillaries were discovered in 1661, 4 years after Harvey's death, by an Italian biologist and doctor Marcello Malpighi(Marcello Malpighi, 1628-1694).
Marcello Malpighi (Marcello Malpighi, 1628-1694).
Harvey also did not know the role of the lungs. In his time, not only did they have no idea about gas exchange, but the composition of the air was also unknown. Harvey only argued that in the lungs the blood cools and changes its composition.
The reasoning and evidence given in William Harvey's book were very convincing. And yet his views were met with hostility, and critical attacks on Harvey rained down from all sides, since the authority of Galen and other ancient sages was still too great. Among Harvey's opponents were prominent scientists and many medical practitioners. One of the first to subject Harvey to derogatory criticism was the “king of anatomists,” the personal physician of Marie de Medici, J. Riolan. He stated that he preferred to “wander” with Galen than to “circulate” with Harvey. Riolan was followed by severe criticism from Guy Patin, but Moliere took revenge on him for Harvey, ridiculing him in his “Imaginary Invalid”. Paten was supported by Goffman, Ceradini, and others - there were much more opponents than pages in Harvey's book. “Better are the mistakes of Galen than the truths of Harvey!” - that was their battle cry.
Since Harvey considered the problem of blood circulation, or in Latin - circulation sanquinis- his opponents nicknamed Harvey - “ circulator" The nickname is very offensive, since in Latin it means - charlatan, deceiver. Patients, induced by the hype around Harvey's name, refused his services. Colleagues, considering Harvey a good anatomist, did not trust him as a practicing doctor. Anonymous letters branding Harvey reached the king, but, to the credit of Charles I, he did not believe the slander and even allowed his physician to catch fallow deer in Windsor Park for experiments in embryology.
William Harvey had to endure many more troubles, but then his teachings began to be taken into account more and more. Young doctors and physiologists followed Harvey, and the scientist, at the end of his life, waited for his discovery to be recognized. Medicine and physiology have entered a new, truly scientific path. Harvey's discovery created a radical change in the development of medical science. Under Harvey's influence, a period of individual observations began at the patient's bedside and more detailed studies on the dissecting table. They stopped strictly adhering to dogma and began to think logically, relying on the laws of nature and recognizing experience as the only source of knowledge. The progress of medical research, awakened during the Renaissance, was greatly facilitated by the rapid development of the natural sciences.
Step by step, the essence and purpose of circulation was revealed. Harvey himself was never able to get rid of the classical ideas that breathing is intended to “cool the burning heart,” although some scientists have already refuted this. Van Helmont(Jean Baptiste van Helmont, 1577-1644) came to the conclusion that the essence of the changes that occur in the body during various diseases are chemical processes. Borelli(Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, 1608-1679) by measuring the temperature of animals, established that the temperature of the heart is the same as that of other internal organs. In doing so, he refuted the thousand-year-old teaching that the heart is the seat of vital heat and must be cooled and ventilated to protect against overheating.
And yet, the example of William Harvey clearly shows that dissenters have always been intolerant. The Spanish doctor Miguel Servet devoted only a few pages to blood circulation in his essay: he described the pulmonary circulation he discovered. In the same 1553, the churchmen burned him as an “apostate” along with the “heretical” book he had written, and only three copies of the book did not end up in the Protestant bonfire, which incinerated its author in Geneva. Truly, those who through their research prepared a correct understanding of the role of the blood circulation circles have gone through the seven circles of hell. There were several of them, these courageous pioneers, to whom people erected monuments: in Madrid - to Miguel Servetus, in Bologna - Carlo Ruini, in Pisa - Andrea Cesalpino, in England - to William Harvey - the one who put the last point in the fight against the cult of Galen.
The further fate of William Harvey.
At the beginning of 1631, Harvey became the physician of King Charles I. Interested in Harvey's research, Charles placed at his disposal the royal hunting grounds in Windsor and Hampton Court to conduct experiments on animals captured especially for Harvey.
Court duties often took Harvey away from his professional activities. So, in 1630-1631. he accompanied Duke Lewnox on a trip to the mainland. In May 1633, the court of Charles I left for Edinburgh (Scotland). It may have been while the court was in Edinburgh that Harvey visited Bass Rock, a nesting site for cormorants and other wild birds. At that time he was interested in the problem of embryonic development of birds and mammals. In 1636, Harvey was in the retinue of Count Arondel, sent by Charles I as ambassador to Germany.
During the English Revolution of 1642, he was forced to accompany Charles I into exile. A crowd of pogromists, incited by Harvey's personal enemies, robbed and burned his house in London as belonging to a royalist, as a result of which, in particular, collections of drugs and a manuscript on pathological anatomy were destroyed. After the Battle of Edgehill in 1642 during the English Civil War, Harvey followed the king to Oxford. Here he resumed medical practice and continued observations and experiments. Oxford became the main seat of the royal court for a time.
In 1645 the king appointed Harvey dean of Merton College. In June 1646, Oxford was besieged and taken by parliamentary troops and Cromwell's supporters, so Harvey was forced to return to London. Here he built a house for the London College of Physicians, in which a library was located, and meetings of the society took place. Harvey also donated a collection of drugs, instruments and books to this institution.
In 1646 Harvey published an anatomical essay in Cambridge Circulation studies
(Exercitationes duae de circulatione sanguinis), in which he once again returned to the defense of his teachings. Harvey's private discoveries in the field of blood circulation include the description he made at that time of the rupture of the wall of the left ventricle due to thrombosis of calcified coronary arteries.
However, the refined secular doctor had to turn into a modest and quiet man of science, who devoted the rest of his life to research in the field of embryology. Harvey first conducted research on chicken eggs, of which he used so many that, according to his cook, there could be enough of them to scramble eggs for the entire population of England. Then Harvey began researching domestic animals.
As a result, in 1651 he published his next fundamental work Research on the origin of animals
(Exercitationes de generatione animalium). It summarized the results of Harvey's many years of research concerning the embryonic development of invertebrates and vertebrates, and formulated the theory of epigenesis. Harvey argued that the egg is the common origin of all animals and all living things come from the egg. In this book he famously said: omne vivum ex ovo- that is, “everything living comes from an egg.” A drawing with this inscription adorned Harvey's book.
Even then, Harvey suggested that even mammals arise from eggs, which, of course, he could not know without having a microscope, invented after his death. Harvey did not see the egg of a mammal - it was discovered only in 1826 by the Russian scientist Karl Baer - but he boldly asserted that the embryo of mammals is formed from an egg. Plant seeds were equated to animal eggs.
Harvey's theory completely refuted the idea of spontaneous generation, according to which all kinds of “evil spirits” and unnecessary insects, which are the scourge of humanity, arise on their own. This discovery of Harvey was accepted without much objection.
Drawing from W. Harvey's book
"Studies on the Origin of Animals" .
Harvey's research in embryology served as a powerful stimulus for the development of theoretical and practical obstetrics.
Harvey lived his last years in solitude. There was no longer any need to fight for your discovery. The new generation of English physiologists and doctors saw him as their patriarch. The poets Dryden and Cowley wrote poems in his honor. The London College of Medicine placed his statue in its meeting room, and in 1654 elected him as its president. But he refuses the honorary chair: “... this responsibility is too heavy for an old man... I take too much to heart the future of the board to which I belong, and I do not want it to fall during my chairmanship.”
Harvey did not like titles and never sought them. He continues to work. Sometimes, after suffering in a creaking stagecoach, he would visit his brother Eliab in a village near Richmond, talk and drink coffee with him. The scientist loved coffee very much. And in his will he separately noted the coffee pot for Eliab: “In memory of the happy moments we spent together emptying it.”
On June 3, 1657, Harvey woke up and felt that he could not speak. He realized that this was the end, said goodbye to his family simply, easily, found a small gift for everyone and died quietly and calmly. He lived to a ripe old age and died at the age of 79.
