This, under the circumstances, was as good a theory as any other,
because the action of the valves depends altogether upon the form and
nature of the walls of the structures in which they are attached; and
without accurate experiment, it was impossible to say whether the
theory of Fabricius was right or wrong. But we not only have the
evidence of the facts themselves that these could tell Harvey nothing
about the circulation, but we have his own distinct declaration as to
the considerations which led him to the true theory of the circulation
of the blood, and amongst these the valves of the veins are not
mentioned.
Fig. 4.--The circulation of the blood as demonstrated by Harvey (A.D.
1628).
Now then we may come to Harvey himself. When you read Harvey's
treatise, which is one of the most remarkable scientific monographs
with which I am acquainted--it occupies between 50 and 60 pages of a
small quarto in Latin, and is as terse and concise as it possibly can
be--when you come to look at Harvey's work, you will find that he had
long struggled with the difficulties of the accepted doctrine of the
circulation.
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