Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
The most recent articles from:
J R Soc Med
-
Biography Historical Article
Was William Harvey's commitment to experimentation reflected in his clinical practice?
The physician and physiologist Dr William Harvey is known for having discovered that the heart pumps arterial blood round the whole body and receives venous blood from the periphery, which it forwards to the lungs for reoxygenation. Harvey's discovery was based on anatomical and physiological evidence and experiments using ligatures of varying tensions. ⋯ This was consistent with his senior position in the College of Physicians, whose Pharmacopoeia Londinensis was based on Galenic principles, an appreciation of which was required for entry into the College. Harvey's prescriptions reflect this and open a window onto 17th-century therapeutic practice and the personal elements on which such practice was sometimes based.