now. It should seem, indeed, as if there had been a peculiar predilection for Mr. Ray, and his favourite pursuit, at • Particularly Dr. William Heberden, the physician; and Mr. Martyn, professor of botany, author of a curious edition of Virgil's Eclogues, in reference to botany. Cambridge. Raya was a non-conformist, but the college strongly solicited him, though in vain, to retain his fellowship. It seems, indeed, as if, with respect to him, they reversed matters; the usual practice being, that of those who were removed for non-conformity, by the Bartholomew act, the very portraits were removed from the college; whereas there is a full-length portrait of Ray in the hall of Trinity college, and a highly-finished bust of him in the library. And I am myself desirous of extending this appendix to another small article: this, perhaps, will require apology. For I confess, the discovery, to which it refers, was not the result of any particular studies, nor were the experiments, from which it was deduced, performed at Cambridge. I allude to the discovery of the circulation of the blood, ascribed to the great physician and anatomist, Dr. Harvey. But, then, this important theory threw new light on the nature of diseases, and particularly on comparative anatomy, in which are now delivered distinct appropriate lectures at Cambridge; and as Dr. Harvey, who confirmed and proved the theory, was a member of the University, and a fellow of Caius College, in winding up this little summary of Cambridge literature, I was impelled to introduce his name, perhaps, indeed, unseasonably, but I could not so well have brought my two or three observations within the compass of college history. I shall not attempt to state the subject, either by maintaining how far the honour of the discovery is to be ascribed to Dr. Harvey, or in what proportion or parts it is an improvement on former opinions; nor yet how the theory was proved by Dr. Harvey's correcter observations and minuter experiments on the animal economy. Some foreigners have not been willing to give all the honour of a discovery to Dr. Harvey; other foreigners have strenuously supported his claim. It is presumed a Ray's works are very numerous. In his preface to the Wisdom of God in the Creation of the World, he says, "because he could not serve God in the church, he thought himself more bound to do it by his writings." His famous work, Historia Plantarum, in 2 vols. fol. was printed in London, 1686. a Dr. Wotton has treated of this subject, in his Reflections of ancient and modern learning, chap. XIII. and, in producing a few passages from Hippocrates, allows, that he had a general notion of it, as an hypothesis, but no distinct idea of it; that he never made it intelligible, nor proved it by experiments. He also produces a few quotations from more modern physicians (anterior to Dr. Harvey) by which he aims to shew how far their knowledge on this curious subject went, particularly from poor Servetus, in his book, entitled, Christianismi Restitutio, published in 1553, the very book for which he was burnt at Geneva, and of which there is said to be now only one copy known to exist. Dr. Wotton, however, is not sufficiently copious in his quotations from Hippocrates, and he passes by many remarkable passages from other ancient writers: as to his saying, that Andreas Cesalpanus (in his Peripatetical questions, Venice 1571), is the first that used the word, circulation, in that sense, he is clearly mistaken, for it is used by the Great Peripatetic, Aristotle, in exactly that sense, (αιματος περιοδος, the circulation of the blood, Aristot. de Insomniis, as quoted by Dutens.) Wotton is for ascribing the full and clear insight into this subject, the practical knowledge of its uses, and the actual proof of its reality as founded on experiments, to Dr. Harvey. Dutens is more copious in his Extracts, as well from ancient, as more modern authors: he aims to reduce the honour of Dr. Harvey very low, and has given a short list of foreign physicians, who in their writings have maintained, that the circulation of the blood was known to Hippocrates, and the ancients; and he says, on the authority of Joannes Leonicenus, that Father Paul communicated the secret to Fabricius ab Aquapendente, medical professor at Padua in the 16th century, and successor to Fullopius. He adds, that Fullopius discovered |