Antall József szerk.: Pictures from the Past of the Healing Arts / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 5. (Budapest, 1972)

Pictures from the Past of the Healing Arts (Guide for the Exhibition)

cine in 1602 having attended the lectures of Fabricus ab Aquapendente on venous valves. Returning to England he practised in London, in the famous Bartholomew's Hospital. Soon he was appointed professor of anatomy and surgery at the Royal College of Physicians. Based on his anatomical and biological experimentation he announced the discovery of blood circulation already in his lectures given in 1616. Nevertheless he published nothing until 12 years later, but continued to experiment. Then in 1628 his book appeared based on the results of his experiments and comparative investigations of animals. The epoch-making work is entitled "Exercitatio anatómiça de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus" ('An anatomical disquisition concerning the motion of the heart and blood in animals') and was published in Frankfort. Harvey's discovery gave rise to a great controversy among anatomists, the majority of whom insisted: "It is preferable to be wrong together with Galen than acknowledge Harvey's right". Harvey did not defend his truth against the attacks. His fundamental discovery did not need further explanations, it stood for itself and compelled admiration. Harvey's way of thinking is well characterized by his famous statement: "A question raised correctly is already a significant step towards the correct answer". A coloured illustration represents Harvey's conception with an enlarged photo of his portrait and signature. A small show-case contains the facsimile copy of his diploma and the original copy of his other famous work entitled "Exercitationes de Generatione Animalium" ('Disquisitions concerning the Generation of Animals') published in Amsterdam in 1662. c) The Discovery of the Microscope and Theories of Medicine in the i6th-i7th Centuries The first microscope was constructed by a Dutchman, Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) a famous investigator, who gave start to the discovery of the minute world unperceivable to the naked eye. His invention has opened up new prospects for practical research affecting science even at the present time. The introduction of the microscope into research produced interesting results as in the work of Marce lo Malphigi (1628-1694) published in 1661. He describes here his discovery of the capillary blood vessels and with it he supplied the missing element in the investigations of Harvey - the channel between arteries and veins. Harvey did not use a microscope yet. Leeuwenhoek was not medically or scientifically trained, but he was an indefatigable and shrewd investigator and an excellent lensemaker. He constructed his microscopes himself. He made a series of manifold but disconnected discoveries. From the viewpoint of medicine his most important achievement is by all means the description and illustration of the first micro-organism seen by man in 1683.