From a comparative study of the first Latin edition of William Harvey's De motu cordis published in 1628, and the first English edition published in 1653, it is argued that the latter is the printed copy of Harvey's original manuscript written in the vernacular. It will also be shown that Harvey's pre-circulation theory described the heart as an impulsor of blood for several years before his discovery of the circulation of the blood. The crucial aspect of his description was a (...) new explanation of the cause of the arterial pulse as felt at the extremities. (shrink)

It is argued that the disciplinary identity of anatomy and physiology before 1800 are unknown to us due to the subsequent creation, success and historiographical dominance of a different discipline-experimental physiology. The first of these two papers deals with the identity of physiology from its revival in the 1530s, and demonstrates that it was a theoretical, not an experimental, discipline, achieved with the mind and the pen, not the hand and the knife. The physiological work of Jean Fernel, Albrecht von (...) Haller and others is explored to prove this point. In conclusion this old physiological tradition is compared to the new experimental physiology, as practised by Francois Magendie and Pierre Flourens. (shrink)