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Historical development of concept of blood circulation: An anniversary memorial essay to William Harvey

Abstract One of the most significant contributions to medicine—William Harveys concept of the circulation of the blood—was quietly announced early in the 17th century with the publication of a book, De Motu Cordis . This book, a culmination of thought, observation and controlled testing with conclusions based on the results of repeated experiments, changed the course of medical thinking. The year just ended, 1978, presented at least two excellent reasons to commemorate and to honor William Harvey. First, Harvey was born on April 1, 1578, and we celebrated the 400th anniversary of his birth; second, 1978 also marked the 350th anniversary of the publication date of his epoch-making classic, De Motu Cordis .

William Osler and Arthur Conan Doyle Versus the Antivivisectionists: Some Lessons From History for Today

Reaction against vivisection for research reached its height in the last two decades of the 19th century and the first two of the 20th, and a resurgence began in the 1960s. Antivivisectionism was and is related, in part, to emphasis on humanitarian sentiments. Two humanitarian physicians defended vivisection as essential. Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle in 1886 justified the killing of rabbits to relieve human suffering from hydrophobia. In 1910, he objected to the antihuman campaign of the antivivisectionists. Dr. William Osler reacted similarly to the threat to vivisection. He gave emphatic evidence to investigative committees in the United States in 1900 and in Britain in 1907. Osler also performed vivisection. His experimentation included studies of pig typhoid and tapeworm cysts in pigs and of the fate of india ink injected into the lungs of kittens. Osler and Conan Doyle were but two of the many prominent physicians who helped stem the tide of antivivisection legislation near the turn of the century. A review of the elements that fostered antivivisectionism in the society of their time is relevant in understanding and reacting to similar sentiments in the present era.