Aspects of the Circulation's Economy.--I
1951; BMJ; Volume: 1; Issue: 4719 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1136/bmj.1.4719.1343
ISSN0959-8138
Autores ResumoOliver's objects in founding these lectures in memory of Professor William Sharpey were "to pro- mote physiological research by observation and experi- ment, and encourage the application of physiological knowledge to the prevention and cure of disease and the prolongation of life."With these objects I find myself to be in sympathy; they are, indeed, very much the basis of my own outlook, as they were of that of one of my heroes, Richard Lower (1631-91), Harvey's greatest follower in circulation studies in the seven- teenth century.I would particularly stress physiological research by observation, much as I value and have indulged in its counterpart; for experiments too often disturb unduly the normal conditions and render diffi- cult the assessment, from their results, of what naturally happens.Direct acquisition of knowledge by observa- tion has been a feature of our science throughout the two millennia of its story, and it has become possible in recent times, as I shall describe more fully later, to extend such " zooscopy " (Franklin, 1933, 1949b) to many of the internal activities, including the blood's circulation, of the living body.My choice of subject for these lectures would, I think, have appealed to both Sharpey and Oliver, for the latter's interest in the blood and its circulation is manifest in the titles of his book (Oliver, 1895) and of the papers which he published in the Journal of Physiology (Anon., 1928), while the former's main research contribution was on ciliary action, and the movement of mucus by cilia is part of the circulation in the extended connotation of that term which I shall mention below.tLiterature The blood's circulation and the cardiovascular system within which it is effected have been my major research interests for nearly 30 years, and I have deemed it right to study the associated literature with some thoroughness, whatever the date of publication of any particular contribution may have been.This is not any purpose- less devotion to medical history as such, but an attempt to " take out of the past all that is noble and good, and *The first Oliver-Sharpey Lecture, given at the Royal College of Physicians of London on March 13, 1951.tCarl Ludwig introduced the kymographic recording of blood pressure in 1847, and Sharpey used to show students and others how it was done by turning his top-hat round and imitating the movement of the float with a finger.The hat used to be preserved at University College, but I have not seen it since the recent war.
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