On the Motion of the Heart and Blood of Animals
"The heart, consequently, is the beginning of life; the sun of the microcosm, even as the sun in his turn might well be designated the heart of the world; for it is the heart by whose virtue and pulse the blood is moved, perfected, and made nutrient, and is preserved from corruption and coagulation; it is the household divinity which, discharching its function, nourishes, cherishes, quickens the whole world, and is indeed the foundation of life, the source of action."
Introduction
"But as the structure and movements of the heart differ from those of the lungs, and the motions of the arteries from those of the chest, so it seems likely that other ends and offices will thence arise, and that the pulsations and uses of the heart, likewise of the arteries, will differ in many respects from the heavings and uses of the chest and lungs."
Galen said that in the vessels there was blood; other people claimed that there were spirits.
"That every one of them is justly brought under suspicion. that it is blood and blood alone which is contained in the arteries is made manifest by the experiment of Galen, by arteriotomy, and by wounds; for from a single divided artery, as Galen himself affirms ini more than one place, the whole of the blood may be withdrawn in the course of half an hour or less."
Vessels and arteries both carry the same blood. But in different quantities.
1. why when we see that the structure and the action/motion of both ventricles are almost identical are their uses imagined to be different?
2. why, when the ventricles are alike in structure, size and situation, is it said that the left ventricle egresses and regresses spirits and that the right ventricle does the same but for blood?
3. why, when we observe that the passages and vessels (the pulmonary artery and the pulmonary veins) are alike, should we state that one id destined to a private purpose, the furnishing of the lungs, and the other to a public function?
4. is it probable for such a quantity of blood need be required for the nutrition of the lungs, being the vessel that leads to them (vena arteries, pulmonary artery) of greater capacity than the iliac veins?
5. what is the meaning or use of the pulse of the right ventricle? Why did nature add a second ventricle?
Galen said that in the vessels there was blood; other people claimed that there were spirits.
"That every one of them is justly brought under suspicion. that it is blood and blood alone which is contained in the arteries is made manifest by the experiment of Galen, by arteriotomy, and by wounds; for from a single divided artery, as Galen himself affirms ini more than one place, the whole of the blood may be withdrawn in the course of half an hour or less."
Vessels and arteries both carry the same blood. But in different quantities.
1. why when we see that the structure and the action/motion of both ventricles are almost identical are their uses imagined to be different?
2. why, when the ventricles are alike in structure, size and situation, is it said that the left ventricle egresses and regresses spirits and that the right ventricle does the same but for blood?
3. why, when we observe that the passages and vessels (the pulmonary artery and the pulmonary veins) are alike, should we state that one id destined to a private purpose, the furnishing of the lungs, and the other to a public function?
4. is it probable for such a quantity of blood need be required for the nutrition of the lungs, being the vessel that leads to them (vena arteries, pulmonary artery) of greater capacity than the iliac veins?
5. what is the meaning or use of the pulse of the right ventricle? Why did nature add a second ventricle?
Chapter 1
The Author's Motives for Writing
Vivisections: as a means of discovering the motions and uses of the heart, seeking to discover by seeing and not by someone else's writing.
Systole: contraction of the heart. The force that drives blood out of the heart.
Diastole: the period of time when the heart refills with blood after systole.
Vivisections: as a means of discovering the motions and uses of the heart, seeking to discover by seeing and not by someone else's writing.
Systole: contraction of the heart. The force that drives blood out of the heart.
Diastole: the period of time when the heart refills with blood after systole.
Chapter 2
On the Motions of the Heart as Seen in the Dissections of Living Animals
The heart has a time when it is at rest and another when it is motionless.
When the heart pauses or is motionless, it resembles when it is dead: soft, flaccid, exhausted.
Things noted in the motion and interval:
1) When the heart is erected the pulse can be felt externally.
2) When it contracts, it contracts everywhere, but specially to the sides (looking longer, narrower)
3) When the heart is grabbed, it becomes harder during its action.
4) The heart when it moves becomes a paler color, and then a deeper red-blood color (specially seen in cold blooded animals)
When the heart is full of blood is when it is darker, and when it lets go of the blood it becomes paler.
people used to think that when the heart contracted it filled up with blood, and when it expanded is what we used to feel. But what actually happens is that when it contracts, it is when it is expelled of blood and we feel it when it is contracted
"Hence the opposite of the opinions commonly received appears to be true; inasmuch as it is generally believed that when the heart strikes the breast and the pulse is felt without, the heart is dilates in its ventricles and is filled with blood; but the contrary of this is the fact, and the heart, when it contracts (and the impulse of the apex is conveyed through the chest wall), is emptied. Whence the motion which is generally regarded as the diastole of the heart, is in truth the systole. And in like manner the intrinsic motion of the heart is not the diastole but the systole; neither is it in the diastole that the heart grows from and tense, but in the systole, for then only, when tense, it is moved and made vigorous."
"Neither is it true, as vulgarly believed, that the heart by any dilatation or motion of its own, has the power of drawing the blood into the ventricles; for when it acts and becomes tense, the blood is expelled; when it relaxed and sinks together it receives the blood in the manner and wire which will by-and-by be explained."
"These things, therefore, happen together or at the same instant: the tension of the heart, the pulse of the apex, which is felt externally by its striking against the chest, the thickening of its parities, and the forcible expulsion of the blow it contains by the construction of its ventricles."
The heart has a time when it is at rest and another when it is motionless.
When the heart pauses or is motionless, it resembles when it is dead: soft, flaccid, exhausted.
Things noted in the motion and interval:
1) When the heart is erected the pulse can be felt externally.
2) When it contracts, it contracts everywhere, but specially to the sides (looking longer, narrower)
3) When the heart is grabbed, it becomes harder during its action.
4) The heart when it moves becomes a paler color, and then a deeper red-blood color (specially seen in cold blooded animals)
When the heart is full of blood is when it is darker, and when it lets go of the blood it becomes paler.
people used to think that when the heart contracted it filled up with blood, and when it expanded is what we used to feel. But what actually happens is that when it contracts, it is when it is expelled of blood and we feel it when it is contracted
"Hence the opposite of the opinions commonly received appears to be true; inasmuch as it is generally believed that when the heart strikes the breast and the pulse is felt without, the heart is dilates in its ventricles and is filled with blood; but the contrary of this is the fact, and the heart, when it contracts (and the impulse of the apex is conveyed through the chest wall), is emptied. Whence the motion which is generally regarded as the diastole of the heart, is in truth the systole. And in like manner the intrinsic motion of the heart is not the diastole but the systole; neither is it in the diastole that the heart grows from and tense, but in the systole, for then only, when tense, it is moved and made vigorous."
"Neither is it true, as vulgarly believed, that the heart by any dilatation or motion of its own, has the power of drawing the blood into the ventricles; for when it acts and becomes tense, the blood is expelled; when it relaxed and sinks together it receives the blood in the manner and wire which will by-and-by be explained."
"These things, therefore, happen together or at the same instant: the tension of the heart, the pulse of the apex, which is felt externally by its striking against the chest, the thickening of its parities, and the forcible expulsion of the blow it contains by the construction of its ventricles."
Chapter 3
On the Motions of the Arteries, as Seen in the Dissection of Living Animals
1) When the heart is contracted (systole), the arteries are dilated, yield a pulse and are in diastole.
2) When the left ventricle stops acting, the pulse in the arteries also stops. When the pulse in the right ventricle slow down or stop, the pulse in the pulmonary artery also stops. (what is the difference between the arteries and the pulmonary arteries? I couldn't find it in the picture, is it the pulmonary vein?)
3) When an artery is punctured/divided , blood propels from the wound when the left ventricle contracts. When the pulmonary artery is wounded, the blood will propel when the right ventricle contracts.
"From these facts it is manifest, in opposition to commonly viewed received opinions, that the diastole of the arteries corresponds with the time of the heart's systole; and that the arteries are filled and distended by the blood forced into them by the contraction of the ventricles; the arteries, therefore, are distended, because they are filled with sacs or bladders, and are not filled because they expand like bellows."
"Finally, that the pulses of the arteries are due to the impulses of the blood from the left ventricle."
1) When the heart is contracted (systole), the arteries are dilated, yield a pulse and are in diastole.
2) When the left ventricle stops acting, the pulse in the arteries also stops. When the pulse in the right ventricle slow down or stop, the pulse in the pulmonary artery also stops. (what is the difference between the arteries and the pulmonary arteries? I couldn't find it in the picture, is it the pulmonary vein?)
3) When an artery is punctured/divided , blood propels from the wound when the left ventricle contracts. When the pulmonary artery is wounded, the blood will propel when the right ventricle contracts.
"From these facts it is manifest, in opposition to commonly viewed received opinions, that the diastole of the arteries corresponds with the time of the heart's systole; and that the arteries are filled and distended by the blood forced into them by the contraction of the ventricles; the arteries, therefore, are distended, because they are filled with sacs or bladders, and are not filled because they expand like bellows."
"Finally, that the pulses of the arteries are due to the impulses of the blood from the left ventricle."
Chapter 4
On the Motion of the Heart and its Auricles, as Seen in the Bodies of Living Animals
In a vivisection of the animal, we can find four distinct motions in place (only of place, not of time, there are only two times.). The two auricles move together and the two ventricles together. One motion follows the other, it appears to begin in the auricles and extend to the ventricles.
Auricles = atriums
The auricles are the ones that send the blood to the ventricles. The left auricle is the last place of the heart that is left with life.
Even if the heart us cut off from the rest, you could still perceive the blood flowing out upon the contraction of the auricles.
"And this leads me to remark that he who inquires very particularly into this matter will not conclude that the heart, as a whole, is the premium givens, ultimum moriens, - the first part to live, and the last to die, - but rather its auricles, or the part which corresponds to the auricles in serpents, fishes, etc., which both lives before the heart and dies after it."
"I have also observed that almost all animals have truly a heart, not the larger creatures only, and those that have red blood, but the smalls and pale-blooded ones also, such as slugs, nails, scallops, shrimps, crabs, crayfish, and many others; nay, even in wasps, hornets, and flies, I have, with the aid of a magnifying glass, and at the upper part of what is called the tail, both seen the heart pulsating myself, and shown it to many others."
In a vivisection of the animal, we can find four distinct motions in place (only of place, not of time, there are only two times.). The two auricles move together and the two ventricles together. One motion follows the other, it appears to begin in the auricles and extend to the ventricles.
Auricles = atriums
The auricles are the ones that send the blood to the ventricles. The left auricle is the last place of the heart that is left with life.
Even if the heart us cut off from the rest, you could still perceive the blood flowing out upon the contraction of the auricles.
"And this leads me to remark that he who inquires very particularly into this matter will not conclude that the heart, as a whole, is the premium givens, ultimum moriens, - the first part to live, and the last to die, - but rather its auricles, or the part which corresponds to the auricles in serpents, fishes, etc., which both lives before the heart and dies after it."
"I have also observed that almost all animals have truly a heart, not the larger creatures only, and those that have red blood, but the smalls and pale-blooded ones also, such as slugs, nails, scallops, shrimps, crabs, crayfish, and many others; nay, even in wasps, hornets, and flies, I have, with the aid of a magnifying glass, and at the upper part of what is called the tail, both seen the heart pulsating myself, and shown it to many others."
Chapter 5
On the Motion, Action and Office of the Heat
motion of the heart:
1. auricles contract, forcing the blood into the ventricles.
2. when the ventricles are filled, the heart raises, making its fibers tense.
3. the the ventricles contract, perform a beat, and sends the blood into arteries.
The right ventricle send its charge into the lungs by the vena arteriosa. And the left ventricle sends it charge into the aorta, and though this to the body at large.
"These two motions, one of the ventricles, the other of the auricles, take place consecutively, but in such a manner that there is a kind of harmony o rhythm preserved between them, the two concurring in such wise that but one motion is apparent, especially in the warmer blooded animals, in which the movements in question are rapid." Just like the process of shooting a gun, you don't notice it because it happens very fast.
"The motion of the heart, then, is entirely of this description, and the one action of the heart is the transmission of the blood and its distribution, by means of the arteries, to the very extremities of the body; so that the pulse which we feel in the arteries is nothing more than he impulse of the blood derived from the heart."
What causes the most error and doubt on this is the connection between the heart and lungs. (the pulmonary artery and vein loose themselves in the lungs).
What did Galen say about this? He questioned why would it go to another instrument (lungs) to distribute it all over the body
Harvey says: the passage of the blood from the veins to the arteries, and its distribution to the hole of the body means of the vessels.
motion of the heart:
1. auricles contract, forcing the blood into the ventricles.
2. when the ventricles are filled, the heart raises, making its fibers tense.
3. the the ventricles contract, perform a beat, and sends the blood into arteries.
The right ventricle send its charge into the lungs by the vena arteriosa. And the left ventricle sends it charge into the aorta, and though this to the body at large.
"These two motions, one of the ventricles, the other of the auricles, take place consecutively, but in such a manner that there is a kind of harmony o rhythm preserved between them, the two concurring in such wise that but one motion is apparent, especially in the warmer blooded animals, in which the movements in question are rapid." Just like the process of shooting a gun, you don't notice it because it happens very fast.
"The motion of the heart, then, is entirely of this description, and the one action of the heart is the transmission of the blood and its distribution, by means of the arteries, to the very extremities of the body; so that the pulse which we feel in the arteries is nothing more than he impulse of the blood derived from the heart."
What causes the most error and doubt on this is the connection between the heart and lungs. (the pulmonary artery and vein loose themselves in the lungs).
What did Galen say about this? He questioned why would it go to another instrument (lungs) to distribute it all over the body
Harvey says: the passage of the blood from the veins to the arteries, and its distribution to the hole of the body means of the vessels.
Chapter 6
Of the Course by which the Blood is Carried from the Vena Cava into the Arteries, or from the Right into the Left Ventricles of the Heart
In toads, frogs, serpents and lizards:
"Their anatomy plainly shows that the blood is transferred in them form the veins to the arteries in the same manner as in higher animals, viz., by the action of the heart."
The four vessels belonging to the heart: the vena cava, the pulmonary artery, the pulmonary vein and the great artery or aorta.
It is commonly said that these two communications (which ones?) exist for the nutrition of the lungs, but this is improbable and inconsistent. (in fetuses, but in adults this is inconsistent)
"From this it will be understood that in the human embyo, and in the embryos of animals in which the communications are not closed, the same thing happens, namely, that the heart by its motion propels the blood by obvious and open passages from the vena cava into the aorta through the cavities of both the ventricles, the right on receiving the blood from the auricle, and propelling it by the pulmonary artery and its continuation, named the ductus arterioles, into the aorta; the left, in like manner, charged by the contraction of its auricle, which has received its supply though the foramen ovale from the vena cava, contracting and projecting blood through the root of the aorta into the trunk of the vessel"
"And now returning to my immediate subject, I go on with what yet remains for demonstration, viz., that in some more perfect and warmer adult animals, and man, the blood passes from the right ventricle of the heart by the pulmonary artery, into the lungs, and thence by the pulmonary veins into the left auricle, and from there into the left ventricle of the heart."
In toads, frogs, serpents and lizards:
"Their anatomy plainly shows that the blood is transferred in them form the veins to the arteries in the same manner as in higher animals, viz., by the action of the heart."
The four vessels belonging to the heart: the vena cava, the pulmonary artery, the pulmonary vein and the great artery or aorta.
It is commonly said that these two communications (which ones?) exist for the nutrition of the lungs, but this is improbable and inconsistent. (in fetuses, but in adults this is inconsistent)
"From this it will be understood that in the human embyo, and in the embryos of animals in which the communications are not closed, the same thing happens, namely, that the heart by its motion propels the blood by obvious and open passages from the vena cava into the aorta through the cavities of both the ventricles, the right on receiving the blood from the auricle, and propelling it by the pulmonary artery and its continuation, named the ductus arterioles, into the aorta; the left, in like manner, charged by the contraction of its auricle, which has received its supply though the foramen ovale from the vena cava, contracting and projecting blood through the root of the aorta into the trunk of the vessel"
"And now returning to my immediate subject, I go on with what yet remains for demonstration, viz., that in some more perfect and warmer adult animals, and man, the blood passes from the right ventricle of the heart by the pulmonary artery, into the lungs, and thence by the pulmonary veins into the left auricle, and from there into the left ventricle of the heart."
Chapter 7
The Blood Passes Through the Substance of the Lungs from the Right Ventricle of the Heart into the Pulmonary Veins and Left Ventricle
The lungs are spongy. In the lungs the blood if forced on by the pulse of the right ventricle, the effects of whose impulses is the distension (expanding from internal forces) or the vessels and the pores of the lungs. And then the lungs rise and fall.
"Confirmed from Galen's own words namely, that not only may the blood be transmitted from the pulmonary artery into the pulmonary veins, then into the left ventricle of the heart, and from thence into the arteries of the body, but that this is effected by the ceaseless pulsation of the heart and the motion of the lungs in berating."
"There are, as everyone knows, three sigmoid or semilunar valves situated at the orifice of the pulmonary artery, which effectually prevent the blood being sent into the vessel from returning into the cavity of the heart."
"That they (the valves) have all a common use, and that it is to prevent regurgitation or backward motion; each, however, having a proper function, the one set drawing matters from the heart, and preventing their return, the other drawing matters into the heart, and preventing their escape from it."
"Finally, our position that the blood is continually permeating from the right to the left ventricle, from the vena cava into the aorta, through the porosities of the lungs, plainly appears from this, that since the blood is incessantly sent from the right ventricle into the lungs by the pulmonary artery, and in like manner is incessantly drawn from the kings into the left ventricle, as appears from what precedes and the position of the valves, it cannot do otherwise than pass through continuously. and then, as the blood is incessantly flowing into the right ventricle of the heart, and is continually passed out from the left, as appears in like manner, and as is obvious, both to sense and reason, it is impossible that the blood can do otherwise than pass continually from the vena cava into the aorta."
It can be said that the right ventricle is made for the sake of the lungs and the transmission of blood through them, not their nutrition.
"Dissection consequently shows distinctly what takes place in the majority of animals, and indeed in all, up to the period of their maturity; and that the same thing occurs in adults is equally certain."
The lungs are spongy. In the lungs the blood if forced on by the pulse of the right ventricle, the effects of whose impulses is the distension (expanding from internal forces) or the vessels and the pores of the lungs. And then the lungs rise and fall.
"Confirmed from Galen's own words namely, that not only may the blood be transmitted from the pulmonary artery into the pulmonary veins, then into the left ventricle of the heart, and from thence into the arteries of the body, but that this is effected by the ceaseless pulsation of the heart and the motion of the lungs in berating."
"There are, as everyone knows, three sigmoid or semilunar valves situated at the orifice of the pulmonary artery, which effectually prevent the blood being sent into the vessel from returning into the cavity of the heart."
"That they (the valves) have all a common use, and that it is to prevent regurgitation or backward motion; each, however, having a proper function, the one set drawing matters from the heart, and preventing their return, the other drawing matters into the heart, and preventing their escape from it."
"Finally, our position that the blood is continually permeating from the right to the left ventricle, from the vena cava into the aorta, through the porosities of the lungs, plainly appears from this, that since the blood is incessantly sent from the right ventricle into the lungs by the pulmonary artery, and in like manner is incessantly drawn from the kings into the left ventricle, as appears from what precedes and the position of the valves, it cannot do otherwise than pass through continuously. and then, as the blood is incessantly flowing into the right ventricle of the heart, and is continually passed out from the left, as appears in like manner, and as is obvious, both to sense and reason, it is impossible that the blood can do otherwise than pass continually from the vena cava into the aorta."
It can be said that the right ventricle is made for the sake of the lungs and the transmission of blood through them, not their nutrition.
"Dissection consequently shows distinctly what takes place in the majority of animals, and indeed in all, up to the period of their maturity; and that the same thing occurs in adults is equally certain."
Chapter 8
On the Quantity of Blood Passing Through the Heart from the Veins to the Arteries; and of the Circular Motion of the Blood.
"Custom becomes a second nature. Doctrine one sown strikes deep its root, and respect for antiquity influences all men."
The process of the heart can be said to function in a circular motion.
"CIRCLE. Now, this I afterwards found to be true; and I finally saw that the blood, forced by the action of the left ventricle into the arteries, was distributed to the body at large, and its several parts, in the same manner as it is sent though the lungs, impelled by the right ventricle into the pulmonary artery, and that it: then passed through the veins and along the vena cava, and so round to the left ventricle in the manner already indicated. This motion we may be allowed to call circular."
When the blood passes through the various parts of the body it cools down, and doesn't have that much fluidity, but once it return to the heart again, it gains heat and fluidity, etc. So it is a continuous circle.
"The heart, consequently, is the beginning of life; the sun of the microcosm, even as the sun in his turn might well be designated the heart of the world; for it is the heart by whose virtue and pulse the blood is moved, perfected, and made nutrient, and is preserved from corruption and coagulation; it is the household divinity which, discharching its function, nourishes, cherishes, quickens the whole world, and is indeed the foundation of life, the source of action."
Agents that transport the blood: cava and aorta. They differ in their functions and uses.
Vein: bings blood from the general system to the heart. To the heart.
Artery: vessel which carries blood from the heart to the body at large. From the heart.
"Custom becomes a second nature. Doctrine one sown strikes deep its root, and respect for antiquity influences all men."
The process of the heart can be said to function in a circular motion.
"CIRCLE. Now, this I afterwards found to be true; and I finally saw that the blood, forced by the action of the left ventricle into the arteries, was distributed to the body at large, and its several parts, in the same manner as it is sent though the lungs, impelled by the right ventricle into the pulmonary artery, and that it: then passed through the veins and along the vena cava, and so round to the left ventricle in the manner already indicated. This motion we may be allowed to call circular."
When the blood passes through the various parts of the body it cools down, and doesn't have that much fluidity, but once it return to the heart again, it gains heat and fluidity, etc. So it is a continuous circle.
"The heart, consequently, is the beginning of life; the sun of the microcosm, even as the sun in his turn might well be designated the heart of the world; for it is the heart by whose virtue and pulse the blood is moved, perfected, and made nutrient, and is preserved from corruption and coagulation; it is the household divinity which, discharching its function, nourishes, cherishes, quickens the whole world, and is indeed the foundation of life, the source of action."
Agents that transport the blood: cava and aorta. They differ in their functions and uses.
Vein: bings blood from the general system to the heart. To the heart.
Artery: vessel which carries blood from the heart to the body at large. From the heart.
Chapter 9
That There is a Circulation of the Blood is Confirmed from the First Proposition
Three points for confirmation:
"It is still manifest that more blood passes through the heart in consequence of its action, than can either be supplied by the whole ingesta, or that can be contained in the veins at the same moment."
The ventricles when they contract expel an amount of blood proportional to the contraction.
“Meantime this much I know, and would here proclaim to all, that the blood is transfused at one time in larger, at another in smaller, quantity; and that the circuit of the blood is accomplished more rapidly, now more slowly, according to the temperament, age, etc., of the individual, to external and internal circumstances, to naturals and non-naturals – sleep, rest, food, exercise, affection of the mind, and the like.”
But, supposing even the smallest quantity of blood quantity of blood to be passed through the heart and lungs with each pulsation, a vastly greater amount would still be thrown into the arteries and whole body than could any possibility be supplied by the food consumed. It could be furnished in no other way than by making a circuit and returning.”
If an artery be cut, it will expel a great amount of blood with a great amount of blood, using quickly the blood of the whole body. While the veins pour out very little blood.
This cant be seen in dead animals, because the artery gets its blood from the heart and the lungs. And once these stop the blood in the pulmonary artery is prevented from passing into the pulmonary veins and into the left ventricle.
Three points for confirmation:
- The blood is incessantly transmitted by the action of the heart from the vena cava to the arteries in such a quantity that it cannot be supplied from the ingesta, the whole must pass quickly through the organ.
- The blood under the influence of the arterial pulse enters and is impelled in a continuous, equable, and incessant stream through every part and member of the body, in a much larger quantity than were sufficient for nutrition.
- The veins return this blood to the heart from the part of the body.
"It is still manifest that more blood passes through the heart in consequence of its action, than can either be supplied by the whole ingesta, or that can be contained in the veins at the same moment."
The ventricles when they contract expel an amount of blood proportional to the contraction.
“Meantime this much I know, and would here proclaim to all, that the blood is transfused at one time in larger, at another in smaller, quantity; and that the circuit of the blood is accomplished more rapidly, now more slowly, according to the temperament, age, etc., of the individual, to external and internal circumstances, to naturals and non-naturals – sleep, rest, food, exercise, affection of the mind, and the like.”
But, supposing even the smallest quantity of blood quantity of blood to be passed through the heart and lungs with each pulsation, a vastly greater amount would still be thrown into the arteries and whole body than could any possibility be supplied by the food consumed. It could be furnished in no other way than by making a circuit and returning.”
If an artery be cut, it will expel a great amount of blood with a great amount of blood, using quickly the blood of the whole body. While the veins pour out very little blood.
This cant be seen in dead animals, because the artery gets its blood from the heart and the lungs. And once these stop the blood in the pulmonary artery is prevented from passing into the pulmonary veins and into the left ventricle.
Chapter 10
The first position: of the quantity of blood passing from the veins to the arteries. And that there is a circuit of the blood, freed from objections and farther confirmed by experiment.
Example confirming all that has been said: snake
If you put an obstacle on the vein that enters the heart, the vein will become empty of blood, and the heart will grow paler and smaller, beating more slowly. When the obstacle is removed, the heart starts beating normally again, gains its color back and its regular size.
If the opposite is done and the artery is stopped from flowing, the heart will become darker and it will grow. When the obstacle is removed it immediately returns to normal again.
These are two examples of two kinds of death: extinction from deficiency and suffocation from excess.
Example confirming all that has been said: snake
If you put an obstacle on the vein that enters the heart, the vein will become empty of blood, and the heart will grow paler and smaller, beating more slowly. When the obstacle is removed, the heart starts beating normally again, gains its color back and its regular size.
If the opposite is done and the artery is stopped from flowing, the heart will become darker and it will grow. When the obstacle is removed it immediately returns to normal again.
These are two examples of two kinds of death: extinction from deficiency and suffocation from excess.
Chapter 11
The second position is demonstrated
Experiments which prove that:
Ligatures: tying a suture around a blood vessel or limb. (You can have it very tight or with medium tightness)
Experiment 1: on the arm of a man tie a ligature. First you perceive that beyond the ligature (after the wrist) the arteries don't pulsate, and above the ligature the artery rises with each diastole, to swell (it appears full). The hand still continues to look the same, only dropping a bit in temperature.
If after a while you slack the ligature, the hand and arm will be seen to become deeply colored, and the veins will bulge. The hand will later be perceived to swell up (distend) with blood. If you put your finger on the blood, the blood will be felt moving.
Summary:
Tight ligature: above the ligature the artery seemed to distend and pulsate. This is because the blood is preventing from moving to the arteries and the veins.
Moderately tight ligature: below the ligature, the veins seem to swell and the arteries shrink. This is because the blood once in the veins is impeded from returning.
“Seeing therefore, that the moderately tight ligature renders the veins turgid and distended, and the hand full of blood, I ask, whence is this? Does the blood accumulate below the ligature coming through the veins, or through the arteries, or passing by certain hidden porosities? Through the veins it cannot come; still less can it come through invisible channels; it must needs, then, arrive by the arteries, in conformity with all that has already been said. That it cannot flow in by the veins appears plainly enough from the fact that the blood cannot be forced towards the heart unless the ligature be removed; when this is done suddenly all the veins collapse, and disgorge themselves of their contents into their superior parts, the hand at the same time resumes its natural pale color, the tumefaction and the stagnating blood having disappeared.”
So when the ligature is tight the area above and below the ligature don't get any blood.
But when the ligature is not so tight, the blood can flow but it cant come back. This is why when we get blood taken, the ligature is used, and why the ligature is put on a point above where the blood is going to be removed.
Phlebotomy: A Phlebotomy Technician (Phlebotomist) is an integral member of the medical laboratory team whose primary function is the collection of blood samples from patients by venipuncture or microtechniques.
Experiments which prove that:
- The blood enters the limb by the arteries and returns from the limb by the veins.
- Arteries are the vessels carrying blood from the heart and the veins the ones that return the blood to the heart.
- In the limbs and extreme parts of the body, the blood passes either by anastomosis (The connection of separate parts of a branching system to form a network) from the arteries into the veins, or by porosites of the flesh. Or both.
Ligatures: tying a suture around a blood vessel or limb. (You can have it very tight or with medium tightness)
Experiment 1: on the arm of a man tie a ligature. First you perceive that beyond the ligature (after the wrist) the arteries don't pulsate, and above the ligature the artery rises with each diastole, to swell (it appears full). The hand still continues to look the same, only dropping a bit in temperature.
If after a while you slack the ligature, the hand and arm will be seen to become deeply colored, and the veins will bulge. The hand will later be perceived to swell up (distend) with blood. If you put your finger on the blood, the blood will be felt moving.
Summary:
Tight ligature: above the ligature the artery seemed to distend and pulsate. This is because the blood is preventing from moving to the arteries and the veins.
Moderately tight ligature: below the ligature, the veins seem to swell and the arteries shrink. This is because the blood once in the veins is impeded from returning.
“Seeing therefore, that the moderately tight ligature renders the veins turgid and distended, and the hand full of blood, I ask, whence is this? Does the blood accumulate below the ligature coming through the veins, or through the arteries, or passing by certain hidden porosities? Through the veins it cannot come; still less can it come through invisible channels; it must needs, then, arrive by the arteries, in conformity with all that has already been said. That it cannot flow in by the veins appears plainly enough from the fact that the blood cannot be forced towards the heart unless the ligature be removed; when this is done suddenly all the veins collapse, and disgorge themselves of their contents into their superior parts, the hand at the same time resumes its natural pale color, the tumefaction and the stagnating blood having disappeared.”
So when the ligature is tight the area above and below the ligature don't get any blood.
But when the ligature is not so tight, the blood can flow but it cant come back. This is why when we get blood taken, the ligature is used, and why the ligature is put on a point above where the blood is going to be removed.
Phlebotomy: A Phlebotomy Technician (Phlebotomist) is an integral member of the medical laboratory team whose primary function is the collection of blood samples from patients by venipuncture or microtechniques.
Chapter 12
That there is a circulation of the blood shown from
the second position demonstrated.
The things above being confirmed, then the passage of the blood through the heart is also confirmed.
The blood IS sent along with an impulse, the force received from the pulse of the heart.
The blood flows from the heart to the arteries and to the veins. The arteries don't receive blood from the veins and he arteries only receive blood from the left ventricle.
“But if all things be as they are now represented, we shall feel ourselves at liberty to calculate the quantity of the blood, and to reason on its circular motion. Should anyone, for instance, performing phlebotomy, suffer the blow flow in the manner it usually does, with force and freely, for some half hour or so, no question but that the greatest part of the blood being abstracted, faintings and syncopes would ensue, and that not only would the arteries but the great veins also be nearly emptied of their contents.”
The things above being confirmed, then the passage of the blood through the heart is also confirmed.
The blood IS sent along with an impulse, the force received from the pulse of the heart.
The blood flows from the heart to the arteries and to the veins. The arteries don't receive blood from the veins and he arteries only receive blood from the left ventricle.
“But if all things be as they are now represented, we shall feel ourselves at liberty to calculate the quantity of the blood, and to reason on its circular motion. Should anyone, for instance, performing phlebotomy, suffer the blow flow in the manner it usually does, with force and freely, for some half hour or so, no question but that the greatest part of the blood being abstracted, faintings and syncopes would ensue, and that not only would the arteries but the great veins also be nearly emptied of their contents.”
Chapter 13
The third position is confirmed: and the circulation of the blood is demonstrated from it.
“Thus far we have spoken of the quantity of blood passing through the heart and the lungs in the center of the body, and in like manner from the arteries into the veins in the peripheral parts and the body at large. We have yet to explain, however, in what manner the blood finds its way back to the heart from the extremities by the veins, and how and in what way these are the only vessels that convey the blood from the external to the central parts.”
The valves inside of the veins: are portions of the inner membrane of the vein, which have a sigmoid or semilunar shape. They are directed towards the trunks of the veins, and there are usually two together. They stop anything that attempts to pass from the trunks into the branches of the veins.
“It would therefore appear that the function of the valves in the veins is the same as that of the three sigmoid valves which we find at the commencement of the aorta and pulmonary artery, viz., to prevent all reflux of the blood that is passing over them.”
“The veins in short, as they are the free and open conduits of the blood returning TO the heart, so are they effectually prevented from serving as its channels of distribution FROM the heart.”
“Thus far we have spoken of the quantity of blood passing through the heart and the lungs in the center of the body, and in like manner from the arteries into the veins in the peripheral parts and the body at large. We have yet to explain, however, in what manner the blood finds its way back to the heart from the extremities by the veins, and how and in what way these are the only vessels that convey the blood from the external to the central parts.”
The valves inside of the veins: are portions of the inner membrane of the vein, which have a sigmoid or semilunar shape. They are directed towards the trunks of the veins, and there are usually two together. They stop anything that attempts to pass from the trunks into the branches of the veins.
“It would therefore appear that the function of the valves in the veins is the same as that of the three sigmoid valves which we find at the commencement of the aorta and pulmonary artery, viz., to prevent all reflux of the blood that is passing over them.”
“The veins in short, as they are the free and open conduits of the blood returning TO the heart, so are they effectually prevented from serving as its channels of distribution FROM the heart.”
Chapter 14
Conclusion of the demonstration of the
circulation.
Lungs . ventricle. Distributed to the body. Veins and porosities of the flesh. Flows by the veins from the circumference on every side to the centre, from lesser veins to greater veins. Vena cava. Right auricle. Right ventricle. Start over.
“The blood passes through the lungs, and heart by the force of the ventricles, and is sent for distribution to all parts of the body, where it makes its way into the veins and porosities of the flesh, and then flows by the veins from the circumference on every side to the center, from the lesser to the greater veins, and is by then finally discharged into the vena cava and right auricle of the heart.”
Blood travels in circles:
“It is absolutely necessary to conclude that the blood in the animal body is impelled in a circle, and is in a state of ceaseless motion.”
Which is the whole end of the motion and contraction:
“That this is the act or function which the heart performs by means of its pulse; and that is the sole and only end of the motion and contraction of the heart.”
Lungs . ventricle. Distributed to the body. Veins and porosities of the flesh. Flows by the veins from the circumference on every side to the centre, from lesser veins to greater veins. Vena cava. Right auricle. Right ventricle. Start over.
“The blood passes through the lungs, and heart by the force of the ventricles, and is sent for distribution to all parts of the body, where it makes its way into the veins and porosities of the flesh, and then flows by the veins from the circumference on every side to the center, from the lesser to the greater veins, and is by then finally discharged into the vena cava and right auricle of the heart.”
Blood travels in circles:
“It is absolutely necessary to conclude that the blood in the animal body is impelled in a circle, and is in a state of ceaseless motion.”
Which is the whole end of the motion and contraction:
“That this is the act or function which the heart performs by means of its pulse; and that is the sole and only end of the motion and contraction of the heart.”
Chapter 15
The circulation of the blood is further confirmed by probable reasons.
Circulation is both matter of convenience and necessity.
Death is a deficiency that takes places through deficiency of the heart.
The heart is the principle of life: it is the home, the cherisher of nature, the native fire, where heat and life are dispensed to all parts, from which sustenance is derived.
The blood without movement becomes solid (coagulate) and cold (extremities are colder, ex nose) and by returning to the heart it is renovated and restored.
“Hence it is that if the heart be unaffected, life and health may be restored to almost all other parts of the body; but if the heart be chilled, or smitten with any serious disease, it seems matter of necessity that the whole animal fabric should suffer and fall into decay. When the service either to it or aught that depends on it. And hence, by the way, it may perchance be why grief, and love, and envy, and anxiety, and all affections of the mind of a similar kind are accompanied with emaciation and decay, or with disordered fluids and crudity, which engender all manner of diseases and consume the body of man. For every affection of the mind that is attended with either pain or pleasure, hope or fear, is the cause of an agitation whose influence extends to the heart, and there induces change from the natural constitution, in the temperature, the pulse and the rest, which impairing all nutrition in its source and abating the powers at large, it is no wonder that various forms of incurable disease in the extremities and in the trunk are the consequence, inasmuch as in such circumstances the whole body labors under the effects of vitiated nutrition and a want of native heat.”
What goes in our mind, we can feel in our body.
“Now this place is the heart, for it is the only organ in the blood which contains blood for the general use; all the others receive it merely for their peculiar or private advantage, just as the heart also has a supply for its own especial behoof in its coronary veins and arteries.”
How interesting that the heart distributes the right proportion to several parts of the body, depending on the dimensions of the artery which supply it.
Circulation is both matter of convenience and necessity.
Death is a deficiency that takes places through deficiency of the heart.
The heart is the principle of life: it is the home, the cherisher of nature, the native fire, where heat and life are dispensed to all parts, from which sustenance is derived.
The blood without movement becomes solid (coagulate) and cold (extremities are colder, ex nose) and by returning to the heart it is renovated and restored.
“Hence it is that if the heart be unaffected, life and health may be restored to almost all other parts of the body; but if the heart be chilled, or smitten with any serious disease, it seems matter of necessity that the whole animal fabric should suffer and fall into decay. When the service either to it or aught that depends on it. And hence, by the way, it may perchance be why grief, and love, and envy, and anxiety, and all affections of the mind of a similar kind are accompanied with emaciation and decay, or with disordered fluids and crudity, which engender all manner of diseases and consume the body of man. For every affection of the mind that is attended with either pain or pleasure, hope or fear, is the cause of an agitation whose influence extends to the heart, and there induces change from the natural constitution, in the temperature, the pulse and the rest, which impairing all nutrition in its source and abating the powers at large, it is no wonder that various forms of incurable disease in the extremities and in the trunk are the consequence, inasmuch as in such circumstances the whole body labors under the effects of vitiated nutrition and a want of native heat.”
What goes in our mind, we can feel in our body.
“Now this place is the heart, for it is the only organ in the blood which contains blood for the general use; all the others receive it merely for their peculiar or private advantage, just as the heart also has a supply for its own especial behoof in its coronary veins and arteries.”
How interesting that the heart distributes the right proportion to several parts of the body, depending on the dimensions of the artery which supply it.
Chapter 16
The circulation of the blood is further proved from certain consequences.
When we get a contagious disease, such as rabies, serpent bites, posion, lues venera (syphilis) the place where it got infected remains unharmed, but the rest of the body is affected. This is because from the wound, the contaminated blood returns to the heart and then the heart spreads it out over the whole body.
The same can be said about medicine.
When we ingest something and it goes to the heart (either chyme or chyle) and it goes into the blood, we don't find it as a solid, as something different from the blood, we usually find it as regular blood.
Why is it that in fetuses the liver is the last organ to form? It is because it doesn't need a liver to produce blood, because it has the umbilical chord as uses this as a liver.
“But these matters will be better spoken of in my observations of the fetus, where many propositions, the following among the number, will be discussed: Wherefore is this part formed or perfected first, that last, and of the several members, what part is the cause of another? And there are many points having special reference to the heart, such as wherefore foes it first acquire consistency, and appear to posses life, motion, sense, before any other part of the body is perfected, as Aristotle says in his third book, “De partibus Animalium”? And so also of the blood, wherefore does it precede all the rest? And in what way foes it posses the vital and animal principle, and show a tendency to motion, and to be impelled hither and thither, the end for which the heart appears to be made? In the same way, in considering the pulse, why should one kind of pulse indicate death, another recovery? And so of all the other kinds of pulse, what may be the cause and indication of each? Likewise, we must consider the reason of crises and natural critical discharges; of nutrition, and especially the distribution of the nutriment; and of defluxions of every description. Finally, reflecting on every part of medicine, physiology, pathology, semeiotics and therapeutics, when I see how many questions can be answered, how many doubts resolved, how much obscurity illustrated by the truth we have declared, the light we have made to shine, I see a field of such vast extent in which I might proceed so far, and expatiate so widely, that this my tractate would not only swell out into a volume, which was beyond my purpose, but my whole life, perchance, would not suffice for its completion.”
The spleen: it distributes, from the upper part of the spleenic branch (veins), to the stomach and intestines. And from the lower branch to the colon and rectum. the blood coming from the veins of the stomach is thin and watery, while the one returning from colon and rectum is this and more earthy. Once these two reach the spleen, they mix and mix in with new blood, so this way they reach the liver in a higher state of preparation.
When we get a contagious disease, such as rabies, serpent bites, posion, lues venera (syphilis) the place where it got infected remains unharmed, but the rest of the body is affected. This is because from the wound, the contaminated blood returns to the heart and then the heart spreads it out over the whole body.
The same can be said about medicine.
When we ingest something and it goes to the heart (either chyme or chyle) and it goes into the blood, we don't find it as a solid, as something different from the blood, we usually find it as regular blood.
Why is it that in fetuses the liver is the last organ to form? It is because it doesn't need a liver to produce blood, because it has the umbilical chord as uses this as a liver.
“But these matters will be better spoken of in my observations of the fetus, where many propositions, the following among the number, will be discussed: Wherefore is this part formed or perfected first, that last, and of the several members, what part is the cause of another? And there are many points having special reference to the heart, such as wherefore foes it first acquire consistency, and appear to posses life, motion, sense, before any other part of the body is perfected, as Aristotle says in his third book, “De partibus Animalium”? And so also of the blood, wherefore does it precede all the rest? And in what way foes it posses the vital and animal principle, and show a tendency to motion, and to be impelled hither and thither, the end for which the heart appears to be made? In the same way, in considering the pulse, why should one kind of pulse indicate death, another recovery? And so of all the other kinds of pulse, what may be the cause and indication of each? Likewise, we must consider the reason of crises and natural critical discharges; of nutrition, and especially the distribution of the nutriment; and of defluxions of every description. Finally, reflecting on every part of medicine, physiology, pathology, semeiotics and therapeutics, when I see how many questions can be answered, how many doubts resolved, how much obscurity illustrated by the truth we have declared, the light we have made to shine, I see a field of such vast extent in which I might proceed so far, and expatiate so widely, that this my tractate would not only swell out into a volume, which was beyond my purpose, but my whole life, perchance, would not suffice for its completion.”
The spleen: it distributes, from the upper part of the spleenic branch (veins), to the stomach and intestines. And from the lower branch to the colon and rectum. the blood coming from the veins of the stomach is thin and watery, while the one returning from colon and rectum is this and more earthy. Once these two reach the spleen, they mix and mix in with new blood, so this way they reach the liver in a higher state of preparation.
Chapter 17
The motion and circulation of the blood are
confirmed from the particulars apparent in the structure of the heart, and from
those things which dissection unfolds.
“I do not find the heart as a distinct and separate part in all animals.” Except for the zoophytes (anemone) and others (oysters, mussels and sponges) and earth words and grubs. Because all of these animals don't have limbs, so they don't need something to impel nourishments into these parts. The whole body is used as a heart.
In pale-blooded and colder animals (snails, whelks, shrimps and shellfish) there is kind of a vesicle or auricle without a hearts, which beats
In red blooded animals, the need for something to impel the nutritive fluid is needed. The greater the size of the animal the greater the heart (larger, stronger and fleshier hearts), so that the nutritive fluid can be propelled with greater force and faster.
All of the animals that have lungs have ventricles. Wherever there is a right ventricle there has to be a left ventricle, but the left ventricle doesn't always need a right ventricle. Because the left ventricle is the one that distributed the blood to the body. The left ventricle seems to be the main part of the heart: it is in the middle, and the heart seems to be formed around this left ventricle.
But in the embryo there doesn't seem to be a difference between the ventricles.
The braces inside the heart = nerves. They brace the heart on every side when it contracts, enabling it to expel the blood more effectually and forcibly from the ventricles. These are more numerous in the left than in the right. There is more in the left because this is the one that has to expel the blood throughout the whole body. These don't appear in some of the smaller birds, frogs, serpents, tortoises and fishes.
“Hence it is essential that there can be no heart without a ventricle, since this must be the soure and store-house of the blood.”
“It is in like manner evident that the auricles pulsate, contract, as I have said before, and throw the blood into the ventricles; so that wherever there is a ventricle, an auricle is necessary, not merely that it may serve, according to the general belief, as a source and magazine for the blood: for what were the use of its pulsation had it only to contain?”
“The auricles are prime movers of the blood, especially the right auricle, which, as already said, is ‘the first to live, the last to die’; whence they are subservient to sending the blood into the ventricles, which contracting continuously, more readily and forcibly expel the blood already in motion.” “It is in like manner evident that the auricles pulsate, contract, as I have said before, and throw the blood into the ventricles; so that wherever there is a ventricle, an auricle is necessary, not merely that it may serve, according to the general belief, as a source and magazine for the blood: for what were the use of its pulsation had it only to contain?” And from these ventricles (when they contract) the blood is propelled to the rest of the body.
“Thus nature, ever perfect and divine, doing nothing in vain, has neither given a heart where it was not required, nor produced it before its office has become necessary; but by the same stages in the development of every animal, passing through the forms of all, as I may say, it acquires perfection in each. These points will be found elsewhere confirmed by numerous observations on the formation of the fetus.”
“Nor are we the less to agree with Aristotle in regard to the importance of the heart, or to question if it received sense and motion from the brain, blood form the liver, or whether it be the origin of the veins and of the blood, and such like.”
“All these appearances, and many others, to be noted in the course of dissection, if rightly weighed, seem clearly to illustrate and fully confirm the truth contended for throughout these pages, and at the same time to oppose the vulgar opinion; for it would be very difficult to explain in any other way to what purpose all is constructed and arranged as we have seen it to be.”
“I do not find the heart as a distinct and separate part in all animals.” Except for the zoophytes (anemone) and others (oysters, mussels and sponges) and earth words and grubs. Because all of these animals don't have limbs, so they don't need something to impel nourishments into these parts. The whole body is used as a heart.
In pale-blooded and colder animals (snails, whelks, shrimps and shellfish) there is kind of a vesicle or auricle without a hearts, which beats
In red blooded animals, the need for something to impel the nutritive fluid is needed. The greater the size of the animal the greater the heart (larger, stronger and fleshier hearts), so that the nutritive fluid can be propelled with greater force and faster.
All of the animals that have lungs have ventricles. Wherever there is a right ventricle there has to be a left ventricle, but the left ventricle doesn't always need a right ventricle. Because the left ventricle is the one that distributed the blood to the body. The left ventricle seems to be the main part of the heart: it is in the middle, and the heart seems to be formed around this left ventricle.
But in the embryo there doesn't seem to be a difference between the ventricles.
The braces inside the heart = nerves. They brace the heart on every side when it contracts, enabling it to expel the blood more effectually and forcibly from the ventricles. These are more numerous in the left than in the right. There is more in the left because this is the one that has to expel the blood throughout the whole body. These don't appear in some of the smaller birds, frogs, serpents, tortoises and fishes.
“Hence it is essential that there can be no heart without a ventricle, since this must be the soure and store-house of the blood.”
“It is in like manner evident that the auricles pulsate, contract, as I have said before, and throw the blood into the ventricles; so that wherever there is a ventricle, an auricle is necessary, not merely that it may serve, according to the general belief, as a source and magazine for the blood: for what were the use of its pulsation had it only to contain?”
“The auricles are prime movers of the blood, especially the right auricle, which, as already said, is ‘the first to live, the last to die’; whence they are subservient to sending the blood into the ventricles, which contracting continuously, more readily and forcibly expel the blood already in motion.” “It is in like manner evident that the auricles pulsate, contract, as I have said before, and throw the blood into the ventricles; so that wherever there is a ventricle, an auricle is necessary, not merely that it may serve, according to the general belief, as a source and magazine for the blood: for what were the use of its pulsation had it only to contain?” And from these ventricles (when they contract) the blood is propelled to the rest of the body.
“Thus nature, ever perfect and divine, doing nothing in vain, has neither given a heart where it was not required, nor produced it before its office has become necessary; but by the same stages in the development of every animal, passing through the forms of all, as I may say, it acquires perfection in each. These points will be found elsewhere confirmed by numerous observations on the formation of the fetus.”
“Nor are we the less to agree with Aristotle in regard to the importance of the heart, or to question if it received sense and motion from the brain, blood form the liver, or whether it be the origin of the veins and of the blood, and such like.”
“All these appearances, and many others, to be noted in the course of dissection, if rightly weighed, seem clearly to illustrate and fully confirm the truth contended for throughout these pages, and at the same time to oppose the vulgar opinion; for it would be very difficult to explain in any other way to what purpose all is constructed and arranged as we have seen it to be.”