from their observation and experimental investigation.
The rational study of the respiratory function, for example, followed much the same course as did that of the circulation of the blood. The Galenic doctrine on this subject was that which Fabricius propounded in the Lectures to which Harvey listened. The air which was introduced into the lungs by the "rough artery," or, as we call it, trachea, was for the purpose of modifying and regulating the innate heat of the heart, of getting rid of the fuliginous vapours which resulted from this innate heat, and further with the object of being conveyed by the "vein-like artery" (pulmonary vein) to the left side of the heart, there to generate those vital spirits which the arteries carried throughout the body. Although Harvey's discovery set aside at once and for ever such unintelligible nonsense, as it had upset the corresponding views of the heart's action, the time was not yet quite ripe for laying the foundation of sounder principles as to the Function of Respiration. The state of knowledge of the anatomy of the lungs was scarcely as far developed in Harvey's time as was that of the structure of the heart, as may be seen in the Mannuall of the Anatomy or Dissection of the Body of Man (enlarged 1642) by Alexander Read, who was a Fellow of this College as well as "Brother
