84
THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
In 1604 he made his way to London and was admitted a candi-
date for the College of Physicians on 5 October. Shortly after
this he married, the allegation for the licence issued by the
Bishop of London reading as follows:—
"1604. Nov. 24. William Harvey, Doctor of Physic,
"bachelor, 26, of St. Martin's Ludgate, and Elizabeth Browne,
"maiden, 24, of St, Sepulchres, daughter of Lancelot Browne
"of same, Doctor of Physic, who consents, consent also of
"Thomas Harvey one of the Jurats of the town of Folston in
"Kent, father of the said William—at St. Sepulchre'
"Newgate."
He was elected a Fellow of the College of Physicians 5 June,
1607, and almost immediately connected himself with St.
Bartholomew's Hospital, his annual stipend from the College
being increased from £25 to £33 6s. 8d. In 1615 Harvey had
been appointed Lumleian lecturer to the College, delivering his
first discourse on the Viscera in April, 1616. This lectureship
he held till his resignation in 1656. At the time of his appoint-
ment to the lectureship he is described as then "37 years of
"age, a man of the lowest stature, round faced, with a com-
"plexion like the wainscot, his eyes small, round and very black
"and full of spirit—his hair black as a raven and curling; rapid
"in his utterance, choleric, given to gesture and used when in
"discourse with anyone to play unconsciously with the handle
"of the small dagger he wore by his side."
The manuscript notes of his first course of lectures are
preserved in the British Museum. These notes show that even
then he had made his great discovery of the circulation of the
blood, for in them he says:—
"It is plain from the structure of the heart that the blood
"is passed continuously through the lungs to the aorta as by
"the two clacks of a water bellows to raise water. It is
"shown by the application of a ligature that the passage of
"the blood is from the arteries into the veins. Whence it
"follows that the movement of the blood is constantly in a
"circle and is brought about by the beat of the heart. It is
"a question therefore whether this is for the sake of nourish-
"ment or rather for the preservation of the blood and the
"limbs by the communication of heat, the blood cooled by
"Warming the limbs being in turn warmed by the heart."