Book excerpt: Excerpt from An Anatomical Disquisition on the Motion of the Heart Blood in Animals The discovery made by Harvey was this: That the blood passed from the heart into the arteries, thence to the veins, by which it was brought back to the heart again, that the blood moved more or less in a circle, coming back eventually to the point from which it started. In a phrase, there was a Circulation of the Blood. Moreover, this circulation was of a double nature - one circle being from the right side of the heart to the left through the lungs, hence called the Pulmon ary or Lesser Circulation; the other from the left side of the heart to the right, through the rest of the body, known as the Systemic or Greater Circulation. Further, that it was the peculiar office of the heart to maintain this circulation by its continuous rhythmic beating as long as life lasts. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.