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The fact is, that when we know the true solution of a problem, it is easy to see or think we see it in any discussion which preceded the
discovery; for there is only a limited number of answers to most questions, and therefore true as
well as false solutions are almost sure to have been proposed.
In the writings of Columbus, Servetus, and Caesalpinus, phrases occur which sometimes seem as if the writers were going to state the truth that Harvey first asserted.
But it would be as reasonable to infer, from such passages, that the circulation of the blood was then known, as from the lines that Shakespeare puts into the mouth of Brutus:
- “As dear to me as are the ruddy drops
- That visit my sad heart.”
He only discovers who proves. To hit upon a true conjecture here and there amid a crowd
