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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Unpublished paper, 'The Croonian Lecture, on the influence of the nervous system on the action of the muscles in general, and of the heart in particular' by B C [Benjamin Collins] Brodie

Reference number: AP/10/2

Date: 1813

Description

This paper is Brodie's Croonian Lecture for 1813. He recounts experiments on the action of the heart muscle, deducing that when the heart is suddenly emptied of blood, it continues to pulse for a longer period than it does when respiration ceases, causing Brodie to form the theory that the action of the heart is linked more closely to the nervous system than to the circulation of blood.

An ink inscription at top of first page reads 'Ordered to be printed, but withdrawn by the author'. Deletions and corrections appear throughout in ink.

Subject: Physiology

Read 11 November 1813.

The Croonian Medal and Lecture is the Royal Society's premier lecture in the biological sciences. The lectureship was conceived by William Croone, one of the original Fellows of the Society. Among the papers left on his death in 1684 were plans to endow two lectureships, one at the Royal Society and the other at the Royal College of Physicians. His widow later bequeathed the means to carry out the scheme. The lecture series began in 1738.

Reference number
AP/10/2
Earliest possible date
1813
Physical description
Ink on paper
Page extent
36 pages
Format
Manuscript

Creator name

Benjamin Collins Brodie

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Citation

Benjamin Collins Brodie, Unpublished paper, 'The Croonian Lecture, on the influence of the nervous system on the action of the muscles in general, and of the heart in particular' by B C [Benjamin Collins] Brodie, 1813, AP/10/2, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_10_2/unpublished-paper-the-croonian-lecture-on-the-influence-of-the-nervous-system-on-the-action-of-the-muscles-in-general-and-of-the-heart-in-particular-by-b-c-benjamin-collins-brodie, accessed on 11 December 2024

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  • Archived Papers

    Dates: 1768-1989

    The 'Archived Papers' collection is comprised of original manuscript scientific papers and letters submitted to the Royal Society which remained unpublished or were abstracted in the journal 'Proceedings of the Royal Society' published from 1830 onwards.

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