No. 001 - THE PENNY MAGAZINE - Mar. 31, 1832

THE WEEK.

APRIL 1.—The anniversary of the, birth of the celebrated philosopher, René Des Cartes, who was born at La Haye, in Touraine, in 1596. When a child he was so remarkable for the anxiety he showed to know the cause of everything, that his father used to call him his young philosopher. He entered the army when very young; and continued to serve for some years but zealously pursued his mathematical and other studies all the time. An anecdote, illustrative of the extent of his acquirements under apparently unfavourable circumstances, is given in 'The Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties." He happened to be in garrison with his regiment at the town of Breda, in the Netherlands, when, walking out one morning, he observed a crowd of people assembled around a placard or advertisement which was stuck up on the wall. Finding that it was written in the Dutch language, which he did not understand (for he was a native of Touraine, in France), he inquired of a person whom he saw reading it what it meant. The individual to whom he addressed his inquiries happened to be the Principal of the University of Dort, a man of distinguished mathematical attainments; and it was with something of a sneer that he informed the young officer, in reply to his question that the paper contained the announcement of a difficult geometrical problem, of which the proposer challenged the most able men of the city to attempt the solution. Not repulsed, however, by the tone and manner of the learned Professor, Des Cartes requested to be favoured with a translation of the placard, which he had no sooner received than he calmly remarked that he thought he should be able to answer the challenge. Accordingly next day he presented himself again before Beckman (that was the name of the Professor) with a complete solution of the problem, greatly to the astonishment of that distinguished person." At last Des Cartes left the army, and travelled through a great part of Europe, visiting England among other countries. He then fixed his residence in Holland, where he wrote the greater number of his works. They relate to metaphysics, geometry, and various departments of natural philosophy. He is now principally remembered for the impulse which his works gave to the study of metaphysics in Germany, and for his ideas being now, in a great degree, the foundation of what is called the Ideal School of Philosophy, as opposed to the Sensual, or Material. His celebrated axiom was "Cogito, ergo sum," (I think, therefore, I exist). His astronomical speculations were very singular and extravagant. He explained the constitution of the heavens by means of a multitude of vortices, or elementary whirlpools, of which the sun and every other fixed star, according to him, had one, forming as it were its system, and supporting and keeping in motion the other lighter bodies that circle round it. Notwithstanding these fancies, Des Cartes was a most profound and ingenious mathematician; and the science of optics is also greatly indebted to him. Having been invited by Christina, Queen of Sweden, to take up his residence in Stockholm, he repaired to that capital in 1648; but died there of an inflammation of the lungs on the 11th of February, 1650, in the fifty-fourth year of his age.

April 1.—All-Fools'-Day, like many other days that were once observed by most people, has no honours now but in the gaiety of school-boys. The old custom of sending individuals on this day on a fool's errand is not peculiar to England. Scotland has her April gowk, and France her Poisson d'Avril (April fish). It is probable that the custom is a relic of a high and general Pagan festival, in which the wildest spirit of frolic expressed the universal gladness. It is to be remembered that the year anciently began about the time of the vernal equinox, when the awakening of all the powers of nature from their wintry sleep—the leafing of trees, the budding of flowers, and the singing of birds—made men look forward with joy to a season of long days and sunny skies. In simple ages rough jokes, given and taken without feelings of unkindness, form one of the most usual expressions of hilarity. There is a festival amongst the Hindoos, called the Huli, which is held in March, in honour of the new year, in the observance of which the practice of sending persons on errands which are to end in disappointment, forms a prominent feature. This circumstance would show that the custom, which still remains with us, is one which has its origin in remote ages, and is derived from a common source, accessible alike to the Hindoo and the Briton.

April 2.—On this day, in the year 1578, was born at Folkstone, in Kent, Dr. William Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the blood. Harvey published this important discovery in 1620. Before this time it was universally believed that the arteries, or vessels through which the blood flows from the heart, did not contain blood at all, but only air; and, indeed, the word artery was originally used to signify the windpipe, and an air tube. The body, it was thought, was fed with blood entirely through the veins, which carried it at last to the heart, where it was in some way or other absorbed or drunk up. Thus, one of our old poets, Phineas Fletcher, in a curious allegorical poem, descriptive of the body and mind of man, which he entitles ' The Purple Island," written (although not published) before Harvey announced his discovery, gives the following account of the manner in which the body is watered and fertilized by the different channels that pervade it:

Nobody imagined that there was any circulation of the blood, till Harvey demonstrated that the same blood which the veins brought to the heart the arteries immediately carried away again from it. Harvey lived for many years to enjoy the glory of this discovery; dying in Hampstead, in Essex, on the 3d of June, 1658, in the eighty-first year of his age.

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