The early reception of Harvey's theory on blood circulation in the Netherlands.

I n medica l -h is tor ica l l i t e r a t u r e it is genera l ly s t a t e d t h a t t h e accep ta t ion of Wil l iam Harvey ' s t heo ry on b loodc i rcu la t ion o c c u r r e d in t h e D u t c h Republ ic d u r i n g the yea r s 1637-1640. In t h a t con tex t t h e w o r k s of René Desca r t e s (1596-1650) a n d J o h a n v a n Beverwi jck (1594-1647) a r e a lways m e n t i o n e d as t h e l a n d m a r k s for t h e accep ta t ion ou t s ide t h e un ivers i t i e s , whi le in t h e a c a d e m i c field t h e t each ings a n d wr i t i ngs of J o h a n n e s Wa laeus (1604-1649) a r e cons ide red t o m a r k t h e beg inn ing of t h e defence of t h e n e w physiological concept of b loodc i rcu la t ion .