Basic Immunology has had only two significant public priority disputes. The first began in the
late 1650s and concerned the recognition of the peripheral network of vessels which collects
lymph throughout the body. The publication of this major anatomical discovery prompted a
priority feud discussed in a previous paper. The subject of this essay is the second dispute
which occurred a century later in the late 1750s. It focused on the function of the lymphatic
system and precipitated a heated war of words between a young Scotch medical graduate …