Swammerdam John M D (1 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. 1758. With the life of the author, by Herman Boerhaave. Translated from the Dutch and Latin original edition, by Thomas Flloyd. Revised and improved by notes from Reaumur and others by John Hill, M.D. 2 parts in 1, folio. Illustrated with 53 engraved plates, a few by Swammerdam. Narrow folio half tan calf over marbled boards. Vertical mar, possibly a flaw in the calf, running down the bottom two-thirds of the spine, else a sound, clean copy. First Edition in English. See Dibner 191. Despite a scientific career that lasted only a dozen years, Swammerdam was one of the outstanding comparative anatomists of the seventeenth century. His most remarkable work was in the field of insect anatomy, which he undertook in order to disprove Aristotle's claims that insects lack internal anatomy, develop by metamorphosis (sudden and complete transformation) and arise from spontaneous generation. By refining his techniques of microdissection and injection to the point where he could use them on the smallest and most delicate anatomical parts, Swammerdam was able to illustrate for the first time the complex internal structures of insects, including their reproductive organs; and to demonstrate the gradual development of an insect's adult form throughout all its larval stages. These observations are "indubitably the foundation of our modern knowledge of the structure, metamorphosis and classification of insects" (Cole, p. 285).