568 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



from which nerves are given off to the eyes and other sense organs of 

 the head. As illustrations from the monograph we have, in Fig. 2, re- 

 duced sketches of the drawings of the nervous system and the food 

 canal in the adult silkworm. The sketch at the left hand illustrates the 

 central nerve cord, and the small one near the center shows one 

 ganglion enlarged, and part of the breathing tubes connected with it. 

 The original drawing is on a much larger scale, and reducing it takes 

 away some of its coarseness. All of his drawings lack the finish and 

 detail of Swammerdam's work. 



He showed also the food canal and the tubules connected with the 

 intestine, which retain his name in the insect anatomy of to-day, under 

 the designation of malpighian tubules. The silk-forming apparatus was 

 also figured and described. These structures are represented, as Mal- 

 pighi drew them, on the right of Fig. 2. 



This monograph, which was originally published in Latin in 1669, 

 has been several times republished. The best edition is that in French, 

 dating from Montpellier, in 1878, and which is preceded by an account 

 of the life and labors of Malpighi. 



Anatomy of Plants. Malpighi's anatomy of plants constitutes one 

 of his best as well as one of his most extensive works. In the folio 

 edition of his works, 1675-79, the 'Anatome Plantarum' occupies not less 

 than 152 pages and is illustrated by ninety-three plates of figures. It 

 comprises the structure of bark, stem, roots, seeds, process of germina- 

 tion, treatise on galls, etc., etc. 



The microscopic structure of plants is amply illustrated, and he an- 

 ticipated to a certain degree the ideas on the cellular structure of plants. 

 Burnett says of this work: "His observations appear to have been very 

 accurate, and not only did he maintain the cellular structure of plants, 

 but also declared that it was composed of separate cells, which he 

 designated "utricles.' ; Thus did he foreshadow the cell-theory of plants. 

 as developed by Schleiden in the nineteenth century. When it came 

 to interpretations of his observations, he made several errors. Apply- 

 ing his often-asserted principle of analogies, he concluded that the ves- 

 sels of plants are organs of respiration and of circulation from a certain 

 resemblance that they bear to the breathing tubes of insects. But his 

 observational work on structure is good, and if he had accomplished 

 nothing more than this work on plants he would have a place in the 

 history of botany. 



Work in Embryology. Difficult as was his Avork in insect anatomy 

 and plant histology, a more difficult one remains to be mentioned, viz., 

 his observations on the development of animals. He had pushed his 

 researches into the finer structure of organisms, and now he attempted 

 to answer this question: How does one of these organisms begin its 

 life, and by what series of stops is its body built up? He turned to 



