CONTENTS 



PAGES 



Introduction. 



Life of Redi 5-8 



Significance of his work 8-1 1 



Bibliography 13 



Experiments on the Generation of Insects. 



Plea for the experimental method 19-21 



Historical review 21-26 



Redi's hypothesis 26-27 



Experiment on dead snakes 27 



Experiments with various meats 30 



Meat placed in sealed flasks 33 



Discussion of Kircher's experiment 34 



Air admitted to flask, but flies excluded by a net . . 36 

 Criticism of previous writers and description of an- 

 cient beliefs in the spontaneous generation of bees 37-43 

 Explanation of Biblical story of bees in carcass of lion 44-45 

 Digression on the habits of bees and wasps .... 46-50 

 History of opinions on the origin of scorpions . . 51-53 



Observations on scorpions 53-62 



Further observations disproving spontaneous generation 62-66 



Observations on spiders 66-72 



Experiments with cheese 73-75 



On insects appearing in fruits and vegetables . . . 75-76 

 Explanation of the belief that animals arise from mud 



and soil 76-80 



Toads that appear with rain 80 



Refutation of the belief in organisms part plant and 



part animal 81-85 



On the mantis. Grafting experiment 85-89 



Final conclusions on the breeding of flies and other 



wing insects in dead flesh, fish, plants, and fruits . 89-90 



Occurrence of worms in living fungi 90 



Liceto's corpuscular hypothesis 91 



Redi's belief in heterogenesis in living plants , , , 92-94 



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