122 FRANCIS REDI. 



Amsterdam in 1670 and 1686, and atLeyden in 1729. 

 Fabroni gives his life in the third volume of his Vitse 

 Illustrium Italorum. Sprung from a noble family, 

 he was born at Arezzo on the 18th February 1626. 

 After finishing his studies at the University of Pisa, 

 he settled at Florence, where he soon became known 

 as a successful practitioner, and was appointed phy- 

 sician to Ferdinand II. grand duke of Tuscany, in 

 which office he was continued by Cosmo III. Redi's 

 experiments, directed by professional views, had for 

 their chief object the treatment of the bite of serpents, 

 and the destruction or removal of intestinal worms. 

 His letters, however, published in 1724, in two 

 volumes 4to, are replete with interesting observations 

 in every department of natural history ; his poetical 

 works are said to be distinguished by elegance and 

 grace ; and his numerous literary compositions are 

 described as evincing a pure and cultivated taste. 

 He was a considerable contributor to the edition of 

 the Dictionary of the Academia della Crusca, printed 

 in 1691. He died at Pisa on the 1st of March 1694, 

 at the age of sixty-eight, and was buried at Arezzo, in 

 a tomb which his nephew decorated with an inscrip- 

 tion, remarkable for its simplicity and good taste : — 

 Francisco Redi Patritio Aretino 

 Gregorius Fratris Filius. 



JOHN SWAMMERDAM. 



As a naturalist, Swammerdam is chiefly celebrated 

 for the extent and accuracy of his inquiries into the 

 structure of insects ; though anatomy and physiology 

 are equally indebted to his labours. He was the first 

 who discovered the method of rendering the blood- 



