101 - 1675.

1675. BOOK. (SCIENCES—NATURAL SCIENCES). REDI, FRANCISCI:. EXPERIMENTS ON VARIOUS NATURAL PHENOMENA, ESPECIALLY THOSE REPORTED FROM THE INDIES. Amsterdam: Published by Andrae Frisii, 1675. Small 8vo. Engraved frontispiece + title page + 193 pp. + 7 folios and 12 engraved plates, several of which are folded. [Follows:] OBSERVATIONES DE VISPERIS. 111 pp. + 4 folios. [Continued:] EPISTOLA AD ALIQUAS OPPOSITIONES... 71 pp. Rubber stamp. Bound in a stiff period parchment binding with painted edges. The author was an advocate of the experimental method, and by applying it, he made discoveries that disproved certain long-held beliefs, such as the toxicity of snake venom (how it is produced and its actual danger), that maggots are produced from fly eggs and not from decaying flesh, etc. His use of control groups in his biological research is among the earliest documented instances in history.