78/2185 [Entomology]. Redi, F. Esperienze intorno alla generazione degl'insetti. Naples, G. Raillard, 1687, (14),195p., engr. portrait by F. DE LOUVEMONT, 29 engr. plates and 12 (full-p.) textills., woodcut printer's mark, contemp. gilt calf w. mor. letterpiece.

- Partly vaguely waterst. in margin; otherwise contents fine. Binding sl. worn/ chafed; letterpiece almost entirely lacking; ticket on spine.

= Rare, Neapolitan edition of this entomological work by the Italian physician Francesco Redi (1626-1697); first ed. Florence, 1668. "Redis masterpiece (...) in which he disproved the doctrine of spontaneous generation in insects, inherited from Aristotle and still considered dogma. The microscope revealed in insects an organization as marvelous as it was unsuspected. Redi prepared and observed the egg-producing apparatus in insects, and he also used the microscope to good advantage in observing the morphological elements characteristic of the eggs of each species." (DSB XI, p.341). Nissen, ZBI 3319. SEE ILLUSTRATION PLATE LVII.