Swammerdam, Tractatus Physico-Anatomico-Medicus de Respiratione, 1679

Johan. Swammerdami Amstelaedamensis, Medicinae Doctoris Tractatus Physico-Anatomico-Medicus de Respiratione Usuque Pulmonum. In quo; praeter primam Respirationis in Foetu inchoationem, Aeris per Circulum Propulsio statuminatur, Attractio exploditur; Experimentaque ad explicandum Sanguinis in Corde tam auctum quam diminutum Motum in medium producuntur. Lugduni Batavorum, Apud Joannem vander Linden. 1679. 
 
Full vellum with exposed thongs at the joints. Vellum appears contemporary; however, end papers appear later. Joints/hinges strong. Engraved title page and title page both present. Library stamp on title page. Paper repairs to first half dozen leaves, partially affecting image of engraved title. Some focal worming, not intrusive. Mild toning and foxing. Scattered minute marginal tears to fore edges, far from edge of text. Seven engraved figures (fig ii duplicated) of scientific apparatuses. Binding tight throughout. Engraved head and tail pieces. Engraved title page features snails and animals in various stages of respiratory experiments submerged in liquid. 
 
*8, A-I8. 
Ffep, engraved title, title (10) 121 (23) rfep. 
 
6 ¼ x 4 x ½ inches.
 
Heirs 602 is the 1667 edition: “Jan Swammerdam (1637-1680): Despite his short life and a professional career of only about twelve years, Swammerdam of Amsterdam was one of the outstanding comparative anatomists of the seventeenth century. He was a pioneer in microscopic studies, investigating especially the anatomy of insects. At his death after seven years of illness and scientific inactivity, he left a mass of papers and reports of investigations, most of which remained unknown until they were published a century later. The present work, a classic on respiration, was his inaugural dissertation at the University of Leipzig and one of only four works published during his lifetime. He first showed that the lungs of a newborn infant would float if the child had ever breathed, and this discovery was put to legal use in cases of infanticide. The engraved title page illustrates his ingenious, if complicated, device for the study of respiration.”