Wrote letter of 1720-11-20 (AB 355) to members of the Royal Society about the bone membrane and the canals in bone, the cell layers and blood vessels in the bone membrane and bone from the rib of a cow

Date:

November 20, 1720

Standard reference information

Leeuwenhoek's number:

[XLVIII]

Collected Letters number:

355

Collected Letters volume:

Text of the letter in the original Dutch and in English translation in Alle de Brieven / The Collected Letters is not yet available at the DBNL - De Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren.

Leeuwenhoek's summary

Leeuwenhoek did not publish any letters after 1718 in book form with his own summaries. The summary below comes from Alle de Brieven / Collected Letters.

In this letter, L. describes the bone membrane and the canals in bone as well as the cell layers and blood vessels in the bone membrane. He also describes bone from the rib of a cow.

Reception in London

Signed autograph letter. The manuscript is to be found in London, Royal Society, MS 2111, Early Letters L4.58; 7 quarto pages; 1 engraving.

A contemporary English translation of the letter by James Jurin is to be found in London, Royal Society, MS 2112, Early Letters L4.59; 6 pages.

The translation was read during the 8 December 1720 and 11 January 1721 meetings of the Royal Society; Royal Society, Letter Book Original 15.72.

Specimens and methods

The only letter prior to this one in which L. discusses the bone membrane is Letter 90 [49] of 2 April 1686, Collected Letters, vol. 6, p. 29. Periosteum, the modern term for a bone membrane, did not become common in English until later in the century.

Figures

Seven figures accompanied this letter, all on a single engraving. The figures 1-7 are to be found as Fig. I-VII on the plate with no. 366 of the Philosophical Transactions.

Learn more

Related letters:

What Leeuwenhoek wrote ...
Wrote Letter L-173 of 1686-04-02 to members of the Royal Society about the structure of bone, the bark of trees, skin and scales, the moisture evaporating from his body, and a little peeling piece of skin

Period 7 - 1720-1723

Related people:

Members of the Royal Society

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Life in Holland

in the 1600's

Work in Holland

in the 1600's

Wrote letter of 1720-11-20 (AB 355) to members of the Royal Society about the bone membrane and the canals in bone, the cell layers and blood vessels in the bone membrane and bone from the rib of a cow

Life in Holland

in the 1600's