Mikroskopische Untersuchungen über die Uebereinstimmung in der Struktur und dem Wachsthum der Thiere und Pflanzen by SCHWANN, Theodor - 1839

Berlin: Verlag der Sander'schen Buchhandlung (G. E. Reimer), 1839. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Mikroskopische Untersuchungen über die Uebereinstimmung in der Struktur und dem Wachsthum der Thiere und Pflanzen. Berlin: Verlag der Sander'schen Buchhandlung (G. E. Reimer), 1839. 8vo (200 x 122 mm). xviii, 270 pp., 4 folding engraved plates by C. E. Weber after Schwann. Text clean and bright throughout, plates with some minor pale spotting. [Bound after:] KLENCKE, Philipp Friedrich Hermann. Neue physiologische Abhandlungen auf selbständige Beobachtungen gegründet; für Ärzte und Naturforscher. Leipzig: L. H. Bösenberg, 1843. 8vo. vi, [2], 318 pp., 4 folding engraved plates; some text illustrations. Light mostly marginal browning of text and plates. Two works in one volume. Bound in contemporary dark-green half calf over marbled boards, spine ruled and lettered in gilt, yellow dyed edges, original endpapers (rubbing of boards and extremities, minor wear to corners, upper joint partly split at foot). Provenance: Prof. Dr. R. Protsch von Zieten* (collectors stamp on first flyleaf, signed and dated 1978); Prof. Dr. Margo Tivadar Ajandéka (stamp on title) and two further including deaccession stamp ("'Értékesíthet?") at foot of title. A fine copy internally, crisp and clean throughout. ----

RARE FIRST EDITION of the "foundation of the cell theory for plants and animals" (Evans). The work formulates the first general theory of the cell as the basis of life. Schwann extended to the animal kingdom Schleiden's theory of the cell as the fundamental unit of plant life. In the first part of his book Schwann describes his microscopic research into the structure of the chorda dorsalis in frogs, which he found to consist of "polyhedral cells that have in or on the internal surface of their wall a structure corresponding to the nucleus of plant cells [...] He also found the structure of cartilage to be in accordance with the tissues of plants [...]" While retaining Schleiden's erroneous theory of cell growth, which postulated an amorphous primary liquid, or 'blastema' within which cells emerge, Schwann developed his own more accurate theories of cell development based on more detailed and thorough observations than those of his colleague. Most important of these by far was his demonstration that the body's specialized tissues - 'epithelium, hoof, feather, crystalline lens, cartilage, bone, tooth, muscle tissue, fatty tissue, elastic tissue, nerve tissue - are products of cellular differentiation. The conclusion he drew from this observation was that 'elementary parts,' although quite distinct in a physiological sense, may be developed according to the same laws" (DSB).
In the final part of his book Schwann presents a philosophical overview of his study of cells, in which he speculates, in direct opposition to the then prevalent theory of the "vital force [that] 'an organized body is not produced ... by a fundamental power guided in its operation by a definite idea, but is developed, according to blind laws of necessity, by powers that, like those of inorganic matter, are established by the very existence of matter" (DSB). Schwann's theory can thus be regarded as the origin of the school of mechanistic materialism in biology.
References & Bibliography: PMM 307b; Dibner 197; Horblit 93a; Norman 1914; Sparrow 179; Evans 106; Honeyman 2827; Garrison-Morton 113; Grolier/Horblit 93a; Grolier/Medicine 62; Waller 11002; DSB XII, pp. 240-245. - Visit our website to see more images!