Wrote Letter L-251 of 1695-05-01 to Anthonie Heinsius about weevils, nutmegs and their safe storage, and tobacco seeds and their germination

Date: 
May 1, 1695
Standard reference information
L-number: 
L-251
Leeuwenhoek's number: 
88
Collected Letters number: 
143
Collected Letters volume: 
10

Text of the letter in the original Dutch and in English translation from Alle de Brieven. The Collected Letters at the DBNL - De Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren

Leeuwenhoek wrote this letter about …

  • three kinds of larvae and adult weevils, all found dead in nutmegs
  • an experimental investigation of the question whether nutmegs are damaged by mites
  • a recommendation to fumigate the stores of the nutmegs in the tropics to prevent their being damaged by the indigenous larvae
  • abortive attempts to cause nutmegs to germinate; picture of the embryo
  • an examination of the wood of the root of the nutmeg tree by means of tangential, radial, and transverse sections
  • further anatomy of the wood and of the leaf vein of the embryo
  • tobacco seed and the embryo in it and a description of germination