Wrote Letter L-363 of 1699-10-16 to Antonio Magliabechi about tiny animalcules from ditchwater, his opposition to spontaneous generation, and how animals serve as food for each other

Date: 
October 16, 1699
Standard reference information
L-number: 
L-363
Leeuwenhoek's number: 
121
Collected Letters number: 
206
Collected Letters volume: 
12

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 his examination of tiny animalcules from ditchwater. Description and illustration of a Cyclops species. Development of the egg to the nauplius larva. Opposition to the idea of spontaneous generation. Animals have been created as food for each other.