Wrote Letter L-106 of 1680-05-13 to Thomas Gale about little animals in sap and whether little animals are in the air

Date:

May 13, 1680

Standard reference information

L-number:

L-106

Leeuwenhoek's number:

Collected Letters number:

Collected Letters volume:

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.

The original manuscript on three quarto pages, written and signed by Leeuwenhoek, is preserved at the Royal Society (MS. 1881. Early Letters L1.53). On the outside, Leeuwenhoek wrote, "Mijn Heer / Mijn Heer To. Gale / Secretaris der Connelijkse / Societeit / Londen." An English summary by Gale is found at Early Letters L1.54.

An excerpt was published thirteen years later in Philosophical Transactions, vol. 17, no. 193, dated 31 January 1693, titled, "The abstract of two letters sent some time since by Mr. Anth. Van. Leeuwenhoeek to Dr. Gale and Dr. Hooke." See Publication history below.

Leeuwenhoek dated three letters May 13, 1680, this one and two thank-you notes for his election as a fellow of the Royal Society.

Leeuwenhoek's summary

Where all the other letters had summaries of the contents, this one had:

Vervolg op het voorgaande. (Continuation of the foregoing.)

The summaries at the beginning of Vervolg der Brieven expand that a little:

Van het vervolg, ontrent het sap dat uyt de Wyngaard droop. (The continuation, about the sap that drips from a wine vine.)

The foregoing Letter 30 of April 5, 1680 (addressed to Robert Hooke not Thomas Gale) had observations of little animals in rats, mussels, and oysters. At the end, Leeuwenhoek began discussing:

Van levende Dierkens in het sap dat uit een Wyngaard-rank droop.

The living little animals in the sap that drips from a wine vine.

Reception in London

At the June 10 meeting of the Royal Society, Birch's History (vol. IV, p. 42, 43) noted that Hooke "produced two letters from Mr. Leeuwenhoeck, which not being yet translated into English were referred to the next meeting." At that next meeting on June 17, "A letter from Mr. Leeuwenhoeck was read," presumably Letter 31 or Letter 32.

According to Birch's History vol. IV p. 37, the members of the Royal Society discussed this letter and two others written on the same day at their meeting of May 8/18, 1680.

Mr. Hooke produced three letters from Mr. Leewenhoeck; one to the president and fellows of the Society, containing his thanks for the honour, which they had done him in choosing him a member.

A second to Mr. Hooke, acknowledging the receipt of the diploma sent, and a profession of the great esteem, which he had of the honor done him, and of his zeal to serve the Society in what he was able, for the future as long as he lived.

A third to Dr. Gale, containing an answer to the doctor's address by the last letter, and an account of some farther discoveries made in the juice of plants, animals, &c. Mr. Austin took this letter, and promised to translate it into English against the next meeting, it being written in Dutch.

Specimens and methods

"Nailed fast against a brick wall."

Leeuwenhoek was unable to find any little animals in April. Five weeks later, at the beginning of Letter 31, he wrote to Thomas Gale:

As Mr. Hooke in his letter of April 12th O.S. tells me that you have taken over the foreign correspondence, and will hence-forward answer my letters, this serves to continue my letter of April 5th, in which I noted that I had observed living little animals in the sap dripping from the vine-branches in my court-yard, whereas in the sap that dripped from the shoots of the vine in my garden, I could not discover a living creature.

He spoke of the courtyard behind his house (op mijn plaets) and his garden (in mijn thuijn) as two different places. Later in the letter, he was able to see little animals in the sap. He referred to both the courtyard and garden again, using the same terms.

In the courtyard, the vines were encourged to grow up rather than out.

The tags of leather, with which the branches of the vine were nailed fast against a brick wall, had become wet through.

About 24 hours after I had dispatched my observations to Mr. Hooke the vine-branches in my court-yard dripped no longer and the weather had become uncommonly warm, so that the vine-branches and the leathern tags as well were quite dry. After this it rained nearly the whole night, but in the morning the sun shone and in the afternoon there was once more rain. Seeing that the leathern tags were again wet through I examined the water on these tags (with which the vine-branches, as remarked above, were nailed to the wall) and saw in it several little animals of the biggest sort.

Figures

In the text, Leeuwenhoek did not say who drew in red chalk the little living animals that he observed in wine vine sap. However, they are simple drawings well within his skills, so he no doubt drew them himself. In all of the Dutch and Latin editions, the same plate was inserted into the text next to the discussion of these little animals. The scan on the left sidebar is from the 1686 first edition of Levende Dierkens.

Publication history

Related sources, especially Philosophical Transactions, and first editions only of Leeuwenhoek's volumes of letters. For later editions see Related events under Learn more.

Year	Author	Title
1665	various	Philosophical Transactions
1686	Leeuwenhoek, A. van	Levende Dierkens
1687	Leeuwenhoek, A. van	Anatomia Seu Interiora Rerum
1693	Leeuwenhoek, A. van	The Abstract of Two Letters Sent Some Time Since by Mr. Anth. Van. Leeuwenhoeek to Dr. Gale and Dr. Hooke
1745	Valk, E.	Genees-kundig Verhaal
1948	Leeuwenhoek, A. van	Alle de Brieven. The Collected Letters. Volume 3

Other publications:

An excerpt from this letter appeared thirteen years later in Philosophical Transactions., vol. 17 no. 196. The figure had only one little animal instead of the two in Leeuwenhoek's publications and the three in the drawing that accompanied his manuscript.

After Leeuwenhoek's death, the second paragraph of this letter was quoted, in Dutch, in Genees-kundig Verhaal, p. 1-3. The figure was not included.

Learn more

Period 2 - 1679-1686

Structure of the letters in Period 2

1680: Member of the Royal Society

Related people:

Thomas Gale

Related locations:

Dr. Schaepmanstraat

Related events:

Date	Event
June 25, 1664	Bought a garden outside the walls of the city
March 8, 1680	Thomas Gale wrote Letter L-101, sending Leeuwenhoek official notice of his election as member of the Royal Society
April 22, 1680	Robert Hooke wrote Letter L-103 to Leeuwenhoek as official notice of his election as member of the Royal Society
May 23, 1680	Robert Hooke read the three letters of 1680-05-13 thanking the Royal Society
January 1, 1686	Published Levende Dierkens (Living Animals), Letters 28 - 31, 34 - 36
January 1, 1687	Published Anatomia Seu Interiora Rerum (Interior Anatomy), 19 Letters from 28 - 52
December 29, 1693	Sold the garden outside the walls of the city
January 1, 1696	Published Levende Dierkens (Living Animals), Letters 28 - 31, 34 - 36 (2nd)
January 1, 1696	Published Arcana Naturae Microscopiorum (Nature's Mcroscopical Mysteries), 19 Letters from 28 - 52 (2nd)
January 1, 1708	Published Arcana Naturae Microscopiorum (Nature's Mcroscopical Mysteries), 19 Letters from 28 - 52 (3rd)
January 1, 1722	Published Opera Omnia, seu Arcana Naturae Microscopiorum (The Works, or Nature's Microscopical Mysteries), 25 Letters from 28 - 60 (4th)

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Wrote Letter L-106 of 1680-05-13 to Thomas Gale about little animals in sap and whether little animals are in the air

"Nailed fast against a brick wall."

Figures

Life in Holland

in the 1600's