Details
PANDER, Christian Heinrich (1794-1865). Dissertatio inauguralis sistens historiam metamorphoseos, quam ovum incubatum prioribus quinque diebus subit. Wrzburg: Frans Ernst Nitribitt, 1817.
8o (188 x 112 mm). Contemporary dark green boards, spine ruled in gilt (corners worn, head of spine chipped and torn, later owner's paper label glued over lower portion of spine). Provenance: Dr. Shovotny (signature on title); another 19th-century Russian owner (illegible signature on title).
FIRST EDITION OF A FUNDAMENTAL WORK IN EMBRYOLOGY AND A LEGENDARY RARITY. A native of Riga of German descent, Pander studied at the University of Wrzburg under the great biologist and teacher Ignaz Dllinger, who had expressed the hope that one of his students would investigate the development of the chick embryo. Pander took up the task for his doctoral thesis. Building upon the work of Malpighi and Caspar Friedrich Wolff, Pander's thesis methodically describes the different layers from which the various organs of the chicken embryo emerge. He discovered the three-layered structure of the blastoderm, a term he coined. "In the twelfth hour of embryonic development he reported that the blastoderm consisted of two entirely separate layers: an inner layer, thick and opaque; and an outer layer, thin, smooth, and transparent. Between these two a third layer developed, in which blood vessels formed and from which 'events of the greatest importance subsequently occur'" (DSB). Pander sent a copy of his thesis to his friend and colleague Karl von Baer (see lot 912), who immediately began his own investigations of the subject, leading to his identification of the mammalian ovum. Together the work of the two biologists revolutionized embryology and lay the foundation for "a new branch of comparative morphology, which... made possible a far more universal and extensive study of the organs in living creatures than had been conceivable before, embracing not only [their] present characteristics... but also their evolutionary history" (Nordenskild, The History of Biology: a Survey, New York, 1928, pp. 368-369). Pander published an expanded illustrated edition of his work with text in German during the same year (see following lot), but, for unknown reasons, never pursued his embryological studies. Garrison-Morton 474; Waller 11925; Norman 1631.
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FIRST EDITION OF A FUNDAMENTAL WORK IN EMBRYOLOGY AND A LEGENDARY RARITY. A native of Riga of German descent, Pander studied at the University of Wrzburg under the great biologist and teacher Ignaz Dllinger, who had expressed the hope that one of his students would investigate the development of the chick embryo. Pander took up the task for his doctoral thesis. Building upon the work of Malpighi and Caspar Friedrich Wolff, Pander's thesis methodically describes the different layers from which the various organs of the chicken embryo emerge. He discovered the three-layered structure of the blastoderm, a term he coined. "In the twelfth hour of embryonic development he reported that the blastoderm consisted of two entirely separate layers: an inner layer, thick and opaque; and an outer layer, thin, smooth, and transparent. Between these two a third layer developed, in which blood vessels formed and from which 'events of the greatest importance subsequently occur'" (DSB). Pander sent a copy of his thesis to his friend and colleague Karl von Baer (see lot 912), who immediately began his own investigations of the subject, leading to his identification of the mammalian ovum. Together the work of the two biologists revolutionized embryology and lay the foundation for "a new branch of comparative morphology, which... made possible a far more universal and extensive study of the organs in living creatures than had been conceivable before, embracing not only [their] present characteristics... but also their evolutionary history" (Nordenskild, The History of Biology: a Survey, New York, 1928, pp. 368-369). Pander published an expanded illustrated edition of his work with text in German during the same year (see following lot), but, for unknown reasons, never pursued his embryological studies. Garrison-Morton 474; Waller 11925; Norman 1631.