Wrote Letter L-002 of 1673-08-15 to Henry Oldenburg about the bee, the movement of liquids in wood and food in a louse, and the composition of air

Date: 
August 15, 1673
Standard reference information
L-number: 
L-002
Leeuwenhoek's number: 
2
Collected Letters number: 
2
Collected Letters volume: 
1

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 to Henry Oldenburg about the bee; movement of liquids in wood and food in a louse; the composition of air.

Leeuwenhoek's second letter:

  • followed up on the observations from his first letter
  • added more observations of the bee
  • added observations about wood
  • described his experiment with capillary tubes to learn how fluids rose in trees
  • enclosed a drawing of the tubes he used