Wrote Letter L-438 of 1705-04-24 to the members of the Royal Society about a fern and its seed capsules and an experiment to open and close them

Date: 
April 24, 1705
Standard reference information
L-number: 
L-438
Leeuwenhoek's number: 
166
Collected Letters number: 
258
Collected Letters volume: 
15

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

a fern ('Polypodium interjectum' Shivas); the seed capsules (sori), the sporangia (grouped within the sori) and spores (contained with the sporangia); experiment to open and close the sporangia

Description of the sori, sporangia and spores of the Intermediate Polypody, Polypodium interjectum Shivas. Investigation of the mechanism of opening and closing of the sporangia.