BARRY, Martin.
Researches in Embryology. (First series.) From the Philosophical Transactions.—Part II. for 1838. [And:] Researches in Embryology. (Second series.) From the Philosophical Transactions.—Part II. for 1839.
London: Printed by R. and J.E. Taylor… .1839
2 volumes, large 4to, 1 leaf, pp. 301–341, and 4 stipple-engraved plates with 4 engraved leaves of key letters; 1 leaf, pp. 307–380, 1 leaf (blank), 4 plates, all from drawings by the author. Original blue wrappers (slight damage to the spine of the First Series), fine, fresh copies, in original buff paper slipcases (dust-soiled and worn on the spines), printed paper label on the wrappers and slipcases. Presentation copies, the First Series to Prof. Herbert Mayo FRS and the Second Series to Francis Kiernan FRS, both inscribed on the title-page in the same hand “…With the Author’s respects.”
OFFPRINTS of two of the three parts of the series (the third was published in 1840). “In this three-part series Barry tried to follow the history of the mammalian ovum from its first appearance within the ovary through its early stages of development. His numerous observations (mostly on rabbits) resulted in a series of descriptions and illustrations (drawn by himself) that give a good account of that development. “Barry made two notable embryological observations: the segmentation of the yolk in the fertilized mammalian ovum and the penetration of the spermatozoon into the mammalian ovum. In 1839 he pictured the two-, four-, eight-, and sixteen-cell stages in mammals and described as similar to a mulberry that stage which Ernst Haeckel later named the morula. Barry concluded that the process he described in the mammal was similar to that already recognized in fishes and barachians, thus strengthening his belief in the unity of the animal world” (DSB).
£200.00
In stock
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