Dutch naturalist, known for his #skilled #biological #microscopical observations and accurate #il…

Dutch naturalist, known for his #skilled #biological #microscopical observations and accurate #illustrations, who was the first to describe the #Redbloodcells (1658). He studied and illustrated the life histories and #anatomy of many #species of #insects, which he classified on the basis of development. He demonstrated the presence of #butterfly wings in #caterpillars about to undergo #pupation. To facilitate the study of human anatomy, he developed better methods for injecting wax and dyes into #cadavers. He was one of the first to #dissect under water and to remove #fat by organic solvents. He demonstrated experimentally that whereas #muscles alter in shape during contraction, their volume is not thereby increased, which contradicted beliefs of the time.