1-158-669 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian biologist, 1874. Spallanzani (1729-1799) worked on bacteria, disproving spontaneous generation, on digestion, where he was first to use the term gastric juice, and on respiration, where he proved that tissues use oxygen and produce carbon dioxide. He was a pioneer of Vulcanology. From Vies Des Savants: Illustres du XVIIIe Siecle by Louis Figuier. (Paris, 1874).