MARCELLO MALPIGHI: BIOGRAPHY, CONTRIBUTIONS AND WORKS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

Marcello Malpighi (1628 - 1694) was an Italian physician and biologist known worldwide as the father of microscopic anatomy, histology, embryology, and physiology. He was the first person to see capillaries in animals and to discover the link between veins and arteries.

In addition, he was one of the first people to look at red blood cells under a microscope. Her treatise on Polypo cordis, in the year 1666, was important in understanding the composition of blood.

Amsterdam Museum, via Wikimedia Commons

The use of the microscope allowed him to discover that invertebrates do not use the lungs to breathe like humans, but small holes in the skin known as "tracheas".

Malpighi was known to have studied the anatomy of the human brain, concluding that this organ can also function as a gland. Currently this statement is correct because the hypothalamus of the brain has been recognized over time for its ability to secrete hormones.

In his scientific career he carried out extensive studies in plants and animals, making the Royal Society of London publish several works related to the topics of botany and zoology. In addition, he became part of this scientific society.

Biography

Early years and studies

Marcello Malpighi was born on March 10, 1628 in Crevalcore, Italy, the son of a wealthy family. At age 17 he entered the University of Bologna where his father made him participate in studies focused on grammar, culminating his studies in 1645.

He immediately began to dedicate himself to the study of peripatetic philosophy, guided by the teachings of the Greek philosopher Aristotle; in 1649 he completed such studies. Motivated by the persuasion of his mother, he began to study physics.

When his parents and grandmother fell ill, Malpighi had to return home to Crevalcore to take care of them. At age 21, Malpighi's parents died. After his death, he decided to resume his studies.

Despite discrimination from the university authorities for not having been a Bolognese by birth, in 1653 he was awarded a doctorate in medicine and philosophy. At the age of 25 he managed to graduate as a doctor and was immediately appointed professor; he devoted himself to the studies of anatomy and medicine.

For most of his career, Malpighi developed an intense interest in scientific research and a passion for teaching that he demonstrated throughout his life and even to the day of his death.

Scientific career

In 1656, Ferdinand II of Tuscany (member of the Medici), invited him to the chair of medicine at the University of Pisa. From there, Malpighi began his friendship with the mathematician and naturalist Giovani Borelli, one of the supporters of the Accademia del Cimento; one of the first scientific societies.

During his stay in Pisa, Malpighi questioned the teachings of the place, carried out experiments on the change of color in the blood and tried to modify the anatomical, physiological and medical problems of the moment.

In addition, he wrote some dialogues against the Peripatetics and the Galenists, who were defenders of the ideals of the Greek philosopher Galen of Pergamum. His poor health and other responsibilities motivated him to return to the University of Bologna in 1659, dedicating himself to teaching and his research with the microscope.

In 1661, he identified and described the pulmonary and capillary network that connects the small arteries with the smaller veins, this being one of the greatest discoveries in the history of science.

Malpighi's work and opinions caused controversy and disagreement, mostly due to envy and lack of understanding on the part of his colleagues.

Member of the Royal Society of London

Although he was appointed professor of physics at the Academy of Messina in 1662, a year later he decided to retire from university life and moved to his villa in the countryside near Bologna. There he worked as a doctor and continued to experiment with the plants and insects he found on his property.

At the end of 1666, Malpighi was invited to return to the public academy in Messina. Then, in 1668, the Italian doctor received a letter from the Royal Society of London where he was invited to become a member of the scientific society.

Malpighi wrote about his experiments on the structure of the silkworm metamorphosis to the Royal Society of London; As a result, he was made a member of the prestigious scientific society in 1669.

Then in 1671 the Royal Society published in London his Malpighi's The Anatomy of Plants. From there, the Italian doctor shared his discoveries about the lungs, the fibers of the spleen and the testicles, as well as other discoveries that involve the brain and the sensory organs.

He also shared his latest exploits from his plant research. Parallel to his work for the Royal Society, he related his disputes with some younger colleagues who supported Galenic principles in opposition to his new discoveries.

Last years

After many other discoveries and publications, in 1691 Malpighi was summoned to Rome by Pope Innocent XII to be a papal physician, for which he had to leave his home in Bologna.

Once in Rome, he resumed medicine classes and became a professor at the Papal School of Medicine, where he wrote an extensive treatise on his studies within the Royal Society of London.

Death

On September 29, 1694, Marcelo Malpighi died of apoplexy; a sudden suspension of brain activity and partial muscle paralysis, at the age of 66. Finally, in 1696, the Royal Society of London published his studies. Malpighi is buried in the Church of Santi Gregorio e Siro, Bologna.

Today you can see a marble monument of the scientist with an inscription in Latin, related to his honest life, his strong mind and his love for medicine.

Contributions

Capillary discoveries and lung structure

Before Malpighi's discovery, the lungs were considered to be a homogeneous mass of meat. The scientist made an extensive explanation of how air and blood mixed in the lungs.

After making several observations under the microscope, Malpighi discovered the structure of the lungs, which was an aggregate of membranous alveoli that open into tracheobronchial branches surrounded by a capillary network.

Malpighi conducted the experiment with the lungs of a dog and the lung capillaries of frogs and turtles. He saw the structure of the lung as air cells surrounded by a network of blood vessels.

Thus he discovered the connections between the arteries and veins of frogs and turtles, as they were very similar to the one in his studies. Hence, Malpighi dared to speculate that the same thing happened with other animals.

Histological studies

The study of tissue structures was established thanks to classical microscopists. The most important of them was Marcello Malpighi. At that time he published four treatises; in the first, he described the presence of red fat cells in the blood vessels of a hedgehog.

In other treatises he described the papillae of the tongue and the skin; suggested that they may have a sensory function. In addition, he described the layers of skin cells now known as "the Malpighi layer."

He also made demonstrations of the general structure of the brain, stating that white matter consists of feces of fibers that connect the brain to the spinal cord; He also described the gray nuclei that exist in white matter.

While other anatomists believed that the outer part of the kidney lacked structure, Malpighi denied such a claim when he discovered that it is composed of a large number of small worm-like vessels (the renal tubes), which he called "canicles."

The secretion gland

Malpighi carried out other investigations related to the structure and functioning of the gland or secretion machine.

He explained that the function of this mechanism was to select specific blood particles brought in from some artery, separate them from others that flow backward through a special vein, and introduce them as a separate fluid into an excretory conductor.

Malpighi offered an a priori explanation of the operation of the secretory mechanism by postulating a proportionality of shape and dimension between the pores and the particles to be separated.

Although Malpighi acknowledged that he could not fully investigate the structure, he did not abandon the search for the mechanism of pores. He managed to locate it at the point where the smaller branches of the arteries, veins, and duct meet.

Insect anatomy

The silkworm moth was Malpighi's first detailed description of the invertebrate's structure. Before his research it was believed that these tiny creatures lacked internal organs.

Malpighi was surprised to discover that the moth was as complex as large animals. He managed to discover the trachea, spiracles, the tube system and the respiratory system of insects. He managed to correctly guess the function of these organs in such beings.

Malpighi was the first to describe the nerve cord, ganglia, silk glands, heart, and urinary tubes of the excretory system that bear his name.

Embryonic studies

Thanks to the use of the microscope, Malpighi managed to study the earliest stages of the embryo, it had been impossible until then. His studies were quickly communicated to the Royal Society of London.

He was able to see the heart within 30 hours of incubation and noticed that it started to beat before the blood turned red. In addition, he described the development of the dorsal folds, the brain, and the structures that were later identified as branchial arches.

However, Malpighi believed that he had seen the shape of an embryo in an unhatched egg. One of the explanations for this curiosity is that the two-day-old egg had been incubated in the warm Italian sun in August.

Plant anatomy

Malpighi's interest in the structure of plants began when he noticed a broken branch of a chestnut tree that had fine threads projecting from the surface. After his observation, Malpighi was struck by its resemblance to the air tubes of insects.

His drawings of the stems of higher plants were distinguished between the annular rings of the dicotyledon (seed embryos presenting with two small initial leaves) and the scattered bundles of the monocotyledon. The term "dicotyledonous" was introduced in the early 18th century.

In addition, he suggested that the material required for plant growth was formed from the sap by the leaves.

Plays

By pulmonibus

De pulmonibus was Marcello Malpighi's first important work, which consisted of two short letters that he later sent to Borelli in Pisa and were published in Bologna in 1661.

In his research together with the Italian physician Carlo Fracassati, he carried out dissections, vivisections and observations with the microscope to make relevant discoveries about the lungs.

Malpighi reported, after his tests, that there could be no immediate contact between the blood and the air stored within the lungs.

Anatome Plantarum

Anatome Plantarum was a text written in the Latin language of the research carried out by Marcello Malpighi between 1663 and 1674. It consisted of a series of manuscripts with the intention of being published by the Royal Society of London, coming to light in the public in 1675 and 1679.

In his work he made several detailed drawings of the individual organs of flowers, being the first author to place such illustrations in his text. He made a longitudinal section of a flower called Nigella, adding the strangeness of flowers capable of producing honey.

De viscerum structura exercitatio

De viscerum structura execitatio, written in 1666, offers a detailed and precise description of the structure of the liver, spleen, and kidney. The Italian scientist dissected the tissue under the microscope and identified small masses of particles or lobes that resembled grape clusters in the liver.

Each lobe was composed of small grape seed-like bodies, connected by central vessels. After observing the lobes of various species, he concluded that these lobes were a unit with a secretory function.

Malpighi reflected in his work the conclusion of the function of the liver, which functions as a gland where the bile duct must be the passage of secreted material (bile); the gallbladder was not the source of the bile.

References

1. Marcello Malpighi, Alfredo Rivas and Ettore Toffoletto, (nd). Taken from britannica.com
2. Malpighi, Marcello, Encyclopedia.com editors, (2008). Taken from encyclopedia.com
3. Marcello Malpighi, Wikipedia in English, (nd). Taken from wikipedia.org
4. Marcello Malpighi Fast, Portal Biography, (nd). Taken from biography.yourdictionary.com
5. Marcello Malpighi, Portal Orto Botanico Ed Erbario - Universit à di Bologna, (nd). Taken from ortobotanicobologna.wordpress.com