Seminal vessels
Date
25 July 1669
Creator
Object type
Archive reference number
Manuscript page number
p4
Material
Dimensions
height (page): 386mm
width (page): 262mm
width (page): 262mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Seminal vessels in Reinier de Graaf's letter dated 25 July 1669 to Henry Oldenburg, replying to Timothy Clarke's objections.
Reinier de Graaf (1641-1673) was entangled in a dispute with Timothy Clarke FRS (?-1672) about the nature of the vessels in testes. De Graaf and his mentor, Johannes van Horne (1621-1670), claimed that the whole mass of the testis could be unravelled to a huge length, or a collection of very tiny strings, arguing against the notion that the testes were solid organs. They also denied that they were glands (see Correspondence of Oldenburg, ed. by Hall and Hall, vol. IV, p. 369). Clarke argued that he was sure the little strings in testes were not part of one long string, but that they were rather many different strings or vessels. He also thought that these small parts/vessels were glands.
This controversy was entirely mediated by Henry Oldenburg to whom both disputants would write, and who would forward or extract the appropriate parts of their letters for the opposing party. Both De Graaf and several Fellows of the Royal Society experimented with a method to unravel the strings of vessels in testes, and De Graaf sent a sample of his experiment to London in October of 1669.
Reinier de Graaf (1641-1673) was entangled in a dispute with Timothy Clarke FRS (?-1672) about the nature of the vessels in testes. De Graaf and his mentor, Johannes van Horne (1621-1670), claimed that the whole mass of the testis could be unravelled to a huge length, or a collection of very tiny strings, arguing against the notion that the testes were solid organs. They also denied that they were glands (see Correspondence of Oldenburg, ed. by Hall and Hall, vol. IV, p. 369). Clarke argued that he was sure the little strings in testes were not part of one long string, but that they were rather many different strings or vessels. He also thought that these small parts/vessels were glands.
This controversy was entirely mediated by Henry Oldenburg to whom both disputants would write, and who would forward or extract the appropriate parts of their letters for the opposing party. Both De Graaf and several Fellows of the Royal Society experimented with a method to unravel the strings of vessels in testes, and De Graaf sent a sample of his experiment to London in October of 1669.
Object history
At the meeting of the Royal Society on 21 October 1669, ‘A little glass sent to Mr. Oldenburg from Dr. De Graaf, containing a testiculis gliris unravelled and swimming in spirit of wine, designed to prove, that that organ is made up of nothing but small vessels’ (Birch 2:397).
21 October 1669, ‘[Dr. King] was desired to dissolve a testis after this manner of Dr. De Graaf, and to exhibit it in the spirit of wine, this way of making the thing more clear; which he promised to do, when he should have leisure’ (Birch 2:398).
21 October 1669, ‘[Dr. King] was desired to dissolve a testis after this manner of Dr. De Graaf, and to exhibit it in the spirit of wine, this way of making the thing more clear; which he promised to do, when he should have leisure’ (Birch 2:398).
Related fellows
Henry Oldenburg (1612 - 1677, German) , Scientific correspondent
Associated place