Bert, Paul

RECHERCHES EXPERIMENTALES POUR SERVIR A L'HISTOIRE DE LA VITALE PROPRE DES TISSUS ANIMAUX [Signed]

Paris: E. Martinet, 1866. First Edition. Quarto, 96 pages, plus 2 plates. In Very Good condition. Presentation copy; in handsome modern black leather half binding with marbled paper boards, with gilt roll borders to leather elements; spine with gilt decoration and titling. Very light wear to boards, with some rubbing along the edges and at fore corners. Text block shows mild wear along edges, with dust soiling to top edge. Lightly age toned. Foxed throughout, heaviest near the endpapers and lighter towards the center of the book. Pencil numbering on endpapers. Very faint damp stain on title page. Contemporary ink gift inscription from Paul Bert in top margin of title page: "a M. le D. Pettigrew avec les compléments de l'auteur P Bert". Shelved in Case 4.

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1409033

Shelved Dupont Bookstore

Price: $1,000

NOTES

This work is a finely bound copy of Paul Bert's doctoral thesis, which chronicles his experiments with the transplantation of animal tissue - at the time, thought to have been impossible. In successfully transplanting the tip of a rat's tail beneath the skin of its back, prompting new bone growth, Bert's experiments demonstrated that cells and tissues can live and grow independently when in the proper environmental conditions. Bert's lasting legacy would come from his later work in demonstrating the effects of above- and below-normal air pressure on the body, being the first to describe oxygen toxicity of the central nervous system.