Marcello Malpighi

Italian anatomist. Born in Crevalcore near Bologna. He studied medicine at the University of Bologna and became a professor there. However, he was rejected by his stubborn colleagues, so he moved to the University of Pisa and the University of Messina, and in his later years he became the Pope's physician. He used a microscope to reveal the microscopic structure of living things, but his greatest achievement was discovering the capillaries in the lungs and completing the "theory of blood circulation" proposed by Harvey. As a conscious pioneer of modern science, he tried to clarify the mechanisms of the human body and living things using mechanical models, and he advocated and put into practice the idea that the complexity of the human body should begin with elucidating the mechanisms of lower animals and plants. From the former perspective, he studied the microscopic structure of internal organs, and from the latter perspective, he studied the xylem of plants, the metamorphosis of insects (silkworms), and the tracheal system. His research on development, especially his discovery that vestiges of gills appear during the early development (embryo) of chickens, is also noteworthy.

[Keiichi Sawano]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

イタリアの解剖学者。ボローニャ近郊のクレバルコレに生まれる。ボローニャ大学で医学を学び、同大学の教授となる。しかし、頑迷な同僚たちに排斥され、ピサ大学、メッシーナ大学へ移り、晩年にはローマ法王の侍医となった。顕微鏡を用いて生物の微細構造を次々と明らかにしていったが、とくに肺の毛細血管を発見して、ハーベーによって提唱された「血液循環理論」を完成させた功績は大きい。近代科学の自覚的な先駆者として、機械モデルによって人体と生物の機構を明らかにしようとし、かつ、人体の複雑さの解明には、より下等な動植物の機構の解明を糸口とすべきであると提唱し、実行した。前者の観点からは内臓諸器官の微細構造の研究が、後者の観点に基づく業績としては、植物の道管、昆虫（カイコ）の変態や気管系の研究がある。発生の研究、とくにニワトリの初期発生（胚(はい)）の途上でエラの痕跡(こんせき)が出現することの発見も特筆される。

［澤野啓一］

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