Marcello Malpighi

Marcello Malpighi (1628-94), Italian physiologist, whose discoveries in microscopic anatomy upset ancient medical beliefs and set the course for modern physiology and histology.

Born in Crevalcore on March 10, 1628, Malpighi obtained a degree in medicine and philosophy at the University of Bologna in 1653. As professor of theoretical medicine at the University of Pisa, he began his microscopic observations and became strongly critical of the assumptions held about physiology and medicine. In 1659 he returned to Bologna and in 1661 made his most important discovery, describing the network of pulmonary capillaries that connect the small veins to the small arteries, thus completing the chain of circulation postulated by the English physician William Harvey. Until that time the ancient belief had long prevailed that the blood was transformed into flesh on the periphery of the body.

Among Malpighi's many other discoveries were his observations of the microscopic components of the liver, brain, kidneys, spleen, bone, and the inner, or what came to be known as the Malpighian, layer of the skin. He was the first to discover red blood corpuscles and to show that they gave blood its color. He also identified the taste buds and described the chick embryo, the development of the silkworm, and the structure of plants. Malpighi believed that living material was composed of minute glands that separated or mixed the body fluids. Although he misunderstood the microscopic functions of organs, he set the stage for cell theory and histology. His discoveries of the hidden workings of organisms forced physicians of the time to rethink firmly established assumptions. Although in his last years he received such honors as being named personal physician to Pope Innocent XII, his achievements cost him bitter and even violent opposition throughout much of his life. Malpighi died in Rome on November 29, 1694.