MALPIGHI, mal-WO, :MARCELL° ( 1628-94). A celebrated Italian anatomist, born at Creval cuore. near Bologna. He studied medicine at Bolog,nt under Siassari and Mariano. took his doctor's degree in 1653, and was appointed pro fessor at Bologna by the Senate three years later. Shortly after this he went to Pisa. where, in association with Borelli, lie made numerous dissections of animals, and ascertained that the muscle fibres of the heart are of a spiral form. The climate of Pisa proving unfavorable. Mal pighi removed to Bologna in 1659, where he re mained three years, and became very popular. In 1662 he succeeded Peter Castelli at Messina. In 1691 the new Pope, Innocent NH., called him to Home as his physician, and three years later he died of apoplexy, at the age of sixty six.
Malpighi lived at a time when nature began to be studied rather than books. Ile was an orig inal and profound observer; a man of great industry, acute intelligence, and natural aptitude for research. His investigations covered a wide
range of subjects; and many of his conclusions are undisputed at the present day. lle is most widely known tor his efforts to place human physiology on a true basis, but his discoveries in entomology and botany were no less epoch making. His Obserrationes Anatomica. (Bolo gna,1661 ) contained the first published researches into the structure of the lungs with the micro scope. Epistoke Anatomiece (Bologna, 1661-65) record the discovery of the rete llaYpighii, one of the layers of the skin. His observations on the structure of the viscera and his investigations in embryology and vegetable histology, as well as his determination of the structure of glands, were equally important.