Wrote Letter L-002 of 1673-08-15 to Henry Oldenburg about the bee, the movement of liquids in wood and food in a louse, and the composition of air

Date: 
August 15, 1673
Standard reference information
L-number: 
L-002
Leeuwenhoek's number: 
2
Collected Letters number: 
2
Collected Letters volume: 
1

Text of the letter in the original Dutch and in English translation from Alle de Brieven. The Collected Letters at the DBNL - De Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren

The original manuscript on seven pages, written and signed by Leeuwenhoek, is preserved at the Royal Society (MS. 1829. Early Letters L1.1).

An excerpt was published in Philosophical Transactions, vol. 9, no. 102, dated 27 April 1674. See Publication history below.


Leeuwenhoek wrote this letter to Henry Oldenburg about the bee; movement of liquids in wood and food in a louse; the composition of air.

Leeuwenhoek's second letter:

  • followed up on the observations from his first letter
  • added more observations of the bee
  • added observations about wood
  • described his experiment with capillary tubes to learn how fluids rose in trees
  • enclosed a drawing of the tubes he used