341. Borelli (Giovanni Alfonso) De motu animalium, 2 vol., first edition, 18 folding engraved plates, the 4 in vol.2 reinforced at outer edge, some foxing and light browning, later vellum, [Horblit 13; Garrison & Morton 762; Dibner 190; Norman 270], 4to, Rome, Angeli Bernabo, 1680-81.
est. £1500 – £2000
The foundation work on animal motion.
"Published in the year of his death, Borelli's treatise presented the application of mechanics to the motion of the limbs of animals based largely on Galileo's mechanics. He began with the center of motion, the muscle, and then applied its forces to the linkage of bones with the same exactness as forces applied to levers. This analysis evolved into a system describing an animal's entire mobility covering the motions of walking, running, jumping, weight-lifting, bird flight, fish motion and insect creeping. He held that nerve stimulation was related to the contraction and swelling of a muscle and that some chemical process was associated with it. He also believed that heartbeat was a simple muscular contraction and that the circulatory system was hydraulic in principle." Dibner, Heralds of Science. As in many copies, the two volumes are not quite uniform in size, volume 2 being about 1cm shorter than volume 1.