1-155-977 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

'Animalcules' observed by Anton van Leeuwenhoek, c1795. Hand-coloured engraving showing various items viewed through a microscope, including sperm, (29 & 30) and human spermatazoa from a warm cadaver (31-40). Van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) was a Dutch scientist and microscopist who was the first to observe bacteria and protozoa using his own simple microscopes.