Experiments upon Vegetables, discovering their great Power of purifying the Common Air in the Sun-shine, and of injuring it in the Shade and at Night

London: for P. Elmsly and H. Payne, 1779. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 1st Edition. Hardcover. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. 8vo (207 x 122 mm). lxviii, 302, [18] pp. Engraved folding plate (some offsetting of text onto). (Lightly browned, some spotting.) Contemporary half calf over marbled boards, spine with gilt-lettered label (heavy chipping toward spine ends and extremities, corners scuffed, boards rubbed, joints split but holding firm). Text little browned only, occasional minor spotting. Provenance: Rothamsted, Lawes Agricultural Trust collection. Very good copy internally. ---- Dibner 29; Henrey 866; Grolier/Horblit 55; Norman 1141; DSB VII, p.12-13; Garrison-Morton 103; Wellcome III, p. 329. - FIRST EDITION. Ingen-Housz's work on photosynthesis is thought to have been stimulated by Joseph Priestley's (1733-1804) Observations on different kinds of air (1772) in which he outlined the discovery that growing plants "restored" air depleted by combustion or animal respiration. In his work Ingen-Housen "advanced the understanding of the subject considerably. He established that only the green parts of a plant can 'restore' the air, that they do this only when illuminated by sunlight, and that the active part of the sun's radiation is in the visible light and not in the heat radiation. In addition he found that plants, like animals, exhibit respiration, that respiration continues day and night, and that all parts of the plant - green as well as nongreen, flowers and fruits as well as roots - take part in the process" (DSB). - Visit our website for additional images and information.