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Experiment on digestion carried out by Spallanzani. He fed birds with food in perforated containers which had a long piece of string attached. The perforated chambers were recovered after some time by pulling on the string. From his results, he concluded that a major part of digestion is the solvent action of fluids in the stomach. He named these fluids gastric juice. Lazzaro Spallanzani (January 10, 1729 - February 12, 1799) was an Italian Catholic priest, biologist and physiologist who made important contributions to the experimental study of bodily functions, animal reproduction, and essentially discovered echolocation. His research of biogenesis paved the way for the investigations of Louis Pasteur. He discovered and described mammal reproduction, showing that it requires both semen and an ovum. He was the first to perform in vitro fertilization, with frogs, and an artificial insemination, using a dog. In 1780 he published, Dissertationi di fisica animale e vegetale, wherein he first interpreted the process of digestion. He died from bladder cancer in 1799 at the age of 70. Engraving from "Vies des savants illustres" by Louis Figuier.
