Spallanzani, Lazzaro << `spah` luhn ZAH nee, LAHD dzah roh >> (1729-1799), an Italian experimental biologist, made important arguments against the theory of spontaneous generation. Spontaneous generation is the once-common idea that living things can spring into existence from nonliving material. Spallanzani sealed broth in a flask and boiled it. He showed that no living things grew in the broth as long as the seal was not broken. Spallanzani was the first to watch isolated bacterial cells divide. He found that bats can dodge strings even when blind, and that salamanders can replace damaged limbs.
Spallanzani was born in Scandiano on Jan. 12, 1729. He took orders in the Roman Catholic Church. He taught at the University of Padua. He died on Feb. 11, 1799.
