Francesco Castracane degli Antelminelli was educated at the
Jesuits' school in
Reggio Emilia, and was ordained priest in 1840. Four years later he was made
canon of the cathedral in Fano, and at the same time resumed his studies at the
Collegio dei Nobili in Rome. In 1852 he resigned his canonry, and took up his residence in Rome. Castracane had a love of nature, and during the latter half of his life devoted himself to
biological research. He was reportedly one of the first to introduce
photomicrography into the study of biology. His first experiments in applying the camera to the microscope were made as early as 1862 with
diatomaceæ, and he subsequently made these
microorganisms his chief study. He investigated their structure and
physiological functions and, particularly in his last years, their processes of
reproduction, also on account of its bearing on some of the problems of biology,
geology, and even
hydrography. The extensive collections of diatomaceæ obtained by the
Challenger expedition were entrusted to him for description and classification. He discovered among them three new
genera, two hundred and twenty-five new
species, and some thirty new
varieties. He was the author of a large number of papers, published chiefly in the proceedings of the
Accademia dei Nuovi Lincei, over whose meetings he presided for many years. ==See also==