In 1772, 45 years after ‘Vegetable Staticks’ appeared,
Joseph Priestley reported the first experiments
showing the production of ‘dephlogisticated air’ (oxygen
gas) by plants, and the interdependence of animal
and plant life mediated by gases. Priestley and others,
however, were unable to reproducibly demonstrate
oxygen production by plants because they were unaware
of the requirement for light in photosynthesis.
The puzzle was solved in 1779 by the Dutch physician
Jan Ingen-Housz, who documented the requirement
for light and determined that leaves were the primary
sites of oxygen formation.