Hydra from Historiae Animalium (1558). 16th-century illustration of the seven-headed Hydra brought from Turkey to France via Venice in 1530. 'Historiae Animalium' (Studies on Animals, 1551-1558; 1587) was a 5-volume publication by Swiss naturalist Conrad Gesner (1516-1565). Considered to be the first modern zoological work, the woodcuts were drawn from observations by Gesner and his colleagues. Some of the descriptions of the animals were the first accurate descriptions of their appearances, though Gesner doubted the accuracy of the description given here. This artwork is from Volume 4 (1558) on fish and aquatic animals.