Johann Ernst Immanuel Walch

Johann Ernst Immanuel Walch (29 August 1725 – 1 December 1778) was a German theologian, linguist, and naturalist from Jena.

The son of the theologian Johann Georg Walch, he studied Semitic languages at the University of Jena, and also natural science and mathematics.

[1] Amongst his theological works were Dissertationes in Acta Apostolorum (1756–1761); Antiquitales symbolicae (1772); and after his death appeared Observationes in Matthaeum ex Graecis inscriptionibus (1779).

[2] One significant result was the beautifully illustrated, four-volume Die Naturgeschichte der Versteinerungen ("The Natural History of Petrifactions"), released from 1768 to 1773, and also published in French and Dutch editions.

He became ill in Summer 1778 with the onset of hypochondriac (abdominal) seizures... his death on December 1, 1778, [was] from intestinal infections.