Beginnings of Soil Microbiology 7 



of liny practical applications or in an attempt to solve certain prac- 

 tical problems. Thus the science of s(")il microbiology came into 

 being. 



Beginnings of Soil Microbiology (P-1860) 



Although the beginnings of soil microbiology are attributable to 

 farm practices, on the one hand, and to the growing knowledge of 

 plant nutrition and of soil transformations, on the other, ample ref- 

 erence is found among the writings of the ancients and of the natural- 

 ists of the Middle Ages to the presence in the soil of certain minute 

 living organisms that affect, in various ways, our own life, as well 

 as that of our cultivated plants and animals. 



First historical mention of the possible presence in the soil of 

 microscopic organisms which may directly influence the life of man 

 is usually credited to a Roman writer who said that swamps give 

 rise to minute animals which infect the an* and cause human diseases. 

 Columella wrote about 60 b.c. of the marshes throwing up "noxious 

 and poisonous steams" and breeding "animals armed with poisonous 

 stings," whereby "hidden diseases are often contracted, the causes 

 of which even physicians cannot properly understand." 



Actual obser\ations of the presence of microorganisms in the soil 

 were reported in 1671 by Athanasius Kircheus, who wrote, "That the 

 air, water, and soil are inhabited by numerous insects is so certain 

 that it can be recognized with the naked eye; it was also known that 

 worms are formed on putrefying bodies; but only since the wonder- 

 ful discovery of the microscope has it become recognized that all rot- 

 ting bodies swarm with a numerous mass of worms not recognized 

 with the naked eye. I would have never believed that myself, had 

 I not been convinced by experiments frequently repeated during 

 many years." He cautioned about marshy lands near a home as 

 follows: "If they become dry, certain animalcules which the eye 

 cannot discern get into the body by the mouth and nose and propa- 

 gate obstinate diseases." 



This report was soon followed by the classical studies of van 

 Leeuwenhoek, the "father of bacteriology," who used his now-famous 

 microscope to examine various materials for the presence of "ani- 

 malcules." These were found in rain water, in scum on teeth, and 

 in other materials. 



The next one hundred years brought forth various investigations 

 of bacteria and other microorganisms found in natiu-e, but these 

 studies dealt primarily with the development of the microscope. 



