THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD 23 



Coler, 1 in which is included information on diseases of 

 plants. This work consists largely, .however, of repeti- 

 tion of the statements of ancient writers. The evil in- 

 fluence of the stars is soberly set forth. Peter Laurem- 

 berg, 2 in his Horticultura published in 1631, "relates 

 that certain stars like Orion, the Pleiades, and others 

 exert an especially injurious influence from which the 

 so-called 'secret evils' arise, among which belong rust, 

 carbuncle, and mildew" (Sorauer Transl., 1914:45). 

 It is interesting that the practical growers, especially 

 educated gardeners, had more to do with the revival of 

 interest in the study of plant diseases than did the 

 botanists or other scientists of this period. Observa- 

 tions on the symptoms of diseases and details of so-called 

 practical methods of control appeared in books on garden- 

 ing. The general character of the better writers on plant 

 maladies during this time may be illustrated by the point 

 of view of Heinrich Hesse 3 in his Neue Gartenlust (1690) 



1 * Coler, Johannis: Oeconomia, oder Hausbuch. Ander Theil. 

 Buch V, Kap. 12, 1600. This date is the one given by Sorauer, Hand- 

 buch d. Pflanzenkr. 1 : 41, 1909. I was unable to see the original. 

 Haller, Bibliot. Bot. 1 : 387, gives but two editions of the "Ander 

 Theil," 1595 and 1598. The work was issued in six parts and these 

 were frequently reprinted, separately and together, throughout the 

 17th century. 



2 Lauremberg, Petrus: Rostochiensis horticultura. Libris II. com- 

 prehensa; huic nostro coelo et folo accomodata; regulis, observationibus, 

 experimentis et figuris novis instructa; in qua quicquid ad hortum pro- 

 ficue colendum et eleganter instruendum facit, explicatur, pp. 1-196. 

 Francfurti, 1631. See especially caput XXXV, "De avertendis et 

 corrigendis aeris iniuriis." 



3 * Hesse, Heinrich: Neue Gartenlust d. i. griindliche Vorstellung wie 

 ein Lust-, Kiichen-, und Baumgarten unter unsern Climate fiiglich 

 anzurichten, u. s. w., pp. 1^116. 10 Kpf. Leipzig, 1690. 



* References marked with an * have not been seen by the author. 



