AN OUTLINE 



OF THE 



HISTORY OF PHYTOPATHOLOGY 



INTRODUCTION 



The science of phytopathology, like all natural sciences, 

 had its beginning in the dawn of man's civilization. 

 All wild plants have diseases, and from the time that man 

 began to domesticate by cultivation those of the wild 

 species that suited his needs, he must necessarily have 

 observed and considered the diseases that robbed him of 

 part or all of the fruits of his labor. Not until he acquired 

 the art of writing, however, could he record his observa- 

 tions and opinions with respect to the maladies which 

 affected his crops. Even long thereafter, records of plant 

 diseases were but fragments woven here and there into 

 his historic or religious writings. Later, as he began to 

 seek for order in the multitudinous facts of nature, his 

 observations on plant diseases were segregated more or 

 less along with the related facts and data into his writ- 

 ings on botany and agriculture. Only in relatively 

 modern times have there been attempts to organize 

 the facts and phenomena of disease in plants into a 

 separate science of plant pathology. 



A history of the science of phytopathology has not yet 

 been written. Such a history must be based on the ob- 



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