| Date | 1650 |
| Author | Hauptmann |
| Contribution | Held that death results from invisible animalcules in body of humans and other animals. |
| Reference | Wilson |
| Notes | According to Catherine Wilson's "The Invisible World" (1995), other statements by Hauptmann indicate uncertainty about causation. One of many examples in support of Wilson's thesis that there was continuity between pre-19th Century ideas of animate contagion and 19th Century germ theory. Kobler (in The Reluctant Surgeon, Doubleday,1960) quotes Jean Astruc's account of Hauptmann beliefs re venereal disease. See Astruc. |
| Category | Causation |
| Pathogen Class | General |
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