| Date | 1721 |
| Author | Bradley |
| Contribution | a. Recorded elaborate speculation on causation of disease by air-borne organisms. |
| Reference | Wilson |
| Notes | Richard Bradley, in book on human plague. Familiar with animalcules in pond water. Believed all "pestilential distempers" of animals and plants were caused by "Insects" conveyed from place to place by the air. See Bradley 1718. Presumably he would have used "insect" to refer to any small invertebrate, though Wilson may not make that point. All speculation (based on analogy between disease patterns in plants and animals) with no claim to have seen germs. See Catherine Wilson's 1995 book. |
| Category | Causation |
| Pathogen Class | General |
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