| Date | 1845 |
| Author | Berkeley |
| Contribution | Reported fungus as cause of potato blight. |
| Reference | Ainsworth |
| Notes | Rev. Joseph Miles Berkeley observed fungus of potato blight. He was consulted because of devastating blight in Ireland, leading to massive famine. Published 1846. See 1846. Bernard Dixon, in "Power Unseen" (c.1994) says Rev. Berkeley examined diseased leaf and claimed that masses of tiny threads had caused strangulation. The blight is thought to have come from Peru to Europe because fast ships meant that holds no longer reached the thermal death-point of the fungus (McNeill, p. 259). See deBary 1861. |
| Category | Causation |
| Pathogen Class | Fungi |
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