Original Linnaean Dissertations
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Lidén Number 149
Respondent: Johan Carl Roos (1745-1828)
Title: ... Mundum invisibilem breviter delineatura, ...
Date of Defense: 6 {7} March 1767
Paginations: [i], [1], 3-23
Lidén Title: Mundus invisibilis.
Soulsby Title: Mund. invis.
Drake Title: Mundus Invisibilis.
Note: Day corrected in manuscript on both copies.
Abstract: A medico-botanical treatise on airborne spores and microorganisms, some of which Linnaeus believed to be responsible for infectious diseases. The thesis is based on the studies of Baron Otto von Münchausen, who corresponded with Linnaeus and whose observations of fungus-caused smut of barley and wheat, along with the dust of fungi, led him to conclude that these are the ova of animalcules, which raised doubts as to whether fungi should be classed with animals or plants.