Abstract
IN 1807 Bénédict Prévost found that germination of the spores of the wheat bunt fungus (Tilletia caries) in water was inhibited by the presence of submerged pieces of clean metallic copper1. It has long been known that water contained in copper vessels becomes toxic to some species of algæ and bacteria. Since about 1885 many compounds of copper have been used in spraying plants for the control of fungus diseases, but in an extensive search of the literature2, I have not found a single reference to the trial of finely divided metallic copper itself, for this purpose.
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References
Prévost, B., "Mémoire" (Montauban, 1807).
Large, E. C., "Advance of the Fungi" (Cape, 1940).
Horsfall, J. G., Marsh, R. W., and Martin, H., Ann. App. Biol., 24 867–82 (1937).
Cunningham, G. H., "Plant Protection" (Palmerston North, 1935).
Large, E. C., British Patent No. 493, 148 (1938).
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LARGE, E. Control of Potato Blight (Phytophthora infestans) by Spraying with Suspensions of Metallic Copper. Nature 151, 80–81 (1943). https://doi.org/10.1038/151080b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/151080b0
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