The following translation of Fontana’s book was undertaken as a part of the course in the History of Phytopathology given by Professor H. H. Whetzel to graduate students at Cornell University. A copy of the original book was obtained from the Library of the United States Department of Agriculture at Washington, D.C. Fontana’s observations are very remarkable when one considers the period in which they were made. Were it not for the date placed at the front of the book, which removes all doubt, one might be rather sceptical [sic] that he was able to discover and so exactly trace the fungous [sic] nature of the rust many years before Persoon and DeCandolle mentioned it in their works. Although Fontana did not understand the relationship existing between the two forms of rust he described, there is little doubt, after one examines his fine plate at the end of the book, that he worked with Puccinia graminis Pers. We have presented here what is believed to be one of the earliest contributions to the true causal nature of the stem rust of wheat. These observations were made in the course of a year. Fontana’s name is not to be forgotten in the science of plant pathology, for he stands forth as one of those geniuses whose misfortune it was to have lived long before the world was able to understand them.

Observations on the Rust of Grain