Mathieu Tillet first had to clear his own thought of the trammels of deductive reasoning and speculation about natural phenomena; indeed, his masterpiece, Dissertation sur la cause qui corrompt et noircit les grains de bled dans les épis, may be regarded, in a sense, as a history of the development of a scientific mind. It is probably true that when he first began thinking about the subject of his dissertation it was his intention to subject his materials to the acid test of well-checked experimentation. And yet, it is equally true that he was not wholly divorced from the temptation to draw conclusions from mere observation and à priori reasoning.

Dissertation on the Cause of the Corruption and Smutting of the Kernels of Wheat in the Head and on the Means of Preventing These Untoward Circumstances

Preliminary Discourse

Dissertation on the Disease That Ruins the Grains of Wheat in the Head and Converts Them into Smut; and on the Methods of Preventing These Untoward Circumstances

CHAPTER I

Diverse Opinions on the Disease That Ruins the Grains of Wheat, and Smuts Them. Means That Have Been Believed Capable of Preventing These Unfortunate Results

CHAPTER II

Observations, Certain Facts in the Light of Which One Examines the Opinions Presented in the Preceding Chapter

CHAPTER III

Differentiation of the Diseases of Wheat

CHAPTER IV

Special Observations on Bunted Grains Of Wheat. Conjectures on the Cause of This Trouble

Experiments and Considerations Relative to the Dissertation on the Cause of the Blackening and Destruction of Wheat Grains in the Head and on the Methods of Preventing These Unfortunate Circumstances

Continuation of Experiments and Reflections on the Cause of the Corruption and Smutting of the Kernels of Wheat in the Head and on the Means of Preventing These Untoward Circumstances

Approval of This Paper from the Authority of the King