The beginnings of the "delft tradition" revisited: Martinus W. Beijerinck and the genetics of microorganisms

Journal of the History of Biology

Volumn 29, Issue 2, 1996, Pages 197-228

  Theunissen, Bert ^a  

^a UTRECHT UNIVERSITY   (Netherlands)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; HISTORY; MICROBIAL GENETICS; MICROBIOLOGY; NETHERLANDS;

GENETICS, MICROBIAL; HISTORY, 19TH CENTURY; HISTORY, 20TH CENTURY; MICROBIOLOGY; NETHERLANDS;

EID: 0030159148     PISSN: 00225010     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/BF00571082     Document Type: Review

References (190)

1. W. van Itallie-van Embden, "Interview with Beijerinck," Groene Amsterdammer, March 17, 1928;
2. reprinted in Beijerinck, Verzamelde Geschriften, vol. VI, pt. 2, pp. 190-192 (see n. 2, below).
3. Martinus Willem Beijerinck, Verzamelde Geschriften van M. W. Beijerinck: Ter gelegenheid van zijn 70sten verjaardag met medewerking der Nederlandsche regeering uitgegeven door zijne vrienden en vereerders, ed. G. van Iterson, Jr., L. E. den Dooren de Jong, and A. J. Kluyver, 6 vols, ('s Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1921-1940); vols. I-V appeared in 1921 and 1922; vol. VI, which includes a biography and an analysis of Beijerinck's work, in 1940 (the latter volume was reprinted in 1983 by Science Tech, with a preface by Thomas D. Brock and a foreword by C. B. Van Niel). Henceforth cited as VG.
4. For the development of bacteriological physiology see, for instance, Robert E. Kohler, "Innovation in Normal Science: Bacterial Physiology," Isis, 76 (1985), 162-181;
5. Robert E. Kohler, Idem, "Bacterial Physiology, the Medical Context," Bull. Hist. Med., 59 (1985), 54-74;
6. K. Vernon, "Pus, Sewage, Beer and Milk: Microbiology in Britain, 1870-1940," Hist. Sci., 28 (1990), 289-325.
7. See, for instance, Pnina Abir-Am, "Essay Review: How Scientists View Their Heroes: Some Remarks on the Mechanism of Myth Construction," J. Hist. Biol., 15 (1982), 281-315.
8. For a sociological analysis of the role of concepts of "discovery" and "rediscovery" in such accounts, see A. Brannigan, The Social Basis of Scientific Discoveries (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981). The historiography of Gregor Mendel's work, discussed extensively by Brannigan, may by now be taken as the locus classicus of such reconstructions;
9. cf. Jan Sapp, "The Nine Lives of Gregor Mendel," in Experimental Inquiries, ed. H. E. Le Grand (Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1990), pp. 137-166.
10. See Van Niel's "Foreword" in the reprint of VG, vol. VI (above, n. 2).
11. See also A. F. Kamp, J. W. M. La Rivière, and W. Verhoeven, Albert Jan Kluyver: His Life and Work; Biographical Memoranda, Selected Papers, Bibliography, and Addenda (Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing, 1959), esp. pp. 14-25.
12. The Kluyver period at Delft is currently being investigated by Susan Spath at Berkeley.
13. The mere fact that Beijerinck published work on bacterial variability has of course been noted, and is mentioned in most historical works on the development of bacteriology. Thomas D. Brock, for instance, has recently pointed to the resemblance between Beijerinck's views and de Vries's ideas on mutation (The Emergence of Bacterial Genetics [Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y.: 1990]). Yet Beijerinck's views on variability have not been analyzed in any detail until now.
14. Useful introductions to ideas about bacterial heredity and variation in the decades around 1900 can be found in Olga Amsterdamska, "Medical and Biological Constraints: Early Research on Variation in Bacteriology," Soc. Stud. Sci., 17 (1987), 657-687;
15. and William C. Summers, "From Culture as Organism to Organism as Cell: Historical Origins of Bacterial Genetics," J. Hist. Biol., 24 (1991), 171-190.
16. Some contemporary reviews are Clifford Dobell, "Some Recent Work on Mutation in Micro-Organisms: II. Mutations in Bacteria," J. Genet., 2 (1913), 325-350;
17. L. J. Cole and W. H. Wright, "Application of the Pure-Line Concept of Bacteria," J. Infect. Dis., 19 (1916), 209-221 ;
18. Joseph A. Arkwright, A System of Bacteriology in Relation to Medicine (London: Medical Research Council, 1930), I, 311-374.
19. Cole and Wright, "Pure-Line Concept" (above, n. 8), p. 217.
20. G. van Iterson, Jr., "Beijerinck the Botanist," VG, VI. 2, 90-93;
21. A. J. Kluyver, "Beijerinck, the Microbiologist," VG, ibid., pp. 148-152.
22. Kluyver, "Beijerinck, the Microbiologist," p. 152.
23. Olga Amsterdamska, "Stabilizing Instability: The Controversy over Cyclogenic Theories of Bacterial Variation during the Interwar Period," J. Hist. Biol., 24 (1991), 191-222.
24. See also Olga Amsterdamska, idem, "Medical and Biological Constraints" (above, n. 8);
25. Summers, "From Culture as Organism" (above, n. 8).
26. See B. Theunissen, "Knowledge Is Power: Hugo de Vries on Science, Heredity and Social Progress," Brit. J. Hist. Sci., 27 (1994), 291-311.
27. For biographical information on Beijerinck see L. E. den Dooren de long, "Beijerinck, the Man," VG, VI, 2, 1-47.
28. For more details on this appointment, see A. J. Kluyver, "Speeches Held by Professor G. van Iterson, Jr., and by Professor A. J. Kluyver on June 14th, 1927, on the Occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Beijerinck's Doctorate," Chem. Weekbl., 24 (1927), 330;
29. reprinted in VG, VI. 2, 185.
30. On Beijerinck's work at the Yeast and Spirits Factory, see B. Elema, Opkomst, Evolutie en Betekenis van Research gedurende Honderd Jaren Gistfabriek (Delft: Koninklijke Nederlandsche Gist - en Spiritusfabriek, 1970), pp. 7-18, 77-83.
31. Beijerinck's biographers did mention his interest in problems of growth, albeit rather obliquely, but they failed to see the connection that, in Beijerinck's view, existed between this topic and the problem of variability. For this reason they also overlooked the reasons for which he undertook many of his investigations, particularly the botanical ones.
32. M. W. Beijerinck, Bijdrage tot de Morphologie der Plantegallen, Ph.D. diss., Leiden, 1877, in VG, I, 8-80.
33. See also M. W. Beijerinck, idem, "Ueber Pflanzengallen," Bot. Zeitung, 35 (1877), 17-22, 33-38,
34. in VG, I, 1-7.
35. Beijerinck referred to the discussion of galls in Charles Darwin, The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication, 2 vols. (London: Murray, 1868), II, 282-285.
36. Beijerinck, Bijdrage tot de Morphologie der Plantegallen (above, n. 17), p. 15.
37. Bijdrage tot de Morphologie der Plantegallen Ibid., p. 14.
38. Beijerinck's interest in variation and in evolutionary theory in general is also evident from the short "theses" (stellingen) that, in accordance with Dutch academic custom, were appended to his doctoral dissertation. With this, Beijerinck was sticking his neck out, for Suringar was a staunch antievolutionist at the time. Hugo de Vries, who also graduated with Suringar (in 1870), was fiercely attacked by his mentor for the evolutionary beliefs evinced in the stellingen accompanying his dissertation. No such animosity between Suringar and Beijerinck is reported, yet the latter's stellingen on phylogenetic relationships and on Darwin's evolutionary views cannot have failed to offend his professor as much as had de Vries's.
39. M. W. Beijerinck, "Beobachtungen über die ersten Entwicklungsphasen einiger Cynipidengallen," Verhandel. Kon. Akad. Wetensch., Amsterdam, 22 (1882),
40. in VG, I, 127.
41. VG, Ibid., pp. 128-129.
42. Ibid. In a later study Beijerinck provided an elegant demonstration of his thesis that growth processes in the infected plants must be held responsible for the formation of gall structures. A particular gall insect, Cecidomyia poae, induced galls in its host from which rootlike structures emerged. To answer the question of whether these structures were of the same nature as the normal roots of the plants, Beijerinck planted out infected stems of the host plant in such a way that the galls at their base were covered by soil; a normal root system then developed from the beginning root structures on the galls. Again he suggested that the parasite, by injecting an unknown substance, activated latent characteristics in the host cells: M. W. Beijerinck, "Die Galle von Cecidomyia poae an Poa nemoralis: Entstehung normaler Wurzeln in Folge der Wirkung eines Gallenthieres," Bot. Zeitung, 34 (1885), 306-315, 320-331,
43. in VG, I, 386-400, esp. pp. 397-399.
44. In 1882 Beijerinck published a study on experimentally induced bud and root formation in plant leaves, in which he concluded that the location of the internal sap streams in the leaves determined the places where the development of regenerative organs might be induced: M. W. Beijerinck, "Over het ontstaan van knoppen en wortels uit bladeren," Ned. Kruidk. Arch. 2nd ser., 3 (1882), 438-493,
45. in VG, I, 90-124.
46. In another study he reached the same conclusion with regard to the formation of root buds, and he was now led to the "hypothesis that the whole process of ontogeny is directed by food stimuli"; therefore changes in growth might also be induced by such stimuli: M. W. Beijerinck, "Beobachtungen und Betrachtungen über Wurzelknospen und Nebenwurzeln," Nat. Verhandel. Kon. Acad. Wetensch. Amsterdam, 25 (1886),
47. in VG, II, 7-121; quotation on p. 8. As we shall see, the suggested connection between nutrition and phenomena of growth and variability would come to play an important role in Beijerinck's later microbiological work.
48. M. W. Beijerinck, "Recherches sur la contagiosité de la maladie de gomme chez les plantes," Arch. Néerl. Sci. Exactes Nat., 19 (1884), 43-102,
49. in VG, I, 342-343.
50. VG, I, 342-343. Ibid.
51. M. W. Beijerinck, "The Gardenia Root Disease," Gard. Chron., 3rd ser., 1 (1887), 488-489,
52. in VG, II, 140.
53. M. W. Beijerinck, "De l'existence d'un principe contagieux vivant fluide, agent de la nielle des feuilles de tabac,"Arch. Néerl. Sci. Exactes Nat, 2nd ser., 3 (1900), 164-186,
54. in VG, III, 296-312.
55. Cited from the English translation of Beijerinck's paper on tobacco mosaic virus: M. W. Beijerinck, "Concerning a Contagium vivum fluidum as a Cause of the Spot-Disease of Tobacco Leaves," in Phytopathological Classics, no. 7 (Ithaca, N. Y.: American Phytopathological Society, 1942), p. 39.
56. Phytopathological Classics, Ibid., p. 50.
57. M. W. Beijerinck, "Ueber das Cecidium von Nematus capreae auf Salix amygdalina," Bot. Zeitung, 46 (1888), 1-11, 17-27,
58. in VG, II, 123-137, esp. p. 132.
59. Jan Sapp, Where the Truth Lies: Franz Moewus and the Origin of Molecular Biology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), pp. 39-46.
60. Beijerinck, "Ueber das Cecidium von Nematus capreae" (above, n. 32), p. 136.
61. Beijerinck argued that some proof for the assumption that the infecting substance consisted of enzymes was provided by the fact that gall structures continued to develop only as long as the larvae of the parasite were present in the gall. If the larvae were experimentally killed, gall formation stopped and the normal cells and structures of the plant reappeared. Thus no permanent change of the host cells was brought about, and this pointed to the involvement of enzymes, the quantity of which determined the extent and duration of the changes in the host (Ueber das Cecidium von Nematus capreae ibid., p. 128).
62. Ueber das Cecidium von Nematus capreae Ibid., p. 131. A study on the formation of root buds underscores how deeply Beijerinck was involved with problems of growth, especially in relation to Darwin's pangenesis theory. With Weismann he agreed that the gemmules did not move around freely but remained within the boundaries of the cells. On the basis of his experiments on root buds he speculated that each cell was in principle "omnipotent," yet that this omnipotence was lost during differentiation. However, a particular tissue, the pericambium, always retained its omnipotence, and it was from these cells that buds, adventitious organs, cork, and callus tissues were formed. Cells of this omnipotent type were also involved in gall formation.
63. See Beijerinck, "Beobachtungen und Betrachtungen úber Wurzelknospen und Nebenwurzeln" (above, n. 25), pp. 7-8, 105.
64. M. W. Beijerinck, "Sur la cécidiogénèse et la génération alternante chez le Cynips calicis: Observation sur la galle de l'Andricus circulans," Arch. Néerl. Sci. Exactes Nat., 30 (1897), 387-444,
65. in VG, III, 199-232.
66. VG, Ibid., p. 230.
67. M. W. Beijerinck, "Kunnen onze cultuurplanten door kruising verbeterd worden?" Verslag van het Landbouwcongres van 22-25 Juli 1884 te Amerstfoort (1884),
68. in VG, I, 359-366.
69. VG, Ibid., p. 365.
70. VG, Ibid., p. 362.
71. M. W. Beijerinck: "Ueber den Weizenbastard Triticum monococcum ♀ x Triticum dicoccum ♂? "Ned. Kruidk. Arch., 2nd ser., 4 (1884), 189-201,
72. in VG, I, 401-408;
73. "Ueber die Bastarde zwischen Triticum monococcum und Triticum dicoccum," Ned. Kruidk. Arch., 2nd ser., 4 (1886), 455-473,
74. in VG, I, 415-426;
75. "Over kruisingsproeven met Kultuurgerst," Versl. Mededeel. Kon. Akad. Wetensch., 3rd ser., 5 (1888), 202,
76. in VG, II, 189.
77. M. W. Beijerinck, "Gynodioecie bei Daucus carota, L.," Ned. Kruidk. Arch., 2nd ser., 4 (1885), 345-354,
78. in VG, I, 409-414.
79. This again shows to what extent growth and variability were related phenomena for Beijerinck, for nutritional stimuli were also held to be responsible for regeneration and for ontogenetic growth in general. Cf. n. 25, above.
80. He said this to his pupil L. E. den Dooren de Jong, among others, as can be seen in a letter from den Dooren de Jong to G. van Iterson, Jr., January 31,1965; Autograph Collection, Institute for the History of Science, Utrecht University. Van Itallie-van Embden (above, n. 1) even wrote that he actually had rediscovered Mendel's laws.
81. M. W. Beijerinck, "Die Bacterien der Papilionaceen-Knöllchen," Bot. Zeitung, 46 (1888), 725-735, 741-750, 757-771, 781-790, 797-804,
82. in VG, II, 155-187.
83. VG, Ibid., p. 158.
84. M. W. Beijerinck: "Künstliche Infection von Vicia faba mit Bacillus radicicola: Ernährungsbedingungen dieser Bacterie," Bot. Zeitung, 48 (1890), 837-843,
85. in VG, II, 321-325;
86. "Over ophooping van atmosferische stikstof in culturen van Bacillus radicicola," Versl. Mededeel. Kon. Akad. Wetensch. Afd. Nat. Amsterdam, 3rd ser., 8 (1891), 460,
87. in VG, VI, 1, 61-70.
88. M. W. Beijerinck, "De biologische wetenschap en de bacteriologie," in VG, III, 165.
89. M. W. Beijerinck, "De biologische wetenschap en de bacteriologie," VG, III, 165. Ibid.
90. M. W. Beijerinck, "Sur l'aliment photogène et l'aliment plastique des bactéries lumineuses," Arch. Néerl. Sci. Exactes Nat., 24 (1891), 369-442,
91. in VG, II, 239-282.
92. VG, Ibid., p. 241.
93. M. W. Beijerinck, "Over azijnetheigist," Handelingen van het vijfde Nederlandsch Natuur- en Geneeskundig Congres (Amsterdam, 1895), pp. 301-320,
94. in VG, III, 173-186, esp. p. 179.
95. VG, III, 173-186, Ibid.
96. In another study, expressly undertaken to answer "certain questions relating to the problem of variability of wild organisms," dealing with Octosporus, he decided that the asporogene variant produced by this form had to be seen as caused by polymorphy; he again stressed the difficulty of deciding between polymorphy and variability, however: M. W. Beijerinck, "Weitere Beobachtungen über die Octosporushefe," Centralbl. Bakter. Parasit., 2nd ser., 3 (1897), 449-455, 518-525,
97. in VG, III, 257-270; quotation on p. 257.
98. See above, n. 8.
99. M. W. Beijerinck, "On Different Forms of Hereditary Variation of Microbes," Proc. Sect. Sci. Kon. Akad. Wetensch., 3 (1900), 352-365,
100. in VG, IV, 37-47.
101. VG, IbId., p. 37. Beijerinck acknowledged the difficulties involved in identifying species and varieties, since this often required biochemical investigation, yet even this fact, he felt, "can become an advantage, for the very reason that biochemical methods of distinction are very accurate, that they can be extended in various directions and compared by measurement"; and finally, there was the distinct advantage "that it is easy to perform competition experiments with microbes, which is difficult or impossible with higher plants and animals" (ibid.).
102. VG, Ibid., pp. 37-38.
103. VG, Ibid., p. 38.
104. VG, Ibid., p. 39.
105. VG, Ibid. pp. 39-43.
106. VG, Ibid., p. 45.
107. VG, p. 45. Ibid.
108. VG, Ibid., p. 47.
109. VG, VI, 2, 90-93.
110. M. W. Beijerinck, "On the Development of Buds and Bud Variations in Cytisus adami," Proc. Sect. Sci. Kon. Akad. Wetensch., 3 (1900), 365-371,
111. in VG, IV, 48-52.
112. M. W. Beijerinck, "Sur les ferments lactiques de l'industrie," Arch. Néerl. Sci. Exactes Nat., 2nd ser., 7 (1901), 212-243,
113. in VG, IV, 54-77, esp. pp. 74-76.
114. M. W. Beijerinck, "Chlorella variegata, ein bunter Mikrobe," Recueil Trav. Bot. Néerl., 1 (1904), 14-27,
115. in VG, IV, 231-238.
116. It testifies to Beijerinck's continuing botanical interest that, as appears from this report, he had maintained a culture of variegated plants in Delft for at least seven years (VG, ibid., pp. 236-237).
117. M. W. Beijerinck, "On Lactic Acid Fermentation in Milk," Proc. Sect. Sci. Kon. Akad. Wetensch., 10 (1907), 17-34
118. in VG, IV, 283-297, esp. p. 287.
119. M. W. Beijerinck, "Variability in Bacillus prodigiosus," Proc. Sect. Sci. Kon. Akad. Wetensch., 12 (1910), 640-649,
120. in VG, IV, 333-340.
121. M. W. Beijerinck, "Expériences relatives à l'accumulation des bactéries de l'urée: Décomposition de l'urée par l'uréase et par catabolisme," Arch. Néerl. Sci. Exactes Nat., 2nd ser., 7 (1902), 28-63,
122. in VG, IV, 78-103. At about the same time, the method was also developed and used by the Russian bacteriologist Winogradsky.
123. Van Iterson, "Beijerinck, the Botanist" (above, n. 10), p. 104.
124. Beijerinck had already used the method before, in an implicit way; see Beijerinck, the Botanist ibid., p. 104.
125. Beijerinck, "Expériences relatives à l'accumulation des bactéries" (above, n. 70), p. 78.
126. Expériences relatives à l'accumulation des bactéries Ibid., p. 79.
127. M. W. Beijerinck, "Mutation bei Mikroben," Fol. Microbiol., 1 (1912), 1-97,
128. in VG, V, 25-88.
129. As evidence for the occurrence of such a "Lamarckian" process of variability in higher organisms Beijerinck referred to the work of Valentin Haecker, Ludwig Woltereck, and Paul Kammerer in Germany: "Mutation bei Mikroben" (above, n. 75), p. 26.
130. Among the problems to be solved first was that of the origin of the progenes. All the progenes that had ever been activated had surely not been present from the beginning, in the first bacteria that ever lived? Nevertheless, the question of the progenes' origin touched the heart of the problem of the origin of the bacteria, and even of the origin of life, according to Beijerinck (Mutation bei Mikroben ibid., pp. 82-83).
131. Mutation bei Mikroben Ibid., pp. 29, 75.
132. Mutation bei Mikroben Ibid., pp. 29-30.
133. Mutation bei Mikroben Ibid., pp. 36.
134. Mutation bei Mikroben Ibid., pp. 29-30.
135. Mutation bei Mikroben Ibid., pp. 74 ff., esp. p. 77.
136. Mutation bei Mikroben Ibid., p. 80.
137. Mutation bei Mikroben Ibid., p. 40.
138. M. W. Beijerinck, "The Enzyme Theory of Heredity," Proc. Sect. Sci. Kon. Akad. Wetensch., 19 (1917), 1275-1289,
139. in VG, V, 248-258. Others in this period who, like Troland and Beijerinck, suggested that genes are enzymes, include O. Riddle and A. R. Moore (1912);
140. see Sapp, Where the Truth Lies (above, n. 33), p. 42.
141. Beijerinck seems to have thought that he was the first to entertain this idea. He merely pointed to a suggestion of Bateson's (in his Mendel's Principles of Heredity of 1909) that the genes might produce enzymes, as an idea that was somewhat similar to his own ("Enzyme Theory of Heredity," p. 258).
142. M. W. Beijerinck, "Sur l'excitation par traumatisme, le parasitisme et l'écoulement gommeux chez les Amygdalées," Arch. Néerl. Sci. Exactes Nat., 2nd ser., 11 (1906), 184-194,
143. in VG, IV, 267-277, esp. p. 272.
144. Beijerinck, "Enzyme Theory of Heredity" (above, n. 85), pp. 256-258.
145. As a final example I mention the fact that, in his last active years, Beijerinck devoted considerable attention to a phenomenon that he described as the "physiological origin of species." This process seemed to blur the distinction between modifications and mutations, since it entailed that, under certain conditions, all (or nearly all) individuals of a species underwent a "hereditary constant" change in their physiological characteristics - the original characteristics did not reappear if the original culture conditions were restored. See M. W. Beijerinck: "Ueber das Nitratferment und über physiologische Artbildung," Fol. Microbiol., 3 (1914), 91-113,
146. in VG, V, 178-193;
147. "Chemosynthesis at Denitrification with Sulfur as Source of Energy," Proc. Sect. Sci. Kon. Akad. Wetensch., 22 (1920), 899-908,
148. in VG, V, 281-288. It was these experiments concerning the "physiological origin of species" that induced Kluyver, in his overview of Beijerinck's work, to raise the matter of whether these ideas reflected his predecessor's accumulated wisdom or the beginnings of senility;
149. see Kluyver, "Beijerinck, the Microbiologist" (above, n. 10), p. 152.
150. Peter J. Bowler, The Non-Darwinian Revolution: Reinterpreting a Historical Myth (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press 1988), pp. 113-125;
151. Peter J. Bowler, idem, The Mendelian Revolution: The Emergence of Hereditarian Concepts in Modern Science and Society (London: Athlone 1989), pp. 47-64.
152. It should be added, though, that (as is so often the case) it is difficult to assess what exactly he took "Mendelism" to be; Beijerinck never expressed his exact views, if such he had, on the matter.
153. At this point one may well ask whether such notions as those entertained by Beijerinck contributed to the widespread feeling, in the first decades of the century, that bacterial genetics was a confused field. Also one might wish to know what effect these notions had on the process of transition by which the growth model was eventually replaced by the Mendelian one. At the moment, these are merely questions to be investigated; we know too little of bacterial genetics in this period, and too little of Mendelian geneticists' opinions of it.
154. See, for instance, M. W. Beijerinck, De biologische wetenschap en de bacteriologie: Redevoering gehouden bij de opening der Lessen in de Bacteriologie aan de Polytechnische School, Donderdag 26 September 1895 (Delft, 1895),
155. in VG, III, 154-172, esp. pp. 163-164.
156. B. Theunissen, "Knowledge Is Power: Hugo de Vries on Science, Heredity and Social Progress," Brit. J. Hist. Sci., 27 (1994), 291-311.
157. Brit. J. Hist. Sci., Ibid., pp. 294-296.
158. Brit. J. Hist. Sci., Ibid., pp. 302-311.
159. Beijerinck's private papers are kept at the Laboratorium voor Microbiologie at Delft Technical University. A few inconsequential letters to de Vries are preserved among the de Vries papers in the library of the Faculty of Biology at "Anna's Hoeve," Amsterdam University. About a hundred letters to the Groningen botanist J. W. Moll have recently been discovered in the Universiteitsbibliotheek of Groningen University. The Museum Boerhaave archives at Leiden contain a correspondence with his pupil L. E. den Dooren de Jong. These exchanges are almost exclusively devoted to scientific matters.
160. Recently a substantial correspondence between Hugo de Vries and the Groningen botanist J. W. Moll has been discovered in the Universiteitsbibliotheek of Groningen University; see Ida H. Stamhuis, "Mendels Wetten Onbelangrijk," Kunst Wetensch., 3 (1994), 12-15.
161. For biographical information on de Vries, see P. H. W. A. M. de Veer, Leven en Werk van Hugo de Vries (Groningen: Wolters-Noordhoff 1969);
162. R. P. W. Visser, "Hugo de Vries (1848-1935): Het Begin van de Experimentele Botanie in Nederland," in Een Brandpunt van Geleerdheid in de Hoofdstad: De Universiteit van Amsterdam rond 1900 in Vijftien Portretten, ed. L. Kooijmans (Hilversum: Amsterdam University Press 1992), pp. 159-178. For Beijerinck, see above n. 14. De Vries's and Beijerinck's regular contacts and friendly relations - in 1885, for instance, they traveled to France together to visit several microbiological laboratories - can be gleaned from their published papers and their letters to J. W. Moll (above, n. 97), with whom they both corresponded.
163. For a detailed discussion of de Vries's experiments, see Onno G. Meijer, "Hugo de Vries No Mendelian?" Ann. Sci., 42 (1985), 189-232;
164. B. Theunissen, "Closing the Door on Hugo de Vries' Mendelism," Ann. Sci., 51 (1994), 225-248.
165. Hugo de Vries, "Bacteriologie in Nederland," Gids, 6 (1888), 571-591. As is evident from his correspondence with Moll (above, n. 97), de Vries put in a considerable effort to win the support of agriculturalists and the government for this idea.
166. Hugo de Vries to J. W. Moll (see above, n. 97), December 13, 1887. As appears from this letter, Beijerinck was still hoping to be able to prove himself at the Yeast and Spirits Factory and was not unconditionally prepared to accept such a position at this time.
167. Cf. n. 100, above, and see den Dooren de Jong, "Beijerinck, the Man" (above, n. 14), p. 21;
168. Kluyver, "Speeches" (above, n. 15), p. 187.
169. On van Marken, see Wim Wennekes, De Aartsvaders: Grondleggers van het Nederlandse Bedrijfsleven (Amsterdam and Antwerp: Atlas, 1993), pp. 141-195. The part played by industrialists in this connection, and, more generally, Dutch industrialists' views on the importance of academic science in this period, have as yet received little attention. There is clearly an urgent need for a close examination of their views.
170. Cited in Theunissen, "Knowledge Is Power" (above, n. 93), p. 303.
171. Beijerinck, De biologische wetenschap en de bacteriologie (above, n. 92), p. 171 (emphasis added).
172. See also M. W. Beijerinck, Het bacteriologisch laboratorium der Polytechnische School, Rede (Delft, 1897),
173. in VG, III, 233-243.
174. Beijerinck, Het bacteriologisch laboratorium (above, n. 104), pp. 234-237.
175. Het bacteriologisch laboratorium Ibid., pp. 236-237.
176. On Loeb, see Philip J. Pauly, Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering Ideal in Biology (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987).
177. M. W. Beijerinck: "Sur la régénération de la faculté de produire des spores chez les levûres en voie de la perdre," Arch. Néerl. Sci. Exactes Nat., 2nd ser., 2 (1899), 269-289,
178. in VG, III, 278-292, esp. p. 278;
179. "Mutationen bei Mikroben" (above, n. 75), pp.27, 35.
180. Still, Beijerinck devised some experiments aimed at inducing mutations in bacteria by means of radioactive substances: see M. W. Beijerinck, "Die Leuchtbacterien der Nordsee im August und September," Fol. Mikrobiol., 4 (1916), 15-40
181. , in VG, V, 199-216, esp. p. 208.
182. Van Itallie-van Embden, "Interview with Beijerinck" (above, n. 1), p. 191.
183. Wim J. van der Schoor, "Science for the Indies: Biology and Ideology," paper delivered at the XIXth International Congress of History of Science, Zaragoza, 1993. At the Utrecht Institute for the History of Science, Wim van der Schoor is preparing a Ph.D. thesis on the development of the biological experimental stations in the Dutch East Indies in the period 1870-1940.
184. Another indication of his dedication to the ideal of pure science is that it was Treub himself who took the initiative for the establishment of the famous Visitor's Laboratory (later Treub's Laboratory) in the Buitenzorg Gardens.
185. Van der Schoor, "Science for the Indies" (above, n. 110);
186. Wim J. van der Schoor, "Biologie en Landbouw: F. A. F. C. Went en de. Indische Proefstations," in Toegepaste Wetenschap en Praktisch Nut: Visies op de Maatschappelijke Betekenis van Wetenschappelijk Onderzoekrond 1990, ed. Bert Theunissen and Frans van Lunteren, thematic issue of Gewina: Tijdschr. Gesch. Geneesk. Natuurw. Wisk. Tech., 17 (1994), 145-161.
187. On Kruyt and Ornstein, see the contributions by Geert Somsen ("H. R. Kruyt en het ideaal van wetenschap en samenleving," pp. 162-176)
188. and Han Heijmans ("L. S. Ornsteins opvattingen over toegepaste natuurkunde," pp. 177-190)
189. in Theunissen and van Lunteren, Toegepaste Wetenschap (above, n. 112).
190. Olga Amsterdamska, "Beneficent Microbes: The Delft School of Microbiology and Its Industrial Connections," in Beijerinck and the Delft School of Microbiology, ed. Pieter Bos and Bert Theunissen (Delft: Delft University Press, 1995), p. 193.