Question

Contagium vivum fluidum was proposed by

• A. D. J. Ivanowsky
• B. M. W. Beijerinck
• C. Stanley
• D. Robert Hooke

Answer 1

Answer: (B)

M. W. Beijerinck

Answer 2

"Contagium vivum fluidum" in Latin means "contagious living fluid". This phrase was used for avirusby , Martinus William Beijernick (a Dutch microbiologist and botanist). Beijernick defined Contagium vivum fluidum" as the virus's ability to cause aninfection and slip through the finest mesh filters available then, giving it liquid-like properties. This phrase defined a virus to behave like a soluble-living germ.

Quick History

• In 1892, Russian botanist Dmitri Ivanovsky, who studied the cause of the tobacco mosaic disease discovered that the causative agent could pass through the smallest filter available then called the Chamberlain's porcelain filter.
• In the year 1898, Beijernick while studying the same causative agents established that the liquid filtrate infected the host in spite of filtering in through the smallest available pore.
• This made him conclude that the causative agent was fluid and he called it "Contagium vivum fluidum”.
• In the year 1935, American biochemist and virologist Wendell Meredith Stanley revealed the first image of the virus using the **electron microscope. **
• Themicroorganismwas later visualized by the English scientist Robert Hooke under a microscope.

Also Read:Biological Classification