Vedas are the earliest religious scriptures in the human history. There are occasional references to nematode parasites of human beings by the name Krmin or Krmi in Sanskrit (meaning worms) in Rig, Yajur and Atharva vedas written 6000-4000 BC. The vedic people were aware about the krimis, their symptoms, vectors, and their cure. Later,when indigenous medical science Ayurveda developed following Atharv veda (3000 BC and later), Charak recognized 20 different organsims as krimis in his Samhita, which included nematodes besides arthropods and leeches.
The earliest written account of a nematode “sighting,” as it were, may be found in the Old Testament in the Bible: “And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died”. Many nematologists assume and the circumstantial evidence suggests the “fiery serpents” to be the Guinea worm, Dracunculus medinensis, as this nematode is known to inhabit the region near the Red Sea.
Before 1750, a large number of nematode observations were recorded; many by the notable great minds of ancient civilization. Hippocrates (ca. 420 B.C.), Aristotle (ca. 350 B.C.), Celsus (ca 10 B.C.), Galen (ca. 180 A.D.) and Redi (1684) described nematodes parasitizing humans, other large animals and birds.
Petrus Borellus (1656) was the first to describe the first free-living nematode, which he dubbed the “vinegar eel;” scientifically referred as Turbatrix aceti.
Being less conspicuous, plant parasitic nematodes didn’t receive as much or as early attention as did animal parasites.
The earliest information to a plant parasitic nematode is, however, preserved in famous writ. “Sowed cockle, reaped no corn,” a line by William Shakespeare penned in 1594 in “Love’s Labour Lost', Act IV, Scene 3, most certainly has reference to blighted wheat caused by the plant parasitic nematode, Anguina tritici
Turbevil Needham (1743) accidently recorded first plant parasitic nematode when he crushed one of the shrunken and blackened wheat grains and observed “Aquatic worms, Eels, or Serpents, which they very much resemble.” He named it Vibrio tritici. Later this nematode was rightly named as Anguina tritici by Steinbuch.
From 1750 to the early 1900’s, Nematology research continued to be descriptive and taxonomic, focusing primarily on free-living nematodes, and plant and animal parasites.
19th century History of Nematology(Events of significance):
Berkley (1855) discovered first root-knot nematode from galled roots of green-house cucumbers in England.
Schacht (1859) ascribed the decline in sugar beet to a cyst nematode later named as Heterodera schachtii by Schmidt in 1871.
Kuhn (1871) was the first to use soil fumigation to control Heterodera schachtii, applying carbon disulfide (CS2) treatments in sugar beet fields in Germany.
Goeldi (1887) described Meloidogyne exigua causing galls on the roots of coffee in Brazil.
Ritzema-Bos (1891) discovered for the first time a foliar nematode when he discoveredAphelenchoides fragariae on strawberry.
Atkinson (1892) described for the first time the interactive role of nematodes in producing disease complexes. He reported that the cotton wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum increased mani fold in presence of root-knot nematode.
Leibscher(1892) reported pea cyst nematodeHeterodera goettingiana on pea.
Modern History Although 18th and 19th century scientists yielded a considerable amount of important fundamental and applied knowledge about nematode biology, real qualitative and quantitative research in nematology began only near the turn of the 20th century.
In 1907, Nathan Augustus Cobb,an extremely productive scientist, a keen observer, an artist and a prolific writer later called The Father of Nematology, joined Sugar Plant Research Centre in Hawaii (USA). His important contributions are:
Nathan Augustus Cobb (1859-1932)
He described detailed morphology of plant parasitic nematodes and described minute sensory organs of nematodes like amphids, deirids, cephalids, papillae and phasmids.
Devised nematode extraction techniques from soil, methods for sampling, nematode sectioning and mounting. Many of his techniques are still unsurpassed.
He devised "Cobb's slides" in which nematode specimens are mounted between two coverslips. The slides allow observation of the specimen from both sides and minimize refractive interference of the image. Even now, important nematode specimens are mounted on Cobb's slides.
Invented a new camera lucida device for drawing and measurements of nematodes.
Discovered many new species of plant parasitic nematodes.
Published his first paper on nematology in the United States (1913).
He separated free living nematodes and plant parasitic nematodes. He advised to shift plant parasitic nematodes. from Helminthology to Nematology and coined the term Nema (1914).
Cobb (1918) published “Contributions to a Science of Nematology” and his lab manual “Estimating the Nema Population of Soil” for the benefit of new workers in this field.
There are 568 publications to his credit.
In 1933 Tom Goodey published his book named “Plant Parasitic Nematodes and the Diseases they cause”.
In 1934 I N Filipjev in Russia produced his book “Nematodes that are of Importance for Agriculture”.
In 1937 B G Chitwood and M B Chitwood wrote a book "An Introduction to Nematology"
Carter (1943) discovered the nematicidal properties of DD mixture.
Christie (1945) discovered the nematicidal properties of Ethylene Di bromide (EDB)
In 1951 Tom Goodey published a book "Soil and Fresh Water Nematodes" which was revised by his son, J B Goodey, in 1963.
1961: Society of Nematologists (SON) was formed in USA.
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