August Johann Georg Karl Batsch (28 October 1761 – 29 September 1802) was a German naturalist. He was a recognised authority on

mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is th ...

, and also described new species of

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except ...

bryophytes The Bryophyta s.l. are a proposed taxonomic division containing three groups of non-vascular land plants (embryophytes): the liverworts, hornworts and mosses. Bryophyta s.s. consists of the mosses only. They are characteristically limited i ...

, and seed plants.

Life and career

Batsch was born in

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

, Saxe-Weimar to George Lorenz Bratsch and Ernestine (''nee'' Franke) Bratsch. He studied at the Jena City School, and then had private tuition. He showed an aptitude for natural sciences and drawing, and so subsequently studied medicine and philosophy at the University of

(now known as the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena), entering in 1772 and obtaining his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' ...

in philosophy in 1781 and in medicine in 1786, his supervisor being Justus Christian Loder. Batsch was married in 1787 to Amalie Pfaundel. They had three children, Friedrich (born 1789), George Friedrich Karl (1792), and Karoline (1795). He died in 1802 after a short illness. In 1786 Batsch began to teach natural history at the University of Jena and in 1787 he was appointed associate professor of medicine and botany. In 1792 he became Professor of Philosophy. He advised

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

on his botanical research. Batsch's organization of plants in progressive forms may have influenced Goethe's thinking on the transmutation of species. In 1790, Batsch founded a botanical garden in Jena, and the ''Naturforschende Gesellschaft'' ("Nature Investigator's Club").

Botany

Batsch discovered almost 200 new species of

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

s, including '' Clitocybe nebularis'', ''

Calocera cornea ''Calocera cornea'' is a jelly fungus that grows on decaying wood. It is a member of the Dacrymycetales, an order of fungi characterized by their unique "tuning fork" basidia. Its yellow, finger-like, tapering basidiocarps are somewhat gelatin ...

'', '' Paxillus involutus'', and '' Tapinella atrotomentosa''. He was a recognised authority writing two books on the topic, ''Elenchus Fungorum'' (''Discussion of Fungi'', between 1783 and 1789), which is still highly rated today and ''Versuch einer Anleitung zur Kenntniss und Geschichte der Pflanzen'' (''Attempt at Instruction in the Knowledge and History of Plants'', between 1787 and 1788). ''Versuch einer Anleitung...'' looked into the nature of what we now know to be fungal

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

s of plants (such as Dutch elm disease), but without realizing their origin. Rejecting the system of

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...

, he began to classify plants on the basis of their external form and shape and to make them generally understandable by means of a clear, precise representation, as best known in his three volume ''Elenchus Fungorum''.While well versed in the

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

of the Jena area, the weakness of his system lay in his lesser familiarity with the plants of the rest of the world. Other works include ''Dispositio Generum Plantarum Jenensium Secundum Linnaeum et Familias Naturales'', Jena 1786, generally referenced as Dispos. Gen. Pl. Jenens., alternatively titled as ''Dissertatio inauguralis botanica sistens dispositionem generum plantarum Jenensium''.Dispos. Gen. Pl. Jenens. 1786
/ref> His taxonomic classification of plants is summarised in his last work, the ''Tabula affinitatum regni vegetabilis'' (1802), which was notable for its diagram depicting the network of affinities within the vegetable kingdom. His ''Synopsis vniversalis analytica genervm plantarvm'' (1793–4) is the source for valid names for

Melanthiaceae Melanthiaceae, also called the bunchflower family, is a family of flowering herbaceous perennial plants native to the Northern Hemisphere. Along with many other lilioid monocots, early authors considered members of this family to belong to ...

and Primulaceae.

Zoology

Batsch wrote ''Versuch einer Anleitung, zur Kenntniß und Geschichte der Thiere und Mineralien, für akademische Vorlesungen entworfen, und mit den nöthigsten Abbildungen versehen'', in English Provisional guide to the knowledge, development and history of the animals and minerals, designed for academic lectures. The first part (Erster Theil) ''Allgemeine Geschichte der Natur; besondre der Säugthiere, Vögel, Amphibien und Fische'' German natural history, mammals, birds amphibians and fish appeared in 1788.Part two (Zweyter Theil). ''Besondre Geschichte der Insekten, Gewürme und Mineralien'' on insects, worms and minerals was published in the following year, 1789. He was also known for his work on turtles.

Selected publications

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Legacy

Batsch is considered one of the most important late eighteenth century naturalists in central Germany.

References

Bibliography

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Plate
Plate from ''Elenchus fungorum''.

( German)
University of Jena botanical gardenTexts of works available at BHL
{{DEFAULTSORT:Batsch, August 1761 births 1802 deaths 18th-century German botanists 18th-century German zoologists Botanists with author abbreviations German entomologists German mycologists German Protestants German taxonomists Scientists from Jena People from Saxe-Weimar