MAGNUS, PAUL WILHELM

MAGNUS, PAUL WILHELM (1844–1914), German botanist. His father, Meyer Magnus, was a member of the Berlin City Council. Under the influence of the botanist paul ascherson , the young Magnus abandoned the thought of a medical career and turned to the study of botany. After obtaining his degree, Magnus was invited by the Ministry of Agriculture to participate in scientific surveys of the North and Baltic Seas. His studies of specimens brought back from these expeditions led to important contributions on the growth patterns of algae as well as to pioneering investigations of the chytrids, an obscure and still poorly understood group of fungi. Magnus joined the faculty of the University of Berlin in 1875 and was promoted to the rank of Professor Extraordinarius in 1880. In 1911 the honorary title of Geheimer Regierungsrat was conferred upon him. His most important work was concerned with the systematics and life histories of a number of parasitic fungi. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: G. Lindav, in: Berichte der deutschen botanischen Gesellschaft, 32 (1914), 32–63. (Mordecai L. Gabriel)