Natural Resources and Medicinal Remedies
As European sailors returned from faraway shores, Europe's scientists attempted to contextualize the flora their countrymen brought back. One of the Scientific Revolution's key accomplishments was the creation of natural catalogs, like the ones we have selected, that described all kinds of foreign plants and attempted to categorize them, a tradition that set the stage for the modern taxonomic structure. Europeans also experimented with extra–European plants to develop medicines and natural remedies, some of which were adopted from native cultures. We have curated a list of natural encyclopedias to demonstrate the trans–oceanic roots of medical and biological innovation during the Scientific Revolution.
Title page of Horti Malabirici
Horti Malabirici Volume 10
Appx. 1673-1703
This botanical text is a comprehensive summary of various medicinal plants native to the Malabar region in southwestern India. The work was compiled by Henrik van Rheede, the governor of Dutch Malabar from 1669-1676, however the information included was contributed by Indian herbalist Itty Achudan. The work classifies and describes hundreds of medicinal plants, complete with detailed illustrations, along with information on the medicinal preparation and benefits of these plants. The names of each plant are written in both Latin and Malayalam, the native language of the Malabar region. Occasionally, the names of each plant are also written in Arabic and Tamil, a language spoken by the Tamil people, an ethnic group in Southeast Asia. The extensiveness of this text and its contributions from Itty Achudan showcases the valuable contributions of non-European people and resources to the field of medicine during the Scientific Revolution.
Illustration and description of Manam-Podam, a plant native to present-day Bangladesh, India, Thailand, and Myanmar.
Translation: It grows in wet places. The branches are kneeling, angular, bent over, covered with green hairs, rough hairs. The leaves are rare, broad, oblong, serrated, covered with hairs; ribs protruding on the opposite side. The flowers appear in two series, which spring together from oblong, hairy and green calyxes, each accompanied by a wing of small cuspids, hairy and green soles, reclining in a dishlike fashion. of the rest small, four-petaled, white and purple; the threads in them are four oblong, bearded, purple, and endowed with white gems; the smell of the whole plant is pleasant and aromatic.
Title page of "Joyfull Newes Out of The New-Founde Worlde"
Nicholas Monardes’ “Joyfull Newes Out of The New-Found Worlde”
Appx 1512-1588
Spanish physician Nicholas Monardes’ “Loyfull Newes Out of The New-Found Worlde” details the types of plants, minerals, and other naturally occurring specimens found in South America (referred to as the “West Indias”) their uses in treating various diseases, as well as their commercial and economic importance. Notably, his descriptions of tobacco and nicotine shed light on the growing cultural influence of these two substances within Europe and their roots in South American medicinal practices. This text and its detailed illustrations serve as a testament to the vital role played by South American plants and natural resources in the development of medicine during the Scientific Revolution, while also highlighting the cultural exchange between Europe and the Americas.
Illustration of tobacco, accompanied by botanical descriptions and analysis of its therapeutic benefits
Jose de Acosta’s “The Naturall and Morall Historie of the East and West Indies”; English translation
1604
This influential book describing the Americas and the Phillippines is divided into two parts: the first is a compendium of the natural resources and species found in these regions, and the second is a description of native peoples and their history. Along with his work as a naturalist, the author Jose de Acosta was a Jesuit missionary and theologian. As such, this book describes native peoples, their cultures, and their practices surrounding natural specimens through the lens of Christian ideals and conversion potential. Additionally, his writings on the precious metals found in South America allude to the burgeoning European metallurgical industry of the time period and its reliance on the exploitation of new world resources.
Title page of "The Naturall and Morall Hisotrie of the East and West Indies"
Section titled "Of the qualitie and nature of the earth where metalls are found, and that all these metalls are not imployed at the Indies, and how the Indians used them."
Section titled "That the Indians have some knowledge of God"