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{"id":26712,"date":"2023-05-18T11:00:26","date_gmt":"2023-05-18T15:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/?p=26712"},"modified":"2023-07-25T09:15:27","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T13:15:27","slug":"a-materia-medica-animalia-1853","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2023\/05\/18\/a-materia-medica-animalia-1853\/","title":{"rendered":"A Materia Medica Animalia, 1853"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By Harriet Ritvo ~<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Originally published in <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/collections.nlm.nih.gov\/HiddenTreasure\">Hidden Treasure: The National Library of Medicine<\/a>, <em>2011.<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_26725\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26725\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-books_101600386.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26725\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2023\/05\/18\/a-materia-medica-animalia-1853\/good-books_101600386\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-books_101600386.jpg?fit=1070%2C1200&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1070,1200\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"A Materia Medica Animalia\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>A Materia Medica Animalia, by Peter P. Good, 1853<br \/>\nNational Library of Medicine #101600386<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-books_101600386.jpg?fit=268%2C300&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-books_101600386.jpg?fit=840%2C942&ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-26725\" title=\"A cuttlefish, valued for its \u201cbone,\u201d which could be ground up to make a tooth powder.\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-books_101600386.jpg?resize=400%2C449&ssl=1\" alt=\"A stack of books with the top one open to a full page color illustration of a cuttlefish on the seafloor.\" width=\"400\" height=\"449\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-books_101600386.jpg?resize=913%2C1024&ssl=1 913w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-books_101600386.jpg?resize=268%2C300&ssl=1 268w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-books_101600386.jpg?resize=768%2C861&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-books_101600386.jpg?resize=840%2C942&ssl=1 840w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-books_101600386.jpg?w=1070&ssl=1 1070w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-26725\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/catalog.nlm.nih.gov\/permalink\/01NLM_INST\/1o1phhn\/alma994114873406676\"><em>A Materia Medica Animalia<\/em><\/a>, by Peter P. Good, 1853<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/resource.nlm.nih.gov\/101600386\"><em>National Library of Medicine #101600386<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This is a rare book in several senses. Not only are surviving copies scarce but there is nothing much like it. Although a search of any serious library will reveal dozens\u2014even hundreds\u2014of books with \u201cmateria medica\u201d in the title, they will likely focus on substances derived from plants. Peter Peyto Good (1789\u20131875) did not set himself to swim completely against this tide: before he turned his attention to the animal kingdom, he had edited <a href=\"http:\/\/resource.nlm.nih.gov\/61631000R\"><em>The Family Flora and Materia Medica Botanica<\/em> <\/a>(1845).<\/p>\n<p>His animal material medica, \u201cContaining the Scientific Analysis, Natural History and Chemical and Medical Properties and Uses of the Substances That Are the Products of Beasts, Birds, Fishes or Insects,\u201d is a kind of hybrid. It combines elements from traditional natural history compendia, including the bestiaries of the medieval period, with elements that reflect the zoology of his time. The introduction offers a brief outline of formal scientific taxonomy and locates each of the twenty-four creatures to be discussed within this system, but that is not the order in which they appear (at least if buyers followed Good\u2019s instructions about how to bind the installments\u2014since each animal appeared in a separate installment, idiosyncratic orderings were theoretically possible). Instead, the table of contents suggests a view of the world as composed of randomly related phenomena: thus the sheep is followed by the oyster and the stag is followed by the blood-sucking leech.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_26724\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26724\" style=\"width: 840px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-snake_101456914.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26724\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2023\/05\/18\/a-materia-medica-animalia-1853\/good-snake_101456914\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-snake_101456914.jpg?fit=1600%2C1086&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1600,1086\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Rattle Snake\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>Rattle Snake in A Materia Medica Animalia, by Peter P. Good, 1853<br \/>\nNational Library of Medicine #101456914<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-snake_101456914.jpg?fit=300%2C204&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-snake_101456914.jpg?fit=840%2C570&ssl=1\" class=\"size-large wp-image-26724\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-snake_101456914.jpg?resize=840%2C570&ssl=1\" alt=\"An illustration of a rattlesnake on the ground.\" width=\"840\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-snake_101456914.jpg?resize=1024%2C695&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-snake_101456914.jpg?resize=300%2C204&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-snake_101456914.jpg?resize=768%2C521&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-snake_101456914.jpg?resize=1536%2C1043&ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-snake_101456914.jpg?resize=1200%2C815&ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-snake_101456914.jpg?resize=840%2C570&ssl=1 840w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-snake_101456914.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-26724\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rattle Snake in <em>A Materia Medica Animalia<\/em>, by Peter P. Good, 1853<br \/><em><a href=\"http:\/\/resource.nlm.nih.gov\/101456914\">National Library of Medicine #101456914<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The entries all ostensibly follow the same general structure. Headed by the Latinate and vernacular names of the creature, they first specify the nature and uses of the medicinal substance it produces, then proceed through sections on scientific analysis, natural history, and chemical and medical properties and uses. Sometimes Good offers surprising information. For example, he lists rattlesnake venom as a treatment for alcoholism, mercury poisoning, erysipelas (an acute bacterial infection associated with skin rash), fainting fits, and hydrophobia (rabies).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_26728\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26728\" style=\"width: 840px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-pigs_101456907.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26728\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2023\/05\/18\/a-materia-medica-animalia-1853\/good-pigs_101456907\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-pigs_101456907.jpg?fit=1600%2C1045&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1600,1045\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Hog\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>The Hog in A Materia Medica Animalia, by Peter P. Good, 1853<br \/>\nNational Library of Medicine #101456907<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-pigs_101456907.jpg?fit=300%2C196&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-pigs_101456907.jpg?fit=840%2C549&ssl=1\" class=\"size-large wp-image-26728\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-pigs_101456907.jpg?resize=840%2C549&ssl=1\" alt=\"An illustration of three pigs in the grass by a wooden fence.\" width=\"840\" height=\"549\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-pigs_101456907.jpg?resize=1024%2C669&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-pigs_101456907.jpg?resize=300%2C196&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-pigs_101456907.jpg?resize=768%2C502&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-pigs_101456907.jpg?resize=1536%2C1003&ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-pigs_101456907.jpg?resize=1200%2C784&ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-pigs_101456907.jpg?resize=840%2C549&ssl=1 840w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-pigs_101456907.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-26728\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Hog in <em>A Materia Medica Animalia<\/em>, by Peter P. Good, 1853<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/resource.nlm.nih.gov\/101456907\"><em>National Library of Medicine #101456907<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_26727\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26727\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-cochineal_101600385.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26727\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2023\/05\/18\/a-materia-medica-animalia-1853\/good-cochineal_101600385\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-cochineal_101600385.jpg?fit=1033%2C1728&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1033,1728\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Cochineal Insect\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>Cochineal Insect in A Materia Medica Animalia, by Peter P. Good, 1853<br \/>\nNational Library of Medicine #101600385<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-cochineal_101600385.jpg?fit=179%2C300&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-cochineal_101600385.jpg?fit=612%2C1024&ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-26727\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-cochineal_101600385.jpg?resize=400%2C669&ssl=1\" alt=\"An illustration of a beetles crawling and flying around a cactus plant.\" width=\"400\" height=\"669\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-cochineal_101600385.jpg?resize=612%2C1024&ssl=1 612w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-cochineal_101600385.jpg?resize=179%2C300&ssl=1 179w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-cochineal_101600385.jpg?resize=768%2C1285&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-cochineal_101600385.jpg?resize=918%2C1536&ssl=1 918w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-cochineal_101600385.jpg?resize=840%2C1405&ssl=1 840w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-cochineal_101600385.jpg?w=1033&ssl=1 1033w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-26727\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cochineal Insect in <em>A Materia Medica Animalia<\/em>, by Peter P. Good, 1853<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/resource.nlm.nih.gov\/101600385\"><em>National Library of Medicine #101600385<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Despite their shared design the entries vary greatly in length and in the kind of material they contain; up-to-date zoology rubs elbows with folk wisdom and anecdote. Nor did Good always apply the same standard of relevance. To return to the rattlesnake, most of the long discussion of its \u201cmedical properties and uses\u201d details treatments for snakebite; relatively little concerns the palliative qualities of venom. When Good considers farmyard species, most of which find a place in his catalogue, he tends to include digressions about the history and merits of their constituent breeds. The entry on the cochineal insect, on the other hand, fulfills its initial promise completely and efficiently, explaining how the creatures are collected, ground into powder, and then used to cure neuralgia and to color tinctures and ointments.<\/p>\n<p>Even the illustrations reflect the miscellaneous traditions from which Good drew. (By the 1840s lithographs could be inexpensively reproduced, and brightly colored illustrations were available in books for popular audiences.) Some of the images, like that of the cochineal insect, recall an older botanical convention of disaggregation and separation, but most, like that of the cuttlefish, enjoy the richly delineated settings that came to characterize nineteenth-century natural history publishing.<\/p>\n<p><em>Harriet Ritvo is Arthur J. Conner Professor of History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she teaches courses on British history, environmental history, the history of natural history, and the history of human-animal relations. Her books include <\/em>The Animal Estate: The English and Other Creatures in the Victorian Age<em>; <\/em>The Platypus and the Mermaid, and Other Figments of the Classifying Imagination<em>; <\/em>The Dawn of Green: Manchester, Thirlmere, and Modern Environmentalism<em>; and <\/em>Noble Cows and Hybrid Zebras: Essays on Animals and History<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Harriet Ritvo ~ Originally published in Hidden Treasure: The National Library of Medicine, 2011. This is a rare book<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19605840,"featured_media":26726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12763,347145303],"tags":[273905,490,177,1480675,1487506,91455],"class_list":["post-26712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-collections","category-rare-books-journals","tag-1800s","tag-animals","tag-art","tag-book-illustration","tag-hidden-treasure","tag-natural-history"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Good-books_101600386_feature.jpg?fit=900%2C399&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3xcDk-6WQ","jetpack-related-posts":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19605840"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26712"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27205,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26712\/revisions\/27205"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} |