Browse Exhibits (80 total)

Medical, Chirurgical and Anatomical Cases and Experiments by Dr. Albrecht von Haller is a collection of medical cases and experiments put together by the Royal-Academy of Sciences at Stockholm in 1758. In additional to reports of interesting medical cases and experiments by various physicians of the time, the book also includes copper plates accompanying some of these accounts, which provide an interesting perspective of the understanding of the medical field at the time. In total, the volume consists of 31 different cases reported to the Royal-Academy of Science at Stockholm and an additional 14 experiments.  The cases range from extraordinary accounts of worms exiting a woman’s ulcer to practical everyday accounts of children suffering from small stature or potential treatments for mental illness. The unique nature of these cases is reminicent of earlier categorizationof the wonders and unexpected works of nature. 

The main author of this text, Dr. Albrecht von Haller, was a Swiss scientist, who is considered by many as the father of experimental physiology and contributed greatly to the medical field with his encyclopedia, Elementa Physiologiae Corporis Humani.[1]The text played the unique role of sharing and circulating medical findings before this became more commonplace in popular journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine in the United States or The Lancet in the UK about a half century later. It is clear tht even at this point the importance of reporting and shairng knowledge of unique medical cases and natures role in the human body was important. This book remains an interesting source and view of early medical case study.

Volume I of A History of British Birds by Frances Orpen Morris was published in 1862 and reflects the motif of classification in natural history. Morris, born in 1810 in Ireland, was not educated to be a scientist but actually a reverend, yet his interests ranged from naturalism to etymology to biblical studies. This particular work was completed during a time when scientists were fascinated by classifying and identifying species and thus the text elucidates how nature was observed and documented in the nineteenth century. In this work, the subject matter is limited to British birds, yet Morris provides nuanced and detailed insight into the birds’ environments, physical appearances, diets, life cycles, and other factors. Each chapter in this book commences with a realistic illustration of the bird for the respective chapter seemingly drawn from observation. Unlike works documenting nature in previous centuries that infused the mythical with the real, this work is grounded in fact and observation, whether Morris actually observed these birds or cited sources that did. His accounts and descriptions of birds heavily cite other sources and include theories of his own, illustrating the quest for documenting and synthesizing knowledge on nature at this period in history. Therefore, Morris’ A History of British Birds illuminates the classification of natural knowledge in 19th century Europe.

Le Règne animal distribue d’après son organisation by Baron George Cuvier is a collection of five volumes describing the species of the animal kingdom, organized by their relationships to one another. This is the second edition of the text, published in 1829, which appeared in its original form in 1817. All of the volumes include a small introduction to the volume’s specific subject, an index, and hundreds of entries including some for extinct species. There are no illustrations in the text volume, but a collection of accompanying plates and images was published separately in nine volumes by a friend of Cuvier.[1]

Baron George Cuvier (1769-1832) was a French naturalist and zoologist. He was heavily influenced by the works of Linnaeus. He did extensive anatomical studies of both modern specimens and paleontological remains that he had found which were critical to confirmation of the theory of extinction. While he did not believe in evolution, his work and discoveries would be cited as evidence for the theories put forward by Darwin.[2]

Musaeum Regalis Societatis, or, A catalogue & description of the natural and artificial rarities belonging to the Royal Society and preserved at Gresham Colledge

“’Musaeum Regalis Societatis’, or, A catalogue & description of the natural and artificial rarities belonging to the Royal Society and preserved at Gresham Colledge” was written by Nehemiah Grew in 1681.  It is a combination of two writings, the categorization of the Royal Society’s rarities and the lectures given by Grew at Gresham College on the comparative anatomy of the digestive system of various animals.  The curiosities are categorized in four sections: animals, plants, minerals, and artificial objects. The Royal Society acquired the specimens through various donors.  The artificial objects section is significant because they presented new innovations gifted by their inventors.[1]  The second section of the book “The Comparative Anatomy of Stomachs and Guts” is a series of lectures and images comparing and contrasting the anatomical structure of multiple species.[2]  

Nehemiah Grew was born in 1641 and became a notable physician and botanist.[3]  He became the appointed co-curator to the Royal Society in 1672 with Robert Hooke, who was responsible for lectures and demonstrations.  Grew began cataloging the museum of acquisitions in 1678 and finished one year later.  In addition to cataloging the Museum, Grew wrote various publications on plants and anthropology, including his greatest work “The Anatomy of Vegetables.”[4]

The Peterborough Bestiary is a fascinating manuscript that was created around the beginning of the 14^th century. The Bestiary was written and illustrated by an unknown, yet recognizable through other works, scribe who was likely a person of high ranking in the Peterborough cathedral.[1] The manuscript, which is actually a compilation of two well-known works that describe animals, Physiologus, dating from the 2^nd century, and Isidore of Seville’s multi-volume Etymologiae, dating from the 7^th century, was likely created for someone else of high ranking in the church.[2] Bestiaries were pieces that were compiled written around the High Middle Ages, all serving the relatively similar purpose of depicting and describing a wide variety of different animals. This bestiary in particular is noted for the over 100 incredibly ornate illustrations of animals.

A great deal can be observed from the Peterborough Bestiary in regards to nature and knowledge. As a bestiary, the manuscript serves as a great example of knowledge of physical nature from the time it was created. The sheer volume of different animals that are both described and depicted is impressive. However, many animals are given fantastical qualities, and both real and mythological animals were depicted, with no separation between the two. This lack of understanding which animals were real and which were not indicates limits to the knowledge of physical nature from the time this bestiary was created. Arguably more important than physical nature, however, was the knowledge of moral nature. Many of the qualities of animals were linked to or justified by biblical passages. These animal qualities were often considered either positive qualities that follow in the way of Jesus, or negative qualities that embody the Devil. In short, these spiritual reflections in the bestiary, which occur on both real and mythical creatures, are unique and can be interpreted as proxy behaviors for how mankind should act, and present a fascinating view on knowledge of moral nature at the time. An argument can even be made that these spiritual behavoirs of animals provided justification for many that the physical world itself was goverened by the Word of God and the Bible. The Peterborough Bestiary can thus be seen as a manuscript that embodies and blends both flawed knowledge of physical nature and deeper knowledge of moral nature.