The John Bargrave Collection
Natural Curiosity: Curious Nature in Early America
Secondary Title (i.e. Proceedings Title): Periodical Title:Common-Place: The Interactive Journal of Early American Life Publication Type: Authors:Kupperman, Karen Ordahl Editors: Publisher: Place of Publication: Publication Date:Jan 2004 Alternate Date (i.e. Conference Date): Volume:4 Issue:2 Start Page:n.p. End Page: Abstract:Reviews accounts of natural science discoveries in the 17th-century New World, from Newfoundland to the Caribbean. The various plants and animals provided copious material for naturalists. Horticultural items remarked on included large fruits with deceptively large seeds inside; a summer wheat that mutated to rye; and a "sensible tree" that reacted to human touch, as well as accounts of determining which plants were nutritional and which were poisonous. Reports on wolves, opossum, flying squirrels, and caterpillar attacks were recorded, as well as a study of beavers' cooperative organization. As evidence of the high level of interest in these discoveries, a 1683 report of an American rattlesnake dissection conducted by the Royal Society in London determined that its hollow fangs conducted its venom. Descriptors/Keywords: Discoveries in scienceNatural history ISBN: URL:http://common-place.org/book/natural-curiosity-curious-nature-in-early-america/
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