Usos e circulação - parte 8

Message From the Sponsor

Introduction

Pedro H. Mariani Grupo BBM

Lorelai Kury

In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.

Charles Darwin The BBM Group started operations in Bahia in 1858, financing agriculture in the state both in the planting and trading of their products. Today Brazilian agriculture is an extremely productive sector and competitive in many regions of the country. Equally distant from the antics of the followers of John Law (1671-1719) and the patrimonialism of François Quesnay (1694-1744), the Brazilian rural producers, through their efforts and talents, built innovative and productive ventures of varying scale.

In the era of genetic engineering and precision agriculture, what attracted our attention in the book we are sponsoring this year were the long roads traveled worldwide by plant species, principally as of the 16th century. The enrichment of agriculture, pharmacopoeia and culinary arts of various nations, as a consequence of ocean voyages starting in the 16th century, was just the continuation of a movement that, at a much slower rate, had already been occurring since the Neolithic period.

The main products of Brazilian agriculture, with the exception of manioc and certain species of cotton, are of exotic origin. Sugar cane arrived in Brazil in the 16th century after various historical stages starting in New Guinea. Soy, of Chinese origin, was brought to Brazil in the 19th century. Corn (maize) originated in Central America and was only incorporated into Brazilian agriculture by the Portuguese. Wheat, also introduced by the Portuguese, was originally cultivated in the fertile crescent of what is today Iraq. Coffee, a predominant product in our economy and politics for almost 70 years, was domesticated on the Ethiopian plateau. Cacao, which was of fundamental importance to the Bahian economy until the occurrence of phytosanitary problems in the 1970s, was in turn domesticated in Mexico. Apart from the beautiful iconography of the book, the texts written by Heloisa Meireles Gesteira, Bruno Boto Leite, Flávio Coelho Edler, Juciene Ricarte Apolinário, Leila Mezan Algranti, and Lorelai Kury bring us information on the various protagonists of this movement, starting in the 16th century. States, religious orders, corporations and individuals, among which are names such as Captain Bligh and Sergeant Major Palheta, follow each other through the stories, always involved in the transport of seedlings and seeds and in the creation of knowledge of the plant species, which helped to make definitive and positive changes to our world.

We of the BBM Group are proud to participate in the dissemination of facts relevant to the indispensable productivity of today’s modern agriculture.

The economic and political networks and the communications systems of the contemporary world cover the whole planet. The biological unification of the earth is also complete. Plants, animals and pathogens are transported constantly, respecting no frontiers and surviving wherever the climate or artificial environments permit its presence. This book deals with the circulation of plants by the Portuguese Empire between the 16th and 19th centuries, especially to the American continental extension that came to be known as Brazil.

The movement, the change, the passing of time and the spatial mobility are treated here as actions that in some way transform objects.1 As they move around, the plants do not remain the same. Their relationship with the natural and human environment enhances or inhibits their virtues, increases or diminishes their importance, in that their use is habitual or unexpected, that they grow in forests, botanical gardens or greenhouses, that they are ingested, cultivated, collected, ignored or admired.

Until the expansion of industrial societies and the mass utilization of chemicals for the transformation, isolation and production of active principles and synthetic substances, starting in mid-19th century, much of what was used in everyday life by the populations of East and West came from relatively direct processes of manipulation of plants. Undoubtedly mineral and animal substances also coexisted with humans, but the flora of the world supplied and still supplies today the basic foodstuffs of society, such as wheat, rice, manioc or corn. Furthermore, the different medicinal practices used plants as the foundation for treating the sick. Fabrics and their colors were also basically of vegetal origin, as were a large part of houses, furniture, musical instruments, toys and decorations.

In the Americas, the distinct climates and the geographical distances up to a point did not hinder the migration of native plants around the continent, circulating between mountain ranges, down rivers, traveling with man and beast and with the wind. Some of them spread out, like corn, tobacco, potatoes and ‘urucum’. In Brazil, circulation of the plants is so interwoven with the history of colonization, that it is impossible to trace the exact date of arrival in America of plants from other continents, probably as passengers on the first caravels.

The first chapter of this book, “Portuguese America and the Circulation of Plants, 16th to 18th Centuries”, deals with the intense exchange of plants within the Portuguese Empire, great maritime routes of the renaissance, joining East and West, the battles for the monopoly of the spice trade. Heloisa Gesteira also finds the genesis of new practices associated to the utilization of American plants, with their cultivation in gardens, their presence in collections and their medicinal use. Various agents were active during the three first centuries of colonization of America.

The author highlights the great Atlantic commercial routes, the circulation of plants through missionary activities and the specifics of the Netherlands experience in America. The texts, maps and images that illustrate the flow of the Portuguese Empire expand the reader’s field of vision and invite him to perceive the Brazil beyond America.

Bruno Martins Boto Leite, in his “Pharmacology, Medical Botany and the Circulation of Plants in the Jesuit pharmacies in the Province of Brazil, 17th and 18th Centuries” analyzed the use of medicinal plants by the priests of the Society of Jesus. The author concentrates in particular on the study of manuscripts that preserved medical formulae prepared in the Jesuit colleges all over the world, underlining the intense use of Brazilian plants.

The Ignatian fathers adapted to adverse and unknown conditions through their capacity to interact with the people they intended to catechize, and through the research they conducted in the four corners of the world. From their knowledge of European and Asian plants, known since antiquity, they investigated their substitutes in Brazil, inventing formulae that started to circulate among their colleges. This text belongs in the ambit of recent reevaluations of Jesuit science and shows its amplitude and complexity.

In “Native Plants from Brazil in the Portuguese and European Pharmacopoeias of the 17th and 18th Centuries” Flávio Coelho Edler presents the universe of holistic medicine of the 17th and 18th centuries, and the inclusion of Brazilian plants in the Portuguese pharmacopoeias. To understand the importance of plants with purgative, emetic, expectorant, sudorific properties, among other qualification of the era, it is essential to observe the very concepts of health, sickness and cure of the medical doctrine of the modern age. The author shows that there was a gradual process of the incorporation of American substances in the European pharmacopoeias, which accompanied the varied and mixed medical practices present in Portuguese America.

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In researching aspects of culinary art in Brazil and Portugal, Leila Algranti extracted a few threads of history, showing how certain plants enter little by little into the day-to-day life of a population. Her analytic focus in the chapter “The Art of Cooking and Plants of Brazil, 16th to 19th centuries”, is on bread, soups and paps, sweetmeats and drinks. The circulation of plants between Portugal, Brazil, Africa, and parts of the Orient was often accompanied by the migration of consumer habits, recipes and the techniques of preparation of the products. The Portuguese tradition of eating bread and soup engendered in Brazil a search for substitutes for the plants used in Europe. This is how manioc, corn, vegetables and legumes, originally both from America as well as Asia, started to be used on both sides of the Atlantic, following Portuguese recipes. The presence of sugar on the Portuguese and European table grew constantly as of the 16th century. Confections, delicacies, creams, fillings and beverages would have sugar as an ingredient. The consumption of products such as tea, chocolate and coffee – sweetened – was also related to the great tropical sugar cane plantations. The consumption of these energy-giving drinks was present at the genesis of the new enlightened societies and at the very birth of “public opinion”, in the European cafés and salons. In this way, the Portuguese recipe books, the Lisbon patisseries and London cafés are linked together by the history of circulation of edible plants, of Brazilian plants and of the customs and inhabitants of America.

Based on documentation partly unpublished, Juciene Apolinário, in the chapter “Native Plants, Colonial Indians: Uses and Appropriation of Portuguese American Flora”, makes an analysis of the movements of the indigenous people around the Brazilian captaincies, when they transferred their habitation to different biomes to live in villages and settlements with diverse ethnic customs and languages. The indigenous mobility was also flexible in the utilization of the surrounding flora. The original inhabitants of Brazil not only knew the plants in the locality where they were born, but also learned to improvise, observe and look around them. The colonial indians learned from each other, exchanged experiences, gave new significance to the native plants. Thus, far from being inserted – immutable – in a history of transformation lived by others, the indian is defined by his plasticity.

Rituals, formulae, herbal extracts or indian drinks did not only continue to be used for centuries, but also became enmeshed in new practices, in a form of “re-significance” to quote the term used by the author.

“Plants Without Frontiers: Gardens, Books and Travels, 18th and 19th Centuries”, approaches the circulation of plants through spaces in science and natural history, from the second half of the 18th century to the years around Independence. The text attempts to show the centrality of botanical gardens for colonial politics. In the case of Brazil, the gardens of Belém, Olinda, and Rio de Janeiro featured a series of situations of exchange, robbery, smuggling and diplomatic negotiations between Portugal and France, involving Cayenne and its cultivated plants. Besides these cases, the disputes

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Portuguese America and the Circulation of Plants 16th to 18th Centuries

for plants involved other colonial gardens of the Americas, the Indies and the Pacific. The plants circulated in print as well: instructions for collecting, cultivating and using vegetal substances, botanical treatises, medical manuals and other types of scientific and technical literature were considered as important material in Portugal and Brazil, in the Age of Enlightenment. Both live plants and seeds, herbaria, printed and manuscript texts were to be found in the universe of voyages. The usefulness of scientific explorations was not just an abstract ideal: various plants were the focus of international disputes at the time. In this way, on reflecting on the diverse possibilities of circulation of plants one sees the relationship between science, customs, imperial and local power, and cultural practices.

These analyses allow us therefore to put into perspective the restricted national point of view and consider the history of Brazil in relation to the Atlantic world, but also to the sphere of the planet’s great commercial, cultural and scientific routes. Native plants from the Americas became important products for the daily routine of the European, Asian and African populations. The use of tobacco, for example, pure or mixed with opium, expanded on a worldwide scale, among the most diverse social groups. In a symmetric manner, exotic plants became so habitual in America that they were soon considered as native, such as bananas [with the probable exception of the plantain (‘banana-da-terra’)] or rice. Among the many exchanges, one can highlight the presence in Brazil of oriental plants, in addition to the African, whose centrality is being widely demonstrated by historiography.

All the chapters converge on the demonstration that the interaction between the inhabitants of Brazil and the environment engenders many possible uses for plants. Some habits have endured for centuries and have come to be seen as natural, as if they had always existed. However, the environment itself is a result of transformations.

The first humans to inhabit America had already transformed their forests and fields, their animals, their selective collection, their forest slash and burn. The rhythm of change accelerated after the Portuguese colonization, until it arrived vertiginously at the green deserts and the imminent extinctions of present time. Tropical plants from other continents also colonized the different regions of America, often in competition with the native species.

This book presents, in its own way, some of the dramatic history of Brazil, with the plants as protagonists. Plants described in text or images, dry, in infusions, foodstuffs, dyes, fibrous or medicinal, but always in transformation. We look to widen the horizons of our analyses to embrace oceans, people and flora that are beyond our habitual frontiers. We decided to turn our historian eyes on the kingdom of the plants, as complex as the empires of men.

Heloisa Meireles Gesteira1

If there was nothing else about these lands, serving as shelter on voyages to Calicut would be enough.

Letter from Pero Vaz de Caminha to Dom Manuel informing of lands discovered in the New World.

Above and on page 193: Author unknown, 18th Century. Tobacco maker.

This image and its pair associate a plant – the tobacco – to its preparation and uses. The couple shows paraphernalia developed for the consumption of tobacco, such as pipes, tobacco cases, rulers and rolls of leaves. In the background, scenes of the processing of this American plant which, in the 18th century, was circulating in all continents.

British Library, London

1 Historiography has been approaching the circulation of knowledge and objects in various and rich ways. See, among others: Kapil Raj. 2010.

Relocating Modern Science. Circulation and the Construction of Knowledge in South Asia and Europe, 1605-1900. Houndmills-New York: Palgrave Mcmillan; Londa Schiebinger. 2004. Plants and Empire. Colonial Bioprospecting in the Atlantic World. Cambridge (Massachussets)-London: Harvard University Press; Daniel Roche. 2010. Les circulations dans l’Europe moderne, XVIIe – XVIIIe siècle. Paris: Pluriel; A. Bandau, M. Dorigny and R. Mallincjrodt (eds.). 2010. Les mondes coloniaux à Paris au XVIIIe siècle. Circulation et enchevêtrement des savoirs. Paris: Karthala; S. Schaffer, L. Roberts, K. Raj and J. Delbourgo (eds.).

2009. The Brokered World. Go-Betweens and Global Intelligence, 1770-1820. Sagamora Beach: Science History Publications and Host – Journal of History of Science and Technology – The Circulation of Science and Technology, vol. 1, Summer 2007.

With the above sentence, Pero Vaz de Caminha ended his letter of April 1500, informing Dom Manuel of the discovery of lands in the New World.

From the region today known as Porto Seguro, some of the ships sailed towards the East Indies, an equally important objective of the mission commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral that year: to establish mercantile and diplomatic relations in Calicut, India. Two years before, Vasco da Gama, sailing the route opened by Bartolomeu Dias, circumnavigated the African continent, reaching the Indian Ocean. The arrival in the “Indies” brought with it the dream of commerce: “where one breathes the fragrance of the spices, drugs and aromas of the distant Orient”.2 Since mid-15th century, on the orders of the kings of Portugal, ships crossed the Atlantic, heading south, along the coast of Africa in search of riches: spices, gold and Christian people possibly spread around the globe. The Portuguese maritime expansion, which marked a change in the physiognomy of the world and in the structure of long distance commerce controlled by the Europeans, was followed closely by the Spanish and later by European countries facing the Atlantic, such as the Republic of the United Provinces (Holland, Zeeland, Gelderland, Utrecht, Friesland, Overijssel and Groningen), France and England.

The initial impulse of the Portuguese maritime adventure is explained by the multiple tracks that in our understanding are complementary, and as observed by Charles Boxer, can be found in the papal briefs from the time of Infante (prince) Henrique, among which the Romanus pontifex, of January 8, 1452, and Inter caetera, of March 13, 1456.

The documents, apart from including a short history of conquests since the taking of Ceuta in 1415, recognize as a result of the discoveries that the Portuguese had the right and the duty to attack and convert the people to Christianity or slavery, besides pillaging the riches and appropriating territories in the name of the King of Portugal.

Thus commerce, evangelism and political interests converge and direct the discoveries.3 Commerce and cultural exchange, added to other initiatives that contributed to the intense circulation of agricultural products around the Portuguese world, soon attracted the interest of European competitors, either establishing political alliances with Portugal, as in the case of England

and the Low Countries during the 16th century, or by means of war, as in the case of France and even the Low Countries, who turned from allies to being one of the main threats to the Portuguese colonial world during the period of the Iberian Union, between 1580 and 1640.

We shall highlight three moments of Portuguese expansion and their geographic projection, emphasizing how control of the Atlantic was strategic, and to a certain extent assured by the Tordesilhas Treaty, signed in 1494, and which gave the Portuguese sovereignty of the southern seas. As our objective is to think in terms of Portuguese America, it is important to remember that in the first years of expansion, this region was not central to Portuguese imperial politics, a situation that changed completely in 1640, when Brazil became the center of Portuguese overseas politics connected with the African trading posts, precisely after the losses the empire suffered in the Indian Ocean due to the belligerent presence of the Dutch East India Society as of 1609, the year it was founded.

All during the 15th century, domination of points along the west coast of Africa, starting with the conquest of Ceuta, brought with it access to the trading of local products such as malagueta-pepper, “pimenta-de-rabo” (Benin coast), gold and slaves from the region of Upper Guinea. The periplus guaranteed the Portuguese discovery and control over the islands of Madeira (1419), the Azores (1439) and Cape Verde (1456-1460). Uninhabited, these islands were colonized with the help of sugar cane planting and with the use of slave labor. On the mainland, on the orders of Dom João II, the castle of St. George of the Mine (today Elmina Castle) was built in 1482. Although the principal products were gold and slaves, spices were also shipped to Portugal, and from there to Flanders.

It is unknown exactly when the plan to reach the Indian Ocean via the Atlantic was conceived, but the experience in traveling over areas south of the equator gave the Portuguese knowledge of the winds and currents in the region, and by the end of the 1480s, with the voyages of Bartolomeu Dias, the passage to the Indian Ocean was known. However, the Cape route was established with Vasco da Gama’s voyage to Calicut in 1498, which was a failure from the diplomatic and mercantile point of view, but otherwise strengthened Portuguese interests in direct access to the spices of the Orient by the Atlantic route, although that prospect would have been reinforced after the return of Pedro Álvares Cabral from his voyage to Calicut in 1501, when he sailed back to Portugal with a full cargo of spices, acquired not in Calicut, where the conflicts scared the Portuguese away, but by opening the trade route Cochin–Lisbon.4 In 1502, the first European fort was built in Cochin, inaugurating what would come to be the system of advance trading posts that characterized the State of India and provided control of the local and long distance commerce.

Little by little during the 16th century, the Portuguese established themselves in strategic points by means of a complex mechanism of local contracts that were constantly altered, and “Portugal figures regularly in them as a maritime and anti-Islamic power; this is the only constant they present, because the games of alliances changed in India with the speed of a meteorological chart”.5 With the dream of finding Christians unfulfilled, the Portuguese ended up involved in local disputes between Hindus and Muslims, and they penetrated the commercial networks formed by a group of Portuguese enclaves situated in the region of Malabar (Calicut, Cochin, Goa) and from there expanding to China, including, Pegu, Malaca and reaching Japan.6 The ships that sailed to Europe carried, apart from pepper, porcelain, silk, woods, opium, cloves, nutmeg, apple, cinnamon and ginger, among many other spices and medicinal and aromatic herbs.

Returning to the superscription at the beginning of this chapter, it is explained by the fact that in 1500, the discovery of lands situated in the New World appeared to the eyes of the Portuguese as a future promise, whereas Pero Vaz de Caminha considered the riches of Vera Cruz in relation to evangelization and as a point of support and safety necessary to the supplying and equipping ships for the voyages to the Indies.

However, voyages such as those of Américo Vespúcio and Pero Lopes de Souza, along the coasts of lands recently discovered in the name of the King of Portugal, were made with a view to identifying tradable products and recognition of the coast to learn its length. Right from the start, the extraction of Brazilwood permitted the establishment of relations with the indigenous people on the coast, who collected the wood and carried it to the points of exchange – trading posts built in places along the coast. The Portuguese soon claimed the area from the mouth of the River Amazon to the estuary of the River Plate, using the parameter of the Tordesilhas Treaty. This territorial strategy was facilitated by the technical geographical difficulties at the time that did not permit precise location of the prime meridian.

The system of trading posts was not effective, and did not guarantee Portuguese monopoly over the region, due to incursions by privateers under the flags of other nations and disputes for the possession of colonies in the New World, especially with France, England and the Low Countries. The situation led to the creation of a strategy for territorial occupation through donations of land to selected noblemen.

The division into captaincies and the introduction of sugar cane cultivation, started in 1535 by Duarte Coelho in the captaincy of Pernambuco, and by Martim Afonso de Souza in São Vicente, attracted settlers and stimulated the conquest of land in the name of the King of Portugal, with the establishment of commercial agriculture, initially supported by indigenous slave labor and later by African slaves. A circuit between the two sides of the Atlantic was formed, which in the space of 100 years

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would become the dynamic center of the Portuguese Empire, and a standard for occupation by groups of villages established along the coast, especially after the Portuguese losses in the Indian ocean, due to incursions by the British and Dutch, who eventually captured strategic Portuguese positions.7

Circulation of Plants, Commerce and the Imperial Connections In the first half of the 16th century, the Portuguese empire had put diverse cultures spread around the four continents into contact with each other, on a larger or smaller scale. The contact between cultures will be analyzed based on records of the cultivation, use, consumption and commercialization of certain plants that circulated around sections of the empire, at times going beyond their borders. We shall begin with Portuguese America in talking about the exchange and transplanting of plants from one side of the Empire to the other. As we shall see, along with the plants traveled knowledge, customs and cultural practices.

The Portuguese occupation of America, in contrast to their experience in India, brought the challenge of territorial conquest, and of control of native labor through the introduction of sugar cane on the coast, initially in Pernambuco and São Vicente, followed by Bahia and Rio de Janeiro. Around 1570, the plantations remodeled the coastal landscape of Pernambuco, the principal producing area until the Dutch invasion and occupation, when Brazil became no longer the only region in the Americas to supply sugar for the European market. From Pernambuco the Dutch took not only the cane seedlings, but also the techniques for the manufacture of sugar.8 Sugar remained one of the principal products exported from Portuguese America to Europe during the whole colonial period, being supplanted only by coffee at the start of the 19th century, another exotic product that adapted to Brazilian soil, in this case in the region of the Paraíba Valley, in areas which today form the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais. Consumed in the East, coffee became a luxury in Europe during the 17th century. The first seeds were brought to Brazil, from Cayenne, by Sergeant-Major Francisco de Melo Palheta. Initially grown in gardens for pleasure rather than profit, by the 19th century it was being cultivated on an enormous scale, making Brazil the top coffee exporter in the world, when the product came to be consumed by workers at the start of the industrial revolution in Britain and also in the United States of America.9 Spatial and social organization of sugar-cane cultivation, together with the manufacture of sugar, on a large or small scale, functioned as a standard for the establishment of colonials in America. Whether on the coast or the interior backlands (sertões), commercial agriculture was in the most part accompanied by access to land and slave labor. In this case, both the techniques and the first seedlings of cane came with the Portuguese colonials, forming their own frontiers, and even changing the landscape in the northeastern ‘zona da mata’ (coastal plain, originally forested).

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It is interesting to note that beside the products cultivated for the European commerce, the Portuguese colonists brought with them their table habits, and soon started to grow vegetables, greens and fruits not only original to Europe, but also those already climatized on the continent, including pomegranate, wheat, species of orange, leaf vegetables, lemon, sarsaparilla, pumpkin, cauliflower, lentils and bananas. On the other hand, the colonists started to adopt local produce that was part of the traditional indigenous diet, including manioc, sweet potato, and corn (maize), this last more common in São Paulo.10 Native to America, tobacco and cacao conquered the European luxury market in the 16th and 17th centuries. Consumed by the indigenous population of the New World, they began to become part of the luxury habits in the Old World. Tobacco, used as a medicinal plant and smoked in pipes by the indians of Portuguese America, became an important product exported to Africa, where it was exchanged for slaves. Its use also spread among Europeans, Africans and Asians.

There was also circulation within the American continent itself. A drink made of cacao, original to the Amazon forest, was consumed by the Astec chiefs and the product was exchanged between the indigenous peoples. Curiously, it was adopted as a luxury drink among the Spanish nobility and from there spread to other European courts, also becoming important to the overseas commerce.

According to Jesuit João Felipe Bettendorf, who administered missions in Pará, seeds of this plant were taken by his confreres to São Luís, and later to Bahia. From a process developed by Dutch chemist Coenraad Johannes van Houten, at the start of the 19th century, which gave a sweeter flavor to a drink naturally bitter, and by which chocolate could be prepared in slabs, consumption became no longer a habit only for the European elite, thus production increased in scale.11 Manioc flour, basic to the indigenous diet, soon spread among the Portuguese colonists, often substituting wheat flour. It eventually crossed the Atlantic to Africa. Taken on the journeys into the ‘sertão’ due to its resistance to heat, it became known as “flour of war”, and was also used as part of soldiers’ pay on both sides of the Atlantic. The preparation of the flour from the root of the manioc was already part of the indigenous culture before the arrival of the Europeans, who quickly adopted the custom and used indigenous labor to cultivate and prepare it, since the raw root was extremely poisonous. The product was introduced into the region of Angola, where it is still grown today. Maize, sweet potato and the peanut were also taken from America to Africa. All of them were part of the colonials’ diet.12 Although the transport of species took place in various directions, East-West was the most intense, and we see that Brazilian flora was dominated by fruit and trees from the Indies that today compose the forest landscape, such as jack-fruit, breadfruit, mango trees and star apple trees. This can be explained in part by the fact that territorial occupation was intense above all in America, while the Portuguese presence both in Africa and Asia

was limited to coastal enclaves and the colonists were more involved in commerce. Even so, it is possible to identify the presence of fruits such as ‘pitanga’ (Surinam cherry), ‘araçá’ (type of guava), cashew, guava and pineapple in various regions of the Empire.

Since the end of the 16th century, Portuguese America was seen as a space to be effectively occupied, and by necessity defended against attacks from the French and Dutch. This can be perceived from the words of a mill owner who lived between Pernambuco and Paraíba, Ambrósio Fernandes Brandão, when he complained of the attention given to the Indies in detriment to Brazil. In a conversation with Alviano, a recent arrival from the kingdom, in various stretches he defends Brazil’s situation precisely because the colonials got rich from their ‘core assets’ and not just through commerce. Besides this, there was the facility of maritime communication, and through production, a guarantee of abundant supply of products. It is interesting how this perspective is defended by the suggestion from the mill owner on the introduction of spices from “India”, in this case pepper, and the following are two excerpts from his arguments: That Brazil is richer and contributes more to the coffers of His Majesty than all of India, because you can’t deny that the ships that come from there, come full of products, taken from all parts of the Orient, loading together pepper from Malabar, cinnamon from Ceylon, cloves from Maluco, nutmeg from Banda, musk, benzoin, porcelain and silks from China, clothes and indigo from Cambodia and Bengal, stones from Baiguate, Bisnaga (Vijayanagar) and Ceylon; and it is necessary to mix all these things, from all these parts, for the ships that come to the Kingdom to come loaded, and if they didn’t get a full load they wouldn’t come.13

A bit later, Ambrósio Fernandes Brandão makes clear his project in relation to the strategic position that the State of Brazil should occupy with the following words:

and orders were sent for the transfer of plants such as pepper, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon and even ginger to all regions of Portuguese America.

Ambrósio Fernandes Brandão’s proposals came to fruition many years later, although only as of mid-18th century was there more systematic acclimatization of species, with a greater impact on the Empire’s economy, above all with the installation of botanical gardens.

Conquest, Natural History and Circulation of Plants Through letters, chronicles and narratives about the overseas region, the existence of precise information on the natural world can be verified, including news about the climate, geography, fauna, native inhabitants of the land and the flora.

Notices were published and flooded Europe with written and pictorial information, including the products themselves, which became items of consumption. This phenomenon was repeated on a smaller scale in colonial societies.

In the case of the Portuguese Empire, we can understand these practices from what Luis Filipe Barreto called “the culture of discoveries”, which was characterized by a series of practical and theoretical attitudes towards the exotic. The news and novelties about the distant or unknown lands were controlled by the colonizing agents, and when considered strategic, kept in secret, creating an enormous “data bank” on distant lands, controlled by the State.16 The idea of “culture of discoveries” indicates absolute control of information by the State, but what we have verified is that at the same time, there was a process of accumulation of information about a particular colonial region, not just on the part of metropolitan agents, but above all, accomplished by those interested in the building of a new society, and at the same time, committed to local interests, as for example the missionaries of the Society of Jesus, as we shall see further on.17

Your Majesty should send a caravel to India to bring you from there only pepper seeds, in drums or elsewhere, wherever it is best accommodated, and that this caravel should pass by Brazil, where it should deliver to the Captaincies on the coast, to the chief Captains, who would divide them amongst the residents, commanding them to plant the seeds, and in this way Brazil will harvest more pepper than is harvested on the coast of Malabar.14

Ambrósio Fernandes Brandão’s expectations were probably shared by other colonists who arrived here before him. However, even before the effective occupation of American territory, there had been royal decrees, since the reign of Dom Manuel I, forbidding the cultivation of oriental spices, in order to protect the traders who had staked their expectations in the Levant. According to RusselWood, the only plant that survived the royal orders was ginger “which, because it was a root, was less visible to any invading forces”.15 It was only after the losses suffered in the orient after the Dutch wars and British incursions, that there was more tolerance to the introduction of some of the spices.

The reign of Dom João IV witnessed a greater interest on the part of the authorities in allowing the shipment of plants to Brazil from the orient,

The appearance of new societies, arising from European expansion, implied the construction of creative forms of domination. One of them was to collect and control all information regarding the characteristics and potential of plants, among other products, to be sent to Europe, where they were used commercially, incorporated into the private collections of nobles and traders or those of the universities. The books on natural history, treatises about plants, plus travel literature written by cosmographers, soldiers, missionaries and traders also contributed to the propagation of new consumer habits, which in turn stimulated the circulation of plants around the four continents.18 From writings that circulated in the various European overseas enclaves that were formed as of the 16th century, we are given to understand that knowledge on products from various parts of the globe became included, in some form, in European disputes on commercialization, emphasizing that apart from products effectively produced in greater quantity, many fruit, spices and medicinal plants were considered luxuries, the circulation of which was more restricted. Furthermore, at the same time

in which these narratives tell the doings of Europeans in various points of the globe, they also teach about the customs of the people, the uses and virtues of the plants, their therapeutic and alimentary uses.

With the expansion of frontiers, knowledge of the flora of the various places grew. The practice was also a result of the transformations in studies of nature that occurred during the Renaissance period, especially the discovery of new products up until then unknown in Europe, and which were not part of the compendia inherited from antiquity. In relation to the knowledge of the plants, present in Natural History culture and in medicine, the references were the writings of Pliny and Dioscorides. The direct contact with new regions led to questioning of the knowledge inherited from the ancients, which was still a reference, but the experience of direct observation had become equally relevant. In 1563, a book written by Garcia da Orta, Colóquios dos simples, e drogas e cousas medicinais das Índias was published in Goa. His work was partially published by Carolus Clusius, in Aromatum et simplicium alíquota medicamentarum apud índios nasciementium historia.

Also contributing to the dissemination of knowledge of oriental species in Europe was Tractado de las drogas y medicina de las índias Orientales by Cristóvão da Costa, expanding and updating some of the information contained in Colóquios, since he had visited a wider area, reaching Malacca and China.

In relation to the New World, the Portuguese, despite having contributed to the dissemination of species, much of the material, textual or illustrative, remained in manuscript form, thus with limited circulation. Information relative to the natural history of Portuguese America had been published in Europe in books written by Wilhelm Piso and George Marcgrave, men of science, doctor and astronomer respectively, who had been in Recife between 1637 and 1645 at the service of the Dutch West India Company. Worth a special mention is Historia Naturalis Brasiliae, published in Amsterdam in 1648. Even the Jesuit priest Simão de Vasconcelos, author of Crônica da Companhia de Jesus no Brasil and rector of the Colégio da Bahia, who traveled around Portuguese America at the end of the 17th century, in his text made numerous references and indicated Historia Naturalis Brasiliae should the reader wish to improve his knowledge of some of the plants and animals cited.19 These works flooded the editorial centers in Europe.

When published in Latin, they were destined for a more select public, but there were publications in the vernacular and read by men who had become rich from overseas adventures: noblemen, traders, financiers and cosmographers. A good example was the book by Cosmographer-royal in France, André de Thevet, who lived in the region of Guanabara Bay in the colony founded by the French in mid16th century. In Singularitez de la France Antartique, Thevet describes native customs, including the different uses of plants, apart from their virtues for human life. In addition there were also various genres linked to travel literature, as for example the war stories written by a soldier in the army of the Dutch West India Company, Johan Nieuhoff, who

served in Brazil. In his recordings, apart from the routine of battle, there is information on animals and plants of the regions through which he passed.

Hundreds of manuscripts that remained stored in archives also contained valuable information, including those on the transport of fruit, such as the fine manuscript by Portuguese-Malayan cosmographer Manuel Godinho de Erédia, Suma de árvores e plantas da Índia intra-Gangez. In his work, composed mainly of drawings of plants, there is information on the cashew, the pineapple and the guava, which originate from the American continent, as well as many plants from the Orient which had been acclimatized in Brazil for a long time: star apple, pomegranate and jackfruit. It is interesting to note that in these writings, species used in a certain place were mentioned, but not their geographic origin, which leads us to consider these records as eloquent representations of the Imperial space.

Another important example is the writings of Jesuit priest João Daniel. The text, written during the period in which he was imprisoned in Portugal, gives important information about the customs, the people, the natural riches and the history of the discoveries and the conquest of the River Amazon.

After the extinction of the Society of Jesus in Portugal and its dominions, many priests were arrested and imprisoned, and during the 18 years he was incarcerated, Daniel concentrated on writing his experiences in the State of Maranhão.

In his Tesouro descoberto no máximo rio Amazonas he dedicated a chapter to the growing of rice in the region, which apart from serving as food for the colonists, could have rendered profits if exported to Europe. Among the qualities of rice, he refers to its use as “bread” throughout the Orient: Rice being one of the main employments for farm workers, [...] the plant is much esteemed in the world, which in many provinces serves not only as a grain, but as bread, especially in Asia, where it is widely cultivated. In the greater part of the Japanese empire, in many provinces of China, in all the vast Mogol empire, and finally in all the kingdoms and states of India, there is no bread other than rice bread, nor do they cultivate other harvests normally except rice, if they have some use for wheat, which [...] the Portuguese introduced, and all the sowing done by those people is rice; it is their wheat, it is their corn.20

The missionary does not tell here of the specific forms of cultivation, but to underline the value of rice he mentions its use in ceremonies in the kingdom of Cochinchina. The missionary tells us that when the people celebrate their weddings, they organize a sort of procession made up of family and friends. Within the group, rich men carry vessels, showing the opulence of the guests.

Among the vessels, the most valuable “is always a container of water, and another full of rice, not so much to provide for the newly married couple, as to show that water and rice are the riches they most esteem, and with which they sustain and conserve their homes.”21 In the 18th century, rice was already one of the products shipped from the ports of the State of Maranhão.

During the Dutch occupation of the captaincies of Pernambuco, Itamaracá, Paraíba and Rio Grande,

Recife, as the administrative center of the Dutch colony in America, went through a transformation.

Among the investments made by Count Johann Maurits von Nassau-Siegen, was the building of a splendid new city named after him – Mauritsstad – where he took up residence in the Vrijburg Palace.

The palace was surrounded by a garden adorned with plants and in which animals typical to America circulated. The place was given the name of “The Count’s Gardens” by the contemporary chroniclers.

In the reports we have about the garden, it is clear that it performed various functions. Of special interest to us is the fact that the garden was used as a place for the collection and observation of some American plants, but it also contained some exotic plants. Species from the garden were sent to Europe, either to be planted in other gardens, like that of the University of Leiden, for example, or to be included in other collections, such as the residences of the Count of Nassau in the Hague and in Cleves, both decorated with objects from Brazil.

At the same time, the garden was a point of reception for species being introduced to America.

The garden surrounded the Vrijburg property. One of the sides bordered on the banks of the river Capibaribe. On each side of the land there were herbs and bushes, surrounded by lemon trees.

There was an allée of vines and another of pomegranate trees. Behind the building a fish pond surrounded by an area reserved for swans. Near the pond, to the left, there was an orchard of citrous fruit, and to the right, various fruit trees. There was a large variety of species which included plants from various continents: coconut palms, from the Malay Archipelago; orange and lemon trees from Asia; pomegranate trees found in north Africa, southern Europe and southern Asia; and fig trees from Arabia. Among the American trees were pawpaw (papaya), genipap (tropical America); mangaba trees, found in Brazil’s savannah region; cashew trees, endemic to Brazil; palm trees, mainly the species found in Colombia and Brazil; pitanga, native to Brazil, and also according to contemporary writers, pacobeiras or bananas, cabaceiros, araticuns jamacurus, uvalheiras, tamarinds, chestnut trees, tamareiras and grapevines, as well as bushes, vegetables, medicinal herbs and ornamental plants.22 In the realm of Portuguese experience, the Jesuits were exceptional with regard to the cultivation and circulation of natural products, above all for medicinal or nutritional use. Species from all over the world were taken to the gardens and fields of the missions. Although no precise data is available, there are many references to the Quinta do Tanque, a sort of “garden” attached to the Salvador College, where the missionaries grew citrous fruit, orange and lemon, among other vegetables – of American origin or not – which were used in their homemade medicines: clove, cinnamon, ginger and others.

province of Paraguay, where he served as a nurse in the missions. Apparently he took part in the conflicts, at the side of other priests, in the Sacramento Colony in 1705, to where the Jesuits sent 4,000 Guarani indians. His Libro primero de la propriedad y birtudes de los arboles i pantas das missòes y províncias de Tucuman com algunas Del Brasil e Del Oriente (1711) mentions the use of plants originating from various parts of the world, leaving a clear impression of the existence of exchange networks between the missionaries, networks that crossed areas dominated by both the Spanish and Portuguese crowns, since the frontiers were still very fluid, and it was easy to trespass on either Portuguese or Spanish territory. It also mentions products that crossed the frontiers of the American continent.

A good example of a product that circulated in Portuguese America, Europe and Asia thanks to the Jesuits, and which was found in their pharmacies, was copaíba oil. Used in America by the native population, incorporated into the Jesuit medicine, the use of copaíba oil spread to other continents, as recorded by Pedro de Montenegro: El balsamo de Copayba es oy mui conocido y usado por toda la Europa, Africa y America, u con gran estima e subido precio en el Japon, y China.23 On the other side of the globe, an example can be seen in the dedication and warning contained in the letter to Dom João V of Portugal, Árvore da vida dilatada em vistosos e salutiferos ramos ornados de muitas aprasiveis e saudaveis folhas em que se deixão ver muitos e singulares remedios assim simplices como compostos, que a Arte, a experiencia, industria e a curiosidade descobrio para curar com facilidade quase todas as doenças e queixas a que o corpo humano esta sujeito principalmente em terras distituidas de Medicos e Boticas, written by father Affonso da Costa, a missionary who lived in Goa at the service of the Society of Jesus during the first half of the 18th century. Apart from services and commitments strictly linked to the religious office, the priest also practiced medicine. As a fruit of this experience, he “plants” this tree, which, according to him, is even more useful in lands “destitute of doctors and pharmacists”.

Both in the dedicatorium of the work and the warning to the reader, the missionary presented a set of arguments in favor of his involvement with the practice of medicine and with the writing of a book gathering together the most effective medicines and treatments for various sicknesses, confirming that he had experimented with everything recorded during his almost 30 years of mission in Asia. In the first place, we observe the title chosen by the author making an explicit allusion to the Garden of Eden: Tree of Life. Apart from the two other trees offered by the creator, that of Heaven and Paradise on earth...

Seen, that the tree of life of earthly paradise was forbidden us, because it closed, and that of the Celestial Paradise does not communicate, because it disappeared, so that man can easily find medicines to free them from their infirmities and effective

Exchanges also occurred between the missionaries who traveled the American continent. Missionary Pedro de Montenegro was born in Galicia in 1663 and practiced medicine at the Madrid General Hospital. It is uncertain as to whether he came to America in 1679 or in 1693, more precisely to the

antidotes, with which they conserve and lengthen their lives, here in these deserts of East Asia, knowing my curiosity and application I planted a third Tree of Life, from which without much effort we can use all without exception for people. [...]

And so that in just one tree one can find remedies for all diseases, my particular effort was to get medicinal seeds from

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the four corners of the world, and whose virtues united in just one body at the cost of work, concern and (sic) sweat of more than thirty years comes from this tree.24

Like many other medical papers written in the Portuguese language, the book contains in its formulae ingredients originating from Europe, Asia, Africa and America, especially Brazil.

There were, and still are many ways of transplanting species from one side of the globe to the other. We are not concerned here with dating the transfer of plants, nor even to consider, except in some situations, if a particular plant traveled “spontaneously”, without previous planning. What we hoped to point out was the way by which commerce and migration of human beings intensified with the opening of navigation in the Atlantic, especially the Portuguese world between the 16th and 18th centuries, and the creation of colonial societies, in particular Portuguese America, implied a transformation of natural landscapes and created new consumer habits. Some plants entered the Brazilian culture and diet with such a force that even today we are surprised to detect that some emblems of our identity are exotic products, such as the coconut palms which adapted so successfully along the coast of the present northeastern region.

The same surprise is felt when we find authors from the 16th century, who lived on “the other side of the world” portraying fruits that have their origins in America, or indigenous habits, such as tobacco consumption, which won favor with the elite of the most remote corners of the empire.

1 Head researcher of Museu de Astronomia e Ciências Afins (Mast/MCTI); Professor of PPGHIS Unirio/Mast, Assistant Professor of PUC-Rio. 2 Thomaz, Luís Felipe. 1998. De Ceuta a Timor.

Lisboa: Difel. See especially chapter 4, p. 170.

3 Boxer, Charles. 1969. O império marítimo português. Lisbon: Edições 70.

4 Boxer, Charles. Op. cit. See especially Chapter 1; and Thomaz, Luís Felipe. Op. cit., chapters 2 and 3.

5 Thomaz, Luís Felipe. Op. cit., p. 179.

6 Boxer, Charles. Op. cit.

7 Boxer, Charles. Op. cit.; Cabral de Mello, Evaldo.

1998. O negócio do Brasil: Portugal, os Países Baixos e o Nordeste, 1641-1669. Rio de Janeiro: Topbooks; Alencastro, Luiz Felipe de. 2000. O trato dos viventes: formação do Brasil no Atlântico Sul. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, especially chapter 1.

8 Schwartz, Stuart. 1995. Segredos internos: engenhos e escravos na sociedade colonial. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras; e Cabral de Mello, Evaldo. 2012. O bagaço da cana. São Paulo: Penguin Classics-Companhia das Letras.

9 About the worldwide growth of the coffee market, see especially Marquese, Rafael & Tomich, Dale. 2009. O Vale do Paraíba escravista e a formação do mercado mundial do café no século XIX. In: Grinberg, Keila & Salles, Ricardo. 2009. O Brasil Imperial. Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira, volume II (1831-1870).

10 On São Paulo customs, see Buarque de Holanda, Sérgio. 1994. Caminhos e fronteiras. São Paulo:

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Companhia das Letras; and Monteiro, John Manuel. 1994. Negros da terra: índios e bandeirantes nas origens de São Paulo. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras.

11 On the circulation of cocoa, see Mendes Ferrão, José. 1993. A aventura das plantas e os descobrimentos portugueses. Lisbon: Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical-Comissão Nacional para as comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses; and Schivelbusch, Wolfgang. 1993. Tastes of Paradise: A Social History of Spices, Stimulants and Intoxicants. New York: Vintage Books.

12 Cf. Russel-Wood, A. J. R. 1998. Um mundo em movimento: os portugueses na África, Ásia e América (1415 – 1808). Lisbon: Difel; Alencastro, Luiz Felipe de. Op. cit; and Monteiro, John Manuel. Op. cit.

13 Brandão, Ambrósio Fernandes. 1997. Diálogos das grandezas do Brasil. Organization and introduction by José Antonio Gonsalves de Mello. Recife: Fundaj-Massangana, p. 89.

14 Idem, p. 96.

15 Russel-Wood, A.J.R. Op. cit., p. 232.

16 Barreto, Luís Filipe. 1989. Os descobrimentos e a ordem do saber: uma análise sociocultural. Lisbon: Gradiva. The author demonstrates the relations between the studies of medicine and the transformation in the rennaissance culture in Portugal.

17 See Godinho, Vitorino Magalhães. 1994. O papel de Portugal nos séculos XV-XVI; Que significa descobrir? Os novos mundos e um mundo novo. Lisbon: Grupo de Trabalho do Ministério da Educação para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses.

18 See Schiebinger, Londa & Swan, Claudia (eds.).

2007. Colonial Botany: Science, Commerce and Politics in the Early Modern World. Philadelphia: Pennsylvania University Press.

19 Vasconcelos, Simão de. 1864. Crônica da Companhia de Jesus no Estado do Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Typographia de João Ignacio da Silva, p. 102.

20 Daniel, João. 2004.Tesouro descoberto no máximo Rio Amazonas. Rio de Janeiro: Contraponto, vol.

2, p. 183.

21 Idem, ibidem.

22 On Dutch expansion in the Atlantic and cultural exchange with Leiden University, see Boogaart, Ernst van de. 1992. La Espansión Holandesa en el Atlántico. Madrid: Mapfre; Meyjes, G.H.M. & Scheurleer, Th.H. (eds.).

1975. Leiden University in the Seventeenth Century, an Exchange of Learning. Leiden: University Press; and Gesteira, Heloisa. 2004. História natural e colonização neerlandesa (1624-1654).

In: Revista da SBHC 2(1):6-21. Information on gardens was taken from Barleus, Gaspar. 1974.

História dos feitos recentemente praticados durante oito anos no Brasil. Belo Horizonte-São Paulo: Itatiaia-Edusp.

23 Montenegro, Pedro de. (1711). Libro primero de la propriedad y birtudes de los arboles i plantas das missòes y províncias de Tucuman com algunas Del Brasil e Del Oriente. Madrid: Biblioteca Nacional de Espanha, p. 34.

24 Costa, Affonso da. “Advertência ao leitor”. Árvore da vida dilatada ordenada em vistosos e salutissimos ramos. Mss. London: The Welcome Institute for the History of Medicine.

Verdes que em vosso tempo se mostrou.

Pharmacology, Medical Botany and the Circulation of Plants in the Jesuit Pharmacies in the Province of Brazil, 17th and 18th Centuries Bruno Martins Boto Leite1

The Society of Jesus was one of the most important organizations in the Modern Age, from the point of view of circulation of knowledge and information around the world: its intellectuals, situated in various parts of the globe, exchanged amongst themselves various items of knowledge gathered in the different geographical areas. Father Athanasius Kircher, for example, had written his important book China Illustrata, about things coming from China, based on nothing more than information and objects sent to him by other Jesuits who were working in the East, where he had never set foot.2 Father Riccioli had written his important treatise on geography, Geographiae et hydrographiae reformatae libri duodecim,3 based on information that Jesuit astronomers and cosmographers of the Iberian Peninsula had gathered from overseas dominions. Finally, to illustrate this question with a few samples from the extensive sea of examples, the astronomer Cristoforo Borri, being in Cochinchina, exchanged information on observations of comets in the eastern skies with Jesuit missionaries in other parts of the Orient.4 Apart from this, if knowledge circulated effectively between the Society’s intellectuals, the structure of the Society of Jesus itself, organized like a network, permitted the circulation to be even more efficient.

All the colleges of the Society came under the command of the Order in Rome and had to account annually to the Superior General, which resulted in many letters being sent from all parts of the world to the Jesuits situated in Europe. The centralized organization of the Society established links between all the places where the order was established around the world, functioning, as we said, like a network.5 The structure of the Society was organized around the colleges in different parts of the world. These colleges, in some cases interdependent – as in Brazil – were interlinked with other European colleges and with their headquarters, the Roman College. They circulated an enormous number of letters from distant regions such as America, Africa and the Orient to Europe and from Europe back to those places, giving information on the characteristics and achievements of the priests. If the colleges of the Society of Jesus exchanged information among themselves, the same can be said for the college pharmacies, which, being encrusted in the materiality of these institutions, exchanged information on knowledge employed and innovated with other pharmacies in other Jesuit colleges. These pharmacies circulated formulae, like those of father Manuel Tristão that were sent to the Jesuits of Portugal by the hand of the Rector of the College of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, Fernão Cardim,6 as well as simple ingredients and composites discovered for the Society’s many pharmacies.

In these comings and goings of texts and ingredients, many plants and knowledge about them were taken from Brazil to the pharmacies of Europe and the Orient, from the Orient to Brazil and Europe and from Europe to Brazil and the Orient.

The pharmacies of the Jesuit colleges thus formed an extensive and dynamic web over which circulated information, knowledge, and sometimes people.

These trajectories of plants and botanical knowledge were supported, therefore, on the existence and organization of the Jesuit pharmacies.

The circulation of the plants depended on the understanding of the purpose, in this case technical or medical, for the production of medicines. The import and export of plants was in accord with the knowledge of their use in the pharmacies. In other words, the circulation of the plants was directly related to the knowledge possessed of them and the use to which they would be put.

Ever since the foundation of the colleges of the Society of Jesus in Brazil, the Jesuits took upon themselves to produce medicines, as well as the studies of the Brazilian ‘simples’7 to provide the sick population with pharmaceutical medicines. The same had already occurred in other places where the Society had established its colleges, such as Europe, Asia and Africa. The priests were not the only ones to exercise this sort of function, but their work in regard to production and the studies of medicines in Brazil was, without a shadow of doubt, outstanding when considering what was available in the cities and towns of Brazil at the time.

The Jesuits, as we already know, not only exercised this function, but also created in Portuguese America spaces for the production and study of medicines – the pharmacies. In these places of knowledge, able apothecary brothers accomplished the task of reproducing, with whatever came to hand, the prescriptions invented in the European pharmacies.

From the start, the European pharmacies used as their base the classical tradition of Dioscorides and his De materia medica, and Galen’s De simplicium medicamentorum, inheriting a long and ancient culture of medical prescriptions, of knowledge of flora, fauna and the European minerals. With the preponderance of Arab tradition in the medieval period, these pharmacies made contact with new formulae and with the knowledge of the ‘simples’ from new geographical areas, such as those from parts of Africa and parts of Asia. The Arab doctors and philosophers (Avicenna, Averroes, al-Razi, Serapion and others) brought incontestable novelties to the European pharmaceutical workshop.8 Beside this, in the 16th century, at the moment of overseas expansion, the Spanish and Portuguese contributed to the cultural life of the European pharmacies with a deep well of new empirical knowledge. New ‘simples’ from the Orient were brought to light by the pen of Garcia da Orta who, in a clear effort of revision of knowledge accumulated since antiquity, launched the undeniable importance of Arab tradition on the European cultural scene.

New ‘simples’ from Spanish America were described by physician Nicolau Monardes, who while shut up in his small office of curiosities in Seville, showed the intellectuals of the time that much still had to be learned in the international sphere. 9 Beside these novelties, the chemical processes brought to European culture by the alchemy of the Arabs and the philosophy of Paracelsus substantially transformed the practices and routine of European pharmacies.

These processes, occurring from the middle ages to the final years of the 16th century, made the European pharmacies a crossroad of traditions, where the Arab culture, the overseas discoveries and the most recent innovations in medicine, were of fundamental importance. This being, the Brazilian Jesuit pharmacies imported an intense cultural life to the tropics, and added many innovations to these processes.

In Brazil’s Jesuit pharmacies, the methods and formulae used were extracted from classic tradition, from Arab tradition and from inputs of iatrochemistry with access to ingredients coming from Europe, Asia and Africa. As time went by, from the 16th to 17th centuries, the Jesuits included new ingredients from Brazil’s native flora and fauna, for their utility and the fact that they were near to hand.

So knowledge of the European plants, of those known from ancient Arabs, from parts of the Orient and Africa, and those discovered in the Portuguese oriental dominions, in the Spanish American dominions and in Brazil, was concentrated in the Jesuit pharmacies in Brazil. The college pharmacies of the Society of Jesus collected vast knowledge of the diversity of plants in Portuguese America and the world, which meant that many of the plants used in these pharmacies came from Europe and Africa and that many plants discovered in Brazil and used by the priests were exported for use in the pharmacies of Europe and Asia.

The Jesuit pharmacies in Brazil therefore became the axis of knowledge and the pole for circulation of pharmaceutical elements, among which those that interest us here – those of plant origin.

This study is based on the tradition of the pharmacies, and essentially on the analysis of formulae for medicines produced in the Jesuit pharmacies of Brazil of the Modern age, especially the end of the 17th and start of the 18th centuries.

Among the documents available for this analysis,10 we shall use essentially the Roman manuscript Collecção de várias receitas e segredos particulares, dated 1766.11 It provides more detailed information both of Brazilian pharmacies and those of colleges in other regions, such as Europe and the Orient, and permits us to undertake the analysis desired.

The Pharmacies and Apothecaries of the Colleges of the Society of Jesus of Portuguese America The Jesuit project being the conversion of indigenous populations living here to the tridentine catholic religion, the priests, from the beginning, founded schools and colleges with the objective of educating and preparing clerics for the task of conversion. With the passing of time, and with the change in the Society’s educational project, the Jesuits started to educate not only their novices but also the colonials resident here. These colleges, in this new moment of the Society’s educational history, started gaining magnitude and importance. Sumptuous buildings were constructed, alongside of which the Jesuits installed pharmacies to produce medicines, and infirmaries to look after the sick.

When the Jesuits were expelled in 1759, there were 17 Society colleges in Brazil,12 from which we can presume that there were 15 to 17 pharmacies. What we can tell from the priests’ documents, there is no doubt that college pharmacies existed in Bahia, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Maranhão, and Pará. It is therefore probable that all Jesuit colleges in Brazil,had their own pharmacy.13 The pharmacies were at the side of the college building, and their general description, according to the historian priest, were as follows: the pharmacy was built with one room and one workshop; the shop or pharmacy itself, where the medicines were kept available to the public, presided over by an image, generally of Our Lady of Health, and the workshop or laboratory, where the medicines were made up.14

The Bahia pharmacy was large, at ground level (Terreiro de Jesus), exactly where today stands the entrance to the University of Bahia Medical School.15 The pharmacy of the College of São Paulo was next to the church, the library and the hall of Capelos or Aula Magna. The pharmacy of the Maranhão College was equipped with many instruments for dissolving and making up substances. The inventory of 1760 recorded that it contained, apart from the classic instruments for producing medications according to the Galenic method, furnaces, distillers, pestle and mortar and other instruments very familiar to chemical or alchemical laboratories of the era.16 Besides these classic pharmacies, the Jesuits also had certain units adapted to the needs of the missionaries, such as the Botica do Mar at the Maranhão college, which consisted of a boat for providing medications to the riverside populations.17 In these pharmacies they produced medications to be donated or sold separately to some of the population, according to the traditional model of the European pharmacopoeias, such as that of the Portuguese D. Caetano de Santo António,18 and according to formulae by renowned authors such as João Curvo Semmedo. Besides this, other models for producing medications were invented by the pharmaceutical brothers, as attested by the innovative prescriptions of the Collecção de várias receitas (1766).

For the production of ‘mezinhas’ (as the remedies were called at those times in the Portuguese Empire) they used products of mineral, vegetable and animal origin. Those of mineral origin were gold foil and lead salt in powder form, used respectively in the formulae for Bezoartico do Curvo singular contra febres malignas da Botica do Colégio do Recife and Unguento para comechoens de corpo da Botica do Colégio da Bahia.

Of vegetable origin ‘bicuíbas’ and ‘bálsamo-dobrasil’ were used, the first in Olio de Bicuíbas expresso da Botica do Colégio da Bahia, and the second in many Brazilian, European and Oriental pharmacy formulae. And finally, of animal origin, ‘jararacas’ (lancehead pit viper) for the production of ‘trociscos’ (a type of pill) used in making ‘Triaga brasílica’, and the pearls (or ‘aljofar’) used in the prescription for the bezoartic already mentioned.

The pharmacies of Bahia, Recife and Rio de Janeiro, according to the author of Collecção de varias receitas,

were the most important, the ‘principais’.19 Serafim Leite, on the other hand, claims that the Pharmacy of the Recife College is the most famous in the Northeast.20 These pharmacies, besides being the best known, are the only ones from which we have information on the formulae they invented and used.

Based on reading the manuscript Collecção de varias receitas, we observe that in the Bahia College, they had invented a total of 40 new formulae. There, besides the habitual production of medications based on the formulae and ‘simples’ imported from Europe, they produced many new medicines.

Furthermore, the Bahia College pharmacy created innovations in the manner of producing the medicines, and new formulae were created by the pharmacy brothers. Among these formulae, the most curious and interesting are the already mentioned Óleo de Bicuíba expresso, the Óleo de Erva da Costa, the Panacea Mercurial, the Pedra infernal, the Pílulas angélicas, the Rosa solis and the very important Triaga brasílica.

Pressed Bicuíba Oil was a type of ointment made from the oil extracted from ‘bicuíba’ nuts, recommended for headaches and chest problems in the place of unguento nervino e peitoral and for ‘dores de madre’, applied on the belly of a pregnant woman. Olio de Erva da Costa was extracted from the leaves of the ‘saião’, which substituted, in Brazil, Olo Rosado,21 for purging the intestine, against pain in the gut and dores de madre. Panacea Mercurial was a medicine produced by distilling ‘calomelanos’ (mercury chloride),22 a mercury composite, in wine spirit, and was prescribed for internal use, for toda casta de Gallico (syphilis),23 for obstructions, for the ‘mal escorbutico’ and worms, and if used externally, for scrofula, herpes and all sorts of skin abrasions.

Panacea was also used as a linimento para empingens (balsam for generic skin diseases).24 The Pedra infernal, made with silver and nitric acid, was used to open the sources, exterminate the warts, consume superfluous flesh and callouses of ulcers and other similar purposes. The Pílula angélica was made with resins, ‘trociscos’ and various oils, and was recommended for purging Cholera very tenderly.

‘Rosa solis’ was prepared with plants from the Orient, employed for comforting the stomach and against indigestion. And finally the great medicine from the pharmacy of the Bahia College, Triaga brasílica, prepared with various native plants, such as ‘caapiá’,25 ‘mil-homens’, ‘capeba’, ‘jurubeba’, ‘angericó’, ‘jaborandi’, ‘pagimirioba’, ‘ipecacuanha’, ‘cravo-do-maranhão’, ‘angélica’, ‘ibiraé’ and others, and used against any sort of poison or infirmity of a poisonous nature, such as the epidemic diseases.26 The formula for ‘Triaga brasílica’ was kept a secret and coveted by everyone who produced medications.

This formula was a variation of none other than the original formula for ‘triaga brasílica’ improved with some chemical ingredients. Many of them, such as Olio chimico de Pindaíba and Sal chimico de Caroba, illustrated the meeting of the spagiric (fitotherapy with alchemist techniques) or chemical with native ingredients of Brazilian flora. This variation was the work of pharmacy father André da Costa, who resided in the Bahia College as a pharmacist and had

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vast knowledge of the chemical medicine of João Curvo Semmedo.27 The Recife College pharmacy invented less formulae than the Bahia College.28 A total of seven new formulae invented by Dom Lourenza, by surgeon Manuel dos Santos and others, such as pharmacists Francisco da Silva,29 who was also in the Bahia pharmacy, and his pupil and pharmacist Manuel Dinis,30 were developed in that college. This pharmacy produced, among other things, a laxative tea (the model for which was taken from a French formula from Montpellier), an ophthalmic water, and an unguento para tudo (ointment for everything).

Tizana laxativa mompliacensis was an infusion made with various plants from Spanish America, such as sarsaparrilla, ‘pau-santo’ and sassafraz, and was indicated for any infecção gallica (venereal disease).

Agoa Otalmica Romana was a preparation made by distilling various other waters, quintílio and pearls in a mortar and pestle that was used to cure eye inflammation. Finally, the unguento para tudo was prepared with oriental plants, such as sandal wood, and European ingredients, such as olive oil, wax and terebinth, applied to dirigir, encarnar e cicatrizar qualquer chaga (heal any sores).

Finally, in the Pharmacy of the Rio de Janeiro College, where the famous apothecary Francisco da Silva also worked, apparently only two new formulae were invented: Massa para cezoens and Vinho febrefugo. The first was an ‘electuario’31 made with a native plant, quina, and many European plants, such as the aristolochia redonda (smearwort or English mercury or round-leaved birthwort), lily and centaurea and recommended for all sorts of casta de febre que vem com o frio (fevers). The second was a drink with a composition very similar to the first formula. It was also made with ‘quina’ (cinchona) and aristolochia, but it was used more for the curso or to purge, against apoplexy, paralysis and tertian fever (malaria).

One can observe that in the production of these medications in Brazil’s pharmacies, there was an amalgam of pharmaceutical traditions from Europe (the classical being galenic and the chemical, more modern and renovated by Paracelsus), and the knowledge of the plants of Europe, of the Orient, of Spanish America and Brazil. If in these pharmacies the novelty was the discovery of Brazilian plants as yet unknown, we can in no way ignore the existence of other traditions equally important in the culture of the Jesuit pharmacies.

In the manuscript Collecção de várias receitas e segredos particulares 49 formulae invented generically in the pharmacies of the Jesuit Colleges in Brazil and also 14 formulae attributed to pharmacists who worked in Brazilian pharmacies, which increase the total to 63 formulae invented in Brazil by the pharmacists of the Society of Jesus.

This confirms the intense productive and intellectual activity of the Jesuit pharmacies of Portuguese America. The study of these formulae, especially through the study of the plants used in these medications, attempted to analyze the origin of these plants and trace out a small phytogeographical profile to observe more precisely how these pharmacies conformed with being the places for circulation and dispersion of the species

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used in the production of the medicines. This circulation also included that of European and Oriental knowledge for the Brazilian pharmacies of the Society of Jesus.

Exotic and Native Plants in the Culture of the Brazilian Jesuit Pharmacies From the analysis of the set of formulae for medications produced in the Jesuit college pharmacies in Brazil, one can observe a large variety of ‘simples’ employed in the Jesuit production. Of the ingredients used one can observe and isolate the ‘simples’ of a vegetal nature from the remaining animal or mineral ingredients used in the medicines, such as the ‘jararacas’ and the gold powders.

The ingredients of vegetal origin can be better understood if we compare the information extracted from Collecção de varias receitas with data contained in natural history books used at that time by the European pharmacies. Here we are using De materia medica by Dioscorides,32 the De simplicium medicamentorum by Claudius Galen, the De simplicibus medicinis by various other Arabs, such as Serapion, al-Razi and Averroes, the Colóquios dos simples e drogas e cousas medicinais da Índia by Garcia da Orta, Aromatum et simplicium aliquot medicamentorum apud indos nascentium historia by Carolus Clusius, Tratado de las drogas, y medicinas de las Indias Orientales by Cristóvão da Costa, Historia medicinal de las cosas que se tienen de nostras Indias Occidentales que sirven en Medicina by Nicolau Monardes and Quatro libros de la naturaleza y virtudes de las plantas y animales que estan recevidos en el uso de Medicina en la Nueva España by Francisco Hernandez.

The plants present in the formulae from the Brazilian Jesuit pharmacies mentioned in Dioscorides, Galen and the Arabs were known for a long time among the Europeans and originated essentially from Europe, part of Africa and part of the Orient. The plants mentioned by Garcia da Orta, Carolus Clusius and Cristóvão da Costa originated essentially from the Orient rediscovered by the Portuguese. Those mentioned by Nicolau Monardes and Francisco Hernandez originated in Spanish America. And finally, the plants that remained after cross-checking this information originated essentially from Brazil. The book Historia Naturalis Brasiliae (1648), by Wilhelm Piso, reinforces the origin of some of these plants.

With this philological analysis it was possible to relate the plants used in the pharmacies of the Society of Jesus in Brazil with their geographical origin. Of the 122 plants used by the Jesuits in their pharmacies in the formulae invented in Portuguese America, 69 had already been known for a long time by the European pharmacies and were part of the knowledge brought here by the Portuguese; 19 originated from the new Portuguese dominions in the Orient; 9 originated from the Spanish conquests, and finally 25 of them originated in Brazil.

This quantitative estimate of the plants used in the formulae innovated in the Brazilian colleges shows, in the first place, the preponderance of European pharmaceutical culture in the Brazilian pharmacies,

and in second place, the prominence and the importance of the Jesuit pharmacies in Brazil, and of its pharmacists, in the discovery and use of native examples of the Brazilian flora.

Monardes regarding the knowledge of Brazilian plants. Since the Jesuits first arrived, we can see the vast knowledge of Brazil’s natural history they acquired.

It is important to observe the significant role of the Jesuit pharmacies in bringing and acclimatizing in Brazil33 plants for a long time known in Europe, such as saffron, rosemary, lavender, Syrian rue, oats, celery, aloe, olives, coriander, caraway, anise, ginger, mint, orange, lemon, lily, marjoram, myrrh, pomegranate, rose, parsley, lupine, clove, wheat, etc.

In his famous letter of 1560 to father General Anchieta,37 he already mentions ‘copaíba’,38 from which is extracted the Bálsamo do Brasil, and ‘ipecacuanha’.39 Fernão Cardim, in his letter to the General in 1585, mentions, apart from ‘copaíba’40 and ‘ipecacuanha’,41 ‘almécega-do-Brasil’, taken from a tree called ‘igcica’,42 ‘caroba’,43 ‘jaborandi’44 and ‘erva caapiá’.45 Furthermore Cardim mentioned certain plants, such as celery, ‘malvaísco’ (holyhock) and purslane,46 which were European and Oriental, as if they were native. At that time, the analogy was a resource much used by intellectuals, and many Brazilian plants were identified by their similarity with species that were already known, such as the ‘almécega’ (mastic resin) which was originally a resin of an oriental tree, and the ‘cravoda-índia’ (clove).47

These plants comprised the arsenal used for centuries by the European apothecaries in the preparation of medicines used against diseases that raged normally and against those that appeared in moments of crisis, such as plague. Their presence in the Jesuit pharmacies in Brazil attest to the considerable importation/circulation of traditional European components. The method used by the Jesuit pharmacists to prepare their medications also derived from this same tradition.34 This transfer of European culture to Brazil is what marks the Brazilian process of colonization. This is why Cardim stated that “this Brazil is another Portugal”, before talking about the plants and animals of enormous importance to the country brought from overseas. Complementing this, Cardim added “However it is already Portugal, as they say, by the comforts that come from there”.35 The presence of plants from the Portuguese dominions in the Orient and the Spanish dominions in America also shows the importance that pharmacist intellectuals, such as Garcia da Orta and Nicolau Monardes, gave not only to the European culture and life, but also to that of Brazil. The knowledge of ‘almécega’ (mastic resin) from India, benzoin, cinnamon, purslane, ‘cate’, clove, nutmeg, ginseng, rhubarb, tutia etc. came from the oriental doctors to the pages of Orta’s dialog and from there flooded the European culture in the Old and New Worlds.36 We must not forget that one of the plants most important to the Brazilian economy came from the Orient – sugar-cane.

Knowledge of the potato, thistle, ‘jalapa’ (marvel of Peru), ‘maca’, ‘pau-santo’, sassafras, sarsaparrilla, tobacco etc. came from the Spanish conquests, from contact with Spanish doctors in America, to the pages of medical doctor Nicolau Monardes who, from his clinic, made public the description and the virtues of many plants that appeared to be new to the eyes of European pharmacists and doctors.

These intellectuals, who among many others, summarized the botanical victories from overseas expansion, broadened the cultural and material universe of the pharmacies, adding new knowledge about new plants, and new plants for the production of new medications. These cultural acquisitions, as we can see from the analysis of the Jesuit manuscript, were not limited to the European pharmacies, but also arrived in Brazil, to a certain degree via the Jesuits’ pharmacies.

Apart from this, and this is extremely important, the Jesuits of Brazil also made an effort of synthesis comparable to that of Garcia da Orta and Nicolau

These were already on the list of Brazilian plants used by the Jesuits in their pharmacies. The ‘capeba’, ‘jerubeba’, ‘angericó’, ‘angélica’, ‘jaborandi’, ‘pagimirioba’, ‘ipecacuanha’, ‘caapiá’, ‘cravo-domaranhão’, ‘ibiraé’, ‘erva caacica’, ‘pindaíba’, ‘nambuz’, ‘copaíba’, ‘caroba’, ‘quina’, ‘urucu’ etc. were all used since mid-16th century by the fathers in the preparation of medicines for the sick, as we saw in the mentions of them made by the first Jesuits in Brazil. This allows us to assert, fervently, that a large part, if not the majority of things mentioned in Wilhelm Piso’s natural history, was already long known by the pharmacist brothers of the Society of Jesus. This being, the Historia Naturalis Brasiliae was much more important in the diffusion of knowledge – insofar as it made public matters that the pharmacists of the Society of Jesus had kept secret – than science itself.

Brazilian Plants in Foreign Pharmacies If the knowledge of erudite doctors-pharmacists such as Garcia da Orta and Nicolau Monardes arrived in Brazil, the knowledge of erudite pharmacists of the Society of Jesus had also traveled abroad. Not to all of Europe though, since, as we have said, the Jesuits worked in secrecy,48 but exclusively to the pharmacies of the Society scattered around the world.

In the formulae of Portuguese pharmacies, as in those of Santo Antão’s College and the Casa de São Roque, and in pharmacies in the Orient, such as the College of Macau, mention was found of various Brazilian plants. There the pharmacists knew their virtues and used them in the preparation of medicines. From this one infers that many plants native to Brazil were taken to those parts.

In the Portuguese pharmacies, the plants used were ‘quina’, ‘bálsamo do Brasil’ or ‘copaíba’ and Brazilian ‘almécega’.49 In the oriental pharmacies of the Society of Jesus, the preference was for ‘quina’ and ‘bálsamo do Brasil’.50 Apart from these pharmacies, bálsamo de copaíba was used in the Roman College pharmacy’s formula for

its very famous ‘triaga’, as an alternative to European Opobálsamo.

In total, we have 18 formulae from Jesuit pharmacies outside Brazil that used plants discovered in those geographical areas, which, apart from ‘quina’ and oil of ‘copaíba’, also included ‘cravo-do-maranhão’ and ‘bagas de aroeira’.51 Much information on Brazilian plants left Brazil in letters, and many plants were taken by ships and agents of the Society of Jesus. ‘Quina’ and ‘copaíba’ were enormously popular in the Jesuit pharmacies in Europe and Asia, and were considered important if not necessary ingredients in the production of medicines in those regions.

Conclusion Based on what was said and analyzed, one can say that the pharmacies of the Society of Jesus colleges in Brazil became established as the places for the fusion of cultural traditions, the most preeminent, or if we wish, hegemonic, being that which came from Europe. These pharmacies were portable Europes, bringing with them pharmaceutical tradition of the European pharmacies. The Jesuit pharmacies of Brazil were happy to innovate through the new arrivals from the Orient and Spanish America, as happened with the European pharmacies, and furthermore, they brought new discoveries and knowledge of Brazilian botany to the Jesuits’ scientific culture.

However, these inputs were not divulged to “all”.

The knowledge obtained in the Jesuit pharmacies in Brazil was “a thing of religion” and not for all humanity. Like the Portuguese State, the Society of Jesus employed a policy of secrecy and confidentiality that meant that the knowledge obtained by the fathers was for their own exclusive use. For this reason it is true to say that the Jesuits preceded, and greatly, the Dutch in their knowledge of Brazilian flora. Not just because they were here a long time before the Batavians, but also by applying, from the moment they arrived, their knowledge of flora in the production of medications to cure the sick.

Apart from this, one can say that the pharmacies of the Jesuits, of Brazil and the rest of the world, promoted the circulation of much botanical knowledge, and many plants from many different geographical regions. The pharmacies of the Brazilian Jesuit colleges brought plants from the Orient, from Europe and Spanish America to Brazil.

The same pharmacies exported many Brazilian plants to the colleges of the Orient, Europe, Portugal and Rome.

In that era, Jesuit pharmacies in Brazil would have European plants such as rosemary, rue and mint; oriental plants including ‘benjoim’, cinnamon and clove; Spanish American plants such as the potato, ‘jalapa’ and ‘pau-santo’, and from Brazil itself ‘angélica’, ‘quina’ and ‘copaíba’. The structure of the Society of Jesus, like a vast network, helped the knowledge and the plants to circulate around the four corners of the world to Brazil, and from Brazil to the four corners of the world.

1 Masters in History from IFCS/UFRJ and doctorate in History from the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence.

2 Kircher, Athanasius. 1667. China Monumentis, qua sacris qua profanis, nec non variis naturae et artis spectaculis aliarumque rerum memorabilium argumentis Illustrata. Antwerp: apud Jacobum a Meurs.

3 Riccioli, Giovanni Battista. 1661. Geographiae et hydrographiae reformatae libri duodecim.

Bolonha: Typographia Haeredis Victorij Benatij.

4 Borri, Cristoforo. 1631. Collecta Astronomica ex Doctrina... De tribus caelis aereo, sydereo, empyreo.

Lisbon: Matias Rodrigues, in particular p. 115116.

5 About the implications that this network structure regarding knowledge produced by the Jesuits, - see Harris, Steven J. Mapping Jesuit Science: the Role of Travel in the Geography of Knowledge. In: O’Malley, John W. et al. 1999.

The Jesuits. Cultures, Sciences and the Arts, 15401773. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p.

212-240. An up to date analysis of the webs woven by the Jesuits in Portuguese Assistance, of which Brazil was part, can be found in Dauril, Alden. 1996. The Making of an Enterprise. The Society of Jesus in Portugal, its Empire, and Beyond, 1540-1750. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

6 Cf. introduction to Tratados da terra e gente do Brasil de Fernão Cardim organized by Ana Maria Azevedo, São Paulo: Hedra, 2009.

7 The ‘simples’ were substances extracted from nature that had a use as the basis for the composition of more complex or composite medicines. They were ingredients of mineral, vegetable and animal origin studied in their relation to medicine. The science of the ‘simples’ can be compared to what today we call pharmacognosy.

8 For a study of the European pharmacies of the Modern Age, Cf. Allant, André. 1952. La boutique de l’apothicaire au XVIIe siècle. Cahors: Impr. A. Coueslant; Olmi, Giuseppe. 1992. L’inventario del mondo: catalogazione della natura e luoghi del sapere nella prima età moderna. Bologna: Il Mulino; Reutter de Rosemont, Louis. 1931-1932.

Histoire de la pharmacie à travers les âges. Paris: J. Peyronnet.

9 For the study of the importance of Orta and Monardes in medical culture in the Modern Age: Cf. Boxer, Charles R. 1963. Two Pioneers of Tropical Medicine: Garcia d’Orta and Nicolau Monardes. London: Wellcome Historical Medical Library; Ficalho, Francisco M. de. 1886.

Garcia de Orta e o seu tempo. Lisboa: Imprensa Nacional; Guerra, Francisco. 1961. Nicolás Bautista Monardes, su vida y su obra, ca. 14931588. Mexico: Compañia Fundidora de Fierro y Acero Monterrey; Pina, Luís de. 1958.

Investigadores Portugueses sobre medicina tropical (Bosquejo histórico da medicina exótica portuguesa).

Porto: Imprensa Portuguesa.

10 The main formulae for medicines produced in the pharmacies of Brazil that we know about were written by brother Manuel Tristão, who worked in the Colleges of Bahia, Recife, Olinda and in the village of St André de Goiana, and was the first apothecary in Brazil. He died in 1621, an old man, at the time living in the Olinda College. His prescriptions or formulae were attached to letters from Fernão Cardim

stolen by the English pirate Francis Cook. Some of these documents, especially the letter from Cardim, were published by the Englishman Samuel Purchas who had had access to Cook’s booty. In the Purchas publication, the author of Cardim’s manuscript is thought to have been apothecary Manuel Tristão by the presence of formulae at the end of the documents. Much later, after Capistrano de Abreu resolved the authorship of Tratado da terra e gente do Brasil as being Cardim’s, no more was said about the documents left by Tristão. In the copy of Cardim’s letter which Francisco Adolpho de Varnhagen found in the Public Library at Evora made no mention of the copies of Manuel Tristão’s formulae, which unhappily have never been found. Cf. Cardim, Fernão. 1847.

Narrativa epistolar de uma viagem e missão jesuítica pela Bahia, Ilheos, Porto Seguro, Pernambuco, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, S. Vicente, São Paulo, etc. Desde o anno de 1583 ao de 1590, indo por visitador o P. Christovam de Gouvea.

Lisboa: Imprensa Nacional; Idem. 1881. Do princípio e origem dos Índios do Brasil e de seus costumes, adoração e cerimônias. Rio de Janeiro: Typographia da Gazeta de Notícias; Idem. 1925.

Tratados da terra e gente do Brasil – Introduções e notas de Baptista Caetano, Capistrano de Abreu e Rodolpho Garcia. Rio de Janeiro: Editores J. Leite e Cia.; Purchas, Samuel. 1625. Hakluytus Posthumus, or Purchas his pilgrimes, volume IV. London: Henry Fetherson.

Apart from these formulae from the practices of the Brazilian pharmacies, we also have two other documents from the 18th century. The first one, available in the Library of the Casa de Oswaldo Cruz, is the Formulário médico: atribuído aos jesuítas e encontrado em uma arca da igreja de São Francisco de Curitiba, 1703. In this document, there is various information on the apothecary practices in the Jesuit pharmacies in Brazil. However, the information found there lack names and local references that would allow us to locate them in the more specific contexts analyzed. The second document in this respect is the manuscript of the Collecção de várias receitas (Rome: 1766). This document was written by a brother apothecary who circulated often among the Jesuit colleges in Brazil and the world. He himself said he had been to the four parts of the world. Information was found there in much detail about the formulae used in the pharmacies of the Society’s colleges, in some cases their authors/ inventors and the place where they were prepared. This manuscript has an indisputable importance in the history of pharmacology of the Society of Jesus.

11 Collecção de varias receitas e segredos particulares das principais boticas de nossa Companhia de Portugal, da India, de Macao, e do Brazil.

Compostas e experimentadas pelos melhores médicos, e boticários mais célebres que tem havido nestas partes. Aumentada com alguns índices, e notícias muito curiozas, e necessárias para a boa direcção e acerto contra as enfermidades. 1766.

Rome: Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu, Op. NN. 17.

12 These colleges were: College of Bahia, Recife, Olinda, Paraíba, Fortaleza, Porto Seguro, Maranhão, Pará, Ilhéus, Paranaguá, Rio de

Janeiro, São Paulo, Espírito Santo, Colônia de Sacramento, Florianópolis, Santos, and São Vicente. Cf. Leite, Serafim. 1938-1950. História da Companhia de Jesus no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira.

13 Unfortunately, a detailed descriptive and analytical study of the Jesuit pharmacies in Brazil is still missing, for, as Serafim Leite said, the history of the ancient pharmacies in Brazil has not been written. A study that covers each pharmacy in detail is also lacking – providing the precise number of them in Brazilian territory, the name and the detailed biography of the pharmacy brothers who operated in these places, as well as what was done in these places, such as what types of medicines were produced in each one of them, which pharmaceutical traditions were employed there, and what production instruments were used. Cf. Leite, Serafim, 1953, p. 87.

14 Idem, p. 92.

15 Idem, p. 91-92.

16 The 1760 inventory registered that There were more [than] 400 [pots], all with medicines needed for that land, which were valued at 400$000 reis. Near to the pharmacy were the store room and workshop or laboratory. And here there were Three furnaces, one greenhouse with the following items: one tin-plated copper distillery, and two more made of glazed earthenware, 5 rolls of wire, one mortar of (2 arrobas) with an iron pestle, and another of 12lbs, with pestle, and another two small ones; there were four more marble mortars with wooden pestles, two more small ivory ones, 6 sieves with their leather covers, 4 (sedaços). § there were two more large cupboards and a large sideboard with 4 drawers; 2 pairs of small scales; two more which were ordinary, one of wire, another of foil. In the pharmacy there was also an image of Our Lady with her crown of silver and with her Son, which was resplendent with silver. There were more 30 tomes of Medicine and Botany, one lantern made of wire, 6 wire spatulas, a press, 2 wire basins, 2 metal skimmers. In surgeon Manuel de Sousa’s house there was another 30$000 reis in medicines, 5 tomes of Medicine, one tin plated copper distillery, 2 glazed earthenware distilleries (stills). Rome: Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu, Bras., 28, 27. Apud Leite, 1953, p. 92.

17 Idem, p. 94. An important example of pharmaceutical culture in the missions is that of father Pedro de Montenegro. This Jesuit had taken an important knowledge of pharmacy to be used in the missions in Paraguay, and intended to pass it on to the indigenous people.

This is evident in his manuscript libro de la propiedad y bitudes de los arboles i plantas de las missiones in which many of the names of European and Oriental plants were translated into the Tupi or Guarani languages, thus making western knowledge available to the natives.

18 Santo Antônio, D. Caetano de. 1704.

Pharmacopeia Lusitana. Coimbra: Joam Antunes.

This work was found in some of the Jesuit libraries in Brazil.

19 The title of the manuscript Collecção de várias receitas e segredos particulares, itself confirms that the medications originate from the main pharmacies of our Society in Portugal, India, Macao and Brazil. In view of the fact that the

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manuscript contains only formulae from the college pharmacies of Bahia, Recife and Rio de Janeiro, these three are the principal Jesuit pharmacies in Brazil, at least in the first half of the 18th century.

20 Leite, Serafim, 1953, p. 163.

21 Cf. sobre o Óleo Rosado, Dioscórides. 1563.

Acerca de la materia medicinal. Commented by André de Laguna. Salamanca: Mathias Gast., p.

38-39; Santo Antônio, D. Caetano de. 1704.

Pharmacopeia Lusitana. Coimbra: Joam Antunes, p. 307-309.

22 According to Vocabulário Português e Latino: “Calomelanos. Medical word. The name of a Mercury, or Azougue, which is the best and smoothest of all Mercuries”. Bluteau, Raphael.

1728. Polyanth. Medic. 780. Num 60. Volume 2, p.

63. Mercury was used in the Modern Age as a remedy against syphilis.

23 Morbo gálico or mal francês was the name many European doctors gave to syphilis.

24 According to Novo Dicionário Aurélio da Língua Portuguesa (1992), “impingem” is an imprecise designation for various skin diseases.

25 This plant itself was considered as an antidote or counter-poison.

26 About the ‘Triaga brasílica’, cf. Leite, Bruno Martins Boto. 2012. Mezinhas antigas e modernas: a invenção da triaga brasílica pelos jesuítas do Colégio da Bahia no período colonial.

In: Anais do 13° Seminário Nacional de História da Ciência e da Tecnologia. São Paulo: Sociedade Brasileira de História da Ciência; Santos, Fernando Santiago dos. 2003. Os jesuítas, os indígenas e as plantas brasileiras: considerações sobre a Triaga Brasílica. Master’s Thesis. São Paulo: Pontifícia Universidade Católica, SP; Teixeira, Alessandra dos Santos. 2011. A farmacopéia jesuítica na América Portuguesa entre os séculos XVII e início do XVIII. Master’s Thesis.

Rio de Janeiro: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro/IFCS. 27 Brother André da Costa’s (1648-1712) was born in Lyon and was known as a notable pharmacist (optimus pharmacopolae) and insigne químico (chimicus insignis) according to the triannual catalog of 1679. Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu, Bras. 5 (2), 222 (1679); Bras. 6, 22. Apart from this, he collected medicinal plants in the gardens and farms of the Society, and minerals that appeared to him useful, or he would send for ‘simples’, sometimes from far away, to be used in his experiments and formulae. Father Bettendorf, rector of the Maranhão and Pará colleges, wrote the following words about brother apothecary André da Costa: We must not fail to mention a white stone, which flakes like talcum and looks like glass, whose mine was found in a large tank, near a stretch of jungle, six or seven palms from the ditch; and from the corner of it around twenty, more or less. Brother André, apothecary from Bahia, knew this mineral, and sent for some for his ’mesinhas’. Bettendorf, Johann, Chronica, p. 307. He died in Bahia, paralyzed, in 1712. Cf. Leite, Serafim. 1953, p. 147.

28 This smaller number of formulae invented in the pharmacy at the Recife College invalidates, in a way, the claim of Serafim Leite that the pharmacy of this college is the most famous of the Northeast. This is because the greater quantity of pharmaceutical inventions by the Bahia College Pharmacy proves the supremacy of this pharmacy over that one. Supremacy in accumulation and innovation of

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pharmaceutical knowledge and even perhaps in noteworthiness.

29 Francisco da Silva (1695-1763) was born in Lisbon and was a pharmacist in the Colleges of Bahia, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Olinda and Recife. He was important in the revival of pharmaceutical production in Brazil at that time, and was very famous in his time. He died in Rome on September 19, 1763. Leite, Serafim.

1953, p. 261-262.

30 Brother pharmacist Manuel Dinis (1708-1780) was born in Braga and worked in Recife and Olinda, after graduating in this art in the Bahia College. Leite, Serafim. 1953, p. 162-163.

31 The ‘electuario’ is a paste made with powders, pulp and/or medicinal extracts. It was prepared and immersed in a sugar solution.

32 De materia medica was, in the modern age, a territory of disputes around the definition and classification of the ‘simples’. Dioscorides’ writing was full of gaps and unanswered questions, so on commenting on what was left of the text, many authors completed what was missing when they read it. Furthermore the comments on the text in question became matters of dispute from the hegemony of certain types of epistemology of analysis of the things of nature. This said, we can affirm that each comment on De materia medica was a new work of natural history. The comments by Antonio Musa Brasavola, Amato Lusitano, Pier Andrea Mattioli, etc. carried with each of them the confirmation of a precise way of reading, studying and interpreting things of nature. On this question, cf. Leite, Bruno Martins Boto.

2012. Entre bibliotecas e boticas – a controvérsia dos simples entre Amato Lusitano e Pietro Andrea Mattioli, século XVI. In: Alessandrini N., Russo M., Sabatini G. & Viola A. (org.). Di buon affetto e commerzio. Relações lusoitalianas na Idade Moderna. Lisbon: Cham. The edition of De materia medica that we used in this study was that one, usually found in the Jesuit libraries in Brazil, in Spanish, commented by André de Laguna.

33 The Jesuits used their Gardens and Farms to cultivate the plants used in the pharmacies. In the manuscript Collecção de várias receitas, especially the part referring to location of plants used in Triaga Brasílica, they talk about growing the root of ‘capeba’, the root of ‘jaborandi’, of ‘jarro’, ‘pagimirioba’, ‘neambuz’ and ‘cipó-de-cobras’. The Jesuits also raised or found ‘jararacas’ (snakes) in their gardens, to be used in the formula for Triaga. [Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu, Op. NN. 17, pp. 410412].

34 Cf. on the dependence on European tradition in the invention of Brazilian medications, Leite, Bruno Martins Boto. 2012. Mezinhas antigas e modernas: A invenção da Triaga Brasílica pelos jesuítas do Colégio da Bahia no período colonial.

In: Anais do 13° Seminário Nacional de História da Ciência e da Tecnologia. São Paulo: Sociedade Brasileira de História da Ciência.

35 Cardim, Fernão. 2009. Tratados da terra e gente do Brasil. São Paulo: Hedra, p. 168.

36 The importance to the world of the works of Orta had been sung by none other than Luís Vaz de Camões, who in a poem on the opening of the Colóquios dedicates to Martim Afonso de Sousa the following verses: Verdes que em vosso tempo se mostrou / Ho fruto daquella orta, honde floreçem / Prantas novas, que hos doutos não

conheçem. Orta, Garcia da. 1563. Colóquio dos simples, e drogas he cousas mediçinais da India.

Goa: Joannes de Endem.

37 Anchieta, José de. 1988. Cartas jesuíticas 3. Belo Horizonte: Itatiaia, p. 113-153.

38 On the ‘copaíba’, Anchieta writes that Of the trees one seems worthy of notice, of which others distil a liquid similar to resin, useful for medicines, there flows a smooth juice, that they call balsam, which in principle flows like oil from small holes made with by woodworm or also with the blades of sickles or machetes, curdled afterwards and seems to convert into a sort of balsam; it gives out a strong smell, though suave and it is very good for curing wounds, so much so that in a short time (as they say having proven it with his own experience) there is no sign of the scars. Op. cit., p. 136.

39 On the ‘ipecacuanha’, Anchieta writes that There is a certain root, abundant in the fields, very useful for the same purpose [relax the belly and clean the stomach] they grate it and drink it mixed with water; although it provokes violent vometing, it can be imbibed without any danger to life. Idem, p.

137.

40 Cardim calls this plant Cupaigba. Cardim, Fernão. 2009. Tratado da terra e gente do Brasil.

São Paulo: Hedra, p.113.

41 Cardim mentions this plant under the name of Igpecacóaya. Idem, p. 131.

42 Igcica. This tree gives almécega (mastic) you can sense the aroma from long away, they make some cuts in the tree, and soon a white oil flows that curdles; it is used as plasters in sicknesses with cold, and to make smoke; it can also be used in place of incense. Idem, p. 115.

43 Caaroba. There is a great abundance of this tree, its leaves are chewed, and applied to yaws they dry up, and heal in a way they don’t return, and it seems that the wood has the same effect as that of China, and the Indies for the same disease. The flower is conserved for patients with yaws. Idem, p. 116.

44 Iabigrandi. This tree was only recently discovered and is, as some of the indians say Betele [Indian bush] named in India; the rivers and streams are full of these trees; the leaves when eaten are the only medicine for diseases of the liver, and many in Brazil have been cured of very serious sicknesses of the liver, I commend them. Idem, p. 117.

45 Cayapiá. This herb was recently discovered, and is the only remedy for venom of all sorts, especially snakes, so it is called snake herb, and is as good a remedy as ‘unicórnio de Bada’, ‘pedra de bazar’, or ‘coco de Maldiva’. One can only use the root, which is thin, and in there is a knot like a button; it is ground, put in water and is taken against snake venom; it is also a great remedy for wounds from poison arrows, and when someone is wounded he has no fear, it is safe, drinking the water of this root; it is also a great remedy for fevers, continuing to drink it for some mornings; the herb smells like the Spanish fig. Idem, p. 133.

46 Idem, p. 136, 138.

47 Oliveira, in Systema de materia medica vegetal brasileira, mentioned that there was much communication with East India, where Portuguese power prevailed, and as a result many Portuguese transferred to Brazil the knowledge they had acquired of medicinal plants of the Orient, as well as many species from those lands. Besides this, it was a custom to name certain Brazilian plants with names based on oriental pharmaceutical experience, as was the case of the ‘cravo-do-maranhão’ (clove) and the ‘almécega-do-mrasil’ (mastic).

Cf. Oliveira, Henrique Velloso de. 1854. Systema de Materia Medica vegetal brasileira… extrahida e traduzida das obras de Martius. Rio de Janeiro: Eduardo & Henrique Laemmert; Marques, Cezar Augusto. 1870. Diccionário historico-geographico da Provincia do Maranhão. Maranhão: Typ. do Frias, p.

174.

48 The anonymous author of the manuscript Collecção de varias receitas exorts the reader that he be very careful and scrupulous in not revealing any of these secrets, as in all conscience this cannot be done, warning that these are Things of Religion, and not yours. Roma: Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu, Op. NN. 17.

Foreword to the reader.

It is interesting to observe the paradox of this manuscript. It seems to have been written to be printed, organized in a way suitable for going to press. However, the character of the information and this idea are contrary to all attempts to make this knowledge public. It is likely that the manuscript was an attempt to synthesize the inputs from the Society of Jesus pharmacies as an internal instrument for the Society. The intention was probably to propose a species of Jesuit Pharmacopoeia, for the exclusive use of the Jesuits and to be kept secret from laymen.

49 These plants were used in the following formulae shown in the Collecção, for instance Agoa de Inglaterra que costumava fazer na botica de S. Antão, that contained ‘quina’, o Balsamo apoplético da botica de Sao Roque, that contained ‘bálsamo do Brasil’, and Emplastro admirável da botica de S. Roque, that contained ‘almécega do Brasil’. Rome: Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu, Op. NN. 17, p. 16-18, 68, 120-121.

50 These plants were used as ingredients for Agoa febrefuga of the Macao College pharmacy, Bezoartico de Curvo da Botica do Coll. De Macao and Massa para Sezoens da Botica do Collegio de Macao, that employed quina, and for the Balsamo estomacal da Botica do Coll.

De Macao, o Bezoartico apopletico das boticas dos collegios de macao e bahia optimo, for men and women, and the Tintura estomacal da botica do coll de Macao, that used balsamo do Brasil extracted from ‘copaíba’.

51 Besides the Roman College formulae already mentioned, of the Portuguese pharmacies and those of Macau, there are those with no reference, such as Agoa febrefuga p. terçans e quartans, Agoa febrefuga, Linimento para empiges and the Pílulas histéricas and those of pharmacist Manuel de Carvalho, of whom we do not know precisely his origin or place of work.

It is conjectured however that he was from Portugal, as he was not included in the information given by Serafim Leite about the pharmacists that worked in the pharmacies of the Brazilian colleges, although this still needs more profound investigation.

Native Plants from Brazil in the Portuguese and European Pharmacopoeias of the 17th and 18th Centuries Flávio Coelho Edler1

At the start of colonization of “Terra de Santa Cruz” (Brazil), the compiling of indigenous formulae became a necessity due to the rarity of European drugs. Thus the history of colonial medicine and its pharmacy cannot be told without reference to this knowledge. Europe had known of the virtues of the wide range of Brazilian herbs since the 16th century, assimilated to the western medical repertoire. In the Portuguese and European pharmacopoeias, Brazilian fruit, leaves, flowers, roots and bark that served as food or medicine attest to the continuous movement of elements from tropical nature, valued for their therapeutic properties.

In the period between the 16th and 18th centuries, European university medicine, despite the existence of different medical systems – iatrochemistry, galenism, iatromechanics, vitalism, animism – each offering its own theories on the nature and significance of disease, the concept of health and sickness remained holistic. Diseases were predominantly perceived as organic and constitutional. Physical and mental suffering was explained, primarily, as a product of physical processes, not as possession by spirits or witchcraft.

All aspects of the individual were interrelated. The body affected the mind, and similarly passions and emotions affected the body. The rule was that there was no sickness, but a sick individual. This vision, centered on the person as a whole, taught that the probity of thought, composure, control of passions and an adequate lifestyle could prevent disease. Gluttony, for example, was perceived as the cause of various infirmities, while sobriety and parsimony were responsible for good health. These circumstances were perceived as subordinate to individual control. These relations implied an attitude on the part of doctors that emphasized what today we know as “lifestyle” and which at the time was called Regimen or Dietetic. The doctor was a counselor who acted preventively, according to a clinical model that some historians conceive as biographical medicine.2 So before medicalization was centered in hospital, which occurred at the end of the 18th century, medicine was practiced with regular visits to the patients’ homes. According to the medical cosmology of the time, a good doctor would examine, successively, the circunfusa (meteorology, hydrology, geology, climates and habitations), the ingesta (food and drink), the excreta (excretions and baths), the applicata (clothing and cosmetics), the percepta (customs, sexuality, personal hygiene) and finally, the gesta (habitual movements, professional activities). The most frequent interactions of the doctor with his patient, however, were not those of curing, suggested by the immense repository of prescriptions catalogued in the pharmacopoeias, even though the personal prestige of the doctor depended on them. Also, even when he needed to abandon the posture in face of a more serious case and apply all his expertise to the art of diagnosis, the

anamnesis was based more on the knowledge of his patient’s habits than on physical examination. As taught by the renowned doctor Curvo Semmedo (1635-1719), in very serious cases, the choice of the best therapy – bloodletting, purging or an alchemistic remedy – depended on the feeding habits of the patient. If he did little exercise and led a relaxed and privileged life, if married for a few days or very given to women. If very penitent, too studious; or a worker, or not eating at the right time. If the person is worn out or exhausted.3

Therapeutic Potpourri in Portuguese America During the first three centuries of Brazilian colonization, white society resorted indifferently to the curative methods brought from Europe or those which various cultures, with which they were in constant contact, used to fight against the ills that beset them. Even the more opulent Portuguese, despite being treated by their doctors, surgeons and barbers, would not hesitate – when they needed to heal their injuries – to use Copaiba oil, or even to mash and eat the Genipapo seed to free themselves of the curse of the gut (diarrhea), as learned from the indigenous people. With the arrival of African slaves, they adhered equally to certain cures related to their plants and magical rituals, as revealed by documents left by visitors from the Holy See – the Inquisition.4 The French themselves knew about the indigenous medicinal plants and used them, during the period of French invasions commanded by Villegagnon.

The French missionary Jean de Léry (1534-1611), who lived in Brazil between 1555 and 1556, described the treatment and the gravity of ‘piã’ (disease similar to syphilis): ‘iurare’ has peel half a finger thick and is very agreeable to the palate, especially when picked fresh. The two botanists who came with us confirmed it as a species of guaiacum (lignumvitae). The indians use it against piã, a disease as serious among them as smallpox is among us.5

In letters and official documents exchanged between mainland Portugal and the colony, the lack of doctors, medicines and hospitals was frequently emphasized.

However, we should consider which sectors of the population felt the lack of these professionals.

The growth of the other curative arts was intrinsically linked to the different cultural roots of the populations resident here. Furthermore, the Jesuit missionaries – the principal pillars of colonial education who took upon themselves the role of curators – made great use of indigenous medicine, making Brazilian medicinal plants famous throughout the world. In the hands of the Jesuits, Triaga brasilica, a panacea composed of elements of native flora, that became the second source of income for the Jesuit order in Bahia, won international fame.6 The Jesuits were also responsible for the pioneer initiative of exchange between these universes of medicine, whereby they also absorbed the wisdom of the physicists, surgeons and botanists, applying

it in the precarious hospitals of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia.

But what was the relationship between the Portuguese physicists, surgeons and botanists and the other agents of cure? Although generally prejudiced in relation to other pagan and savage elements of indigenous culture, the colonizers had an interest in collecting information about the indians and their witch-doctors’ methods to combat the diseases that raged through the region. They observed, imitated, experimented and described the therapeutic properties of the new species and their uses, divulging them in the old country, expanding knowledge of Materia Medica. Later this knowledge would return to the colony as compendia of pharmacopoeia, guiding the activities of professional, religious or lay pharmacists.7 However, this program was not as linear as it may seem. Bernardino Antônio Gomes (1768-1823), Portuguese doctor and scholar of Brazilian flora, around the end of the 18th century, observed how little use the Portuguese doctors made of the country’s medicinal plants, reckoning that this occurred because they studied medicine in European universities, and they treated all sickness the European way, spurning the indigenous medicine.

Of all the therapeutic practices, the use of Brazilian medicinal herbs was the most popular.

Quack medicine sellers, African faith healers and witchdoctors used leaves, fruit, seeds, roots, essences, balsams and resins, white-wood parts that they crushed with stones, pulverized, carbonized, dissolved and macerated. They would cook the herbs for swallowing, inhaling, rubbing or for applying a poultice in a wide range of sicknesses. We must not forget that the use of these plants had a magical or mystical significance. Certain minerals, as well as parts of animal bodies, were used as medication or amulets. If the ritual anthropophagy was viewed with horror by the Europeans, the use of saliva, urine and stools, human or animal, were shared as a therapeutic resource, though possessing distinct significance for each culture. While suction or blowing away of evil spirits, fumigation with tobacco, baths, rubbing with ash and aromatic herbs and ritualistic fasting were despised as barbaric customs, the “Doctrine of Signatures”, which supposed that the antidote for sickness in a particular part of the body existed in a plant of similar shape, authorized the assimilation of the popular empiric pharmacopoeia.8 Although in a wide variety of aspects, erudite and popular knowledge were inseparable in the experience of the different social levels, the representatives of official medicine fought tooth and nail against those who practiced informal medicine.

Claiming that control of the sick body belonged to them, European medicine disparaged popular therapeutic notions, reinterpreting them in the light of erudite knowledge. The flow between the dominion of medicine and that of witchcraft, with the use of human and animal cadavers associated to

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the demoniac universe, like the frog, the black dog, the bat and the goat in the production of medicines, imposed on the holders of diplomas the task of distinguishing scientific procedures from the popular superstitious beliefs. In this task they had the support of the Church and the Royal Ordinances.9 Forbidden by the Inquisition and by the sanitary authorities, these practices of curing with a touch of the hands, orations, suctions and homemade medicines were considered diabolical. The “pajé” or witchdoctor, guardian of indigenous wisdom, was compared to Lucifer by José de Anchieta: You no longer dare to make perverse sacrifices, perverse sorcerer, among the people who follow the doctrine of Christ; you can no longer lay lying hands on sick members, nor with filthy lips suck parts of the body frozen by terrible cold, or the organs that burn with fever [...] You can no longer deceive with your arts the poor sick who believe, poor things, in the lies of hell.10

The Appropriation of Medicinal Uses of Brazilian Flora With their knowledge of nature, the indians showed the colonizers the new plants that could be used for food and medication. As Sergio Buarque de Holanda affirmed, the knowledge of almost all of these products was appropriated by the São Paulo scouts (bandeirantes). Jesuits and ‘bandeirantes’ were thus the first groups to learn the therapeutic value of indigenous herbs.11 With the advance of colonization, doctors, quacks, Jesuits, barber bleeders, surgeons and pharmacies incorporated the use of ‘Nature’s Pharmacy’ from the Amerindians. The cajá fruit was given to patients with fever. Cashew juice was used for fevers and was good for the stomach. The oil from the ‘imbaúba’ (trumpet tree) healed wounds and the leaves were used as a laxative, as were the seeds of the ‘andá’ (arara nut-tree). ‘Copaíba’ balsam had the same effect, and was more popular. ‘Parreira-brava’ and ‘malvaísco’ (French thyme) were anti-ophidics or poison antidotes. In the case of sores or skin ailments, ‘língua-de-vaca’ and ‘camará’ (Spanish flag) were indicated. The bark and juice of the ‘maçaranduba’ (bullet wood), ‘camará’ leaves, and the ‘eyes’ of sarsaparrilla (Smilax), were used against ‘boubas’ (yaws) but also gave good results against vaginal discharge, diarrhea and venereal diseases. Pineapple dissolved (kidney) stones, ‘ingá’ was good for the liver, passion fruit, a cold fruit, was good for fevers. ‘Ervasanta’ (wormseed) or tobacco was used for sicknesses of the head, stomach and asthmatics. Its juice killed worms, as did ‘erva-de-santa-maria’, also called ‘mastruço’. Genipap fruit and ‘ipecacuanha’ or ‘poaia’ (Ipeca) were excellent remedies for diarrhea.12 The incentive to create works that describe the range of diseases, and especially flora and fauna with medicinal value had already been promulgated in an Edict of Felipe II, in 1570, during the period of the Iberian Union. In this document, the King nominated emissaries to gather information regarding the experience of the natives on the use, faculty and quantity of medicines

However, contrary to what occurred with drugs of Asian origin, which were the object of studies by doctor and botanist Garcia da Orta (1501-1568), author of the admirable book Colóquio dos simples e drogas e coisas medicinais da Índia (1563), it was recognized that medicinal flora from Portuguese America had initially only awoken the interest of colonials, missionaries, the military and travelers.

Pero Magalhães Gandavo (?-1579), in História da província de Santa Cruz a que vulgarmente chamamos Brasil, was the first to describe copaíba oil as an analgesic and a healing agent. Its success was worldwide, and in the 17th century, along with tobacco, indigo and cloves, became one of the products exported from the provinces of Grão-Pará and Maranhão. Gabriel Soares de Souza (1540-1594) in his Tratado descritivo do Brasil (1587), a veritable manual of indigenous therapeutics, recommended ‘carimã’ (dry manioc flour) as worm medicine and a universal antidote. Cooked corn (maize) for treating patients with yaws. Cashew juice for conservation of the stomach. ‘Almécega’ (Incense tree) poultices to heal open wounds; ‘amêndoas-de-pina’ (infernal fig) for colic and as a laxative; ‘araçá’ (similar to guava) for those sick with “diarrhea”; genipap dye to dry yaws; ‘jaborandi’ (Pilocarpos) for sores in the mouth; ‘cajá’ (hog plum) for fever and ‘camará’ (mountain sage) for scabies. Frei Vicente de Salvador (1564-1635), in his História do Brasil 1500 – 1627, described various medicinal plants. He emphasized the therapeutic and healing power of ‘cabriúva’ and ‘jurubeba’ leaves.

He also mentioned the herb ‘fedegosa’ (senna coffee), ‘salsaparrilla’ and ‘andaz’ as useful against a variety of symptoms.14 These medicines were only slowly added to the surgeon’s and physician’s pharmaceutical toolbox.

Initially they were medicines for the poor, or even the pioneers such as the ‘bandeirante’ scouts and miners, in the context of the gold cycle in the Minas Gerais region, who learned from the Carijó indians how to find herbs and improvise homemade medicines. As related in 1735 by surgeon Luís Gomes Ferreira (1786-1864), author of the famous Erário mineral, good men took measures to preserve the forest near to the camps, where many were experienced in roots, herbs, plants, trees and fruit, by moving around the ‘sertões’ for many years, unable to cure their illnesses except with those things and through constant communication with the Carijó indians, from whom they achieved many good things.15

In the context of rationalization of the administrative practices of the enlightened Portuguese, who encouraged the collection of scientific information on nature and on the colonial populations,16 Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira (1756-1815), in his Viagem filosófica, collected and described numerous data on Brazil’s nature. He also drew and named various plants. Frei Veloso (1742-1811), with the same purpose, asserted that there is no plant that does not deserve the attention of a wise man; there are none, however insignificant it may seem, from which one can not expect some utility. They are estimable for their medicinal virtues and require particular study of all that

recognizing how much benefit to this and other reigns would

can heal the sick, and it appears that there is no soil that could

be the news, communication and commerce of any plant, herbs,

truly be called sterile, or incapable of use; they provide a large

seeds and other medicinal things that could lead to the curing

part of our food, provide infinite economic uses and therefore

and health of human bodies, we have resolved to send, at some

deserve to be studied relative to agriculture and commerce.

times, one or many General Protomedicos to the provinces of the Indies and adjacent areas.13

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Bernardino Antônio Gomes, who also lived in Bahia, approved the use of the ‘erva-de-cobra’ (snake herb)

as an antidote for bites from this reptile.17 Naturalist Carl Von Martius (1794-1868), who was in Brazil during the period of Dom João VI and took a lively interest in medicine and indigenous therapeutics, commented on the effect of certain raw herbs that a witchdoctor used on a malignant ulcer on the foot of a black slave in his entourage who had been ill for months, and had resisted many medications and the use of “mastruço” poultices (‘erva-de-santa-maria’) in the treatment of toothache, and asthenia of the tongue and throat.18

Transformations in the Portuguese Medical Art in the 17th and 18th Centuries Up to the proclamation of the Statutes of 1772, in the Pombaline period, the Jesuits exerted powerful control over the teaching at Coimbra University.

Regulated by the Statutes of 1563, the teaching of medicine maintained the venerable Galenic tradition, cultured under the rules of scholastic pedagogy, relative to the margin of cultural renovation that reached other countries under the influx of advances in the studies of anatomy, published, among others, by Andreas Vesálio (1543) and William Harvey (1628) and the experimentalist, chemical and mechanistic philosophies, which proposed a description of human physiology different to the humoralist paradigm.

This does not signify that other ideas did not arrive in Portugal, nor that its rejection, by the followers of Aristotelic-Thomist philosophical psychology signified superstition or backwardness, since what was in play were the metaphysical fundaments that imprinted different rationalities on explanations of the causal structure of the world. Defenders of the alchemist ideas of Paracelso and van Helmont, the chemical-animist principles of George Ernesto Stahl and Montpellier’s doctrine of vitalism also became involved in the combat which a contemporary defined as the errors of the Galenic Koran.19 With the inclusion of the works of Paracelso in the Index, the Portuguese Inquisition persecuted alchemistic medicines. From the doctrinal point of view Galenic medicine opposed the secret drugs that were widely published, as these ignored the particularities of the patient: his constitution, his temperament, his age and eating and hygienic habits. However, in the 17th century, despite the prohibition by the Inquisition, the principal literary works of famous alchemists were known in Portugal. The professor of medicine in Coimbra, João Bravo Chamisso (?-1636), in his work De Medendis Corporis Malis per Manualem Oprerationem (1605), considered alchemy as part of medicine. In the same way, Duarte Madeira Arraes (?-1652), doctor to D. João IV, was the author of Tratado dos óleos de enxofre, vitriolo, philosophorum, alecrim, salva, e de água ardente (1648).20 In the first decades of the 17th century, druggist Jean Vigier (1662-1723) and mainly João Curvo Semmedo (1635-1719) developed a vociferous campaign that projected the rhetoric of the Moderns against the Ancients, to call attention to the superiority of the chemical pharmacy and the secret medicines over the Galenic tradition. Comments about the insufficiency of the wisdom of the Ancients could also be found in works such as that printed in Lisbon in 1720, Cirurgia metódica e Química reformada,

by Francisco Soares Ribeira, that introduced blood circulation, and in the Tratado fisiológico, médico-físico e anatômico da circulação do sangue (1735), by doctor João Marques Correia (1671-1745).21

The Portuguese scientific debate is therefore previous to the diffusion of mechanistic and vitalistic ideas of Descartes, Newton, Torricelli or Boerhaave. As of mid-18th century, equally striking criticisms of the Portuguese teaching of medicine came from authors connected to the enlightened ideas, such as cleric Luís Antônio Verney (1713-1792) and doctor Antônio Nunes Ribeiro Sanches (1699-1783). Both the former, in his Verdadeiro método de estudar (1746), and the latter, in Método para aprender e estudar a Medicina (1761), proposed reformulation of studies of anatomy and the physiology that would banish the aristotelic philosophy of nature and the alchemical ideas to incorporate the renewed natural philosophy. These two reformers were associated to the mechanistic and vitalistic ideas fomented, among others, by New Christian Jacob de Castro Sarmento (1691 – 1762) who, from England, sent his Matéria médica físico histórico mecânica to the Portuguese court (1735).

The Challenges to Galenic Therapeutics According to the Hippocratic-Galenic tradition, transformed into dogma by scholastic teaching in medieval universities since the 13th century, the human body consists of blood, pituita (mucus), yellow bile and black bile. Health was good when these principles were in equilibrium of strength and quantity, mixing together perfectly; illness happens when one of these principles is in lesser or more quantity, or isolated in the body through some species of obstruction, not combining harmonically with the rest.

This is the great Hippocratic principle, that the young doctors in medicine, qualified in European universities, had to have in mind when they examined their patients. Diseases were caused by the lack (cachexia), excess (plethora) or corruption of one or more “humors”. The treatment then was to restore the deficit, or the contrary, suppress the excess. As taught by João Lopes Correa, in Strong Castle Against all the Diseases that Pursue the Human Body (1726), the unnatural humors (putrid or corrupted) are distinct from the blood and by their mischief are not equipped to maintain the members.22 Thus it was best to evacuate the bad humors first. The humors could also change direction, so it was fundamental to return them to their proper route. Fever would not be either a symptom nor a disease itself, but the expression of natural curative force (vix medicatrix naturae).

Arising from the heart, heat would act by cooking the corrupted humors.

As of the middle of the 16th century, major innovations occurred in scientific knowledge, with highlights being advances in astronomy, physics and the natural sciences; medicine also experienced great theoretical and practical innovations. In an era in which all medicines were simply derived from plants or animals, the rebel Paracelso (14931541) defended mineral and metallic medicines, preaching the doctrine of specific remedies for each sickness – mercury became a specific for syphilis or ‘mal gálico’. Sydenham (1624-1689), the so-called English Hippocrates, also defended the idea that all diseases would have a specific medication. The epistemological magic-hermetic of the similitudes, which authorized the doctrine of signals or signatures, permitted the association of the curative power of certain plants through their similarity to the morphology of certain organs or physical symptoms. Thus yellow plants like saffron should

cure jaundice. Red substances, such as rust or red wine, were reckoned to be good for combating pallor. The plant pulmonaria, with white blotches on the leaves, would have an evident virtue in curing diseases of the lungs. With the discovery of the new world, a drug used by the indians as an antidote for ailments, quinine, also known as Peruvian bark or Jesuit bark, was incorporated into the medical therapeutics, by the same principle as the signatures. Together with these beliefs was the conviction that all creatures had myriads of meanings and countless connections of sympathy or antipathy with other things, which could be animals, plants, celestial bodies, numbers, or human artifacts, such as amulets or coins. This explained the curative action of certain plants.23 Here Natural History was seen as a means of exhibiting the wonderful wisdom, art and benevolence of the Creator.24 The affirmation of the new physiology based on chemistry, by those practicing iatrochemistry, did not deny the existence of the four humors, but limited them to an accessory role, in relation to three other mineral elements: salt, sulfur, and mercury.

This tria prima, which represented the principles of assets (salt), the inflammable (sulfur), and the volatile (mercury), were spiritual forces that interconnected the macrocosm – groups of things existent in the universe – to the microcosm – the human body.

The extraction of the active principle, or virtue, generally by distillation, of the natural substances – the vegetable, animal and mineral kingdoms – corresponding to the parts of the human body debilitated, implied a stimulus to study the “book of nature”. Those adept at iatrochemistry perceived the organism as a laboratory or distillery, stage for many chemical processes.25 With the exception of certain drugs, the medications used by the Coimbra doctors, up to mid-18th century, were little different to the Galenic pharmacopoeia, though they possessed a handful of specifics and topics. There was no lack of response on the part of the doctors for the different cases they attended to in the course of their consultations. One has to remember that in humoral medicine, it was not expected that the drugs would have a decisive role in the cure. What was expected of a good drug was not so much that it cured a sickness directly, but that by causing vomiting, evacuation or sweating, it would help nature to restore the balance between the humors. However, with the arrival of chemists and distillers from foreign parts, who traded in (al) chemical medications, and principally with the publication of the pharmacopoeia compiled by Dr. João Curvo Semmedo (1635-1719), Polianteia medicinal (1695) – becoming a sort of gospel of Portuguese medicine – the medical community incorporated the new therapeutics. Another influential work, the Pharmacopeia Ulyssiponense, prepared by Frenchman Jean Vigier (1662-1723), a drug trader established in Portugal, was the first pharmacopoeia written in Portuguese to treat in an organized manner the preparation of chemical medicines and to describe the material and the techniques of chemical pharmaceutics.26 The Galenist physician, having to choose frequently between various therapeutic indications, had to take into account not just the cause of the illness, but also all the aspects of the patient and his surroundings. In Portugal, the (quack) medicines of Galenic pharmacy, characterized by production by the apothecary, from a prescription by the physician, and indicated for a

particular patient, faced the secret medicines and the panaceas, sold on a large scale and consumed as self-medication (English water, celestial water ).

Condemned by the Pombaline Reforms for teaching medicine in 1772, persecution of the secret medicines increased as from the creation of the Proto-Medicato Junta in 1782.

In the century of Reason, the most famous work of which, the Enciclopédia by Diderot and D’Alembert, praises the scientific and the technical, two fields of knowledge that suffered profound transformations with direct implications for the pharmaceutical art: natural history and chemistry. Carl von Linné (1707-1778), in Systema naturae (1735), presented a binomial classification, based on the reproductive organs of animals or plants, which made it possible to organize a coherent catalog of the gigantic inventory of both kingdoms. In the field of chemistry, Lavoisier (1743-1794) is the most prominent name in a whole generation, who on creating a new concept of the chemical element, would help to bury the age-old theory of the four fundamental elements of nature: earth, fire, water and air, as well as the alchemist tria prima – salt, sulfur and mercury. With Fourcroy (1755-1809) and Bertholet (1748-1822), the old denominations, such as “vitriolic acid” and the “flowers of zinc”, became sulfuric acid and sublimed zinc oxide, respectively.27 With the arrival of Domenico Vandelli (1730-1816), in 1764, contracted by the Marquess of Pombal to take part in the broad educational reforms that resulted in the expulsion of the Jesuits and in the reform of teaching at Coimbra, more and more Brazilian plants are studied and their virtues highlighted, with their purgative, laxative, emetic, cathartic and cooling properties. With the creation of chairs such as philosophy and natural history, experimental physics and chemistry at Coimbra University, starting in 1772, therapeutics gains new investigative reach in the Portuguese dominions. At a suggestion from the viceroy, Marquess of Lavradio, the Sociedade de História Natural do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro Society of Natural History) was founded in Rio de Janeiro. Inaugurated in the year of the reforms in Coimbra University (1772), in the context of Portuguese enlightenment, and extinct in 1779, this scientific society called attention to matters of natural history in Brazil, including the use of cochineal, mercury applications, fish gum, silk worm culture and the study of medicinal plants.28 It was the first institution to employ systematic studies of Brazilian medicinal flora. Manuel Joaquim Henriques de Paiva (1752-1829), who was a pharmacist in Rio de Janeiro, before graduating as a medical doctor in Coimbra, learned botany with Frei José Mariano da Conceição Vellozo and described the jalapa and its pharmaceutical properties. His father, Antônio Ribeiro de Paiva, separated the legitimate ‘mechação’ (jalapa) from the root of ‘norça-negra’ (Bryony), used in place of the other in ignorance, by the Portuguese pharmacists.29 Between 1773 and 1777, Henriques de Paiva was a demonstrator in the chemical laboratory, and of natural history in the Philosophy Faculty, in which he later became Philosophy teacher. The indication for the post of demonstrator had been made by Domingos Vandelli.30 As of this period, the new chemical nomenclature would be used in all pharmacological teaching. Innovations in the field of botany, chemistry and pharmacology gave a new impulse to the study of Brazilian flora. However, the phytochemical work was not initially so encouraging, in that it did not give more adequate therapeutic

response than that achieved by the galenic or alchemical pharmacy. The isolation of substances of pharmacological action – active principle – similar to modern chemical procedures, from medicinal plants, started at the beginning of the 19th century.

With the start of work at the Royal Academy of Sciences in Lisbon, in 1780, a new stimulus was given to the studies of natural sciences, overcoming previous erratic initiatives. At this time, the qualities of tropical plants, such as coffee, tobacco and cacao, much valued in therapeutics, began to be studied by the new pharmaceutics.

Antônio Bernardino Gomes, the before-mentioned doctor and surgeon of the Royal Armada, traveled from Lisbon to Brazil in 1797, where he stayed for four and a half years. He was active in various branches of medicine. In pharmacology he carried out research in the area of analytical chemistry. We have for example his investigations into the action of ‘romeira-brava’ and of other plants used against worms, and the discovery of ‘cinchonine’, the first alkaloid extracted from the bark of the ‘quina’. He started to concentrate on the study of botany, during his first stay in Brazil, where he made therapeutic observations of 16 species of Brazilian plants. These studies resulted in the memoirs Sobre a Ipecacuanha fusca do Brasil (1801), sobre a canella (cinnamon) do Rio de Janeiro (1798) and Sobre a virtude tenífuga da romeira (pomegranate). His Observações botânico médicas (1803), published in Lisbon, used modern chemistry to establish the active principle and belongs in the context of the reign of Maria I (1777-1816), during which various scientific expeditions to the American territory were promoted by Dom Rodrigo de Souza Coutinho.

The Success of Brazilian Flora in the Portuguese and European Pharmacopoeias Domestic medicine, like the professional, was mainly based in leaves, roots, seeds or bark, called ‘simples’.

The herbs were ground, mashed and diluted in infusions. Within the ‘Ancients’, Celso (1st Century AD), Dioscorides (1st Century AD) and Galeno (2nd Century AD) compiled formulae with herbs in treatises of Materia medica. Their works, much appreciated since the Middle Ages, divulged the medicinal use of aromatic substances such as saffron, as well as oils and ointments. Arab medicine added new preparations of Persian, Indian and oriental origin. Among the drugs unknown to the Greek authors that were absorbed by medieval medicine are camphor, cassia, senna pod, nutmeg, tamarind, cinnamon and clove.31 The humanist impulse for direct observation, valuing the individual experience as a way of confirming the authenticity of ancient texts, had its most impressive expression in natural history of the 16th century. In this dominion of knowledge, it was understood that the existing copies of the above mentioned texts were of doubtful character. Considering that the forms of plants and animals had not altered over time, observation could help in deciding which were, in fact, the original descriptions. In this way the humanist authors followed the recommendations prescribed by the ancients. Galeno had recommended to medical practitioners that they become specialists in all medical material, personally examining the therapeutic effect of the medicines. Having made direct observation, doctors, pharmacists and

surgeons would approach their ancient sources better prepared.32 The quest for realism in botanical illustrations, as opposed to being allegorical and decorative, reinforced the message, explicit in the texts, that personal experience was more reliable than the authority.

The description of botanical species engendered a vast network of international cooperation. In the New World, doctors, pharmaceuticals, botanists, diplomats, travelers, traders and clerics went in search of gold and silver, but also of new drugs. Materia medica already had the new products coming from India. Garcia da Orta (1501-1568), author of Colóquio dos simples e drogas e cousas medicinais da Índia, edited in Goa in 1563, was faithful to the spirit of renaissance tradition. On contradicting the Ancients, and manifest in his predilection for Arabs, he confirmed having been a direct witness to all he wrote about, contrary to Galeno who often used second hand information.

Written in Portuguese, each of the 58 colloquia, or parts into which the work is divided, is dedicated to one or more drugs, starting with an etymological presentation, then showing its appearance, origins, preparation and therapeutic use. Descriptions include camphor, palm oil, ‘ferula assafoetida’, ginger and ‘babosa’ (Aloe vera). As a continuation of Orta’s work, Cristóvão da Costa (1515-1594) must be mentioned, for his treatise Tratado de las drogas e medicinas de las Índias Orientais (1568). The priority in description of various ‘simples’ from America fell to the Portuguese and Spanish, as we observed above, with the exception of the Dutch physicians who came with Maurice of Nassau, Willem Piso (1611-1678) and George Marcgraf (1610-1644), Historia Naturalis Brasiliae (1648).33 In the pharmacopoeias that appeared since the end of the 17th century, equal importance was given to formulae as to the description of all the procedures in the preparation of medications. Although they initially depended on private initiative, these works were soon adopted by the public authorities, due to their enormous success. They had major influence on the circulation of herbs and medicinal drugs all over the world and they forced the standardization and perfecting of the pharmaceutical art.34 Since then there has been a clear intention to value the art of the pharmacist, in opposition to other categories of therapies considered more rustic, such as algebraists (bone menders), midwives, herb sellers and barbers who also dealt in drugs. In Portugal, there are references to women pharmacists since the 14th century, providing services to the women of the nobility.35 With the introduction of alchemist techniques, the pharmacopoeias valued even more the expertise in the process of preparing the medications. On describing the complexity of the method of distillation, the author of Farmacopeia tubalense pointed out the big difference [...] of some rustic women of this profession, who are actually providing the largest part of the medicines to the Court pharmacies and the domains of this Reign.36

In fact, the pharmacopoeias sought to contribute to improve the training of the pharmacists and give them the monopoly in manufacture of medications.

Thus, in the preparation of the ‘simples’ or in the manufacture of formula medicines, the theoretical demands and practical skills multiplied. At the moment of harvesting, five criteria had to be observed in order to establish which plant was in best condition: 1) Observe the qualities of the substances that, depending on their nature, should be more

305

compact or flaky, light or heavy, hard or dry; 2) many ‘simples’ were considered better when more perfumed; 3) others could be chosen by being sweet like the alcaçus (liquorice) or bitter like wormwood, others acid like tamarinds, others pungent like ginger; 4) the coloration, and lastly; 5) the thickness.37 The procedures for the preparation of the ‘simples’ include the following actions: grind to reduce to powder; levigation; cut, grate, file, sieve, squeeze, wash, humidify, dissolve, liquefy, infuse, feed, ferment, putrefy. Cooking was a complex operation and served many requirements, such as to attenuate or increase the action of a feature. To avoid impurities in certain ‘simples’ or to lessen or increase its virtues, or simply to make the medications “more showy”, they needed to know various operations such as to smoke, clarify, conserve, aromatize, color, retard, harden, evaporate and crystalize, according to the methods established by the Galenic or (al) chemical traditions, while the art of mixing, to manufacture the made-up medications needed a lot of expertise, as precision was fundamental to get the proportions right for each ‘simple’. Each ingredient had to be weighed separately, and the heating had to be carefully controlled. Recipients and instruments had to be correct (vessels, crucibles, pestle and mortar, the sieves, the stove and the pots). Control of time depended on knowledge of each part and its qualities.

The more volatile and smelly were left to the end of the preparation. In this way they claimed dominion both over the theory and practice in pharmaceutical operations.

Canon Dom Caetano de Santo Antônio was the first to write in Portuguese, in 1704, a publication – the Farmacopeia lusitana, which would have another three editions. In the second edition, in 1711, he introduced some chemical formulae and Brazilian plants, such as the sarsaparilla. He was also the first to present an argument, referred to above, that would be repeated in all works of this genre: it served to avoid the intolerable errors in the use and preparation of the medications. Each author of a pharmacopoeia intended to expand the therapeutic art and correct the errors found in other pharmacopoeias, enriching and perfecting the art. However, the multiplicity of pharmacopoeias, with each author presenting his own formulae, contributed to the growth of barbarity in therapeutics.

The Farmacopeia ulissiponense galenica e chymica (1716), by French druggist Jean Vigier, living in Portugal and official physician to Dom João V, was the first to gather a large number of references to the medicinal plants in the colonies, above all Brazil. Besides including the description of material, with engravings, and technical processes of chemical pharmacy, it included a treatise on the choice, description, doses and virtues of plant laxatives and modern drugs from the Indies and Brazil, with indigenous prints of plants such as: ‘abatua’, ‘ambreta’, ‘ananás’ (pineapple), ‘andá’, ‘andira’ (angelim/Fabaceae), ‘anime’, copaíba balsam, cashew, cacao, ‘caucamo’, ‘contraerva’ (pipevines), ‘erva longuinosa’, genipap, yam, ‘iparandiba’, ‘ipecacuanha’, ‘jabotapita’, ‘jaçapucaio’, jacoacanga’ (Spiked Spirlaflag Ginger), ‘mamanga’, ‘manacá’ (raintree), ‘mangaba’, ‘manobi’ (peanut), ‘mechoação’ (sweet potato), ‘pau-brasil’ (brazilwood).39 Considered a monument of polipharmacy, the galenic-chemical Farmacopeia tubalense (1735) no longer insisted so much on the anti-Galenic

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rhetoric, very present in Polianteia medicinal (1727)

by João Curvo Semmedo. Its author, pharmacist Manuel Rodrigues Coelho (1687-?), had however a clear hierarchy between both. While the Galenic pharmacy taught how to choose, prepare and separate the ‘simples’, without speculating on the particles or substances they contained, chemistry taught their fundaments, the separation and resolution of the pure and impure parts, and how to make the most exalted and essential medications.

Showing the increase in expertise which the knowledge of chemistry gave the pharmacist, Farmacopeia tubalense expanded the operations in the preparation of medications. Since then, it was necessary to know how to evaporate, crystalize, distill, incinerate, reverberate, distinguish and mix, or reduce. The art of calcination depended on knowledge of the techniques of immersion, fusion, precipitation, humectation, fumigation, amalgamation, and finally cementation.39 On relating the use of ‘simples’, the Tubalense discriminates the Brazilian plants and their uses. For instance it sanctions the use of ‘abutua’ or ‘parreirabrava for inferior abscesses and pustules, making them exit through diarrhea or urine. It was also effective against pleurisy as it prevents coagulation of the blood and has a virtue that makes it circulate. Is good for falls and contusions, drinking half an ‘oitava’. Treats sores and headaches. Cures colic and stomach ache.

The ‘ananaz’ (pineapple) was a very juicy fruit and very harmful to our nature. If a person ate it, and had sores, it would be very difficult to cure; inside the fruit of the ‘andá’ (arara nut-tree), a Brazilian tree, there was a nut considered a laxative and also an emetic; ‘angélica’ had a root which cures gallstones, is cordial, aperitive, sudorific, laxative and scabbing. It would expel the fetus, suffocate uterine infections, cure malignant infirmities and against poison and pest; ‘angelim’ or ‘andira’ was a Brazilian tree whose nuts reduced to powder were excellent against worms; the gum of the anime (copal resin) was considered a perfume in cold affections of the brain and nerves, such as headaches, catarrh and paralysis; copaíba balsam was a resinous liquor of a large tree that is found in the great forests of America. Two balsams were produced with its bark: one is white, with a smell of resin and a sharp and bitter flavor; the other, thicker, with a golden color and the same smell and flavor as the previous. Both are excellent virtues for purifying and curing sores, if applied topically, and when administered internally is good for stomach, head and nerves; cures rheumatism and nephritic pains, strengthens the nerves, good for fractures and dislocations; cures gonorrhea and white purges to correct humors that cause cachexia, scurvy, to clean, heal and firm the kidneys and bladder from crass humors and areas that they have relaxed and obstructed; also cleans the lungs and dispels tuberculosis;

cashew fruit possesses cooling virtues; ‘canafístula’ was employed to purge choleric humors gently, without any impression of calluses, but is a bit flatulent, which is corrected by moderately boiling it; ‘cancamo’ was good for toothache and closing wounds, ‘guauava’ served as an astringent; ‘hyvourabe’ was a sudorific, defective and antirheumatic herb; ‘jaçapucayo’ had a fruit that excited the semen; ‘jacarandá’ (caroba) wood was sudorific, and its fruit good for the stomach; j’anvarandim’, common in Bahia and Pernambuco, had roots

considered miraculous against all types of poisonous animal bites; ‘genipaba’ or ‘genipap’ had an astringent bark against diarrhea and pains in the throat. It was also applied to cataplasmas against malignant sores.

The author also refers to the virtues of ‘iparandiba’, ‘mangaba’, ‘manacá’, ‘orelha-de-onça’ (abuta), ‘raiz de milhomens’, and yam potatoes.

Manuel Joaquim Henriques de Paiva, to whom we referred previously, one of the greatest propagators of modern science in Portugal, published Farmacopeia lisbonense ou coleção dos símplices, preparações e composições mais eficazes, e de maior uso (1785).

Impatient with the delay of “Farmacopeia geral do Reino”, the composition of which Dom José I had commissioned from the congregation of the Coimbra Medical School, on the occasion of the statutory reform, he composed his own, containing an alphabetic list of medications. In it he referred to 37 Brazilian medicinal plants. It is interesting to observe that although the work incorporates new knowledge arising from chemistry, botany, anatomy, physiology and pathology, there are no plants that had not already been described in other pharmacopoeias, which, at first sight, could reveal the permanence and recognition of medicinal flora sanctified by colonial tradition. However, the author explains that he did not have the courage to suppress some of the made-up medications that he judged to be useless, as only the official pharmacopoeias, such as those in London, Edinburgh and Vienna, reckoned they had the authority to reform the abuses, results of errors and incompetence of the old ones.40 The first official Portuguese pharmacopoeia was only published in 1794, denominated Pharmacopeia geral para o Reino e domínios de Portugal. Dona Maria I released a decree making it obligatory to have an example in every pharmacy or drugstore. Its author, Francisco Tavares (1750-1812), professor of medical and pharmaceutical material, later chief physician, was the author of various scientific works.

Together, these works helped with the ample dissemination of Brazilian medicinal plants in modern Europe.

1 Graduate in History at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro – UFRJ (1987), masters in Social History from the Universidade de São Paulo – USP (1992), doctorate in Collective Health from the Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro –UERJ (1999).

2 The seminal reference to this typology can be found in Jewson, N. D. [1976] 2009. The Disappearance of Sick-Man from Medical Cosmology, 1770-1870. In: International Journal of Epidemiology 38: 622-33. See also, Pickstone, John V. 1993. Ways of Knowing: Towards a Historical Sociology of Science, Technology and Medicine.

BJHS 26:433-458 and Shorter, Edward.1993. The History of the Doctor-Patient Relationship. In: Binum, W.; Porter, Roy (org.). Compendium Encyclopedia for the History of Medicine. London: Routledge, p. 1032-1057.

3 Semmedo, João Curvo. 1749. Observações medicas doctrinaes de cem casos gravissimos, que em serviço da Patria, e das Nacões estranhas escreve en lingua portugueza e latina. Lisbon: Officina de Antonio Pedroso Galrão, p. 101.

4 Souza, Laura de Mello e. 1994. O diabo na terra de Santa Cruz. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras.

5 Léry, Jean de. 1961. Viagem à terra do Brasil.

Translated by Sérgio Milliet, 2nd ed. Rio de Janeiro: Biblioteca do Exército, p. 137.

6 Santos, Fabrício Lyrio. 2008. A expulsão dos jesuítas da Bahia: aspectos econômicos. Revista Brasileira de História 28(55):171-195. Walker, Timothy. 2013. The Medicines Trade in the Portuguese Atlantic World: Acquisition and Dissemination of Healing Knowledgment from Brazil (c. 1580 – 1800). Social History of Medicine 26(2).

7 Silva, Maria B. N. Da. 1991. A cultura implícita.

In: Frédéric, Mauro (org.). O império lusobrasileiro (1620-1750). Lisbon: Editorial Estampa, p. 265-365.

8 Ibidem.

9 Souza, Laura de Mello e. Op. cit.

10 Anchieta, José de. 1970. Feitos de Mem de Sá. São Paulo: Ministério da Educação e Cultura, p.97.

11 Holanda, Sérgio Buarque de. 1995. Caminhos e fronteiras. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, p.

74-89.

12 Ribeiro, Lourival. 1971. Medicina no Brasil colonial.

Rio de Janeiro: Sul Americana, p. 40-41.

13 Wissenbach, Maria Cristina Cortez. 2002. Gomes Ferreira e os símplices da terra: experiências dos cirurgiões no Brasil-Colônia. In: Ferreira Furtado, Júnia (org.). Ferreira, Luis Gomes. Erário Mineral.

Belo Horizonte-Rio de Janeiro: Fundação João Pinheiro- Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, p. 112-3.

14 For this paragraph, I referred to the abstract by Gurgel, Cristina. 2012. Doenças e curas. O Brasil nos primeiros séculos. São Paulo: Contrexto, p.

60-67.

15 Dias, Maria Odila da Silva. 2002. Sertões do Rio das Velhas e das Gerais: vida social numa frente de povoamento – 1710-1733. In: Furtado, Júnia Ferreira (org.). Ferreira, Luis Gomes. Erário mineral. Belo Horizonte-Rio de Janeiro: Fundação João Pinheiro-Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, p. 53.

16 On the circulation of scientific information relative to the colonial dominions in the period of Portuguese enlightenment, see: Kury, Lorelai.

2004. Homens de ciência no Brasil: impérios e circulação de informações (1780 – 1810). História, Ciências, Saúde – Manguinhos 11(supl. 1):109-129.

17 Viotti, Ana Carolina de Carvalho. 2012. As práticas e os saberes médicos no Brasil colonial, 1677-1808. Master’s Thesis. São Paulo: Universidade do Estado de São Paulo – Unesp, p. 18.

18 Von Martius, Carlos Friedrich. 1939 (1840). Phil. natureza, doenças, medicina e remédios dos índios brasileiros. Rio de Janeiro: Companhia Editora Nacional, p. 234-235.

19 Apud Abreu, Jean Luiz Neves. 2011. Nos domínios do corpo: o saber médico luso-brasileiro no século XVIII. 1st ed. Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, p. 38.

20 Martins, Carlos; Fiolhais, Décio. 2010. Breve história da ciência em Portugal. Coimbra: GradivaImprensa da Universidade de Coimbra, p. 32-36 21 Abreu, Jean Luiz das Neves. Op. cit.

22 Correia, João Lopes. 1723. Castelo forte contra todas as enfermidades que perseguem o corpo humano e tesouro universal, onde se acharão os remédios para elas. Tomo 1. Lisbon: Oficina da Música, p.12.

23 An excellent presentation of neoplatonic and hermetic epistemology that characterized this vision of the world can be found in chapter 3, “Worldly prose”, by Foucault, M. 1999. As palavras e as coisas – uma arqueologia das ciências humanas. São Paulo: Martins Fontes.

24 Henry, John. 1998. A revolução científica. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar.

25 Gomes, Leonardo Gonçalves. 2012. A Farmacopeia tubalense de 1735 e a construção de um modelo para a farmácia portuguesa setecentista. Master’s Thesis. São Gonçalo: FFP-Uerj.

26 Pita, João Rui. 2000. História da Farmácia.

Coimbra: Minerva.

27 Pita, João Rui. Op. cit.

28 Herson, Bella. 1996. Cristãos-novos e seus descendentes na medicina brasileira (1500-1850).

São Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo, p. 200.

29 Reis, Paulo Cesar dos. 2006. Ciências e saberes no Rio de Janeiro Setecentista. O caso da Academia Científica do Rio de Janeiro. Master’s Thesis. Rio de Janeiro: Universidade Federal Fluminense – UFF. 30 Filgueiras, Carlos A. L. 1991. As vicissitudes da ciência periférica: a vida e obra de Manuel Joaquim Henriques de Paiva. Química Nova 14(2):133-141.

31 Porter, Roy. 2004. Das tripas coração. Uma breve história da medicina. Rio de Janeiro: Record.

32 Shapin, Steven. 2000. A revolução científica.

Lisboa: Difel.

33 Edler, Flávio Coelho. 2006. Boticas e pharmácias.

Uma história ilustrada da farmácia no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Casa da Palavra.

34 Gomes, Leonardo Gonçalves. Op. cit., p. 51.

35 Dias, José Pedro de Sousa. 2005. A farmácia e a história. Uma introdução à historia da farmácia, da farmacologia e da terapêutica. Lisbon: Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Lisboa, available online, p. 48.

36 Coelho, Manuel Rodrigues. 1760. Pharmacopea tubalense chimico-galenica. Roma: Oficina de Balio Geredini, p. 337.

37 Lamery, Nicolas. 1741. La Pharmacopée Universelle. 2nd ed. Paris: Chez Charles-Maurice D’Houry.

38 Marques, Vera Regina Beltrão. 2004. As “medicinas” indígenas ganham o mundo nas páginas das farmacopeias portuguesas do setecentos. Anais do IX Encontro Regional da Anpuh – Paraná.

39 Gomes, Leonardo Gonçalves. Op. cit., p. 78.

40 Paiva, Manuel Joaquim Henriques de. 1785.

Farmacopéa lisbonense ou collecção dos simplices, preparações e composições mais efficazes, e de maior uso. Lisbon: Oficina de Filipe da Silva e Azevedo.

The Art of Cooking and the Plants of Brazil 16th–19th centuries Leila Mezan Algranti1 Plants in the Composition of Meals Arte de Cozinha is the title of the first cook-book published in Portugal, in 1680, written by Domingos Rodrigues, cook to the court of the Portuguese monarchs Dom Pedro II (1648-1706) and Dona Maria Francisca Isabel de Saboia. This is a famous work that has attracted the attention of dedicated historians in the study of the alimentary practices of the Portuguese Empire, due to the multiple analyses which the contents of its recipes provide. The continuous editions published up to the 19th century leave no doubt as to its dissemination. According to the author himself, “I did not write for those who know, but produced the Art for those who don’t know [...]”.2 However, the complexity of the recipes and the absence of basic culinary instructions lead us to believe that his reading public was composed of chefs and experienced cooks, who, as with him, were dedicated to providing for a select group of consumers. In that sense, it is not strange that species of Brazilian flora were so little represented in the book, for although exotic, they lacked status in the hierarchy of food at that time.

At the end of the 17th century, however, the circulation of edible plants among the various localities in the Portuguese Empire had already provoked a series of transformations in consumer habits of the populations, whether in Europe or Africa. As Fernand Braudel recognized in a pioneer manner, the discovery of America and the consequent exchange of plants among the various continents, resulted in a veritable revolution in eating habits.3 But Braudel, Massimo Montanari, and other historians who studied the impact of the plants from the New World on the European diet, referred principally to plants that relieved the hunger of millions of people, being presented as a “remedy” for the long periods of scarcity of food which troubled European countries.4 This means, principally, plants with which it is possible to make bread or some other equivalent basic food, such as corn (maize) and rice, but we should also remember the manioc, which in Brazil represented for the indians and new arrivals during the colonization the same as wheat, corn and rice did for other people.

Now, the guests who frequented the banquets given

by Domingos Rodrigues consumed wheat, as shown in many of his recipes prepared with this flour (small pies, pasties and tarts) or those that contained crumbs and slices of white bread. This last could only be found on the tables of the more wealthy, and was considered the basic food of the elite. The great exception of Brazilian plant well represented in the book by Domingos Rodrigues is sugar cane, since 20.3% of the recipes he offered to the reader were sweet (53 out of 260). These, most of the time, were made with sugar, and very possibly the sugar available had arrived from Brazil.5 The meals of the wealthy, however, were

composed of various multi-course meals, in which the meat of different animals was considered a specialty, although there was space for certain vegetables. On the contrary, for the major part of the population there was little meat, the basic day to day food being bread and vegetables. We shall leave the sweets to one side for the moment, and consequently the table of the more prosperous, in order to observe more widely the presence of Brazilian plants in the diet of the Modern era. The focus of our attention will be Portugal and certain parts of its Eastern Empire. However, if we take into account that Portuguese ships transported products from Portuguese America, as well as their ways of consumption, to other countries, we can say that Brazilian plants (natural or acclimatized) traveled well beyond Lisbon.6 In some cases, the Portuguese could have been preceded by the Spanish in the introduction of American plants in Europe, though it is difficult to establish criteria for precedence. This however does not invalidate the importance of the Portuguese in the intercontinental traffic of seedlings, roots, and especially seeds, either endemic to Brazil or acclimatized. Apart from this, the constant contacts between Portuguese and Spanish facilitated the reciprocal knowledge of all the foodstuffs available on the Iberian Peninsula, as well as their culinary uses.7 In this intense exchange of tastes and knowledge that involved the plant world as of the 16th century, the kitchen occupied in fact a prominent position.

Brazilian plants, in turn, took part in this movement basically in the making of three sets of foodstuffs – bread, soups and purées, sweets and beverages. Let us take a closer look at how this happened.

The Daily Bread The curiosity and interest of the Europeans in the nature of their conquests in the East and the West, especially in relation to the flora, was manifest ever since the first contacts made during their maritime expansion, at the start of the Modern era.

After all, it was necessary to survive in distinct environments, often inhospitable, learning with the native people to distinguish the various edible species, and above all to know how to use them in food or for the cure of disease. In Brazil it was no different, and the Portuguese proceeded to make a detailed inventory of the new forms of plants they encountered, often using analogy to better describe their functions.8 Within this logic of thought, the most natural thing to do was to procure a product to substitute bread, an indispensible item present on the tables of all the social groups in Portugal, independently of the flour used (wheat, rye, oats, barley, corn).

Chroniclers of the first centuries of colonization were unanimous in associating manioc (cassava) with bread, calling it “bread of the earth” or “tropical bread”. This arose especially from two motives. Firstly because it was basic food for the native population, leading the Portuguese to place

it, in the hierarchy of foodstuffs, on the same level of distinction they attributed to bread. Secondly because of the method used by the indians to process the manioc, transforming it into a sort of flour with which the colonials made cakes, bread, biscuits and “very excellent cuscuz”, in the words of Simão Estácio da Silveira, who wrote the Relação sumária das cousas do Maranhão, in 1619.9 As well observed by Massimo Montanari, Europeans made bread with any type of grain. In periods of hunger, they even made it with some sort of herb mixed with a little flour.10 At the lower levels, bread was often the only food available. It is understandable therefore, that in Portuguese America they would use manioc to satisfy their daily need for bread.

The manioc plant (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is considered a plant of South American origin, and used since long ago by the Guarani indians. The Portuguese found it already cultivated in Brazil, and the indians used it to make a variety of products – from the leaves eaten as a vegetable, to an edible flour, and also a fermented drink.11 Due to contact with the indigenous people, manioc flour was soon incorporated into the diet of the colonials. Eaten by itself, accompanying the meat of various animals (dried or fresh) or mixed with the beans and vegetables, manioc became, in the words of Câmara Cascudo, “queen of Brazil”.12 On the other hand, in ocean voyages returning to Portugal or sailing to Africa and India, the manioc flour became from early days a highlight in the diet of the crews, substituting the famous hard biscuits made with wheat, which the sailors consumed in the crossing from Portugal to the coast of Brazil.13 There is information that the ships that sailed from the different ports of the Colony had to be supplied with a large quantity of ‘farinha de pau’ or ‘farinha de guerra’ (war-flour) (drier and more resistant than the fresh flour), to be consumed during the voyage, or to be used as an exchange product in the slave traffic.14 It was therefore in the form of flour that manioc arrived initially at the Atlantic islands and Portuguese Africa, eventually being planted and incorporated into the local diet.

The Azores islands, as well as Madeira and Cape Verde were discovered uninhabited and had a very important role in the acclimatization of plants and animals between the tropics and the temperate zones, “serving as a staging post for their diffusion”.15 Among the plants acclimatized in Cape Verde, were manioc and American corn (maize).16 This latter, according to Ferrão and Loureiro, the Portuguese got from Spain, but they also say that “they also brought corn directly from Brazil to Cape Verde”.17 With regard to São Tomé, it is estimated that manioc was there in the 17th century, possibly transported directly from Brazil or Angola in order to feed the slaves.

It is not easy to know exactly when plants were transplanted from Brazil to other places, especially to Africa. In the case of manioc, for example, the

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reports by travelers and traders during the era of discoveries often confounded manioc with yam, a local plant of great nutritious importance. It is also a fact that manioc was eaten in the Congo, in Guinea, Angola or São Tomé the same way it was eaten in Portuguese America, that is as flour.18 This means that together with the product, the Portuguese transported the techniques for making it, learned from the Indians. Sources from the era also indicate the presence of manioc plantations on land owned by the Portuguese missionaries in Africa, demonstrating that manioc was needed to sustain people from other social segments involved in maritime expansion. In other words, at the start of the 17th century, manioc flour was already included in the diet of the Portuguese who traveled from one side to the other of its vast empire, although it may have taken longer to be accepted by the local populations.19 As for corn, this was already known to the Portuguese well before they made contact with the Amerindians. They used millet in the making of ‘boroa’ or ‘broa’ (bread made with corn and rye), eaten mainly by the poorer people, in the north of the country. As of the 16th century, however, they started to substitute it with American corn, called big or fat corn (maize)”,20 which was also taken to France, Italy and Turkey. At the start of the 17th century, however, “this cereal already constituted the basic sustenance in the Portuguese northeast”.21 At the end of the 18th century, with regard to the consumption of corn in localities between Douro and Minho, the German naturalist Heinrich Link commented: “The majority of the people only eat bread made with this cereal they call ‘broa’; it has a lovely yellow color, but is heavy, sweet and indigestible.22 This character of substitute for wheat also occurred with corn in Italy, where it assumed a position of prominence in food for farm workers, especially in the preparation of ‘polenta’, which, as observed by Montanari, was originally made with millet, sorghum or wheat.23 According to the same historian, this is a reinterpretation of a traditional dish, using a new product.

In Portuguese America, on the other hand, corn was considered a plant native to the land, with which the indians prepared many dishes, as observed by Gabriel Soares de Sousa, famous chronicler and master of the Bahia mill, at the end of the 16th century. The colonials took to the corn, using it as a grain, in the way they learned from the indians, that is, roasted over a fire or cooked.24 Later it was used also as cornflour, known as ‘fubá’.

Corn was always associated with indigenous food, and for this reason was to a certain extent demeaned, which could explain why it took so long to be accepted in some European countries.

In certain regions of Portuguese America, however, corn enjoyed a better position, notably in the captaincy of São Paulo and its areas of influence, as in Minas Gerais, for instance, where today it is still very much used as a food item. According to Rafaela Basso, who analysed its consumption at the end of the 17th and during the 18th century, in São Paulo corn can be considered typical food for mobility. This because it was more easily transported than manioc, and could be sown and harvested in a short time along the way. When they were at home, however, the Paulistas

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consumed other products besides corn, such as manioc and even wheat, since there are references to wheat in São Paulo at that time.25 Two other products deserve special attention when thinking of Brazilian plants and of export of foodstuffs of prime necessity in the Modern era: rice and potato. Although not used in the making of bread, they contributed to satisfying the hunger of many people. In the case of the potato, the species native to the land and which was taken to other parts of the Portuguese empire is the sweet potato (Ipomea batatas L.), which, to quote Antonio Cardoso, did well in the tropics and expanded like the manioc, being eaten cooked or roasted.26 Together with corn and manioc, the sweet potato is considered as one of the most influential plants in human nutrition in the tropics.27 According to Ferrão and Loureiro, in 1538, cultivation of sweet potato was already installed in the Azores and, in the second half of the 16th century, there are references to its cultivation in some European countries, such as Portugal, Spain and Italy, apart from its introduction in Africa, Indonesia, China and Japan.28 Father José de Anchieta mentioned the existence of sweet potato in Brazil and called attention to the ease with which it is planted and reproduces, commenting that it could be used for bread for those with nothing else.29 As for rice, a plant acclimatized from the East and brought to Brazil by the Portuguese themselves, its cultivation was encouraged in the Colony, due to acceptance in Portugal.30 It appears that they had knowledge of rice since the period of Arab dominance of the Iberian Peninsula. The taste for rice increased to such an extent however, during the Modern era, that by the end of the 17th century, it had become the fourth largest export product from Portuguese America to its home country.31 In the cook-book by Domingos Rodrigues, however, it only appears in the recipe for ‘sweet rice’ and in two other recipes – ‘mutton with rice’ and ‘fish curry’.32 A century later, to judge by the second cook-book published in Portugal, by Lucas Rigaud, a cook of French origin employed in the Lisbon court, the situation seems to have altered very little. In his book Nova arte de cozinha, rice appears very little with regard to recipes for savory dishes.33 Other sources, however, indicate a wider use of rice, in the second half of the 18th century, especially in the various meals for the Royal House, where it appears daily as a garnish for ‘beef dishes’ (roasted or stewed).34 Correspondence from governors of Grão-Pará to the home country confirm the presence of rice in the Portuguese court’s meals, in the same period, informing that large shipments of this product were destined directly to the King’s larder.35 Or in other words, by the second half of the 18th century, rice had become a foodstuff consumed by all social classes, and was part of the diet of not only the employees, but also the more wealthy tables. A large part of this consumption was exported from Portugal’s American colony.36 An analysis of the cook books in Portugal, between the 17th and 19th centuries, indicates that the consumption of vegetables not only increased in the preparation of dishes for the elite, but Brazilian plants started to attract more attention. If manioc and corn were totally despised by Domingos Rodrigues and Lucas Rigaud, this latter at least conceded space for the vegetables, offering 37

distinct recipes. On the other hand, if the “English potato” received just one mention in the same book, the ‘island potatoes’ (sweet potato) were recommended for the sweet dishes. At the end of the 19th century, indications are that the situation had changed significantly. A novíssima arte de cozinha, recipe book by an anonymous author published in Portugal in 1889, included together with traditional preparations a set of “varied dishes from the Brazilian kitchen”, as highlighted in the book’s subtitle. Many of these recipes had to be prepared with products originating from Brazilian plants, such as corn cakes or soups that contained manioc.37 These preparations suggest a significant incorporation of tastes and of ways to cook developed by the inhabitants of Portuguese America. In other words, the circulation of plants among the different parts of the Portuguese Empire did much more than simply transfer seedlings and seeds from one side of the ocean to the other, but resulted in cultural exchange that went beyond just the products, it extended to the ways of preparing meals, and their consumption.

Soups and Gruel Soups and broths were usually served as the first course in the ordinary menus offered by the famous royal chef, Domingos Rodrigues, which were composed of various dishes. In the homes of the less fortunate, soup could have been considered the “strong” dish of a meal, and even the only one in certain circumstances. The soups, as well as the gruel, were prepared with water thickened with vegetables, meat, bread or flour.

They were, in fact, one of the most common ways to prepare meat, cooking it slowly. References to gruel can be found in records from the Roman empire and the Middle Ages. The Romans called them “puls” or “pulmentum”, which was a polenta paste – cold soup made from barley flour – that came to expand all over the Mediterranean.38 Food historians are unanimous in highlighting the gruel or porridge as food typical of the Middle Ages and start of the Modern Age. They consisted of flour dissolved in stock, milk or water, eaten generally in the morning.39 In the first half of the 18th century, when Portuguese colonization in America was well advanced, and its plants acclimatized in various regions of the globe, Raphael Bluteau, in his Vocabulário Portuguez e Latino (1738), clarified to his readers that “soup” was a dish made with any type of stock in which one dipped “pieces or slices of bread”. He also explained that most of the time, the stock was prepared with beef, but there were soups of cream, of almonds or any type of roast. Both Bluteau and the cook Domingos Rodrigues mention various types of soup, which it appears were popular in the Modern era: golden soup, cream soup, honey soup, milk soup (panis in latte inbutus).40 The ingredients in the soups and gruels certainly varied according to the seasons for each product, the economic capacity and the type of life, rural or urban, of the consumers. After all, the food was strongly linked to the social and economic condition of the people, as we have already observed in the cases of manioc, corn and rice.

Thus, if the recipes for soups prepared for the elite and offered by royal cooks had different types of

meat, in those destined for the tables of the poor the only ingredients available would probably have been onion, a little kale or turnip or a root vegetable. We see that cereals were an important part of meals in the period studied, and in the case of soups and gruel, were always used to thicken the broth to the desired consistency. In the case of traveling plants, especially corn, Ferrão observed that the chronicler Gabriel Soares, writing in 1587, said that the Brazilian indians ate corn roasted, but they also consumed “canjica” (sweet corn pudding), the broths and gruels (and porridge), and its use would have been much more diversified among the Portuguese colonials in America.41 Regarding Brazilian plants in the preparation of soups and paps (gruel, porridge, grits etc.) their participation seems to have been modest. In the recipes offered by Domingos Rodrigues, a good soup should contain one or more types of meat and little vegetables. Apart from the cereals and tubers already mentioned (corn, rice, manioc and sweet potato) we can mention a few more vegetables such as beans and some type of pumpkin. Both were plants that included various species, but it is believed that some were introduced in Europe early on by the Spanish and Portuguese, as in the case of the pumpkin (Cucurbitacea sp.)42 which it is believed originated in the Americas.

As for beans, the name is used for many seeds of plants of different genera. The ‘common bean’ (Phaesolus vulgarus), however, “is undeniably of American origin, and was introduced into Europe in early times, where it modified profoundly the eating habits of the rural populations, competing with the broad bean, peas and lentils, already much used”.43 In Portuguese America, the bean became a staple diet along with flour (manioc or cornmeal).

In Portuguese cooking at the time, there was also an important group of plants that was used in many different dishes – the seasoning. Among these the Eastern spices stand out, and the herbs from the Amazon ‘sertão’. The new art of cooking, proposed by Lucas Rigaud consisted, among other things in a less seasoned culinary art. The author condemned the work of his Portuguese colleague of the 17th century for the excess of spices in the savory dishes (nutmeg, cinnamon, clove and sugar), but did not hesitate to use pepper in a large number of his meat recipes. Pepper arrived in Lisbon from the Eastern colonies, but grew abundantly also in the West.

Jesuit João Daniel, with a profound knowledge of the Amazon, where he lived in the first half of the 18th century, bequeathed us a work full of details on the flora and fauna of this region.44 Regarding pepper, he wrote that the Indian species was not cultivated in the Amazon, supposedly because of State regulations, “so that India would not lose its esteem”, and for this reason “had the plants uprooted, as there was already plenty in Portuguese America, where it grows easily and in much abundance.” The comment suggests that some types of Indian pepper were already acclimatized in Brazil. There were however many other species, which for the same author “not only substitute, but are better than the ordinary”. As for “long pepper”, which he says “also comes from India” and was much used in the pharmacies of Maranhão and Amazonas, he said “it grew like a

weed”. All this without mentioning malagueta pepper, which was better liked in the Amazon and which all cultivated for domestic use. In the kitchen, according to the Jesuit, there was no delicacy or soup that did not include it. He also said that malagueta opened the appetite and improved the stews.45 João Daniel’s descriptions are evidence of the exchange of Portuguese, oriental and indigenous plants, which had become so inter-mixed that it was almost impossible to decide on their origins.46 In terms of seasoning, however, the plant of greatest evidence and transforming impact on food in the Modern era was sugar cane, which traveled as an “eastern plant” to the Americas, and from here to the rest of the world as Brazilian sugar.

Sweets, Fruit, and Drinks Up to the 15th century, sugar was a rare product and used little in the kitchen. Considered in general an ingredient for pharmacy, it was reserved for the sick and used in the preparation of medicines or conserved fruit for medicinal use. In the culinary recipes at the end of the Middle Ages and start of the Modern, sugar was used as seasoning and as a spice, associated with meat dishes or soups. The most common sweetener was honey, used in the making of biscuits, milk pasties and sponge cake, as well as the so-called ‘fartes’ a sort of sweet ball made with flour, spices and honey) and also in sweets with eggs (‘canudos’ and ‘ovos de laço’). In Portugal, “only as of the renaissance, but especially the 17th and 18th centuries, the famed national sweet industry developed”.47 This was certainly based on sugar produced in Brazil and extracted from sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum L.).

The spread of sugar cane transformed the Renaissance into the “era of sweet delicacies”. In the book Théatre de l’Univers, the geographer Ortelius (1572) detected the change that was occurring in relation to the use of sugar on commenting: “While in the old days one only found sugar in the pharmacies, where it was kept for treating the sick, today it is devoured with greed [...]. What was yesterday a medicine, today is for gluttons”.48

Similarly, the expansion of sugar cane planting in the northeast of Brazil, and later in other captaincies, played a significant role in its diffusion worldwide. This colonial product, with multiple uses and functions, revolutionized the food chain, and substituted honey as a condiment, medicine and preservative. An essential food, initially considered a luxury, and which became a need, even among society’s lower classes.51 In Portugal, Brazilian sugar stimulated the development of the sweet food industry (in the convents as well as professional), which eventually transformed the sweet sector into the most traditional and original of the Portuguese kitchen.52 Thus while in Italy and France sugar made its triumphant appearance in the second half of the 17th century, and patisserie showed a tendency toward refinement”,53 in Portugal, by that time, sweetmeats had been an obligatory presence in cooking for nearly a century. The tables of sweetmeats, prepared luxuriously as a highlight at the end of the banquets, were part of the service protocol at the King’s palace.54 In the 17th century menus suggested by Domingos Rodrigues, all types of sweetmeats are represented (made of eggs, fruit and milk). What is clear, however, is that the sweets were generally offered at the end of the meals, before the fruit. I say generally, because besides the sweets being absent from the ordinary menus offered by the royal cook, they could also be offered between the sweet and savory dishes, between courses. The sources of the time also mention the consumption of sweets in certain secondary meals, such as snacks, or light meals.55 In any way, independent of the moment it was offered, one observes that the sweet, since the start, occupied a position that distinguished it from common or even daily food.

In Portuguese America, the habit of eating sweet things made with sugar dates from the 16th century.

Gabriel Soares de Sousa, for example, commented in 1587: The pumpkins [...] from which are made many preserves, [...] the cashews [...] they make a preserve with the cashew, which is very smooth. [...] the cashew nuts [...] from these nuts the women make all sorts of sweet preserves which they also make with almonds, which has a pleasant flavor.

The pacovas [...] from which they make sufferable

The plant and the manufacturing techniques for this precious product were taken from the East to the Mediterranean, and later to the Iberian Peninsula by the Arabs. They were also responsible for its development in medicine, in cooking and making confections. It was the Chinese, however, who first experimented in transforming the juice from the cane into solid sugar.49 Even with the expansion of sugar production in the Mediterranean (Morocco and Sicily) and later in the Atlantic islands and Brazil, sugar would not lose its therapeutic value, and was eventually also associated to the other products derived from sugar cane, such as molasses and ‘aguardente’, as well as food products manufactured with sugar: confections and fruit preserves.50 These latter can always be found in Portuguese recipes, allying the fruit with the sugar’s power of conservation.

The consumption of sweets increased in Europe in proportion to the growth in sugar production in the Portuguese Empire, and it became less costly.

marmalade [...]; the peanut, promoted to fruit, is used by the Portuguese women to make all sorts of sweet things, which they make with almonds, and they cut them and cover them with sugar for mixing with the other sweet delicacies.56

One notes in this comment the need for the first colonials to make use of the local products to increment their daily nutrition, trying to use the different ingredients to prepare dishes similar to those they were used to in their home country. In this kitchen, transformed into an experimental laboratory, they attempted to find the forms, consistency and flavors they knew, to maintain the permanence of alimentary structure and the Portuguese way of cooking. There was also however a concern in identifying the characteristics of the unknown but available products, with a view to continuing the nutritional practices and the care of the body. The habit and the need to eat sweet food continued over the following centuries and invaded the table of the different sectors of society.57

In the intense culinary exchange that existed in the making of confectionary, apart from sugar cane, one notes that other plants were involved, especially those that produce fruit, much used in ‘compotes’ and preserves, like the cashew tree (Anacardium occidentale L.) and the pineapple (Ananas comosus L.), or aromatic fruit such as vanilla. This is a liana from Central America, abundant in Mexico and discovered by the Spanish in the 16th century. It belongs to the orchid family and produces a fruit that looks a bit like a “runner bean” and only emits fragrance when ripe.58 Father João Daniel commented that the trading in vanilla was very intense and that they “were valuable in themselves” and not just for the medicinal balm extracted from them.59 The peanut plant (Arachis hypogea) was also used in confectionary. It is leguminous, native to South America, and was transported to Africa and India. The pineapple, also native to the South American continent, was already cultivated in pre-Columbian times, and was mentioned by the chroniclers, especially its shape, generally associated to the image of a crown.60 The pineapple was known in the Orient in the 16th century, but similarly to the passion fruit and many tropical fruit, the first news of it in Europe was towards the end of the 19th century, or beginning of the 20th, appearing in menus for special celebrations.61 Sugar was also associated to the so-called “new beverages” of the Modern era: coffee, tea and chocolate. This latter was produced from the fruit of the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao), a plant found growing wild in the north of Brazil, but also acclimatized through incentives from the Portuguese Crown, in Maranhão and Bahia, between the 17th and 18th centuries. The Portuguese transported cacao seedlings from Brazil to other parts of its empire, where they grew well, especially in West Africa, where today they are still one of Africa’s greatest agricultural treasures.

The Spanish were responsible for the introduction of chocolate in Europe – a drink made by the Mayas and Aztecs with the dried and grated seed of the cacao tree, and then diluted in hot or cold water. The Spanish learned to drink the ‘cocoa’ with the Amerindians, and on returning to Spain took with them not only the taste for the drink, but the techniques for its preparation. Apparently the ‘criolla’ women were great consumers of chocolate, as well as the clerics, who claimed that it did not break their fast.62 The acceptance of this new drink by the Spanish elite was practically immediate, being associated with luxury products and the privileged classes, a characteristic that it already had among the Amerindians, who considered it “the food of gods”.

The dissemination of knowledge regarding chocolate can be considered a typical example of how cultural practices are transformed through distinct forms of appropriation.63 Accompanying writings from the 16th and 18th centuries one can perceive that although technically the preparation of the paste made with cacao (first stage in the making of the drink) has been little modified in this period, the ways of consuming chocolate passed through significant changes, incorporating other products such as sugar, vanilla, cinnamon or pepper, depending on the situation and the culinary and gustatory repertoires of their

consumers. Apart from this, a set of different utensils was introduced in the ritual surrounding its consumption, such as goblets, kettles, cups and plates. It is also true that the circulation of stories about chocolate included its curative attributes and other benefits claimed by the indians were assimilated and amplified in the Old continent.

Consumption of chocolate was recommended on rising, for snacks, at night, before sleeping, in fact all the time.

The commercial interest of the kings of Portugal in encouraging the production of cacao in Brazil is therefore very understandable. The stories about its cultivation however are controversial. It seems clear that some of the experiments conducted in the 17th century must have had some effect, because part of the cacao consumed in Portugal in the 18th century was imported from its American colony. The manuscript gazettes that circulated in the capital, in the first half of this century, reported the arrival of ships from Maranhão loaded with cacao and chocolate. The diary of the Count of Ericeira of December 5, 1730, for instance, mentioned the arrival of a ship from that port with 28,000 ‘arrobas’ (around 15kg) of cacao and other goods.64 In the Costa Mattoso ‘codex’ on the other hand, a memorandum about the province of GrãoPará referred to the cargo of five ships that sailed in 1749 from Maranhão and Grão-Pará to Portugal, containing 148 ‘arrobas’ and 19 ‘arrateis’ of cacao and two ‘arrobas’ of chocolate.65 So the American colony supplied not only the raw material to make the drink (cacao, sugar and vanilla), but also the chocolate paste already prepared.

Recipes with chocolate however appear very seldom in the Portuguese cook books until the end of the 18th century. Domingos Rodrigues offered only one chocolate recipe in the sweets section, but this suggestively came after a recipe for ‘florada’ (flower water), indicating perhaps that it could be used to make a drink, or even as a complement to another recipe. The cook, however, recommended the addition of “eight vanillas crushed and strained”.66 Lucas Rigaud, on the other hand, described the procedures for making a chocolate preserve “without the addition of vanilla and with sugar in the thread stage”.67 In the section of the book dealing with creams, there is a recipe entitled “vanilla, chocolate and coffee creams”.

This shows that for the French cook, in both cases he was not dealing with a drink, but with sweet desserts made with chocolate. A change that would become more pronounced in the following century.

With regard to Portuguese-Brazilian sweets and drinks (liquors), other native and acclimatized plants can be mentioned, such as ‘jabuticaba’ and passion fruit, as well as the “Brazilian” cinnamon and cloves, the two latter appreciated due to their similarity to their aromatic eastern equivalents. As for coffee, a drink that today is strongly associated with Brazil due to its position as the largest producer and exporter of the product, for a long time it was associated with the exotic products from the Orient. The coffee plant (Coffea arabica) is a bush from Ethiopea, whose seedlings circulated around Africa and the Middle East before arriving at Constantinople, where “Turkish coffee” became popular, sold in bars and cafés in the 16th century.

The beverage was introduced into France after chocolate, but was promoted to such an extent that

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in the 18 century, was sold in public markets, in taverns and in specialized places known as “cafés”.

The same thing happened in Britain and Germany and other countries.68 Coffee production started in Rio de Janeiro with the objective of attending to this growing consumer market, in the first decades of the 19th century, where the plant acclimatized perfectly. Coffee planting was so successful in Brazil that it eventually substituted sugar cane in economic importance. th

In the period studied, therefore, many plants traveled from Brazil to other countries, but the impact they had on the alimentary habits of the people that received them was not only unequal, but occurred in different times and rhythms. Some, initially refused, came to be accepted permanently, such as manioc in Africa. Others were used as a substitute in the baking of bread, especially corn.

Now cacao, or cocoa, with which the Mexican indigenous people concocted the “drink of the gods”, was quickly accepted by the most demanding palates. All these ‘traveling’ plants, without exception, widened consumer options, enriched the diets and satisfied the hunger of thousands of people. In the long run, they did not modify substantially the feeding habits of the countries in which they landed, often being processed using techniques developed centuries ago. Sugar was possibly the product that most altered worldwide diets, since its consumption was no longer occasional and superfluous, but became a necessity and indispensable to the diets of Europeans and other nationalities.

The motives for the acceptance of a particular food product are therefore multiple and diversified, for they cover economic, social and religious aspects, but repose above all in the variations of taste, which gave feeding habits a cultural identity. More than simply an individual experience, taste is a social product that comes from collective living, and which in the long run is transformed through contact with new products and new foodstuffs, as we have endeavored to show in this study.

1 Universidade Estadual de Campinas.

Researcher at CNPq. 2 Rodrigues, Domingos. 1987. Arte de cozinha.

Lisbon: Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda, p. 39.

3 Braudel, Ferdnand. 1998. Civilização material, economia e capitalismo, séculos XV-XVIII. As estruturas do cotidiano. Lisbon: Teorema, p. 143.

4 Montanari, Massimo. 2004. Il Cibo come cultura.

Roma: Laterza.

5 Algranti, Leila M. 2004. Os livros de receitas e a transmissão da arte luso-brasileira de fazer doces (séculos XVII XIX). In: Actas do II Seminário Internacional sobre a História do Açúcar. Funchal: Ceha, v. 1, p. 127-147.

6 Russell-Wood, A.J.R. 1998. O mundo em movimento – os portugueses na África, Ásia e América (1415-1808), transl. Lisbon: Difel, p.

243, 249 and 250.

7 Lima Reis, José Pedro de. 2008. Algumas notas para a história da alimentação em Portugal.

Porto: Campo das Letras, p. 135.

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8 Algranti, Leila M. 2013. Saberes culinários e a botica doméstica: beberagens, elixires e mezinhas no Império português. Saeculum 27:13-28.

9 Silveira, Estácio Simão da. (1619) 2001. Relação sumária das cousas do Maranhão dirigida aos pobres deste reino de Portugal. São Paulo: Siciliano, p. 48; Soares de Sousa, Gabriel.

(1587) 1971. Tratado descritivo do Brasil. São Paulo: Companhia Editora Nacional-Edusp, p.

172.

10 Montanari, Massimo. Op. cit., p. 144.

11 Mendes Ferrão, José & Loureiro, Rui Manuel.

2006. Plantas viajantes: o legado do Novo Mundo. In: Plantas viajantes, cores e sabores do Novo Mundo. [Catalogue of homonymus exhibition]. Coordinated by Rui Manuel Loureiro. Lagos: Centro Cultural de LagosCâmara Municipal, p. 17-64.

12 Câmara Cascudo, Luís da. 2004. História da alimentação no Brasil. São Paulo: Global, p. 90.

13 Amaral Lapa, José Roberto do. 1968. A Bahia e a Carreira da Índia. São Paulo: Companhia editora Nacional, p. 169-172.

14 Cardoso Correia, Patrícia. 2006. A mandioca: do Brasil para a costa ocidental africana (15501650). Master’s Thesis. Lisbon: Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa.

15 Cardoso, António. 1989. Os descobrimentos marítimos, as plantas e os animais. Lisbon: Academia da Marinha, p. 11.

16 Idem, p. 9-11.

17 Mendes Ferrão, José & Loureiro, Rui Manuel.

Op. cit., p. 52.

18 For Angolan food, see Costa e Silva, Alberto da.

2012. Imagens da África. São Paulo: PenguinCompanhia das Letras, p. 431-432.

19 On the introduction and incorporation of manioc in Africa, see the detailed study by Cardoso Correia, Patrícia. Op. cit.

20 Costa, José Paulo da. 1983. O milho e a sua cultura. Divulgação 16:4.

21 Idem, p. 6.

22 Link, Heinrich Friedrich. (1805). Voyage en Portugal depuis 1797 jusqu’en 1799. Paris: Levrault Schoel et Cie. Tomo 1, p. 409. Apud: Veloso, Carlos. 1992. A alimentação em Portugal no século XVIII no relato dos viajantes estrangeiros. Coimbra: Minerva.

23 Montanari, Massimo. Op. cit., p. 149.

24 Soares de Sousa, Gabriel. Op. cit., p. 190-202.

25 Basso, Rafaela. 2012. A cultura alimentar paulista: uma civilização do milho? (1650-1750).

Master’s thesis. Campinas: Unicamp, p. 41-53.

26 Cardoso, António. Op. cit., p. 12.

27 Mendes Ferrão, José & Loureiro, Rui Manuel.

Op. cit., p. 22.

28 Idem, p. 29-31.

29 Apud Mendes Ferrão, José & Loureiro, Rui Manuel. Op. cit., p. 31.

30 Amorim, Roby. 1987. Da mão à boca: para uma história da alimentação em Portugal. Lisbon: Salamandra, p. 106.

31 Cardoso, António. Op. cit., p. 17.

32 Rodrigues, Domingos. Op. cit., p. 54, 141, 126.

33 Rigaud, Lucas. 1999. Cozinheiro moderno ou nova arte de cozinha. Sintra: Colares.

34 IANTT, Ministério do Reino, livro 433: Decreto de D. José de 1765 sobre a Ucharia Real – Tabela que havia na Ucharia Real e Tabela que havia na Cozinha de Sua Majestade, fols.

16-20v.

35 Arquivo Público do Estado do Maranhão, Secretaria do Governo, F.1, S.1; Ss.2.

Correspondência do Governador com a Metrópole, D. Diogo de Souza para D. Rodrigo de Souza Coutinho, 1800, Livro 285, fls. 92v-93 e fl. 143v.

36 According to Carlos Veloso, as of 1760, the Companhia Geral do Grão-Pará e Maranhão had a fleet of 13 ships, and in 18 years made 180 voyages in which rice had a prominent place. See: A alimentação em Portugal no século XVIII no relato dos viajantes estrangeiros.

Coimbra: Minerva, p. 58-59.

37 1889. Novíssima arte de cozinha por um mestre de cozinha. Lisbon: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p.

76, 87, 289.

38 Amorim, Roby. Op. cit., p. 31.

39 Rosenberger, Bernard. 1998. A cozinha árabe e sua contribuição à cozinha europeia. In: Flandrin, Jean Louis & Montanari, Massimo.

História da alimentação, trad. São Paulo: Estação Liberdade, p. 350-351.

40 Bluteau, Raphael. (1728). Vocabulário Portuguez & Latino. Available at http://www.brasiliana. usp.br/en/dicionario/1/sopa. Acessed in 24/08/2013.

41 Ferrão & Loureiro. Op. cit., p. 53.

42 Mendes Ferrão, José. 1986. Transplantação de plantas de continentes para continentes no século XVI. In: História e desenvolvimento da ciência em Portugal. [Publications of the 2nd centenary of the Academy of Sciences in Lisbon]. Lisbon: Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, volume II, p. 40.

43 Idem, p. 42.

44 On João Daniel and the various types of pepper see Algranti, Leila Mezan. 2012. As especiarias na cozinha e na botica: notas sobre o intercâmbio de plantas e sementes com fins alimentares e medicinais no império português. In: Almeida, Suely Creusa Cordeiro de; Ribeiro, Marília de Azambuja; Silva, Gian Carlo de Melo (org.). Cultura e sociabilidades no mundo atlântico. Recife: UFPE, p. 485-500.

45 Malagueta pepper to which Daniel refers is also known as piri-piri (Capsicum frutescens).

46 Daniel, João. 1975. Tesouro descoberto no máximo Amazonas. In: Anais da Biblioteca Nacional 95(1): 413.

47 For food in Portugal in the Middle Ages, see Oliveira Marques, A.A H. De. 1964. A sociedade medieval portuguesa. Lisbon: Sá da Costa, especially the chapter “À mesa”, p.15.

48 Apud Proença, Maria. Foreword to the reedition of Ribeiro, Emanuel. 1997. O doce nunca amargou... doçaria portuguesa, história, decoração, receituário. Sintra: Colares, p. 20-21.

49 Nunes, Naidea. 2003. Palavras doces – terminologia e tecnologia históricas e actuais da cultura açucareira: do Mediterrâneo ao Atlântico.

Funchal: Centro de Estudos de História do Atlântico, p. 15.

50 Algranti, Leila Mezan. 2005. Alimentação, saúde e sociabilidade: a arte de conservar e confeitar os frutos (séculos XV-XVIII). História.

Questões e Debates 42:33-52.

51 Mintz, Sidney. 1997. Time, Sugar and Sweetness. In: Cougnihan, Carole & Van Esterik, Penny. Food and Culture – a reader.

New York-London: Routledge, p. 359-360.

52 Ferro, João Pedro. 1996. Arqueologia dos hábitos alimentares. Lisbon: Dom Quixote, p. 55.

53 Perrie-Robert, Annie & Bernardin, Marie-Paule.

1999. Le Grand Livre du Sucre. Paris: Solar, p.

115-116.

54 ANTT, MNE, Livro 148. Cerimonial que se praticou na hospedagem e audiências públicas do conde de Bachi, embaixador Del Rey de França [...].

55 Câmara Cascudo, Luís da. Op. cit., vol. 2, p. 309.

56 Cf. Soares de Sousa, Gabriel. Op. cit., p. 190-202.

57 For more information on sweetmeats in Portugal and Portuguese America, see: Algranti, Leila M. 2005. Os doces na culinária luso-brasileira: da cozinha dos conventos à cozinha da casa brasileira séculos XVII a XIX. In: Anais de História de Além-Mar. Lisbon: Cham, vol. VI, p. 139-158.

58 Pelt, Jean-Marie. 2003. Especiarias e ervas aromáticas, trad. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar, p.

126-127.

59 Daniel, João. Op. cit., tomo 1, p. 392.

60 Mendes Ferrão, J.E. 1993. Especiarias – cultura, tecnologia, comércio. Lisbon: Biblioteca Nacional, p. 25.

61 Drummond Braga, Isabel. 2007. A herança das Américas em Portugal. Lisbon: CTT Correios de Portugal, p. 117-119 and p.125-129. By the same author on the circulation of Brazilian plants, see: 2010. Sabores do Brasil em Portugal.

São Paulo: Senac.

62 Algranti, Leila M. 2009. Bebida dos deuses: técnicas de fabricação e utilidades do chocolate no império português. In: Algranti, Leila Mezan & Megiani, Ana Paula (org.). O Império por escrito – formas de transmissão da cultura letrada no mundo ibérico séculos XVI-XIX. 1st ed. São Paulo: Alameda, p. 403-427.

63 Hernandez de Oviedo, Gonçalo. 1535. História General y Natural de las Índias. In: Early Modern Spain Index of Electronic Texts, Part 1, Book 8, Chapter XXX: Del árbol llamado cacao e algunos lê llamam cacaguate, e su fructa e bebraje e aceite; Dufour, Philippe Silvestre.

1685. Traitez nouveaux et curieux du café, du thé et du chocolat. The Hague: Adrian Moetjens; Blegny, Nicolas. 1687. Le bon usage du the, du caffé et du chocolat pour la preservation & pour la guerison des maladies. Lyon: Thomas Amaulry.

64 Lisboa, João Luís; Reis Miranda, Tiago C.P. dos & Olival, Fernanda. 2002. Gazetas Manuscritas da Biblioteca de Pública de Évora (1729-1731).

Lisbon: Colibri-CIDEHUS-EU-CHC-UNL, vol. 1, p. 89.

65 1749. Relação do cabedal e efeitos de que consta a carga dos 39 navios mercantes de que se compõe a frota de Pernambuco, comboiados pela nau de guerra Nossa Senhora da Lampadosa. Lisbon: Oficina de Pedro Ferreira.

66 Rodrigues, Domingos. Op. cit., p. 162.

67 Rigaud, Lucas. Op. cit., p. 299 and Novissima arte de cozinha. Op. cit., p. 280-281.

68 On the circulation of plants and the start of coffee consumption in Europe see: Huez de Lemps, Alain. As bebidas coloniais e a rápida expansão do açúcar. In: Flandrin, Jean Louis & Montanari, Massimo (org.). Op. cit., p. 611-614.

Native Plants, Colonial Indians: Uses and Appropriation of Portuguese American Flora Juciene Ricarte Apolinário1 Knowledge of plants constituted the principal source of European access to the American natural world. Since the first interethnic contacts, the Portuguese colonizers were impressed by the diversity of plants and the infinity of uses established for these plants by the indigenous people contacted in Portuguese America. However, the use of many plants by ethnic groups was criticized and condemned by people holding Christian beliefs, especially plants with magicalcurative properties.

Time eventually showed the colonizers the importance of the immense indigenous traditional knowledge in relation to plants originating from biomes as diverse as the Cerrado (savannah), Caatinga (dry backwoods), the Amazon or Atlantic forest. In fact, from the 18th century to the start of the 19th, the investigations of followers of Carl Linnaeus whose objective was the expansion of Natural History in the whole of Europe, especially the domination over the virtues of the plants and the ways to use them, were only possible with indigenous informants of different ethnic groups.2 The indigenous people, on sharing their cultural practices on Brazilian soil, established a store of experience in the routine handling of plants, due to the immediate necessities of their groups and of many non-indigenous people, who in the process of the conquest and occupation of their traditional villages, became dependent on these new habits in the use of nature.3 With respect to plants with curative properties, initially we cited alluciongenic (‘jurema’ and ‘coca’), purgatives (aloe), controllers of gastric disturbances (‘marcela’, boldu, lemongrass), anti-hemorrhage (quinine and ‘mastruz’), among other plants with numerous curative properties.

The indigenous pharmacopoeia, as already mentioned, also included ceremonial drugs and magic-curatives, the uses of some of which were disseminated in the western world, the best known being tobacco, ‘jurema’ (entheogen) and coca. Some of these plants were disapproved by the church, such as ‘jurema’, as the drink prepared with it took the Amerindians to a state in which they contacted “charmed beings”, considered by the Catholic Church as demons who diverted the conduct of the newly baptized. The Amerindians also knew a large variety of poisons (including curare and ‘timbó’vine), as well as tonics and stimulants, like ‘guaraná’ and ‘yerba-mate’, which eventually became common beverages in the west, and still are.

observers of nature, they managed to catalog, especially through their pajés (witchdoctors), the herbs that formed their extensive pharmacopoeia.

Along with the rituals, these herbs were considered ‘the wisdom of the jungle’ and because of them the pajés commanded respect among the families, and also as guardians of the magic formulae and spells to the benefit of their tribe.

Portuguese and Brazilian archives are full of documents that prove the colonial world incorporated the plants into their daily routine.

From the utilitarian point of view, from knowledge of the plants passed on by the Amerindians, for their medicinal or nutritional properties, wood, ropes, bark, resin, lianas, fibers, dye, among others, one perceives that the documents express different knowledge in dialog, harmony or conflict, resulting in a type of appropriation specific to the colonizer. On careful reading of the sources there emerges a universe of cultural practices and interethnic relations, in which the indians and the knowledge of plants have a central role. These cultural relations forged what historiography came to call the “colonial indians”.4

Indigenous People and Their Practical Relations with Nature in Contact with the PortugueseBrazilians With the arrival of the Europeans, indigenous knowledge of flora was spreading around Europe.

So the curious and the studious, especially missionaries such as the Jesuits, Franciscans and Carmelites, but also travelers and others, developed a growing interest in the properties and applications of the plants in daily use.

With regard to knowledge of native flora, the Tupi knew better than anyone how to use the benefits the plants offered them. Many of the chroniclers, travelers and missionaries, between the 16th and 19th centuries, recorded the diversity of plants and the indigenous knowledge regarding the procedures for extracting the natural properties for survival in the wild, as was reported by Jesuit priest Ascenso Gago concerning news from missions in the captaincy of Ceará, in a letter to father Alexandre de Gusmão, a provincial Jesuit.

Enthused, father Ascenso Gago writes that despite the long period without planting for subsistence in the Ibiapaba Mountain Range in the 17th century, they learned to survive with what nature provided, and in one of their experiences, climbing the above-mentioned mountain, with members of the recently contacted Tabajara tribe, they came across: a number of palm trees, the core of which (heart of palm) they eat, and we also ate as with a thin bark it can be eaten

With its enormous biodiversity, observed by the Europeans ever since the first reports on colonization, Brazil provided the indigenous people with the chance to use the most varied and complex medicinal plants, and still does. After hundreds of years as natives of the land, careful

for sustenance, and the fallen palm tree attracts insects like

The above excerpt from the document leads us to reflect on the extent of the initial interactive and improvised interethnic relations between the indigenous people and the colonizers, with different cultural agendas. Father Ascenso Gago’s narrative reveals processes of understanding and practices connected to the environment (Ibiapaba Mountain Range) in order to solve an immediate need – hunger – in face of a large mountainous region located on the borders of the Captaincies of Ceará and Piauí. At that time considered as Atlantic Forest, it contained rich tropical vegetation and a variety of fauna, but today is a transition zone made up of fragments of savannah, coconut plantations, Amazon forest and ‘caatinga’ (dry bush). This region of Atlantic Forest was familiar to the Tabajara indians, who knew how to make use of the local Ceará nature in the process of covering new territory, in over 200 years of migration from the banks of the River São Francisco. Father Ascenso Gago himself reports that the Tabajaras “crossing the ‘sertões’ of the River São Francisco and the River Ipiaugui, defending themselves with their weapons against the barbaric tribes that lived there, came to a stop in this Ibiapaba Mountain Range where they have been living for more than 200 years [...] according to the annals of their own memories...”.6 This document evokes a reality which was the capacity these indigenous groups had for adapting to the different Brazilian biomes. In face of their needs in the new environments, they started to experiment and sample the plants in the forests around their villages, choosing those that could be used, and those that could be included in their Amerindian cultural practices, also leaving a legacy of knowledge to the non-indigenous Europeans, with whom they had continuous contact.

Among cultures that meet, collide and join up together, one cannot exclude processes of cultural reconstruction and re-creation that were conducted by the indigenous people themselves in relation to the non-indigenous, mainly when we see the documentation that deals with their relations with nature. To provide the most immediate needs, individuals who developed in different cultural practices certainly manage to break with the divergences of “alterity” (cultural otherness). Thus the relations that the colonizers established with the indigenous people were determined by their interests in approximation, in strengthening the relations of exchange and in the establishment of agreements for war and peace.

In peace, missionaries like father Ascenso Gago learned with the indians how to extract from nature in the Ibiapaba Mountain Range what was necessary to survive. The father, of the Order of St. Ignatius, despite having survived thanks to the sustenance provided by the palm tree worms, emphasized that he had only eaten them “from necessity”.7

beetles, which as the palm tree rots or decomposes generate larvae, and these grow as large as a thumb. These larva and the heart of palm are a common food for the indians and through necessity we have eaten them [...].5

As has already been asserted, facing a complex diversity of ethnic groups within Brazilian territory, each ‘tribe’ had a distinct relationship with the environment in which it lived, and

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created its own utilitarian methods based on traditional wisdom. In this way they maintained understandings and practices in the use of the plants, such as ‘urucum’, in a different form depending on whether it is to be used for food, or for the practice of decorating the body for rituals, or to protect the body against insect bites.

But also as political symbology, since a large part of the indigenous groups or tribes used and use the red color of ‘urucum’ to reveal that they are ready for war. This can be verified in the travel diary of the governor and captain general of Goiás, João Manuel de Meneses, who on leaving the capital of Grão-Pará for Goiás on September 1st, 1799, traveled with an entourage on the Rivers Araguaia and Tocantins. On the first day, he went by canoe on the River Araguaia and soon came across an Apinajé indian.8 The governor at once started to write about the figure of the indian. One can see that the first time he looked at the Apinajé he saw something “strange”. The colonizer contemplated the “other” and only saw the strangeness, the exotic as part of nature, but not as a human being capable of knowledge and distinctive cultural practices.9 The governor thus wrote on October 5th, 1799: […] seeing an Apinajé savage, one sees this man only by his actions. He looks horrible and in his lower lip has a disc with a diameter of six lines and a length of two inches, the ear lobes so open that they hold a plug of light wood with a radius of one inch, he is naked, and in one hand has a gourd which he uses as a burina [indigenous instrument] and nearby is a bunch of feathers of various colors and in the other he holds a bow with many arrows [...] all nude, some

men, women and children. He observed that some of them had lip discs and most of them had openings in their earlobes. The guide stayed with the Apinajé and his family, and the following day returned to the captain-general and his entourage bringing presents from the indians such as fruit from the savannah. In return, the Portuguese gave them knives, razors and clothes.

With regard to the exchange of objects with plant products from the indians, the colonizers insisted in emphasizing that the indians exchanged valuable articles with objects without any value, justifying that they were “innocents”, “infantile” and “un-warrior-like”, which denotes an ethnocentric vision. Contrary to what they imagined, the exchange of goods favored the indians with circulation of new meanings, knowledge and powers contained in the Portuguese-Brazilian objects.14 Remembering the analyses made by Catherine V. Howard, the introduction of new assets in the indigenous universe modified their cultural practices, however, they were mediated by the social forms and by the cultural principles of the native ethnic groups.15 Acquiring objects from the colonizers and exchanging them for wild fruit and plants in general could be interpreted by the indians as a form of having control over these goods, which would give them dominion over the powers of the non-indigenous, to try to “pacify the whites”. For Manuela Carneiro da Cunha, “pacifying the whites” could be interpreted in various ways, such as situating the whites and

painted black with red lines, others red imitating cheetahs, with which some passersby are dressed, painted with

[...] their objects, in a view of the world, emptying them of

urucum [...].10

their aggressiveness, their evil, their lethality, domesticating them [...] but also to enter into new relationships with them

João Manuel de Meneses found this all so strange because what he saw was outside his mental and symbolic system, in other words his cultural practices, and he could not comprehend what he was seeing for the first time. Lip discs, marks and bodily paintings from ‘urucum’ seeds on the bodies of the Apinajés were denigrated by the “colonizing eye”.11 Edward Lopes explains that the problem of who sees is that of reading the difference. This difference will be read in the confrontation of the narrator’s “own body”, covered and signified by the eurocentric systems of values, with the “other’s body”, which was interpreted according to the values of its ethnic group.12 However, what really interested the governor of Goiás and called his attention was the cultural practice, which he could describe as he perceived it: “certain body paint that they extract from a fruit called ‘urucum’ which grows on a tree of a height of 15 to 20 palms [...] they say protects them from immense insects such as ‘carapanãs’, ‘mocoin’, ‘muruim’, ‘muriçocas’, ‘pium’ [...] for which the travelers use the remedies”, because otherwise while traveling along the River Araguaia they were persecuted by “flies of different sizes, similar to our mosquitos that bite [...] to the point of swelling and even dying [...]”.13 Returning to Dom Manuel’s stories, he describes how he made a great effort to persuade the interpreter to insist on maintaining contact with the Apinajé leader. The guide took the captaingeneral to the center of the indian village, and there they found around 500 people, including

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[...] in fact recruit them for their own continuity.16

For Marshal Sahlins, on including the universe within its own cultural scheme, a people opens a defined space in the reproduction of its immediate community to beings and things that are beyond it.

“Gods or enemies, ancestors or the like, of various forms, the others represent the condition needed for the existence of a society”.17 Reflecting on Sahlins, Bruce Albert asserts that, in the intense process of interethnic contact, the indigenous people “have, necessarily, to pass through a process of redefinition of identity in which are reconstituted the traditional frontiers of otherness, destabilized by this encounter”.18

of plants appear in a ritual moment of cosmology of contact in which the ethnicities are put to the proof, with the occurrence of mutual resignificance and learning in the relations with nature, and between culturally different human beings.

Faith Healers, Plants and Indigenous Agencies Under Denial of the Colonizer The indigenous people always knew how to construct a symbolic relationship with nature and all its potential magical-curatives. They held traditional knowledge passed down from the ancients, witchdoctors and shamans as a veritable encyclopedia of herbs, lianas, bark, fruit seeds and many other plant substances found in the various Brazilian forests.

During the colonial period indigenous wisdom in the use of plants with magic-curative properties presented some structural elements, such as ritual models often kept under the power of traditional knowledge of their religious leader, the pajé (witchdoctor) or shaman. However, they continued to practice their beliefs and ancestral rites, preferably far from the vigilant eye of the non-indigenous.

Regarding the rituals of the amerindians, the most popular were ceremonies with dancing and singing, and drinking (beverages made with manioc, jurema and cashew, among other plants), with smoking and trances, for which the pajé was the leader with his ancestral knowledge. It was through these magic-curative cultural practices full of symbolic powers that the indigenous people remained linked to their ethnicities. The catholic priests tried to combat the rituals coordinated by the ‘pajés’ and the use of plants, and demonize them, interpreting them in the sense of “sorcerers and idolaters”, represented by the European culture and its inquisitorial prohibitions.21 Ronaldo Vainfas discusses the shamanic practices of the amerindians, denominated by the colonizers as idolatry and witchcraft: [...] a complex phenomenon, which surpasses the merely religious dominion that the colonial suggested, idolatry can also be seen as an expression of social and cultural resistance of the amerindians in face of colonialism. Conceived more widely as a historical-cultural phenomenon of indian resistance or renewal of ancient rites and beliefs mixed up with the social struggle, with a search for an identity more

Continuing his journey down the River Araguaia, the governor and his companions came across a Karajá village (Ynã people). They were invited to visit the village at the time of the ritual called “Suraué” and some Apinayé indians who were accompanying the governor’s caravan were invited to take part in the Ynã people’s festivities. Some of the indigenous and some non-indigenous were adorned and painted with ‘urucum’. The indians danced in a circular arena in which they positioned “men on one side and women on the other, eating wild fruit and a certain manioc crushed with coconut and ‘urucum’”19 and this went on all night. They also offered to the nonindigenous “manioc and pineapple [...]”.20 Thus the cultural exchanges occurred on the interethnic frontiers on the banks of the River Araguaia in a savannah landscape. And once again the differences in flavors and knowledge of the uses

shattered with colonialism, with the restructuring or renewal of relations of power, and also with certain strategies of survival in the indians’ plan of material life.22

With a new meaning to their indigenous cultural practices in the new system, which classified them as “colonial indians”, the ‘pajés’ continued as religious leaders, in spite of having to adjust to new situations, introducing into their rites elements of Christianity. These mutations were “necessary to their own survival, also guaranteeing the ‘indigenous sorcerers’, despite all the hardships, the function of mediators of the sacred”,23 and the knowledge of plants with magic-curative properties.

As an example, we can cite the investigation into the use of jurema as a hallucinogen used in the rituals of the Tarairiú, Xukuru and Kanidé tribes,

located in the Captaincy of Paraíba. The ritual involving the use of the plant jurema was interpreted by a visiting priest, attached to the Bishopric of Pernambuco, as the continuation of diabolic influences in the region of the sertão, especially in Aldeamento de Boa Vista, in the Mamanguape region under the care of the Carmelitas Descalços (Barefoot Carmelites).24 The visitators and the King’s vassals not only confirmed that the “devil” was imprinted on the bodies of the Xukurú and Kanidé, but was also present in their practices of the use of certain herbs, including ‘jurema’, capable of having diverted some of the Carmelites who had started to adopt the beliefs of certain “indian sorcerers”25 and to use their medicinal herbs, provoking criticisms and complaints from members of the Church and the Colonial Administration. They told about indian sorcerers who “transformed them until they appear to be dead, and when they imbibe the drinks, they tell of visions the devil brings to them, or the spirits take them to parts they later describe”.26 It was the ‘Tarairiú sorcerers’27 (‘pajé’) who knew, and know, the destinations of the spirits of “relatives” after death, and it was they, among the indigenous people of the Captaincy of Pernambuco and neighbors, who knew the secrets of the Caatinga biome and later the Atlantic Forest, and especially the plants that cured and induced the state of trance with special leaves with magicalcurative properties. Through drinking potions, they conducted their rituals that took the amerindians Tarairiú to their ancestral spirits and these latter would advise the virtues of the herbs.

As Mário Ypiranga Monteiro said, to be powerful the ‘pajé’ needed to have plenty of stamina, familiarize himself with the spells of the air, water and earth, Keep a practical knowledge of the resolute function of the plants that he uses or that he recommends, of the curative merit of barks, resins, roots, shoots, sap, leaves, branches, pulp, buds, flowers, tubers, and what is important in the vegetable world in terms of eventual solution of human physical and psychic ailments [...].28

Constructing a cosmology of contact, the Tarairiú ‘pajés’ passed some of their phytotherapeutic and magical knowledge of the plants to the Carmelite missionaries of the Village of Boa Vista. This is clear from the narratives of the captain-in-charge of Paraíba, on affirming that, apart from the amerindians, investigations and punishments should be made by the visitators to “clerics and friars, who are also using the sorcerers and their herbs for their cures”.29 This information illustrates the degree of interethnic relations taking place in the region of the ‘sertões’, at the same time that these were provoking strong waves of concern in the Catholic Church – not only did they join the indian rituals, considered witchcraft, as mentioned before, but also the sinful practices which they should have been opposing and suppressing, as they encountered catholic territories disposed to adapt to such “diabolical indigenous” beliefs.30 What occurred in the Village of Boa Vista is what Frederik Barth said, that is – the exacerbation of “ethnic identities” considering that the ethnicity resulting from the relation with another ethnic, is put to the test as to the virtue of acceptance,

reciprocity and/or rejection.31 Ethnicity is therefore dynamic and assumes characteristics determined as a function of negotiable and conflicting relations situated in events, such as what occurred in Mamanguape between Carmelite missionaries, the Tarairiú ‘pajés’, and the relation of these individuals with nature and the use of a particular plant with magical-curative power, such as ‘jurema’.

In the indian village of Boa Vista, Kanindé and Xukuru, belonging to the linguistic family Tarairiú, were taught the catholic doctrine by Barefoot Carmelites, designated to practice together with those people, the missionary ideal that finally legitimized the colonial project. However, what led to the structuring of an investigation was much more the cultural exchanges in the use of herbs between the indigenous and the missionaries. In other words, Carmelites sharing the “diabolic” indigenous practices, based on the plants.

The eight religious leaders of Tarairiú were accused and, in the presence of the visitator and their relatives, were violently beaten, and they died within a few days. This episode almost provoked a rising of the Tarairiú in the village of Boa Vista. If up to that moment the religious leaders of the Tarairiú had constructed a political culture of pacific and respectable conviviality with the Carmelites, from then on the relations would be of mistrust and conflict, even if common exchanges of knowledge and habits continued.

Indigenous Virtues of Plants and Intrusions by the Naturalist Vassals in the Interests of the King From the second half of the 18th century to the start of the 19th, the knowledge of the indigenous people of Portuguese America was increasingly scrutinized by the naturalist vassals and doctors/ pharmacists of the captaincies. As Henrique Carneiro said, the actions of observing the plants and pursuing the indians’ knowledge of their virtues, especially curative, were “challenges more stimulating for Natural History, which always worked to enlarge its dominion” over the nature of the extensive territories between the coast and the ‘sertão’ or hinterland.32 For this, as of the second half of the 18th century, various instructions were issued to all the governors and captains-general of the captaincies of Brazil, Grão-Pará and Maranhão, to collect, package and send to the Kingdom on account of the Royal Exchequer: [...] all and any plants, that are natural to the Country, principally those that have some medical or economic use, transporting such plants alive, and packed in crates that are full of the same quality of soil as that from where they are taken, and each shipment accompanied by a List in which are declared not only the common name of each Plant, but

Portuguese-Brazilian science of the era faced the challenge of implementing a policy of establishing and divulging reliable information on nature and on the Brazilian population and other colonies, that would serve to increase control by the State, even with the possible risks in relation to competition from the major European colonial powers.34

In the second half of the 18th century, a distinctive figure appeared in the studies on plants from Portuguese America, especially with regard to the Captaincy of Bahia, but who had little reference in the works on history of sciences in the context of the Portuguese colonial Empire between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th, and this was Lt Colonel Domingos Alves Branco Muniz Barreto of the Auxiliary Cavalry Regiment of the Captaincy of Bahia. As a man of his time, he was influenced by the enlightened repertoire, dealing with problems from natural history (scientific aspects such as agriculture, botany, mineralogy, forest conservation, predatory fishing) to political discussions, such as the indigenous question with special emphasis on Plano sobre a civilização dos índios do Brasil (Plan for civilization of the Brazilian indians).35 Muniz Barreto, Captain and Governor of the Morro de São Paulo Fort, traveled in the interior of the district of Ilhéus and north of the Captaincy of Bahia. In his experience as a “sort of naturalist” he produced two important documents. The first, entitled “Notícia da viagem e jornadas que fêz o capitão Domingos Alves Branco Muniz Barreto entre os índios sublevados nas Vilas e Aldeias das comarcas dos Ilhéus, e Norte na Capitania da Bahia”, and the second, “Relação que contem a descrição de uma diminuta parte da Comarca dos Ilhéus na capitania da Bahia, por onde andei viajei, e do que nela observei”.36 These two documents are rich in information regarding the uses of herbs by the indigenous people. In fact, Domingos Alves, hopeful that the rebellious amerindians would return to the villages in Ilhéus, acted as a naturalist and made contact with those with knowledge of the herbs of the local biome. So that “the indians didn’t become desperately timid or anxious, I told them that my objective was to make some observations on the natural history of that rich district”.37 He also reiterates that he insisted on spreading around the district that he had come “[...] to search the sea coast for natural objects, and examine the medicinal herbs, that were known to the indians, which I also put into practice to avoid mistrust”.38 Despite the main objective not being the survey and studies of plants in the region of Bahia in question, it is clear from the descriptions made by Domingos Alves that the plants were studied in great detail with the object of contributing with information on their medicinal uses. Describing his procedures for surveying plants that existed around the town of Santarém, he said:

also the place where it grew and the use and value it has.33 Here I sought out indians of advanced age, who for this

To this end, the King’s vassals plunged into the forests with the help of the natives, searching for samples of plants to satisfy the desires of the Portuguese Crown to obtain reliable information about nature. Among other things, they searched for the curative, and thus economic potential of the plants. To quote Lorelai Kury:

reason could not accompany me: and with much intelligence and experience of those herbs, these indians gave me affirmations, the truth of which was well tested, as one of the illustrations gave me the same names and properties that I remembered except with the difference that

In this statement, Barreto implies an aspect that is true of the great majority of indigenous groups – that the elders are the guardians of the traditional unwritten knowledge that favors the ethnic identities. As in the colonial period, today the traditional indigenous knowledge is passed down by the elders of the villages. The elders, teaching orally, tell stories of the ethnic group’s past, revealing and creating bonds between the young people and their ethnic history, which is extremely important for their re-appropriation of a wisdom they will benefit from.

Domingos Alves Branco Muniz Barreto’s work, listening to the elders of the Ilhéus indian villages, observing the plants, describing species, learning their properties, even if initially it was not the main objective, contributed to the circulation of indian knowledge in the Portuguese Court and to the structuring of the natural history in a period of effervescence in naturalist interest. Barreto’s descriptions of plants and their “virtues” learned with the indians reveal that while Portuguese official medicine was still extremely aggressive to the human organism, always provoking violent pain, the indigenous people used herbs with much better results in curing complex diseases such as what was called at the time “cankerous sores” (wounds or sores at a grave stage of infection), as told by Barreto:

captaincy, in the lack of necessary food and experience has shown that it is extremely substantial.44

The governor continues admiring the knowledge of quinine and advises that regarding the bark that in the Court is called American white quinine, “the indians recommend it as an infallible medicine for all qualities of fevers, to fortify the stomach and for roundworms”.45 In 1788, in the form of an exercise book, and with a method of explanation for beginners in the knowledge of medicinal herbs, the Court received Abecedário de várias ervas, raízes e frutos medicinais produzidas no Brasil, cidade da Paraíba do Norte e sua comarca das quais usam muitos nacionais nos seus curativos com aproveitamento pela saúde perdida [An ABC of various medicinal herbs, roots and fruit produced in Brazil, city of Paraíba do Norte and its district, of which many native plants are used in their cures to recover lost health]. This book on the virtues and uses of medicinal herbs was attached to the official document from the governor of the captaincy of Pernambuco, Dom Tomás José de Melo, of May 8, 1788, which said: [...] Continuing to inform Your Excellency about the same interesting object that was the captaincy of Alagoas, I respectfully send to Your Excellency the roots, herbs, bark and fruit used to cure some of the sicknesses, injuries, sores

Taking a day to venture into the forest with the indians, to

or bites used by the indians (our highlight) and other

ask them in passing some information on the wild fruit and

inhabitants of the captaincy of Paraíba do Norte. They go in

seeds [...] I found a mucuíba or bucuíba, which is the fruit in

three crates that take the varieties that are distinguished and

the ‘bocetas’ [small pouches] The first, which is rounder, the

known by their own names, except the potatoes which you

indians call ‘assu’, and the other, which is longer and more

only know by the fruit [...].46

oleaginous, ‘merim’. The oil, reduced to an ointment, is used to cure cankerous sores or those more rebellious.40

The captain’s experience and the rich descriptions of the diversity of plants found in Ilhéus, captaincy of Bahia, corroborate the declarations of anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, when he points out that the traditional knowledge of ethnic indigenous groups is and was connected to a “science of the concrete”.41 Thus, even if the indigenous people did not have dominion over abstract concepts, as is evident from the documentation used for this study, they are capable of dominating knowledge of species of plants, “much superior to that of scientific taxonomy”. And also “are able to discover curative virtues and psycho-activity of numerous plants”.42 This declaration is confirmed in the documents we surveyed in the Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino, digitized under the Barão do Rio Branco Recovery Project. During our research, we had access to important documents that were the result of investigations into the plants of the majority of captaincies in Portuguese America.

We shall highlight some of them that reveal the wealth of indigenous knowledge passed on to the naturalists, pharmacists, doctors and individuals chosen to survey the plants and trees to be sent to the King together with reports of their ‘virtues and uses by the natives’.43 Thus informs the governor and captain-general of Bahia, Dom Rodrigo José de Meneses, referring to the shipment to the Kingdom of samples of fructiferous and medicinal plants:

in some of them, by being more experienced increased their virtues [...].39

package is a fruit that they call ‘jaca’ (jackfruit), which is not of the largest, it serves as sustenance for the people of this

The ABC, the author of which is anonymous, was written in a pedagogic language. The explanations of the virtues of the plants are difficult to understand, as well as the information about how they should be used for the various sicknesses. The most noteworthy is the concern of the author in making it clear that the knowledge on the virtues of the plants and the ways to use them came from the indigenous people living in villages in the captaincy of Paraíba, including the Tupi, Kariri and Tarairiú who normally would be already reforming their cultural practices in the routine of that colonial society. Among the 61 plants from the captaincy of Paraíba chosen to compose the ABC, we highlight the following, since as this author is a great-grandchild of a Tarairiú indian woman from the Paraíba ‘sertão’, the curative virtues and ways of using the following plants were also passed down to her by her grandmother: ‘Barbatimão’: the bark of this tree if trodden, applied to any sore it cures it and the same bark is cooked and used to wash the wrinkles, and the same cooking is perfect for women to use on their private parts on the occasion of a birth. Bete: this herb cooked is good for baths taken often by the indians to cure pains in the body of any quality. ‘Cajarana’: the kernel of this tree scraped and put in cold water to drink is an effective remedy for diseases of the blood, and the indians say it has better effect if the same fruit are eaten.

‘Contraerva’: besides the effects it produces when mixed with other herbs and roots (today we call it ‘garrafada’) is an effective remedy against snake venom and against all malignant fevers. ‘Caroba’: its root put in water and cooked, and this is used to wash mens’ and women’s wounds and

There are three qualities of quinine in six papers. The first

heal them, as also with its powder. ‘Jurubeba’: its root cooked

two are quinine that are called in Portugal white quinine, in

and drunk in the morning as tea and together at night is an

Brazil, ‘cavaco de grem’, or ‘pão para tudo’ [...] In another

effective remedy to undue suffering in venereal men.47

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The reader who has access to the ABC in question, will observe the age-old wealth of indigenous knowledge of plants, and the cosmological relationship these same indigenous people constructed over time with the environment, whether in their original territories or in different biomes, as in the case of the Tarairiú. This latter ethnic group, previously located and settled in the Paraíba ‘sertão’, at the time of the creation of the ABC, had migrated under pressure to the indian villages on the coast, created under the Pombaline indigenous policies. The other indigenous tribes, Tarairiú and Kariri, previously living in the ‘sertão’, with their cultural magical-curative (faith-healing) skills based on the Caatinga vegetation, had to migrate to regions of Atlantic Forest on the coast of Paraíba. However, the new interethnic relations in the indian villages (formed of different ethnic groups), which were settled through the Pombaline policies of the second half of the 18th century, did not succeed in destroying the memories and knowledge of the men and women. On the contrary, as “colonial indians”, they passed their legacy of knowledge of plants and their uses to their relatives with different ethnicities, and learned many others with the non-indigenous, but never ceased to be amerindians, whether Tupi, Kariri or Tarairiú.

1 Universidade Federal de Campina Grande.

2 Carneiro, Henrique. 2011. O saber fitoterápico indígena e os naturalistas europeus. In: Fronteiras 13(23):13-32.

3 Marques, Vera Regina Beltrão. 1999. Natureza em boiões: medicinas e boticários no Brasil setecentista. Campinas: Unicamp, p. 70.

4 Using the concept of “colonial indian”, John Manoel Monteiro sees the process of conquest and expansion of Portuguese America as from the new indigenous history. He doesn’t write about the indians as romantic, or heroes, or subordinate, but the indian who knew how to create the relations necessary to his and his ethnic group’s permanence in colonial space.

The “colonial indian” put new meaning into his cultural practices in face of the Portuguese colonial project, but did not stop being indigenous, as he created new processes of identity. See Monteiro, John. 2001. Tupis, tapuias e historiadores. Estudos de história indígena e do indigenismo. Habilitation thesis.

Campinas: Unicamp, p. 1.

5 Consulta do Conselho Ultramarino ao Rei D. Pedro II, sobre a relação que fez o padre Ascengo Gago de várias notícias das missões do Ceará. 1696, December, 20, Lisbon, AHUCeará, cx. 1, doc. 42 and 47.

6 Consulta do Conselho Ultramarino. Op. cit.

AHU-Ceará, cx. 1, doc. 42 and 47.

7 Idem, AHU-Ceará, cx. 1, doc. 42 and 47.

8 The ethnic groups Timbira, Apinajé lived in the colonial period (and still live) in the region known as Bico do Papagaio. They occupied the region from the present town of Filadélfia to Araguatins in the State of Tocantins and also on the left bank of the River Araguaia, in the present State of Pará.

9 Lopes, Edward. 2000. Read “A diferença”. In: Barros, Diana Luz Pessoa. Os discursos do descobrimento: 500 e mais anos de discursos. São Paulo: Edusp-Fapesp, p. 13.

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10 Diário de viagem do governador e capitãogeneral de Goiás, D. João Manuel de Meneses, saindo da capital do Grão-Pará para a de Goiás.

AHU, ACL, CU, Livros de Goiás, 1772-1800, Cod. 1233,.

11 Apolinário, Juciene Ricarte. 2006. Os akroá e outros povos indígenas nas fronteiras do sertão.

Goiânia: Kelps.

12 Lopes. Op. cit., p. 15.

13 Op. cit. AHU, ACL, CU, Livros de Goiás, 17721800, Cod. 1233.

14 Howard, Catherine V. 2002. A domesticação das mercadorias. Estratégias Waiwi. In: Albert, Bruce; Ramos, Alcida Rita. Pacificando o branco.

Cosmologias do contato no norte amazônico. São Paulo: Unesp-Imprensa Oficial do Estado, p.

27.

15 Howard. Op. cit., p. 27.

16 Cunha, Manuela Carneiro. 2002. Foreword. In: Albert, Bruce; Ramos, Alcida Rita. Pacificando o branco. Cosmologias do contato no norte amazônico. Op. cit., p. 7.

17 Sahlins, Marshal. 1994. Ilhas de história. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar, p. 14.

18 Albert, Bruce. 2002. Introduction. In: Albert, Bruce & Ramos, Alcida Rita. Pacificando o branco: cosmologias do contato no norte amazônico.

Op. cit.

19 Op. cit. AHU, ACL, CU, Livros de Goiás, 17721800, Cod. 1233.

20 Idem, Cod. 1233.

21 Barros, Paulo Sérgio. 1988. Idolatrias, heresias, alianças: a resistência indígena no Ceará Colonial. In: Ethnos. Revista Brasileira de Ethnohistória 2(2):100.

22 Vainfas, Ronaldo. 1995. Heresias dos índios, catolicismo e rebeldia no Brasil colonial. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, p. 31.

23 Cruz, Carlos Henrique. 2012. O “Cristianismo selvagem”: pajelança e tentativas de reprodução autônoma do catolicismo pelos indígenas no universo colonial (XVI-XVIII).

Anais do IV Encontro Internacional de História Colonial. Belém: Universidade Federal do Pará, p. 35.

24 Apolinário, Juciene Ricarte; de Souza Freire, Gláucia. 2011. Denúncias e visitações ao território mítico da jurema. Relações de poder e violência entre representantes inquisitoriais e líderes religiosos Tarairiú na Paraíba setecentista. In: Anais do Simpósio Internacional de Estudos Inquisitoriais. Salvador: Universidade Federal da Bahia, p. 24.

25 Provisão do Rei D. João V, ao Capitão-mor da capitania da Paraíba. Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino, Códice 260, p. 276 v.

26 Carta do [governador da capitania de Pernambuco], Henrique Luís Pereira Freire de Andrada, ao Rei [D. João V]. 1741, julho, 1, Recife.; AHU_ACL_CU_015, Cx. 56, D. 4884.

27 Provisão de D. João V ao governador e capitãogeneral da capitania de Pernambuco. AHUACL-CU, Codex 260, leaf 282.

28 Monteiro, Mário Ypiranga. 1988. Plantas medicinais e suas virtudes. In: Suplemento Acta Amazonica 18(1-2):357.

29 Op. cit., AHU_ACL_CU_015, Cx. 56, D. 4884.

30 Apolinário, Juciene Ricarte; de Souza Freire, Gláucia. Op. cit., p. 25.

31 Barth, Frederik. 2000. O guru, o iniciador e outras variações antropológicas. Rio de Janeiro: Contracapa.

32 Carneiro, Henrique. 2011. O saber fitoterápico indígena e os naturalistas europeus. In: Fronteiras 13(23):13-32.

33 Ofício do governador da capitania de Pernambuco, D. Tomás José de Melo, ao secretário de estado dos Negócios Estrangeiros e da Guerra, Luís Pinto de Sousa Coutinho.

AHU_ACL_CU_015, Cx. 191, D. 13199.

34 Kury, Lorelai. 2004. Homens de ciência no Brasil: impérios coloniais e circulação de informações (1780-1810). Revista História, Ciências, Saúde Manguinhos 11(supl. 1):109-129, p. 111.

35 Plano sobre a civilização dos índios do Brasil e principalmente para a Capitania da Bahia, Cod. 1671, 52-VIII-35.

36 Barreto, Domingo Alves Branco Muniz. 2008.

O feliz clima do Brasil [editing and research: Anna Paula Martins]. Rio de Janeiro: Dantes, p.

18.

37 Idem, p. 18.

38 Idem, p. 19.

39 Idem, p. 70.

40 Manuscript 374/25, Série Azul. Biblioteca da Academia das Ciências de Lisboa.

41 Lévi-Srauss, Claude. 1989. O pensamento selvagem. Campinas: Papirus, p. 15.

42 Carneiro, Henrique. Op. cit., p. 26.

43 Ofício do governador e capitão-general da Bahia, D. Rodrigo José Meneses, referente à remessa para o Reino de amostras de arvores frutíferas e medicinais. AHU_ACL_CU 005, Cx 188, D.13924.

44 Idem, AHU_ACL_CU 005, Cx 188, D.13924.

45 Idem, D.13924.

46 Ofício do governador da capitania de Pernambuco. D. Tomás José de Melo, ao secretário de estado da Marinha e Ultramar, Martinho de Melo e Castro. Remetendo um abecedário sobre plantas medicinais. AHU_ ACL_CU_015, Cx 163, D. 11689.

47 Abecedário (anexo) de várias ervas, raízes e frutos medicinais produzidas no Brasil, cidade da Paraíba do Norte e sua comarca das quais usam muitos nacionais nos seus curativos com aproveitamento pela saúde perdida. AHU_ACL_ CU_015, Cx 163, D. 11689.

Plants Without Frontiers: Gardens, Books, and Travels 18th and 19th Centuries Colonial Gardens

Lorelai Kury1 The natural history of the Enlightened Century established an ambivalent relationship with the hot, tropical and sub-tropical climates. If on the one hand the heat and humidity were considered poison to the health of the body and soul, on the other there was always the hope that products with special and marvelous properties could be discovered in the forests, mountains and hills of the little known regions. Quinine, potato, cacao and corn (maize) originated in America. The immense American continent was being explored in search of riches already known and plants that had not yet been discovered by the more recent inhabitants of the New World.

South America and its imprecise and tense internal political frontiers has another type of frontier, the natural one, related to the different biomes. The north of the continent, including the Guianas, Venezuela, Colombia (New Granada), and the region of Rio Negro, Grão-Pará and Maranhão, formed a natural universe relatively homogeneous in the non-mountainous regions. The other political frontiers also ended up imposing themselves artificially on the natural, as in the case of Brazil’s west and southern regions. Even the flora of the Antilles was very similar to Brazilian flora. Many species native to Brazil – and much used by the population – were described by naturalists who visited neighboring regions, as in the case of Plumier, Labat, Feuillé, Ruiz and Pavón, Jacquin, and Bonpland. The natural circulation of the plants around the continents was a relevant question for men of science and also for administrators, such as governors, viceroys and ministers, for if a certain plant existed in the Americas, it could possibly be found or acclimated in Brazil.

The natural frontiers can be to a certain extent expanded. Agriculture, with the easing of extreme climatic conditions, and the creation of artificial environments, such as greenhouses, offered new possibilities to obtain plants from other climates.

These possibilities are, however, limited. One of the advantages of having colonies is the availability of lands situated in different geographic locations. As we know, many plants fully naturalized in Brazil of today originate from other continents, as for example sugar cane, mango and jack-fruit trees, coffee and star apples, among many others. Some of them entered Brazil via the botanical gardens, others were brought by the slave ships, traders and travelers. For naturalization to occur the new plant needs to find adequate conditions for its development. If not, it will always depend on the help of man to survive and reproduce. Because of the climatic affinities, they were destined to land up in the American continent and be incorporated into the daily life of the people. These same affinities acted in reverse, and many plants were transferred from the Americas to the Old World.

A little-known episode in the war between Napoleonic France and Prince Regent Dom João’s Portugal was the invasion of Cayenne, in 1809, by 500 ground troops led by Lt. Colonel Manuel Marques. The invasion was supported from the sea by an Anglo-Portuguese naval force.2 The region already had a residue of conflicts, principally due to the passage of slaves fleeing over the frontiers.3 Between 1794 and 1802, slavery had been abolished in all French territories. Slaves in Portuguese territory who succeeded in escaping to French Guiana were consequently free. Besides this, there were disputes over establishing frontiers, smuggling of merchandise and cases of spying.

However, an object that was at the heart of various disputes was the existence in Cayenne of cultivated plants from other continents, as well as improved varieties of flora. At the time the French had a network of botanical gardens spread around their colonies, centralized on the Jardin des Plantes, in Paris. The wealth of exotic plants in Cayenne was due initially to shipments by philosopher and colonial agent Pierre Poivre (1719-1786), Steward of the Isle de France and Bourbon (today Mauritius and Réunion). Poivre had a life full of tribulation and adventure. He was a missionary in China, worked for the French East India Company, and went to Indonesia and India. The Steward was the central person for the circulation of plants around the world, and succeeded in smuggling, mainly from the Dutch, various spices, which he planted in the Botanical Gardens of the Isle de France (Mauritius), also known as the Pamplemousse Botanical Garden, which he constructed. From there many plants were sent to other parts of the Indian Ocean, Africa and the Americas.

Philibert Commerson, who had traveled with Bougainville around the world, was one of the naturalists involved in the growing of useful plants implemented by Poivre. He helped the Steward to analyze, for example, the nutmegs and the cloves, which were being acclimated on the island. Poivre believed that if the habits of the plants were altered little by little, they would eventually adapt to entirely diverse conditions of life, with a type of evolutionist concept similar to that which would be systematized by Lamarck. These experiments did not give the expected results, as plants can only accept a major change in environment if crossed with other species. However, the garden kept by Poivre and some others in Europe and their colonies, experimented in the perfection of species, with seed selection, grafting, choice of appropriate soil, techniques of propagation.

Poivre is also recognized as being one of the few to establish an environmental policy in the modern era.4 Poivre, who could be classified among the physiocrats, attempted to implement in Mauritius a policy of preservation of the forests and replanting with a view to guaranteeing in the medium term the continuity of rational exploration of nature.

Cayenne was part of the network of French colonial gardens, without the brilliance of the islands of the Indian Ocean. The foundation and maintenance of Guiana had been extremely difficult because of the high rate of mortality among the troops and the French colonists sent there, hit mainly by yellow fever. Despite this, in 1773, Cayenne received saplings of nutmeg, clove and cinnamon from the island of Mauritius. The plants were cultivated in a garden called La Gabrielle. Another garden in Mont Baduel was also used to receive exotic plants. The results were not long coming, and in 1776 Guiana started to export cloves, as well as products already existent, like ‘urucum’, cotton, cacao and sugar.5 The botanical garden in Grão-Pará was created in 1798, on the orders of Dom Rodrigo de Souza Coutinho and with the collaboration of his brother, Dom Francisco de Souza Coutinho, Captain-General of the State of Grão-Pará and Rio Negro. At that time there were already exotic plants in the garden, such as breadfruit, clove and cinnamon, smuggled in from Cayenne. Efforts were concentrated also on the planting of indigenous species, such as the so-called “drugs of the sertão [wilderness]” and timber suitable for building ships.6 The action of the minister and his network of administrators and experts was intended to follow the example of other colonial empires, and establish connections between Brazilian gardens and those of the kingdom with other regions of the world.

In 1809, negotiations with the French predicted that the La Gabrielle garden would be conserved, or in other words, there was an attempt to prevent the mass confiscation of plants to Pará or to Portugal’s English allies.7 Despite the restrictions, Dom Rodrigo, who had become Minister of War, took advantage of the opportunity and transferred many of the spices planted in La Gabrielle, mainly the nutmeg, to the Pará botanical garden. At the end of 1809, the La Gabrielle administrator, naturalist Joseph Martin, sent 82 distinct species of plants to Belém (Pará), including star apple, breadfruit, nutmeg and “‘groselha’ from India”, and a variety of sugar cane more productive than that grown by the Portuguese Brazilians, called in Brazil Cayenne sugar cane.8 More than a decade after the garden in Belém, a garden was created in Olinda in 1811 with the objective of cultivating plants brought from Cayenne, to be distributed around Pernambuco, but also to be sent to Rio de Janeiro. In 1812, according to a list compiled by its first director, Father Montenegro, the plants acclimated in the garden included trees of clove, breadfruit, cinnamon, star apple, ‘bilimbi’ (star apple family), and custard apple, among many other exotic plants, many of them coming from La Gabrielle.9 The Olinda garden’s role as an intermediary location for plants coming from Belém and Cayenne, before being sent to Rio de Janeiro, can be verified from various documents of the time. During the whole time of Portuguese dominion over Guiana various shipments were made to the Brazilian gardens.

French, Portuguese and Portuguese-Americans were involved in the exchange of plants and seeds between the American gardens. Jerônimo Luís Ribeiro, director of the Olinda garden in 1818 and 1819, was given the post by reason of having worked for five years in Cayenne, as well as having traveled to other colonies, to America in the 1700s, and even to Europe. He indicated in his applications that he could contribute to the reactivation of exotic plant cultures in Olinda, which were in a state of semi-abandonment, and also suggested the possibility of sending to “the states of Brazil” a considerable number of useful plants, accompanied by 24 slaves “experienced in various branches of agriculture and rural economy”, who could pass their knowledge to those in charge of the plantations. Ribeiro’s list, besides clove, consisted of cinnamon, chili pepper and nutmeg, ‘cana roxa’ (Indian head ginger), star apple, various types of fruit, including the Maipure variety of pineapple, ‘jalapa’ (laxative potato) and possibly quassia amara (bitter-wood), these last two with medicinal properties.10 Plants from French colonies came not only from Cayenne. The estate on the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon in Rio de Janeiro, where there was a gunpowder factory and a garden, received a shipment of exotic plants from the Mauritius islands in 1809.

The story of this shipment was told by Luiz de Abreu in Notícia das plantas exóticas transplantadas da Ilha de França (News of Exotic plants transplanted from the Isle de France). The story tells of Abreu’s misfortunes on being made a prisoner of war on the Mauritius islands in 1808. In the following year, the Portuguese official was rescued and succeeded in bringing to Brazil various plants grown in the French colonial garden La Pamplemousse. Abreu gave an explicit account of his feat: I successfully negotiated with the Government for my getaway, [...] planning at the same time to steal from the colony, to enrich this State, some of the treasures, which MM De Poivre and Menonville, in 1770, had so often shown.

The project was daring [...] and the result very satisfactory, as I managed to take from the Royal Garden a large number of spice trees and exotic seeds.11

Some of the seedlings and seeds obtained by Abreu were cultivated in the garden by the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon. The head gardener, João Gomes da Silveira Mendonça, told that among many grown were nutmeg, camphor, cinnamon, clove and grapefruit trees. Abreu was also responsible for the introduction of tea plants, which he received from Macau through a friend of his, Senator Rafael Bottado de Almeida. For tea planting in Rio de Janeiro, started in 1812, Chinese immigrant workers were brought in from Macau, and 300 arrived in 1814 and settled in the botanical gardens and surrounding area. Some of these immigrants eventually fixed residence near the Santa Cruz Imperial Estate, former property of the Jesuits.

During the 18th century, there were other initiatives involving immigration to Brazil by oriental farmers. In 1751, five Christian Indians from Goa, who were called ‘canarins’, were sent to

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Bahia by the Marquess of Távora, Viceroy of India, to attempt to extract from palm trees a liquor with which to produce a distilled drink called ‘urraque’ (arrack).12 Their technical knowledge was also used to expand the spinning of flax fibers to make linen, and the preparation of rice.13 Examples like these show that relations between the different parts of the Portuguese Empire remained active throughout the 18th century.

In the last decades of the 18th century, and at the beginning of the 19th, there was a change in the rhythm of circulation of exotic plants in Brazil.

There were short outbreaks of production of new cultivars in the region, such as tea and indigo. This rhythm, however, diminished even more, when around 1830 an exotic product became preeminent in independent Brazil’s commerce – coffee. For the introduction of this product to the nation, Brazil is indebted to Francisco de Mello Palheta, a soldier, who smuggled plants into Pará from Cayenne in 1727.14 The traveling of plants on a planetary scale started in the first years of the colonization of America, mostly spontaneously. However, the introduction and acclimatization of plants as a deliberate policy by means of cultivation in farms and gardens existed at least since the 17th century. The Dutch started this practice in their colonies in the Indian Ocean, as recorded by Richard Grove,15 followed by the English and the French.

In the 16th century, the Portuguese had been pioneers in the transfer of plants from Asia to West Africa, the Caribbean and Brazil, and also had acclimatization gardens on the islands of Madeira, São Tomé and Fernando Pó.16 However, in spite of having been the first European country to institute intercontinental channels of exchange in modern colonialism,17 their policy, after a brief period marked by the Colóquios dos simples e drogas... da Índia, by Garcia da Orta, published in Portuguese in 1563, and translated into Latin in 1567, was to provide protection to commerce with the East. In the 16th century, various exotic species transplanted previously from Asia, were even destroyed in Brazil. This policy, which lasted until mid-17th century, hindered the naturalization of spices from the Orient – of great commercial value – in Portuguese America.18 So in actual fact a large part of the species and plants, of great value in the international market, arrived in Brazil by means of bio-piracy, as methods of commerce and cultivation of spices had modified radically and the Portuguese had lost access to many of them. The experiments for naturalization and perfection of plants became an important branch of colonial politics, pioneered by the Dutch in the 17th century. In the century of Enlightenment, these practices became systematic in many countries. The botanical gardens of Kew and Paris acquired celebrity, by becoming centers of distribution of seedlings and seeds for the colonial gardens, such as St. Vincent, Calcutta, Mauritius, Cape Town or Cayenne. The plants cultivated and perfected were kept under guard, which did not prevent smuggling of various types by people of many different nationalities and education. Robbery of plants was not uncommon at the time. Pierre Poivre himself had populated the Mascareignes Islands with species smuggled from Timor, breaking the Dutch monopoly in the spice commerce.

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In the Americas, between the 18th and 19th centuries, apart from spices, new products had won the European market, principally indigo and cochineal. The blue color of indigo was produced from the plant Indigofera tinctoria and carmine from the decoction of the insect Dactylopius coccus, bred on the Palma cactus (Opuntia), originating from Mexico (Oaxaca). These dyes were important branches of commerce in the Americas. Indigo – originally from India – was cultivated mainly in the Antilles and in South Carolina, while the carmine dye was produced mostly in Mexico, but in 1777, Thierry de Menonville succeeded in taking insects and cactus to Santo Domingo.19 The Portuguese took part in this battle for the production and sale of dyes in various ways. Rio de Janeiro came to produce significant quantities of indigo, with incentives from the Crown. Results from the production of carmine were also reasonable, though it did not prosper either because of the poor quality of the product, or through adulteration it suffered during the trading process.20 The traveler Alexander von Humboldt mentioned that Admiral Nelson, at that time captain, had collected cochineal in Rio de Janeiro and transported them to Madras. No one knows what sort of insect was collected, but this episode shows that some of the attempts by men of science and practices in Portuguese America, encouraged by the Crown, gave results.21 A recent analysis shows that the voyage to the United States by Hipólito da Costa, made between 1798 and 1800, was a costly mission of botanical spying. Friar Mariano da Conceição Veloso had written specific instructions for him, which included obtaining information and samples of tobacco, cotton, hemp, and indigo, among other natural products. Minister Dom Rodrigo de Sousa Coutinho considered that he should, above all, collect insects and cactus for the production of carmine. Costa would go as far as Mexico and would send the cochineals and their host plants to Rio de Janeiro. Costa’s activities also included research into books, pamphlets and instructions that could help agriculture and the techniques that at the time were called “rural economy”.22 Thus the plants played a central role in the concerns of the governments and in the individual strategies of survival and social positioning of the military, technicians, adventurers, men of science and letters.

The gardens were associated to activities of espionage, contraband, circulation of seedlings, seeds, planters, technicians, botanists and their techniques. Along with the plants were manuscripts, pamphlets, magazines and books that helped in the process of collection, identification, transplant, acclimatization and cultivation of species.

José Mariano da Conceição Veloso, a naturalist recruited by Dom Luís de Vasconcelos who then joined up with Dom Rodrigo de Souza Coutinho, was responsible for the edition of the book O fazendeiro do Brasil (The Brazilian Farmer), in eleven volumes, between 1798 and 1806, which attempted to show the products most attractive for cultivation in Brazil, and also for animal breeding.

The plants were grouped into headings such as “spices”, “sugar cane”, “dyeing”, “nourishing drinks” and “spinning (yarn)”. The historiography has been studying in detail the major editorial effort led by Veloso, mainly as head of the “Tipografia do Arco do Cego”.23 Altogether, both O fazendeiro do Brasil

and the other works dedicated to rural economy constitute an immense selection of what had been written about the most relevant of the “colonial” products. As Veloso himself affirmed, Portugal should exploit its “Colonies between the tropics”,24 as did the English, French, Spanish and Dutch.

Veloso attributed the customary inaction of the planters to the fact that many useful products, such as indigo, had taken so long before being cultivated in Brazil.

Colonial products were thus grouped according to their uses: manufacture of cords and cloth, such as cotton and hemp; dyes, such as indigo, cochineal and urucum; sweeteners such as sugar cane and Acer saccharum (Sugar Maple – common in North America); stimulants, such as coffee, tea and cacao.

Nutritional products produced in the colonial world accompanied a profound transformation in eating habits in Europe. Sugar became one of the main energy providers consumed in the whole world. Until the 17th century, sugar was an expensive product, used as a medication and present in medical pharmacies. Originating in Asia and planted on a large scale in Brazil and the Antilles, it became a basic item in nutrition, also associated to other tropical products, mainly cocoa, tea, and coffee.25 During the Napoleonic wars and the Continental Blockade, the French had to rapidly develop an alternative to sugar originating in their colonies in the Antilles. The French internal market started to consume sugar from beetroot (sugar beet), produced on a large scale by 1812.26

Plants that Cure: Geographic and Cultural Mobility An important category of plants attracted the attention of politicians, collectors, naturalists and traders – the plants with medicinal properties. The very spices from the orient were used for cures, but many plants endemic to the Americas started to supply the pharmacies of the New World and Europe. ‘Ipecacuanha’ and ‘jalapa’, for example, appear in Materia medica by Linnaeus. The list of Brazilian plants that circulate in medical and natural history treatises is extensive. Quinine, however, became essential to the very colonization of the tropics, being the only medication capable of controlling fevers, in particular malaria.

Cinchona officinalis originated in the region of the Andes, but also occurs in the Brazilian Amazon region. Other species of the same genus and some other plants have febrifuge properties and the bitter taste of quinine, and were also sought after by collectors. The Spanish organized scientific expeditions with objectives that included research into the different species of cinchona or quinine.

In 1792 naturalist Hipólito Ruiz published the book Quinología, ó tratado del árbol de la quina ó cascarilla, as one of the first results of his voyage to the Viceroyalty of Peru. Pastor José Celestino Mutis traveled to New Granada (today Colombia), where he eventually stayed for 25 years, from 1783 until his death in 1808. His studies of plants resulted in a text called “El arcano de la quina” (1793) with rich iconography identifying the different species of the genus Cinchona, done by artists connected to the expedition.27 The Portuguese government on various occasions promoted the search for real quinine and similars.

Naturalists like Manuel Arruda da Câmara and

Joaquim Veloso de Miranda searched for effective quinine as part of their work. Dom Rodrigo de Sousa Coutinho and Caetano Pinto de Miranda Montenegro, governor and captain-general of Mato Grosso, had promoted research by father José Manuel de Siqueira to identify quinine trees around Cuiabá, at the end of the 18th century.

Many samples were sent from different captaincies to Lisbon during the whole of the 18th century and even in the 19th. The doctors Bernardino Antonio Gomes and José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva researched the chemical properties of the bark that they received from Brazil.28 The former identified ‘cinchonino’, considered by him the active element of the plant. Before this, Veloso had been publishing a large amount of written material and images about quinine, with a view to both clarifying its medicinal use and also recognizing the different species of barks that were called quinine.29 The text about quinine by Hipólito Ruiz is partly transcribed, and many descriptions of the species are also extracted from Flora peruviana et chiliensis, by Ruiz and Pavón (1798-1802).

Veloso’s writings show that he consulted a large variety of sources and was aware of the news that circulated in Europe and America. The networks of travelers and employees linked in some way to his editorial ventures were also advised to look out for texts useful to the kingdom and its colonies, as in the case of Hipólito da Costa, already mentioned.

Information on the use of plants in medicine appears many times in memoranda on other themes or in broader medical papers, published under the direction of the naturalist. Some books and pamphlets were however dedicated to specific plants, as in the case of quinine, Ipecacuanha fusca and Quassia amara. This last was the subject of an interesting work in 1801: Coleção de memórias sobre a quássia amarga e simaruba, a compilation composed of texts mostly describing a plant used in Suriname to cure fever and stomach illnesses.

Veloso succeeded in bringing together the most important writings that told the surprising story of a plant named by Linnaeus in honor of an ex-slave called Graman (Great man) Quacy, which originated the genus Quassia. Graman, who was born in Africa, was recognized by all in the colony and kept his formulae secret. The plant that took his name was only divulged because he agreed to sell the information to the Swede Daniel Rolander, who made it known in Europe in 1756. A few years later, Carl Dahlberg, who also knew the African, took various plants to Sweden and to Linnaeus.

The theme and the collection of memoranda written about the plant acquired a certain visibility where texts about the colonies circulated.

Graman’s cures became better known thanks to the success of the book Narrative of a Five Years Expedition against the Rebellious Negroes of Surinam (1796), written by John Stedman, an important piece in the abolitionist literature of the period.

The discovery itself and the dissemination of the virtues of Quassia involves an intricate case of circulation and appropriation of knowledge.

Graman possibly learned his art through contact with communities of slaves and freed men. The black Surinamese population probably learned to use local plants through contact with the indigenous people.30 After the denomination and classification of Quassia under Linnean standards,

the plant became a scientific object relatively stable in the eyes of the Europeans. Its iconographic representation suffered certain adjustments before stabilizing, together with the textual description.

The book published by Veloso gives little importance to the life of Graman and emphasizes the botanical description of the plant, as well as cure protocols established in Suriname. In his writings, Veloso always taught mistrust of the common or vulgar. He believed that practice should be founded on clear principles, in order to achieve progress. Veloso’s botanical work, however, was intimately associated to his contact with the Amerindians, during the time he lived in Brazil, between Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro. Distinguishing the plants, knowing their virtues, knowing where and how to find and collect them depended on a profound knowledge of the forests, though clearly the standards and objectives of the indians were entirely distinct from those of enlightened botany. A large part of the useful native Brazilian plants is known by their indigenous names, which remained stable beside the scientific names.

In any event, Veloso did not include in his book a mention of the African “doctor” Graman Quacy, who appears in Stedman’s book and its numerous translations. Apart from this, he includes in an appendix an excerpt from De Lepra Commentationes,

by Gottfried Wilhelm Schilling (1778), extremely critical in relation to experiments done “irresponsibly” by people with no formal qualification.31 Veloso includes in his Collection the text “Lignum Quassi”, from Amoenitates academicae, written by Linnaeus’ disciple Carl Blom, in 1763. A translation of Veloso does not indicate the origin of the memorandum, and besides this, establishes some small alterations in the notes and changes the original image in the Linnean text32 for another which comes from a phrase by William Woodville in an illustrated book on medical botany, in 1792.33 In fact, Woodville explains in his article that there was an error in the illustration of the leaves of Quassia from the Amoenitates. The reader of Veloso is not aware of this. What appears to be important to the pastor is to pass on correct information and divulge only an adequate image.

Besides the texts on Quassia amara, Veloso’s publication contains a small article by Woodville about Quassia simaruba (used against dysentery), with one image, and the appendix mentioned above, by Schilling. This text describes the popular uses in Suriname of the plants tondim, cuscuta and viscum. The Portuguese book includes copies of Schilling’s illustrations, with the Brazilian names and their scientific names corrected. Veloso excludes, however, the botanical description of these plants, with the following explanation: “Descriptions of the three plants mentioned above are not included, just the prints, because they are quite well known in Brazil by the names (Tondim) ‘timbó’, (Cuscuta) ‘cipó-chumbo’ and (viscum) ‘erva-de-passarinho’”.35 This choice by the editor indicates initially that the medicinal flora in Suriname is similar to that in Brazil. The proper botanical descriptions of these plants were not entirely available in Veloso’s time, also because the common names refer to entire families and not just to a particular species. Maybe the Brazilian pastor did not want to validate the work of a foreigner, distant from the Portuguese American plants, in that there were naturalists, such as he himself, much more able to describe plants so commonly used and known by the indians and other inhabitants of Brazil.

The Coleção de memórias published by Veloso makes an exemplary synthesis of a cluster of data lifted from foreign libraries, but which involve the editor’s own knowledge of Brazilian flora and its properties. Apart from this, the articles show the complex form by which the knowledge is constructed, circulates and changes from one group to another, from one continent to another, among the forests of South America, gardens of Sweden, English herbaria, Portuguese publications, in the hands of natives of the New World, Africans, Europeans and Portuguese-Americans.

The layers of knowledge gradually superimposed on Quassia amara maintain the admiration of botany for its virtues. Blom describes it as “divine”: In conclusion: what is exposed shows and convinces that, the Quassia tree being a Divine cure, I have no words with which I can persuade our Pharmacists and Druggists to send

The movement to acclimatize the breadfruit in the Americas was one of the multiple activities related to the disputes between France and England in the Pacific and the Atlantic. The Bath botanical garden in Jamaica, was created in 1779 to receive exotic plants. In 1782, a cargo of a French ship coming from Mauritius – mangoes, star apples, ‘bilim’, jackfruit trees... – was intercepted and taken to Bath. In 1793, this garden received breadfruit trees, which became acclimatized, and in a few years the population, composed mainly of slaves, had accepted it as part of their normal diet. The feat was accomplished by Commander William Bligh, in his second mission to transport the tree from Tahiti to Jamaica. His first attempt resulted in the famous mutiny of the sailors on board the ship HMS Bounty, in 1789. The Captain was accused of denying the crew water, using it instead to water the breadfruit trees, which were eventually thrown overboard by the mutinous men.38 The events surrounding the transfer of breadfruit to tropical and inter-tropical regions of America shine a light on some neglected aspects of the circulation of plants: their collection, their transport and their acclimatization. The ship HMS Bounty was loaded with trees planted in pots, which had to be watered regularly. Transplanting grown trees gave results much more quickly, despite the losses. In many cases, the travelers and naturalists were instructed to take seeds and grain, which could be planted only in a garden appropriately prepared.

it from America in all haste, so that the Professors have this enormously effective specific with which they can help the life of mortals and much more, with the fever starting to rage among us.36

The Coleção de memórias also includes an article by Jean-Baptiste Patris (1735-1786). Essai sur l’histoire naturelle et médicale du Quassie, in 1777, with a copy of the original illustration, which, according to the author, was designed using a live example. This time, Veloso indicates the title and the author of the text. Patris was a real doctor in Cayenne, where he made scientific excursions and hundreds of studies of useful plants. It is probable that this article had been chosen because it showed that it was very likely that the plant existed also in French Guiana, neighbor to Suriname, although Patris himself had not found it on his travels. He writes that he acquired seeds and samples of Quassia through a kind gift from the Governor of Suriname, in reply to a request from the Governor of Cayenne, who had perhaps not realized the economic potential of the plant – it would become a relevant export product for Suriname in the 19th century.34

aspirations of abundance. The breadfruit’s land of birth is Tahiti – fabulous land, materialization of enlightened utopia. On this island in the Pacific there was no private property nor assets nor women, according to stories of the time. The tree also arrived in Brazil via Cayenne, to where it had been sent by the Jardin des Plantes de Paris, in 1797. Lahaye, a gardener who had traveled with the d’Entrecasteaux expedition, succeeded in taking breadfruit trees to Paris and to the French islands in the Indian Ocean. It was believed at the time that its fruit could easily feed the slaves, without having to plant or prepare the soil and the food.

The tree adapted well in Brazil and still today grows spontaneously, mainly in the Northeast.

Patris calls attention to “the heroic properties of ‘Quassia’”, a tree, according to him, thought as “Divine”, that could be even superior to quinine itself.37

Domesticating the World of Plants Natural history and medicine in the century of Enlightenment fed in part from a diffuse sentiment that nature itself produced the cures for the ills of humanity – medicine for the sick, food for the needy, beauty to content the eye, solutions for industry. The utopias of the era were populated with images of a beneficent and provident nature.

If there were fevers, plants were created by the hands of nature to cure them, such as quinine and quassia. Furthermore, breadfruit occupied a particular symbolic place in the universe of voyages and plant exchanges. Just its name evoked

Many voyage instructions were published during the 18th and also the 19th century, including practical manuals on the care to be taken with the collection and transport of the plants.39 The greatest book of instructions for an enlightened voyage was written by Eric Anders Nordblad, supervised by Linnaeus, Instructio Peregrinatoris, in 1759. The Linnean instruction taught to guide the curiosity of the traveler so that he could make useful descriptions of the so-called three kingdoms of nature, and also the habits and customs of the people visited. Furthermore, the text indicated the best way to make notes of the observations and write a diary. Nordblad referred to the practical side of the collection and packing and transport, but drew attention to other specific instructions about these practices, such as the thesis Instructio musei rerum naturalium (1753), defended by David Hultman, also a disciple of the Swedish naturalist.

Linnaeus and his disciples were important for the diffusion of methods of collection, travel and acclimatization of the plants. Linnaeus himself made a paradigmatic voyage to Lapland. In Sweden, he planted exotic species in the Uppsala botanical

gardens, hoping that one day they would acclimatize to the cold of Northern Europe. Living in a country with a severe climate, he knew the advantages of countries with tropical colonies. In 1764, in a letter to his Padua correspondent Domenico Vandelli, who had moved to Portugal, Linnaeus exclaimed, referring to the overseas lands: “Good God! If the Portuguese and the Spanish were aware of their natural resources, how unhappy would be almost all the rest, who have no exotic lands!”40 Apart from Linnaeus’ voyage, other texts circulated among the European natural historians, such as the famous and important Avis pour le transport par mer des arbres, des plantes vivaces, des semences, et de diverses autres curiosités d’histoire naturelle, from Duhamel du Monceau, and Mémoire instructif sur la manière de rassembler, de préparer, de conserver, et d’envoyer les diverses curiosités d’histoire naturelle, by Étienne-François Turgot. These two works are didactic and practical, directed to colonial employees and people with no education in natural history, and were written from the point of view of administrators of transcontinental empires.

They teach how to build a herbarium, dry plants, transport seeds, stuff animals or conserve them in liquid. Duhamel teaches how to make a precise catalog of the plants transported.

In Portugal, the genre of instructions also flourished, in general associated with Domenico Vandelli and his disciples. The so-called “philosophical journeys” had instructions adapted to each specific situation.

In 1779, Vandelli wrote Viagens filosóficas ou dissertação sobre as importantes regras que o filósofo naturalista, nas suas peregrinações, deve principalmente observar (Philosophical Voyages or Dissertation on the Important Rules that a Naturalist Philosopher, in his Travels, Should Principally observe), which remains a manuscript.41 Apart from this and from the repertoire of instructions that circulated among naturalists, Vandelli’s disciples would, in some cases, receive specific instructions including the great practical work Breves instrucçoens aos correspondentes da Academia das Sciencias de Lisboa sobre as remessas dos productos e noticias pertencentes a historia da natureza para formar um Museo Nacional (Brief Instructions to Correspondents of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences on the Shipment of Products and News Regarding the Natural History to Form a National Museum), in 1781, probably written with the collaboration of the director of the Ajuda Garden. The titles indicated in the booklet show that there was effective use of the instructions that circulated internationally, including Linnean texts.42 Various artifacts were created to help the transport of plants by sea. Portable greenhouses, boxes for packing seeds, leather covers for storing dried plants, plant pots with layers planted with seeds and seedlings, among other inventions, were used in the normal routine of plant exchanges. Count Luigi Castiglioni, who traveled to the United States between 1785 and 1787, left interesting designs of boxes and artifacts made for transporting plants in ships. André Thouin, head gardener of Jardin des Plantes in Paris, designed a series of devices that were taken on the long voyages by men who were often prepared especially to care for plants. In the 19th century, around 1829, Nathaniel Ward developed a portable terrarium, made with glass and completely sealed, improving considerably the

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Subtitles transport of live plants. With inventiveness and different techniques, many species crossed the oceans to populate other lands.

The majority of long distance plant transport was not successful, and the plants would die on being planted in conditions different to the ideal. Greenhouses, wind breakers, sunshades, vases and boxes were used to simulate different natural environments in the public and private botanical gardens spread around the planet. Besides all the apparatus that existed for the transport of plants, there was another relevant aspect to be observed: the use.

Just as sugar was slowly being introduced into the daily routine of Europeans, other plants also passed through relatively long processes of accommodation to local customs. The so-called English potato is really American, originating in the Andes and cultivated by the ancient Incas. In Europe, the potato seems to have been introduced in the 16th century, but consumption by people only started in the 18th century. Up until then, it was considered suitable only as animal fodder or used for decoration. Antoine Parmentier, military pharmacist, helped with the growth of consumption of the tuber by the European population, by tirelessly publicizing ways of using it. The Europeans had to learn how to cook the potato, which dishes could be prepared with it, as well as the best way to plant and store it.43 Thus the circulation of plants is not just a botanical question or associated to commerce in an abstract form. A plant is associated to flavors, gestures, practices, artifacts, work.

An experiment conducted in Brazil can serve as an example to show the complexity of questions involving relations between people and plants.

Goan ‘Canarins’ who went to Bahia in 1751, included in their baggage their expertise in the production of a drink extracted from an Indian palm tree and distilled. In 1753, they wanted to return to their own country, because, according to an explanation given by the Viceroy of Brazil, Count of Atouguia, the palm trees in Bahia – coconut palms – were different to those in Goa, and as hard as they tried, they did not succeed in extracting enough liquor to prepare the Indian drink. They continued to look for other palm trees in the surrounding area, “though there is no hope for success, due to the completely different soil”. The Count added, however, that “I believe that even with this Brazil is not losing much”, and goes on to describe what is done in Bahia to obtain the same services as in Goa. With the fronds of the coconut palm – ‘sapé’, ‘seririca’ and ‘pindova’ – thatched roofs are made for the slaves quarters, known as ‘senzalas’. From sugar, continues the Viceroy, they make a drink called ‘cachaça’, which “is sold at a very reasonable price”; wine and ‘aguardente’ are abundant in the Kingdom and the islands; there is plenty of sugar. “There are many types of olive oil and it is all sold cheap”, the document informs, which describes the uses for whale oil, castor oil, ‘jandiroba’ and ‘dendê’, a palm oil. There is always vinegar, because the wines degenerate with the climate, and it is also made with bananas or corn (maize). They make cups from the coconuts, called ‘cuias’ and for coal they use the roots of various trees.

As for rope, the Viceroy indicates ‘piassaba’, ‘imbira’ and ‘imbiriba’. With regard to wood, Brazil has excellent trees, and he concludes that he was awaiting orders regarding the continuation of the work of the ‘canarins’.44

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In the case of the Goans, their know-how had been acquired over years of contact with a culture that had learned to take full advantage of the native and acclimatized plants. Arriving in Bahia, without the Indian palm trees, their ability to produce arrak was of no use to them. As there were no naturalists associated with the venture, no one sought identification of the different species of palm trees in the Portuguese Empire. In Bahia, the people had learned to work with the plants around them. Many of them were native, such as ‘pindova’, ‘andiroba’, the woods, and ‘piassaba’ palm. Others, such as the coconut, banana, sugar, castor and ‘dendê’ were not native to America, but were introduced by the colonizers. By mid-18th century, these products were already considered as “native”.

At this time, a new personage appeared on the scene – the naturalist – specialist in the identification, collection, transport and classification of plants. Associated to the abilities of the gardeners, doctors, chemists and other professions, this constituted a type of knowledge that was to become universal, which could function in the four corners of the Earth, wherever there were gardens, books, herbaria, greenhouses and ships. From particular experiences, from specific cultures, these men would extract certain types of information, organized in tables, graphs, lists and maps. The travels of the plants continued, but with practices that sought to be valid globally, without geographical or cultural distinction.

1 Professor of the Pos-Graduation in the History of Science Program, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, and Professor of History, Uerj. Researcher at CNPq. 2 Bastos, Lúcia. 2011. Guerra aos franceses: a política externa de D. João VI e a ocupação de Caiena. Navigator 11(dossiê 7):70-82, cf. p. 76.

3 Cf. Santos Gomes, Flávio. 2002. Entre fronteiras e sem limites: espaços transnacionais e comunidades de fugitivos no Grão-Pará e na Guiana Francesa (séculos XVIII-XIX). In: Bastos, C.; Almeida, M. & Feldman-Bianco, B. (orgs.).

Trânsitos coloniais. Diálogos críticos luso-brasileiros.

Campinas: Unicamp.

4 Grove, Richard. 1995. Green Imperialism.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

5 Soublin, Jean. 2003. Cayenne 1809. La conquête de la Guyane par les Portugais du Brésil. Paris: Karthala, p.

19.

6 Sanjad, Nelson. 2006. Éden domesticado: a rede luso-brasileira de jardins botânicos, 1790-1820.

Anais de História de Além-Mar 7:251-278, p. 259 7 Soublin. Op. cit., p. 100.

8 Sanjad. Op. cit., p. 269.

9 Cf. Meunier, Isabelle M. J. & da Silva, Horivani C. 2009. Horto d’El Rey de Olinda, Pernambuco: história, estado atual e potencialidades de cobertura vegetal de uma área verde urbana (quase) esquecida. Revsbau 4(2):62-81 and Rodrigues, Jefferson; Dutra, Milena; Albuquerque, Priscilla; Dias, Silvana; Almeida, Argus Vasconcelos de. 2005. Aspectos históricoecológicos do Horto d’El Rey de Olinda, Pernambuco. Mneme – Revista de Humanidades 7(19):388-413, p. 398.

10 Ribeiro, Jerônimo Luís. Requerimento encaminhado ao Ministério do Império, solicitando mercê da Ordem de Cristo [...]. Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Biblioteca Nacional, manuscripts.

11 O Patriota I(3):16-23.

12 See Moisés Ribeiro, Márcia. Ciência e Império: o intercâmbio da técnica e o saber científico entre a Índia e a América portuguesa. Unpublished. I thank the author for her kindness.

13 Inventário dos documentos relativos ao Brasil existentes no Arquivo de Marinha e Ultramar.

1909. Anais da Biblioteca Nacional do Rio de Janeiro, vol. XXXI, p. 10 and 12.

14 Papavero, Nelson; Teixeira, Dante & Overal, William. 2001. Notas sobre a história da zoologia do Brasil. 2. As viagens de Francisco de Melo Palheta, o introdutor do cafeeiro no Brasil. Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (série Zool.)

17(2):181-207.

15 Grove, Richard. Op. cit.

16 Ibid., cap. 2.

17 João Fragoso claims that “the Portuguese Empire was more than a simple political-administrative entity with headquarters in Lisbon, but in reality was an economic space with a high degree of refinement”. Cf. A noção de economia colonial tardia no Rio de Janeiro e as conexões econômicas do Império português: 1790-1820. In: Fragoso, J.; Bicalho, M. F. & Gouvêa, M. de F. (orgs.). 2001.

O Antigo Regime nos trópicos: a dinâmica imperial portuguesa (séculos XVI-XVIII). Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira, p. 324.

18 Cf. Russell-Wood, A. J. R. 1998. The Portuguese Empire, 1415-1808. A World on the Move. BaltimoreLondon: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, cap. V. See chapter by Heloisa Gesteira.

19 Diguet, Léon. 1909. Histoire de la cochenille au Mexique. Journal de la Société des Américanistes 6:75-99. http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/ home/prescript/article/jsa_0037-9174_1909_ num_6_1_3527 See also Ferraz, Márcia. 2007. Rota dos estudos sobre a cochonilha em Portugal e no Brasil no século XIX: Caminhos desencontrados. Química Nova 30(4):1032-1037.

20 Pesavento, Fábio. 2009. Um pouco antes da Corte: a economia do Rio de Janeiro na segunda metade do Setecentos. PhD Thesis. Niteroi: Universidade Federal Fluminense.

21 Diguet, Léon. Op. cit., p. 78.

22 Safier, Neil. 2009. Spies, Dyes and Leaves. Agrointermediaries, Luso-Brazilian Couriers, and the Worlds they Sowed. In: Schaffer, S.; Roberts, L.; Raj, K. & Delbourgo, J. (eds.). The Brokered World. Go-betweens and Global Intelligence, 1770-1820. Sagamora Beach: Science History Publications and, by same author, see following text which includes the transcription of Veloso’s instructions: Instruções e impressões transimperiais: Hipólito da Costa, Conceição Veloso e a ciência joanina. In: Kury, L. & Gesteira, H. (orgs.). 2012. Ensaios de história da ciência no Brasil, das Luzes à nação independente. Rio de Janeiro: Eduerj.

23 See Campos, Fernanda de et al. (org.). 1999. A casa literária do Arco do Cego (1799-1801) – Bicentenário: “sem livros não há instrução”. Lisbon: Biblioteca Nacional-Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda.

24 Velloso, José Mariano da Conceição. 1805. O fazendeiro do Brazil, vol IV, part 1, Especiarias.

Lisbon: Impressão Régia, “Dedicatória”, s. p.

25 Mintz, Sydney. 1985. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History. London: Penguin Books.

26 Cf. Kury, L. 2007. Descrever a pátria, difundir o saber. In: Iluminismo e Império no Brasil: O Patriota (1813-1814). Rio de Janeiro: Fiocruz-Biblioteca Nacional.

27 Kirkbride Jr., Joseph. 1982. The Cinchona Species of Jose Celestino Mutis. Taxon 31(4):693-697.

28 Santos, N. P. dos & Pinto, A. C. 2012. A mata é sua farmácia – a pesquisa de plantas brasileiras para o combate de doenças tropicais no século XIX. Rev. Virtual Quím. 4(2):162-172.

29 Veloso, Mariano da Conceição (org.). 1799.

Quinografia portuguesa. Lisbon: Oficina de João Procópio Correa da Silva.

30 Cf. Scott-Parrish, Susan. 2006. American Curiosity.

Cultures of Natural History in the Colonial British Atlantic World. Williamsburg: Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture.

31 Veloso, José Mariano da Conceição. 1799. Coleção de memórias sobre a quássia amarga. Lisbon: Oficina de João Procópio Correa da Silva, p. 34-35 32. The Amoenitates were considered works of Linné, since the students were not yet sign as authors.

33 Woodville, William. 1792. Medical Botany Containing Systematical and General Descriptions with Plates of all the Medicinal Plants, Indigenous and Exotic [...] London: James Phillips, Quassia amara, plate 77.

34 Cf. Scott-Parrish, Susan. Op. cit.

35 Veloso, Mariano da Conceição. Coleção [...]. Op. cit., p. 39.

36 Ibid., p. 16-17.

37 Ibid., p. 18.

38 Cf. Rice, Tony. 2007. Viagens de Descobrimento.

Rio de Janeiro: Andrea Jakobsson Estúdio; Kury, Lorelai. 2001. Histoire Naturelle et voyages scientifiques. Paris: L’Harmattan; and Alexander, Caroline. 2009. Captain Bligh’s Cursed Breadfruit.

Smithsonian Magazine, Setembro.

39 See Kury, Lorelai. 1998. Les instructions de voyage dans les expéditions scientifiques françaises (1750-1830). Revue d’Histoire des Sciences 51(1):6591.

40 Letter from Lineu to Vandelli (Uppsala, 12 February, 1765), reproduced em AA.VV. 2008. O gabinete de curiosidades de Domenico Vandelli. Rio de Janeiro: Dantes, p. 58-59, vol. 2.

41 Ms. Azul, Academia das Ciências de Lisboa.

42 As breves instrucçoens [...] are available at http:// purl.pt/720. About other instructions circulating in Portugal at that same time, see Brigola, João Carlos. 2003. Coleções, gabinetes e museus em Portugal no século XVIII. Lisbon: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia; Pataca, Ermelinda & Pinheiro, Rachel.

2005. Instruções de viagem para a investigação científica do território brasileiro. Revista da SBHC 3(1):58-79; and Barbalho da Cruz, Ana Lúcia. 2004.

Verdades por mim vistas e observadas oxalá foram fábulas sonhadas: cientistas brasileiros do setecentos, uma leitura auto-etnográfica.

PhD Thesis. Curitiba: Universidade Federal do Paraná. See also Pereira, Magnus & Barbalho da Cruz, Ana Lúcia. 2011. Instructio Peregrinatoris.

Algumas questões referentes aos manuais portugueses sobre métodos de observação filosófica e preparação de produtos naturais, da segunda metade do século XVIII. In: Kury, Lorelai & Gesteira, Heloisa (orgs.). Ensaios de história das ciências no Brasil: das Luzes à Nação independente.

Rio de Janeiro: Eduerj.

43 Muratori-Philip, Anne. 1994. Parmentier. Paris: Plon.

44 Inventário dos documentos relativos ao Brasil existentes no Arquivo de Marinha e Ultramar.

1909. Anais da Biblioteca Nacional do Rio de Janeiro, vol. XXXI, p. 10 and 12.

P. 14/15 Antonio Sanchez, Portulano Planisferio. From the start of the 16th century, Portuguese maps showed the expansion of the empire over the four continents. Besides the marked coastline and the centrality of the Atlantic Ocean, we perceive that the cultural diversity recorded in the details that decorate the interior of the continents contrasts with the presence of the cross in various points of the ecumene. p. 17 Carta del Cantino. First cartographic record showing the Portuguese possessions in America, as well as geographic information of the stretch of coast, with the Tordesilhas meridian highlighted. The Cantino map hides a history of “spying”. A Portuguese cartographer, today still anonymous, had gathered information in a standard chart which he consulted in the ‘Armazém da Guiné’ (Naval Arsenal), designed the map which was sold to Alberto Cantino, who acquired it in Lisbon when he was in the city in the service of the Duke of Ferrara, Hercule d’Este. p. 18 Giovanni Battista Ramusio, Carta del Golfo di Guinea from the book Navigazioni e Viaggi. The map shows scenes of exchanges between natives and merchants.

There are also images of local customs, and animals and plants decorate the continent. The Malagueta Coast is highlighted, where peppers (chili pepper) were traded, which were also called Guinea pepper or ‘grains of paradise’. In this case the name was given geographically, and does not correspond exactly to a precise species. The Italian cartographer’s book was published between 1550 and 1559, and gives diverse information about the voyages. p. 19 Marco Polo, Récolte du poivre, from the Book of Marvels.

The book became a reference in Europe for the stories of voyages of discovery. Apart from experiences, the text is rich in information on products and customs of the Orient, as well as including legendary elements, such as the existence of ‘paradise on earth’. With the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the New World, the paradise migrated to the West and inhabited the imagination of mariners and those who traveled into the interior of America. The engraving shows the harvesting of black pepper, a luxury article consumed by the nobles and merchants, becoming a status symbol. p. 21 António Bocarro, Macao, illustrated in Livro das plantas de todas as fortalezas, cidades e povoaçoens do Estado da Índia Oriental. The report and the plans of the forts were done

by Antonio Bocarro, nominated chronicler for India, to keep Filipe II – the then King of Portugal – informed on the situation in the State of India, which included the lands washed by the Indian Ocean. At that time, the Portuguese had already lost important positions both to the Dutch and the English. Even after the losses suffered, the Portuguese merchant colony Macau, founded in 1557, remained an important trading center controlled by the merchant community connected to Portugal. p. 22 Kano school, 17th century, folding screen representing the arrival of the Portuguese in Japan. They were the first Europeans to land on the island of “Cipango”, as Japan was named in the Book of Marvels by Marco Polo. Besides taking spices and manufactured articles to Europe, the Portuguese intermediated in exchanges between China and Japan – China sent silk, gold, gunpowder to Japan, and Japan sent silver to China. Cultural exchange can be perceived in the Portuguese vocabulary, such as the inclusion of the word “biombo” (meaning screen). p. 23 Manuel Godinho de Erédia. Frontispiece & Jambeyro, from the book Summa de arvores e plantas da India intra Gágez. Manuel Godinho de Erédia, PortugueseMalayan, son of a nobleman who married a lady from the Macassar nobility. The manuscript was offered by Erédia to the Viceroy Ruy Lourenço de Tavora. The book is rich in illustrations and can be considered a cultural synthesis, as it includes plants that circulated in the region, including some from the Americas. Besides this, it shows various species with names in the Goan language – Konkani.

The fruit of the ‘jambeiro’ (Malay apple) is known in Brazil as jambo vermelho. Believed to be native to Malaysia, its scientific name is Syzygium malaccense. It probably went to India via Malacca, and it is not known when it was introduced in Brazil. Today, reaching a height of up to 15 meters, the tree is present in the Brazilian landscape, especially in the North and Northeast. p. 24 (left) Manuel Godinho de Erédia. Cajueyro, from the book Suma de árvores e plantas da India intra Gangez. According to Erédia, the cashew tree “is of average height and of a warm and astringent nature and is good for food and medicine. Because the fruit when eaten is good for wind and for cutting phlegm and for good digestion”. The cashew tree is of American origin and was much used by the indigenous people on the coast of Portuguese America. p. 24 (right) Manuel Godinho de Erédia. Papaya. According to Erédia “Domestic plant with fruit that can be eaten, and by nature it is cold and milky”. Its origin is South America. p. 25 (left) Manuel Godinho de Erédia. Goyava (guava): “A tree not so high, and the fruit tasty and similar to pears and less sweet flavor (sic) astringent.” p. 25 (right) Manuel Godinho de Erédia. Ananaz (pineapple): “A domestic plant, the fruit is delicious, juicy and sweet, and because it has a warm and dry nature it can be preserved, and is good for the stomach. It is harmful in excess as it causes fever and upsets the stomach”.

Originating from South America, this fruit has been found in other places since the start of the 16th century, probably incorporated into the overseas diet due to its therapeutic virtues. p. 26/27 Manuel Godinho de Erédia. Frontispiece and Battle in Malacca, The Portuguese saga in India is told incorporating various scenes of the sacrifices and wars of those who tried to establish themselves in the region and faced situations of conflict. Malacca, conquered in 1511 by Afonso de Albuquerque, was transformed over the 16th century into one of the main trading centers in the region controlled by the Portuguese. It was a center for spice trading, including nutmeg and clove. p. 29 João Teixeira Albernaz. Page 16 of the Atlas Universal. On the map by Albernaz, the lines marking the voyages to and from India are clearly shown. p. 31 Diogo Homem. América Meridional. The map emphasizes the Amazon river, a stream responsible for communication with the deep forest and thus permitting access to various tropical products, native to the region or not. Highlighted is the trading of vanilla, which although originating in Central America was introduced and cultivated in Maranhão. Another aspect shown by this map is the strong colors used and decorated with gold and silver, apart from pigments coming from the Indies that were used in the “aguadas”, as the dyes were called. p. 32 Levni, Young gard serving coffee. The Turkish custom of drinking coffee was a luxury among Europeans up to the 18th century, before the beverage became popular. p. 33 Unknown author. The scene shows a Portuguese lady and a nobleman, characters typical of Portuguese society in the Indies. p. 34 Pedro de Montenegro, cacao, illustration from the manuscript Libro primero de la propiedad y virtudes de los árboles y plantas. Pedro de Montenegro, of the Society of Jesus, was a missionary in the Province of Uruguay. In his books we can perceive that the circulation of plants occurred in the interior of America. This text stresses the medicinal virtues of cacao, the pulp of which is used to make a drink, sweet or fermented.

p. 35 Johannes Blaeu, Yucatan Conventus Iuridici Hispaniae.

The title box is surrounded by cacao. The product first became known to the Spanish when Montezuma, in Mexico, offered a drink in a golden goblet to Fernando Cortez. The drink was flavored with vanilla and the cacao seeds were crushed together with corn-flour. p. 36 Willem Piso & George Marcgraf, Manioc flour mill, from the book Historia Naturalis Brasiliae. Although the production technique appears to be incremented with the use of a flour mill, the stages of preparation are the same as those learned from the indians. p. 37 Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi, Queen Nzinga and the drummer, from the manuscript Descrição histórica dos três reinos do Congo, Matamba e Angola. The indigenous custom of smoking tobacco crossed the Atlantic. Here Queen Nzinga appears smoking a pipe. p. 39 João Teixeira Albernaz, The Maluku islands, from the Atlas Universal. The islands were important to the Indian spice trade. The Portuguese and Spanish fought for control of the islands, due to disagreement over the location of the Tordesillas Meridian. p. 40/41 George Marcgraf & Ioannes Blaeu, wall map Brasilia Qua Parte Paret Belgis. In the center a water-driven sugar mill. Sugar cane, originally from Asia, was introduced in the Americas by the Portuguese in the 16th century.

The product contributed to the establishment of the colonial society in Pernambuco and Bahia, regions much involved in commerce with Europe. p. 43 Johannes Nieuhoff. Illustration of fruits from the book Gedenkweerdige Brasiliaense Zee- en Lant-Reis [...].

In the engraving we can identify tropical products from various continents that circulated in the global commerce controlled by the Netherlands Trading Companies. Sugar cane, papaya, cashew, indigo, Brazilian pepper, among others. p. 45 Frans Post. Vrijburg Palace from the book Rerum per Octennium in Brasilia. Official residence of Count Johann Maurits von Nassau-Siegen, governor of Pernambuco from 1637 to 1644. Note how the limits of the land are marked with rows of coconut palms that surrounded the garden. The coconut palm originated from Asia and spread to other tropical regions. The precise time of its arrival in the Americas is unknown, but it is believed to have been during the 16th century. p. 47 Frans Post. Plant for the garden surrounding the Vrijburg Palace. It was ornamented with plant species native to America as well as with some introduced through the colonization process. p. 49 Pedro de Montenegro, noz-moscada, Originally from the Moluccas, nutmeg was one of the most prized spices of the East. The Portuguese monopolized its trade in the 16th century, followed by the Dutch. In the 18th century, its cultivation spread to the Indian Ocean and reached the Americas. It was used for food preservation, as a spice and medicine. Montenegro indicated its use for the relief of asthma and tuberculosis and against catarrh. p. 50 Author unknown. Indian Tropical Fruit Market.

Formerly attributed to Albert Eckhout, the canvas illustrates a scene where the products from the Americas mix with products from other regions, the market giving a meaning to cultural exchange. Among other fruits, the mango, originally from Asia, but today adapted to Brazil, where it was officially introduced in the 17th century. p. 51 Unkown author. In the scene, people from Europe, Asia and Africa negotiating ivory. Up until mid-18th century, Mozambique, washed by the Indian Ocean, controlled the routes to the Orient.

p. 53 Albert Eckhout, 1660. Detail of Nhambu-guaçu, illustration from the book Theatri Rerum Naturalium Brasiliae p. 55 Athanasius Kircher, Pepper, from the book China monumentis. This plant, discovered in the orient, described and analyzed by Garcia de Orta, made its career in pharmacies, nurseries and gardens in all Europe and all the Portuguese Empire. Used essentially as a seasoning, pepper had a great impact on the life of the Europeans and their dominions. p. 56 and 57 Athanasius Kircher, Ananas, Ficus Indica & Arbor Papaya, illustrations from the book China monumentis. Many plants from the Orient, such as the fig and the papaya, had been imported into Brazil by the Portuguese navigators. As with the ‘simples’ (medicines) from the Orient, many plants from Portuguese America traveled the world. Among these, fruits such as the pineapple were popular in Europe. Initially, the pineapple plant, along with the cashew tree, had been exported to Eastern lands by the Portuguese, and many authors had described them as coming from those countries. Its fruit was considered an important alexiteric and had been used in many plague epidemics, such as Florence in 1630-1633. The mention of Eastern and American plants, like the fig, papaya and pineapple, in works by Jesuits such as father Athanasius Kircher, show the effective circulation of this knowledge within the Society of Jesus. p. 59 Plant of the Jesuit College in Santos. The Jesuit pharmacies were important places of learning attached to the colleges of the Society of Jesus in Brazil. New methods of production were developed and used such as spagyrics or iatrochemistry. It is said that these pharmacies were well equipped with distillation apparatus. p. 60 Frontispiece of the book Colóquios dos simples written by Garcia da Orta. This important work was responsible for spreading the knowledge of ‘simples’ (minerals, flora and fauna) of India. Its author, Martim Afonso de Sousa’s physician, described, cataloged and analyzed a large number of ‘simples’, many of which had not yet been described. The importance of Garcia de Orta in knowledge of these new ‘simples’ had been mentioned

by Camões. The Jesuits were just as important when it came to knowledge of the ‘simples’ of Portuguese America, although the knowledge they acquired had not been disseminated to all. p. 61 Anonymous. Illustration of a manuscript written in Arab entitled Five Treatises on Alchemy, from the Middle East. Ever since medieval times, laboratory techniques, or spagyrics, were used by the Arab doctors. Since the end of the 16th century, the importance given to spagirics advanced in all Europe readapted by the medical theories of Paracelsus and his followers. p. 62-63 Pedanius Dioscorides, frontispiece and dedication for the book Pedacio Dioscorides. Materia Medica by the Greek Pedanius Discorides. This was the main starting point for the study of elements that served as ingredients for medicines in the European pharmacies. Besides this, the book worked as a forum for medical debates on the nature and function of the ‘simples’. Since the 16th century many comments on this book have been written and published in Europe. In these comments, the contenders gave their interpretations and their inputs to the knowledge of the ‘simples’. The beautifully colored frontispiece belongs to a commentary from the Spanish doctor Andrés de Laguna, which was widely used by the Jesuits in Brazil in the study of the medicinal raw materials, proven by its presence in many college libraries and the quotes from it in many of the fathers’ writings. p. 64-65 Pedanius Discorides, chicory, rue, and Aristolochia rotunda and Aristolochia longa from the book Pedacio Dioscorides.

The presence of European plants in Jesuit pharmacies all over the non-European world, especially Portuguese

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America is uncontested. Many of the plants traditionally used in European pharmacies had been imported to Brazil by the Jesuits and were cultivated in their gardens.

The salts of European chicory and rue were one of the chemical ingredients of the formula for ‘triaga brasílica’, used against poisons and epidemics. Mercury goose-foot was one of the ingredients of ‘massa de cezoens’ from the college pharmacy in Rio de Janeiro, which was effective against fevers. p. 66 Pedanius Dioscorides, rose, orange and lemon from the book Pedacio Dioscorides. Other European ‘simples’, such as ‘rose’ and ‘citrus’, were also included in the pharmacopoeia of the pharmacist Jesuits of Portuguese America. A variety of rose was used in the formula for Cozimento para a virgindade perdida of the college pharmacy in Bahia. The ‘agrumes’ or citrus fruit were considered as preservatives, as their juice prevented corruption of things. Given that, according to medicine of the time, the substance causing the epidemics acted in such a way as to corrupt and putrefy things, and therefore everything that acted to prevent the corruption of bodies, such as the ‘agrumes’ was used against pests and plagues. p. 67 Pedanius Dioscorides, aloe, from the book Pedacio Dioscorides. The aloes or ‘azebar’ were another ingredient used by the same pharmacy to make ‘emplastro para matar lombrigas’. Both plants had vermifuge properties for the doctors of the period. p. 69 Author unknown, frontispiece and index of the manuscript Collecção de varias receitas. The way the manuscript was organized suggests that the intent was to print it. The organization of the frontispiece suggests this possibility, although within the content, the author states the importance of maintaining the knowledge secret. However, if this was his intention, it never happened. In 1766, the Society of Jesus was experiencing an intense process of suppression and extinction. The author’s effort in organizing the contents could be related to a desire to preserve certain information, in this case the pharmacopoeia, which the Society fathers had acquired and kept in secret for decades. p. 70 and 71 Author unknown, dedication and foreword of the manuscript Collecção de varias receitas. The manuscript is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, showing clearly the connection between this pharmacist project and the pro-tridentine action of the Society of Jesus in the world. This makes us think especially of a priest’s pharmacy and, in a broader context of a priest’s science.

The author himself makes clear the connection between the scientific project and ecclesiastical activity: ‘giving notice that these are things of religion, and not yours’. It is a fundamental document for the study of pharmacies and the pharmaceutical knowledge of the Jesuits in the Portuguese Empire. In the prologue, he confirms the secrecy of the knowledge thus exposed. He says: ‘I made this collection of formulae so the secrets would not be lost’. p. 72/73 Manuel Rodrigues Teixeira. The pharmacy of the Bahia college was without doubt the most important in Portuguese America. The magnitude and centrality of this college had expanded and concentrated in its pharmacy great works and pharmaceutical intellectuals of the Society of Jesus, such as brothers Francisco da Silva and André da Costa. p. 74 Author unknown, prescription from the manuscript Collecção de varias receitas. Used in ailments of the head and chest and for ‘dores de madre’ (menstrual colic). The oil was applied to the part of the body feeling pain – a sort of ‘arnic flower tincture’ of the era. The formulae in the Collecção were organized in alphabetic order and in each section the author included beautifully illuminated capital letters, like this letter “O”. p. 75 Author unknown, ‘Brief notice’ from the manuscript Collecção de varias receitas. After the formula for ‘triaga brasílica’, there is a list of Brazilian ‘simples’ with

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their respective origins. One sees the fathers’ botanical and phytogeographical knowledge. One can also see that some of the ingredients, like ‘capeba’ root and the ‘jararaca’ snakes, were cultivated and grown in the gardens of the colleges to supply the pharmacies. p. 77 Author unknown, formula for ‘triaga brasílica’ from the manuscript Collecção de varias receitas. This was a compound antidote (panacea) invented by the fathers of the Bahia College, and based on the formula for the ancient ‘triaga’ or ‘teriaca’ of the Roman doctor Andromachus, made famous by the book De theriaca ad Pisonem de Galeno. However, the ‘triaga brasílica’ contained a large quantity of ‘simples’ native to Portuguese America, whose properties had been studied by the Jesuits through direct observation of nature and the information that they could obtain from the indigenous people. p. 79 Author unknown, recipe of ‘panacea mercurial’ from the manuscript Collecção de varias receitas. In the modern era, mercury or guaiacol (‘pau-santo’), was used in the treatment of syphilis. Mercury was much used by the Arabs in medicine and was used to cure syphilis for the first time by the Swiss doctor Paracelsus. Guaiacol however was introduced into European medicine by Nicolau Monardes. The two methods were adopted by the Jesuits in Portuguese America. In the Bahia College ‘panaceia mercurial’ was produced, which included in its composition mercury sublimate and wine spirit. In the Recife college ‘tizana’ laxative based on guaiacol and mercury, which served the same purpose, was produced. p. 81 Nicolo Monardes, Del Garofalo, illustration from Due libri dell’Historia dei Simplici with notes by Carlo Clusius in respect of the work originally signed by Garcia da Horta and Cristóvão da Costa; Arvore do cravo, from the book Aromatum et medicamentorum. Plants from the orient made a fortune in the pharmacology of the Jesuits in Portuguese America. The clove was included in many formulae, such as the ‘bálsamo apoplético’ from the Macau and Bahia colleges, as well as the variation for women, which treated vertigo and comforted the brain; the ‘caçoula admirável’, used to give a good aroma and expel the corrupt airs of the plague, and the famous ‘triaga brasílica’. p. 83 Canela (cinnamon) and frontispiece of the book Due libri dell’Historia dei Simplici. An oriental plant of enormous importance in the pharmacopoeia of the brother apothecaries of Brazil was cinnamon. It was included in the formulae of ‘água de canela’, that fortified the stomach, head and heart, of ‘emplastro para dores de cabeça’ produced in the Bahia college, and of ‘jalea optima de ponta de veado’, used to correct the pungency of the humors and to resist the malignity of the airs. p. 85 Pedanius Dioscorides, Tremoços and Acorum, illustrations of the book Pedacio Dioscorides Anazarbeo.

Of the other plants cultivated in Europe, lupine bean (‘tremoço’) was used in the formulae of ‘emplastro para matar lombrigas’ and ‘triaga contra lombrigas’ both from brother pharmacist Francisco da Silva. ‘Açoro’ was part of the formula of ‘triaga brasílica’. p. 87 Albert Eckhout. Urucu from the book Theatri Rerum Naturalium Brasiliae. These beautiful botanical illustrations by Eckhout show the Dutch interest in the knowledge the Portuguese already had. ‘Urucu’ (fruit of the annatto tree) was already known to the fathers of the Society of Jesus and was one of the ingredients of ‘triaga brasílica’. p. 88 Albert Eckhout, Citron cider, illustration in the book Theatri Rerum Naturalium Brasiliae. The Dutch claimed the presence in Brazil of various plants cultivated in Europe and brought by the Portuguese. Citron cider was an ingredient in various medications from the Jesuit colleges of Portuguese America, as for example the ‘triaga’ against worms by brother pharmacist Francisco da Silva and the ‘triaga brasílica’.

p. 89 Albert Eckhout, Romeiro, illustration from the book Theatri Rerum Naturalium Brasiliae. Cultivated in Europe, like the citron cider, the ‘romã’ (pomegranate) was used in the compound produced in the pharmacy of the Rio de Janeiro college: the ‘massa para cezoens’ was a medicine indicated to cure fever brought on by the cold. p. 90 Albert Eckhout, Jaborandi-guaçu, illustrations from the bookTheatri Rerum Naturalium Brasiliae. Already known to Jesuits such as fathers Cardim, this plant was effective against liver ailments and was cultivated in their colleges. As with many other native plants, it was one of the ingredients of ‘triaga brasílica’. p. 91 Albert Eckhout, Caaroba, illustration from the book Theatri Rerum Naturalium Brasiliae.

It was described by father Fernão Cardim in his letters to the Society General. According to him, this tree had the same properties as ‘pau-da-china’. In the pharmacies of the Jesuit colleges in Brazil, it was used in making ‘conserva de caroba’ (‘caroba’ preserve), a Brazilian alternative against syphilis, and in ‘triaga brasílica’. In this, the ‘caroba’ underwent a chemical process that exemplified the adaptation of a new ‘simples’ to a new pharmaceutical method. p. 92 (left) Albert Eckhout, Nhambu-guaçu, from the book Theatri Rerum Naturalium Brasiliae. The Dutch naturalists undoubtedly improved the knowledge of Brazilian nature acquired before them by the Portuguese. The ‘nambuz’, like many other plants native to Brazil, was one of the ingredients of the ‘triaga brasílica’. p. 92 (right) Albert Eckhout, Ibiraba, illustration from the book Theatri Rerum Naturalium Brasiliae. Various native Portuguese American plants came to be used in the European pharmacopoeia through the pharmacist brothers of the Society of Jesus. The bark of the ‘ibiraé’ was used in making ‘triaga brasílica’. p. 93 Albert Eckhout, Caapiá, illustration from the book Theatri Rerum Naturalium Brasiliae. ‘Caapiá’ was considered by the doctors of that time to be an important alexipharmacon, used in cases of poisons and epidemics. It was widely used in the production of antidote medications, such as the famous ‘triaga brasílica’, and in treatment for pestilential epidemics, such as that suffered in Pernambuco in the 1690s. One variety of ‘caapiá’ from Spanish America, where it was called ‘contrayerba’, was exported on a large scale to Italy and used in the treatment of plagues that devastated the peninsula in the first half of the 17th century. p. 95 Walter Hood Fitch, Aristolochia.

The vine ‘mil-homens’, also known as ‘angelicó’, ‘cipócaçaú’ and ‘cipó-jarrinha’, among others, is the common name for various plants of the genus Aristolochia. It corresponds to the plant Ambuyaembo (Aristolochia labiosa) described by the Dutch doctor and botanist Marcgrave, in 1647. In Pharmacia Tubalense (1735) it was indicated as useful in the treatment of gangrenous ulcers and fevers. After being studied by Bernardino Antônio Gomes (A. grandiflora) and Friar Veloso (A. orbiculata), its antiseptic, diuretic, emmenagogue (provokes menstruation) an d diaphoretic properties were extolled. p. 97 Herman Muller after Heemskerck, Sanguinei. In this 16th century engraving, the planets Jupiter and Venus sitting on a cloud, with an eagle and Cupid, and above them the signs of the zodiac – Libra, Gemini and Aquarius, symbolize the characteristics of the sanguine temperament that corresponds to the element air with its qualities of warmth and humidity. This allegory expresses the amalgam of Galenic and astrological medicine of the period. p. 98 João Curvo Semmedo, frontispiece of Polyanthea Medicinal. Re-edited various times, as of 1695, this book helped to propagate the fundamentals of chemical pharmacy. In it, the fearless João Curvo Semmedo (fearless in Portuguese) wrote a detailed criticism of the

fundaments of galenic therapeutics with the purpose of demonstrating the supremacy of the alchemical medications. p. 99 Attributed to Christóvão de Lisboa, jinipapo. The effect of the seed of the genipap, crushed before taking, to prevent diarrhea, was known to the first Portuguese colonizers. Gabriel Soares de Souza writes that its dye was used to cure yaws. p. 101 Jean de Léry, illustration from Les singularités de la France Antarctique. Calvinist Jean de Léry, in his report on the voyage he undertook in 1557 to the French Antarctic, before being expelled by Villegagnon, described various customs of the Tupinambá indians, with whom he had lived. His testimony constituted one of the first records of the methods for curing and the use of medicinal plants in some treatments. p. 103 Jean de Léry, illustration from Les singularités de la France Antarctique. In this image included in the book by Léry, America is represented populated by demons, as well as unprecedented fauna and flora. p. 105 Friar Veloso, Joannesia princeps, from the book Alographia dos alkalis. The ‘andá’, or ‘andá-açu’ is a tree the nuts of which are described in various pharmacopoeias, for their emetic and purgative effect. Friar Veloso described it according to the binomial standard proposed by Linnaeus, naming it Joannesia princeps in honor of D. João VI. p. 106 and 107: S. Edwards, Althaea officinalis; E. Blackwell, Smilax aspera.

The Portuguese colonizers identified many species of plants native to America as variations of medications already known in the European pharmacopoeias. The ‘caapiá’ (Dorstenia brasiliensis) that appears in the book by Gabriel Soares de Sousa was identified as a herb similar to the ‘malvaísco’ (Althaea officinalis) and valued for the same therapeutic qualities. In a similar way, under the denomination sarsaparrilla, various species of the genus Smilax found in Brazil were matched with the Smilax aspera, valued for its medicinal qualities since antiquity, as we verified in the treatises on Natural History and Materia Medica by Theophrastus, Dioscorides and Pliny. p. 108 Friar Veloso, Ricinus communis. The castor, also known as ‘figueira-do-inferno’, ‘rícino’ or ‘carrapato nhanduguaçu’ was acclimatized during the colonial period. Von Martius found it widely disseminated around Rio de Janeiro, as its oil was used in lamps for illumination. It the Farmacopeia Geral do Reino (1794), it was recommended as a mild purgative. The seeds were swallowed like pills. It was also known as a vermifuge and taken in the form of oil or emulsion. p. 109 Friar Veloso, frontispiece of Florae fluminensis. Through the intervention of Viceroy Luis de Vasconcelos e Sousa, in 1779, Friar José Mariano da Conceição Veloso (1741 – 1811), was excused his routine religious tasks to dedicate himself to the study of botany. Later, between 1799 and 1801, under the protection of D. Rodrigo de Sousa Coutinho, he became the director of the Oficina Tipográfica do Arco do Cego (printing works), in Lisbon, where he wrote his celebrated work Florae Fluminensis, published posthumously in 11 volumes, between 1825 and 1827. p. 110 Friar Veloso, Convolvulus contortus and Dorstenia cayapia.

In these illustrations Veloso features two medicinal plants valued for their broad therapeutic value: the ‘batata-de-purga’ and the ‘contraerva’ (Dorstenia cayapia).

Henriques de Paiva studied the first for its chemical properties and medicinal effect. Fernão Cardim describes the ‘cayapia’ as the only remedy for all sorts of poison or venom, especially from snakes. Of the Moracea family, Dorstenia cayapia was also known as ‘contraerva’. The Tupi term comes from caá (herb) and apiá (testicle). p. 111 L. Köhler. ‘Copaíba’ oil, a resinous liquid extracted from the bark of a large tree, the effect of which was described as analgesic and for treatment of wounds, was used

throughout the colonial period, continually valued by the pharmacopoeias. p. 112/113 Carl von Martius, roots (ginger). The doctor and naturalist Carl Von Martius (1794-1868) and zoologist Spix (1781-1826), arrived in Brazil in the retinue of Grand-Duchess Leopoldina, who had come to marry D. Pedro I. Author of Flora brasiliensis, he stayed here from 1817 to 1830, with the mission of collecting and creating botanical, zoological and mineralogical collections.

One of his greatest concerns was to record indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants. In the book Systema materiae medicae vegetabilis brasiliensis he identified almost 500 species, gathering information on their botanical nomenclatures, their common names in each locality, and their medicinal uses. p. 114 Antônio Ribeiro Sanches, frontispiece of Tratado da conservaçao da saude dos povos. As from mid-18th century, besides the pharmacopoeias and medical compendia related to diagnosis and cure of diseases, the population’s private and public hygiene became a new subject of concern to medicine. Antônio Nunes Ribeiro Sanches (1699-1783), doctor, philosopher and pedagogue, was one of the pioneers in divulging this literature in Portugal. p. 115 Author unknown, illustration from the manuscript Opusculum alchemicum. At the start of the Modern Age, the magic-astrological heritage of archaic and medieval Greek thinking gained new force, with the humanist movement.

Nature, perceived as a living whole that itself contained a soul, endorsed the study of secret correspondence between the world (macrocosm) and man (microcosm).

Through the reading of signs or signatures that God imprinted on the creatures it was possible to read the book of nature and capture the bonds of hidden sympathy.

Paracelsus and his iatrochemical followers questioned the ‘galenism’ and modified the bases of therapeutics.

Alchemy used many hermetic symbols, such as two humans copulating inside a retort, representing the Sun and the Moon, as an allegory of chemical processes. p. 117 Albrecht Dürer, Melencolia. The Greek term means literally black bile, is a symptom for the psychic state characterized by sadness. Individuals in which this humor predominates correspond to a melancholic or saturnine temperament. To eliminate the excess of black bile, blood-letting and purgative medicines are the most recommended. In Dürer’s engraving, containing NeoPlatonic elements, melancholy is valued as a disposition of contemplative philosophy for those in which a rational soul needs to transcend the sensitive world. p. 118 Peter Paul Rubens, Portrait of Paracelsus. In the context of contra-reform and the crisis of the cultural institutions of Modern Europe, the mystic Paracelsus (1493 – 1541) developed a concept of human physiology from alchemy and varied magic-hermetic literature that achieved a great reputation. A rebel, he burned the works of Galen and Avicenna in a public square. He was a pioneer in the defense of mineral and metallic medicines, preaching the doctrine of specific remedies for each disease. p. 119 Mary Beale, Portrait of Thomas Sydenham. Thomas Sydenham (1624 – 1689) had a great reputation in his time based on the treatments he developed for the ‘fevers’, especially smallpox. In Observationes medicae (1676) he introduced the concept of morbid species, insisting that the doctors should individualize the diseases and classify them, like the naturalists did with plants. Another fissure that he opened in relation to Galenist tradition was his defense of therapeutics based on botany and on the alchemical mineral elements. p. 120 Jean Vigier, frontispiece. Pharmacopea Ulyssiponense,

by Frenchman Jean Vigier (1662-1723), an apothecary established in Portugal, was the first pharmacopoeia written in Portuguese to treat the preparation of chemical medications in an organized manner, and describe the material and the techniques of pharmaceutical chemistry.

p. 121 I. G. Hallman & Carol Bergqvist, illustration from the book Materia Medica. Published by the famous naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) in 1749, it contains the description, classification and uses of 535 species of medicinal plants. The illustration shows some of the medications that should be available in an apothecary’s cupboard. Among the drugs are the ‘jalapa’ and the ‘ipecacuanha’, plants from the New World that were embraced by the European pharmacopoeias. p. 122 and 123 Domenico Vandelli, frontispiece and illustration of Diccionario dos termos technicos. One of the central figures in Portuguese illustration, Vandelli (1735-1816) was eager to divulge Linnaeus’ system of classification. The growing interest in Natural History in naming, describing and classifying the multitude of animals, plants and minerals, grouping them according to a rational and systematic order was due to the understanding that this was the first step towards a more complex analysis of their origins, geographic distribution, interactions and properties.

The economic importance of the natural products gave impetus to this discipline and to the development of botanical gardens. p. 124 and 125 Mechoacam and Bois du Bresil. Considered in its time the most complete and reliable catalog of ‘simples’ – patent medicines and compound drugs, the Histoire général des drogues, published by pharmacist Pierre Pomet (16581699), was translated into many languages, including English and German. Containing more than 400 figures, descriptions of ‘simples’ medicines of America appear in the first edition in 1694. Brazilwood, the oil of which was used to cure fevers, treat eye inflammations, and to strengthen the stomach, and ‘mechação’ (‘jalapa’ or ‘batata-de-purga’) are among the various Brazilian medicinal plants described. p. 126 Bernardino Antônio Gomes, Ipecacuanha from the book Memória sobre a Ipecacuanha [...]. Apart from distinguishing Ipecacuanha fusca from other vines, which were marketed as having the same emetic property, and confirming the medicinal value of ‘barbatimão’ and and ‘anda-açu’ as astringent, Bernardino Antonio Gomes extracted from the cinchona the alkaloid chichonino. p. 127 Bernardino Antônio Gomes, Barbatimão from the book Observationes Botanico-Medicae. Bernardino Antônio Gomes (1768-1823), doctor and surgeon to the Royal Armada, was in Brazil from 1797 to 1801. He devoted time to studying botany, and during his first stay in the colony made therapeutic observations on 16 species of Brazilian plants. His Observações Botânico Médicas (1803), published in Lisbon, was based on modern chemistry and established the active principle in the context of Queen Maria’s reign (1777-1816), during which various scientific expeditions to the Portuguese American territory were organized by D. Rodrigo de Souza Coutinho. p. 128 and 129 Bernardino Antonio Gomes, ‘jaca’, ‘andá-açu’ and ‘tabebuia’ from the book Observationes Botanico-Medicae.

While keeping a holistic approach to medicine, Bernardino Antonio Gomes studied botany and the active principles of plants. p. 131 Discorides, page 116 of the velum manuscript De materia medica. Dioscorides, who lived in the 1st century, is the author of this book, in which he describes around 600 medicinal plants, 35 drugs of animal origin and 90 of mineral origin. Written originally in Greek, it achieved renewed prestige during the Renaissance, and was printed for the first time in Latin in 1478. p. 133 D. Caetano de S. Antônio, dedication of Pharmacopea lusitana. Canon Santo Antônio was the first to write a form in Portuguese, in 1704, the Farmacopeia Lusitana, which would have another three editions. In the second edition in 1711, he introduced some chemical formulae and Brazilian plants, such as the sarsaparilla. p. 135 Jean Vigier, illustrations from Pharmacopea Ulyssiponense.

Ovens, ash pans, crucibles, chapiters/retorts of glass

or copper, basins, taps, vessels and pestle and mortars were some of the instruments introduced by the new alchemical techniques for producing medicines. From then on it was necessary to know how to evaporate, crystallize, distill, incinerate, reverberate, distinguish and mix, or reduce. The art of calcining depended on the knowledge of the techniques of immersion, fusion, precipitation, hydration, fumigation, amalgamation and finally, sedimentation. p. 136 Carl von Martius, Cissampelos ovalifolia from Flora brasiliensis. ‘Abutua’, ‘parreira-brava’ or ‘orelha-de-onça’ was recommended by the author of Polianthea Medicinal as having great virtue in the treatment of coughs and lung infections. John Lindley (1799-1865), professor of Botany in the University of London recorded that the root of this Brazilian plant was used to treat intermittent fevers, and Auguste de Saint-Hilaire (1779-1853) commented that he was doubtful about its use as an antidote for snake bites. p. 137 Georgii Hieronymi & H. F. Herbach. Illustration from the book Exercitatio de vena medinensi. An unwelcome guest, ‘dracunculus’ (Filaria medinense), was imported with the African slave traffic. In the medical literature of the colonial period, Piso, a doctor in the court of Nassau, was the first to record it. Surgical intervention was a way of facilitating the removal of worms through the skin.

In Bahia, palm oil was used on the skin. Supposedly the result of corrupted humors, doctors and surgeons recommended emetics and purgatives. Bernardino Antônio Gomes indicated the use of a poultice, to soften the skin until the tumor bursts, together with taking ‘asafetida’. p. 139 Detail of Jean Baptiste Debret, Still life with tropical fruits. p. 141 Theodor de Bry. Nigritae exhaustis [...]. Illustration from the book Grands voyages, part V. Different stages in the manufacture of sugar, the production of which in Portuguese America signaled the growth of its consumption on a worldwide scale, when it became an indispensable item in the food chain. p. 142 Domingos Rodriguez, frontispiece of Arte de cozinha [...].

Written by a royal cook, this is considered to be the first cook book published in Portugal. p. 143 Giovanni Battista Ramusio, Mahiz & Casabi. Illustrations from Delle nauigationi et viaggi, volume 3. American corn, or maize, won a place on European tables, and was used in various preparations, but above all as a flour for the baking of bread, as for example “broa de milho” – cornbread. p. 145 Johann Moritz Rugendas. Preparing the manioc.

Illustration from the book Viagem pitoresca ao Brasil.

The custom of eating manioc flour and the technique of its manufacture were taken from Brazil to Africa by the Portuguese, resulting in manioc becoming part of the local diet. p. 147 Georg Gottfried Winckler, View of the King’s Palace in Lisbon. Seat of the Portuguese Empire, Lisbon would receive and distribute the products of its conquests, among which were plants originating in Brazil. p. 148 Jean Baptiste Debret, Seeds used in necklaces. Some edible Brazilian plants are also medicinal and can be used in domestic industry. p. 149 Johannes van Keulen, Brazil, Cape Verde, New Guinea, South Atlantic Ocean. The Cape Verde islands played an important part in the diffusion of tropical products, and were used for acclimatization of plants from the East and West Indies. p. 150 and 151 Juan de Tovar, Los meses (page 150) and Tlacaxipehualiztli (page 151), illustrations from the manuscript Historia de la benida de los yndios apoblar a Mexico [...] .

Mexico’s indigenous people used cacao pods to produce a drink much appreciated and consumed in banquets and religious rituals. By means of written reports, the

Spanish chroniclers of the 16th century divulged in Europe the techniques for processing cacao, and its nutritional qualities, not forgetting to emphasize its curing power, which in some cases was imbued with magical qualities. p. 152/153 Jodocus Hondius (Joost de Hondt), America. After the discovery of the New World, plants of the American continent “traveled” to other parts, fostering an intense exchange of knowledge and culinary techniques that resulted in the incorporation of new foodstuffs in the diets of other nations. p. 154 Vicente Coelho de Seabra Silva Telles, frontispiece of Memoria sobre a cultura do arros [...]. Doctor and chemist Silva Telles published this memorial to prove that eating rice was good for the health. Besides the plant itself being very nutritious, growing it in wetlands could only be prejudicial if the farmers let the plant rot in the water. p. 155 André Thevet, manioc, illustration from the book Les Singularitez de la France Antarctique [...]. The Portuguese colonials learned from the indians how to plant and eat manioc, which eventually became the staple food during colonization. They used manioc flour to make beijus (pancakes), cakes and other foodstuffs that in Portugal were made with wheat-flour. For all its uses and qualities it was associated with bread and named “bread of the earth”. p. 156 and 157 Antonio Gioseppe Landi, Armazém de arroz [...].

The increase in consumption of rice in Portugal, in the 18th century, encouraged its cultivation in Portuguese America, which meant an increase in production both in Rio de Janeiro and Grão Pará. From this latter large shipments of rice were sent to the Royal Palace, to be offered as a side dish with meat and fish. p. 159 José Joaquim Freire, Phaseolus. Eaten with manioc or corn flour, beans became an important item in the daily diet of the inhabitants of Portuguese America. Their association with rice (beans and rice) came later, and in each region of Brazil a different type of bean became predominant in the local diet: black, red, white etc. p. 160 and 161 Jean Baptiste Debret, Marchandes de milhas [sic] sec et vert (page 160) and Negresses cuisinières marchandes d’angou [page 161]. Maize was eaten roasted, the way the colonials and slaves had learned with the indians, but appeared on the menu in other forms, especially those that used ‘fubá’ (corn flour), as in the case of ‘angu’, a popular dish sold on the streets of the cities from foodcarts, and made with flour and water. p. 162 and 163 José Joaquim Freire, Capsicum. Used as a condiment for savory or sweet dishes, but also as a preservative and medicinal genre, black or Indian pepper revolutionized international trading in the Modern Age, achieving an incredible volume of production and resulting in high profits. In Brazil there were various species of pepper, which were given value in the reports of exploration in the Amazon in the 17th and 18th centuries. p. 164 Antonin Carême, frontispiece and cakes (page 165) with pineapple from the book Le cuisinier parisien [...]. As of the 19th century, tropical fruit and sugar appear with certain frequency in specialized publications. Pineapple was also used to decorate cakes. p. 165 Cândido Borges Silva, Manual de confeitaria [The pastry handbook]. The profession of pastry cook was regulated in Lisbon, at the end of the 16th century, when standards were established for the production and sale of sweetmeats. The industry grew with the expansion of sugar production in the Atlantic islands and in Brazil. p. 166/167 Josefa de Óbidos, Still life. Sweets – sweet production is one of the most traditional sectors of Portuguese culinary arts, which along with other countries, felt a major French influence as of the end of the 17th century, when the last course in banquets was normally dedicated to sweetmeats. It was not unusual to have

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a table exclusively for these delicacies, also in a room separate from the tables with savory dishes. p. 169 Top: Plate belonging to the collection of Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira, [17--]. Vanilla. Vanilla is not very evident in the Portuguese recipes in the 17th and 18th centuries, but it was recommended as an addition to one of the chocolate drinks. It was exported from Brazil’s northern region together with cacao, suggesting its association with the drink at that time.

Bottom: Caspar Schmalkalden, Caju Apffel Acajaiba [Anacardium ocidentale]. Illustration from the manuscript Reise von Amsterdam nach Pharnambuco in Brasilien.

Cashew was one of the fruit that most interested foreign visitors, either for its flavor and aroma, or for its pulp and nut, both of which could be eaten. p. 170 and 171 On page 170: A. Castrioto, D. João V having chocolate at the house of the Duke of Lafões. On page 171: Joaquim José Codina, theobroma cacao, Linn.

Chocolate arrived in Europe in the form of a drink. It was made with the cacao seeds dried and toasted to which was added a little water and blended to form a paste. To make a cold drink, a little of the paste was added to water and mixed well. The drink was then poured into a cup from a height, in order to create foam. p. 173 Falca Pietro detto Longhi, [Morning chocolate]. Chocolate was a rare and expensive drink, and was consumed by the European elite, who quickly added it to their menu.

It was recommended by doctors for its nutritional and curative value, and generally taken on waking. p. 174 and 175 On page 174: Jean-Étienne Liotard, A Lady Pouring Chocolate. On page 175: Luis Egidio Meléndez, Bodegón con servicio de chocolate y bollos.

As with both tea and coffee, the ritual of drinking chocolate stimulated the creation of various specific artifacts such as cups and chocolate pots, a sort of kettle with a molinet or stick, with which the drink was beaten to produce foam. p. 177 Phillippe Sylvestre Dufour, Americain chocolatiere larbre cacao. Illustration Traités nouveaux & curieux du café [...].

Between the 16th and 18th centuries various papers circulated in Europe devoted to the “new drinks” – chocolate, tea and coffee. The book by Dufour, for example, offered various ways to prepare chocolate, and elucidated regarding coffee. p. 179 Jean Baptiste Debret, Still life with fruits from the New World. From the combination of sugar and tropical fruit, and ever since the start of colonization, the Portuguese women created a large variety of sweets and preserves.

The art of making preserves, as its name indicates, came from the need to preserve the seasonal fruits for a prolonged time, to prevent them deteriorating and going to waste, and maintaining their nutritional value. p. 181 Detail of the map showing the route of the rivers Madeira, Mamoré and Guaporé linking Belém do Pará to Mato Grosso. p. 183 Theodor de Bry. Illustration from the book America tertia pars. De Bry never came to America, but was the first to use intaglio to bring to the Europeans images of the New World and indigenous people such as the Tupinambá.

His ethnographic references came from reading André Thevet, Jean de Léry and others. p. 184 and 185 José Corrêa Rangel, frontispiece of the manuscript Mappa Botanico and Friar Mariano da Conceição Veloso [attributed to] ; print and description of Decandria Monogynia belonging to the Preliminary Studies for Flora fluminensis. Flora fluminensis resulted from expeditions made by Veloso in the Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro with various helpers, including artists. The work is a product of the interaction of his knowledge of history, and that of the indigenous wise men with whom he had contact. p. 187 Frederick de Wit. One perceives how the pictorial wealth of America is represented as of the specification

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of the indigenous figure. The behavior of the individuals portrayed in the bottom left hand corner suggests an ethnic group of the Tupi tribe, alongside African men and women. p. 188 and 189 Francisco Antonio de Sampaio, plate 17, figure 1 (above): sarsaparilla; plate 14, figure 3 (to the right): ‘contraerva’, illustrations from the manuscript “History of the vegetable, animal and mineral kingdoms of Brazil”.

The author was born in Portugal, in Vila Real, but lived since childhood in Vila de Cachoeira in Bahia. From his contact with the local population and the fauna and flora of the region, he wrote books on medicine and natural history which remained as manuscripts. p. 191 Guillaume de Lisle (del.), Liebaux le fils (sculpt.). In this map it is possible to perceive the initial effort of locating indigenous groups according to their classification as Tapuias or Tupis. p. 192 and 193 Carlos Julião. Illustrations from the book Noticia summaria do gentilismo da Ásia. Carlos Julião was a soldier from Turin who worked for the Portuguese Crown. He left numerous watercolor designs that focus on scenes of daily life, habits, means of transport and slave labor.

In the picture to the left, without ethnic precision, an indigenous couple is portrayed in a natural setting with elements of fauna and flora. On the right, the indians present branches of plants related to their customs, supposedly cuttings of manioc and tobacco. p. 195 This is a possible replica of the Carta geográfica do Piauhy de 1809 by José Pedro César de Meneses in which appear the captaincies of Maranhão, Piauí and Pernambuco. All over the map are different descriptions of indigenous people considered to be Tapuia. p. 197 J.B. (John Bulwer). Left: Brazilian Man and Woman.

Illustration from the book Anthropometamorphosis: Man Transform’d. The text accompanying the images shows the European discomfort in relation to paintings of bodies and ornaments of the indians. It mentions the use of black and red ink extracted from plants (genipap and urucum). Right: Quoniambec. Illustration from the book Anthropometamorphosis: Man Transform’d. The portrait of Chief Cunhambebe was extracted from the work of Aldrovandi and shows the European criticism of what was considered drastic body interference: the use of ear and lip discs. p. 199 Route map of the rivers Madeira, Mamoré and Guaporé linking Belém do Pará to Mato Grosso. In the second half of the 18th century, the Portuguese Crown started to invest even more in maps that showed the routes of the rivers, with the objective of controlling the Amazon hinterland, especially to reveal the hydrographic potential for the development of commerce and the transport of merchandise, among which the fruit extracted from the Amazon forest and the Savannah lands (Cerrado). p. 200/201 Anastacio de Santana, frontispiece of the Guide for walkers. This 19th century image illustrates the exchanges made between the indigenous Tupi people (coastal) and the non-indigenous. p. 203 By an unknown author, a page from the manuscript Virtudes das plantas da America. The book contains illustrations of Brazilian flora and fauna in brilliant watercolor. It includes a prescription for the treatment and cure of various diseases with the use of different plants. The plants are identified by local names, mainly of indigenous origin. p. 204/205 The map is pictorially and ideographically rich, revealing a symbolic language of the socioenvironmental spaces of the ‘sertões’ (hinterland) of Portuguese America. It shows the region bordered by the rivers Araguaia, Tocantins and São Francisco, minute details of watercourses, streams, mountains, indigenous people, camps and villages, and trees of the savannah and arid region (caatinga).

p. 207 Unknown author, page of Virtudes das plantas da America.

The document shows a profound knowledge of Brazilian medicinal plants, a result of the interaction with the secular knowledge of the indigenous people. p. 208-209 Unknown author, pages from Virtudes das plantas da America. The manuscript indicates, besides the medicinal use of plants, animals such as the anhuma (Horned screamer) the horn of which is supposed to have therapeutic virtues. p. 211 Manuel Tavares da Fonseca, untitled illustration included in the manuscript, Riscos de vários animais raros. The various activities illustrated in the painting portray work in the field to be performed by naturalists involved in the Philosophic Voyages commissioned by the Museu d’Ajuda and undertaken by Domenico Vandelli. p. 212 and 213 Domingos Alves Branco Muniz Barreto, illustration of ‘caroba’ included in the manuscript Plantas do Certão do Gram Pará [sic] and Vila de São Fidélis, illustrated in Notícia de viagem e jornadas [...]. Muniz Barreto, a military man, described indian settlements in the south of Bahia and researched various local medicinal plants that he sketched using a system based on the appearance of the leaves. The ‘caroba’, for example, was described as coming from the Vila de São Fidélis. p. 214 and 215 Domingos Alves Branco Muniz Barreto. Illustration of ‘Pindaiba-mirim’ included in the manuscript Plantas do Certão do Gram Pará [sic] and Vila de Santarém, included in the Notícia de viagem e jornadas [...]. Muniz Barreto succeded in establishing contact with the indigenous people of South Bahia through his research into plants and their virtues. In the communities he procured those who knew the traditional cures. p. 217 Unknown author, Cashew and Passion fruit, illustrations belonging to the set of paintings “Frutos tropicais”. The paintings were done for the benefit of the home country, the Court and the dignitaries who would occupy the top posts in administration in Brazil, as the intention was to transmit the beauty and the colors of tropical fruit. p. 218/219 Anonymous, 1780. Anáná (pineapple) illustration part of the set of paintings “Frutos tropicais”. The pineapple was commonly described as the “king” of fruit, due to the crown of leaves on its top. In this arrangement the artist preferred esthetics to botanical convention. p. 221 Anonymous, Contraerva. The Dorstenia brasiliensis Lamk., also known as ‘caapiá’, is found extensively in São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Bahia and Pernambuco. p. 222 and 223 Dom Tomás José de Melo, governor of the Captaincy of Pernambuco. Letter to the State Secretary for the Navy and Overseas, Martinho de Melo e Castro, sending an “ABC” of medicinal plants. This comprehensive booklet, containing a list of plants, aimed to present their curative potential as revealed by the indigenous people of the ‘sertão’ (hinterland) and the coast of Paraíba. p. 224 and 225 Dom Rodrigo José Meneses, governor and Captain General of Bahia, 1786. Letter referring to the shipment to the Kingdom of samples of fruit and medicinal trees.

The document shows the efforts of the king of Portugal’s vassals in attending to the requests for shipment of fructiferous and medicinal plants to Lisbon. p. 226/227 Christoph Gottlieb von Murr, Village in Amazonas, ilustration from the book Reisen einiger Missionarien der Gesellschaft Jesu in Amerika [...]. The engraving is part of a compilation put together by Protestant von Murr with the objective of defending the Jesuit missionaries despite their religious disposition. The picture shows a Jesuit mission in Amazonia, portrayed in an idyllic form, attempting to show that the relation between the missionary fathers and the indians was harmonious and beneficial.

p. 229 Detail of Thomas Gosse, Transplanting the Bread-Fruit Trees from Otaheite. p. 231 Charles Plumier, 1693. Variétés de colocasia hederacea et d’arums. Illustrations from the book Description des plantes de l’Amerique [...]. Reverend Charles Plumier (1646 – 1704) was an important naturalist and explorer of the Antilles. He left important works on the American flora.

Many botanical genera described by him were adopted later by Linnaeus. He classified American species that also occur in Brazil. In the illustration, epiphytes and araceae lianas appear in a scene of tropical foliage, in which the species intertwine. p. 231/232 The map of the Province of Cumaná and the Island of la Trinida de Varloto shows today’s Venezuela, which shares natural environments with Brazilian Amazonia.

In this 18th century print, one can see details of the daily routine of the indigenous people who could take place in Portuguese America, both because of the fauna and flora, and of human presence. p. 234/235 Francisco Franco de Almeida Serra, Parte do Brazil que comprehende a navegação que se faz [...]. The central part of the map shows the area of the “Cerrado” (Savannah) under negotiation for marking the frontiers between Spanish and Portuguese, in the second half of the 18th century. The river Guaporé separated the Portuguese and Spanish territories and was the main access to Vila Bela. p. 236 Nicolai Josephi Jacquin, frontispiece of the book Selectarum Stirpium Americanarum Icones. In the service of Austria, doctor and naturalist Jacquin explored the flora of the Antilles (West Indies). He corresponded with Linnaeus and the Jussieux. Besides being a botanist, he was a great artist. Many Brazilian plants were first described by him. p. 237 Miguel Antônio Ciera, Mappa geographicum quo flumen Argenteum, Parana et Paraguay. Ciera, of Italian origin, was contracted by the Portuguese crown to take part as astronomer in the work of marking out the frontiers of 17th century America, in the context of the Treaty of Madrid. The map portrays the Pampas biome, whose limits evade political frontiers. p. 238 Portrait of Pierre Poivre. An important French colonial administrator, Pierre Poivre (1719-1786) established a botanical garden on the Island of Mauritius, in mid-18th century, which was one of the major centers for distribution of plants to the French colonies, and indirectly to Brazil. p. 239 Infantry Captain Ignácio Antonio da Silva, detail of the map of La Gabrielle. The botanical gardens in French Guiana, in Cayenne, received valuable species of Asian plants, mainly from Mauritius. Soon after the invasion of Portugal by the French in 1807, the Portuguese ocupied Cayenne (January 1809) and took possession of the plants in the beautiful garden called La Gabrielle. In this detail of the gardens, one can see the location of the nurseries for nutmeg, cinnamon and Indian clove plants (nos. 23 and 24). p. 240/241 This plan of La Gabrielle at the time of Portuguese dominion shows spaces destined for the feeding of the slaves, a hospital, lodgings, plant beds and nurseries, mainly for clove, nutmeg and cinnamon. p. 242/243 Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, Carte de l’Isle de France. Under the administration of Pierre Poivre, the botanical gardens on the Île de France (Mauritius) became a center for the acclimatization of plants and experiments in cultivation.

The garden was called La Pamplemousse and had the most sought after oriental spices. p. 245 Though anonymous, this drawing is accompanied by a letter from G.F. van Wreeden and H. Klingengergh dated 1670; both belong to a set of letters sent from Mauritius to VOC. The islands of the Indian Ocean, and in particular the Island of Mauritius were centers for

modern colonialism. They were important points for replacement and acclimatization of exotic species of plants and animals. Mauritius in a few decades suffered intense deforestation and environmental degradation, which led its administrators to propose environmental policies adapted to the new situation. The illustration shows the cutting down of ebony trees at the end of the 17th century, and a bird that could have been endemic and is now probably extinct. p. 246/247 I. Haas, plate no. 5 of Almindelig Historie over Reiser til Lands og Vands. The images and descriptions of exotic plants circulated around Europe. Some plants were extremely valuable, such as the cinnamon tree, and others less well known, such as the bilimbizeiro (starapple), introduced into Brazil from the Cayenne gardens. p. 248 Jean-Baptiste Debret. Coffee, originating in Asia, by the 19th century was Brazil’s principal export product. Before this, its presence was minimal. The Brazilian habit of drinking coffee started during the 18th century, so in fact it was a product of an independent country, and not from colonial times. p. 249 Charles Landseer, Tea tree. Tea-growing started in Brazil at the start of the 19th century, using Chinese planters. The drink is one of the stimulating beverages consumed with sugar, which use spread during the colonial period. p. 251 Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, Indiens de la Guyane [...]. The illustration shows an indigenous couple surrounded by useful plants – cotton, indigo and tobacco –, as well as a small mammal. Alongside the cotton plant, a decoration made with a metal alloy, called “caracoli”. On portraying the local inhabitants, the artist added to the scene what could serve colonial interests. p. 252 and 253 Author unknown. Indigo factory in Rio de Janeiro, examples of a set of watercolor designs (black and sepia) dedicated to the explanation of various processes in the production of indigo. In the last decades of the 18th century, Rio de Janeiro produced relevant quantities of indigo for export, with the support of the Crown, who guaranteed the purchase of the production. Local firms competed for this venture, acquiring expertise in the production of the blue dye, from experience and from reading books, pamphlets and instructions. p. 254 and 255 José Mariano da Conceição Veloso, on page 212, first page and frontispiece; on page 213, cactus of the cochineal. Illustrations from the bookO fazendeiro do Brasil [...]. Friar Veloso’s publications, such as O fazendeiro do Brasil – aimed to expand agriculture and manufacturing in Brazil, including dyes. Carmine extracted from cochineal was produced in Brazil, but the quality was not of the standard needed for export.

Production of carmine is complex, because a specific variety of the insect needs to lodge in a specific species of the cactus Opuntia. The ideal combination of factors needed for production occurred in Oaxaca, Mexico. p. 257 José Mariano da Conceição Veloso. Equipment for the production of sugar illustrated in volume 1, part 2 of O fazendeiro do Brasil. This was a collection published between 1798 and 1806 full of information on economic activities already present in Brazil, or potentially interesting. The books aimed to provide international knowledge available on the themes, and show ways of improving traditional techniques. Prominent in Veloso’s projects, the illustrations were powerful tools in teaching through reading. p. 258 and 259 On page 258: José Mariano da Conceição Veloso, frontispiece of volume 1, part 1 of O fazendeiro do Brasil [...]. On page 259: Monnet [del.], David [sculpt.], s/d. The Ministry of Interior Presents Beet Sugar to the Emperor.

During the Napoleonic wars, the sugar business in the West Indies suffered setbacks. Acer saccharum (maple), much used in North America, produces a sap or juice from which is made a sweet syrup, and can substitute

sugar as a sweetener. During the Empire, Napoleon encouraged chemistry applied to foodstuffs. The production in France of sugar from beet dates from this period. p. 260 [José María Carbonell], s/d. Determinatio specierum generis Cinchonae, drawing belonging to the set Dibujos de la Real Expedición Botánica del Nuevo Reino de Granada (1783-1816), led by José Celestino Mutis y Bosio. The reverend and naturalist Mutis lived in the region of New Granada between 1783 and 1808, where he arrived heading a botanical expedition at the service of the Spanish crown. His research resulted in vast collections and relevant scientific works. The illustration, painted by the expedition’s artist, portrays the characteristics of the genus Cinchona. p. 261 Francisco José de Caldas, s/d. Carta topografica de las cercanias de Loxa en que nace la Cinchona officinalis, drawing belonging to the set Dibujos de la Real Expedición Botánica del Nuevo Reino de Granada (1783-1816), led José Celestino Mutis y Bosio. The quinine had strategic importance, being effective against fevers, mainly malaria.

The map, showing the occurrence of cinchona near to Lorca, was made by Francisco José de Caldas, a knowledgeable man born in the Viceroyalty of New Granada, and a member of the expedition headed by Mutis. p. 262/263 Jose Manuel de Siqueira. Map of the discovery of quinine. During the 18th century, the discovery of quinine in Portuguese America was one of the objectives of the crown. The map indicates the occurrence of two types generic types of quinine, identified by Father José Manuel de Siqueira. p. 265 José Mariano da Conceição Veloso. Illustrations of plants and seeds included in the book Quinografia portugueza [...]. The illustration shows a branch in flower and seeds of Coutinia illustris, the name given in honor of Ilustríssimo e Excelentíssimo Senhor D. Francisco de Souza Coutinho, Governor and Captain General of Grão-Pará and Provinces of Amazonas, for the zeal with which he introduced the taste for dryads in our gardens, estimable inhabitants of our Brazilian forests, and the most rare and strange, such as the girofleiro (clove) the breadfruit tree and others. p. 266 Left: José Mariano da Conceição Veloso, plate of Quassia amara published in the Collecção de memorias [...]. Right: William Woodville, 1792. Quassia amara ilustrada no livro Medical Botany [...]. Friar Veloso, in his publication on Quassia amara, reproduces texts and images from works that circulated in Europe, as in the case of the illustration taken from the book on medical botany by Woodville. p. 267 John Gabriel Stedman, The Celebrated Graman Quacy .

The illustration shows the famous curator of Suriname, known as Graman Quacy, who gave the name to the plant Quassia amara (Bitter-wood), described by Linnaeus.

Quassia was used against fevers and gastro-intestinal problems. In the picture Quacy is dressed in European clothes, which he had been given by the Dutch. p. 268 and 269 On page 268: José Mariano da Conceição Veloso, plate of Quassia amara included in Collecçaõ de memorias [...]. On page 269: J. B. Patris, Plate of Quassia amara illustrated in the book Observations et Mémoires sur la Physique. Among the memorials collected by Friar Veloso is a text by JeanBaptiste Patris, a doctor who had lived in Cayenne and had sketched the plant from a live specimen. p. 271 Left: Gottfried Wilhelm Schilling, plate of Viscum surinamensi, included in De Lepra Commentationes [...]. Right: José Mariano da Conceição Veloso, plate of Lorantho americano included in Collecçaõ de memorias [...].

The illustrations in Veloso’s work reflect to a large measure those of the book by Schilling. However, instead of relating the name of the plant to Surinam, he adds the epithet “American”, thus including Brazil as the origin of the plant. Apart from this, Veloso identifies the common Brazilian name in brackets: the American Lorantho would become well known as ‘erva-de-passarinho’.

p. 272 Left: Gottfried Wilhelm Schilling, illustration of Tondim surinamensium, included in De Lepra Commentationes [...].

Right: José Mariano da Conceição Veloso, illustration of Paullina empennada included in Collecçaõ de memorias sobre a quassia amarga e simaruba [...]. Schilling’s tondim was identified in Veloso’s book as Paullina empennada (Paullinia pinnata), common name ‘timbó’. This was a poisonous plant used by the Brazilian indians in fishing. p. 273 Left: José Mariano da Conceição Veloso, illustration of Cuscuta d’America included in Collecçaõ de memorias sobre a quassia amarga e simaruba [...]. Right: Gottfried Wilhelm Schilling, illustration of Cuscuta surinamensis, included in De Lepra Commentationes [...].

Cuscuta became “American” in Veloso’s book, according to Linné’s binomial nomenclature, as well as to his own wishes of establishing a connection between the studied plants and Brazil. p. 274/275 Thomas Gosse, Transplanting the Bread-Fruit Trees from Otaheite . The breadfruit tree has an intriguing story, which involves the mutiny of the crew of the Bounty against captain Bligh, in 1789. One of the causes of the revolt was the fact that the remainder of drinking water on board was being used to water the seedlings, rationing the sailors’ share. The illustration shows the successful transplanting of the breadfruit trees in the West Indies, in 1791, again under the command of Bligh, shown in the painting standing in the boat. p. 276/277 Author unknown. The picture shows an exhausted Linnaeus after a profitable herborization. In the naturalist’s office one can observe his hat, his staff, and recently collected plants. On the shelves are dried plants, books, animal bones, notes, vases containing natural history objects. An exotic bird – maybe a parrot – sitting on a perch, balances the scene. p. 278 Left: M. Hoffman (del.), A. van der Laan (grav.), frontispiece of Flora Lapponica, by Carl von Linné.

Linné never left Europe, although his disciples acquired notoriety as travelers. However the voyage the naturalist made to Lapland figures as a model for later expeditions. The illustration shows a species of synthesis of observations made in Lapland, in which local inhabitants, homes, landscape, plants and animals appear, forming an articulated whole.

Right: Carl von Linné, frontispiece of Instructio Peregrinatoris. This is one of the Linnean texts, despite having been written by Eric Nordblad, his student, who followed strictly in the steps of the master. This instruction emphasizes the importance of voyages for the development of natural history, and consequently for knowledge of the work of the Creator. All later instructions to travelers use this text as a reference. p. 279 G. Hallman (del. and sculpt.), Horti Upsaliensis Prospectus, illustration from the book by Samuel Naucler (Carl von Linné) Hortus Upsaliensis. The image shows a text attributed to Linnaeus and his disciple Naucler. In the botanical gardens at Uppsala Linnaeus tried to acclimatize plants from the whole world. From Sweden he established an immense network of correspondents who would send him descriptions, seeds, dried plants and texts. p. 280 Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward, On the Growth of Plants in Closely Glazed Cases. The so-called Wardian case was a closed glazed container, which revolutionized the transport of plants in ships. Thanks to this invention, the commerce in exotic plants developed immensely in Europe, in the 19th century, including that of flowers and delicate plants. p. 281 Top: Louis van Houtte, untitled. The Brussels botanical garden was extremely active in sending collectors and naturalists to the tropics, including Brazil. The commerce in exotic plants in Belgium was vigorous throughout the 19th century. The illustration shows the traveler protected from the sun, creating an environment suitable for people from temperate climates. The Brazilian plants, in turn, are transported in

Wardian cases, receiving sunlight through the glass of the cases, in an environment that will not be changed before its arrival in a suitable place. In the background, Guanabara Bay. The black slaves, with little clothing, are unaffected by the sun.

Bottom: Luigi Castiglione, from the manuscript Opusculi varri. Luigi Castiglioni was one of the many travelers who left in search of knowledge and adventure during the period of ‘enlightenment’.

Manuscripts relating to his voyage to the United States show that he studied technical literature available on the best way to transport plants. p. 282 and 283 André Thouin. Head gardener at the Jardin des Plantes, in Paris, Thouin was very active in the cultivation of plants, both local and exotic. He would prepare gardeners and collectors for scientific voyages, besides inventing and improving devices for maritime and overland transportation of live plants and seeds. In the plant beds of the Jardin des Plantes, Thouin experimented in adapting plants from other climates to the Parisien environment, exposing them or protecting them from the sun, wind and humidity. The illustration shows glass cases and boxes for seeds to be used in voyages around the world, as in the case of the expeditions of La Pérouse, d’Entrecasteaux or Baudin, who counted on the expertise of Thouin. p. 284/285 Auguste Garneray, Interior of the Greenhouse at Malmaison.

Joséphine de La Pagerie was born in Martinique, of parents who were sugar cane planters and slave owners.

In 1796 she married Napoleon Bonaparte. The gardens of his property in La Malmaison, acquired in 1799, were important centers for the growing of exotic plants.

Naturalist Charles-François Brisseau de Mirbel became superintendent of the gardens in 1803. The famous flower painter Pierre Joseph Redouté did work for the Empress, painting plants grown in La Malmaison. The garden also had a large greenhouse, simulating a hot and humid climate even during the winter. p. 287 Hendrik van Reede tot Drakestein, Carim-Paná, illustration no. 9 of Hortus indicus malabaricus [...].

Van Reede was the Netherlands governor of Malabar.

Hortus Indicus Malabaricus was published in 12 volumes, between 1678 and 1693. It soon became the main reference for the flora of southwest India. The book originated from the combination of European interests, medical knowledge and local botanists, as well as expertise of Flamenco artists and a Portuguese-Indian translator. The names of the plants appear in Latin, Sanskrit, Arab and Malayan, the main language in the region of Kerala. The illustration shows a palm tree (Borassus flabellifer), which produces a liquor used in India. The Goan ‘Canarins’ who went to Bahia in the 18th century never succeeded in using the palm trees for the same purpose. p. 288/289 Author unknown, The Pharmacist Antoine Parmentier Presenting Louis XVI With a Potato [...]. Parmentier was one of those responsible for the dissemination of the use and consumption of the potato – of American origin – in France. Initially the tuber was used only to feed animals, but slowly became more noble and an important ingredient of the human diet, including as a substitute for bread when the harvest failed. The episode portrayed in the illustration shows Louis XVI receiving small potato flowers from the hands of Parmentier. The King fixed the bouquet to his lapel, as a way of honoring the efforts that were being made to popularize its consumption. p. 290/291 Johann Christoph Nabholz, View of the City of Goa. Goa belonged to the Portuguese Empire. The famous Portuguese doctor Garcia da Orta lived there in the 16th century. Many plants of Portuguese American origin were transplanted to India and vice-versa. Besides the plants, customs and knowledge also crossed the oceans in both directions, and were transformed and adapted to their new countries.

323

CIP-Brasil. Catalogação-na-f0nte Sindicato Nacional dos Editores de Livros, RJ U85 Usos e circulação de plantas no Brasil, séculos XVI a XIX / Lorelai Kury... [et al.]; organização Lorelai Kury; tradução Chris Hieatt. – 1. ed. – Rio de Janeiro : Andrea Jakobsson, 2013.

324 p. : il. ; 30 cm.

Inclui índice ISBN 978-85-88742-59-8

Este livro foi elaborado com tipos Proforma e impresso na primavera de 2013 em papel Garda Chiara 135 g/m2 nas oficinas da Ipsis Editora Gráfica para Andrea Jakobsson Estúdio This book was designed with Proforma types, and printed on Garda Chiara 135g/m2 paper in the workshops of Ipsis Editora Gráfica for Andrea Jakobsson Estúdio in Spring, 2013

324

1. Botânica - Brasil. 2. Pesquisa botânica – Brasil. 3. Folclore das plantas. 4.

Plantas medicinais – Brasil. 5. Brasil – Descrições e viagens. 6. Plantas – Brasil – Obras ilustradas. I. Kury, Lorelai. II. Gesteira, Heloisa Meireles. III. Leite, Bruno Martins Boto. IV. Edler, Flávio Coelho. V. Apolinário, Juciene Ricarte. VI. Algranti, Leila Mezan.

13-06415

CDD: 581.981 CDU: 582(81)

22/10/2013

23/10/2013