“Delight itself, however, is a weak term to express the feelings of a naturalist who, for the first time, has wandered by himself in a Brazilian forest. The elegance of the grasses, the novelty of the parasitical plants, the beauty of the flowers, the glossy green of the foliage, but above all the general luxuriance of the vegetation filled me with admiration.”
-Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle
The discovery of America in 1492 opened a wealth of biological treasures for Europe in the form of plants and animals. At this time in Europe, medical practices were not nearly as advanced as they are today, and mainstream physicians did not fully integrate plant medicine into their frameworks. The array of new plant species found in the Americas caused them reconsider their stance once the efficacy of plant medicine was shown in treating illnesses by hacker physicians and botanical explorers.
When I entered the room for this exhibit, I immediately felt at home surrounded by specimens, sketches, glassware, writing instruments, drawers, botanicals, data tables, JOY!
Suddenly, I felt like an alchemist returning to his roots, in a manner of speaking. The museum of Las Casas Reales is located in Santo Domingo, and as part of its magnificent exhibition in this historic building, where major figures conducted governance of the Spanish dominion, they had this entire room dedicated to the discovery of new plants and their historical impact.
Quinine (for malaria), Coca (stimulant), tobacco (recreation), Guaconax (aches and sores) sarsaparilla (to treat syphilis), cinnamon (for colds) are but a few of the thousands of plants that were investigated at the time by Spanish explorers, physicians, and botanists. Indigenous uses and practices were also documented and integrated into routine medical practice, which at the time emphasized treating diseases by balancing bodily humorous instead of pharmacologically, as is current practice. Thus, early efforts in documenting the thousands of plants species found in the New World laid the groundwork for modern ethno-botanical and pharmacological practices.
Besides feeling overwhelmed by the quantity of information on the topic, I felt transported in time amid the ancient yet vaguely familiar environs of the scholarly place. The monumental discovery of new plants, and their subsequent trade, also led to the formal establishment of pharmacies and apothecaries throughout Spain.
I looked around in wonder. Maybe in a former life, I used to be an alchemist, I mused. Just imagine what it would be like to spend the evenings in a laboratory grinding away at mushrooms or peppers, licking a toad here and there, entering data with a quill by candlelight as you boil some ayahuasca vines and blow tobacco rings at imaginary tropical elves. Pura Vida!
I need this organizer in my life. The smaller set of drawers in the center is so far out.
On a broader sense, the discovery of this rich flora and fauna spurred on the Scientific Revolution in Europe because of the need to catalog and (taxonomically) understand the wide array of species found in the new world. Being in that place in the museum, surrounded by all of that archaic knowledge, I realized that I had not been properly taught the impact of this botanical discovery. We tend to focus our historical lenses on wars, territorial disputes, societal struggles but not on other key factors, if not the key factors, in the evolution and rise of modern western societies- angiosperms.
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