This information is over 2 years old. Information was current at time of publication.{"id":11048,"date":"2018-06-20T13:04:36","date_gmt":"2018-06-20T17:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/info.hsls.pitt.edu\/updatereport\/?p=11048"},"modified":"2018-08-07T15:06:28","modified_gmt":"2018-08-07T19:06:28","slug":"treasures-from-the-rare-book-room-befriend-that-bear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/info.hsls.pitt.edu\/updatereport\/treasures-from-the-rare-book-room-befriend-that-bear\/","title":{"rendered":"Treasures from the Rare Book Room: Befriend That Bear!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-11120\" src=\"https:\/\/info.hsls.pitt.edu\/updatereport\/files\/2018\/06\/Keough-spine.jpg\" alt=\"Keogh Zoologia Medicinalis Hibernica\" width=\"60\" height=\"312\" \/>John K\u2019eogh (1681-1754) was an Irish naturalist and the author of <em>Botanologia Universalis Hibernica <\/em>(1735), an early Irish herbal, and <em>Zoologia Medicinalis Hibernica<\/em> (1739). His intent with both works was to show that his country was self-sufficient to produce all remedies to cure the locals of any sickness without the need to import foreign medicines.<\/p>\n<p><em>Zoologia Medicinalis Hibernica<\/em>, owned by Falk Library, is quite rare. It is bound in a modern Morocco leather, with gilded lettering on the spine. The paper used by the Irish printer might have come from the local mill, but one used by a binder has a clearly visible watermark of \u201cMaid of Dort\u201d which ties in to a Dutch master papermaker of the 18th century.<\/p>\n<p>The book on the medicinal virtues of animals, written before the standardization of FDA regulations or the need to prove efficacy, offers information on remedies in a typical hearsay fashion for the times. K\u2019eogh is familiar with medical classics. He cites Galen, Avicenna, and Rhases. He also refers to earlier naturalists such as Pliny the Elder, Albertus Magnus, Johann Hartmann, Jan Jonston, Ulisse Aldrovandi, and others.<!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #000080\">\u201cThe flesh of a long crested <strong>lark<\/strong> eaten roasted, or boiled, as Galen reports, eases the pain of the colic\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>He provides indices of Latin and Irish names, but lists all the remedies made from different animal parts under the English names of animals.<\/p>\n<blockquote style=\"color: #080080\"><p><span style=\"color: #000080\">\u201cThe fat of a <strong>bear<\/strong> wonderfully cures alopecia or baldness\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080\">\u201cThe dung <em>(of a<strong> fox<\/strong>)<\/em> mixt with vinegar helps to cure leprosy\u201d <em>while<\/em> \u201cthe grease is good against the alopecia and of falling of the hair\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080\">\u201cA liver of a mad <strong>dog<\/strong>\u2026is said to cure the biting of a mad dog\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Some of K\u2019eogh\u2019s advices may be looked upon as the first attempt at immunization.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #000080\">\u201cThe heart taken out of a <strong>mouse<\/strong> when alive, and tied about the arm of a woman prevents conception, as Sextus saith.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Others seem humorous by today\u2019s standards. While we may laugh at the early birth control advice, it perhaps had some potential for effectiveness if a bloody mouse heart would serve to discourage amorous desires.<\/p>\n<p><em>Zoologia Medicinalis Hibernica<\/em> ends with an entry on the medicinal virtues of the parts extracted from human bodies. Shiver or laugh, but befriend that bear if a receding hairline is your concern!<\/p>\n<p>The book can be viewed in the Rare Book Room by appointment. Please email <a href=\"mailto:hslshom@pitt.edu\">hslshom@pitt.edu<\/a> or call 412-648-4162 at least 24 hours in advance.<\/p>\n<p>~ Gosia Fort<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John K\u2019eogh (1681-1754) was an Irish naturalist and the author of Botanologia Universalis Hibernica (1735), an early Irish herbal, and Zoologia Medicinalis Hibernica (1739). His intent with both works was to show that his country was self-sufficient to produce all remedies to cure the locals of any sickness without the need to import foreign medicines. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"issue-archives","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[114,-1],"class_list":["post-11048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-july-2018","tag-treasures-rare-book-room","avhec_catgroup-issue-archives"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/info.hsls.pitt.edu\/updatereport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/info.hsls.pitt.edu\/updatereport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/info.hsls.pitt.edu\/updatereport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/info.hsls.pitt.edu\/updatereport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/info.hsls.pitt.edu\/updatereport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11048"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/info.hsls.pitt.edu\/updatereport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11151,"href":"https:\/\/info.hsls.pitt.edu\/updatereport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11048\/revisions\/11151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/info.hsls.pitt.edu\/updatereport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/info.hsls.pitt.edu\/updatereport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/info.hsls.pitt.edu\/updatereport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}