Coffee-Medicinal Plant-1737

by Science Source

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Coffee-Medicinal Plant-1737

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Science Source

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Photograph - Photograph

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"A Curious Herbal", Plate 337. Coffee was introduced to Europe from the Arabic world. Its effectiveness as a promoter of wakefulness has long been known. Blackwell describes the drink as "Accounted good for those who are of a cold, flegmatic constitution. But for persons of a thin, hot and dry temperament, the drinking it too much may bring on them nervous distempers." Coffee (Coffea) is a genus of flowering plants whose seeds, called coffee beans, are used to make coffee. It is a member of the Rubiaceae family. People drink coffee to relieve mental and physical fatigue and to increase mental alertness. It is also used to prevent Parkinson's disease, gallstones, type 2 diabetes, gastrointestinal cancer, lung cancer, and breast cancer. Other uses include treatment of headache, low blood pressure, obesity, and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Rectally, coffee is used as an enema to treat cancer. Elizabeth Blackwell (1707-1758) was a famed Scottish illustrator and author who was best known as both the artist and engraver for the plates of "A Curious Herbal" (1737). A herbal is a book of plants, describing their appearance, their properties and how they may be used for preparing ointments and medicines. The book is notable both for its beautiful illustrations of medicinal plants and for the unusual circumstances of its creation. Blackwell undertook the project to raise money to pay her husband's debts and release him from debtor's prison. She drew, engraved, and colored the illustrations herself, mostly using plant specimens from the Chelsea Physic Garden in London. It was an artistic, scientific and commercial enterprise unprecedented for a woman of her time. Little is known of her later years. She died in 1758, at the age of 50 or 51. She remained loyal to Alexander throughout, even sharing royalties with him from the sale of additional book rights.

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June 16th, 2014

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