Who was José Celestino Mutis?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
May 20, 2003
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killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading: Click here.
Jesuit's powder (quinine) made of the bark of the quinquina tree of South America, is a febrifuge (fever reducer). It was known and used in Europe since the 1630s to treat the quartaine ague, better known as malaria. There were problems with Jesuit's powder; physicians and apothecaries often received substituted or adulterated bark. Few in Europe, usually only the missionaries returning from Nuevo Granada, knew what the true bark
should look like.
In 1760, José Celestino Mutis left his teaching position in Madrid and traveled to the Spanish-held lands north of the equator in South America. Mutis was personal physician to Pedro Messia de la Cerda, viceroy of Nuevo Granada. Mutis became fascinated with South American plants and began correspondence with Linnaeus. He supplied Linnaeus with specimens and information about South American plants. By 1763, he had petitioned King Carlos III to mount an expedition to catalogue the plants of northern South America. ("José Celestino Mutis", Catholic Encyclopedia)
Through the late 1700s, Mutis studied Jesuit's bark and determined that four species of Cinchona contained the medicinal properties. He wrote a treatise on the plants, "El arcano de la quina". Finally in 1783, King Carlos granted the request and Mutis began his Expedición Botánica del Nuevo Granada. Mutis hired collectors and trained students to illustrate specimens and record scientific information.
In 1801, Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland spent two months with Mutis studying his vast collection of plant specimens. Humboldt recorded that Mutis had laid out a plantation of Cinchona. Mutis built the first astronomical observatory in
South America with monies from the sale of Cinchona. He also created a small botanical garden near the observatory.
Mutis died in 1808, his expedition ended in 1810 with the death of his protégé, Francisco Caldas. In 1816, the specimens, the herbarium illustrations, and all the writings of Mutis were packed into crates and shipped to the botanical garden in Madrid. ("Art and Empire: José Celestino Mutis and the Art of the Royal Botanical Expedition to Nuevo Granada", Zoogoer, Smithsonian Institution, 1998)
In the end, the definitive study of the trees that supplied quinine and twenty-seven years of research on the plants of Nuevo Granada amounted to 105 crates. The crates were stacked in a tool shed in Madrid and largely forgotten.
Andalucia has posted an article about Mutis with a portrait and an example of the herbarium illustrations produced by his students. To view the portrait and herbarium illustration, click on the link:
http://www.andalucia.cc/adn/0298per.htm
Series: | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | 4 | | 5 | | 6 |
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
What was Jesuit Powder? Plants that Changed History - April 30, 2002
What is gin and tonic? What's in a Name? - May 23, 2003
Who smuggled quinine seeds for the British? Plants that Changed History - May 27, 2003
How did the Dutch monopolize quinine? Plants that Changed History - June 3, 2003
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