Posts tagged british

“Desperate encounter with ferocious beasts” I have as much clue what’s going on here as you do. Clearly it involves beating leopards with rifle-butts in an African arena that has transplanted species in it. Hunting Big Game in the Wilds of Africa. J. Martin Miller, 1909.

“Desperate encounter with ferocious beasts”

I have as much clue what’s going on here as you do.

Clearly it involves beating leopards with rifle-butts in an African arena that has transplanted species in it.

Hunting Big Game in the Wilds of Africa. J. Martin Miller, 1909.

British Wildlife - Red Legged Crow, Short Eared Owl, Horseshoe Bat, Crow, Bustard

I’ll be honest. I only posted these because I love their expressions. Wildlife illustration may have come a long ways since 1776, but I still love the funky old expressions the animals have.

British Zoology. Benjamin White, 1776.

Henbane (left) and Foxglove (right) Hey, you want some plants?! Plants are super cool. But I don’t know a ton about them off-hand, so I don’t really post many. I like learning about them, but I’ve only taken two semesters of botany, and medicine/history always gets me distracted before I get very far on my own. Henbane and foxglove are both toxic. Foxglove, however, is the plant that digoxin (a cardiac glycoside - increases heart contraction, and is used in both heart failure and arrhythmia) was extracted from. In 2008, celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson recommended henbane as a “tasty addition to salad” in the August issue of Healthy and Organic Living magazine. Problem is, henbane is highly toxic and can be deadly in large doses. He had confused “henbane” with “fat hen”, a spinach relative. Clever. British Flowering Plants. W. F. Kirby, 1906.

Henbane (left) and Foxglove (right)

Hey, you want some plants?! Plants are super cool. But I don’t know a ton about them off-hand, so I don’t really post many. I like learning about them, but I’ve only taken two semesters of botany, and medicine/history always gets me distracted before I get very far on my own.

Henbane and foxglove are both toxic. Foxglove, however, is the plant that digoxin (a cardiac glycoside - increases heart contraction, and is used in both heart failure and arrhythmia) was extracted from.

In 2008, celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson recommended henbane as a “tasty addition to salad” in the August issue of Healthy and Organic Living magazine. Problem is, henbane is highly toxic and can be deadly in large doses. He had confused “henbane” with “fat hen”, a spinach relative. Clever.

British Flowering Plants. W. F. Kirby, 1906.