Nature, Exchanges & Encounters: Welwitsch’s Synopsis of Medicinal Drugs

Abstract

Friedrich Welwitsch’s 19th-century publication on ethnobotany: Synopse Explicativa das Amostras de Madeiras e Drogas Medicinaes / Explanatory Synopsis of Samples of Timber and Medicinal Drugs (1862) it is not merely a list of medicinal plants. It compiles the uses and customs related to the Angolan flora and reflects the ‘cross-cultural encounters’ that allowed the acquisition of local knowledge by the European naturalists. And the locals? Did they benefit with these exchanges? One particular manuscript, the ‘Map of Travellers in Africa’ or the ‘Blue Map’ was used by Welwitsch as a working tool and identified several actors located in different regions of the African continent. The botanical exchanges referred here, implied not only local knowledge but also knowledge from other European naturalists, explorers and geographers about the African continent. This paper, besides exploring the Synopsis and the botanical exchanges, also cross-references Welwitsch’s original manuscripts, revealing his network of knowledge, encounters and exchanges that occurred while he was in the Angolan territory (1853-1860).