A Singular Remedy
Cinchona Across the Atlantic World, 1751–1820

Innovative exploration of how medical knowledge was shared between and across diverse societies tied to the Atlantic World around 1800.

Stefanie Gänger (Author)

9781108816335, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 27 October 2022

254 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.375 kg

'a valuable resource for those examining early modern trade, empire, medicine, and ideas from a range of methods or disciplines … Given the success of the approach in A Singular Remedy, the lessons deserve to be applied elsewhere.' Zachary Dorner, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

Stefanie Gänger explores how medical knowledge was shared across societies tied to the Atlantic World between 1751 and 1820. Centred on Peruvian bark or cinchona, Gänger shows how that remedy and knowledge about its consumption – formulae for bittersweet, 'aromatic' wines, narratives about its discovery or beliefs in its ability to prevent fevers – were understood by men and women in varied contexts. These included Peruvian academies and Scottish households, Louisiana plantations and Moroccan court pharmacies alike. This study in plant trade, therapeutic exchange, and epistemic brokerage shows how knowledge weaves itself into the fabric of everyday medical practice in different places.

Introduction. A singular remedy
I.1 The outlines of cinchona
I.2 An appraisal of the historiography
I.3 Book structure
1. Origin stories
1.1 Unalienable truths
1.2 Botanists by instinct
1.3 Illiterate saviours
2. The demands of humanity
2.1 World bark trade
2.2 Geographies of consumption
2.3 Limits to distribution
3. Community of practice
3.1 'Proper evacuations'
3.2 Preparations of the bark
3.3 Proprietary medicines
4. Febrile situations
4.1 Marshes and wetlands
4.2 Cities, ships and camps
4.3 'Hot climates'
5. Harvests of change
5.1 The growth regions
5.2 The spectre of extinction
5.3 The bark cutters
Conclusion. A plant of the world.

Subject Areas: History of science [PDX], History of medicine [MBX], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL]