FREI CRISTÓVÃO DE LISBOA (1583-1652): EARLY TOXINOLOGY IN BRAZIL

CARDOSO, J.L.C.(1,3), DOMINGOS, M.O.(2), HADDAD JR, V.(1,4)

(1)Hospital Vital Brazil,Instituto Butantan, (2)Laboratório de Microbiologia,Instituto Butantan, (3)Departamento de Dermatologia, UNITAU, (4)Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu-UNESP

The manuscript “História dos Animais e Árvores do Maranhão – History of the Animals and Trees of Maranhão”-  by the Franciscan Friar Cristóvão de Lisboa (1583-1652) is considered to be the first document about the Natural History of Portuguese America. It even precedes two other highly regarded works  published in 1648: “Natural History  and Medicine of the West Indies” and “Natural History of Brazil” by Guilherme Piso and Jorge Marcgrave, respectively, who both came to Brazil with  the Dutch prince Maurício de Nassau, in the XVII century. Cristovão de Lisboa arrived in Brazil in May 1624.  There he went deep into the center of the North region, which nowadays is represented by the state of Maranhão, where he spent three years (1624-1627) collecting and recording information about the fauna and flora of the region.  He was one of the first people in Portuguese America to describe the existence of poisonous fish such as “baiacu” (Tetrodon psitaccus) and “arraia do mar” (Dasyatis gymnura) and poisonous plants such as “mandioca brava” (Manihot esculenta), “timbó” (Indigofera suffruticosa), “timbó-açu” (Loncholarpus nicou) and “caraguatá” (Furcraea hexapetala).  He also described the biological effects of various venoms and how they were utilized by the natives in the region.  His work generated four volumes of which three were lost, probably in the Great Earthquake of Lisbon in 1755.  History of the Animals and Trees of Maranhão was the only volume ever found, being discovered in 1930 in a second hand bookshop in Portugal, but published only in 1967. This manuscript has 194 pages with 259 drawings of fish, birds, plants, reptiles and mammals. Friar Cristóvão de Lisboa returned to Portugal in 1635. He died in Angola in 1652.

CORRESPONDENCE TO:

João Luiz Costa Cardoso, Avenida Vital Brasil 1500, Hospital Vital Brasil, Butantan, São Paulo, SP, CEP: 05503.900, Brasil, Email: ofisboitata@uol.com.br