Antônio Moniz de Souza, the 'Man of Brazilian nature': Science and medicinal plants in the early 19th century

Abstract

Early nineteenth century Brazil saw a vibrant movement to study nature, including a number of expeditions aimed at gathering a corpus of knowledge on Brazilian flora. One of the main goals of these expeditions was to map and identify plant species of economic and therapeutic value. The government undertook and sponsored various initiatives, and it was within Oil's context that the Bahian voyager Antônio Moniz de Souza engaged in his activities. He traveled through areas of the Brazilian territory in the first decades of the nineteenth century, observing, cataloging, and collecting products from the three kingdoms, especially plants with medicinal powers. This study of Moniz de Souza pinpoints and analyzes important features in the exploration of nature and knowledge and the use of medicinal plants during this timeframe.