Montenegro, Pedro de (1663-1728)

Noticia de las especies medicinales recogidas en este Departamento de San Miguel de la Rivera Oriental del Uruguay: explicase sus virtudes, uso para los efectos de ellas, y modo de composicion, y demas que contiene a la inteligencia de ello.

Produced in San Miguel, [Paraná, Argentina].

Authenticating signature and rúbrica of J.A. de Arroyo.

A contemporary and fairly accurate copy (with some omissions) of 8 extracts from the work by Montenegro known as Materia médica misionera . Furlong (1947) pp. 74-81 conjectures that he was also author of the MS Tratado de cirugía of 1725; other modern notices of his life and work appear, with further references, in: Furlong (1933) pp. 52, 62-64; Furlong (1947) pp. 62-63, 66-74, 91-93; Furlong (1948) pp. 92-111, (with 63 of the original 136 plates); the data is well summarised by Molinari (1937) pp. 65-70.

A complete copy of the MS now preserved in the Archivo General of Buenos Aires was published by the Biblioteca Nacional [see Montenegro (1945)]. Another copy [see Pérez Fontana (1967), 1, p. 298] exists in the Osuna Collection in the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid.

The present MS extracts, without the plates of the original, include Montenegro's comments on the following 8 plants used therapeutically by the Indians (omitting the Guaraní nomenclature of the MSS):- Arbol de Menjuí (copal) (pp. 59-63, plate 2 of the 1945 printed version); Contrayerba del Perú (pp. 165-169, plates 38, 39); Canchalagua (pp. 170-173, plate 40); Lentisco negro (pp. 198-201, plate 50); Pino americano de bálsamo (pp. 292-296, plate 79); San Antonino (pp. 299-301, plate 81); Raíz de la China (pp. 323-327, plates 90, 91); Yerba de la Vibora (pp. 375-379, plate 110).

The Buenos Aires copy and the whole question of the group of materia medica MSS from the Jesuit missions has been studied by Arata (1898-99).

In Wellcome Library:

See WMS/Amer.31.