Mr. Jefferson and the giant moose : natural history in early America
Capturing the essence of the origin and evolution of the so-called "degeneracy debates," over whether the flora and fauna of America (including Native Americans) were naturally weaker and feebler than species elsewhere in the world, this book chronicles Thomas Jefferson's efforts to counter French conceptions of American degeneracy, culminating in his sending of a stuffed moose to Buffon
Electronic books
1 online resource (xii, 166 pages) : illustrations
9780226169194, 0226169197
507436269
Preface: "A moose more precious than you can imagine"
"Dictatorial powers of the botanical gentlemen of Europe"
The count's degenerate America
"Noxious vapors and corrupt juices"
"Not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting"
"Geniuses which adorn the present age"
Enter the moose
Thirty-seven-pound frogs and Patagonian giants
Extracting the "tapeworm of Europe" from our brain