The Cabinet of Curiosities

SUBJECTS OF CORRESPONDENCE  Natural history, anthropology, the Lyceum

POSITION   Owner, Shottum’s Cabinet of Natural Productions and Curiosities New York

DATES OF CORRESPONDENCE  1869–1881

CORRESPONDENT  Prof. Albert Blackwood

SUBJECTS OF CORRESPONDENCE  The Lyceum, the Museum

POSITION   Founder, New York Museum of Natural History

DATES OF CORRESPONDENCE   1865–1878

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ORRESPONDENT  Dr. Asa Stone Gilcrease

SUBJECTS OF CORRESPONDENCE   Birds

POSITION   Ornithologist New York

DATES OF CORRESPONDENCE    1875–1887

CORRESPONDENT  Col. Sir Henry C. Throckmorton, Bart., F.R.S.

SUBJECTS OF CORRESPONDENCE  African mammals (big game)

POSITION   Collector, explorer sportsman London

DATES OF CORRESPONDENCE

  1879–1891

CORRESPONDENT  Prof. Enoch Leng

SUBJECTS OF CORRESPONDENCE  Classification

POSITION   Taxonomist, chemist New York

DATES OF CORRESPONDENCE   1872–1881

CORRESPONDENT  Miss Guenevere LaRue

SUBJECTS OF CORRESPONDENCE  Christian missions for Borrioboola-Gha, in the African Congo

POSITION   Philanthropist New York

DATES OF CORRESPONDENCE   1870–1872

CORRESPONDENT  Dumont Burleigh

SUBJECTS OF CORRESPONDENCE  Dinosaur fossils, the Lyceum

POSITION   Oilman, collector Cold Spring, New York

DATES OF CORRESPONDENCE   1875–1881

CORRESPONDENT  Dr. Ferdinand Huntt

SUBJECTS OF CORRESPONDENCE  Anthropology, archaeology

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OSITION   Surgeon, collector Oyster Bay, Long Island

DATES OF CORRESPONDENCE   1869–1879

CORRESPONDENT  Prof. Hiram Howlett

SUBJECTS OF CORRESPONDENCE  Reptiles and amphibians

POSITION   Herpetologist Stormhaven, Maine

DATES OF CORRESPONDENCE   1871–1873

The penultimate name gave her pause. A surgeon. Who was Dr. Ferdinand Huntt? There were quite a few letters from him, written in a large scrawl on heavy paper with a beautifully engraved crest. She flipped through them.

My Dear Tinbury,

With regard to the Odinga Natives, the barbaric custom of Male Partum is still quite prevalent. When I was in the Volta I had the dubious privilege of witnessing childbirth. I was not allowed to assist, of course, but I could hear the shrieks of the husband quite clearly as the wife jerked on the rope affixed to his genitalia with every contraction she experienced. I treated the poor man’s injuries—severe lacerations—following the birth . . .

My Dear Tinbury,

The Olmec Jade phallus I herewith enclose from La Venta, Mexico, is for the Museum, as I understand you have nothing from that extremely curious Mexican culture . . .

She sorted through the packet of correspondence, but it was again all in the same vein: Dr. Huntt describing various bizarre medical customs he had witnessed in his travels across Central America and Africa, along with notes that had apparently accompanied artifacts sent back to the Museum. He seemed to have an unhealthy interest in native sexual practices; it made him a prime candidate in Nora’s mind.