Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 1799
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, Lecture on Natural History 33. (ca. 1799). Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40. / https://ansp.org/research/library/archives/0000-0099/coll0040/
Additional Source Text:
Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) wrote, in his 33rd Lecture (ca. 1799): "No. 1528. Black and Blue Tanager. The size of our small sparrows. the front of the head & under parts of the neck & […] the tail blue. the hind part of the head, back, wings & tail black, except the upper coverts of the wings which is a bright blue green. the under part of the breast a dull white. Tanagra Mexicana Linn. Tangara tacheté de Cayenne Buff. pl. enl. 290.It inhabits Cayenne & Guiana, but is not very common. Buffon in the body of his work give it the name adopted by the creoles. Diable enrheumé, The Rheum-Devil, but in his plate he has thought proper to name it Spotted tangara. It is certainly a silly determination, for in the first place, it is not a Devil. 2dly. what colour is the Devil? And 3dly. what must his colour be, with a Cold? such vulgar sayings ought not to be noticed by an Author who describes and paints nature. The bare mention of it, excites ridicule." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
Peale wrote, in "A Walk Through the Philad[elphi]a Museum" (1805–1806): "Black & Blue Tanager (T. Mexicana) the creoles call it the Diable en rheume. This is certainly a Silly denomination for in the first place it is not a Divel. 2dly what colour is the Divel? And 3dly what must his colour be with a cold? Thus wherefore do they call it the Devil with a cold? some reader of this article may unriddle it to enable us to note it in another edition." (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, coll. 0481)
Notes:
In 1793, Raphaelle Peale (1774-1825) travelled to Cayenne, French Guiana, to collect specimens for Peale's Museum. However, to the editor's (MRH) knowledge, there is no detailed inventory of the specimens he brought back, and there are many examples of specimens from northern South America that were donated by other people. For more discussion about Raphaelle's travels, see Lillian B. Miller, 1993, "Father and Son: The Relationship of Charles Willson Peale and Raphaelle Peale", The American Art Journal 25: 4-161. / https://doi.org/10.2307/1594599
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Current Common Name:
Turquoise Tanager
Current Scientific Name
Thraupidae | Tangara mexicana
