Manifest ambiguity: Intermediate forms, variation, and mammal paleontology in Argentina, 1830-1880.

This paper presents the impact of diverse aspects of Darwin's works on the practices of mammal paleontology in different moments of nineteenth-century Argentina. Starting with Darwin through the publications of Florentino Ameghino, it shows the extraordinary complexity of systematic paleontology that characterized the second half of the nineteenth century. Neither "natural selection" nor "struggle for life" seemed to have shaped the practices of vertebrate paleontology in Argentina. Darwin's earlier work as a voyageur and geologist together with later concerns about intermediate forms and variation allow for an assessment of the impact of Darwin's work on the practice of paleontology in Argentina.

"PRE-COLUMBIAN MOULAGES". HUACOS, MUMMIES AND PHOTOGRAPHS IN THE INTERNATIONAL CONTROVERSY OVER PRECOLUMBIAN DISEASES, 1894-1910.

By the late nineteenth century an international controversy arose referred to the probable existence of certain diseases such as leprosy, syphilis and lupus in pre-Columbian America. Led by the American physician Albert Sidney Ashmead (1850-1911), it brought together scholars from Europe and the Americas. In this context, certain types of Peruvian archaeological pottery and "mummies", along with series of photographs illustrating the effects of these diseases in contemporary patients, met a prominent role as comparative evidence. In this article we analyze how this type of collections were used as evidence in the debates about pathologies of the past, an issue that from a historical standpoint have received considerably little attention.

Between seas and continents: aspects of the scientific career of Hermann von Ihering, 1850-1930.

This paper covers some periods in Hermann von Ihering's scientific trajectory: his training in zoology in Germany and Naples, his international activities based in Brazil, and his return to Germany. It deals with aspects of the formulation of his theories on land bridges. It focuses on the network of contacts he maintained with German émigrés like himself, and primarily with Florentino Ameghino, which allowed him to interact in international scientific circles. It mentions excerpts of his letters and his publications in the periods when he began corresponding with Ameghino (1890), when he travelled to Europe in search of support for his theories (1907), and when he published his book on the history of the Atlantic Ocean (1927).

Entre mares e continentes: aspectos da trajetória científica de Hermann von Ihering, 1850-1930 / Between seas and continents: aspects of the scientific career of Hermann von Ihering, 1850-1930

Este artigo considera momentos da trajetória científica de Hermann von Ihering: sua formação em zoologia em instituições alemãs e em Nápoles, sua atuação internacional a partir do Brasil e retorno à Alemanha. Aborda aspectos da elaboração de suas teorias sobre pontes continentais. Destaca as redes de sociabilidade construídas prioritariamente com Florentino Ameghino e com emigrantes alemães como ele, que lhe permitiram interagir nos círculos científicos internacionais. Menciona fragmentos de suas cartas e de suas publicações nos períodos em que inicia a correspondência com Ameghino (1890); viaja à Europa em busca de apoio para suas teorias (1907); e publica um livro sobre a história do oceano Atlântico (1927).

This paper covers some periods in Hermann von Ihering’s scientific trajectory: his training in zoology in Germany and Naples, his international activities based in Brazil, and his return to Germany. It deals with aspects of the formulation of his theories on land bridges. It focuses on the network of contacts he maintained with German émigrés like himself, and primarily with Florentino Ameghino, which allowed him to interact in international scientific circles. It mentions excerpts of his letters and his publications in the periods when he began corresponding with Ameghino (1890), when he travelled to Europe in search of support for his theories (1907), and when he published his book on the history of the Atlantic Ocean (1927).

Falsehood on the move. The Aztec children and science in the second half of the 19th century.

Allegedly kidnapped from a secret city in Central America, the "Aztec children" began a showman's career in the early-1850s. They died around 1900, after being observed by countless pathologists and ethnologists from Europe and the US. Most of the literature on the "Aztec children" has emphasized racial theories, the imperial gaze, and the character of "ethnological shows", where monstrosity and ethnicity were practically synonymous. Less attention has been paid to the fact that scientists continuously insisted that the case was false, an argument that instead of debunking the myth of the "Aztec children", contributed to establishing the "Aztecs" as "a matter of fact". In examining the case of the "Aztec children", this essay aims to explore what can be called the shifting nature or elusiveness of falsehood.

Modern embalming, circulation of fluids, and the voyage through the human arterial system: Carl L. Barnes and the culture of immortality in America.

By considering the work of American embalmer, lawyer, and physician Carl Lewis Barnes (1872-1927), this paper analyzes the emergence of modern embalming in America. Barnes experimented with and exhibited the techniques by which embalming fluids travelled into the most remote cavities of the human body. In this sense, modem embalmers based their skills and methods on experimental medicine, turning the anatomy of blood vessels, physiology of circulation, and composition of blood into a circuit that allowed embalming fluids to move throughout the corpse. Embalmers in the late 19th century took ownership of the laws of hydrodynamics and the physiology of blood circulation to market their fluids and equipment, thus playing the role of physiologists of death, performing and demonstrating physiological experiments with dead bodies.

Antigüedades portátiles: transportes, ruinas y comunicaciones en la arqueología del siglo XIX / Portable antiquities: transportation, ruins, and communications in nineteenth-century archeology

En este trabajo presentamos un problema de la arqueología del siglo XIX: la transformación de las ruinas de la antigüedad americana en evidencia científica. Tomando el caso de la exploración arqueológica de Palenque luego de la independencia centroamericana y mexicana, analizaremos los intentos por hacer portátil las ruinas de una ciudad hallada en la selva a fines del siglo XVIII, analizando algunos de los medios creados y utilizados para resolver su transporte.

The article addresses an issue in nineteenth-century archeology: the transformation of ancient American ruins into scientific evidence. It focuses specifically on the case of Palenque, a city discovered in the jungle in the late eighteenth century. The archeological exploration of this find, which occurred shortly after Central American and Mexican independence, entailed efforts to make these ruins portable. The article analyzes some of the means devised and used in their transportation.

[Portable antiquities: transporation, ruins, and communications in nineteenth-century archeology]. / Antigüedades portátiles: transportes, ruinas y comunicaciones en la arqueología del siglo XIX.

The article addresses an issue in nineteenth-century archeology: the transformation of ancient American ruins into scientific evidence. It focuses specifically on the case of Palenque, a city discovered in the jungle in the late eighteenth century. The archeological exploration of this find, which occurred shortly after Central American and Mexican independence, entailed efforts to make these ruins portable. The article analyzes some of the means devised and used in their transportation.

[The passing eye: museums, public education, and the visualization of scientific evidence]. / La mirada que pasa: museos, educación pública y visualización de la evidencia científica.

In this examination of certain issues related to the history of museums. An emphasis on the functions and missions entrusted to museums does not necessarily reflect the power museums have to create habits or shape meanings. To the contrary, this may reflect the actual fragility of museums and their need to resort to rhetoric to attract governmental favors and funds. Therefore, concentrating on the monumental, representative, or metaphorical aspects of museums obscures the history of these institutions and of their consolidated practices, there by naturalizing the separation between research space and public space and leaving the historian to play the role of an uninitiated observer of the 'cathedrals of science'.

La mirada que pasa: museos, educación pública y visualización de la evidencia científica / The passing eye: museums, public education, and the visualization of scientific evidence

En este artículo se presentan algunos problemas ligados a la historia de los museos. El énfasis en las capacidades y misiones a cumplir por los museos no necesariamente habla del poder de los museos para crear hábitos o imponer significados, pueden remitir a la debilidad de los mismos y a la necesidad de apelar a dicha retórica para atraer la atención de los favores y los presupuestos gubernamentales. Por ello, quedarse en el aspecto monumental, representativo o metafórico de los museos oscurece la historia de estas instituciones y de las prácticas allí consolidadas, naturalizando la separación entre espacio de investigación y espacios para el público y dejando para el historiador el papel de profano observador de las 'catedrales de la ciencia'.

In this examination of certain issues related to the history of museums. An emphasis on the functions and missions entrusted to museums does not necessarily reflect the power museums have to create habits or shape meanings. To the contrary, this may reflect the actual fragility of museums and their need to resort to rhetoric to attract governmental favors and funds. Therefore, concentrating on the monumental, representative, or metaphorical aspects of museums obscures the history of these institutions and of their consolidated practices, there by naturalizing the separation between research space and public space and leaving the historian to play the role of an uninitiated observer of the 'cathedrals of science'.

El camino de los fósiles: las colecciones de mamíferos pampeanos en los museos franceses e ingleses del siglo XIX

En este trabajo se analiza la formación de las colecciones de mamíferos fósiles de la región del Río de La Plata tomando, como caso particular, las del Museo de Historia Natural de París de mitades del siglo XIX. Presentando el trabajo de A. Bravard, se presta especial atención a la obra de los 'amateurs' de provincia, a las transacciones de compra y venta de colecciones de fósiles y a la competencia entre museos como argumento para justificar las mismas (AU)