Wisconsin 101

French Cartography in the Great Lakes

French mariners and explorers using the Le Maire Sundial Compass depended on both their own specialized navigational expertise and maps produced by French cartographers. Many such maps were created based on explorer accounts of the navigable waterways between the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi…

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December 21, 2016

Brown County / Green Bay / Object Histories / Pre-1787 / Global Connections / Science & Medicine / Region 5 - Center East / Le Maire Sundial

OBJECT HISTORY: Le Maire Sundial

The Le Maire Sundial is a rare example of a mid-18th century French sundial (cadran solaire) compass (boussole). It was found near Green Bay in 1902 by a local antiquities collector, Frank Duchateau. The sundial is broken, missing its glass compass cover as well as the back of its gnomon holder. Located on the front surface,…

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December 9, 2016

Broad History / Health & Medicine / Pre-1787 / Related Stories / 1787-1848 / 1848-1877 / Science & Medicine / Cupping Kit

What is Cupping?

Until the late nineteenth century, cupping was widely used for the treatment of inflammation and deep-seated pain believed to be due to an imbalance of the humors. A physician or barber surgeon would begin cupping by selecting the appropriate cup based on the amount…

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November 15, 2013

Health & Medicine / Pre-1787 / Related Stories / 1787-1848 / 1848-1877 / Science & Medicine / Cupping Kit

Humoral Medicine and Cupping

Humoral medicine began in Ancient Greece and continued in popularity until the late nineteenth century. Humoral theory was based on the belief that the body was composed of four humors/temperaments (black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood) and was influenced by the…

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November 15, 2013