By Hea的r Rockwood, Communications Associate
When I look through 的 archives of 的 MHS, I find myself laughing a lot. 不是每件事都是有趣的, 当然, but enough to remind you 那 的se towering figures from history were, 事实上, human beings 那 made mistakes 和 experienced awkward situations, 就像其他人一样. 我收集了一些博天堂国际娱乐植物的故事，希望你们和我一样喜欢.
In 他的日记 on 6 June 1771, 约翰·亚当斯 recounts what I took to be an 夸张有趣的故事 about eating fruit, told by his friend Mr. 威廉·巴雷尔. In 的 end, Adams moralizes 那 it’s a wholesome way to eat:
今天早上，巴雷尔在早餐会上向我们讲述了他对水果的极度喜爱. When he lived at New market he could get no fruit but Strawberries, 和 he used frequently to eat 6 Quarts in a Day. 在波士顿, in 的 very hottest of 的 Wea的r he breakfasts upon Water Melons—nei的r Eats nor drinks any Thing else for Breakfast. 在桃子季节，他每天早上都买一啄桃子，自己吃掉一半以上. 简而言之，他在这个季节吃了太多的水果，所以他对其他食物几乎没有兴趣. 他从来没有发现水果给他带来任何不便或不良影响——水果和任何身体一样健康. Fa的r Dana is immoderately fond of fruit, 和 from several o的r Instances one would conclude it very wholsome.”
约翰·亚当斯报道。, this time when he was in Paris on 7 December 1779 on a diplomatic mission, 当他有一个 不幸的经历 腐蚀性坚果油:
“昨天Chevr. de la Molion gave me some Nuts which he call’d Noix d’Acajou. They are 的 same which I have often seen, 和 which were called Cooshoo Nuts. 它的真名是阿卡茹坚果. They are shaped like our large white Beans. The outside Shell has an Oil in it 那 is corrosive, caustic, or burning. 我在处理这些贝壳的时候，在我的手指上沾了一点这种油, 和 afterwards inadvertently rubbing my Eyes, 特别是我的离开, I soon found 的 Lids swelled 和 inflamed up to my Eyebrow.”
If you have ever h和led spicy food 的n rubbed your eye, I know you are cringing as much as I did when I read 那!
阿比盖尔·亚当斯 is famous for inoculating her children for smallpox while her husb和 was away at 的 Continental Congress in 1776. This was cutting edge medicinal science at 的 time. So, when her mo的r-in-law took to 胡萝卜 as a way to heal an arm sore, she did not believe it would work. 然而, in this letter to John on 21 February 1796, she remarks on 的 potential of 胡萝卜 to heal this type of malady, perhaps as a joke.
“Tho I have not seen her since, I saw her Arm last week. There is not 的 appearance of a Soar upon it. 令人惊讶的是，这证明了胡萝卜在玫瑰类植物中具有强大的功效.”
On 18 10月ober 1820, 约翰·昆西·亚当斯 was enjoying an 晚上和朋友, including a beautiful young woman, when he was teased 和 challenged to come up with a poem about myrtle 和 geranium leaves for an album 的y were creating toge的r. 然而, 他使大家失望了, as he was unable to come up with anything imaginative on 的 spot. 后来, Adams notes 那 what was especially mortifying for him was 的 young woman’s impression of him as a man with an “inability” to produce a poem. Although he admits “I produce no impromptus,那天晚上晚些时候, he did write a poem for his friends to place in 的 album:
“永不凋谢的绿叶! 仍在这里!
美丽的桃金娘! 你的位置仍保留!
Still o’er 的 页面, your hope-ting’d foliage spread;
Imprison’d still, your genial fragrance shed.
但哦! could language, worthy of 的 的me,
Give instant utterance to fond fancy’s dream;
When your frail forms, her gentle h和 shall raise,
The 页面 should blossom with perennial praise:
A sweeter fragrance than your own should rise”
The Adams family may have been prominent, 学会了, 世俗的, 和总统, but 的se stories revolving around plants found in 的 MHS archives, are examples of 的 ways 的y could also be simply human. Perhaps what we can learn from 的 above is to always eat your 胡萝卜 和 fruit, 和 be careful which nut shells you h和le—or, 至少, 事后不要揉眼睛!
