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Charles Brewer-Carías Research on Heliamphora

2/22/2020

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" I describe myself as a discoverer and, also as an explorer in the eighteenth century frame " ​- Charles Brewer Carias
In this blog post I have the pleasure of sharing a email from Venezuelan explorer and polymath Charles Brewer-Carías, describing his study of the feeding habits of the carnivorous pitcher plants that grow on the sandstone tepuies of the Guyana highlands. Charles is without a doubt a systematic observer of the natural enviromment and has made significant discoveries and contributions in the fields of botany, zoology, anthropology, geography and cave exploration. His main focus of exploration being the high plateaus and lost worlds of the Guyana highlands. 28 new species now bear his name.
“ I believe there are 28 speciess and one family of bromelidads : Brewcaria sp. Maybe it is in Wikipedia. Now there are botanists naming a probable new family of plants I collected, a new species of Utricularia I pick up at Ptari-tepui and a new species of algae from Chimanta tepui.” - Charles Brewer-Carías
Concerning his fascinating research into the feeding structure of the carnivorous plants, genus Heliamphora, also known as sun pitchers, Charles said the following, quote - 
“What I really found and discovered happened at Cerro de la Neblina in 1971, when I was the first one to stop in front of an Heliamphora and guessed how the insects were attracted and let them get wet and sank due to a lower surface tension at the water due to some saponin. Then at the boyom of the pot were some filarias that would digest the insect bodies and the plant then feeds with the filarias excrements... Then I was able to determine how the water of the cup would not flood the cup while raining and how the plant kept the level of the water tank in certain place due to some siphon procedure with some bristle hairs organized like a brush that acted by capillary. This I observed using the blan indian drawing ink from  G.C.K. Dunsterville, the botanist and painter of orchids that was my fellow companion. Until then, all the botanista had studied the plants flat pressed between newspapers....
All this I explained in two humble articles that has been cited by many authors.”- Charles Brewer-Carías
​Brewer-Carías, Ch. 1972. Observaciones sobre el Nicho Ecológico de la Heliamphora, Planta Carnívora del Cerro de la Neblina. Revista Natura. Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales La Salle No 48-49; pp.4.7. Caracas.

Brewer-Carías, Ch. 1973. Plantas Carnívoras del Cerro de La Neblina. Estudio y Fotografía sobre tres mecanismos de trampas. Revista Defensa de la Naturaleza 2(6):17-26. Caracas

For a comprehensive article about Charle’s research on the Heliamphora, see the chapter about carnivorous plants in his book “The Lost World of Venezuela and Its Vegetation” the cover of which is shown in the photo below.
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Charles Brewer-Carías Website - Link 
Article on Charles Brewer's book entitled “Symbology of the Yekuana Basketry” - The Humboldt of the 21st Centuryes.aleteia.org/2019/08/10/el-humboldt-del-siglo-xxi-charles-brewer-carias/

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D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson

12/18/2019

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I have published a new web page this week about the Scottish polymath and mathematical biologist D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson and his Aristotelian Bio-Philosophy​. Click on the cartoon or this link to go to the page.
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New Issue of Flying Snake

12/16/2019

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​Cryptozoological investigator Richard Muirhead's journal of cryptozoology, folklore, and forteana.
A journal featuring the more obscure aspects of cryptozoology, and Forteana with an emphasis on "archival roports." Issues of Flying Snake can be purchased from Richard. Please contact him by email at ​- ​richyblonde777@gmail.com
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​Flying Snake Volume 6 Number 16 - December 2019
Monsters in Lake Geneva
Black Squirrels
Kangaroos loose in Britian
Huge Sharks
Kangaroos in USA
Rare bat found in Kent
Odd Orange Creature
Survival of the Passenger Pigeon
Boy with hundreds of teeth
Plus lots more
Below image - Past Issues of Flying Snake
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New Web page on the Bushcraft of Charles Brewer-Carias

9/7/2019

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Just completed a new web-page about the bushcraft skills of Venezuelan Polymath, naturalist ​and explorer Charles Brewer-Carías. Thanks Charles for supplying me with the many brilliant photos. Click on the link or photo below to go to the page.-https://www.cosmicpolymath.com/charles-brewer-carias-bushcraft.html
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photos on this page are the property of Charles Brewer Carias
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Richard Wells and Unknown Python

8/28/2019

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​Highlighted below is an interesting excerpt from a Facebook conversation I had with Australian herpetologist Richard Wells regarding reports of a large unknown python species that he was told about by the local Aboriginals when he worked in the Northen Territory. Richard, who is a highly talented and knowledgeable herpetologist, published a number of controversial taxonomic papers on Australian reptiles in his own publication called “Australian Journal of Herpetology” in the 1980's. The ABC did a feature documentery about the maverick herpetologist which I was lucky enough to record when it aired on tv back in the 1980‘s. I have posted the video from my youtube channel at the bottom of this blog . As well as the giant python reports, Richard also collected several other very interesting Cryptozoological sighting/reports, all of which are documented in Dr Karl Shuker's fantastic book “Alien Zoo." These include an unknown aquatic reptile in the Mary River and some type of strange Cassowarie or Emu like bird. Following is a fascinating description given to me by Richard, of the unknown, possibly aquatic large serpent species which has not yet been entered into the world of Linnaean taxonomy.".
 “In my opinion - derived from what I was told by aboriginals and others in the Northern Territory - I think there could very well be a large unknown python that is an ecological analogue of the Anaconda living a totally aquatic existence in at least the north-west of the Northern Territory where floating meadow swamps still exist. What was described to me was definitely not oenpelliensis ....Regards"- Richard Wells
As can be seen from Richard’s brief description above, he distinguishes the undescribed python species from the Oenpelli Python “Simalia oenpelliensis, formerly Morelia oenpelliensis” which look somewhat like a giant children’s python on steroids and were described as recently as 1977 by herpetologist Graeme Gow. They are confined to the tropical woodlands and sandstone gorge country in western Arnhem Land. The beauty of the Oenpelli python has been described by herpetologist professor Richard Shine, quote - "To see one of these giant ghostly snakes stretched out on the Arnhem Land escarpment in the moonlight is one of the great sights of Australian herpetology."
Richard Wells description and comparison to the anaconda brings to mind the extinct prehistoric serpent “Wonambi naracootensis” which could have possibly been an aquatic species and along with the larger representatives of the Morelia family, such as the Oenpelli Python, probably form the archetypal origin of the legendery Rainbow Serpent of Aboriginal mythology. The Rainbow Serpent myth may even represent a primal memory of Aboriginal encounters with the Wonambi python in prehistoric Australia.
“It’s relatively thick body suggests that Wonambi may have been at least partly aquatic. Most of the large boids live close to water and the largest, the Anaconda, is always found near permanent water”. - Kadimakara Extinct Vertebrates of Australia
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 The giant prehistoric python "Wonambi Naracoortensis" 
​illustration from "Kadimakara Extinct Vertebrates of Australia"
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Eric Jolliffe on Goannas

8/24/2019

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A short post today on Australian Cartoonist and Illustrator, Eric Jolliffe 1907 – 2001. 
He was a master at depicting the Australian bush and outback subjects in both comical and serious sketches, including traditional Aboriginal lifestyles and customs. He also published his own annual calendar which I remember purchasing many times from the newsagents when I was a child in the eighties, along with his comic books depicting Saltbush Bill and the Witchetty's Tribe. Below is a scanned excerpt from an old edition of “Jolliffes Outback”, featuring the character Saltbush Bill. This particular page describes the biology of Australian goannas, illustrated with one of Jolliffe’s brilliant drawings, showing a female goanna burrowing into a large termite mound in order to lay her eggs, with a pandanus palm in the background.
Quote -“Some species of Goanna have a much better idea in country where termites build their large nesting mounds, some up to twenty feet high. The female burrows through the hard mud wall and into the centre of the termite nest. She then lays her eggs and departs. The white ants obligingly set to work to repair the breach in the mound wall, thus sealing in the eggs from their natural enemies with a taste for goanna eggs. Besides protecting the eggs the mound provides the even temperature necessary for successful incubation of the eggs.”- Eric Jolliffe
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“There wasn’t anything in the bush that I hadn’t done a cartoon of. I included barns, sheds and relics. I’d drawn all through the bush.” - Eric Jolliffe
All the images in this post are the Intellectual property of ​Eric Jolliffe
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1983 -1987 Scientific Expedition to Neblina Tepui

8/23/2019

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“Foot-long earthworms grow in the springy soil, and tarantulas often crawled into the expedition’s tents.”- Douglas J. Preston, "Dinosaurs in the Attic"  
Here are more extrordinary photos sent to me by Venezuelan Polymath and naturalist ​Charles Brewer-Carías, showcasing the 1983-1987 Biodiversity Expedition to the Lost world of Cerro de la Neblina tepui, a spectacular sandstone, quarzcite tepui. Neblina {Misty Mountain} is the highest tepui and also one of the largest, and along with the other isolated tabletop mountians in the Venezuelan Guyana highlands it provides a window into the remnant geography, flora, and fauna that was once part of Gondwana land, the great super continent. The sandstone plateaus harbor sphagnum bogs and are packed with insect-trapping pitcher plants “Sarraceniaceae” and others like the Drosera, along with delicate orchids and bromeliads and foot long earthworms as shown in the photo above. The 1983 expedition reflected the Victorian ethos of discovery in both its scope and multi disciplinary objectives and was described by author Douglas J. Preston as quote -"A place called Cerro de la Neblina, "Mountain of the Mists." An expedition there in 1983 to 1987 hearkened back in many ways to the age of Roy Chapman Andrews " ​- Douglas J. Preston, "Dinosaurs in the Attic"  
Please see Charle’s book ‘The Lost World of Venezuela And Its Vegetation’ for a detailed chapter on Neblina tepui.
Concerning the photos in this blog post Charles said the following, quote - 
“Here some of the worms we had to cook and eat with tomato sauce when the helicopter was delayed for a week and we did not have food on top of Cerro de la Neblina, Mountain of the Mist. A view of the Base Camp, where I spent 4 years dealing with the expedition. Considered the largest biodiversity expedition in the world (1983-1987) and a group of the international scientists that accompanied me.  The plant is the Neblinaria Celiae, named to remember his wife Celia Maguire by the great botanist Bassett Maguire, the first explorer of Cerro de la Neblina in 1954“ - Charles Brewer-Carías 
Links below to Charle’s website and the page on my website about his work.
​https://brewerexpedition.wixsite.com/charlesbrewercarias
​https://www.cosmicpolymath.com/charles-brewer-carias.html
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​    Neblina scientific expedition team
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Neblina base camp
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The plant is the Neblinaria Celiae, named to remember his wife Celia Maguire by the great botanist Bassett Maguire, the first explorer of Cerro de la Neblina in 1954“ - Charles Brewer-Carías 
Click on smaller photos below to enlarge
Picture, drawing and map of the place of the Neblina expedition Base Camp, where I spent 4 years”- Charles Brewer-Carías
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“This Anaconda we saw it and left it alone at the Neblina Base Camp. It was 8 meters long. near the maximum known. (25 feet) - Charles Brewer-Carías​
All the images and photos are the Intellectual property of Charles Brewer-Carías
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Natural History Notes, Scrub Python Skeleton

8/23/2019

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Here's an interesting natural history note written by my father when he was stationed in North Queensland during World War 2, about the intact skeleton of a large Amethystine python or scrub python he found while exploring the rainforests near the Barron River on the Atherton Tablelands, North Queensland in 1943. It also had the intact skeleton of a wallaby inside its rib cage. Simalia Amethistina is the largest species of Australian snake and the legendery Australian herpetologist, Eric Worrell claimed a giant twenty-five foot specimen was found and measured by his friend, Louis Robichaux near Cairns. I have included the quote about the giant scrub python from his book ‘Song of the Snake’ below. Following is a typed up version of my father’s note on the naturally articulated intact skeleton of the scub python.
Note by Richard F. Hardcastle Large Python on Atherton Tablelands
“I think it was about 1943. I was in the army and camped near the Barron River, on the Atherton Tablelands. While exploring the local rainforest, I came upon a python skeleton lying on an old timber track. It was completely intact, with the ribs lying open about 15 inchers across. With curves in the skeleton the length would have been almost 18 feet. Between the ribs was a complete wallaby skeleton.
R.Hardcastle”
''The largest reliable record is one measured by my friend Louis Robichaux. Louis taped this monster near Cairns at twenty-five feet. It was as thick as a man's thigh." - Eric Worrell
Photo of Richard F. Hardcastle during world war two and his note on the large Python on Atherton Tablelands
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Old photo of a large 'scrub' python from Newspaper article  
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Charles Brewer-Carías With Anaconda

8/22/2019

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Here is a remarkable natural history photo sent to me by Venezuelan Polymath and naturalist ​Charles Brewer-Carías, showing him holding the tail of a giant 8 meter anaconda at the Neblina base camp during a biological scientific expedition to a sandstone massif called Cerro de la Neblina, a tepui in the northern Amazon Basin. Quote -"A tepui, sandstone, quarzcite the highest and the highest mountain in Brasil 3014 m."- Charles Brewer-Carías. This particular tepui or lost world called Neblina, also called the “Mountain of the Mist” is surrounded by rainforest and swamps around it’s base. Zoologists collected hundreds of new species during the scientific expedition after they were transported to the summit by helicopter. The 1984 expedition included dozens of scientists from multipal disciplines, who were needed to conduct a complete biological survey cataloguing the region’s rich flora and fauna. Included were herpetologists, botanists, mammalogists, ichthyologists, entomologists, and ornithologists, and was lead by naturalist Charles Brewer-Carías, who was described by author Douglas J. Preston as, Quote -“ One of the few people familiar with the Nablina region, Brewer turned out to be an ideal leader - an old fashioned, Roy Chapman Andrews type. Lean, muscular, comfortable with half a dozen Indian languages, Brewer was most at home, according to one expedition member, “hunkered down over a campfire with a group of Indians.” - Douglas J. Preston, Dinosaurs in the Attic.
Regarding the photo of the Anaconda below, Charles said quote -“This Anaconda we saw it and left it alone at the Neblina Base Camp. It was 8 meters long. near the maximum known. (25 feet) There is a reward for anyone finding an anaconda of 10 meter long...!" - Charles Brewer-Carías
Links below to Charles website and the page on my website about his work.
​https://brewerexpedition.wixsite.com/charlesbrewercarias
​https://www.cosmicpolymath.com/charles-brewer-carias.html
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​​“This Anaconda we saw it and left it alone at the Neblina Base Camp. It was 8 meters long. near the maximum known. (25 feet) - Charles Brewer-Carías​
"A place called Cerro de la Neblina, "Mountain of the Mists." An expedition there in 1983 and 1987 hearkened back in many ways to the age of Roy Chapman Andrews " ​- Douglas J. Preston, "Dinosaurs in the Attic"
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Panoramic view of​ the Cerro de la Neblina, “Mountain of the mist”​
 "Anybody can be a discoverer. It’s a matter of preparation, of knowledge, of being interested in everything. The only limits are those of our imagination." - Charles Brewer-Carías  Magazine Geographical quote​
Click on smaller photo to enlarge
Here picture, drawing and map of the place of the Neblina expedition Base Camp, where I spent 4 years”- Charles Brewer-Carías
All the images and photos are the Intellectual property of Charles Brewer-Carías
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Thylacines at Kharua and Along the Arthur River

8/21/2019

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Here are a number of interesting Thylacine reports. First is a Thylacine sighting collected by my father, Richard F. Hardcastle from an old bushman friend from the 1970s, which occurred near the Kharua State Forest/Nature Reserve. Also a short but very interesting report dad collected from an ex-fur trapper during the second world war who had lived and hunted in Tasmainia prior to the war, who experienced Thylacines following him from a distance as he went around his trap lines. Thirdly are newspaper clippings that I collected from the Sun-Herald, October 22, 1989 featuring an article about the hunt for the Thylacine, mentioning various researchers such as Nick Mooney, Ned Terrey and some very interesting sighting/reports by the old Tasmanian bushman Turk Porteous, including a remarkable tiger sighting he had on the Arthur River in north western Tasmania in 1986. Turk also describes the unusual behaviour of Thylacines following humans, observed during his childhood. This is virtually identical to the behaviour described by the Tasmainian ex fur trapper mentioned previously, of Thylacines following him at a distance, either out of curiosity or hunger as he checked his wallaby snares. 
Quote about Turk Porteous - “As a fourth generation Tasmanian with a lifetime spent in the bush, Turk knows his tigers. He talks of childhood fishing trips when he and his brothers would be followed home by a group of two or three tigers. “They’d stay maybe three chain behind us but we knew they were there,” Turk said using the old imperial bush measure. Their idea was that we were their next meal.” 
The old Tasmainian fur trapper, Basil Stears, described similar behaviour of Thylacines following him. See the video below, combining the Turk Porteous interview and the footage of Basil Stears describing his enounter with a Thylacine while fur trapping.
Following is a typed up version of my father’s notes on the Thylacine sightings. I have scanned and posted his notes at the bottom of this blog.​
Sighting occurred at Kharua State Forest New South Wales. Pat Hogan Thyalcine report early 1970s
​“Thylacine sighting on Pacific Highway Kharua, by Mr. Pat Hogan, then residing at Rutherford, near Maitland. Pat owned a property, a bush block near Kharua on which he ran a few head of cattle. On this particular occasion he drove up to check on his cattle after he knocked off work at Rutherford. Near Kharua his head-lights picked up two Thylacines on the side of the road. He pulled up and they retreated into the bush on the side of the road. Finished his trip and checked his cattle next day. Returned home and went up again the following night accompanied by his wife. At the same spot the Thylacines were seen again, and again dissapeared into the bush. His wife later verified that they were Thylacines from a library book on native animals, no doubt whatever. 
Pat was a bushman, and knew dingos, said they looked a bit like Hyenas. He saw the Thylacine pictures in the book and there was no doubt they were Thylacines. It was near Karuah Nature Reserve they were seen.”
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Sightings ocurred somewhere in the Tasmanian Hinterland. 
​“Pre Second World War, around 1936 and 1937 report from Tasmanian ex- trapper. Said that going around his traps he used to be followed at a distance by Thylacines.”
Thylacines Along the Arthur River
​"You can't mistake a tiger's foot-prints because they walk right up on their toes. " - Turk Porteous
Scaned Newspaper clippings The Sun Herald October 22, 1989
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Below is an enlarged page from the Herald Newspaper showing the section on Turk Porteous.
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Turk Porteous interview Taped of the Australian TV in the1990s
Below are the two handwritten Thylacine sightings collected by my dad Richard f. Hardcastle
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    Some of my interests include the Victorian era naturalists  scientists and explorers also subjects such as Natural History, Tesla inventions, and Victorian Era Natural History.

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