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Montes de Oca worked as a naturalist on the Mexican-Guatemalan Boundary Commission and collected many plant specimens which are now in the herbarium of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (MEXU). He collected throughout Mexico, including Soconusco (Chiapas), Oaxaca, Puebla and Xalapa (Veracruz). However, it is his work with Mexican hummingbirds that gained him popularity among the scientific and artistic communities.

Many of us already know that alongside corn, chocolate was a top food staple for the ancient Olmec, Mayan and Aztec cultures long before it was ever introduced to the western world. However, did you know that the first place that chocolate was sold in America was in Boston, MA? Or that the Spanish monarchy closely guarded the secret Aztec recipe for hundreds of years in order to maintain a European monopoly on the substance? Or that many religious leaders in Europe wished to ban chocolate because women found it more heavenly than priestly sermons at Sunday mass? We will continue our celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month this week by highlighting a book all about Theobroma cacao — better known to most of us as chocolate

In early August, I had the privilege of representing the Encyclopedia of Life and the Biodiversity Heritage Library at an exhibitor’s booth at the Ecological Society of America annual meeting in Portland, Oregon. The theme for the 2012 annual meeting was: Life on Earth: Preserving, Utilizing and Sustaining our Ecosystems. This theme certainly fits the broader goals of EOL and BHL.

In 1876, two men by the names of Frederick Godman and Osbert Salvin began work on perhaps the most comprehensive account of the flora and fauna of Mexico and Central America ever undertaken. Entitled Biologia Centrali Americana, this 63 volume work, published over the course of 36 years, relates nearly all information known at the time on the mammals, birds, fish, mollusks, insects, arachnids, and botany in the region. Accompanied by over 1,600 lithographic plates, 900 of which are colored, Biologia Centrali Americana is arguably the single most authoritative work on Mexico and Central America’s turn-of-the-century biodiversity and constitutes a perfect candidate to help us celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month!

If you are part of the majority of people who are “dog people” this post may not be for you. Please redirect to our dog book of the week post here. Neutral folks, you can stick around. Now that we have weeded out all of those pesky dog lovers, let’s get on to a book that is the cat’s meow! Frances Simpson, author of several books on cats at the turn of the century was a serious feline aficionado. Author of The Book of the Cat (1902), Simpson put together one of the most comprehensive resources on cats around. Who knew you could write 32 chapters on cats?