The Chinese sensitive leaf.

Brooklyn : Howlett Brothers, Printers, 136 Fulton St., [approximately 184-?]

BAC: British Art Center copy accompanied byl floral embossed envelope. "Chinese Sensitive Leaves" printed in black on front.

Handbill describing parlour entertainment accompanied by two 'sensitive' leaves of a male and female oriental figures in red and black. The Chinese sensitive leaves were small pieces of thin material that when placed into someone's hand would react by curling in a way that would reveal the constitution of the person.

Early accounts of the same phenomenon include: A curious discovery: an account of the remarkable sympathetic power of the Chinese sensitive leaf, invented by Jan Pertista Chaseicto. Philadelphia : Printed by Hall and Pierie no. 51, Market-Street, [between 1807 and 1815].

English

April 11, 2019