The Dutch naturalist and physician Willem Piso was sent to Brazil in 1637 by the Dutch West India Company to serve as physician to the governor of its colony in Brazil and to investigate the medicinal properties of Brazilian plants. He was among the first Europeans to recognize the efficacy of many American plants in treating illness. This natural history of Brazil includes sections on common illnesses, poisonous snakes, as well as on sugar and manioc cultivation. In this illustration are a manioc plant and a hand-mill worked by two men to make the flour.