JF Ptak Science Books Daily Dose from Dr. Odd
Sometimes there’s not much needed to say about something after you’re through with the title–and this may be one of those times.
[Found at paywall/subscription site, North Carolina State University libraries; another site plus text at the Library Company of Philadelphia, here]
This is a trade card for Munn & Company, publishers of the Scientific American, then in its 29th year (which would be 1874). I’m pretty sure that this was all done as a joke, to catch people’s ideal attention–especially since Bellew was a cartoonist, and a very well-known one at that. (For example, he created this iconic image of Lincoln, below.) But the image is certainly arresting enough, odd enough, semi-insane enough, to have the casual nod turn into observation.