Books & Literary Life | October 16, 2018

Chapter and verse quotation-citation correspondence site

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

From The November-December 2018 Issue

Jacob Adler asks: “In Nishmat Ḥayyim (“The Breath of Life,” 1651), the Dutch rabbi Menasseh ben Israel writes of strange phenomena that supposedly occur in Asia: people making clothing from stone in China; families in Cochin, India, with right thighs swollen like elephants’; and people in Negapatam and Mylapore who can eat with their eyes, whether cucumbers and watermelons or the innards of enemies. Does anyone know of a source for these ideas?”

Send inquiries and answers to “Chapter and Verse,” Harvard Magazine, 7 Ware Street, Cambridge 02138, or via email to chapterandverse@harvardmag.com.

Published in the November-December 2018 print issue under the headline “Chapter & Verse,” in the Montage section.

You might also like

Book cover featuring vibrant underwater plants and coral with the title "Under Water" by Tara Menon.

The popular Harvard English professor published Under Water this spring.

A woman with long, silver hair rests her chin on her hand, wearing a black top.

Author and Harvard Divinity School writer-in-residence Terry Tempest Williams finds beauty in the world around us.

Image depicting Shakespeare and Stephen King

Shakespeare and Stephen King Have a Lot in Common

Shakespeare scholar Caroline Bicks studies horror and fear in literature.

Most popular

A woman with long hair stands confidently with crossed arms next to a pickup truck.

All That’s Unseen charts the Harvard graduate’s uneasy journey from Appalachia to Cambridge and back.

Harvard rugby first-year scorer Sofie Fella

Rugby’s freshman scorer Sofie Fella

White House and Harvard University buildings split diagonally with contrasting colors.

Harvard Weathers a Year of Turmoil

The federal government has launched unprecedented actions against the University. Here’s a guide.

Explore More From Current Issue

Harvey Mansfield seated in a bright yellow chair, surrounded by bookshelves and cozy decor.

Faculty

The retired government professor has been a rare conservative voice on campus for decades.

Star-filled night sky with the Milky Way arching over a rocky silhouette.

Science

There’s a growing movement to curb light pollution. It starts on your front porch.

Black and white photo of Joseph Murray in a white lab coat sitting in an office.

Alumni Profiles

Nobel Prize recipient Joseph E. Murray dedicated much of his career to organ transplant surgery.