In J.W. Buel’s 1889 book Sea and Land, the author laid out delightfully quaint illustrations of the Earth’s flora and fauna. Many of these pictures detailed the myriad hilarious ways the animal kingdom eats humans, with creatures like the Japanese spider crab receiving a homicidal bad rap. Here’s a selection of doom and gloom from the Victorian era. After all, you never know when you might be torn asunder by the man-eating tree.
You can see more of Buel’s illustrations at this great Flickr set, this illustrated 1800s account of Africa, and on Archive.org.
[Via John Coulthart]
