Stoker 21-23

1.Page 297. " The Acherontia atropos of the Sphinges "

by hector

Death's-head Hawk Moth - Credit: Orin Zebest
Acherontia atropos is one of three species of Death's-head Hawk moth. It is a particularly large moth, with a wingspan of up to five inches.
The species name is heavily connected with death. In Greek mythology, Atropos was one of the three goddesses of Fate and Acheron was the river of pain in the Underworld. The moth is completely harmless, but the skull pattern on the thorax has caused it to be associated with evil and misfortune.
"Sphinges" is the plural of sphinx, and refers to the hawk moth family, Sphingidae.

2. Page 306. " flesh of my flesh; blood of my blood; kin of my kin "

by victoriahooper

The Creation of Eve - Credit: Georges Jansoone/Wikimedia Commons
This seems to be a reference to the Biblical creation of woman (Genesis 2:23-24), when Eve was made using one of Adam’s ribs:
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Dracula is insinuating that he has re-made Mina in his own image – a vampire!

3. Page 321. " the highest development of the science-knowledge of his time "

by sammycumes

Alchemist's Laboratoy - Credit: Heinrich Khunrath
Alchemy was popularly understood to be the mystical science of turning base metals into gold, but in fact it was a much broader discipline. Alchemy was more like a philosophy, incorporating ideas like transmutation, immortality and self-awareness.
The word "alchemy" stems from the Arabic "al-kimia" meaning "the art of transformation". However the earliest alchemists are believed to have worked in China or the Persian Empire. Modern inorganic chemistry owes much to early alchemical investigations.

4. Page 323. " the Devil, though he may purchase, does not keep faith "

by onelittlething

19th century engraving of Homunculus from Goethe's Faust part II
This may refer to the story of Faust.
Faust is a successful doctor or alchemist, but dissatisfied with his life he sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and pleasure. Although he seems to get what he asks for, he ends up condemned to an eternity in Hell.
The Faust story has been reworked through the ages and appears in many forms. Best known are two plays: Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe(1564-1593), and Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832).

5. Page 325. " for he had ready his great Kukri knife "

by victoriahooper

Kukri Knife - Credit: Sonett72/Wikimedia CommonsA Kukri knife is a close combat weapon with an inwardly curved cutting edge. It is the icon of Nepal, and used by the Gurkhas.

6. Page 332. " I want you to hypnotise me "

by victoriahooper

A Victorian Hypnotist - Credit: Library of Congress
Victorian readers were very familiar with hypnotism. Scottish surgeon James Braidintroduced the concept of neuro-hypnotism (neural sleep) in 1841, and by the 1890s it was being used to treat the widespread disorder of hysteria. While Stoker was writing Dracula, Sigmund Freud was developing the practice of regression hypnotherapy.
At the same time, hypnosis was already in demand on the stage. Indeed James Braid took his inspiration from a "mesmerism" show.

7. Page 333. " your so great Port of London "

by hector

The Pool of London, 1841 - Credit: W. Parrott
London has been a significant maritime trading port since Roman times. With the growth of the British Empire, it became the busiest port in the world during the 18th and 19th centuries. For nearly two millenia, most loading and unloading took place in the Pool of London, the stretch of the River Thames from London Bridge to Rotherhithe. But by the end of the 18th century, demand for quayside space had outstripped capacity, and throughout the 19th century private companies constructed new enclosed docks in what became known as Docklands.
Although Docklands was very heavily bombed in World War II, and has now been redeveloped for office and residential use, London remains one of the largest ports in Britain, with new docks further downriver. Its capacity will increase considerably with the completion of the massive deep-water port at London Gateway.
Map of London's Docks, 1882

London Docks, 1845 - Credit: Illustrated London News

8. Page 334. " Tally Ho "

by victoriahooper

Fox Hunters - Credit: Henrik Jessen/Wikimedia Commons
‘Tally Ho’ is the traditional cry of the fox-hunter. Fox-hunting was a sport enjoyed by the upper classes in Britain until a ban on the activity in 2005 (though it is still practised in many other countries).
A group of hunters riding horses would follow a pack of hounds trained to track and chase foxes. A red coat is traditional fox-hunting attire.

9. Page 337. " he must go by the Danube mouth "

by victoriahooper

The Danube Delta in Romania - Credit: Danutz/wikimedia commons
The Danube drains into the Black Sea via the Danube Delta, the greater part of which is situated in Romania, with a smaller, northern part in the Ukraine.
A delta forms when the sediment carried by a moving river reaches a body of still or slower moving water, and spreads out to form a wide area of deposited sediment, often in the shape of the Greek letter Delta.

10. Page 340. " There are deep caverns and fissures "

by hector

Timisoara Cave - Credit: Francisco Gonzalez
There are indeed some fine caves in Transylvania. Romania as a whole boasts over 12,000 caves, many of them in the Carpathians.
For the adventurous who want to explore them, here are a couple of options:
Outdoor Holidays Green Mountain Holidays

Muierilor Cave - Credit: Cristian Bortes

Stoker 18-20

1. Page 255. " He may not enter anywhere at the first, unless there be some one of the household who bid him to come "
by victoriahooper

Welcome - Credit:Photofinish 2009Though this may sound reassuring to us, a well-to-do Victorian household was full of servants and regular visitors (food deliveries, coal deliveries, etc), and the chances of unwittingly inviting a vampire in would have been much higher.
Though most later fiction tends to ignore this aspect of vampirism, some have played with it effectively; e.g. in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a reverse spell can be performed in order to ‘change the locks.’

2. Page 256. " a sacred bullet fired into the coffin kill him so that he be true dead "
by victoriahooper

Bullet - Credit: An Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons
In Romania, the precautionary measure of shooting a bullet through the coffin of the recently deceased might be taken. Presumably a sacred bullet is one that has been blessed by a clergyman.
The use of bullets (specifically silver ones) is more common in werewolf fiction.

3. Page 256. " over the great river on the very frontier of Turkey-land "
by hector

The Danube, Bulgaria

Map of Bulgarian and Romanian territory as it was in 1853, with the Danube drawn above "TÜRKEI"
The Danube is one of the longest rivers in Europe, stretching 1,785 miles from the Black Forest (Germany) to the Black Sea. It forms the majority of the border between Romania and Bulgaria, which had languished under Ottoman rule for five hundred years. Hence, for centuries the Danube had indeed been the "frontier of Turkey-land", although Ottoman control and influence frequently extended north of it.
By the time of Dracula, things were starting to change south of the river. The Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 had led to the liberation of part of Bulgaria. The Principality of Bulgaria, though nominally a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire, was now effectively independent. The restored and enlarged nation finally declared full independence in 1908, pushing the decrepit empire back close to the border of modern Turkey.

4. Page 256. " They learned his secrets in the Scholomance "
by victoriahooper

Scholomance was said to be a castle on a lake - Credit: Stuart Yeates at Flickr
The Scholomance was a legendary school of black magic in Transylvania. It was said to be run by the devil himself. An extract from Emily Gerard’s article ‘Transylvanian Superstitions’ describes the Scholomance:
As I am on the subject of thunderstorms, I may as well here mention the Scholomance, or school supposed to exist somewhere in the heart of the mountains, and where all the secrets of nature, the language of animals, and all imaginable magic spells and charms are taught by the devil in person. Only ten scholars are admitted at a time, and when the course of learning has expired and nine of them are released to return to their homes, the tenth scholar is detained by the devil as payment, and mounted upon an Ismeju (dragon) he becomes henceforward the devil's aide-de-camp, and assists him in 'making the weather,' that is, in preparing thunderbolts.

5. Page 259. " a burnt rum punch, much patronized on Derby night "
by hector

Feuerzangenbowle - Credit: Kore Nordmann
This is Feuerzangenbowle (fire-tongs punch), a traditional German concoction made by setting light to rum-soaked sugar and letting it drip into mulled wine.
Derby Night follows the Epsom Derby, one of the classic British horse races. It is a flat horse race over theEpsom Downs that takes place in June each year. The name Derby has now been adopted for prestigious horse races around the world.

Derby Day, 1850s - Credit: William Powell Frith



6. Page 269. " rushed at his natural enemies "
by hector

The celebrated terrier "Major" kills 100 rats in 8 minutes and 58 seconds

Jack Russell Terrier - Credit: Emery Way
Terriers are small but plucky dogs, bred in Britain to hunt and kill rodents, rabbits, foxes and otters. Many are adept at hunting underground in burrows, hence their name (from the Latin terra, meaning earth). Rat-catching breeds include the Jack Russell, the Border and the YorkshireTerrier. Other breeds, such as the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, were developed for pit fighting.
As a largely nineteenth century invention, with most breeds being established in the latter part of the century, the terrier can be seen here as another of the recent technological innovations with which Stoker arms his heroes in their fight against the ancient forces of Dracula.

Border Terrier - Credit: Samuel Cockman


7. Page 284. " the Aërated Bread Company "
by hector

ABC Tea Shop in Fleet Street
The Aërated Bread Company was both a bakery and a chain of tea shops. Like Lyons Corner Houses, ABC Tea Shops were considered suitable for unaccompanied ladies to frequent, and so became popular as London's population of working women grew.
The company was founded in 1862 with a new bread-leavening technology that made use of carbon dioxide instead of yeast. The company was acquired by Allied Bakeries in 1955, and the name was finally phased out in the 1980s.

ABC Menu, 1900

8. Page 289. " Rats and mice and such small deer "
by victoriahooper

Shakespeare
And now we're back to Shakespeare’s King Lear, and once again Act 3 Scene 4:
But mice and rats, and such small deer,
Have been Tom's food for seven long year
That makes four consecutive Shakespeare quotes - from three different plays - all from Act 3, Scene 4. What is Bram Stoker up to?! Is it a code?

9. Page 294. " we must trephine at once "
by hector

Trephining - Credit: Hieronymus Bosch
A trephine is a surgical instrument for cutting out discs of bone, generally from the skull. It has a circular, saw-like blade. Trephining, or trepanning, is the act of cutting a hole in the skull, often to relieve pressure or enable cranial surgery.

Trephine - Credit:Chambers, 1908

10. Page 295. " men who have heard the death-watch "
by victoriahooper

The Death-Watch Beetle - Credit: Sarefo/wikimedia commonsThe Death-watch beetle is a wood-boring beetle that creates a distinctive ticking sound, often heard in the rafters or floorboards during quiet nights. Because of this they have become associated with the watch kept over the dying, and so their ticking noise is sometimes considered to be an omen of death. A person who hears the death-watch beetle, according to superstition, does not have long to live.