SHEEP, GOATS, PIGS, CALVES AND DUCKS IN THE HOUSE OF THE LADY IN GIRSU （2400 B.C.） —— STUDIES ON OLD SUMERIAN ARCHIVES FROM GIRSU PART 4

In JAC 19, I investigated Lists of Monthly Barley-Wheat Distributions and Allowances （se-gar ziz-gar sa-dug4 itid-da）, with regard to the types and amount of fodder provided to donkeys from the rule of Enentarzi to the end years of Urukagina. In this paper, I found that from Urukagina Year 5, ii （2^nd month）, the daily fodder for donkeys, and the number of types of donkeys, were greatly reduced. Economic decline occurred in the reign of Urukagina, king of Lagash, from the fifth year on, possibly as a result of political decline. The fact that the archive of the House of The Lady ends in Urukagina＇s seventh year may imply that it is in this year that Lugalzaggesi, king of Umma, captured Lagash and Girsu.     

The Indo‐European mirror: Monotheism and polytheism (J.G. Herder,E. Renan,A. Pictet,F.M. Müller and R.F. Grau)

Some authors assigned the Indo‐Europeans a mirror‐like role which allowed them to understand their own position with respect to contemporary Christian values. After dealing briefly with the writings of J.G. Herder, I shall evoke a certain number of questions which oriented the research of E. Renan, F.M. Müller, A. Pictet and R.F. Grau. The works of the latter authors expounded fabulous genealogies, organizing them into explanatory systems that radically opposed Hebrew monotheists to Indo‐European polytheists. Thus, depending on whether they had used the Semites or the Indo‐Europeans as their starting‐point, they concluded that monotheism or polytheism, respectively, was the archaic source of human thought. The goal on their horizon was a ressuscitated West, forever in the forefront of progress, often simultaneously Christian and scientific. If this type of historiographic analysis is urgently needed at the present time, its purpose is not to provide a grid for distinguishing “truth”; from “falsehood,”; but rather to grasp a set of scholarly traditions within its own channels of transmission.     

NATIONAL AND REGIONAL POPULATION TRENDS IN THE USSR, 1979–89: PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM THE 1989 CENSUS

This article investigates national, macroregional, and economic regional population trends in the USSR during the 1979–89 intercensal period based on preliminary results from the 1989 census. The national total population growth rate during 1979–89 was roughly similar to that of 1970–79. However, the urban growth and urbanization processes slowed, while the rate of rural population change increased due chiefly to reduced rural-urban migration. Regional variations in rates of total, urban, and rural population change generally resembled those of 1970–79. Central Asia continued to exhibit the most rapid overall growth, although Siberia experienced a resurgence.     

Dr. C.E. Brown-Séquard, M.D., F.R.C.P., F.R.S., London: the casting of the die

In 1858 Dr. Brown-Séquard arrived in London. During his stay there, he was appointed physician at the National Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic (now the National Hospital), and was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physician's of London, as well as Fellow of the Royal society. During this time he also published his 'Course of Lectures on the Physiology and Pathology of the Central Nervous System' an early exposition of what is now know as 'his' syndrome. During his time in London, Dr. Brown-Séquard made many well-known acquaintances, amongst others Charles Darwin, T.H. Huxley, and Louis Pasteur. Three years after his appointment as physician at the National Hospital, he left London. Increasingly, he was to abondon fashionable practice to concentrate on his study of what are now known as the endocrinal glands. In this way, he became a pioneer of the study of endocrinology.     

THE COMPOSITION AND MANUFACTURE OF EARLY MEDIEVAL COLOURED WINDOW GLASS FROM SION (VALAIS,SWITZERLAND)—A ROMAN GLASS‐MAKING TRADITION OR INNOVATIVE CRAFTSMANSHIP?*

Archaeological excavations between 1984 and 2001 at the early Christian cemetery church in Sion, Sous‐le‐Scex (Rhône Valley, Switzerland), brought to light more than 400 pieces of coloured window glass dating from the fifth or sixth centuries ad . The aims of this paper are threefold: first, to characterize the shape, colour and chemical composition of the glass; secondly, to understand whether the production of the coloured window panes followed traditional Roman glazing techniques or was of a more innovative nature; and, thirdly, to provide some indications as to the overall design of these early ornamental glass windows. Forty samples of coloured glass have been analysed by wavelength‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence. The results of the chemical and the technological studies showed that most of the glass was produced using recycled glass, particularly as a colouring agent. Some of the glass was made of essentially unmodified glass of the Levantine I type. The results taken together seem to confirm that raw glass from this region was widely traded and used between the fourth and seventh centuries ad . The artisans at Sion were apparently still making use of the highly developed techniques of Roman glass production. The colour spectrum, manufacture and design of the windows, however, suggest that they represent early examples of ornamental coloured glass windows.