Geographies of steam: mapping the entrepreneurial activities of steam engineers in France during the second half of the eighteenth century

Entrepreneurship played a crucial role in the development and diffusion of steam technology. To account for this, we need to map the entrepreneurial activities that helped spread steam technology across Europe and beyond. Because tracing this history’s contours requires attending to local contexts, strategies and uses along with large-scale trajectories, it makes sense to speak of historical ‘geographies’ rather than of steam technology’s historical ‘geography’. Speaking of geographies in the plural also refers to the recognition that places can simultaneously be located in multiple spatial situations, their geographical identities the product of historical work, negotiation and perspective. To illustrate these points, this essay begins by reflecting on what might be called the ‘spatial turn’ in the history of technology and the role of entrepreneurship in the spread of steam technology in France during the second half of the eighteenth century, which is the historical focus of this essay. It then discusses a small number of representative cases of entrepreneurial engagement with steam technology in France and concludes by considering what this tells us about the relationship between the French state and its regions and the impact of the French Revolution in this geographically complex history.     

The weight of nineteenth century Mexicans in the Western United States

When traditional methods for measuring economic welfare are scarce or unreliable, heights and BMIs are now well-accepted measurements that represent biological conditions during economic development. Weight, after controlling for height, is an additional measure for current net nutrition. Little is known about how weights varied among Mexicans living in the nineteenth century American West. Between 1870 and 1920, average Mexican weight was low and remained constant. Mexican farmers had the heaviest weights, and unskilled worker weights were low. Weight of Mexican-born individuals were higher than Mexicans born in the United States at low weights but lower at high weights. For combined characteristics, weight varied the most with age, an uncontrollable characteristic, indicating that nineteenth century Mexican current net nutrition varied the most with factors over which they had no control.     

Diaphyseal growth in a nineteenth century skeletal sample of subadults from St Thomas' church,Belleville, Ontario

This study presents skeletal growth data for a nineteenth century church cemetery sample from Belleville, Ontario. Skeletal growth profiles (SGPs), plotting measurements of growth against age estimated by tooth formation, were constructed for the sample. Means and confidence intervals for 1-year cohorts up to 12 years of age are presented for each of the long bones, the ilium and scapula. Comparison of the SGPs created for this sample with modern and archaeological samples demonstrates that the nineteenth century Belleville children followed a growth pattern similar to their modern counterparts, at least until 12 years of age. It is recommended that these data can be used by other investigators as a comparative sample of nineteenth century children; they can also be used as standards of growth for the purpose of estimating age from diaphyseal lengths for other archaeological samples of similar temporal context and population affinities. It is argued that confidence intervals rather than standard deviations be used to report variation, as the former controls for sample size as well as variance.     

Earliest archaeological evidence of the Ancon mutation in sheep from Leicester,UK

The excavation of a 16th century archaeological site in Leicester, UK, produced sheep bones exhibiting the characteristic deformation of the Ancon dwarf but predating the earliest historical record of this mutation by some 200 years. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Secularisation,anticlericalism and cremation within Italian cemeteries of the nineteenth century

This article examines the monumental cemeteries of nineteenth-century Italy with regard to their role as platforms for the tensions between Church and state. In that burial grounds were publically owned yet administered by the clergy, they represented a space where conflicts between secular and clerical powers might be played out – conflicts that reached a peak in the final decades of the Ottocento following the annexation of the Papal State to unified Italy. Particular attention is given to the adoption of cremation as a practice that was advocated by anticlerical, liberal and radical factions in opposition to the Catholic Church. That opposition was manifested in the design and layout of Italian burial grounds and in construction of new crematoria.     

A Social History of Trans-Imperial Diplomacy in a Crisis Context: Herbert von Rathkeal's Circles of Belonging in Pera, 1779–1802

ABSTRACT

This article explores the multiple circles of diplomatic agents and their social belonging in the context of the international crisis in late eighteenth-century Istanbul, drawing upon the private papers of the imperial internuncio at Pera between 1779 and 1802. The son of an Irish Jacobite supporter who became a Jesuit and then a radical reformer in Vienna, Peter Herbert von Rathkeal was also a member of the Pera society in which he was born and raised. An agent of one of the most influential trans-imperial households established in Friuli, and a member of the Austrian and British nobilities, Herbert sought to become an eminent actor of the Ottoman diplomatic scene while remaining the patron of a cosmopolitan commercial-cum-political clientele. To study Herbert's actions is to question the model of diplomatie de type ancien in a cross-cultural and fast-changing context of crisis. Despite the collapse of the old diplomatic order with the breakdown of the French Revolution, and despite rising tensions generated by the increasingly sensitive ‘Eastern Question’, this article reveals how Herbert von Rathkeal managed to maintain a certain stability in Istanbul due to the economic and social resources, which his different circles of belonging opened up for him.     

Ria de Aveiro A: a shipwreck from Portugal dating to the mid-15th century; a preliminary report

The remains of a coasting vessel were found in a lagoon close to the coast. Four radiocarbon determinations provided a date in the mid-15th century and it has been the subject of several seasons of excavation of CNANS. The excavation strategy is described, as are its surviving constructional details which are analysed with reference to early sources for Portuguese naval architecture. This coaster has constructional features found in ocean-going ships of the Iberian-Atlantic tradition. Its cargo of pottery is one of the most extensive and closely dated from the Age of Discovery and includes 18 forms.     

Frank Clifford Rose Memorial Lecture: The tale of three trephines: Surgeons and their surgical-instrument makers in Britain,France, and America in the nineteenth century

ABSTRACT

Trephines and trepanning date to ancient times, but a “modern” form of instruments was codified by the seventeenth century. This did not preclude efforts to “improve” the trephine in the late-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Surgeons and instrument makers in Britain (Jardine and Savigny), France (Thomson and Charrière), and America (Galt and Otto & Reynders) endeavored to make the trephine safer and more precise. In exploring their interactions, this presentation shows the evolving role of the instrument makers not only as fabricators of tools, but as creative design collaborators of surgeons and physicians.     

From charting to mapping: Russian military mapping of Corfu in the early nineteenth century

Abstract

This paper concludes the overview of the Russian Navy's chart making published in Imago Mundi, Volume 52 (2000). In the present paper attention is drawn to the way the emphasis shifted in the early years of the nineteenth century from charting by naval surveyors to land mapping by the Army. The need for specialized military topographical education had led to the founding of the Map Depot in 1797 in St Petersburg. The first major survey undertaken by the Depot was of the island of Corfu (1804–1806), in anticipation of further Russo‐Turkish hostilities (the Third Russo‐Turkish war, 1806–1812).     

The Swiss community in Genoa from the Old Regime to the late nineteenth century

Abstract

Drawing on extensive and original archival research, this article is the first to reconstruct the origins and historical development of the Swiss community of Genoa from the sixteenth to the late nineteenth century. During these four centuries, the Swiss were constant and significant agents of the Genoese economy and society. The Swiss presence in the city dates back to the mid 1500s, when Swiss soldiers were the predominant component of the army of the Republic. In the 1700s the Swiss community broadened its economic scope and varied its social configuration. It consisted of both a well-established Protestant, élite of merchant-bankers and textile entrepreneurs and a lower layer of craftsmen, confectioners, street vendors and servants. By the end of the 1700s the Swiss élite was such a thriving and well-integrated group that in 1799 Genoa was selected to be the seat of the first Swiss consulate of the Italian peninsula, the second in Europe after Bordeaux (1798). From the Restoration (1815) to Italian Unification (1861), the Swiss merchant-bankers and textile industrialists continued to be active promoters of the city's economic and trading system. In the decades after Unification (1861–80s), Swiss capital investments moved into new economic sectors (steam-shipping and maritime insurance) that contributed to the modernization of the Genoese and Italian merchant fleet. During the nineteenth century the Swiss community created its own social spaces and identity within the city – a church, a cemetery, a school, and a charitable foundation. As in many other northern Italian cities, the consolidation of the community's external image did not weaken the Swiss élite's integration with the local Genoese upper class.     

A possible account of synaesthesia dating from the seventeenth century

An account of a blind man able to detect colors by touch, dating from the mid-seventeenth century, is presented. The details come to us through the physician John Finch, the scientist Robert Boyle, and the author Jonathan Swift. The details in the account suggest the possibility that this may be an early report of colored-touch synaesthesia.     

British contributions to the study of Russian geography in the nineteenth century

Urban geography

Managing the City. Edited by Brian Robson, 22 x 14 cm, 220 pp, Croom Helm, London, 1987, hbk, ISBN 0–7099–4232‐X, £30.00.

Regenerating the Inner City: Glasgow's Experience. Edited by David Donnison and Alan Middleton, 21.6 x 13.5 cm; xvii + 322 pp, Routledge and Keagan Paul, London, 1987, pbk, ISBN 0–7102–1117–1, £12.95.

Scotland

Rural Housing in Scotland. Edited by B. D. MacGregor, D. S. Robertson and M. Shucksmith, 22.7 x 15 cm, xii + 201 pp, Aberdeen University Press, Aberdeen, 1987, pbk, ISBN 0–08–034529–8. £11.90.

A Pattern of Landownership in Scotland. By Robin Fraser Callander, 21 x 15 cm, 155 pp, Haughend Publications, Finzean, 1987, pbk, ISBN 0–907184–13–8, £5.25 (post free from the publisher at Finzean, Aberdeenshire AB3 3PP).

History of Orkney. By William P. L. Thomson, 24 X 16 cm, xvi + 321 pp, The Mercat Press, Edinburgh, 1987, hbk, ISBN 0–901824–82–8, £14.95.

The Roads of Fife. By Owen Silver, 23.5 x 15.5 cm, 197 pp, John Donald, Edinburgh, 1987, pbk, ISBN 0–85976–160–6, £12.50.

Conservation

Birds, Bogs and Forestry: the Peat lands of Caithness and Sutherland: Edited by D. A. Ratcliffe and P. H. Oswald, 29x21 cm, 121 pp, Nature Conservancy Council, Peterborough, 1986, pbk, ISBN 08–6139–3775, £8.50

Angling and Wildlife in Fresh Waters. Edited by P. S. Maitland and A. K. Turner, 29 x 21 cm, 81 pp, Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Abbots Ripton, 1987, pbk, ISBN 0–904282–99–6, £8.00.

Farm Woodlands in Central Scotland. By A. V. Halhead, 29.5 X 21 cm, 32 pp, Countryside Commission for Scotland, Perth, 1987, pbk, ISBN 0–902226–85–1, £3.00.

Alternative Manpower for the Scottish Countryside. By Centre for Leisure Research, Dunfermline College of Physical Education, 29.5 x 21 cm, 96 pp, Countryside Commission for Scotland, Perth, 1987, pbk, ISBN 0–902226–86–6, £4.50.

Geography in Education

Foundations of Geography for GCSE. By D. C Money, 29 x 21 cm, 262 pp, Evans Brothers, London, 1987, pbk, ISBN 0–237–51006–5, £6.95.

World Contrasts. By Brian Nixon, 19.5 x 26.5 cm, 219 pp, Bell &; Hyman, London, 1986, pbk, ISBN 07135–265‐X, £5.95.

People making geography: Book 1. By Chris Queree and Jeff Serf, ISBN 0–582–20289–2. Countries of the world: Book 3 The Americas. By Keith Gillard, ISBN 0–582–21219–7. (Copymasters. 25x24 cm, looseleaf, Longman, Harlow, 1987.)     

Effects of a nineteenth century below-knee amputation and prosthesis on femoral morphology

Access to the lower limbs from a historically-identified nineteenth century below-knee amputee who had worn a hardwood ectoprosthesis for an extended time prior to death provides a natural experiment for investigating the morphological and histological effects of the resulting altered mechanical environment. Osteometry (measuring total bone size), cross-sectional geometry (bending and axial rigidity) and histology (bone turnover rate) are assessed. A reduction in size and geometric strength, along with an increase in cortical bone turnover, indicate that the midshaft and distal regions from the affected femur were partially shielded from functional strain. Structural compliance of the prosthesis, probably originating from design and material of manufacture, to some degree preserved the mechanical and morphological integrity of the proximal subtrochanteric region. The results of this case study are consistent with contemporary theory in skeletal biomechanics, for example, Frost's Mechanostat, which suggests that insufficient functional strain promotes intracortical remodelling and endosteal expansion.     

The “golden age” of synesthesia inquiry in the late nineteenth century (1876–1895)

ABSTRACT

Synesthesia is a rare neurological trait that causes unusual, often cross-sensory, experiences (e.g., seeing colors when listening to music). This article traces the history of synesthesia in the period 1876 to 1895. In this period, there was considerable debate over the nature of synesthesia, its causes, and how it should be named. The issue also attracted the leading thinkers of the time and, within a few years, the number of reported cases of synesthesia jumped from around ten to more than 100. For this reason, this period can be regarded as the “golden age” for synesthesia research in the nineteenth century. In this time, scientists debated whether synesthesia was a form of pathology or an alternative manifestation of intelligence. The differing roles of heredity and environment were contested, and there were several explanations proposed as to its neural basis. These enquiries went to the heart of the debate as to whether synesthetic experiences are special in any way or, instead, a more vivid manifestation of a more general capacity for forming associations.     

The evolution of the concept of synesthesia in the nineteenth century as revealed through the history of its name

ABSTRACT

Synesthesia is a rare perceptual condition causing unusual sensations, which are triggered by the stimulation of otherwise unrelated modalities (e.g., the sensation of colors triggered when listening to music). In addition to the name it takes today, the condition has had a wide variety of designations throughout its scientific history. These different names have also been accompanied by shifting boundaries in its definition, and the literature has undergone a considerable process of change in the development of a term for synesthesia, starting with “obscure feeling” in 1772, and ending with the first emergence of the true term “synesthesia” or “synæsthesiæ” in 1892. In this article, we will unpack the complex history of this nomenclature; provide key excerpts from central texts, in often hard-to-locate sources; and translate these early passages and terminologies into English.     

The investiture of Emperor Charles VI in Brabant and Flanders: a test case for the authority of the new Austrian government

This article focuses upon the investitures of Emperor Charles VI in 1717 in Brabant and Flanders. The purpose of this analysis is to demonstrate that, contrary to what some historians have claimed, the element of direct communication between prince and subjects remained significant at least until the beginning of the eighteenth century. Despite Charles' assertive attitude, the ceremonies were preceded by a period of intense negotiation, in which the Estates made clear demands. Eventually, however, he acquiesced to some of their requests. These concessions can be placed within a long tradition of modus vivendi between princely centralism and local autonomy in the Southern Netherlands. The sovereign was financially dependent on the Estates, which therefore had a great deal of leverage at their disposal. This vulnerability was compounded by the fact that Charles stood at the head of a dynasty, the Austrian Habsburgs, which had no tradition of authority in these regions upon which to draw. Furthermore, the Barrier Treaty's provisions restricted his sovereignty. His bargaining position influenced the organisation of the investitures, thus illustrating that in the early eighteenth century, the sovereign and provincial Estates of the Southern Netherlands were still engaged in a contractual relationship.     

New technologies applied to family history: a particular case of southern Europe in the eighteenth century

In this article, the author explains how the support of new technologies has helped historians to develop their research over the last few decades. The author, therefore, summarizes the application of both database and genealogical programs for the southern Europe family studies as a methodological tool. First, the author will establish the importance of the creation of databases using the File Maker program, after which they will explain the value of using genealogical programs such as Genopro and Heredis. The main aim of this article is to give detail about the use of these new technologies as applied to a particular study of southern Europe, specifically the Crown of Castile, during the late modern period. The use of these computer programs has helped to develop the field of social sciences and family history, in particular, social history, during the last decade.