Walter Rudolf Hess (1881-1973) and his contribution to neuroscience

The present account includes a brief life history of Walter Rudolf Hess (1881-1973) and a review of his major neurophysiological contributions. Hess belonged to the nearly extinct generation of great universalists among students of human physiology. He began his scientific work in hemodynamics and ophthalmology, then studied the functional organization and regulation of circulation and respiration and developed a number of highly sophisticated instruments which fostered his international reputation. By electrically stimulating the brain of the unanesthetized, freely moving animal he explored the functional organization and localization of the cat diencephalon in terms of autonomic, extrapyramidal motor functions, and instinctive behavior, e.g. hunger, thirst, fear, and rage. His thoughts on biological order led him to consider the problems of psychic forces. He was convinced of the close correlation of behavioral research and neurophysiology and believed that neuronal patterns determine the content of consciousness without providing clues concerning the transformation of such patterns into subjective experience.     

MacDonald's Parties: The Labour Party and the 'Aristocratic Embrace', 1922-31

The article tests the claim that certain Labour MPs and ministersin the 1920s succumbed to an ‘aristocratic embrace’.It begins with a short account of debates in the early LabourParty over social mixing, which culminated in the 1924 disputeover the wearing of Court Dress by some Labour ministers. Theextent of ‘embrace’ is assessed through the examinationof who wore Court Dress (and why), who was offered and acceptedhonours, and of patterns of residence, income and wealth, andparticipation in London Society, measured by club membershipsand appearances in the Court & Social columns of The Times.The article concludes by examining the usefulness of the ideaof ‘aristocratic embrace’ in explaining the defectionof J.R. MacDonald and others from the Labour Party in 1931.     

Holy Wisdom and British foreign policy, 1918-1922: the St. Sophia redemption agitation

Abstract

As the Ottoman Empire tottered towards its final collapse at the end of the First World War the fate of its various territorial components aroused the interest not only of other states, but of interest groups within those states. Britain in particular revealed a strong concern with this subject, having long been interested in the Eastern Mediterranean. The end of the Ottoman Empire saw the legendary Lawrence of Arabia grasping the Arab lands, various secret treaties with the other Great Powers disposed of much of Anatolia, and the future of Turkish rule over Constantinople, that much sought after city, now hung in the balance. The final fate of the city would be decided at the postwar Paris Peace Conference. Of all of the spoils of the Ottomans none evoked such passions as that inspired by Constantinople – Byzantium, the Second Rome. If any building could epitomise the Europeans' vision of this city it was the St Sophia, the Church of the Holy Wisdom, which since the fall of Constantinople in 1453 had been a mosque. With the end of Ottoman dominance an opportunity was seen by some of symbolically completing a crusade begun centuries before, with the expulsion of the Turks, and Islam, from Europe. Nothing could so symbolise a change of control at Constantinople than the reconversion of St Sophia into a church. This found support from those who wished to see the Turk expelled bag and baggage from Europe. The philhellenes saw its transfer to the Greek Orthodox church as indicating the resurgence of the Greek nation, and forming the backdrop to eventual Greek control of Constantinople. In Britain the focus of such views was the St Sophia Redemption Committee, which sought to restore the building to its original function. Now virtually forgotten, the agitation for the redemption of St Sophia was an emotive topic during the first months of peace. The supporters of this movement were not a group of fringe political cranks, and its members numbered two future foreign secretaries and many other prominent public figures. The popular agitation coordinated by this committee, and the opposition it encountered, illustrate some of the complexities at work in the formulation of a coherent Eastern Mediterranean policy for Britain.     

近代上海法租界空间扩展及其驱动力分析

本文从城市空间三要素入手,以城市道路为基础,以城市基础设施和城市用地记载为参考坐标,以10年为一时间断面,复原近代上海法租界的城市空间扩展过程。通过研究笔者发现,开埠以后上海法租界地区的城市空间扩展,呈现跳跃式拓展的空间特征。在法租界城市空间扩展过程中,城市道路的修筑是城市空间扩展的直接动因,其中,作为城市区域中轴线的道路充分发挥了牵引作用。在近代上海法租界城市发展过程中,如何协调各方利益是其关键所在,而追求商业利益的最大化,也就成为城市空间扩展最根本的驱动力。另外,研究证明,近代上海城市空间扩展与租界扩展并不吻合,而是存在一定的时空差异。     

Woman and Violence in Artistic Discourse of the Russian Revolution and Civil War (1917–1922)

This article examines visual and literary representations of violence against women produced during the period. The image of a woman suffering from violence is presented from different points of view in literary art works of the Revolution and Civil War time. It was created and circulated among Red and White camps mainly in accordance with the task of propaganda bodies. Among the object of violence there are allegoric women's figures, symbolising Russia, revolution, freedom, well‐known heroines from literature, historic personages and contemporary women – ordinary victims of civil confrontation and direct participants of the Revolution and war. Men or symbols traditionally personifying masculine origin were nearly always the perpetrators of violence, and the image of the female victim was exploited for the strong emotions it evoked. In most cases physical violence against women was treated as anomaly. But the control of the regime over the woman's emotional sphere had become a standard everywhere.