Domus Willisi: A Neuro‐Architectural Tour*

Abstract

Fifteen sites in England today can be identified with Dr. Thomas Willis, the Oxford physician and anatomist, who was the founder of neurology. Four of these were domiciles; Beam Hall, where Willis and his colleagues met to study the brain and nerves, can be claimed as the first Neurological Institute. The last dwelling place of Willis is Westminster Abbey, where in 1961 his memorial stone was renewed by neurologists and neurosurgeons. Part of this original stone marks the new Brain Imaging Centre at the Montreal Neurological Institute, where the name of Thomas Willis shares a place in the Hall of Neurological Fame.     

SIR THOMAS BROWNE AND ANTIQUITY

INTRODUCTION BY THE MASTER OF PEMBROKE COLLEGE, OXFORD
Pembroke College had for some time wished to commemorate one of its most distinguished members and at the same time contribute to the world of scholarship. The support of an anonymous member of the College made it possible this year for us to inaugurate the biennial lectures entitled 'The Sir Thomas Browne Lectures of Pembroke College'. Sir Thomas Browne has a very special significance for Pembroke. In 1624 he was the senior scholar of Broadgates Hall, the mediaeval hall on the site of Pembroke, when that year it received its new name and Royal Charter. To the scholars of Broadgates Hall he spoke of Pembroke College, 'rising like a phoenix out of the ashes'and called on them to show loyalty to the new College. Sir Thomas Browne was such a polymath that lecturers will find some connection between contemporary thought in the fields of religion, medicine, philosophy and archaeology, all having been illumined by his insatiable curiosity. However, taking a cue from the statue of Thomas Browne in Norwich, his home town, where this thoughtful figure holds a sherd of pottery in his right hand and sits on a pedestal of grey granite shaped to depict an urn, we decided that there could be no better start to the series than to invite one of the country's most distinguished archaeologists, Professor Stuart Piggott, to give our first lecture.     

唐大明宫浴堂殿方位考

唐长安大明宫有浴堂殿,在德宗至文宗朝为皇帝的主要寝殿之一,常于此召见翰林学士或重臣,成为这一段时期朝政活动的重要场所。弄清其地点,无疑有着重要的学术意义。然其所在,诸说多有抵牾,自宋代程大昌《雍录》确定其在紫宸殿东,后世学者大多沿用。本文对文献记载重新进行考辨,从而确定浴堂殿位于金銮殿西、东翰林院北。     

Drawing,Etching, and Experiment in Christopher Wren’s Figure of the Brain

Abstract

Christopher Wren’s figure of the brain ‘viewed from below’ in Thomas Willis’s Cerebri anatome (1664) set a precedent, not only for subsequent images of the brain, but for scientific illustration. The image is the visual proof of a Baconian experiment conducted by the Oxford dissection team, in which dye was pumped into the carotid arteries of animal and human specimens in order to imitate the natural flow of blood, thereby applying William Harvey’s theory of circulation to the brain. Usually described as engravings, Wren’s images are in fact etchings (produced by the acid process), significant because etching for book illustration was then in its infancy in England. In addition to considering Wren as an experimental etcher, this article frames our understanding of Wren’s contributions to Willis’s project in terms of his virtuosic talents as amateur draughtsman, natural historian, anatomist, and his use of optical and draughting instruments.     

The life and times of Thomas Willis and his impact on contemporary medicine

Thomas Willis made numerous contributions to the neurosciences that were broad in scope. In an age of scientific breakthroughs and intellectual revolutions, Willis bestowed upon medical research the clinical rigor that set the stage for subsequent medical breakthroughs. In Cerebri Anatome, Willis introduced a measure of empiricism hitherto unknown in medieval times. By coupling the delineation of brain and neural anatomy with functional studies, Willis brought the science of clinical neurology into fruition. Psychiatry, too, benefited from Willis' elucidation of mental illness and intellectual disability, and modern behavioral psychologists claim Willis as one their early, most ardent champions.     

Historical aspects of cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX)

Thomas Willis made numerous contributions to the neurosciences that were broad in scope. In an age of scientific breakthroughs and intellectual revolutions, Willis bestowed upon medical research the clinical rigor that set the stage for subsequent medical breakthroughs. In Cerebri Anatome, Willis introduced a measure of empiricism hitherto unknown in medieval times. By coupling the delineation of brain and neural anatomy with functional studies, Willis brought the science of clinical neurology into fruition. Psychiatry, too, benefited from Willis' elucidation of mental illness and intellectual disability, and modern behavioral psychologists claim Willis as one their early, most ardent champions.     

The economic of agricultural land tenure

This article sheds new light on the interesting but little-studied figure of Thomas Scott of Canterbury (1566–1635). In presenting Scott's ideas I will modify the interpretation laid out by Peter Clark whose groundbreaking study, ‘Thomas Scott and the Growth of Urban Opposition to the Early Stuart Regime’, is still the only secondary source that pays detailed attention to Scott and his thought, especially his religious opinions. The necessity to revisit Clark's interpretation of Scott's place within the political and doctrinal debates of early Stuart England stems from the conviction that his political work and his ideological stances deserve more subtle attention. Most importantly, they were part of the emerging reaction against the policies of the first two Stuart Kings which can be labelled ‘country patriotism’. Finally, the elucidation of Scott's writings will provide a novel insight into an early configuration of English national identity.     

Thomas Graham Brown (1882–1965): Behind the Scenes at the Cardiff Institute of Physiology

Thomas Graham Brown undertook seminal experiments on the neural control of locomotion between 1910 and 1915. Although elected to the Royal Society in 1927, his locomotion research was largely ignored until the 1960s when it was championed and extended by the distinguished neuroscientist, Anders Lundberg. Puzzlingly, Graham Brown's published research stopped in the 1920s and he became renowned as a mountaineer. In this article, we review his life and multifaceted career, including his active neurological service in WWI. We outline events behind the scenes during his tenure at Cardiff's Institute of Physiology in Wales, UK, including an interview with his technician, Terrence J. Surman, who worked in this institute for over half a century.     

The analysis of two historic fired artificial stonewares: Coade stone (18th–19th centuries) and a recent discovery from Oxnead Hall,Norfolk (16th–17th centuries)

Coade stone has played a significant role in architectural and ornamental design since its inception in the early 18th century. It is well known that earlier, experimental, architectural stoneware products existed, but few of these have been studied in detail scientifically, and only one major analytical study of Coade stone has appeared in the literature. This paper presents a new spectroscopic analysis of Coade stone along with that of a newly discovered sample from Oxnead Hall in Norfolk where it known that Sir Clement Paston experimented with artificial stone in the late 16th century. The results demonstrate that it is possible to differentiate between the two variants on the basis of both the raw materials used and the different phases formed in their production processes.     

Proceedings at Meetings of the Royal Archaeological Institute

Neolithic settlements are rare on the British mainland, and England in particular (Cooney 1997; Thomas 1999. 8–9 for somewhat differing comments}. One claimed site occurs at Portinscale 4 km west of the Castlerigg stone circle in the English Lake District where a number of stone axes and other artefacts were found in 1901. The finds were reported to consist of four unpolished stone axes, a number of ‘chippings of similar stone’ and of a ‘log…in an upright position, with the top rudely chipped as if by some clumsy instrument’ (Rawnsley 1902). The remains have sometimes been interpreted as those of a possible settlement where the axes were ‘finished’ or polished (Manby 1965, 3; cf. Fell 1950, 9), although Briggs (1989} noted that the axes also may have been used unpolished. The site is important in any discussion of the production of stone axes in the central Lake District (Bradley and Edmonds 1993). This paper reports the result of small-scale excavations designed to assess whether any material of archaeological interest survived on site and reviews the evidence reported by Rawnsley and that of stray finds of axes from the vicinity of Keswick and Castlerigg (Illus. 1).     

乾清宫空间功能的转换与制度变迁（上）

乾清宫是明清皇宫中位于内廷的宫殿,在明代是皇帝的寝宫,清康熙八年,皇帝居住场所从保和殿迁入乾清宫,这座明代皇帝寝宫遂被改造成清帝的理政中心。随着乾清宫空间功能的改变,清代一些重要的制度也随之出现,如乾清门御门听政、乾清宫召对臣工、懋勤殿秋谳勾到等。而且乾清宫功能的转变,直接影响了外臣进入内廷的行为方式。本文通过对文献资料的梳理,论证了乾清宫空间功能转变的原因、过程及相应制度的产生。     

隋元威夫妇墓发掘简报

2010年1月,陕西省考古研究院和咸阳市文物考古研究所对位于咸阳市底张镇布里村的隋元威夫妇墓进行了发掘。该墓为斜坡墓道、三天井的单室土洞墓,呈"甲"字形。墓内出土有陶器、瓷器、铁器、贝壳、铜镜、铜钱、墓志等。元威隋开皇十年死于寿州,开皇十一年葬于小陵原,隋仁寿五年和夫人于氏合葬于咸阳洪渎川。     

THE SITING OF NEOLITHIC STONE QUARRIES—EXPERIMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY AT GREAT LANGDALE, CUMBRIA

Summary. Although the general distributions of stone axes and their sources have been studied for many years, it is not clear whether the production of these artefacts was carried out by specialists. One way of resolving the problem may be to consider the efficiency with which raw material was extracted. This paper describes an attempt to assess the factors influencing the siting of the Group VI stone quarries at Great Langdale. It is concluded that there is only a limited relationship between the most suitable locations, as suggested by detailed sampling of the outcrop, and those sites where stone working actually took place. This suggests that some of those using such sites may have lacked a detailed knowledge of the area.     

Biblical Inspiration & Islamic Instrumental Causality: Thomas Aquinas on prophecy and the two authors of Sacred Scripture

Scripture, according to the Christian tradition, has two authors: God as the principal author and the Holy Fathers as instrumental authors. Thomas’s biblical inspiration is accomplished through instrumental causality—the theory of causal motion where the power of a principal agent works hiddenly through a lower cause to achieve an end beyond the lower cause’s natural powers. However, Thomas formulates a new account of instrumental causality by integrating Islamic causal accounts within Greek and Christian ones. After confirming that Thomas accounts for biblical inspiration with instrumental causality, I will show how Thomas’s Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard explains his theory of instrumental causality pertaining to the sacraments and how it neatly fits biblical inspiration. Finally, I will demonstrate that Thomas’s formulation of instrumental causality is novel incorporating Islamic influences through Arabic sources including: the Arabic Liber de Causis, Averroes’s two sources of motion, and Avicenna’s modes of efficient causation. The paper will thereby conclude that Thomas’s explanation on how Scripture comes to be is beholden to philosophical thinkers of the Arabic tradition.     

What Osama bin Laden Did Not (Want to) Know: Manly Palmer Hall,Islam, and Conspiracism

A copy of The Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928) by Manly Palmer Hall (1901–1990) was listed among the books possessed by Osama bin Laden (1957–2011) in his last lodgings. The prolific Canadian-born, US-American author advanced a positive interpretation of Islam within an esotericist worldview. By meticulously scrutinising primary sources, this article aims at mapping his conception of Islam and understanding its role within Hall's interpretation of history. Furthermore, drawing upon scholarly discussions of conspiracism, as well as on examinations of bin Laden's figure and messages, this article assesses whether Hall can be described as a conspiracist author and whether his interpretation of history and Islam could have fascinated the founder of Al Qaeda.     

"The orang lives almost next door" the correspondence between John Fulton (New Haven) and Willem Verhaart (Java)

Between 1937 and 1959 John Fulton (1899-1960), Sterling Professor of Physiology at Yale University (New Haven) and Willem Verhaart (1889-1983), neuropsychiatrist at Batavia Medical School (Java, Dutch East Indies) corresponded on neuroanatomical topics. Verhaart had easy access to primate brains in Batavia and stayed at Fulton's lab as a Rockefeller fellow (1938-1939), learning techniques of surgery and histology of the primate brain in order to apply it in his own lab. The correspondence relates of their undertakings in research, the preparations for Verhaart's stay in New Haven, the failure of subsequent research plans because of World War II, the camp experiences in Asia by Verhaart, the period of restoration after the war, helped by Fulton, and the political changes (independence) in Indonesia that finally lead to Verhaart's return to the Netherlands in 1950, where he became professor of histology and Director of the Neurological Institute at Leiden University. The correspondence shows how neuroscientists from different parts of the world cooperated. Moreover it is an example of the gradual change from a German (like his teacher Winkler) to an Anglo-American orientation in medical science that started in the beginning of the nineteenth century.