Botswana: abortion "debate" dynamics

The Penal Code (Amendment) Bill or the abortion bill has the objective of liberalizing the current law on the regulation of abortion. Abortion had been strictly prohibited and carried stiff penalties. Anyone who attempted to assists a woman to procure an abortion could be liable to 7 years' imprisonment. However, medical abortions were distinguished as being medically determined to save the health of the mother. Demands for a reevaluation of the law came from the medical profession, and in response the Minister for Presidential Affairs submitted a bill to Parliament in November, 1990. The expressed government rationale for these proposed amendments was concern about the health of women. In Botswana about 200 women die yearly because of pregnancy. According to the proposed law: an abortion could be carried out within the first 16 weeks of pregnancy if: 1) the pregnancy were a result of rape, incest, or defilement (the impregnation of a girl aged 16 or less, the impregnation of imbeciles or idiots), 2) the physical or mental health of the woman were at risk because of the pregnancy, 3) the child would be born with a serious physical or mental abnormality. The abortion could be carried out only if 2 medical doctors approved it. The amendments fall far short of increasing women's control over their bodies. The Botswana Christian Council issued a statement early in the public debate. While it did not oppose the bill in its entirety, clear concern was expressed concerning the apparent right of determining who lives and who dies depending on the handicap of the child. This rather liberal position was challenged by the Roman Catholic Church which interpreted abortion as the murder of God-given life. The bill was nevertheless passed by Parliament in September 1991, and the President signed it on October 11, 1991.     

Die Embryologie im Spannungsfeld zwischen Tradition und Empirie

Already in classical antiquity people dealt with the principle of formation, developing different theories. Researchers in the renaissance, working in the conflict zone between tradition and experience, tried to prove one or the other of these theories by the means of new observations, especially of chicken development. Aldrovandi was the first to see the real principle of formation of the hen's egg, i. e. the blastodisc, but he didn't recognize the importance of his discovery due to his close adherence to Aristotle in the theoretical field. Fabricius even thought that traditional knowledge was of more importance than his own excellent observations. Parisano was the first to succeed in making a correct interpretation of the function of the blastodisc, but only by holding to a ‘false’ classical theory. Harvey combined his attempt to restore the developmental theory of Aristotle with a religious interpretation postulating God's intervention in all development. Subsequent to atomism, Highmore evolved a two seed theory of development, which in his view made a permanent engagement of God superfluous. Also the first observations using the microscope did not contribute to any improvement in developmental theory. Malpighi used them to confirm the theory of epigenesis, whereas Croone attributed to a piece of blastoderm the proportion of a whole embryo to demonstrate his ovistic theory of preformation. The founder of animalculism Leeuwenhoek, an amateur researcher, was at first not influenced by the trends of the scientific community. He postulated that the spermatozoa, which he discovered, contained perfect miniature animals. His investigations are a good example of where prejudices can lead, even when the observations are excellent. In the 17th century the tension between experience and tradition shifted in favour of experience, but a final solution had not by any means been reached.     

从浑源铜器看侯马铸铜作坊

1923年,山西省北部浑源县李峪村有一处铜器窖藏被发现,数十件青铜器先后入藏海内外博物馆。1957年,浑源铜器的可能产地在田野考古中发现,它就是南距浑源500公里,位于山西省南部侯马市的侯马铸铜遗址。1957年至1965年,侯马铸铜遗址共清理发掘了数千件带有精美花纹的泥质铸铜用具残件,其中包括陶范（图1）和其他铸具。相同的纹样把浑源铜器和其他地方出土的青铜器同侯马铸铜遗址联系起来。侯马在公元前六、五世纪是春秋五霸之一晋国的都城所在地,而浑源铜器之为前五世纪的晋国产品几乎是无疑的。本文论及的青铜器大都出自浑源,其中有…     

石门坎与花苗

译者按：威廉·哈兹佩斯,亦名王树德,英国传教士。他曾与柏格理等人营建威宁石门坎苗族宗教、教育中心。其所著（石门欢与花苗）,较真实地反映了近代末期黔、滇、川毗邻地区的民族状况,记叙了从20世纪初至30年代石门坎教会、教育的兴衰,是一份难得的文史资料。哈兹佩斯身为文学硕士,更从一名学者而不是传教士的角度纪实成文,较少宗教色彩。当然,由于历史的局限性,他的看法亦有许多不当之处,如以他当代西方的标准评价中国少数民族,又如把彝族疑为印欧语族部落……。1936年哈兹佩斯离开石门坎。逗留武汉期间抗日战争爆发,他因救助…     

论俄苏的法国大革命史学

论俄苏的法国大革命史学Ａ．Ｂ．阿多遗作申晨星译译者按：阿多教授逝世一周年,我曾写过一篇悼念文字,发在《史学集刊》１９９６年第３期（８月出版）,文中谈到我同他的交往和他在学术上的高深造诣。其中提及这样一件事：１９９５年我在俄国访学期间曾与他通信和面晤,...     

关于火器的通讯

（一）亲爱的洪廷彦您可能记得,去年春天,当鲁桂珍和我同您在一起的时候,我们讨论了中国文化中火药及火器的历史,并将其同世界其它地区进行了比较。我曾告诉你,我们的一位澳大利亚朋友在巴黎集美博物馆有一项重大发现,这一发现使我们所讨论的火药及火器的历史容易看清楚了。我曾答应给您寄一幅照片（图一）,现在我很高兴将它随信附上。正像您将看到的,它是一幅幡画的局部,该画描绘的是降魔变中恶魔正在进攻冥思中的佛。那个头上窜出三条蛇的恶魔拿着的东西,显然是一支火枪。从左边喷出的火焰看上去正水平方向朝前射去,人们会猜度…