The correspondence of Johann Bartholomäus Trommsdorff (1770-1837): more then a source book of pharmaceutical history

The aim of this paper is to present the publication of the correspondence of Johann Bartholom?us Trommsdorff (1770 bis 1837) and to inform about the history of this project as well as the methodical proceedings and the content of these letters. The opportunities and limitations of the modern Trommsdorff research, based on the publication of his correspondence, will be shown. His contacts have been manifold and expansive. He corresponded with many famous scientists in pharmacy, chemistry, medicine and with important people of intellectual origin. Trommsdorff was a highly important person of the international European relationships in the field of pharmacy. Many publications certify the importance of the Trommsdorff-correspondence. The publication of these letters has opened new biographical aspects and allows to follow the connections and ways of communication in the new age of the foundation of scientific pharmacy.     

Friedrich Heinrich Lewy (1885-1950) and his work

In 1912, Friedrich Heinrich Lewy first described the inclusion bodies named after him and seen in paralysis agitans (p.a.). Tretiakoff had found (1919) that the nucleus niger is most likely to be affected but in a subsequent large-scale series of post-mortem examinations (1923). Lewy was able to confirm this for a minority of cases only, with the exception of those that displayed postencephalitic Parkinsonism (and an unknown number of atypical Parkinson syndrome cases not identified until the 1960s). In a speculative paper (1932), he saw similarities between inclusion bodies in p.a. and viral diseases like lyssa and postulated a viral genesis of p.a. In a historical review of basal ganglia diseases (1942), he did not mention the putative significance of the inclusion bodies for the post-mortem diagnosis. It seems that their importance was seen only after Lewy's death, long after Tretiakoff's initial naming of the 'corps de Lewy'. Lewy, however, had already described their diffuse and cortical distribution (1923). An identification of diffuse Lewy body disease or dementia followed much later. Lewy's career in many diverse branches of neurology and internal medicine was strongly affected by World War I and the difficult situation faced by Jews in Germany. Shortly after the Neurological Institute was founded in Berlin in 1932 (as a clinic and research institute), he was forced, in 1933, to emigrate. His exile in England and the United States mirrors the fate of many German Jews and academics in the first half of the 20th century.     

槟榔的隐患

年轻女子们沿着台湾的大街小巷站好位置,兜售着一种危险却越来越受欢迎的小吃：槟榔。顾客们把熟石灰抹在槟榔树的种子上,再用蒌叶包起来——“蒌叶果”的别名由此而来——接着便丢入口中大嚼。吃这种东西会上瘾。和烟草嚼块一样,槟榔能使人产生微醺的感觉,减轻饥饿感,消除疲劳。吃这种东西的样子也很不堪,它刺激唾液腺,然后把涌出来的口水染成鲜红色。     

奥运圣火传递

“你们认为圣火想去哪里？”当中国奥运会策划者向火炬接力专家约翰迈克隆征求有关火炬传递路线的意见时,他提出了这个问题。回答是走遍全球。2008年的奥运圣火是由希腊阳光汇聚点燃．将传遍六大洲;一枝分火炬将登上珠穆朗玛峰．为保证圣火在稀薄的空气中持续燃烧．它会被罩在特殊的风灯里、另有几枝同样取种干希腊的“母火”也都安置在风灯里,全程陪伴本次接力．以防火炬意外熄灭。     

山东日照市两城镇遗址龙山文化先民食谱的稳定同位素分析

山东日照两城镇遗址出土的浮选植物标本和植桂体表明,稻米和粟是该遗址龙山先民重要的食物来源,但由于动物骨骼保存很差,我们对他们的肉食来源所知甚少。而采用碳氮稳定同位素法探讨古人的食性和食物结构,对各种同位素含量不同的食物在当时人们食谱中的相对重要性提供了补充定量的数据。     

水洞沟年代的断定和中国北方在旧石器晚期石刃工业的一些问题

在中国旧石器时代的地层序列中,水洞沟是独一无二的,它的器物组合常常让人联想起在旧石器时代晚期、蒙古和西伯利亚南部地区的石核和石片石器工艺。由于年代学上相应的参照物有限,致使旧石器时代在中国和大欧亚之间并存的这种工艺的论证工作受到了很大的影响。新近在第二地点所发现的烧火面的年代,有力地证实了水洞沟存在于距今29000～24000年之间。同时揭示出亚欧大石片石器工艺主要是从北向南传播的。在这个遗址中。我们还发现了同期生产的形制较小、似细石片的双尖细石叶,这也可能预示出细石器工业在这一带地区的发展。