Evangelical mission and the railway workshop apprentices: Institutionalising Christian presence in imperial Bengal, 1885–1914

Personal limitations prevented the Reverend Charles Bradburn of the Church Missionary Society from contributing to the conversion of unbelievers in poor communities in Nadia District. As a Manchester yarn-agent's son, however, he had assimilated a vision of economic enterprise to his uncompromising evangelical convictions. He developed it in the light of an ethically resonant Scandinavian discipline of carpentry (Sloyd), which also had followers in Britain and the United States. On this basis he was to contribute to the ‘institutionalisation’ of the Christian presence in India by developing collusive relationships between the CMS schools and a range of imperial political and administrative agencies, government departments and expatriate employers. As a ‘patron’ of the poor, not all of them descendants of earlier converts, he offered his clients training and the prospect of gainful employment. As a client of government, he earned grants for training dependable workers and generating employment. His contributions to a general institutionalisation of the Christian presence in Bengal was highly regarded by the Indian Civil Service. Approval in the CMS hierarchy in London was more uncertain.     

Phylogenetic interpretation of eggs and eggshells: implications for phylogeny of Palaeognathae

This oological analysis supports Palaeognathae monophyly, and places Dromornithidae within Neognathae, the sister clade of Paleognathae. This Dromornithidae relationship is congruent with a recent phylogenetic hypothesis, based on cranial characters, that differs from the original assignment of this group of extinct birds to the Palaeognathae. Minor differences exist between previous palaeognath phylogenetic hypotheses and that obtained from this research. Some of the topological disparities might be influenced solely by inclusion of more fossil taxa in this analysis compared with those considering either molecular or skeletal characters. Surprisingly, oological data differentiate the Australasian palaeognath taxa from those of Africa and South America; this phylogenetic topology conforms to the paleognath geographic distribution.

Regardless of the issues related to Paleognathae, results show that oological characters permit the differentiation of groups at a generic level, thus validating the use of eggs and eggshells as a source of evolutionary characters.     

Foodstuff placement in ibis mummies and the role of viscera in embalming

Recent excavation of a mummified ibis, in whose bill were found numerous snails, and the 2010 radiological study of ibis mummies from Yale's Peabody Museum drew attention to the presence of bird foodstuffs intentionally placed inside mummified ibises following evisceration. The foodstuff packing in the Peabody's ibises was likely contained within the birds' own viscera. Radiographs of a hatchling ibis mummy at McGill's Redpath Museum demonstrated similar placement of foodstuffs within the eviscerated body cavity. This pattern of ibis evisceration, with the previously unreported practice of foodstuff packing, suggests the provision of an afterlife food source to the bird. These findings lend support to the idea that the viscera of ibises, and humans alike, were meant to continue their living function in the afterlife. Given that organs of digestion and respiration were specifically preserved and retained within, or in conjunction with, human mummies, the implication is that animals were also treated with similar respect and care, and the crucial role of the viscera was recognised.     

Zionist Women of the 1920s: The Voice of Nation Building

Candidates for admission to the Agricultural College for Young Women at Nahalal expressed the sensibilities of a generation of young Jewish women who were attracted to the Zionist movement in the late 1920s. Zionism offered them the chance to create a novel identity for women as equals of men by devoting their labor to the settlement project. Hopeful applicants embraced an energetic ideal of self-sufficiency that blurred the traditional gender boundaries both of Palestine and of Europe. Like their male colleagues, they spoke in the public and universal voice of ideology and tied their desire for equality to the nation's bandwagon.     

Rosemary Kennedy: the importance of a historical footnote

In most accounts of the Kennedy family, Rosemary, John F. Kennedy's eldest sister, has been discussed only in passing. In fact, there is much in Rosemary 's story that is instructive in regard to the effort families take to cope with disability, the impact of the social environment on such efforts, and the impact of a disabled member on the family as a whole. Rosemary's presence within the Kennedy home may have been a much more important component of the family' rise to prominence than most scholars appear to believe. This article describes Rosemary's place within the family, attempts by her parents and siblings to cope with and obfuscate her condition, and her possible impact on family dynamics.