Aspects of the History of the Nerves: Bell’s Theory,the Bell-Magendie Law and Controversy,and Two Forgotten Works by P.W. Lund and D.F. Eschricht

The French physiologist François Magendie showed, in 1822, that the anterior roots of the spinal nerves are motor and the posterior sensory. The English anatomist Charles Bell claimed the discovery, but his claim was based on republications of papers in which the wording had been altered to be consistent with Magendie’s findings. Bell also appropriated Herbert Mayo’s discoveries of the functions of the fifth and seventh cranial nerves. Bell repeated his claims in a number of influential publications, supported by his brothers-in-law John and Alexander Shaw. And for a century and a half, Bell figured as the discoverer in most references to the subject. During this period, several reviewers did go back to Bell’s original papers, disclosing Bell’s falsifications in the republished texts. But Magendie was not definitely acknowledged as the discoverer of the function of the spinal nerve roots until Cranefield’s (1974) treatise. Cranefield, as did all other reviewers, overlooked accounts from 1825 by P.W. Lund and F.D. Eschricht. They critically reviewed Bell’s early publications and reached conclusions similar to those of Cranefield concerning the roles of Bell and Magendie in the discovery of the function of the spinal nerve roots.     

Protecting Libya's Archaeological Heritage

Libya's archaeological heritage is truly spectacular, comparatively little studied and hugely under threat. Following an extended period of isolation, improvement in Libya's relations with the rest of the world and a rise in the price of oil have stimulated a huge amount of development in the country, especially in the hydrocarbon and infrastructure sectors of the economy. With a rapidly growing population, and expanding youth unemployment, the Libyan government is attempting to develop a new way forward for its society and economy. Archaeology and heritage have not traditionally been high on Libya's agenda. The custodian of Libyan heritage, the Department of Antiquities, has been poorly supported by the state (perhaps in part relating to postcolonial Libya's ambivalent feelings towards its past) and is now badly positioned to deal with the nature and scale of development threats in the cities, the agricultural zone, and especially the desert where the greatest number of heritage assets are located. Most major development projects in these areas and elsewhere have been undertaken with little or no archaeological impact assessment, monitoring or mitigation activities, with unfortunate consequences for buried and standing archaeological remains. There are some encouraging signs of a sea change in the state's attitude to archaeology, heritage, conservation and tourism.     

Notocarpos garratti gen. et sp. nov., a new Silurian mitrate carpoid from Victoria

Notocarpos garratti gen. et sp. nov. is described from the middle Ludlovian Humevale Formation of the Clonbinane district, Victoria. It is compared with similar anomalocystitid carpoids and is found to resemble most closely Allanicytidium flemingi Caster & Gill 1968 from the Early Devonian Reefton Beds of New Zealand. N. garratti provides evidence that anomalocystitids rested with the flattened thecal surface against the sea floor (i.e., an orientation opposite to that proposed by Jefferies, 1968). It is further suggested that the stele was adapted to provide a rearward mode of locomotion.     

The role of waterways in the spread of the Neolithic

The causes and implications of the regional variations in the spread of the incipient agriculture in Europe remain poorly understood. We use population dynamics models to study the dispersal of the Neolithic in Europe from a localised area in the Near East, solving the two-dimensional reaction-diffusion equation on a spherical surface. We focus on the role of major river paths and coastlines in the advance of farming, to model the rapid advances of the Linear Pottery (LBK) and the Impressed Ware traditions along the Danube–Rhine corridor and the Mediterranean coastline, respectively. We argue that the random walk of individuals, which results in diffusion of the population, can be anisotropic in those areas and hence lead to an effective advection. The standard reaction-diffusion equation is thus supplemented with an advection term, confined to the proximity of major rivers and coastlines. The model allows for the spatial variation in both the human mobility (diffusivity) and the carrying capacity, reflecting the local altitude and latitude. This approach can easily be generalised to include other environmental factors, such as the bioproductivity of landscapes. Our model successfully accounts for the regional variations in the spread of the Neolithic, consistent with the radiocarbon data, and reproduces a time delay in the spread of farming to the Eastern Europe, Britain and Scandinavia.     

Making hay while the sun shines? Socio-economic change,cereal production and climatic deterioration in Early Medieval Ireland

The Early Medieval period in Ireland (c. A.D. 400–1150) has been the subject of much archaeological and historical study. The recent application of various forms of archaeological sciences, as well as palaeoenvironmental studies, to the archaeological record have, however, added fresh impetus to this study area. It seems increasingly evident that significant changes to economy and society occurred during this period and were not recorded in detail in the contemporary documentary sources. This paper will attempt to outline those changes and to assess whether, or to what extent, they were influenced by climate change.     

Christian Bodies: Dialectics of Sickness and Salvation Among the Maisin of Papua New Guinea

This article examines the impact of a Charismatic youth fellowship movement among the Maisin people of Oro Province, Papua New Guinea, in the late 1990s. Drawing upon ethnographic and archival sources, I show that the response conforms to a pattern repeated periodically over a century of regional religious movements focused upon eradicating sorcery and promoting health. Over several generations, Maisin have experienced and interpreted Christianity in ways that at once confirm a basic belief in sorcery while prodding the faithful towards increasingly individualistic notions of morality and, thus, new collectivist responses to misfortunes like life-threatening illnesses. Thus, while the main intent of religious movements among the Maisin has remained remarkably consistent, the underlying conception of the links between morality, sickness, and healing has shifted markedly over the years. The article thus demonstrates that Christianity in this Melanesian community has had both conservative and transformational effects upon everyday conceptions of morality, sickness, healing, and redemption. More generally, the article advocates moving the study of religious change in longer contacted regions of Melanesia from a dualistic model that opposes Western and indigenous cultures to one that examines the complex historical development of vernacular Christianity.     

Reviews

A THEORY OP FOREIGN POLICY. George Modelski. London, Pall Mall Press, 1962. Pp. xiv + 152. Stg. 21/‐.

THE CONTROL OP THE ARMS RACE. Hedley Bull. For the Institute for Strategic Studies. London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1961. Pp. xiv + 215. Stg. 12/6.

SOCIALISM IN THE NEW SOCIETY. Douglas Jay. London, Longmans, 1962. Pp. vi + 414. Australian price 42/3.

THE CONSPIRATORS: A STUDY OF THE COUP D'ETAT. D. J. Goodspeed. London, Macmillan & Co., 1962. Pp. xii + 252. Australian price 31/‐.

ELOGE DU COLONIALISME: ESSAI SUR LES REVOLUTIONS D'ASIE. Julien Cheverny. Paris, Rene Julliard, 1961. Pp. 372.

THE KREMLIN SINCE STALIN. Wolfgang Leonhard. Translated from the German by Elizabeth Wiskemann and Marian Jackson. London, O.U.P., 1962. Pp. 403. Australian price 62/‐.

EAST CENTRAL EUROPE AND THE WORLD: DEVELOPMENTS IN THE POST‐STALIN ERA. Stephen D. Kertesz (ed.). University of Notre Dame. Press, 1962. Pp. x + 386. Price, U.S. $6.50.

THE ACTION FRANCAISE. Edward R. Tannenbaum. N.Y., John Wiley & Sons, 1962. Pp. x + 316. U.S. $7.50.

TOWARDS A MALAYAN NATION. T. H. Silcock. Singapore, Eastern Universities Press, 1961. Pp. vi + 112. Malayan price $5.

JAREN VAN RECONSTRUCTS: NIEUW‐GUINEA VAN 1949 TOT 1961. C. S. I. J. Lagerberg. ’s Hertogenbosch, Zuid‐Nederlandsche Drukkerij N. V., 1962. Pp. 232. 10 Guilders.

AUSTRALIAN DIPLOMACY AND JAPAN, 1945–1951. B. N. Rosecrance. Melbourne, M.U.P., 1961. Pp. xii + 288. Australian price 45/‐.

AUCUPARIUS: RECOLLECTIONS OF A RECRUITING OFFICER. Ralph Furse. London, O.U.P., 1962. Pp. xv + 330. Stg. 35/‐.