Book reviews

Tsuyoshi Kato. Matriliny and migration: evolving Minangkabau traditions in Indonesia. 267 pp. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1982. $28.10.

E. M. Beekman (tr.). The poison tree. Selected writings of Rimphius on the natural history of the Indies. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1981. (Library of the Indies.) $20.

Nigel Phillips. Sijobang: sung narrative poetry of West Sumatra, xi, 255 pp. Cambridge, etc: Cambridge University Press, 1981. (Cambridge Studies in Oral and Literate Culture, I.) £22.50.

Bernd Nothofer. Dialektatlas von Zentral‐Java. vi, 32 pp., 337 maps. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1981. DM 64.

Marlene van Doom and cthers (ed.). Improving access to Indonesian collections in the Netherlands: contributions to a survey of Dutch library and documentation activities in the field of Indonesian studies. Edited by Mavlene van Doorn, Irene Farjon, Ciska Pattipilohy, Gerard J Telkamp. [iv], 78 pp. Leiden: Centre for the History of European Expansion (University of Leiden) in cooperation with the Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen for the Contactgroep Documentatie Indonesie, 1981. (Intercon‐tinenta, No. 2.)

Leo Suryadinata. Eminent Indonesian Chinese: biographical sketches. Revised edition. 218 pp. Singapore: Gunung Agung, 1981.

A. Ed. Schmidgall‐Tellings and Alan M Stevens. Contemporary Indonesian‐English dictionary: a supplement to the standard Indonesian dictionaries with particular concentration on new words₃ expressions, and meanings, xv, 388 pp. Athens, Ohio, etc: Ohio University Press, [^C1981].

Peter B R Carey (tr.). Babad Dipanagara. An account of the outbreak of the Java War (1825–30). “ The Surdkarta court version of the Babad Dipanagara with translations into English and Indonesian Malay, lxxiii, 344 pp., front., 4 plates, map. Kuala Lumpur: printed for the Council of the M.B.R.A.S. by Art Printing Works Sdn. Bhd., 1981. (Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Monograph No. 9.) M$55.     

A Mediaeval Case of Lepromatous Leprosy from 13–14th Century Orkney, Scotland

Erosion in the 1960s resulted in exposure of human skeletal remains from a Norse Christian cemetery at Newark Bay, Orkney, Scotland. One set of remains showed osteological evidence of advanced lepromatous leprosy, but the absence of bones from the lower limbs precluded definitive diagnosis. The aim of the present study was to determine whether Mycobacterium leprae could be detected in bone extracts, as a means of confirming the diagnosis of leprosy. Bone samples were examined from the suspected leprosy case and from a second contemporary burial thought to be free of disease. DNA was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using primers specific for a repetitive element (RLEP) characteristic of M. leprae. Additional PCR tests specific for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and for amelogenin (a human gene suitable for sex determination) were also applied to the samples. M. leprae DNA was detected only in the skull sample from the suspected leprosy case. The DNA sequence was identical to that found in present day isolates of M. leprae. Positive results were obtained only using a PCR reaction designed to amplify relatively short stretches of DNA (<175 bp), suggesting the microbial DNA had undergone extensive fragmentation. There was no evidence of M. tuberculosis DNA in bones from the leprosy suspect or control individual. The ability to recover ancient samples of DNA provides an opportunity to study long-term evolutionary changes that may affect the epidemiology of microbial pathogens.     

Biodiversity and Business: Coming to Terms with the 'Grand Bargain'

The Convention on Biological Diversity incorporates an exchange that has been described as a 'grand bargain' which balances the needs of both technologically and biologically endowed countries. The role of genetic resources in R&D and sales varies by industry sector, however, so it is difficult to generalize on company demand for genetic resources and fair and equitable benefit-sharing. It is important, therefore, to examine the particular features of industry R&D programmes, providers of genetic resources, and trends in benefit-sharing partnerships in specific industry sectors. This article examines markets for genetic resources, costs and duration of R&D, types of genetic resources accessed, providers of genetic resources and benefit-sharing partnerships in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, crop protection, seed, botanical medicine, horticulture, and personal care and cosmetic industries. The article concludes that experience and 'best practice' in benefit-sharing have progressed quite significantly on a number of fronts in the past decade, including the development of corporate policies in response to the CBD. The most effective form of benefit-sharing, and realization of the ' grand bargain' envisaged by the CBD, is found through partnerships between private-sector and source-country institutions that link commercial use with sustainable development and biodiversity conservation.     

An Infant Femur Bearing Cut Marks from Roman Hambleden,England

A perinatal infant skeleton from the first–fourth century AD Roman villa site at Hambleden, England, shows what appear to be cut marks on the proximal part of the right femur. Gross, microscopic and micro‐computed tomography evaluations suggest that they occurred perimortem and were probably caused by a non‐serrated blade. The reason for the cuts is uncertain, but their location is consistent with the practice of embryotomy, as described in classical sources for obstructed labour due to a dead or dying foetus in a breech or leg presentation. If this interpretation is correct, this case represents a rare example of embryotomy in the palaeopathological record. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Metallurgical analysis of copper artifacts from Cahokia

Copper artifacts from Cahokia Mounds, Illinois were analyzed from a materials science perspective to shed light on techniques used by Mississippian copper workers to deform nuggets of native copper into thin sheets. Eight small copper pieces from a copper-working site at Cahokia’s Mound 34 were subjected to metallographic examination. Replication experiments thereafter recreated features of the artifacts under controlled conditions. It is concluded that copper sheets were thinned through repeated cycles of hammering and annealing performed at temperatures achievable in an open wood fire. The welding of sheets to create multilayered objects was not observed in any artifacts and could not be accomplished experimentally. Additionally, a possible cutting method used on some artifacts was identified.