SOIL TONGUES IN THE LEAMINGTON MORAINE, ONTARIO

W edge -shaped soil structures occur in many parts of southern Canada and the northern United States. These have usually been interpreted as being ice-wedge casts. Yehle (1954), however, has expressed concern over the confusion of fossil ice wedges with features he termed soil tongues, but also referred to as soil pendants (Wright 1961) or podsolschornsteine (Johnsonn 1959). Not only are soil tongues superficially similar to ice-wedge casts, but they also occur in temperate latitudes which may have experienced periglacial conditions during the Pleistocene. Soil tongues, however, are solutional features, formed by rainwater percolating through unconsolidated calcareous deposits. They may be distinguished from ice-wedge casts and other wedge-shaped structures by: (a) the presence of pebble or other marker beds extending unbroken across the wedges; (b) the absence of bed contortions or pressure features in the materials adjacent to the wedges; (c) their conical three-dimensional shape; and (d) the lower carbonate content in the sediments of the wedges than in the surrounding materials.     

Localization and William Macewen's early brain surgery Part II: The cases

This paper contains Part II of an evaluation of the claims made for the priority of Macewen's pre-1884 brain surgery over that of Bennett and Godlee. Although the primary sources--Macewen's Private Journals and the Ward Records of the Glasgow Royal Infirmary--confirm that the operations were carried out when Macewen said they were, problems with the sources make it difficult to evaluate the extent to which he actually used knowledge of localization bearing on the claim for his priority evaluated. Part II concludes with citations from archival correspondence and the contemporary and near contemporary medical press confirming Macewen's priority.     

The Liberalization of the Land Market in Spain: The 1998 Reform of Urban Planning Legislation

Against a general climate of liberalization, the Spanish Government has made a concerted effort to bring about a reduction in house prices. A legislative reform in April 1998 has sought to liberalize land and planning, through (a) refining the category of land previously excluded from development to enable residential development to take place, (b) allowing for greater flexibility of land uses and building controls, and (c) reducing administrative controls. This paper discusses the extent to which such reforms are likely to meet their anticipated objectives, resulting in beneficial effects in the land and housing markets, as well as the territorial impact of such reforms from a sustainability perspective.