Alexander von Humboldt: Galvanism,Animal Electricity,and Self-Experimentation Part 2: The Electric Eel,Animal Electricity,and Later Years

After extensive experimentation during the 1790s, Alexander von Humboldt remained skeptical about “animal electricity” (and metallic electricity), writing instead about an ill-defined galvanic force. With his worldview and wishing to learn more, he studied electric eels in South America just as the new century began, again using his body as a scientific instrument in many of his experiments. As had been the case in the past and for many of the same reasons, some of his findings with the electric eel (and soon after, Italian torpedoes) seemed to argue against biological electricity. But he no longer used galvanic terminology when describing his electric fish experiments. The fact that he now wrote about animal electricity rather than a different “galvanic” force owed much to Alessandro Volta, who had come forth with his “pile” (battery) for multipling the physical and perceptable effects of otherwise weak electricity in 1800, while Humboldt was deep in South America. Humboldt probably read about and saw voltaic batteries in the United States in 1804, but the time he spent with Volta in 1805 was probably more significant in his conversion from a galvanic to an electrical framework for understanding nerve and muscle physiology. Although he did not continue his animal electricity research program after this time, Humboldt retained his worldview of a unified nature and continued to believe in intrinsic animal electricity. He also served as a patron to some of the most important figures in the new field of electrophysiology (e.g., Hermann Helmholtz and Emil du Bois-Reymond), helping to take the research that he had participated in to the next level.     

The 21st International Conference on the History of Cartography

Abstract

Maps showing a town together with its surroundings form a distinctive, if diverse, genre, the environs map. Such maps can be described according to function or intended use and include military, administrative, judicial, economic and communications maps as well as maps associated with the development of recreation and with local improvement projects. In this paper, attention is focused on two types of environs maps from Vienna: those showing projected hydrological schemes and those prepared primarily for use in connection with recreational facilities for the townsfolk.     

The Secrets of a long life: The Dutch firm of covens & mortier (1685–1866) and their copper plates

Abstract

Commercial map publishing firms between the mid‐sixteenth and mid‐nineteenth centuries needed to prolong the life of their copper plates for as long as possible. In order to avoid the costs of engraving new plates, the famous Dutch publishing house of Covens & Mortier of Amsterdam (1685–1866) amended existing plates for topographical and politico‐administrative changes, engraving errors, imprint alterations and marks resulting from general wear. Not only were the plates altered, but the printed maps themselves were sometimes also modified: a new title cartouche might be pasted on or a date or part of the text scratched away. In these ways the map publishing firm was a master of creative solutions as regards both the re‐use of old copper plates and the ‘renewal’ of old printed maps.     

Use of Pushover Analysis for Predicting Seismic Response of Irregular Buildings: A Case Study

Structural irregularity undermines capability of conventional methods for 2D pushover analysis to closely approximate results from inelastic dynamic analysis. In recent years, different methods have been developed to overcome such limitation and their suitability has been checked with reference either to idealized building models or to geometrically simple tested structures. In this paper, suitability of one such method, proposed by Fajfar et al. [2005] Fajfar, P., Maru?i?, D. and Perus, I. 2005. Torsional effects in the pushover-based seismic analysis of buildings. Journal of Earthquake Engineering, 9(6): 831–854. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], is evaluated considering an existing school building which presents both vertical and plan irregularities. Types of irregularity encompass not only those usually considered by seismic codes but also those deriving from a bad conceptual design and construction inaccuracies, very frequent at the year of construction (1974). It is found that, even under such complex irregularity conditions, this ‘modified’ pushover analysis correlates well results from inelastic dynamic analysis almost up to failure, since, in most cases, its predictions of interstorey drifts and plastic rotations are conservatively close to values from inelastic dynamic analysis. Even failure mechanism, consisting of a floor mechanism at the third level, is correctly predicted, thus demonstrating adequacy of such method for actual framed structures.     

Ductility of a Structural Wall with Spread Rebars Tested in Full Scale

The experimental work focuses on the ductility of the reinforced concrete (RC) seismic structural walls in buildings of mid-rise height. A full-scale five-story structural wall was tested to obtain results, still scarce in literature, without the influence of size effect. An unusual detailing with large diameter longitudinal rebars uniformly distributed in the wall length was adopted to prevent premature web rebar fracture and shear sliding. The plastic hinge length and deformations were evaluated in detail. The results show the high ductility of the wall that reached a total drift of 2.5%, larger than those usually required in design.     

The Festival of St John: Norm and Change in Civitella Roveto in Abruzzo (Italy)

This essay describes the festival of Saint John (24 June) at Civitella Roveto in the province of Aquila, Italy. The ritual is analysed as it was at the beginning of the twentieth century and in its contemporary form, in order to reconstruct the norm of the festival and thereby to show the main transformations of the event, and its shifting social context. In addition, the research highlights the connection between the festival and the ritual cycle, investigated in terms of its interaction with the productive cycle of the community and with the cosmic cycle. Finally, the new social and symbolic meanings assumed by the figure of St John and his festival are brought to light.     

Chemical analysis of 17th century Millefiori glasses excavated in the Monastery of Sta. Clara-a-Velha,Portugal: comparison with Venetian and façon-de-Venise production

A set of ten Millefiori glass fragments dating from the 17th century, originated from archaeological excavations carried out at the Monastery of Sta. Clara-a-Velha (Coimbra, Portugal), were characterized by X-ray electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), Raman microscopy and UV–Visible absorption spectroscopy. All glasses are of soda-lime-silica type. The use of coastal plant ash is suggested by the relatively high content of MgO, K₂O and P₂O₅, as well as by the presence of chlorine. Tin oxide or calcium antimonate were the opacifiers used in the opaque glasses, cobalt in the blue glasses, copper in the turquoise glasses, iron in the yellow and greenish glasses, and iron and copper were found in the opaque red and aventurine glasses. Based on the concentrations of alumina and silica four different sources of silica were identified, allowing the classification of the glasses into the following compositional groups: low alumina (<2 wt%), which includes a sub-group of cristallo samples with SiO₂ > 70 wt%, medium alumina (2–3 wt%), high alumina (3–6 wt%) and very high alumina (>6 wt%). Comparison with genuine Venetian and façon-de-Venise compositions showed that two fragments are of Venetian production, one of Venetian or Spanish production and the remaining are of unknown provenance. In two fragments the glass of the decoration is probably Venetian or Spanish but the glass used in the body is also of unknown provenance.     

Archaeology at the micro-scale: micromorphology and phytoliths at a Swahili stonetown

Geoarchaeological and archaeobotanical techniques are increasingly applied to the study of urban and domestic space. However, they are seldom performed as part of an integrative approach, where the soil and botanical micro-records are used together. This paper presents the preliminary results of ongoing research at Songo Mnara in Tanzania that combines customised intra-site soil macro- and micromorphological analyses, chemical analysis and the study of phytoliths. The research is part of a multidisciplinary project on the use of urban space in Swahili stonetowns. By eliciting multiple datasets from Songo Mnara, this paper illustrates the potential of integrating geoarchaeology and archaeobotany to investigate the use of space in urban contexts. The approach is a novelty within the context of Swahili archaeology and an emerging one in Africa.     

Tuberculosis on the north coast of Peru: skeletal and molecular paleopathology of late pre-Hispanic and postcontact mycobacterial disease

This paper examines skeletal and ancient DNA evidence in the study of suspected tuberculosis infection in the late pre-Hispanic and Colonial-era Lambayeque Valley Complex, north coast Peru (A.D. 900–1750). We integrate information on macroscopic lesion characteristics and distribution, radiographic and CT scan imagery, and analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex rpoB and IS6110 ancient DNA (aDNA) sequences. Destructive lesions were observed in the vertebral bodies of three precontact indigenous adult males, one colonial adolescent female, and in the cranium of a Colonial-period subadult. Assessment of lesion morphology and distribution led us to consider multiple diseases, but tuberculosis represents the most likely diagnostic option in all individuals. DNA was poorly preserved in all samples, but an IS6110 sequence was amplified in one precontact individual consistent with macroscopic diagnosis. These findings expand the geographic and temporal extent of tuberculosis to the late pre-Hispanic and Colonial north coast of Peru to highlight potential synergisms between diet, settlement patterns, and the evolution of Andean tuberculosis before and after European conquest. Moreover, this study helps focus several key questions in Andean tuberculosis research, including possible reassessment of the presence of the IS6110 sequence in the pre-Columbian Americas. Methodological considerations include differential diagnosis – especially with incomplete skeletons – and limitations of aDNA studies underscoring an approach integrating macroscopic, radiographic, and molecular lines of evidence in the paleopathological investigation of one of humankind’s most devastating and destabilizing diseases.     

Innovation and Change in the Marshallian Industrial District

One of the relatively neglected aspects of studies of industrial districts is that of processes of innovation and structured change. In the paper, a preliminary theorization is offered, with evidence from a case in Tuscany. The paper concludes that creative capacities embedded at the local level may be valuable in this respect.