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.     

Extinct species identification from late middle Pleistocene and earlier Upper Pleistocene bone fragments and tools not recognizable from their osteomorphological study by an enhanced proteomics protocol

Ancient preserved molecules offer the opportunity of gaining a deeper knowledge on their biological past. However, the development of a proteomic workflow remains a challenge. The analysis of fossils must involve a low quantity of material to avoid damaging the samples. In this study an enhanced proteomic protocol was applied to 5-milligram samples of about 130,000-year-old mammalian bones ranging from the end of the Middle Pleistocene up to the earlier Upper Pleistocene, excavated from Scladina Cave (Sclayn, Belgium). Using sequence homology with modern sequences, a biological classification was successfully achieved and the associated taxonomic ranks to each bone were identified consistently with the information gained from osteomorphological studies and palaeoenvironmental and palaeodietary data. Amino acid substitutions on collagens were identified, thus providing new information on extinct species sequences and helping in taxonomy-based clustering. Considering samples with no osteomorphological information, such as two fragments of bone retouchers, proteomics successfully identified the families providing paleontologists new information on these objects. Combining osteomorphology studies and amino acid variations identified by proteomics, one of the retouchers was potentially identified as belonging to the Ursus spelaeus species.     

Reviews

Troels Fink, Estruptidens politiske historic 1875–1894, I‐II (The Political History of the Estrup Era 1875–1894, vol. 1: The Struggle Between the Two Chambers 1875–85; vol. 2: The Period of Decree Legislation 1885–94) (Odense, 1986), 621 pp., ISBN 87 7492 581 4.

Poul Thestrup, Nærbutik og Næringslov‐omgåelse. En unders?gelse of brugsforeningerne og deres placering i innovationsprocessen i Danmark mellem 1850 og 1919 (The Consumer Co‐operatives in the Innovation Process in Denmark 1850–1919), Odense University Studies in History and Social Sciences, vol. 95 (Odense Universitetsforlag), 549 pp., ISBN 87 7492 595 4, DKK 240+moms.

Tuomo Polvinen, Valtakunta ja raijamaa. N. I. Bobrikov Suomen kenraalikuvemöörind 1898–1904 (The Empire and a Borderland. N. I. Bobrikov as Governor General of Finland 1898–1904) (Helsinki, 1984), 432 pp., ISBN 951 0 12660 8.

Danske Handelskompagnier 1616–1843. Oktrojer og interne Ledelsesregler (Charters and By‐Laws of Danish Trading Companies, 1616–1843), edited by Ole Feldbæk, Selskabet for Udgivelse af Kilder til Dansk Historie (Copenhagen, 1986), 779 pp., ISBN 87 7500 159 4, DanKr 300.

Kalle Bäck, Harald Gustafsson, Jon Herstad, Jens Holmgaard, Markku Kuisma, Maud Molander, Illka Mäntylä, Øjstein Rian and Gustav Grunde Sætra. Skog och Brännvin. Studier i näringspolitiskt beslutsfattande i Norden på 1700‐talet (Wood and Spirits. Studies in Economic Policy‐Making in the Nordic Countries in the Eighteenth Century), Nordic Research Project on Central Power and Local Communities ‐ Decision‐making in the 1700s (Det nordiska forskningsprojektet Centralmakt och lokal‐samhalle ‐ beslutsprocess på 1700‐talet), publication 3 (Oslo University Press, 1984), ISBN 82 00 07053 0 (English summary).

Karl‐Gustaf Anderson, Inger Diibeck, Birgitta Ericsson, Gfsli Agust Gunnlaugsson, Per‐Arne Karlsson, Markku Kuisma, Anne‐Hilde Nagel, Oscar Nilula and Gustav Grunde Sa;tra, Industri og Bjergvarksdrift. Privilegering i Norden i det 18. arhundrede (Industry and Mining. Studies in the Granting of “Privilegia” to Industrial Enterprises in the Nordic Countries in the Eighteenth Century). Nordic Research Project on Central Power and Local Communities ‐ Decision‐making in the 1700s, publication 5 (Oslo University Press, 1985), ISBN 82 00 07694 6 (English summary).

Christian Wichmann Matthiesen, Danske Byers Vaekst (Urban Growth in Denmark). Det Kgl. Geografiske Selskab, Atlas over Denmark, Serie II, vol. 3 (C. A. Reitzels Forlag, K?benhavn, 1985), 142 pp., 245 Dkr. (English summary).

I?rn Pi?, Nye veje til Folkevisen (New Approaches to the Ballad) (Copenhagen, 1985), 344 pp., ISBN 87 00 93582 4 (English summary).