Iberian eugenics? Cross-overs and contrasts between Spanish and Portuguese eugenics, 1930-1950

This article provides the basis for further considerations on the overlap between different expressions of science, in particular psychotechnics, biotypology and eugenics, in Iberia. It sets the reception of and interest in these scientific undertakings within the specific context pertaining in both Iberian dictatorships and considers the importance of the culture of the scientific community, the role of religion and the presence of positivism within each. While the actual traffic of knowledge between the two countries was limited, the contrasts and differences in the uptake of these specialisms within the two countries and their proximity or otherwise to other fascist and authoritarian regimes of the 1930s and 1940s are explored. The article concludes that in the Spanish case, although there were greater proximities to certain forms of fascist and Nazi eugenics, it was the commitment to Catholicism and nationalist regeneration that allowed for concessions to environmental improvements. A more Germanic strain was present in Portugal but this was dislodged by a consistent commitment to social hygiene rather than racial hygiene, again within the constraints provided by overarching Catholicism (AU)

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Dr. Stanko Sielski (1891-1958): Physician, scientist, humanist.

UNLABELLED: This work presents the results of research into the life and work of Dr. Stanko Sielski, related to his professional, scientific and humanitarian work. He was born in Gracanica, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) in 1891, to a family of Polish origins. He attended high school in Travnik and completed his studies of medicine in Vienna in 1919. During the First World War he served on the frontlines with the Austro- Hungarian army. He began his service as a doctor in Konjic, Prozor and Glamoc, and then worked in Varcar Vakuf, Zenica, Travnik, Bihac, Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Tuzla. At that time in BH living conditions were very bad, the level of education of the people insufficient, there were many epidemics of infectious diseases, and the mortality of the population was high. Dr. Stanko Sielski made a significant contribution to treating the sick, preventing various diseases and the health education of the people. In the realm of the history of medicine in BA, he researched the life and work of doctors from previous generations, the work of medical institutions, old medical manuscripts written in Arabic, Persian and Turkish, folk beliefs about the origins and treatment of a variety of illnesses, and the role of herbal medicine and amulets in treating the sick. In addition, he undertook research in the fields of archaeology, ethnology and sociology. He published the results of his research in scholarly journals. In the Second World War he saved the lives of many Jewish doctors and their families from persecution in concentration camps, and as a result in 2014 he was posthumously declared "Righteous Among the Nations". CONCLUSION: Dr. Stanko Sielski, alongside his work as a doctor, was also involved in a variety of scientific research and publication work, which contributed to the preservation and a better understanding of the material and spiritual heritage of BH.

Tree-Ring Dating of the Reshui-1 Tomb in Dulan County, Qinghai Province, North-West China.

Tuyuhun and Tubo were two important states that thrived in north-western China during AD 311-900 in parallel with the Han Chinese dynasties of Sui and Tang periods. The Reshui Tomb Cluster located in Dulan County of the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau is an important cultural relic of the Tuyuhun-Tubo age. The official excavations of the Reshui tombs were regarded as top events in archaeology in the 1980s and 1990s in China. The Reshui-1 Tomb is the largest one among the tombs in the area. Since its excavation, there have been debates on whether the owner of the tomb belonged to the Tuyuhun or Tubo ethnicity. Therefore, accurately dating the Reshui-1 Tomb has a critical place in studying the Tubo and Tuyuhun histories. We collected 7 discs and 11 increment cores of Qilian juniper (Juniperus przewalskii Kom.) from the exposed and fallen beams of the roof of the Reshui-1Tomb. The lengths of the 16 tree-ring records are between 69 and 152 years. Based on a previously developed master dating chronology using Qilian juniper samples from the eastern Qaidam Basin, the calendar dates of the 16 specimens were determined by the COFECHA program and visual dating procedure. The average inter-series correlation among the dated sample series is 0.696, indicating good quality of cross-dating. The year of the outermost rings is AD 715 for the 7 discs and 4 out of the 9 increment cores. Moreover, the ring-width variations of the samples are consistent with the existing chronologies from the region. The presence of late-wood of AD 715 in the samples indicated that the Reshui-1 Tomb was completed in late AD 715 or early 716, which means that the Reshui-1 Tomb was finished in the Tubo age. This date provides direct evidence for archaeologists to determine the owner's ethnicity and identify of the Reshui-1 Tomb.

POLISH STUDIES OF THE MEDICAL TRADITIONS OF THE AINU.

Present knowledge of the history of Ainu culture is owed in significant part to Polish Far-East researchers Bronislaw Pilsudski (1866-1918) and Waclaw Sieroszewski (1858-1945). They were both exiled to Siberia for their patriotic activity at the time where Poles struggled for independence. Bronislaw Pilsudski is known for using glass photographic plates and wax recording cylinders for recording the already disappearing culture of the Ainu people. It is thanks to his research that we are able today to trace back the names of over 100 plants that had therapeutic, and as believed by Ainu, also magical power. The plants with the highest therapeutic significance had common characteristics: strong effects, intensive scent and stings. Nowadays, the Ainu people constitute an ethnic minority in Japan (population of over 20 000) and are supported by the Center for Ainu and Indigenous Studies at the Hokkaido University in Sapporo.

Prehistoric deforestation at Chaco Canyon?

Ancient societies are often used to illustrate the potential problems stemming from unsustainable land-use practices because the past seems rife with examples of sociopolitical "collapse" associated with the exhaustion of finite resources. Just as frequently, and typically in response to such presentations, archaeologists and other specialists caution against seeking simple cause-and effect-relationships in the complex data that comprise the archaeological record. In this study we examine the famous case of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, during the Bonito Phase (ca. AD 860-1140), which has become a prominent popular illustration of ecological and social catastrophe attributed to deforestation. We conclude that there is no substantive evidence for deforestation at Chaco and no obvious indications that the depopulation of the canyon in the 13th century was caused by any specific cultural practices or natural events. Clearly there was a reason why these farming people eventually moved elsewhere, but the archaeological record has not yet produced compelling empirical evidence for what that reason might have been. Until such evidence appears, the legacy of Ancestral Pueblo society in Chaco should not be used as a cautionary story about socioeconomic failures in the modern world.

[Science and magic. Motives from ethnology and the psychology of perception in the epistemology of Ludwik Fleck]. / Wissenschaft und Magie : Ethnologische und wahrnehmungspsychologische Motive in Ludwik Flecks Epistemologie.

Fleck's social theory of science refers to many ethnological examples in order to explain how collective thinking and acting constructs certain systems of belief and knowing. According to Fleck, scientific concepts and practices are comparable with magic terms and ceremonies. This essay aims to identify the ethnological sources that Fleck's epistemology is using. By confronting them with other relativistic theories that were circulating in Lemberg during the interwar period, the originality of Fleck's own position can be contextualized and explained as well.

Primitive society, health & elderly.

Mankind have been ravaged by diseases since primitive age and remedial measures were emprirical learnt either by accident, experience or superstition. But most elderly population were killed and hardly died of diseases. Fate of women were no better. Care for elderly came with civilization. They were little better in the East compared to the West. Although elderly population were better treated in India, China tops the list for elderly care. Even today the oldest man in the family is most respected. Civilized nations even today discriminate elderly population compared to children and adult, but apply the yardstick in a different manner, direct killing alone is not allowed.

Ethnobiology in Mizoram state: folklore medico-zoology.

Studies in ethnobotany and ethnozoology under the umbrella of Ethnobiology seem imbalanced in the sense that enormous publications have accumulated in case of the former but only little information has been disseminated in case of the latter. While 7500 wild plant species are known to be used by tribals in medicine, only 76 species of animals have been shown as medicinal resources (Anonymous, 1994). The present paper is the first-hand information of folklore medicine and animals in Mizoram. The animals enumerated comprise of 25 vertebrates and 31 invertebrates and are used for treatment of over 40 kinds of diseases or ailments, including jaundice, tuberculosis, hepatitis, cancer, asthma and veterinary disease. The author, however, does not recommend destruction of wild animals, be it for food or medicine.

Ethnohistorical evidence for inbreeding among the pre-Hispanic Mixtec royal caste.

Pre-Columbian Mixtec social organization was distinguished by the tight endogamy of the ruling class, which included many consanguineous marriages. It was also characterized by a vigorous historical and genealogical tradition. The historical documents, or codices, provide materials for the calculation of the levels of inbreeding present before the Spanish Conquest. A genealogical analysis of inbreeding was performed on the combined pedigree, which spanned the tenth through sixteenth centuries, of all individuals connected by ancestry, descent, or marriage with Lord 8 Deer Jaguar Claw of Tilantongo (A.D. 1063-1115). Sixty of the 217 couples (27.65%) were consanguineous. When only couples of wholly known grandparentage were considered (N = 39), F = 0.1051. The mean F of all couples, even those where one spouse was of unknown parentage, was 0.0243. Over the 550 years of the pedigree the maximum F in any 52-year period was 0.1324. This level of inbreeding is sufficient to produce noticeable effects on population structure and affinities over time.

[Ethnology versus the issues of medicine as the "area" of research penetrations]. / Etnologia wobec zagadnien medycyny jako obszaru penetracji badawczych.

Folk medicine is neither a closed not autonomous system. It focuses knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and convictions of man as to the Universe, surrounding reality and also that of supernatural character. Moreover, the folk medicine is governed and generated, to a large extent, by the myth paradigm. Medicine and the mythic and magical sphere constitute two complementary aspects, of the same entity. Each medical system that functions is distinct historical and cultural conditions, as well as diverse traditions, perceives and resolves, the problem related with a human being, disease and therapy differently. Consequently, no universal paradigm (standard) can be applied to various traditions, for there is no medicine to exist beyond history, culture, etc. Endeavoring to fathom and comprehend some "health problems", physicians should look at them in the broad sense and in a particular "context", the emphasis should not be pub only on medical fast proper. Unfortunately, it is often the case that finding solutions to such problems, i.e. attempting to search for the truth, is accompanied by many anomalies, or misunderstandings. Some impropriety, for instance, of stereotyping, simplifying, misinterpreting and displaying bias can be encountered.

Ethnographic traits in the writing of Mary Breckinridge.

Mary Breckinridge, founder of The Frontier Nursing Service, employed ethnographic methodologies--participant observation, interviewing and fieldwork--as foundation efforts toward construction of highly responsive health-service systems, developed under circumstances of duress, e.g. after World War I and pre-industrial Appalachia. In culturally representing the Appalachian, she drew upon two vast resources, her first-hand field experience as well as her considerable rhetorical skill. She narrated and described an enormity of selected 'realities' of Appalachian life with immediacy of detail and nonpatronizing sensitivity for 'insider' perspectives. In an era of transition with few indigenous cultural writers, Breckinridge capitalized on her family heritage in Appalachia, which further underscored the intimacy and authenticity of her accounts. As portrayed in her autobiography, crosscultural encounters of one kind and time or another supplied an infrastructure of longstanding meaning throughout her life. The final and lasting impression is that, in both skills and orientation, Breckinridge's were essentially those of the ethnographer.

Arrow and dart poisons.

The history of arrow and dart poisons is briefly reviewed and this is followed by an outline of their use throughout the world. Their composition and sources of active principles, both plant and animal, are considered and certain ethnological aspects are dealt with. Finally, some applications of arrow- and dart-poison constituents as medicinal agents and pharmacological tools are indicated.

[Not Available]. / [Ethnographic studies and popular medicine]

In the work submitted, the author makes a brief historical review of Bulgarian ethnographic literature, related, among other things, also to popular medicine investigations. Reference is made to authors as Dr. Yuri Ivanovich Venelin (1825), G.S. Rakovsky (1859), and after the liberation of Bulgaria: Tzani Ginchev Shkeparnev, one of the outstanding protagonists for collecting facts and materials in the field of popular medicine in this country, M. Georgiev, Hr. Popstoilov, K. Irechek, Iv. D. Shishmanov and others. A description is made of the traditional methods of treatment with herbs, charms, healers and the like. Due attention is given also to the popular conceptions and explanation of the contributing factors of diseases, looking for the rationale in them and giving special consideration to the superstitious traces, inherited from the ancient Thracians. It is stressed that the items published heretofore in the "Comopilation of national folklore and literature", covering the field of popular medicine, constitute a great, unique in its significance, national wealth which is seldom found in other countries and which might be utilized by modern medicine as well as for drawing important ethnogenetic inferences.