[Max Hirsch founder of rheumatology in Germany: banished and murdered]. / Max Hirsch, Begründer der Rheumatologie in Deutschland: Vertrieben und ermordet.

The Jewish physician and scientist Dr. Max Hirsch (1875-1941) made a substantial contribution to consolidation of the foundations of his professional discipline, balneology, and in particular developed the social aspects. He recognized the economic significance of diseases of the musculoskeletal system very early on and gathered important ideas from abroad. Together with the department head in the Prussian Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, the Privy Councillor Prof. Dr. Eduard Dietrich and later alone, he was editor of various balneological journals. He worked as general secretary of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Rheumatologie (German Society of Rheumatology) from the beginning of its existence (1927) and created the publication series Veröffentlichungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Rheumabekämpfung (Publications of the German Society against Rheumatism) and Rheuma-Jahrbuch (Annual review of rheumatology) in 1929, 1930 and 1931 and organized seven rheumatology congresses up to 1933. After the accession to power of the National Socialists, Max Hirsch and Eduard Dietrich were deposed from office. Hirsch emigrated to Latvia via Switzerland and the Soviet Union with his wife and one son where they were murdered in the course of the Jewish pogrom. The second son escaped with his family to Sweden.

Man-midwifery history: 1730-1930.

This paper seeks to determine whether the man-midwives William Smellie and William Hunter deserve continuing approbation as 'Founding Fathers' of the obstetrics profession. Scrutiny of their careers reveals their involvement in murders for dissection. In addition, the man-midwifery initiative of delivery in lying-in hospitals resulted in around 1 million more deaths in Britain and Ireland between 1730 and 1930, than would have occurred had home-births remained as the norm. While some may still credit Smellie and Hunter with obstetric discoveries, their knowledge was obtained by murder-for-dissection. That indictment, together with the lying-in hospital legacy, far outweighs their discoveries. The paper invites further constructive discussion and debate, but concludes the accolade of Founding Fathers is undeserved. Any continuing endorsement of Smellie and Hunter effectively demeans the high ethical standards and reputation of current obstetric professionals.

[The presence of the corpse and semiotic effectiveness in Geoffrey Chaucer and Caïn in Mctatio Abel]. / La présence du cadavre et son efficacité sémiotique: Morphée chez Geoffrey Chaucer et Caïn dans Mactatio Abel.

This article grapples with the question of the corpse through two particular literary texts. Rather than an elucidation of the physiological principle of the human body by means of dissection, the play Mactatio Abel, written in England in the 15th century, stages the difficulty of the relation to the corpse, via an amplification of the biblical narrative of Abel's murder by Cain. As for Chaucer's work, The Book of the Duchess, it rewrites Ovid's and Machaut's texts featuring the figure of Morpheus in a way that distinguishes between an imitation of the living and its simulacrum in the sense Wolfgang Iser gives this concept. Chaucer's Morpheus, instead of promoting verisimilitude, forbids it. Indeed, he animates a corpse from within instead of simulating an apparition of the deceased. The simulacrum, rather than a mimetic copy of the real, blocks all representational illusion, in order to formulate absence. The readability of the corpse in both works is relational. Both literary texts express the corpse as being always already grounded in a relational and narratorial space.

Stars, demons and the body in fifteenth-century England.

In 1441, Eleanor Cobham, duchess of Gloucester, was arrested, together with three associates: Margery Jourdemayne, the 'Witch of Eye', Roger Bolingbroke, Oxford cleric and astrologer, and Thomas Southwell, MB, canon of St. Stephen's, Westminster. They were accused of plotting to kill King Henry VI by necromancy, but contemporary chronicles differed on the precise nature of their crime: had they summoned demons or cast an astrological chart? This paper explores the relationship between astrology and demonic magic, focusing on feelings, rites and apparatus, and perceptions that the more the practitioner's body was implicated in the divinatory procedure, the more likely it was to be illicit.

[Skeleton find from Roman times suspected as an homicide victim]. / Vermeintliches Tötungsdelikt als Skelettfund aus der Römerzeit aufgeklärt.

A human skeleton was found during construction work on the concrete foundations of a fence built 17 years before. The situation seemed to suggest that a corpse had been disposed of 17 years ago. Forensic and osteological examinations showed that death had been caused by semi-sharp and blunt craniocerebral trauma. However, there were morphological findings which indicated that the body had been buried in soil for at least 50 years. Several additional objects found nearby and the proximity to the Limes pointed to a Roman context. With the help of the radiocarbon method, the time of death could be dated to about 245-263 AD. A recent act of violence could hence be ruled out. According to the situation at the scene, it had to be assumed, however, that the skeleton must have been discovered already during the construction work done 17 years before and that the find had not been reported. Such behaviour is a phenomenon quite often encountered in practice.

Stable isotope and DNA evidence for ritual sequences in Inca child sacrifice.

Four recently discovered frozen child mummies from two of the highest peaks in the south central Andes now yield tantalizing evidence of the preparatory stages leading to Inca ritual killing as represented by the unique capacocha rite. Our interdisciplinary study examined hair from the mummies to obtain detailed genetic and diachronic isotopic information. This approach has allowed us to reconstruct aspects of individual identity and diet, make inferences concerning social background, and gain insight on the hitherto unknown processes by which victims were selected, elevated in social status, prepared for a high-altitude pilgrimage, and killed. Such direct information amplifies, yet also partly contrasts with, Spanish historical accounts.

Solanaceae III: henbane, hags and Hawley Harvey Crippen.

Hyoscyamus, the henbane, is one of the drugs of the ancients. Initially used both as a poison and narcotic, it was widely adopted by witches, wizards and soothsayers as a component of their hallucinatory and flying ointments. It was also used by notorious poisoners such as Madame Voisin in France. Eventually, in the nineteenth century its active principle was isolated by Ladenburg and called l-hyoscine. It proved to be a tropane alkaloid very similar to atropine. These two alkaloids proved to be very important in the study of the parasympathetic component of the autonomic nervous system, and together with physostigmine, allowed the major neurotransmitter acetylcholine to be isolated and its mechanisms of action to be characterised. The Crippen murder case in 1910 gave hyoscine further fame, indeed, notoriety. The unassuming homeopathic doctor murdered his wife with the alkaloid and then decamped for Canada with his mistress Ethel Le Neve. The case became a worldwide sensation for several reasons: the arrest of the fugitive couple by wireless telegraphy (Marconigram) and the extensive chemical and histological evidence presented by Willcox and Spilsbury. Some authorities claim that this was the beginning of the science of forensic medicine in Britain. Hyoscine is now hardly ever used in modern therapeutics but its history from antiquity to the witches and on to Dr Crippen is both bizarre and fascinating.

Possible human sacrifice at the origins of Rome: novel skeletal evidences.

Recent archaeological excavations at the Carcer/Tullianum, in the Roman Forum, allowed the unexpected recovery of human burials associated with the very early foundations of the monument, at the beginning of the iron age. The study of these burials resulted in interesting paleopathological discoveries, concerning the skeleton of a strongly-built male, radiocarbon-dated between 830 and 780 BC. The telltale posture of the skeleton and the presence of a massive perimortal blunt force trauma of the skull shed light on the mode and circumstances of the death of this subject, and are suggestive of ritual sacrifice. The archaeological, mythological and historical backgrounds, combined with the paleopathological evidence, help us to get a glimpse of life and death at the origins of Rome.

Why did the 5th Earl of Derby die?

The unexpected death of Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby, on April 16, 1594 was an event of major political importance in the later years of Queen Elizabeth I of England. When he had succeeded his father at the age of 38 he became head of one of the most influential families in the country. He also had a claim to the throne if Elizabeth died without naming a successor. Yet within seven months of entering into his inheritance, this previously fit man was suddenly taken ill and died a fortnight later. His death was so significant that the historian John Stow recorded his illness in great detail (Fig. 1).(1) Stow's remarkable account is compatible with a sinister interpretation of the cause.

Skeletal remains of Dr. Eugenio Antonio Berríos Sagredo.

It is often noted that even a well-designed osteological technique may not provide accurate results when applied to single forensic cases. Case studies are ideal to test if this concern is valid, and forensic anthropology is a testing ground for applying a population based standard to individual skeletal remains. Secondly, the increasing role anthropologists have played in forensic sciences has aided the medicolegal disciplines in a number of ways. For example, identification of skeletal remains is now more accurate than ever before. Many of these cases have brought perpetrators to court for justice. The purpose of this paper is to use osteological techniques to analyze skeletal remains and make a positive identification. The victim was found partially buried in the sand near El Pinar, Uruguay in 1995. The analysis indicated that the victim was a 45-year old, white, male who was about 170cm tall. Based on preliminary evidence that the victim might be Dr. Eugenio Antonio Berríos Sagredo, a digital superimposition was made using the victim's photograph and the unknown skull. This examination revealed that the skull corresponded consistently with the individual in the photograph. Results were supported by the fact that personal belongings, such as a medal and wrist watch, also pointed to the same individual. Dental records and radiographs when made available later also indicated the same identity. Dr. Berríos was accused of making nerve gas during the dictatorial regime of former Chilean President General Augusto Pinochet. It was also alleged that he made bombs that killed a Spanish diplomat in his laboratory and a Chilean diplomat in Washington, DC. Many complex techniques are often needed to make a positive identification and such was the case for this study. Because of the nature of anthropology as a holistic discipline, such complexity is an integral part of human biology and behavior and can be used successfully in the forensic sciences and medicolegal investigations.