Reflexiones nerviosas. Los fantasmas / Reflections nerve. The ghosts

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Good gibbons and evil macaques: a historical review on cognitive features of non-human primates in Chinese traditional culture.

For several thousand years the ancient Chinese have accumulated rich knowledge, in the form of written literature and folklore, on the non-human primates widely distributed in China. I have used critical text analysis and discourse analysis to clarify when and how ancient Chinese distinguished gibbons from macaques. I divided the progress into four main stages, the Pre-Shang to Shang dynasty (before 1046 BC), the Zhou to Han dynasty (1046 BC-220 AD), the six dynasties to Song dynasty (220-1279 AD), and the Yuan to Qing dynasties (1279-1840 AD). I found that China's traditional cognition of gibbons and macaques emphasized the appearance of animals, organoleptic performance, or even whether or not their behavior was "moral". They described them as human-like animals by ethical standards but ignored the species itself. This kind of cognitive style actually embodies the "pursuit of goodness", which is the feature of Chinese traditional culture. This study presents some original views on Chinese traditional knowledge of non-human primates.

Images by the vineyard: images of addiction and substance users in the media and other culture sites/sights.

This article constitutes a discovery journey into the world of drinking images, the pleasures and harms related to consuming alcoholic beverages, as well as the relationships between drinking and spirituality. These aspects are described historically and globally, over time through a series of snapshots and mini-discussions about both visual and mental images from art, classical literature and operatic music.The images are interpreted according to how they represent the drinking culture within which they were created and sustained, and how they are able to involve the spectator and the user in terms of either empathizing, accepting and including or distancing, stigmatizing and marginalizing the user.

Alice, Benzene, and Coffee: The ABCs of Ecopharmacognosy.

The sesquicentennial celebrations of the publication of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and the structure of benzene offer a unique opportunity to develop a contemporary interpretation of aspects of Alice's adventures, illuminate the symbolism of benzene, and contextualize both with the globalization of coffee, transitioning to how the philosophy and sustainable practices of ecopharmacognosy may be applied to modulating approaches to the quality, safety, efficacy, and consistency (QSEC) of traditional medicines and dietary supplements through technology integration, thereby improving patient-centered health care.

Medicina. Brujas, demonios y exorcistas en al España del Siglo XVII / No disponible

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La imagen del magnetismo animal en la literatura de ficción: los casos de Poe, Doyle y Du Maurier / The image of animal magnetism in fictional literature: the cases of Poe, Doyle and Du Maurier

En el presente trabajo nos acercamos a la imagen social del fenómeno conocido como mesmerismo o magnetismo animal a través del análisis de las obras: The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar (1845) de Edgar Allan Poe, The Great Keinplatz Experiment (1885) de Conan Doyle y Trilby (1894) de George Du Maurier. Mostraremos cuál es el estereotipo del magnetizador y los usos que observamos del mesmerismo. Nos acercaremos a los espacios y actores del trasunto mesmerico presentado en los relatos. Tendremos en cuenta la recepción por parte del público de estas historias y las relaciones con los conocimientos mesmericos e hipnóticos que tenían los autores de éstas. En la actualidad, investigadores académicos, dentro de la disciplina de la psicología, publican artículos y libros sobre los mitos populares de la hipnosis intentando poner de manifiesto las imágenes distorsionadas referentes a este fenómeno. Esta imagen distorsionada del proceso hipnótico, y del hipnotizador, proviene de los espectáculos circenses de hipnosis (stage hypnosis), del cine, de la televisión y de la literatura de ficción. Por otro lado, tenemos en la literatura de ficción una fuente única e inestimable de datos, ideas, especulaciones, preocupaciones y posibilidades en torno al magnetismo animal e hipnosis que convierten su estudio y análisis en un capítulo imprescindible de cualquier trabajo histórico de este tema. Veremos cómo el uso literario del mesmerismo en el caso de Poe, Doyle y Du Maurier no es algo casual o periférico, sino que todos ellos estuvieron intelectualmente interesados y estimulados por estas ideas (AU)

In this article, we focus on the social image of the phenomenon known as mesmerism, or animal magnetism, through analysis of the works: The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar (1845) by Edgar Allan Poe, The Great Keinplatz Experiment (1885) by Conan Doyle and Trilby (1894) by George Du Maurier. We describe the stereotype of the mesmerist and the uses of mesmerism observed. We pay attention to the spaces and actors of the mesmeric transcript presented in the stories. We consider the reception of these stories by the public and the relationship of the authors with mesmeric and hypnotic knowledge. Nowadays, academic researchers in the discipline of psychology publish articles and books on popular myths about hypnosis in attempts to depict the distorted images related to this phenomenon. This distorted image of the hypnotic process and the hypnotist derives from "circus" hypnotism shows (stage hypnosis), the cinema, television and fictional literature. Works of fiction represent a unique and invaluable source of information, ideas, speculations, concerns and opportunities around animal magnetism and hypnosis, and the exploration and analysis of this literature is an essential chapter in any historical study of this topic. We see how the literary use of mesmerism by Poe, Doyle and Du Maurier is not chance or peripheral, with all three being intellectually interested in and stimulated by these ideas (AU)

Genealogía hipnótica del mito del zombi: The Magic Island (1929) / Hipnotic Genealogy of the Myth of the Zombie: The Magic Island (1929)

Este es el primero de una serie de artículos en los que se pretende estudiar la historia y la significación psicológica del “mito del zombi” a través del análisis de sus elementos alegóricos y simbólicos partiendo de una conceptualización de “mito” extraída de las nociones de la psicología analítica de Jung y de la historia de las religiones de Eliade. Aquí profundizaremos en la genealogía simbólica que antecede y se inserta en la concepción del zombi en The Magic Island de Seabrook (primer texto donde aparece el zombi como muerto viviente) a través del análisis comparativo con el sonámbulo de la literatura y cinematografía del “lado oscuro del magnetismo animal y la hipnosis” y su relación con el autómata (AU)

This is the first of series of articles that aims to study the history and psychological significance of the “myth of the zombie” through the analysis of its allegorical and symbolic elements, based on a myth’s conceptualization extracted from the notions of Jung’s analytical psychology and Eliade’s history of religions. Here, we’ll look deeply into the symbolic genealogy that comes before and it’s inserted in zombie conception in Seabrook’s The magic island (first text where zombie appears as living dead) through a comparative analysis with the somnambulist in literature and filmography of “the dark side of animal magnetism and hypnosis” and its connection with the automaton (AU)

Botany meets archaeology: people and plants in the past.

This paper explores the close links between botany and archaeology, using case studies from the ancient Mediterranean. It explains the kinds of palaeobotanical remains that archaeologists can recover and the methods used to analyse them. The importance of iconographic and textual evidence is also underlined. Examples of key research areas that focus on ancient plants are discussed: diet and palaeoeconomy; medicines, poisons, and psychotropics; perfumes, cosmetics, and dyes; and prestige.

[The first labor analgesia with drug was already performed in late Meiji-Period (1868-1912): trace of opioid-scopolamine which was used in Akiko Yosano, back to its origins].

There have been some records of labor analgesia with intravenous or rectal anesthetics in early Showa-period (1926-1989). However, the author found that labor analgesia had been already attempted for some women in late Meiji-period (1868-1912). One of agents used was pantopon, a water-soluble opioid without serious respiratory depression as morphine. The drug was developed and produced in Germany. Some doctors applied this agent with scopolamine to labor analgesia in Europe. They also reported that this combination also conferred excellent analgesic effects without any serious complications in the mother and fetus. This combination was originally used for general surgery with inhaled anesthesia at that period. It remains uncertain how Japanese doctors got pantopon scopolamine from Germany.

"Der Bleistift roch nach Rosmarin": the art of foraging in Stifter, Handke, and Beuys.

Taking as its starting point the notion of 'reading' as 'gathering', implied by the word Lesen, this essay examines some correspondences between foraging, naming, writing, drawing, and reading to establish a clear distinction between foraging and collecting more generally. By way of example, three kinds of foraging are addressed: berry picking, in Adalbert Stifter's short story Der Waldsteig; mushroom collecting, in Peter Handke's fairy-tale Lucie im Wald mit den Dingsda; gathering medicinal herbs, in particular rosemary, in the drawings, performances, and social sculptures of Joseph Beuys (including Manresa, Barraque D'dull Odde, Geruchsplastik, Blitzschlag mit Lichtschein auf Hirsch). In the literary and visual works discussed here, foraging and its products are therapeutic both physically and spiritually, what Handke terms 'traumerweiternd'. Moreover, in the case of Beuys in particular this healing process has explicitly social and political implications. The essay also examines foraging as an analogy for the construction of meaning and concludes with a discussion of the clearing as a privileged space in which foraging and gathering, both literally and figuratively, can take place.

[Discussion on herbal textual research of Flos Lonicerae].

Discussed the former herbal investigation of Flos Lonicerae by herbal investigation and field survey. Descripted and illustrated the Caprifoliaceae or Flos Lonicerae in known ancient Chinese medical books that varied with current Lonicera japonica. At last, conformational description of Caprifoliaceae or Flos Lonicerae in Sushenliangfang was reported.

The primates of the Western Palaearctic: a biogeographical, historical, and archaeozoological review.

The Western Palaearctic is traditionally regarded as a zoogeographical unit which is lacking in primatological fauna. The representatives of this taxonomic group which has been documented within its boundary can be referred to the genera Macaca, Papio, and Chlorocebus, and possibly also to Erythrocebus and Galago. The data for the present research were collected through a review of all previous knowledge of the primates of this biogeographical region, including their history, and through original sightings and direct observation of field signs. Surveys were carried out directly in North Africa, the peninsula of Gibraltar, and in the Sahara. Additional data on primate distribution were obtained through the examination and evaluation of the materials conserved in several museums. A historical and archaeological investigation was also carried out, appraising both archaeozoological fndings and prehistoric and ancient artistic production, in order to evaluate the importance of the monkeys of the Western Palaearctic in relation to local human activities and needs.

Comparison of the conceptualization of wisdom in ancient Indian literature with modern views: focus on the Bhagavad Gita.

The study of wisdom has recently become a subject of growing scientific interest, although the concept of wisdom is ancient. This article focuses on conceptualization of wisdom in the Bhagavad Gita, arguably the most influential of all ancient Hindu philosophical/religious texts. Our review, using mixed qualitative/quantitative methodology with the help of Textalyser and NVivo software, found the following components to be associated with the concept of wisdom in the Gita: Knowledge of life, Emotional Regulation, Control over Desires, Decisiveness, Love of God, Duty and Work, Self-Contentedness, Compassion/Sacrifice, Insight/Humility, and Yoga (Integration of Personality). A comparison of the conceptualization of wisdom in the Gita with that in modern scientific literature shows several similarities, such as rich knowledge about life, emotional regulation, insight, and a focus on common good (compassion). Apparent differences include an emphasis on control over desires and renunciation of materialistic pleasures. Importantly, the Gita suggests that at least certain components of wisdom can be taught and learned. We believe that the concepts of wisdom in the Gita are relevant to modern psychiatry in helping develop psychotherapeutic interventions that could be more individualistic and more holistic than those commonly practiced today, and they aim at improving personal well-being rather than just psychiatric symptoms.

Ancient Chinese literature reveals pathways of eggplant domestication.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Changes in key traits occurring during the processes of plant domestication have long been subjects of debate. Only in the case of genetic analysis or with extensive plant remains can specific sets of changes be documented. Historical details of the plant domestication processes are rare and other evidence of morphological change can be difficult to obtain, especially for those vegetables that lack a substantial body of archaeological data. Botanical records chronicled in the ancient literature of established ancient civilizations, such as that of China, are invaluable resources for the study and understanding of the process of plant domestication. Here, the considerable body of ancient Chinese literature is used to explore the domestication process that has occurred with the eggplant (Solanum melongena), an important vegetable in Old World. METHODS: Information about eggplant domestication in the ancient Chinese literature was retrieved using a variety of methods. The information obtained was then sorted by taxon, examined and taxonomic identifications verified. KEY RESULTS: It was found that the earliest record of the eggplant documented in ancient Chinese literature was in a work from 59 bc. As far as is known, this is the earliest reliable and accurately dated record of eggplant in cultivation. The analysis reveals that the process of domestication of the eggplant in China involved three principal aspects of fruit quality: size, shape and taste. These traits were actively and gradually selected; fruit size changed from small to large, taste changed from not palatable to what was termed at the time sweetish, and that over time, a wider variety of fruit shapes was cultivated. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that, in addition to data gleaned from archaeology and genetics, evidence as to changes in key traits occurring during the process of plant domestication and selective forces responsible for these changes can be traced through the ancient literature in some civilizations.

[Methods for clinical study of Nei Jing].

Nei Jing or Canon of Medicine established the theoretical system of traditional Chinese medicine, and lay the foundation for the development of clinical traditional Chinese medicine. The author holds that the researchers should study the Canon of Medicine according to clinical practice so as to find its new and valid academic values. At present, the approaches to clinical study of Canon of Medicine include case research, large sample retrospective verification, epidemiological survey and the exploration of case reports in ancient times and so on.

[The virtue of that precious balsam...: approach to Don Quixote from the psychopharmacological perspective]. / La virtud de aquel precioso bálsamo...: aproximación a El Quijote desde la vertiente de la psicofarmacología.

The most outstanding novel of the Spanish literature, Don Quixote, represents the source to which the different specialists who intend to deepen their knowledge of the late Renaissance society usually address. This masterpiece of Miguel de Cervantes has been frequently approached from the psychopathological perspective to obtain a psychiatric diagnosis of its main character, Alonso Quijano. Also, other clinical approaches from the traumatological and general therapeutical view (oils, ointments, balms and other pharmacy preparations) have been frequent. We have tackled Don Quixote from the psychopharmacological perspective, a barely explored field. In this work, we intend to study the therapeutical cures used during the Cervantine time for the treatment of insane and mentally disturbed people (sedatives like opium, laxatives like hellebore, tonics, irritants and surgical techniques like bloodlettings and <>) and we analyze the limited and unspecific therapies, mainly of herbal origin (balms, purgatives and emetics), which Cervantes reveals to us in his novel. Among them, rhubarb root (Rumex alpinus), seeds of spurge (Euphorbia lathyris), St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum), main ingredient of Aparicio's oil, and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), primary component of the famous balsam of Fierabras, should be highlighted. We have also examined the possible scientific influences which might have inspired Cervantes in this field, mainly the works of Juan Huarte de San Juan The examination of men's wits and the one of Andres Laguna Dioscorides' materia medica.

[Life as it was: the Roman midwife]. / Het leven zoals het was: de Romeinse vroedvrouw.

This article offers an example of historical 'faction' by using data and facts which are attested in Greek and Roman medical literature. Inscriptions and archaeological finds are used to create a fictional story. It is an attempt to portray an empathic picture of vital issues in Roman society such as the social position of midwives, gynaecological knowledge, death in childbed, and the harsh reality of infant mortality.