When he shot President Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth was 26 years old, and one of the nation’s most famous actors. (Charles DeForest Fredericks/National Portrait Gallery)
John Wilkes Booth, a Maryland native, spent the war performing in theatrical productions. But the conflict was never far from his mind. In a letter to his mother, he expressed chagrin that he hadn’t joined the Confederate army, writing, “I have … begun to deem myself a coward, and to despise my own existence.” He was outraged by the reelection of Lincoln, whom he viewed as the instigator of all the country’s woes. The month after the inauguration, Booth learned that Lincoln would be attending a performance at Ford’s Theatre on April 14. That night, he crept into Lincoln’s theater box and shot him in the back of the head. It was the first time a president had been murdered. “Wanted” posters were issued for Booth, and on April 26, he was cornered in a tobacco barn and shot by a federal sergeant, acting against orders to bring him in alive.
Several months later, Charles Creighton Hazewell, a frequent contributor, sought to make sense of the assassination—speculating that the plot may have been hatched in Canada (where a number of secessionist schemes had originated) and hinting at evidence that the plan had been endorsed at the highest levels of the Confederate government.—Sage Stossel
The assassination of President Lincoln threw a whole nation into mourning … Of all our Presidents since Washington, Mr. Lincoln had excited the smallest amount of that feeling which places its object in personal danger. He was a man who made a singularly favorable impression on those who approached him, resembling in that respect President Jackson, who often made warm friends of bitter foes, when circumstances had forced them to seek his presence; and it is probable, that, if he and the honest chiefs of the Rebels could have been brought face to face, there never would have been civil war,—at least, any contest of grand proportions; for he would not have failed to convince them that all that they had any right to claim, and therefore all that they could expect their fellow-citizens to fight for, would be more secure under his government than it had been under the governments of such men as Pierce and Buchanan, who made use of sectionalism and slavery to promote the selfish interests of themselves and their party … Ignorance was the parent of the civil war, as it has been the parent of many other evils,—ignorance of the character and purpose of the man who was chosen President in 1860–61, and who entered upon official life with less animosity toward his opponents than ever before or since had been felt by a man elected to a great place after a bitter and exciting contest …
That one of the most insignificant of [the secessionists’] number should have murdered the man whose election they declared to be cause for war is nothing strange, being in perfect keeping with their whole course. The wretch who shot the chief magistrate of the Republic is of hardly more account than was the weapon which he used. The real murderers of Mr. Lincoln are the men whose action brought about the civil war. Booth’s deed was a logical proceeding, following strictly from the principles avowed by the Rebels, and in harmony with their course during the last five years. The fall of a public man by the hand of an assassin always affects the mind more strongly than it is affected by the fall of thousands of men in battle; but in strictness, Booth, vile as his deed was, can be held to have been no worse, morally, than was that old gentleman who insisted upon being allowed the privilege of firing the first shot at Fort Sumter. Ruffin’s act is not so disgusting as Booth’s; but of the two men, Booth exhibited the greater courage,—courage of the basest kind, indeed, but sure to be attended with the heaviest risks, as the hand of every man would be directed against its exhibitor. Had the Rebels succeeded, Ruffin would have been honored by his fellows; but even a successful Southern Confederacy would have been too hot a country for the abode of a wilful murderer. Such a man would have been no more pleasantly situated even in South Carolina than was Benedict Arnold in England. And as he chose to become an assassin after the event of the war had been decided, and when his victim was bent upon sparing Southern feeling so far as it could be spared without injustice being done to the country, Booth must have expected to find his act condemned by every rational Southern man as a worse than useless crime, as a blunder of the very first magnitude. Had he succeeded in getting abroad, Secession exiles would have shunned him, and have treated him as one who had brought an ineffaceable stain on their cause, and also had rendered their restoration to their homes impossible. The pistol-shot of Sergeant Corbett saved him from the gallows, and it saved him also from the denunciations of the men whom he thought to serve. He exhibited, therefore, a species of courage that is by no means common; for he not only risked his life, and rendered it impossible for honorable men to sympathize with him, but he ran the hazard of being denounced and cast off by his own party … All Secessionists who retain any self-respect must rejoice that one whose doings brought additional ignominy on a cause that could not well bear it has passed away and gone to his account. It would have been more satisfactory to loyal men, if he had been reserved for the gallows; but even they must admit that it is a terrible trial to any people who get possession of an odious criminal, because they may be led so to act as to disgrace themselves, and to turn sympathy in the direction of the evil-doer … Therefore the shot of Sergeant Corbett is not to be regretted, save that it gave too honorable a form of death to one who had earned all that there is of disgraceful in that mode of dying to which a peculiar stigma is attached by the common consent of mankind.
Whether Booth was the agent of a band of conspirators, or was one of a few vile men who sought an odious immortality, it is impossible to say. We have the authority of a high Government official for the statement that “the President’s murder was organized in Canada and approved at Richmond”; but the evidence in support of this extraordinary announcement is, doubtless for the best of reasons, withheld at the time we write. There is nothing improbable in the supposition that the assassination plot was formed in Canada, as some of the vilest miscreants of the Secession side have been allowed to live in that country … But it is not probable that British subjects had anything to do with any conspiracy of this kind. The Canadian error was in allowing the scum of Secession to abuse the “right of hospitality” through the pursuit of hostile action against us from the territory of a neutral …
That a plan to murder President Lincoln should have been approved at Richmond is nothing strange; and though such approval would have been supremely foolish, what but supreme folly is the chief characteristic of the whole Southern movement? If the seal of Richmond’s approval was placed on a plan formed in Canada, something more than the murder of Mr. Lincoln was intended. It must have been meant to kill every man who could legally take his place, either as President or as President pro tempore. The only persons who had any title to step into the Presidency on Mr. Lincoln’s death were Mr. Johnson, who became President on the 15th of April, and Mr. Foster, one of the Connecticut Senators, who is President of the Senate … It does not appear that any attempt was made on the life of Mr. Foster, though Mr. Johnson was on the list of those doomed by the assassins; and the savage attack made on Mr. Seward shows what those assassins were capable of. But had all the members of the Administration been struck down at the same time, it is not at all probable that “anarchy” would have been the effect, though to produce that must have been the object aimed at by the conspirators. Anarchy is not so easily brought about as persons of an anarchical turn of mind suppose. The training we have gone through since the close of 1860 has fitted us to bear many rude assaults on order without our becoming disorderly. Our conviction is, that, if every man who held high office at Washington had been killed on the 14th of April, things would have gone pretty much as we have seen them go, and that thus the American people would have vindicated their right to be considered a self-governing race. It would not be a very flattering thought, that the peace of the country is at the command of any dozen of hardened ruffians who should have the capacity to form an assassination plot, the discretion to keep silent respecting their purpose, and the boldness and the skill requisite to carry it out to its most minute details: for the neglect of one of those details might be fatal to the whole project. Society does not exist in such peril as that.
john wilkes booth, a Maryland native, spent the war performing in theatrical productions. But the conflict was never far from his mind. In a letter to his mother, he expressed chagrin that he hadn’t joined the Confederate army, writing, “I have … begun to deem myself a coward, and to despise my own existence.” He was outraged by the reelection of Lincoln, whom he viewed as the instigator of all the country’s woes.
The month after the inauguration, Booth learned that Lincoln would be attending a performance at Ford’s Theatre on April 14. That night, he crept into Lincoln’s theater box and shot him in the back of the head. It was the first time a president had been murdered. “Wanted” posters were issued for Booth, and on April 26, he was cornered in a tobacco barn and shot by a federal sergeant, who acted against orders to bring him in alive.
Several months later, Charles Creighton Hazewell, a frequent Atlantic contributor, sought to make sense of the assassination—speculating that the plot may have been hatched in Canada (where a number of secessionist schemes had originated) and hinting at evidence that the plan had been endorsed at the highest levels of the Confederate government.
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The drought in Texas, during March, was the worst since 1895.
That is about the time my parents were born 120 years ago.
I never thought it could be worse than the drought of the 1950s, but it is. Drive out into grazing country where mesquite aren't too thick and all you can see is dry, cracked soil with an occasional fire ant or a gopher mound in the sandier soil.
Comparing the current drought with the seven-year drought in the 1950s, old-timers say the current drought sapped the soil of moisture faster than it did in the 1950s.
It just stopped raining last July, and pasture after pasture was hit by wildfires.
Right now, there is no potential to produce hay, harvest wheat or plant cotton or grain sorghum this May. Unless there is a week of rain fairly soon there is no hope for agriculture this year.
The Texas Ag Extension Service says that, despite a few recent showers in some areas, the cotton growing in Texas and Oklahoma is still in a drought. Any crop planted in southern Texas earlier in the year that got up out of the ground is now being sand blasted by hot, dry winds.
Wildfires have burned at least 1.5 million acres in the state since Jan. 1.
In addition to grazing losses, ranchers are facing rangeland stock water tanks that are dry or nearly dry. Streams are not flowing and lakes and big tanks are turning to deep mud.


Answer: Even better! A lot of ag research stations have investigated the application of chemicals through irrigation systems. Typically they find that fertigation provides the following advantages compared to ground application:
Question: What about chemicals other than fertilizers?
Answer: Most of the above advantages extend to pesticide injection. In addition, researchers report:
Question: How does all this fit together with some of the newer irrigation technologies?
Answer: Two technological advances offer us examples of the perfect fit between injectors and irrigation systems:
Low Energy Precision Application (LEPA) heads make pivots even more effective as application devices. LEPA heads are usually arranged to deliver water beneath the crop foliage canopy. Several LEPA head designs have multiple operating modes including the capability to convert between down-spray and up-spray. This feature further improves the flexibility of chemical application by center pivots.
Sub-surface drip irrigation is a technology that couldn't exist without injectors. All crop nutrients are delivered directly to the plant roots through the irrigation lines while the search continues for new systemic pesticides that are well-suited for root uptake. Chemicals must also be injected to keep irrigation lines free of slime that would plug the drip emitters.
This article is reprinted from ChemIndustrial Systems, Inc.; CSI INFO/UPDATE #8 Oct 21, 1994


Posts Tagged ‘Allergy shots’
Most people do not experience adverse reactions to allergy shots. Sometimes they may have swelling, redness or itching at the site of injection. These mild reactions are usually treated with antihistamines, and the doctor may adjust the dose for the next injection.
Rarely more severe reactions are manifested. In sensitive individuals, the vaccine can cause asthma symptoms such as difficulty breathing, wheezing or coughing. In addition, an anaphylactic reaction can cause dizziness, nausea, chest tightness or swelling of the throat that prevents you from breathing. These reactions can be treated in the office, but sometimes may require treatment in hospital. Read the rest of this entry »
Before administering vaccines allergy testing is needed to determine which allergens will trigger allergic reactions. These studies include skin or patch tests and a blood test called “radioallergosorbent test” or RAST. The results are not always accurate. You may get a positive test without allergic symptoms or, conversely, to show allergy symptoms even with a negative test.
How it is done
When given an allergy vaccine is injected a small amount of allergen under the skin, usually in the fleshy part of the forearm. At the start of treatment, the injections are usually once a week and go increasing doses of allergens gradually with each injection. A patient can achieve the maximum dose, also known as a maintenance dose at four to six months of starting treatment. Read the rest of this entry »
Allergy shots, also known as immunotherapy, are a medical procedure that involves making the body insensitive to not overreact to certain allergens. They are given small amounts of the substance to cause discomfort by injection to stimulate the immune system gradually. As the weeks and months will increase the amount of allergens in gradually.
It is not yet clear how the allergy shots, but it is estimated that the treatment stimulates an immune response against allergens other, which is more comfortable than traditional allergic response. The vaccines do not provide immediate relief, but may be a good long term solution if they work well. Many people have managed to reverse the symptoms of allergy after completion of treatment (3 to 5 years) with allergy shots.
It may take six months to a year before symptoms begin to disappear. For those who respond to treatment, allergy shots can significantly reduce the intensity and frequency of symptoms. However, in some cases, it may not produce any effect or the results are minimal, even after completing a year of treatment. Read the rest of this entry »


Supporting early childhood education: BASF’s “Action on Education” campaign
As part of the “Action on Education” campaign, BASF Aktiengesellschaft is supporting seven projects aimed at boosting early childhood education in daycare centers.
The projects are being organized and carried out by organizations that operate daycare centers in Ludwigshafen – the city of Ludwigshafen and Germany’s two main churches. Ludwigshafen’s 89 daycare centers are taking part in the projects together. An academic research group will provide ongoing support and post-project evaluation for the projects, which are intended to be sustainable and to continue after the project phase is over.
The projects address topics that are an integral part of the educational guidelines laid down for daycare centers by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
1. Project “Language Makes You Strong! Language Bridge Daycare Centers”
Language is the key to successful education and integration, which is why this project aims to improve the development of language skills among children from diverse social and cultural backgrounds.
Promoting language skills in small groups and in everyday classroom situations helps in the following way: using small groups, trained staff use games to systematically teach children with poor language skills a specific number of new words, e.g., “clothes” or “parts of the body.” To consolidate the new vocabulary, each topic is again dealt with in the entire group and in other ways (for example, by naming the different items of clothes when getting dressed). Parents are children’s most important language partners. Once a week, parents who come from other countries or families with educational problems go to the daycare center with their children. They learn in game form how to encourage the use of language using play and get tips on what to do at home.
2. Project “Pure Nature”
This project helps daycare centers to teach children about nature. The idea is to give children a wide variety of ways of learning about nature so that they develop a relationship with nature and the natural world, and experience and understand its relationship with other things. For this reason, an important part of the project is building natural play areas for the centers. Examples include model outdoor play areas, such as building small hillocks, climbing opportunities or making little streams.
3. Project “From Small to Smart”
The aim of this project is to encourage children to be curious about scientific phenomena and to help them learn how to express and think about their experiences. Age-appropriate, hands-on experiments help to encourage their interest in chemistry, math and physics. Specially equipped educational workshops in each of the participating daycare centers also encourage the children to learn more easily. In small groups, the children find out what happens, for example, when they mix paints, what substances dissolve in water or discover “hidden” air. Using materials found in every household, the children are able to make surprising experiences.
4. Storytelling Workshop
Listening to stories from different cultures doesn’t just fascinate children, it also helps them to better understand their own and other cultures. This project uses storytelling as an educational tool: children learn to listen and become storytellers themselves, while at the same time coming face to face with stories from other cultures and traditions.
5. Project “From Piccolo to Picasso”
Helping to develop creative skills in children is the aim of this project, which boosts the esthetic and artistic element of the centers’ curriculum. Children are given the opportunity – based on their teachers’ suggestions – to express themselves using colors, shapes and experimental designs. Artists are also invited to come and work with the children. All the participating centers have set up “children’s studios” – their size depends on the available space – where the children can draw, paint or make things.
6. Project “Guaranty for quality”
This project introduces quality assurance into daycare centers with respect to processes, structures and results. Staff at the centers are trained to monitor and improve the quality of their own work on an ongoing basis. Every year, each center chooses specific areas from a list of defined, quality-relevant subjects that they want to focus on and implement, for example integrating parents into the work of the centers.
7. Project “Observation and Educational Partnership”
This project intends to assist center staff in developing their observational skills: the idea is to be more aware of children’s individuality so that they can be given greater personal support. Center staff are trained to systematically observe children’s development, their strengths and needs and to document these observations for each child. The training also teaches staff how to talk to parents with the aim of persuading them to work more closely with the centers in the interests of the children.Back to top


Q: When people talk about acidity in a coffee being a positive attribute - what do they mean?
A: Oftentimes 'acidity' is related to objective pH level (think lemons and grapefruit). Coffee is low in this type of acidity. When we talk of acidity in the coffee cup we refer to the vibrancy, liveliness and fruity brightness, which is characteristic of high grown, high quality arabica beans.
A: Bitterness is often the result of 2 things:
- Dark roasting (this may be intentional to create a roasty smokiness that some drinkers enjoy - oftentimes it is unintentional!) OR
- Over extraction by the barista in creating the cup - the grind of the coffee may be too fine for the brewing method resulting in too little water running through too much coffee
A: Contrary to popular belief, coffee should never be stored in either fridge or freezer! The four main enemies of the coffee bean are oxygen, heat, moisture, and light. Once the beans are taken out of the fridge or freezer, the coffee will absorb the condensation when the ice-crystals have thawed. Always store your beans in a cool, dark, dry place like the pantry. Remember, coffee absorbs smells so store your beans in an airtight vacuum container.
A: Coffee is a perishable good - you must think of coffee the same way you think of your fruit and vegetables, which no doubt you probably buy on a weekly basis. Coffee reaches its peak potential between 3 to 12 days after roasting, after which the coffee beans begin to deteriorate quite quickly. To truly enjoy a fresh cup of coffee, you need to be buying coffee fresh from the roaster in small lots. Keep an eye out for one-way valves on the packaging, check for roast on dates (or use by dates!) and store in a cool, dark, dry place. Try to consume ground coffee within a week of grinding, while whole beans should be consumed within 3 weeks of roast date.


The first census to report on how well people were housed was that of 1891, but the only
statistics gathered were on the number of rooms and the number of people in each household.
From 1951 onwards, more questions were asked about 'amenities', meaning specific facilities
that households either possessed or had shared access to.
One interesting measure of progress is the change in the amenities covered by the census. In 1951, these were piped water, a cooking stove, a kitchen sink, a 'water closet' meaning a flush toilet, and a 'fixed bath', as distinct from a tin bath hung on the wall between uses. In 2001, the list of key amenities was shorter: central heating, and 'sole use of bath/shower and toilet'. Differences in what information was recorded by each census complicate comparisons over time, and none of our three measures are entirely consistent.
Our detailed statistics are held in structures called nCubes, which you can think of as tables with one dimension, or with two ... or with twenty. Their dimensions are defined by the variables each nCube combines, and each variable is made up of categories. These nCubes are available at national level for this theme:
|Available nCubes||Period covered||Variables
(number of categories)
|Total Households||1931 to 2001||
|Housing Density, redistricted||1931 to 2001||
Persons per Room
|Housing Amenity, redistricted||1951 to 2001||
Housing amenities, simplified


American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A common European crow (Corvus corone) having glossy black plumage.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The common crow of Europe, Corvus corone: so called because it often feeds on carrion. See cut under crow.
- n. The urubu or black vulture of America, Catharista atrata, a common bird of the southern United States, resembling the turkey-buzzard, and feeding entirely upon carrion.
- n. The common crow of America, Corvus americanus.
- n. A name of the European rook, Corvus frugilegus.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. the common European crow (Corvus corone) which feeds on carrion, insects, fruits, and seeds.
- n. See under Carrion.
- n. American vulture smaller than the turkey buzzard
Sorry, no example sentences found.
‘carrion crow’ hasn't been added to any lists yet.
Looking for tweets for carrion crow.


On January 9th, citizens living in southern Sudan will vote on a referendum to secede from the northern part of the country. A clock in the town of Juba, the political center of southern Sudan, counts down to this referendum, symbolical of the locals’ excitement to part from the hegemonic north. Nearby, the Darfur genocide crisis that continues to plague the area is not an isolated event. It’s all related, part of two brutal civil wars that have been for decades tearing the nation apart; as of late, literally.
Sudan has traditionally been seen by many as the bridge between the Arab and the African worlds—one not particularly easy to cross. The north and the south of Sudan are just about as culturally and religiously different from each other as you could possibly imagine. In the north, Arab culture dominates, and the majority religion is Islam. In the south, the predominant culture is more traditionally sub-Saharan African, and the primary religions are animist belief systems and Christianity. Ever since the country gained independence from Britain in 1956, the cultural and religious systems of the north have been heavily imposed on the whole of Sudan, resulting in southern resistance and the ongoing strife.
In particular, this imposition of a differing set of beliefs can in large part be attributed to the current Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir. Al-Bashir arose to power in 1989 through a bloodless coup, and this past April, won the first ostensibly democratic election the nation has held in 24 years. I hesitate to call the election democratic because many believe that al-Bashir, who is notorious for his corruption, rigged it in his favor. While there is no proof, it is generally not unsafe to consider that leaders who are in power through a coup have significant sway in any following elections. Whether he is rightfully in power or not, al-Bashir has imposed northern ideals throughout the whole nation, a primary cause of the Sudanese civil wars. Many attribute the Darfur genocide, just a single episode of the extensive bloodshed since Sudan’s independence, to al-Bashir. Because of these accusations, he is currently on trial for war crimes, the only current head of state in such a predicament. To drive home his impositional tendencies further, al-Bashir has said that if the south secedes, he will impose Shari’a in the north, in an effort to make northern Sudan officially an Islamic state.
My first response to this situation was wondering: How did two peoples so immensely different from one another end up together in the first place? This is not the same as the American Civil War, where regional differences led to ideological differences, which in turn led to secession. In the Sudanese case, ideological and cultural differences existed long before the country gained independence. Thus, one should look to colonialism as the primary cause of Sudan’s problems. It seems to me that Sudan’s independence process was dangerously arbitrary; occurring at the time of mass European decolonization in Africa. It’s as if Britain backed out of the region and drew a national border at random. And now, after over half a century, the people want that to change.
Despite the referendum on schedule for next month, the potential new border still has not been set. Money, of course, is a factor. Sudan is one of the most oil-rich nations of Africa, but most of the country’s oil is found in the south. On the one hand, the north might not want to draw a new boundary where the south gets all of the resource wealth, a potential cause for even more strife. On the other hand, some see oil as a potential area that could keep the two sides friendly if they do end up splitting. Mutual desire for the oil wealth may bring the two sides together diplomatically if the split ends up happening peacefully.
As you can see, this situation is extremely complex, far more so than the south simply saying “we want to secede” and secession then happening. To better understand the context, one needs to consider the past, but one should also consider the future: what will happen if the current nation of Sudan does in fact split? I am wondering particularly about those who have their roots in the south but live in the north. Since the referendum was announced, many of these people have moved back to the south, but a fair number still remain in the north. What will happen to these primarily non-Muslim people (and Muslims alike) if the north does in fact impose Shari’a on al-Bashir’s whim? Al-Bashir will go from an imposer of northern Arab and Islamic values to being completely intolerant of this significant minority in his newly allotted half of Sudan, and the results would be tragic.
What message would a Sudanese split portray to the rest of Africa, the rest of the world? The African Union fears that a Sudanese split would incite other secessionists around the continent. Other nations undergoing similar domestic, regional conflicts of interest may feel not only that they have a right to secede, but may even feel encouraged to do so. Is this kind of outright division the right answer to such a complicated historical struggle?
Is there even a right answer? Experts seem to agree that the nation will inevitably split. Whether this bifurcation happens via a timely, democratic, and peaceful referendum or through continuing bloodshed is a matter that only time will tell. I will certainly be following this issue in the coming weeks, and I wrote this article before the scheduled referendum in the hope to spark more interest on the issue. I urge you to follow it in the news; the results affect a much wider area than simply Sudan.
Stay tuned for my next column, where I will compare and contrast two leaders in South America on opposite sides of the political spectrum and compare their respective political systems to that of the United States.
Latest posts by David Klayton (see all)
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by Gregory McNamee
Talk about your worm’s-eye view of the world. From time to time, I am pleased in this column to announce the discovery of some hitherto unknown species,or the rediscovery of one thought to have disappeared. An international team of scientists has done this one better, announcing the discovery of an entirely new phylum comprising an ocean-dwelling flatworm called Xenoturbella and its kin, collectively the acoelomorphs. Interestingly, these creatures seem to be backward-evolving: their ancestors had gill slits and guts, but the current acoelomorphic configuration lacks them. As researcher Maximilian Telford of University College London puts it, “We’ve got these very simple worms nested right in the middle of the complex animals. How did they end up so simple? They must have lost a lot of complexity.”
* * *
If in the course of evolution you decided to lose your ears, you would have good reason. The world is a noisy place, thanks to ever-busy humans, and it’s getting noisier. In response, many species of animals are getting noisier themselves in an effort to be heard, a process, notes Rose Eveleth in Scientific American, called the Lombard effect. Right whales and house finches, for their parts, are calling in at different frequencies to get around shipping and urban noise. As Eveleth writes of animals in her provocative piece, “Many of them are doing the vocal equivalent of wandering around asking, ‘Can you hear me now?’ And increasingly, the answer is no.”
* * *
Gibbons make a fair amount of noise themselves—and perhaps that stands to reason, given that, next to the great apes, they’re our closest living relatives. That noise is more complex than you might think. Indeed, report researchers from the German Primate Center in Göttingen, the crested gibbons of Southeast Asia have distinctive regional accents. These accents suggest both familial typings, as well as the ancient migration of the species from a location to the north of their current range to points farther south.
* * *
A new phylum is discovered, but a current species declines. That, sadly, is the way of this noisy world. Scottish scientists, reports the BBC’s Highlands and Islands service, are documenting the decline of the common scoter, a kind of duck, in the islands to the north of the country. The scientists are now studying the effects of climate change, which has implications in predation and in food supply. Says one, “We believe climate change may be a factor because warmer winters and springs could lead to aquatic insects such as mayflies and caddis flies hatching earlier in the season and not being available to the scoter ducklings when they hatch out themselves. And warmer winters may, over time, lead to more predators surviving and that could make an impact.”
* * *
Homer Simpson, his son, Bart, their kin, and the good citizens of Springfield are odd ducks one and all. They’re cartoons, after all, so they’re supposed to be goofy. It’s worth noting, though, that the Homeric lineup lives in the shadow of a nuclear reactor, the river is full of three-headed fish, and the night sky glows unnaturally, all reasons to think that something other than mere cartoonery might be at play. It’s also worth observing, then, that researchers at the University of South Carolina’s Chernobyl Research Initiative have concluded that the offspring of 48 species of birds born in the vicinity of that vast Ukrainian accident site have smaller brain size (by 5 percent, on average) than birds born elsewhere, and that this correlates with both reduced cognitive ability and heightened mortality. This mutation seems to be occurring at relatively low doses of radiation, further correlating with the widespread difficulties of children born in the northern Ukraine since the 1986 disaster, who, the researchers’ report maintains, “have higher rates of neural tube defects and related neurological disorders than other children in uncontaminated regions of the Ukraine and Europe.” Champions of nuclear power, take note.


Bicycles are inherently stable because of their geometry. The geometry causes the bicycle to always turn into the direction it begins to lean, which keeps it upright. The reason is best illustrated through a concept known as counter-steering.
Counter steering is how all two wheel vehicles turn. When you want to turn towards the left, you turn the handlebars a little to the right. The friction of the wheels pulls the bottom of the bike towards the right, which initiates a lean towards the left. The handle bars then begin to swing towards the left to track through the turn.
When it's time to stop the turn, you turn the handlebars a little more to the left. That pulls the bottom of the bike further towards the left, which brings the bottom of the bike directly under the center of gravity and thus stopping the turn.
On many bikes and at low speeds, the counter steering effect can be unnoticed by many riders. However, at high speeds, or with heavier vehicles such as motor cycles it is more significant.
So, how does this work where there is no rider? It is because of the rake in the fork and the rail it causes. If you trace an imaginary line through the axis of your fork to the ground, it will hit the ground ahead of where the wheel contacts the ground.
Because the wheel contacts the ground behind the steering axis, the wheel will always feel a force from the road trying to bring it to center, pointing straight ahead. When the bike is tipped to one side, the forces begin to push the wheel to the side that the bike is tipped.
So all these forces add up. The rake in the fork makes the bike want to go straight forward. And when it feels a bump in one direction or the other, the counter steering will tend to bring the bike the other direction. Then the fork rake will begin pushing the front wheel further away, which will then straighten the bike out, because of the counter steering.


The subject of batteries for field shooters used to be as simple as charging them until the red light went out, slapping them on the camera and shooting until they died. Now, the typical ENG/EFP crew carries a much wider array of battery-operated devices. Notebook computers, cell and satellite phones, PDAs, belt-clipped radios, micro-mixers and even GPS receivers may accompany camcorders and batt-lights. Modern field shooters must know their way around battery systems.
Modern batteries communicate digitally to chargers like the Anton-Bauer Dual 2702 Powerchager shown above while talking to the user through an LCD window.
Batteries are usually defined by the chemistry they use. The three most common types are nickel cadmium (NiCd), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), and lithium ion (Li-ion). Each has its strengths and weaknesses. We’ll compare their performance later in the article. But first, let’s define the specifications we use to judge them.
Regardless of the battery type involved, there are a few fundamental specifications that field crews will frequently encounter, including energy density, fast-charge time, self-discharge time, maintenance requirement and C-rate.
Energy density is a measure of how much power the battery will deliver for its weight, and is usually measured in watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg). This is one of the central factors in matching battery type to application.
Fast-charge time is another factor to consider. Usually measured as a fraction of the battery’s rated capacity over time, this parameter has seen dramatic advances with the advent of battery-centric charging using smart batteries and chargers.
Another primary factor in matching batteries to their uses is a spec called “self-discharge time,” usually measured as a percentage of capacity per month. This refers to the rate at which the fully charged battery will lose its charge while at rest. Self-discharge is an important parameter because this decline in voltage is not linear.
This photo shows the two most common camera battery mounts. The camera on the left has the Anton-Bauer Gold Mount. The other has the Sony V-mount.
Most battery types tend to lose a significant portion of their charge within the first 24 hours of storage, followed by a slower but steady discharge. Storage at higher-than-normal room temperatures will degrade internal resistance and accelerate self-discharge on any battery.
A significant specification is the maintenance requirement. This typically refers to how often an equalizing or topping charge should be applied. In the case of nickel-based batteries, the maintenance requirement will include “exercising” the battery by running it down to its end-of-discharge voltage and then fully recharging to combat the infamous memory effect in NiCd batteries.
The C-rate is a measurement of the charge and discharge current of the battery. A discharge of 1C will equal the published current capacity of the battery. A battery rated at 500 mAh (milliamp hours) will discharge at 1C to deliver that current for one hour. If discharged at 2C, the same battery should provide 1000 milliamps for a half hour. Note that the measurement is made from maximum capacity to the end-of-discharge level, not to 0V. On NiCds, for instance, the typical end-of-discharge level is 1V per cell. Li-ions generally discharge to 3V.
While there are many other battery specs, such as load current, cost-per-cycle, overcharge tolerance and cycle life, the specs mentioned above will form the basic stepping stones to a good battery-to-application match. Let’s see how the various battery chemistries compare on these main specs.
Despite the emergence of new battery types, the nickel-cadmium or NiCd batteries maintain a prominent place in powering professional camcorders, batt-lights and portable comm radios. This is due to their exceptional performance in high-current applications. NiCds also accept fast charges quite well compared to the other battery chemistries. Typical fast-charge time on NiCd units is one hour, while NiMH batteries will fast-charge in two to four hours and deliver about one-fourth the load current.
Cameras have shrunk while lenses and batteries have kept their size and weight, allowing each to balance the other. Without rear-mount batteries, smaller cameras would be front-heavy, and on shoulder-mounted cameras, balance rather than weight is the critical factor.
NiCd batteries will self-discharge slightly faster than NiMH and much faster than Li-ion types. The big edge that the NiMH and Li-ion batteries have over NiCd is in energy density. In applications that require a high power-to-weight ratio, the Li-ion is the king of these beasts, with a typical spec of 100Wh/kg to 130Wh/kg. By comparison, NiMHs offer a power-to-weight ratio ranging from 60Wh/kg to 120Wh/kg, while NiCds range from 45Wh/kg to 80Wh/kg.
The Achilles heel of NiCd batteries is their maintenance requirement. They must be regularly exercised (some harried shooters might say exorcised) to avoid the formation of crystals inside the battery and the resulting tendency to discharge only as far as the minimum voltage level to which they have been frequently run. Also, since cadmium is an environmentally toxic metal, NiCd batteries are increasingly seen as a liability. Some countries now severely limit their use due to disposal problems.
Memory or mismatch?
Frequently, what appears to be a memory effect may be a mismatch between the cutoff voltage level of the device and that of the battery. To get the full capacity of the battery, its end-of-discharge voltage must be higher than the cutoff voltage for the camcorder or other device being powered. A mismatch in these values will cause the device to quit while the battery still has power. Mimicking the memory effect, this will cause a nickel-based battery to be repeatedly recharged before reaching its own end-of-discharge voltage and eventually develop a real memory.
Getting simpler again
The latest “smart” batteries, chargers and cameras can communicate digitally. The battery can control the smart charger for the perfect charge cycle and the cameras can display all the needed power parameters right in the viewfinder. Just when the mix of battery chemistries and their characteristics was becoming increasingly complex, the advent of digital communication between the central components promises to make things a good bit easier.
Bennett Liles is a writer and TV production engineer in the Atlanta area.


The deeper I get into the history of events in central and western Maryland, the more I am convinced that the “despot’s heel” argument really holds little weight. Not only is the state song out of date, it never really reflected the Civil War era opinion of the state as a whole.
What prompted today’s thought was my seeing a comment made elsewhere about why Maryland didn’t jump in as a seceding state. More or less, the argument was that it was because there were so many Federal troops present that the legislature couldn’t make the move to secession that they (maybe I should place emphasis on “they”, knowing how some legislators in the deeper South made it clear that “they” felt that they often knew better what to do than the citizens) really wanted. This was just part of a larger discussion and Maryland wasn’t THE focus of it all.
In regard to the presence of Federal troops suppressing Maryland’s “will”, I think this is exaggerated. True, we have the incident in Baltimore with the boys from Massachusetts on April 19, 1861 (but they were just passing through), and… even from Unionists, I’ve seen that there was plenty of hub-bub about the control over the legislature (even in the western part of the state) and Governor T.H. Hicks’ handling of situations. Nonetheless, even in the midst of this, there was plenty of pro-Union sentiment being expressed by Maryland’s citizens… especially in the central and western part (keep in mind that this region is the greater focus of my work and I haven’t spent a great deal of time with the eastern part of the state).
There is no doubt that there were plenty who wanted secession, and we can see that more than a fair number of Marylanders ended up wearing gray. I’m sure most of them felt oppressed, repressed, and depressed by the continual downturn of events against their interests, BUT, and this is a critical point… was it any different than the feelings of Unionists in neighboring Virginia? Furthermore, in the aftermath of all that took place in the first half of 1861, Unionists retained a voice in Maryland and it wasn’t by any means weak. Quite a few expressed their support (and, perhaps, may have been able to do so because of keeping the secessionists in check) for the Union by enlisting in Maryland’s Union regiments and many continued to express it in other ways. When we realize the numbers of these people, why is that some still see Maryland as a state under the despot’s heel? Sure, some people felt it, but not the state as a whole.
I think there is a lot more to learn from the Civil War-era Maryland than that presented through the narrow understanding offered through the state song. I especially think that an understanding of Maryland’s secessionists may help us to better understand the feelings of the unwavering Unionists in the secessionists states. In fact, I’ve encountered some interesting experiential parallels between the two groups. As I’ve mentioned before in other posts, in examining my home county in Virginia, I’ve discovered stories that reveal a number of heavy-handed methods used by secessionists against anyone who posed a threat to secession and the success of the Confederacy. In turn, I’ve encountered some instances of mob-rule (no different than that which I’ve seen in Virginia) in Washington County, Maryland where secessionists have been not only driven out, but beaten down, literally! I’ll eventually share a story that I found about one rather vocal secessionists and what he experienced at the hands of mob-rule in Williamsport, Md. in 1861.


Forest Ecosystems: Current Research
Regional Fire/Climate Relationships in the Pacific Northwest and Beyond
Fire exerts a strong influence on the structure and function of many terrestrial ecosystems. In forested ecosystems, the factors controlling the frequency, intensity, and size of fires are complex and operate at different spatial and temporal scales. Since climate strongly influences most of these factors (such as vegetation structure and fuel moisture), understanding the past and present relationships between climate and fire is essential to developing strategies for managing fire-prone ecosystems in an era of rapid climate change. The influence of climate change and climate variability on fire regimes and large fire events in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) and beyond is the focus of this project.
There is mounting evidence that a detectable relationship exists between extreme fire years in the West and Pacific Ocean circulation anomalies. The El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influences fire in the Southwest (SW) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) appears to be related to fire in the PNW and Northern Rockies (NR). However, there are reasons to expect that processes driving fire in PNW, SW, and NR are not constant in their relative influence on fire through time or across space and that their differentiation is not stationary through time or across space.
- How regionally specific is the relationship between large fire events and precipitation/atmospheric anomalies associated with ENSO and PDO during the modern record?
- What do tree-ring and other paleo-records tell us about the temporal variability of the patterns of fire/climate relationships?
- How is climate change likely to influence climate/fire relationships given the demonstrated influences of climate variability?
Figure 1 A simple model of climate–fire-vegetation linkages. This project emphasizes the mechanisms and variability indicated by (1).
For publications on climate impacts on PNW forest ecosystems, please see CIG Publications.
Gedalof, Z. 2002. Links between Pacific basin climatic variability and natural systems of the Pacific Northwest. PhD dissertation, School of Forestry, University of Washington, Seattle.
Littell, J.S. 2002. Determinants of fire regime variability in lower elevation forests of the northern greater Yellowstone ecosystem. M.S. Thesis, Big Sky Institute/Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman.
Mote, P.W., W.S. Keeton, and J.F. Franklin. 1999. Decadal variations in forest fire activity in the Pacific Northwest. In Proceedings of the 11th Conference on Applied Climatology, pp. 155-156, Boston, Massachusetts: American Meteorological Society.


Hanukkah begins this year on December 1st, at sundown. Be honest. When I say “Hanukkah,” the first thing you think of is the Adam Sandler song, talking about “eight crazy nights.” If you are a little more connected to Jewish culture, you may also think about a dreidel or potato latkes (pancakes). While it’s commonly called the “Festival of Lights,” a better translation is “Dedication.” Being Jewish (circumcised at 8 days, Bar Mitzvah at age 13) and a Christ-follower (for over 15 years), I’d like to give a brief explanation of this holiday, and why it’s a meaningful opportunity to help me worship the Lord.
Here’s the story of Hanukkah: In the 2nd century BC, Antiochus Epiphanes gained control over parts of the Middle East, including Judea (Israel). He erected an altar to Zeus in the Temple in Jerusalem, and sacrificed pigs there, which are unclean to Jews. The Maccabee family led a revolt, finally liberating Jerusalem and the Temple in 165 BC. Before God could be properly worshiped in the Temple, it had to be cleaned and dedicated. The menorah (lamp) had to burn continuously for 8 days for the purification process. Despite there only being enough olive oil for one day, the oil miraculously lasted for 8 days and nights. That is why Hanukkah is celebrated for 8 nights.
Most people consider this miracle to be the end in itself, and I think the bigger meaning is missed. The point isn’t just that God did a miracle, but that the miracle was the means to allow Him to be properly worshiped. The Temple needed to be purified in order for Yahweh to be worshiped, but it couldn’t be purified unless He worked a miracle. God worked a miracle so that His people could be near Him in worship.
Let us not miss that meaning, as we celebrate the Advent of Jesus Christ, the Light of the world (John 8:12). I don’t think we need merely to reflect on the birth of Jesus, but we need to consider why the Father sent His Son. God performed a miracle (the Incarnation) not as an end to itself, but as a means to allow us to be near Him in worship (through Christ’s redemptive sacrifice for our sins). Jesus did not come only to be marveled at as a baby, but to pour out His life and blood, to open the way for a new covenant with Him.


by Piter Kehoma Boll
Let’s expand the universe of Friday Fellow by presenting a plant for the first time! And what could be a better choice to start than the famous Grandidier’s Baobab? Belonging to the species Adansonia grandidieri, this tree is one of the trademarks of Madagascar, being the biggest species of this genus found in the island.
Reaching up to 30 m in height and having a massive trunk only branched at the very top, it has a unique look and is found only at southwestern Madagascar. However, despite being so attractive and famous, it is classified as an endangered species by IUCN Red List, with a declining population threatened by agriculture expansion.
This tree is also heavily exploited, having vitamin C-rich fruits which can be consumed fresh and seeds used to extract oil. Its bark can also be used to make ropes and many trees are found with scars due to the extraction of part of the bark.
Having a fibrous trunk, baoabs are able to deal with drought by apparently storaging water inside them. There are no seed dispersors, which can be due to the extiction of the original dispersor by human activities.
Originally occuring close to temporary water bodies in the dry deciduous forest, today many large trees are found in always dry terrains. This probably is due to human impact that changed the local ecosystem, letting it to become drier than it was. Those areas have no or very poor ability to regenerate and probably will never go back to what they were and, once the old trees die, there will be no more baobabs there.
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Baum, D. A. (1995). A Systematic Revision of Adansonia (Bombacaceae) Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 82, 440-470 DOI: 10.2307/2399893
Wikipedia. Adamsonia grandidieri. Available online at <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_grandidieri>. Access on October 02, 2012.
World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. Adansonia grandidieri. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Access on October 02, 2012.


The Blink Of An Eye
The Facts About Eyelid Cancer
Symptoms and Types of Cancer
Sun exposure is cumulative — the older we get, the more likely we are to develop eyelid cancer. People with fair skin, and blonde or red hair and light eyes are particularly at risk.
The lower lid is affected most often by eyelid cancer. The corner of the eyelid closest to the nose is the second most common area, followed by the upper eyelid.
Like other skin cancers, basal cell carcinoma is the most common cancer to affect the eyelid. “You may see a little nodule or lesion that gets larger. It will usually be pearly with visible blood vessels in the center,” says Dr. Hui. “It may have crusting or bleeding at the site. You may also notice a loss of eyelashes in that area.”
A squamous cell carcinoma will progress more rapidly with a non-healing area in the center. More rarely, a melanoma will occur which most often appears as a dark spot. “Ideally, people should be aware of any lump or bump anywhere on their eyelid, especially on the margin in between the lashes,” notes Dr. Hui.
The standard of care for eyelid cancer is Mohs microscopic surgery by a dermatologist to remove the lesion, followed by repair of the area by an ocuplastic surgeon.
“During the Mohs procedure, a Mohs-trained dermatologist takes the cancer off and immediately looks at the lesion under a microscope to make sure they removed all of the cancer, checking to see if they need to go back and remove more,” explains Dr. Hui. “This tissue-sparing approach is preferable because there is so little redundant tissue in the eyelids. Once the lesion is removed, the area can be repaired within hours or on the following day.”
Radiation and topical treatments are available but not optimal. “Topical treatments can be very irritating and I don’t feel there is a role for radiation because of the damage it can cause to surrounding tissue,” says Hui. “Excision is by far the treatment of choice.”
Preventing eyelid cancer is relatively easy but does require self-discipline. Sunscreen is a must. An SPF of 30 is recommended in desert areas like the Coachella Valley. “Find a sunscreen you will wear and reapply it regularly,” says Dr. Hui. “You always want the sunscreen to be directly in contact with your skin for best protection. When you apply sunscreen, you should see it coating your skin as you massage it in. Also, don’t forget to reapply.”
Sunglasses are also helpful in preventing eyelid cancer. Dr. Hui recommends sunglasses that wrap around the eye and block the sun completely.


Malignant pleural effusion
Malignant pleural effusion is a condition in which cancer causes an abnormal amount of fluid to collect between the thin layers of tissue (pleura) lining the outside of the lung and the wall of the chest cavity. Lung cancer and breast cancer account for about 50-65% of malignant pleural effusions. Other common causes include pleural mesothelioma and lymphoma.
|Malignant Pleural Effusion|
|Classification and external resources|
Investigating a malignant pleural effusion
Clinical evaluation
Clinical factors predicting the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusions are symptoms lasting more than 1 month and the absence of fever.
This is needed to confirm the presence of a pleural effusion. Chest radiograph is usually performed first and may demonstrate an underlying lung cancer as well as the pleural effusion. Ultrasound has a sensitivity of 73% and specificity of 100% at distinguishing malignant pleural effusions from other causes of pleural effusion, based on the presence of visible pleural metastases, pleural thickening greater than 1 cm, pleural nodularity, diaphragmatic thickening measuring greater than 7mm and an echogenic swirling pattern visible in the pleural fluid.
Biochemical analysis
Pleural fluid cytology is positive in 60% of cases. However, in the remaining cases, pleural biopsy is required. Image guided biopsy and thoracoscopy have largely replaced blind biopsy due to their greater sensitivity and safety profile. CT guided biopsy has a sensitivity of 87% compared to Abrams' needle biopsy, which has a sensitivity of 47%.
Identification of pleural fluid biomarkers to distinguish malignant pleural effusions from other causes of exudative effusions would help diagnosis. Biomarkers that have been shown to be raised in malignant pleural effusions compared to benign disease include vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), endostatin, matrix metalloproteinases and tumour markers such as carcinoembryonic antigen. Pleural fluid mesothelin has a sensitivity of 71%, greater than that of cytology, and a specificity of 89% for the diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma.
Treatment of malignant pleural effusions
The goal of treatment of malignant pleural effusions is relief of breathlessness. Occasionally, treatment of the underlying cancer can cause resolution of the effusion. This may be the case with types of cancer that respond well to chemotherapy, such as small cell carcinoma or lymphoma. Simple aspiration of pleural fluid can relieve breathlessness rapidly but fluid and symptoms will usually recur within a couple of weeks. For this reason, more permanent treatments are usually used to prevent fluid recurrence. Standard treatment involves chest tube insertion and pleurodesis. However, this treatment requires an inpatient stay of approximately 2–7 days, can be painful and has a significant failure rate. This has led to the development of tunneled pleural catheters (e.g., Pleurx Catheters), which allow outpatient treatment of effusions.
- Malignant pleural effusion entry in the public domain NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms
- Antony VB, Loddenkemper R, Astoul P, et al. (August 2001). "Management of malignant pleural effusions". Eur. Respir. J. 18 (2): 402–19. PMID 11529302.
- Ferrer J, Roldán J, Teixidor J, Pallisa E, Gich I, Morell F (March 2005). "Predictors of pleural malignancy in patients with pleural effusion undergoing thoracoscopy". Chest 127 (3): 1017–22. doi:10.1378/chest.127.3.1017. PMID 15764788.
- Qureshi NR, Rahman NM, Gleeson FV (February 2009). "Thoracic ultrasound in the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion". Thorax 64 (2): 139–43. doi:10.1136/thx.2008.100545. PMID 18852159.
- Chian CF, Su WL, Soh LH, Yan HC, Perng WC, Wu CP (July 2004). "Echogenic swirling pattern as a predictor of malignant pleural effusions in patients with malignancies". Chest 126 (1): 129–34. doi:10.1378/chest.126.1.129. PMID 15249453.
- Sahn SA, Good JT (March 1988). "Pleural fluid pH in malignant effusions. Diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic implications". Ann. Intern. Med. 108 (3): 345–9. PMID 3341671.
- Rodríguez-Panadero F, López Mejías J (March 1989). "Low glucose and pH levels in malignant pleural effusions. Diagnostic significance and prognostic value in respect to pleurodesis". Am. Rev. Respir. Dis. 139 (3): 663–7. PMID 2923367.
- Maskell NA, Gleeson FV, Davies RJ (April 2003). "Standard pleural biopsy versus CT-guided cutting-needle biopsy for diagnosis of malignant disease in pleural effusions: a randomised controlled trial". Lancet 361 (9366): 1326–30. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(03)13079-6. PMID 12711467.
- Sack U, Hoffmann M, Zhao XJ, et al. (April 2005). "Vascular endothelial growth factor in pleural effusions of different origin". Eur. Respir. J. 25 (4): 600–4. doi:10.1183/09031936.05.00037004. PMID 15802331.
- Sumi M, Kagohashi K, Satoh H, Ishikawa H, Funayama Y, Sekizawa K (2003). "Endostatin levels in exudative pleural effusions". Lung 181 (6): 329–34. doi:10.1007/s00408-003-1035-9. PMID 14749937.
- Gaspar MJ, De Miguel J, García Díaz JD, Díez M (2008). "Clinical utility of a combination of tumour markers in the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusions". Anticancer Res. 28 (5B): 2947–52. PMID 19031938.
- Vatansever S, Gelisgen R, Uzun H, Yurt S, Kosar F (2009). "Potential role of matrix metalloproteinase-2,-9 and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-1,-2 in exudative pleural effusions". Clin Invest Med 32 (4): E293–300. PMID 19640333.
- Davies HE, Sadler RS, Bielsa S, et al. (September 2009). "Clinical impact and reliability of pleural fluid mesothelin in undiagnosed pleural effusions". Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 180 (5): 437–44. doi:10.1164/rccm.200811-1729OC. PMID 19299498.
- Roberts ME, Neville E, Berrisford RG, Antunes G, Ali NJ (August 2010). "Management of a malignant pleural effusion: British Thoracic Society Pleural Disease Guideline 2010". Thorax 65 (Suppl 2): ii32–40. doi:10.1136/thx.2010.136994. PMID 20696691.


||The neutrality of this article is disputed. (January 2013)|
||This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2013)|
Sprouting is the practice of germinating seeds to be eaten raw or cooked. Sprouted foods are a convenient way to have fresh vegetables for salads, or otherwise, in any season and can be germinated at home or produced industrially. They are a prominent ingredient of the raw food diet and common in Eastern Asian cuisine. Sprouting is also applied on a large scale to barley as a part of the malting process. A potential downside to consuming raw sprouts is that the process of germinating seeds can also be conducive to harmful bacterial growth.
Seeds suitable for sprouting
All viable seeds can be sprouted, but some sprouts should not be eaten raw. The most common food sprouts include:
- Pulses (legumes; pea family):
- Brassica (cabbage family)
- Other vegetables and herbs:
Although whole oats can be sprouted, oat groats sold in food stores, which are dehulled and require steaming or roasting to prevent rancidity, will not sprout. Whole oats may have an indigestible hull which makes them difficult or even unfit for human consumption.
All the sprouts of the solanaceae (tomato, potato, paprika, aubergine or eggplant) and rhubarb cannot be eaten as sprouts, either cooked or raw, as they can be poisonous. Some sprouts can be cooked to remove the toxin, while others cannot.
With all seeds, care should be taken that they are intended for sprouting or human consumption rather than sowing. Seeds intended for sowing may be treated with chemical dressings. Several countries, such as New Zealand, also require that some varieties of imported edible seed be heat-treated, thus making them impossible to sprout. Quinoa in its natural state is very easy to sprout but when polished, or pre-cleaned of its saponin coating (becoming whiter), loses its power to germinate.
The germination process
The germination process takes a few days and can be done at home manually, as a semi-automated process, or industrially on a large scale for commercial use.
Typically the seeds are first rinsed to remove soil and dirt and the mucilaginous substances produced by some seeds when they come in contact with water. Then they are soaked for 20 minutes to 12 hours, depending on the type and size of seed. The soaking increases the water content in the seeds and brings them out of quiescence. After draining and then rinsing seeds at regular intervals they germinate, or sprout.
For home sprouting, the seeds are soaked (big seeds) or moistened (small), then left at room temperature (13 to 21 °C or 55 to 70 °F) in a sprouting vessel. Many different types of vessels can be used. One type is a simple glass jar with a piece of cloth or nylon window screen secured over its rim. "Tiered" clear plastic sprouters are commercially available, allowing a number of "crops" to be grown simultaneously. By staggering sowings, a constant supply of young sprouts can be ensured. Any vessel used for sprouting must allow water to drain from it, because sprouts that sit in water will rot quickly. The seeds swell, may stick to the sides of the jar, and begin germinating within a day or two.
Sprouts are rinsed two to four times a day, depending on the climate and the type of seed, to provide them with moisture and prevent them from souring. Each seed has its own ideal sprouting time. After three to five days the sprouts will have grown to 5 to 8 centimetres (2–3 in) in length and will be suitable for consumption. If left longer they will begin to develop leaves, and are then known as baby greens. A popular baby green is sunflower after 7–10 days. Refrigeration can be used as needed to slow or halt the growth process of any sprout.
Common causes for sprouts to become inedible:
- Seeds are not rinsed well enough before soaking
- Seeds are left in standing water after the initial soaking
- Seeds are allowed to dry out
- Temperature is too high or too low
- Insufficient rinsing
- Dirty equipment
- Insufficient air flow
- Contaminated water source
- Poor germination rate
Mung beans can be sprouted either in light or dark conditions. Those sprouted in the dark will be crisper in texture and whiter, as in the case of commercially available Chinese Bean Sprouts, but these have less nutritional content than those grown in partial sunlight. Growing in full sunlight is not recommended, because it can cause the beans to overheat or dry out. Subjecting the sprouts to pressure, for example, by placing a weight on top of them in their sprouting container, will result in larger, crunchier sprouts similar to those sold in Polish grocery stores.
A very effective way to sprout beans like lentils or azuki is in colanders. Soak the beans in water for about 8 hours then place in the colander. Wash twice a day. The sprouted beans can be eaten raw or cooked.
Sprouting is also applied on a large scale to barley as a part of the malting process. Malted barley is an important ingredient in beer and is used in huge quantities. Most malted barley is distributed among wide retail sellers in North American regions.
Many varieties of nuts, such as almonds and peanuts, can also be started in their growth cycle by soaking and sprouting, although because the sprouts are generally still very small when eaten, they are usually called "soaks".
Nutritional information
Sprouts are said to be rich in digestible energy, bioavailable vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins, and phytochemicals, as these are necessary for a germinating plant to grow. These nutrients are essential for human health. The nutritional changes upon germination & sprouting are summarised below.
Chavan and Kadam (1989) concluded that - “The desirable nutritional changes that occur during sprouting are mainly due to the breakdown of complex compounds into a more simple form, transformation into essential constituents and breakdown of nutritionally undesirable constituents.”
“The metabolic activity of resting seeds increases as soon as they are hydrated during soaking. Complex biochemical changes occur during hydration and subsequent sprouting. The reserve chemical constituents, such as protein, starch and lipids, are broken down by enzymes into simple compounds that are used to make new compounds.”
“Sprouting grains causes increased activities of hydrolytic enzymes, improvements in the contents of total proteins, fat, certain essential amino acids, total sugars, B-group vitamins, and a decrease in dry matter, starch and anti-nutrients. The increased contents of protein, fat, fibre and total ash are only apparent and attributable to the disappearance of starch. However, improvements in amino acid composition, B-group vitamins, sugars, protein and starch digestibilities, and decrease in phytates and protease inhibitors[disambiguation needed] are the metabolic effects of the sprouting process.”
Increases in Protein Quality Chavan and Kadam (1989) stated - “Very complex qualitative changes are reported to occur during soaking and sprouting of seeds. The conversion of storage proteins of cereal grains into albumins and globulins during sprouting may improve the quality of cereal proteins. Many studies have shown an increase in the content of the amino acid Lysine with sprouting.”
“An increase in proteolytic activity during sprouting is desirable for nutritional improvement of cereals because it leads to hydrolysis of prolamins and the liberated amino acids such as glutamic and proline are converted to limiting amino acids such as lysine.”
Increases in Crude Fibre content Cuddeford (1989), based on data obtained by Peer and Leeson (1985), stated - “In sprouted barley, crude fibre, a major constituent of cell walls, increases both in percentage and real terms, with the synthesis of structural carbohydrates, such as cellulose and hemicellulose”. Chung et al. (1989) found that the fibre content increased from 3.75% in unsprouted barley seed to 6% in 5-day sprouts.”
Crude Protein and Crude Fibre changes in Barley Sprouted over a 7-day period
|Crude Protein (% of DM)||Crude Fibre (% of DM)|
Source: Cuddeford (1989), based on data obtained by Peer and Leeson (1985).
Increase of protein is not due to new protein being manufactured by the germination process but by the washing out of starch and conversion to fiber -- increasing the relative proportion of protein.
Increases in Essential Fatty Acids
An increase in lipase activity has been reported in barley by MacLeod and White (1962), as cited by Chavan and Kadam (1989) . Increased lipolytic activity during germination and sprouting causes hydrolysis of triacylglycerols to glycerol and constituent fatty acids.
Increases in Vitamin content According to Chavan and Kadam (1989), most reports agree that sprouting treatment of cereal grains generally improves their vitamin value, especially the B-group vitamins. Certain vitamins such as α-tocopherol (Vitamin-E) and β-carotene (Vitamin-A precursor) are produced during the growth process (Cuddeford, 1989) .
According to Shipard (2005) - “Sprouts provide a good supply of Vitamins A, E & C plus B complex. Like enzymes, vitamins serve as bioactive catalysts to assist in the digestion and metabolism of feeds and the release of energy. They are also essential for the healing and repair of cells. However, vitamins are very perishable, and in general, the fresher the feeds eaten, the higher the vitamin content. The vitamin content of some seeds can increase by up to 20 times their original value within several days of sprouting. Mung Bean sprouts have B vitamin increases, compared to the dry seeds, of - B1 up 285%, B2 up 515%, B3 up 256%. Even soaking seeds overnight in water yields greatly increased amounts of B vitamins, as well as Vitamin C. Compared with mature plants, sprouts can yield vitamin contents 30 times higher.”
Chelation of Minerals Shipard (2005) claims that - “When seeds are sprouted, minerals chelate or merge with protein, in a way that increases their function.”
It is important to note that while these changes may sound impressive, the comparisons are between dormant non-sprouted seed to sprouted seed rather than comparisons of sprouts to mature vegetables. Compared to dry seeds there are very large increases in nutrients whereas compared with mature vegetables the increase is less. However, a sprout, just starting out in life, is likely to need and thus have more nutrients (percentage wise) than a mature vegetable.
Health concerns
Bacterial infection
Commercially grown sprouts have been associated with multiple outbreaks of harmful bacteria, including salmonella and toxic forms of Escherichia coli. Such infections, which are so frequent in the United States that investigators call them "sproutbreaks", may be a result of contaminated seeds or of unhygienic production with high microbial counts. Sprout seeds can become contaminated in the fields where they are grown, and sanitizing steps may be unable to kill bacteria hidden in damaged seeds. A single surviving bacterium in a kilogram of seed can be enough to contaminate a whole batch of sprouts, according to the FDA.
To minimize the impact of the incidents and maintain public health, both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada issued industry guidance on the safe manufacturing of edible sprouts and public education on their safe consumption. There are also publications for hobby farmers on safely growing and consuming sprouts at home. The recommendations include development and implementation of good agricultural practices and good manufacturing practices in the production and handling of seeds and sprouts, seed disinfection treatments, and microbial testing before the product enters the food supply.
In June 2011, contaminated bean sprouts in Germany were identified as the source of the 2011 E. coli O104:H4 outbreak. In addition to Germany, where 3,785 cases and 45 deaths had been reported by the end of the outbreak, a handful of cases were reported in several countries including Switzerland, Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, the UK, Canada and the USA. Virtually all affected people had been in Germany shortly before becoming ill.
Antinutritional factors
Some legumes, including sprouts, can contain toxins or antinutritional factors, which can be reduced by soaking, sprouting and cooking (e.g., stir frying). Joy Larkcom advises that to be on the safe side “one shouldn’t eat large quantities of raw legume sprouts on a regular basis, no more than about 550g (20oz) daily”.
Phytic acid, an antinutritional factor, occurs primarily in the seed coats and germ tissue of plant seeds. It forms insoluble or nearly insoluble compounds with many metal ions, including those of calcium, iron, magnesium and zinc, reducing their dietary availability. Diets high in phytic acid content and poor in these minerals produce mineral deficiency in experimental animals (Gontzea and Sutzescu, 1958, as cited in Chavan and Kadam, 1989). The latter authors state that the sprouting of cereals has been reported to decrease levels of phytic acid. Similarly, Shipard (2005) states that enzymes of germination and sprouting can help eliminate detrimental substances such as phytic acid. However, the amount of phytic acid reduction from soaking is only marginal, and not enough to counteract its antinutrient effects
See also
- Donald G. Barceloux MD. "Potatoes, Tomatoes, and Solanine Toxicity (Solanum tuberosum L., Solanum lycopersicum L.)". Retrieved 7 August 2011. Paid subscription required to access article.
- "The Vegetarian Society - Information Sheet - pulses". Vegetarian Society. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
- "Plant-based nutrition". Spring 2002. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
- Neuman, William (10 June 2011). "The Poster Plant of Health Food Can Pack Disease Risks". New York Times. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
- Breuer, Thomas et al.. "A Multistate Outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Infections Linked to Alfalfa Sprouts Grown from Contaminated Seeds". Retrieved 19 November 2007.
- Gabriel, Alonzo A. et al.; Berja, M; Estrada, A; Lopez, M; Nery, J; Villaflor, E (2007). "Microbiology of retail mung bean sprouts vended in public markets of National Capital Region, Philippines". Food Control 18 (10): 1307–1313. doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2006.09.004.
- Food and Drug Administration (May 17, 2005). "Transcript of Proceedings of Public Meeting on Sprout Safety". Retrieved 19 November 2007.
- Health Canada. "Sprouted Beans and Seeds". Retrieved 19 November 2007.
- Harrison, H. C. "Growing Edible Sprouts at Home" (PDF). Retrieved 23 November 2007.
- Suslow, Trevor V.; Linda J. Harris. "Growing Seed Sprouts at Home" (PDF). Retrieved 23 November 2007.
- Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC): Update on outbreak in the EU, 27 July 2011
- "Outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli in Germany (22 June 2011, 11:00)". ECDC. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
- "E. coli cucumber scare: Russia announces import ban". BBC News Online. 30 May 2011. Archived from the original on 30 May 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
- "E. Two in U.S. infected in German E. coli outbreak". MSNBC Online. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
- Larkcom, Joy ‘Salads For Small Gardens’, p.98 Hamlyn 1995 ISBN 0-600-58509-3
- "The Influence of Soaking and Germination on the Phytase Activity and Phytic Acid Content of Grains and Seeds Potentially Useful for Complementary Feedin". Food Science.
- The Raw Truth by Jeremy A Safron, (Celestial Arts, Toronto, 2003) ISBN 1-58761-172-4 (pbk.)
- "The Complete Guide to Successful Sprouting for Parrots" by Leslie Moran, (Critter Connection, US, 2007) ISBN 978-1-4196-8479-1 (110 pgs, pbk.)
- Title: Hydroponic grass. Source: In Practice. (Cuddeford, D., 1989). (Relates to Animal Nutrition)
- Title: NUTRITIONAL IMPROVEMENT OF CEREALS BY FERMENTATION. Source: CRITICAL REVIEWS IN FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION (CHAVAN, JK; KADAM, SS, 1989)
- Title: How can I grow and use Sprouts as living food. (Shipard 2008) ISBN 978-0-9758252-0-4
1992.Kavas,A.: EL,S.N.Changes in nutritive value of lentils and mung beans during germination.Chem.Mikrobiol.,Technol.,Lebens.,14:3-9.
- Sprout Recipes Sprout recipes for every lifestyle and palate
- Sprout links
- Sprout People
- Guidelines on Safe Production of Ready-to-Eat Sprouted Seeds (Sprouts) - Food Safety Authority of Ireland General Fact-sheet Series
- Annex I - Proposed Draft Annex for Sprout Production - in Appendix II - Proposed Draft Code of Hygienic Practice for the Primary Production, Harvesting and Packing of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (at Step 5 of the Procedure) of Report of the Thirty Third Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene
- Growing Seed Sprouts at Home - University of California Davis Agricultural and Natural Resources Catalog


Page:Jardine Naturalist's library Bees.djvu/32
availed ourselves of the information dispersed throughout a variety of publications, both ancient and modern, with such additions of our own, as have been acquired by the observation of Bees for a period of thirty years. Our prescribed limits have restricted us, in a great degree, to mere matters of fact, and prevented us often from illustrating our subject, as we might have done with advantage, by reference to the habits and instincts of other of the insect tribes. The same cause has operated as a bar to our indulging so frequently as our inclination would have led us, in those reflections which the wonders in animal economy are so well fitted to excite, and which lead so irresistibly to the conclusion that there is a Wise and Designing Cause. We trust, however, that the facts detailed, will, of themselves, lead the mind of the intelligent reader to such reflections, and thus become the source of a purer gratification than would have been derived from the suggestions of others.
- Some of our readers may be inclined to question the propriety of having placed the Queen-bee upon flowers, on which she is never seen, but it has, throughout our plates, been our endeavour to make them pictorial as Avell as scientifically correct, the more necessary in a volume such as the present, where our materials are rather scanty, a loss, however,
fully compensated by the extraordinary interest in the subject itself.
- We have to acknowledge our special obligations to the Treatises of M. Feburier of Paris, and of Dr. Bevan of South Wales, Author of "The Honey-Bee."


The Life of Captain Matthew Flinders, R.N./Chapter 1
BIRTH AND ORIGINS
Matthew Flinders was the third of the triad of great English sailors by whom the principal part of Australia was revealed. A poet of our own time, in a line of singular felicity, has described it as the "last sea-thing dredged by sailor Time from Space;" and the piecemeal, partly mysterious, largely accidental dragging from the depths of the unknown of a land so immense and bountiful makes a romantic chapter in geographical history. All the great seafaring peoples contributed something towards the result. The Dutch especially evinced their enterprise in the pursuit of precise information about the southern Terra Incognita, and the nineteenth century was well within its second quarter before the name New Holland, which for over a hundred years had borne testimony to their adventurous pioneering, gave place in general and geographical literature to the more convenient and euphonious designation suggested by Flinders himself, Australia.
But, important as was the work of the Dutch, and though the contributions made by French navigators (possibly also by Spanish) are of much consequence, it remains true that the broad outlines of the continent were laid down by Dampier, Cook and Flinders. These are the principal names in the story. A map of Australia which left out the parts discovered by other sailors would be seriously defective in particular features; but a map which left out the parts discovered by these three Englishmen would gape out of all resemblance to the reality.
Dampier died about the year 1712; nobody knows precisely when. Matthew Flinders came into the world in time to hear, as he may well have done as a boy, of the murder of his illustrious predecessor in 1779. The news of Cook's fate did not reach England till 1781. The lad was then seven years of age, having been born on March 16th, 1774.
His father, also named Matthew, was a surgeon practising his profession at Donington, Lincolnshire, where the boy was born. The Flinders family had been settled in the same town for several generations. Three in succession had been surgeons. The patronymic indicates a Flemish origin, and the work on English surnames that bids the reader looking for information under "Flinders" to "see Flanders," sends him on a reasonable quest, if to no great resulting advantage.The English middle-eastern counties received frequent large migrations of Flemings during several centuries. Sometimes calamities due to the harshness of nature, sometimes persecutions and wars, sometimes adverse economic conditions, impelled companies of people from the Low Countries to cross the North Sea and try to make homes for themselves in a land which, despite intervals of distraction, offered greater security and a better reward than did the place whence they came. England derived much advantage from the infusion of this industrious, solid and dependable Flemish stock; though the temporary difficulty of absorption gave rise to local protests on more than one occasion.
As early as 1108, a great part of Flanders "being drowned by an exudation or breaking in of the sea, a great number of Flemings came into the country, beseeching the King to have some void place assigned them, wherein they might inhabit." Again in the reign of Edward I we find Flemish merchants carrying on a very large and important trade in Boston, and representatives of houses from Ypres and Ostend acquired property in the town. In the middle of the sixteenth century, when Flanders was boiling on the fire of the Reformation, Lincolnshire and Norfolk provided an asylum for crowds of harassed refugees. In 1569 two persons were deputed to ride from Boston to Norwich to ascertain what means that city adopted to find employment for them; and in the same year Mr. William Derby was directed to move Mr. Secretary Cecil, Queen Elizabeth's great minister, to "know his pleasure whether certain strangers may be allowed to dwell within the borough without damage of the Queen's laws."
During one of these peaceful and useful Flemish invasions the ancestors of Matthew Flinders entered Lincolnshire. In the later years of his life he devoted some attention to the history of his family, and found record of a Flinders as early as the tenth century. He believed, also, that his people had some connection with two men named Flinders or Flanders, who fled from Holland during the religious persecutions, and settled, in Queen Elizabeth's reign, in Nottinghamshire as silk stocking weavers. It would be very interesting if it were clear that there was a link between the family and the origins of the great Nottingham hosiery trade. A Flinders may in that case have woven silk stockings for the Royal termagant, and Lord Coke's pair, which were darned so often that none of the original fabric remained, may have come from their loom.
Matthew Flinders himself wrote the note: "Ruddington near Nottingham (it is four miles south of the town) is the place whence the Flinders came;" and he ascertained that an ancestor was Robert Flinders, a Nottingham stocking-weaver.
A family tradition relates that the Lincolnshire Flinders were amongst the people taken over to England by Sir Cornelius Vermuyden, a Dutch engineer of celebrity in his day, who undertook in 1621 to drain 360,000 acres of fen in Norfolk, Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire. He was financed by English and Dutch capitalists, and took his reward in large grants of land which he made fit for habitation and cultivation. Vermuyden and his Flemings were not allowed to accomplish their work of reclamation without incurring the enmity of the natives. In a petition to the King in 1637 he stated that he had spent 150,000 pounds, but that 60,000 pounds of damage had been done "by reason of the opposition of the commoners," who cut the banks of his channels in the night and during floods. The peasantry, indeed, resisted the improvements that have proved so beneficent to that part of England, because the draining and cultivation of so many miles of swamp would deprive them of fishing and fowling privileges enjoyed from time immemorial. Hardly any reform or improvement can be effected without some disruption of existing interests; and a people deeply sunk in poverty and toil could hardly be expected to contemplate with philosophical calm projects which, however advantageous to individuals and to posterity, were calculated to diminish their own means of living and their pleasant diversions. The dislike of the "commoners" to the work of the "participants" led to frequent riots, and many of Vermuyden's Flemings were maltreated. He endeavoured to allay discontent by employing local labour at high wages; and was courageous enough to pursue his task despite loss of money, wanton destruction, and many other discouragements. Ebullitions of discontent on the part of fractious Fenlanders did not cease till the beginning of the eighteenth century.
A very simple calculation shows that the great-grandfather of the first Matthew Flinders would probably have been contemporary with Sir Cornelius Vermuyden's reclamation works. He may have been one of the "participants" who benefited from them. The fact is significant as bearing upon this conjecture, that no person named Flinders made a will in Lincolnshire before 1600.
It is, too, an interesting circumstance that there was a Flinders among the early settlers in New England, Richard Flinders of Salem, born 1637. He may have been of the same family as the navigator, for the Lincolnshire element among the fathers of New England was pronounced.
The name Flinders survived at Donington certainly for thirty years after the death of the sailor who gave lustre to it; for in a directory published in 1842 occur the names of "Flinders, Mrs. Eliz., Market Place," and "Flinders, Mrs. Mary, Church Street."
The Flinders papers, mentioned in the preface, contain material which enables the family and connections of the navigator to be traced with certainty for seven generations. The genealogy is shown by the following table:—
There is also an interesting connection between Flinders and the Tennysons, through the Franklin family. The present Lord Tennyson, when Governor of South Australia, in the course of his official duties, in March, 1902, unveiled a memorial to his kinsman on Mount Lofty, and in April of the same year a second one in Encounter Bay. The following table illustrates the relationship between him who wrote of "the long wash of Australasian seas" and him who knew them as discoverer:
The Flinders papers also contain a note suggesting a distant connection between Matthew Flinders and the man who above all others was his choice friend, George Bass, the companion of his earliest explorations. Positive proof is lacking, but Flinders' daughter, Mrs. Petrie, wrote "we have reason to think that Bass was a connection of the family," and the point is too interesting to be left unstated. The following table shows the possible kinship:
John Flinders of Donington, born 1682, died 1741 (great-grandfather of the navigator) had:
Mary Flinders, third and youngest daughter, born 1734, married as her third husband, Bass, and had:It is clear from the particulars stated above that the tree of which Matthew Flinders was the fruit had its roots deep down in the soil of the little Lincolnshire market town where he was born; and Matthew himself would have continued the family tradition, inheriting the practice built up by his father and grandfather (as it was hoped he would do), had there not been within him an irresistible longing for the sea, and a bent of scientific curiosity directed to maritime exploration, which led him on a path of discovery to achievements that won him honourable rank in the noble roll of British naval pioneers.
His father earned an excellent reputation, both professional and personal. The career of a country practitioner rarely affords an opportunity for distinction. It was even less so then than today, when at all events careful records of interesting cases are printed in a score or more of professional publications. But once we find the elder Matthew Flinders in print. The Memoirs of the Medical Society of London contain a paper read before that body on October 30th, 1797: "Case of a child born with variolar pustules, by Matthew Flinders, surgeon, Donington, Lincolnshire." The essay occupies three pages, and is a clear, succinct record of symptoms, treatment and results, for medical readers. The child died; whereupon the surgeon expresses his regret, not on account of infant or parents, but, with true scientific zest, because it deprived him of the opportunity of watching the development of an uncommon case.
Donington is a small town in the heart of the fen country, lying ten miles south-west of Boston, and about the same distance, as the crow flies, from the black, muddy, western fringe of the Wash. It is a very old town. Formerly it was an important Lincolnshire centre, enjoying its weekly Saturday market, and its four annual fairs for the sale of horses, cattle, flax and hemp. During Flinders' youth and early manhood the district grew large quantities of hemp, principally for the Royal Navy. In the days of its prosperity Donington drew to itself the business of an agricultural neighbourhood which was so far cultivable as it rose above the level of desolate and foggy swamps. But the drainage of the fens and the making of good roads over what had once been an area of amphibious uncertainty, neither wholly land nor wholly water, had the effect of largely diverting business to Boston. Trade that came to Donington when it stood over its own tract of fen, like the elderly and respectable capital of some small island, now went to the thriving and historic port on the Witham. Donington stopped growing, stagnated, declined. On the map of Lincolnshire included in Camden's Britannia (1637) it is marked "Dunington," in letters as large as those given to Boston, Spalding and Lincoln. On modern maps the name is printed in small letters; on some in the smallest, or not at all. That fact is fairly indicative of its change of fortunes. Figures tell the tale with precision. In 1801 it contained 1321 inhabitants; in 1821, 1638; in 1841 it reached its maximum, 2026; by 1891 it had gone down to 1547; in 1901 to 1484; at the census of 1911 it had struggled up to 1564.
The fame conferred by a distinguished son is hardly a recompense for faded prosperity, but certain it is that Donington commands a wider interest as the birthplace of Flinders than it ever did in any other respect during its long, uneventful history. The parish church, a fine Gothic building with a lofty, graceful spire, contains a monument to the memory of the navigator, with an inscription in praise of his character and life, and recording that he "twice circumnavigated the globe." Many men have encircled the earth, but few have been so distinguished as discoverers of important portions of it. Apart from this monument, the church contains marble ovals to the memory of Matthew Flinders' father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. They were provided from a sum of £100 pounds left by the navigator, in his will, for the purpose.It is interesting to notice that three of the early Australian explorers came from Lincolnshire, and were all born at places visible in clear weather from the tower of St. Botolph's Church at Boston. While Flinders sprang from Donington, George Bass, who co-operated with him in his first discoveries, was born at Aswarby, near Sleaford, and Sir John Franklin, who sailed with him in the Investigator, and was subsequently to become an Australian Governor and to achieve a pathetic immortality in another field of exploration, entered the world at Spilsby. Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist of Cook's first voyage, Flinders' steadfast friend, and the earliest potent advocate of Australian colonisation, though not actually born in Lincolnshire, was the son of a squire who at the time of his birth owned Revesby Abbey, which is within a short ride of each of the places just named.
- Bernard O'Dowd, Dawnward, (1903).
- Not universally, however, even in official documents. In the Report of the Committee of the Privy Council, dated May 1, 1849, "New Holland" is used to designate the continent, but "Australia" is employed as including both the continent and Tasmania. See Grey's Colonial Policy I., 424 and 439.)
- Barker, Family Surnames (1903) page 143.
- Holinshed's Chronicle (edition of 1807), II 58.)
- Pishey Thompson Collections for a Topographical and Historical Account of Boston and the Hundred of Skirbeck (1820) p. 31.
- Boston Corporation manuscripts quoted in Thompson, History and Antiquities of Boston (1856).
- See Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, for 1619, 1623, 1625, 1638, 1639 et seq; and White's Lincolnshire page 542.
- See C. W. Foster, Calendar of Lincoln Wills 1320-1600`, (1902).
- Savage, Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, (Boston, U.S.A. 1860).
- William White, History, Gazetteer and Directory of the City and Diocese of Lincoln, (1842), p. 193.
- Vol. IV., p. 330 (1779).
- Allen, History of Lincolnshire, (1833), 1., 342; Victoria History of Lincolnshire Volume II. 359; Census Returns for 1911.


One of the things that you have to do at university is read. A lot. Probably you take a look at your reading list which you are given and your heart sinks. How will you ever read everything that you are meant to read? Well, the first things to understand that you don’t have to read everything on your reading list! You need to pick and choose the best from the list. But the other thing to do is to read efficiently and that means quickly. Many people read slowly in the belief that they will understand more that way. However, research shows that reading faster doesn’t interfere with comprehension – in fact it may even increase it. In order to speed up your reading you need to know that fast readers read in blocks, like this:
your eyes see this block then they jump to this block and then this block and you understand the whole block together
If you can read quickly in blocks your reading speed can increase a lot. If you want, use a pen to jump across the page as you read, and move the pen quickly to make sure you read at a good speed. Like other habits, it will get easier with time.
Here’s what Tony Buzan has to say about reading quickly: