text stringlengths 199 648k | id stringlengths 47 47 | dump stringclasses 1 value | url stringlengths 14 419 | file_path stringlengths 139 140 | language stringclasses 1 value | language_score float64 0.65 1 | token_count int64 50 235k | score float64 2.52 5.34 | int_score int64 3 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Baking prosphora requires practice. If possible, this procedure is best learned by watching someone with experience making prosphora a few times before one begins. The most common misconception about prosphora is the texture. Prosphora should have a heavy, compact texture without being very moist. The recipe that follows is very detailed. If one carefully follows the directions, God willing, one should end up with good prosphora.
Prosphora are made with two pieces of dough, which signify our Saviour's two natures, Divine and Human. Preferably, prosphora should be made three days before Liturgy to allow the loaves two days to dry out and one day to soften slightly in a plastic bag. This makes it easier for the priest to cut the Lamb. A fresh loaf tends to crumble, fall apart, or become doughy in the Chalice. Extra loaves may be stored in plastic bags in a refrigerator for a few days.
Prosphora must be oil free and should be made with only wheat flour, water, salt, and yeast, with no substitutions. To avoid picking up the oils left in utensils, especially wooden ones, set aside the equipment for making prosphora for that purpose only.
Before you begin, assemble all the ingredients and equipment as outlined, and prepare the work table. Light the votive candle, and before the icon of Christ, make the sign of the Cross over yourself and over the pans and flour. The Jesus Prayer should be repeated frequently while baking prosphora.
In the small bowl, combine 1 cup warm water and 1 teaspoon yeast. When the yeast has produced some foam – it will not be much because the amount of yeast is so small – add the salt and mix well.
Into the bowl of the mixer, sift the 5 heaping cups of white flour and then sift the 4 level cups of whole wheat flour. Mix the two flours until uniform.
Pour the yeast mixture into the flour and start the mixer. The dough hook will do the work of kneading the dough. If you do not have a mixer with a dough hook, you will have to do this process by hand. Using a small measuring cup, gradually add a few teaspoons of water at a time to the flour, mixing and kneading the dough the entire time. Continue adding teaspoons of water until all the flour is absorbed. When all absorbed, if the dough seems too dry and rough, add drops of water to the dough and continue kneading. If the dough still looks rough, cover it with plastic wrap, making sure that all the edges are covered, and let it sit for 30 minutes. After this time, knead the dough again and, if needed, add more drops of water and knead until smooth. Cover the dough carefully with plastic wrap and prepare the pans for baking.
Heat a pan on the burner of the stove. Remove from heat and run the stub of a beeswax candle all around the bottom and sides of the pan. A thin coat of wax is sufficient. The candle wax acts as a greasing agent to allow the prosphora to come out of the pan easily.
After the pans are ready, shape the bottom loaves. Use the kitchen scale to weigh out 14 ounces of dough. Shape and knead the dough into a pancake, 1- to 1-1/2-inches thick, and the same diameter as the pan. Put the loaf into the pan and press down on it, making sure that it is even all around. Repeat for the other two pans. Cover the loaves with plastic wrap and let rise on the table. DO NOT put the loves on the oven top to rise, as this will cause the dough to become too light. DO NOT cover the loaves with anything but plastic wrap.
Now you can shape the top loaves. They are smaller, requiring only 2 ounces of dough. Shape the little loaves into balls and place them face down on the cutting board for 10-15 minutes. After this time, turn them face up and cover them again.
When the bottom loaves have risen to the top of the pan, it is time to start pressing the seals. It is important to let the bottom loaves rise enough or they will crack at the edges and be lopsided. Do not be discouraged if you see that after several hours the dough hasn't risen very much. This is a heavy, dry dough with not much yeast in it. It can take up to 4 or 5 hours to rise, so plan your schedule accordingly. During this time it is best to remain in a prayerful state by avoiding television, radio, etc.
Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.
Flour a small section of the cutting board well. Place the top loaf on the flour and roll it out with the rolling pin, making the dough 1-inch larger all around than the seal itself. Very lightly flour the top of the loaf and smooth out the flour with your fingers. Make the sign of the Cross over the loaf with the seal. Center the seal over the loaf and press down hard, first in the middle and then, carefully, without moving the seal, press down firmly all around the seal. The loaf will now be stuck to the seal – leave it that way. Turn the loaf/seal over and with a sharp knife, gently scrape off all the lose flour from the bottom of the loaf. Run your thumb between the edge of the loaf and the seal to get just the edge loose. Place the loaf on the table where there is no flour and carefully pull straight up to release it from the seal.
Lightly wet a small section of the table and place the loaf on the water. Caution: not too much water, not too little. With your fingers, lightly wet the top of the bottom loaf. Take the top loaf and carefully center it on the bottom loaf, holding it on both sides and placing the middle down first, then the sides. Repeat for the other loaves. Having finished placing the seals on the loaves, make toothpick holes around the edge just outside the seal. The Lamb is cut out of the center of the loaf. It must have no air bubbles. DO NOT put the toothpick holes inside the seal. This makes the loaf unacceptable.
Reduce oven heat to 325°F and place all the loaves in the oven immediately. Bake for approximately 50 minutes, depending on your oven.
Prepare the cooling rack by spreading one of the heavy towels on it. When the prosphora are done baking, remove them from the pans and place them on the towel on the cooling rack. Using the paintbrush, brush the tops and bottoms generously with cold water. If flour is still visible on the seal after the prosphora have dried, rub it with a wet towel until all the flour disappears. Place the prosphora face down on the cooling rack and cover them with the two remaining heavy towels. This step ensures that the seals do not become too hard to cut. Let the prosphora dry out just as they are for two days. On the evening of the second day, put them in plastic bags.
The pans will need washing after repeated use. Melt the wax still remaining in the pans by heating them on a stove burner and wiping the inside with a paper towel. Scrub the pans with a liquid cleanser, such as Soft Scrub, dry, and then re-coat with beeswax.
Pray to the Saints Who Made Prosphora | <urn:uuid:1363e3da-eabb-442e-a05e-9f8b3537c29c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.gocportland.org/prosphora.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397565.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00093-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939698 | 1,554 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Roughly 7 percent of 3-year-olds are sleep-deprived, getting less than 10 hours of sleep a day, due partly to parents coming home from work later than before, according to a government study.
The Environment Ministry study covering more than 100,000 children also found that about 29 percent of 3-year-olds were put to bed at 10 p.m. or later, as were around 13 percent of 1-year-olds and 16 percent of 18-month-olds.
It is generally considered appropriate for children aged 3 to 5 to sleep 10 to 13 hours a day, including naps. The study found that about 44 percent of the 3-year-olds averaged 10 to nearly 12 hours of sleep, 47 percent 12 to less than 14 hours, and 2 percent 14 hours or more.
The study also showed that 2 percent of 1-month-olds and 3 percent of 1-year-olds average less than 10 hours of sleep a day.
For the study, the Japan Environment and Children’s Study polled mothers of more than 100,000 children born in 2011 or later.
The tendency for children to be put to bed later was greater among mothers aged 40 or older or under 20. Researchers at the University of Yamanashi who analyzed the results said the higher figure for older parents may be due to the presence of older children.
“Japanese babies have shorter sleeping hours when compared internationally,” said University of Yamanashi professor Zentaro Yamagata, adding he hopes to continue studying how sleep deprivation in early childhood affects later development.
The study results will be presented Saturday at a symposium at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo. | <urn:uuid:6ee65776-0fcc-4d5d-a0db-e90dcc4c5ea3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/01/12/national/science-health/study-shows-7-japanese-3-year-olds-dont-get-enough-sleep/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397864.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00166-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976475 | 351 | 2.921875 | 3 |
AND ITS KINDRED SCIENCES
by ALBERT C. MACKEY M. D.
Browse the Encyclopedia by clicking on any of the letters below.
A | B |
C | D |
E | F |
G | H |
I | J |
K | L |
O | P |
Q | R |
S | T |
U | V |
W | X |
Y | Z
In Hebrew, Beth. A labial or
lip-made consonant standing second in most alphabets, and in the Hebrew or
Phoenician signifies house, probably from its form of a tent or shelter, as in
the illustration, and finally the Hebrew z, having the numerical value two.
When united with the leading letter of the alphabet, it signifies Ab, meaning
Father, Master, or the one in authority, as applied to Hiram the Architect.
This is the word root of Baal. The Hebrew name of the Deity connected with
this letter is ..., Bakhur.
Hebrew, He was the chief
divinity among the Phoenicians, the Canaanites, and the Babylonians. The word
signifies in Hebrew Lord or Master. It was among the Orientalists a
comprehensive term, denoting divinity of any kind without reference to class
or to sex. The Sabaists understood Baal as the sun, and Baalim, in the plural,
were the sun, moon, and stars, "the host of heaven.'' Whenever the Israelites
made one of their almost. periodical deflections to idolatry, Baal seems to
have been the favorite idol to whose worship they addicted themselves. Hence
he became the especial object of denunciation with the prophets.
Thus, in First Kings (xviii),
we see Elijah showing, by practical demonstration, the difference between Baal
and Jehovah. The idolaters, at his initiation, called on Baal, as their
sun-god, to light the sacrificial fire, from morning until noon, because at
noon he had acquired his greatest intensity. After noon, no fire having been
kindled on the altar, they began to cry aloud, and to cut themselves in token
of mortification, because as the sun descended there was no hope of his help.
But Elijah, depending on Jehovah, made his sacrifice toward sunset, to show
the greatest contrast between Baal and the true God. When the people saw the
fire come down and consume the offering, they acknowledged the weakness of
their idol, and falling on their faces cried out, Jehovah hu hahelohim,
meaning Jehovah, He is the God. And Hosea afterward promises the people that
they shall abandon their idolatry, and that he would take away from them the
Shemoth hahbaalim, the names of the Baalim, so that they should be no more
remembered by their names, and the people should in that day "know Jehovah."
Hence we see that there was an
evident antagonism in the orthodox Hebrew mind between Jehmah and Baal. The
latter was, however, worshiped by the Jews, whenever they became heterodox,
and by all the Oriental or Shemitic nations as a supreme divinity,
representing the sun in some of his modifications as the ruler of the day. In
Tyre, Baal was the sun, and Ashtaroth, the moon. Baal-peor, the lord of
priapism, was the sun represented as the generative principle of nature, and
identical with the phallus of other religions. Baal-gad was the lord of the
multitude (of stars) that is, the sun as the chief of the heavenly host. In
brief, Baal seems to have been wherever his cultus was active, a development
of the old sun worship.
In Hebrew, which the writer of
Genesis connects with, balal, meaning to confound, in reference to the
confusion of tongues; but the true derivation is probably from Bab-El, meaning
the gate of Et or the gate of God, because perhaps a Temple was the first
building raised by the primitive nomads. It is the name of that celebrated
tower attempted to be built on the plains of Shimar, 1775 A.M., about one
hundred and forty years after the Deluge, which tower, Scripture informs us,
was destroyed by a special interposition of the Almighty.
The Noachite Freemasons date
the commencement of their Order from this destruction, and much traditionary
information on this subject is preserved in the degree of Patriarch Noachite.
At Babel, Oliver says that what has been called Spurious Freemasonry took its
origin. That is to say, the people there abandoned the worship of the true
God, and by their dispersion lost all knowledge of His existence, and of the
principles of truth upon which Freemasonry is founded. Hence it is that the
old instructions speak of the lofty tower of Babel as the, place where
language was confounded and Freemasonry lost.
This is the theory first
advanced by Anderson in his Constitution, and subsequently developed more
extensively by Doctor Oliver in all his works, but especially in his
Landmarks. As history, the doctrine is of no value, for it wants the element
But in a symbolic point of
view it is highly suggestive.
If the tower of Babel
represents the profane world of ignorance and darkness, and the
threshing-floor of Oman the Jebusite is the symbol of Freemasonry, because the
Solomonic Temple, of which it was the site, is the prototype of the spiritual
temple which Freemasons are erecting, then we can readily understand how
Freemasonry and the true use of language is lost in one and recovered in the
other, and how the progress of the candidate in his initiation may properly be
compared to the progress of truth from the confusion and ignorance of the
Babel builders to the perfection and illumination of the temple builders,
which Temple builders all Freemasons are. So, when, the neophyte, being asked
"whence he comes and whither is he traveling," replies, "from the lofty tower
of Babel, where language was confounded and Masonry lost, to the
threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, where language was restored and
Freemasonry found," the questions and answers become intelligible from this
symbolic point of view (see Ornan).
The ancient capital of Chaldea,
situated of both sides of the Euphrates, and once the most magnificent city of
the ancient world. It was here that upon the destruction of Solomon's Temple
by Nebuchadnezzar in the year of the world 3394 the Jews of the tribes of
Judah and Benjamin who were the inhabitants of Jerusalem, were conveyed and
detained in captivity for seventy-two years, until Cyrus, King of Persia
issued a decree for restoring them, and permitting them to rebuild their
temple, under the superintendence of Zerubbabel, the Prince of the Captivity,
and with the assistance of Joshua the High Priest and Haggai the Seribe.
Babylon the Great, as the
Prophet Daniel calls it was situated four hundred and seventy-five miles in a
nearly due east direction from Jerusalem. It stood in the midst of a large and
fertile plain on each side of the river Euphrates, which ran through it from
north to south. It was surrounded with walls which were eighty-seven feet
thick, three hundred and fifty in height, and sixty miles in compass. These
were all built of large bricks cemented together with bitumen. Exterior to the
walls was a wide and deep trench lined with the same material. Twenty-five
gates on each side, made of solid brass, gave admission to the city. From each
of these gates proceeded a wide street fifteen miles in length, and the whole
was separated by means of other smaller divisions, and contained six hundred
and seventy-six squares, each of which was two miles and a quarter in
circumference. Two hundred and fifty towers placed upon the walls afforded the
means of additional strength and protection. Within this immense circuit were
to be found palaces and temples and other edifices of the utmost magnificence,
which have caused the wealth, the luxury, and splendor of Babylon to become
the favorite theme of the historians of antiquity, and which compelled the
prophet Isaiah, even while denouncing its downfall, to speak of it as "the
glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency."
Babylon, which, at the time of
the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, constituted a part of the Chaldean
empire, was subsequently taken, 538 B.C., after a siege of two years, by
Cyrus, King of Persia
BABYLON, RED CROSS OF
Another name for the degree of
Babylonish Pass, which see.
BABYLONIAN RITE OF INITIATION
See Initiation, Babylonian
A degree given in Scotland by
the authority of the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter. It is also called the
Red Cross of Babylon, and is almost identical with the Knight of the Red Cross
conferred in Commanderies of Knights Templar in America as a preparatory
Freemasonry, borrowing its
symbols from every source, has not neglected to make a selection of certain
parts of the human body. From the back an important lesson is derived, which
is fittingly developed in the Third Degree. Hence, in reference to this
symbolism, 01iver says: "It is a duty incumbent on every Mason to support a
brother's character in his absence equally as though he were present; not to
revile him behind his back, nor suffer it to be done by others, without using
every necessary attempt to prevent it."
Hutchinson, Spirit of Masonry
(page 205), referring to the same symbolic ceremony, says: "The most material
part of that brotherly love which should subsist among us Masons is that of
speaking well of each other to the world; more especially it is expected of
every member of this Fraternity that he should not traduce his brother.
Calumny and slander are detestable crimes against society. Nothing can be
viler than to traduce a man behind his back; it is like the villainy of an
assassin who has not virtue enough to give his adversary the means of
self-defense, but, lurking in darkness, stabs him whilst he is unarmed and
unsuspicious of an enemy'' (see also Points of Fellowship).
Kenning's Cyclopaedia states
that Backhouse reported to be an alchemist and astrologer and that Ashmole
called him father. He published a Rosicrucian work, The Wise Man's Croton, or
Rosicrucian Physic, by Eugenius Theodidactus, in 1651at London. John Heydon
published a book entitled William Backhouse's Way to Bliss, but Ashmole claims
it in his diary to be his own.
Francis Bacon and the Society
of the Rose Baron of Verulam, commonly called Lord Bacon. Nicolai thinks that
a great impulse was exercised upon the early history of Freemasonry by the New
Atlantis of Lord Bacon. In this learned romance Bacon supposes that a vessel
lands on an unknown island, called Bensalem, over which a certain King Solomon
reigned in days of yore.
This king had a large
establishment, which was called the House of Solomon, or the college of the
workmen of six days, namely, the days of the creation. He afterward describes
the immense apparatus which was there employed in physical researches. There
were, says he, deep grottoes and towers for the successful observation of
certain phenomena of nature; artificial mineral waters; large buildings, in
which meteors, the wind, thunder, and rain were imitated; extensive botanic
gardens; entire fields, in which all kinds of animals were collected, for the
study of their instincts and habits; houses filled with all the wonders of
nature and art; a great number of learned men, each of whom, in his own
country, had the direction of these things; they made journeys and
observations; they wrote, they collected, they determined results and
deliberated together as to what was proper to be published and what concealed.
This romance became at once
very popular, and everybody's attention was attracted by the allegory of the
House of Solomon. But it also contributed to spread Bacon's views on
experimental knowledge, and led afterward to the institution of the Royal
Society, to which Nicolai attributes a common object with that of the Society
of Freemasons, established, he says, about the same time, the difference being
only that one was esoteric and the other exoteric in its instructions.
But the more immediate effect
of the romance of Bacon was the institution of the Society of Astrologers, of
which Elias Ashmole was a leading member.
Of this society Nicolai, in
his work on the Origin and History of Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry, says :
"Its object was to build the
House of Solomon, of the New Atlantis, in the literal sense, but the
establishment was to remain as secret as the island of Bensalem-that is to
say, they were to be engaged in the study of nature---but the instruction of
its principles was to remain in the society in an esoteric form. These
philosophers presented their idea in a strictly allegorical method. First,
there were the ancient columns of Hermes, by which Iamblichus pretended that
he had enlightened all the doubts of Porphyry. You then mounted, by several
steps, to a checkered floor, divided into four regions, to denote the four
superior sciences; after which came the types of the six days' work, which
expressed the object of the society, and which were the same as those found on
an engraved stone in my possession. The sense of all which was this: God
created the world, and preserves it by fixed principles, full of wisdom; he
who seeks to know these principles---that is to say, the interior of
nature---approximates to God, and he who thus approximates to God obtains from
his grace the power of commanding nature." This society, he adds, met at
Masons Hall in Basinghall Street, because many of its members were also
members of the Masons Company, into which they all afterward entered and
assumed the name of Free and Accepted Masons, and thus he traces the origin of
the Order to the New Atlantis and the House of Solomon of Lord Bacon. That is
only a theory, but it seems to throw some light on that long process of
incubation which terminated at last, in 1717, in the production of the Grand
Lodge of England. The connection of Ashmole with the Freemasons is a singular
one, and has led to some controversy.
The views of Nicolai, if not
altogether correct, may suggest the possibility of an explanation. Certain it
is that the eminent astrologers of England, as we learn from Ashmole's Diary,
were on terms of intimacy with the Freemasons in the seventeenth century, and
that many Fellows of the Royal Society were also prominent members of the
early Grand Lodge of England which was established in 1717.
An English monk who made
wonderful discoveries in many sciences. He was born in Ilchester in 1214,
educated at Oxford and Paris, and entered the Franciscan Order in his
twenty-fifth year. He explored the secrets of nature, and made many
discoveries, the application of which was looked upon as magic. He denounced
the ignorance and immorality of the clergy, resulting in accusations through
revenge, and finally in his imprisonment. He was noted as a Rosicrucian. Died
The staff of office borne by
the Grand Master of the Templars. In ecclesiology, baculus is the name given
to the pastoral staff carried by a bishop or an abbot as the ensign of his
dignity and authority. In pure Latinity, baculus means a long stick or staff,
which was commonly carried by travelers, by shepherds, or by infirm and aged
persons, and afterward, from affectation, by the Greek philosophers. In early
times, this staff, made a little longer, was carried by kings and persons in
authority, as a mark of distinction, and was thus the origin of the royal
The Christian church,
borrowing many of its usages from antiquity, and alluding also, it is said, to
the sacerdotal power which Christ conferred when he sent the apostles to
preach, commanding them to take with them staves, adopted the pastoral staff,
to be borne by a bishop, as symbolical of his power to inflict pastoral
correction; and Durandus says, "By the pastoral staff is likewise understood
the authority of doctrine. For by it the infirm are supported, the wavering
are confirmed, those going astray are drawn to repentance." Catalin also says
that "the baculus, or episcopal staff, is an ensign not only of honor, but
also of dignity, power, and pastoral jurisdiction."
Honorius, a writer of the
twelfth century, in his treatise De Gemma Animoe, gives to this pastoral staff
the names both of bacutus and virga. Thus he says, ''Bishops bear the staff (baculum),
that by their teaching they may strengthen the weak in their faith ; and they
carry the rod (virgam), that by their power they may correct the unruly.'' And
this is strikingly similar to the language used by St. Bernard in the Rule
which he drew up for the government of the Templars.
In Artiele I xviii, he says,
"The Master ought to hold the staff and the rod (bacutum et cirgam) in his
hand, that is to say, the staff (baculum), that he may support the infirmities
of the weak, and the rod (cirgam), that he may with the zeal of rectitude
strike down the vices of delinquents."
The transmission of episcopal
ensigns from bishops to the heads of ecclesiastical associations was not
difficult in the Middle Ages; and hence it afterwards became one of the
insignia of abbots, and the heads of confraternities connected with the
Church, as a token of the possession of powers of ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
Now, as the Papal bull, Omne
datum Optimum, so named from its first three words, invested the Grand Master
of the Templars with almost episcopal jurisdiction over the priests of his
Order, he bore the baculus, or pastoral staff, as a mark of that jurisdiction,
and thus it became a part of the Grand Master's insignia of office.
The baculus of the bishop, the
abbot, and the confraternities was not precisely the same in form. The
earliest episcopal staff terminated in a globular knob, or a tau cross, a
cross of T shape. This was, however, soon replaced by the simple-curved
termination, which resembles and is called a crook, in allusion to that used
by shepherds to draw back and recall the sheep of their flock which have gone
astray, thus symbolizing the expression of Christ, "I am the good Shepherd,
and know my sheep, and am known of mine."
The baculus of the abbot does
not differ in form from that of a bishop, but as the bishop carries the curved
part of his staff pointing forward, to show the extent of his episcopal
jurisdiction, so the abbot carries his pointing backward, to signify that his
authority is limited to his monastery. The baculi, or staves of the
confraternities, were surmounted by small tabernacles, with images or emblems,
on a sort of carved cap, having reference to the particular gild or
confraternity by which they were borne.
The baculus of the Knights
Templar, which was borne by the Grand Master as the ensign of his office, in
allusion to his quasi-episcopal jurisdiction, is described and delineated in
Munter, Burnes, Addison, and all the other authorities, as a staff, on the top
of which is an octagonal figure, surmounted with a cross patee, this French
word being applied to the arms having enlarged ends. The cross, of course,
refers to the Christian character of the Order, and the octagon alludes, it is
said, to the eight beatitudes of our Savior in His Sermon on the Mount. The
pastoral staff is variously designated, by ecclesiastical writers, as virga,
ferula, cambutta, crocia, and pedum.
From crocia, whose root is the
Latin crux, and the Italian croce, meaning a cross, we get the English word
crozier. Pedum, another name of the baculus, signifies, in pure Latinity, a
shepherd's crook, and thus strictly carries out the symbolic idea of a
Hence, looking to the pastoral
jurisdiction of the Grand Master of the Templars, his staff of office is
described under the title of pedum magistrate seu patriarchale, that is, a
magisterial or patriarchal staff, in the Statuta Commilitonum Ordinis Tempti,
or the Statutes of the Fellow-soldiers of the Order of the Temple, as a part
of the investiture of the Grand Master, in the following words:
Pedum magistrale seu
patriarchale, aureum, in cacumine cujus crux Ordinis super orbem exaltur; that
is, A Magisterial or patriarchal staffl of gold, on the top of which is a
cross of the Order, surmounting an orb or globe. This is from Statute xxviii,
article 358. But of all these names, baculus is the one more commonly used by
writers to designate the Templar pastoral staff.
In the year 1859 this staff of
office was first adopted at Chicago by the Templars of the United States,
during the Grand Mastership of Sir William B. Hubbard. But, unfortunately, at
that time it received the name of abacus, a misnomer which was continued on
the authority of a literary blunder of Sir Walter Scott, so that it has fallen
to the lot of American Freemasons to perpetuate, in the use of this word, an
error of the great novelist, resulting from his too careless writing, at which
he would himself have been the first to smile, had his attention been called
to it. Abacus, in mathematics, denotes an instrument or table used for
calculation, and in architecture an ornamental part of a column; but it
nowhere, in English or Latin, or any known language, signifies any kind of a
Sir Walter Scott, who
undoubtedly was thinking of baculus, in the hurry of the moment and a not
improbable confusion of words and thoughts, wrote abacus, when, in his novel
of Ivanhoe, he describes the Grand Master, Lucas Beaumanoir, as bearing in his
hand "that singular abacus, or staff of office," committed a gross, but not
uncommon, literary blunder, of a kind that is quite familiar to those who are
conversant with the results of rapid composition, where the writer often
thinks of one word and writes another.
In 1778 the Lodge Karl of
Unity was established in Mannheim, which at that time belonged to Bavaria. In
1785 an electoral decree was issued prohibiting all secret meetings in the
Bavarian Palatinate and the Lodge was closed. In 1803 Mannheim was transferred
to the Grand Duchy of Baden, and in 1805 the Lodge was reopened, and in the
following year accepted a warrant from the Grand Orient of France and took the
name of Karl of Concord. Then it converted itself into the Grand Orient of
Baden and was acknowledged as such by the Grand Orient of France in 1807.
Lodges were established at Bruchsal, Heidelberg, and Mannheim, and the Grand
Orient of Baden ruled over them until 1813, when all secret societies were
again prohibited, and it was not until 1846 that Masonic activity recommenced
in Baden, when the Lodge Karl of Concord was awakened.
The Grand Orient of Baden went
out of existence, but the Lodges in the Duchy, of which several have been
established, came under the Grand National Mother-Lodge Zu den drei Weldkugeln,
meaning Of the three Globes, in Berlin.
A mark, sign, token, or thing,
says Webster, by which a person is distinguished in a particular place or
employment, and designating his relation to a person or to a particular
occupation. It is in heraldry the same thing as a cognizance, a distinctive
mark or badge. Thus, the followers and retainers of the house of Percy wore a
silver crescent as a badge of their connection with that family; a
representation of the white lion borne on the left arm was the badge of the
house of Howard, Earl of Surrey ; the red rose that of the House of Lancaster,
and the white rose, of York.
So the apron, formed of white
lambskin, is worn by the Freemason as a badge of his profession and a token of
his connection with the Fraternity (see A pron).
BADGE OF A FREEMASON
The lambskin apron is so
called (see Apron)
BADGE, ROYAL ARCH
The Royal Arch badge is the
triple tau, which see.
In the early days of the Grand
Lodge of England the secretary used to carry a bag in processions, thus in the
procession round the tables at the Grand Feast of 1724 we find "Secretary
Cowper with the Bag" (see the Constitutions, edition of 1738, page 117).
In 1729 Lord Kingston, the
Grand Master, provided at his own cost "a fine Velvet Bag for the Secretary,,"
besides his badge of "Two golden Pens a-cross on his Breast" (see the above
Constitutions, page 124). In the Procession of March from St. James' Square to
Merchant Taylor's Hall on January 29, 1730, there came "The Secretary alone
with his Badge and Bag, clothed, in a Chariot" (see the above Constitutions,
This practice continued
throughout the Eighteenth century, for at the dedication of Freemasons' Hall
in London in 1776 we find in the procession "Grand Secretary with the bag"
(see the Constitutions of 1784, page 318). But at the union of the two rival
Grand Lodges in 1813 the custom was changed, for in the order of procession at
public ceremonies laid down in the Constitutions of 1815, we find "Grand
Secretary with Book of Constitutions on a cushion" and "Grand Registrar with
his bag," and the Grand Registrar of England still carries on ceremonial
occasions a bag with the arms of the Grand Lodge embroidered on it.
American Union Lodge,
operating during the War of the American Revolution in Massachusetts, New
York, and New Jersey, and first erected at Roxbury, has in its records the
accounts of processions of the Brethren. One of these is typical of the others
and refers to the Festival of St. John the Baptist held on June 24, 1779, at
Nelson's Point, New York.
Here they met at eight in the
morning and elected their officers for the half year ensuing. Then they
proceeded to West Point and, being joined by other Brethren, a procession was
formed in the following order: "Brother Whitney' to clear the way; the band of
music with drums and fifes; the Wardens; the youngest brother with the bag ;
brethren by juniority ; the Reverend Doctors Smith, Avery, and Hitchcock ; the
Master of the Lodge, with the Treasurer on his right supporting the sword of
justice, and the Secretary on his left, supporting the Bible, square and
compasses ; Brother Binns to close, with Brothers Lorrain and Disborough on
the flanks opposite the center."
From this description we note
the care with which the old customs were preserved in all their details.
A significant word in the high
degrees. Lenning says it is a corruption of the Hebrew Begoa1-kol, meaning all
is revealed, to which Mackenzie demurs. Pike says, Bagulkol, with a similar
reference to a revelation. Rockwell gives in his manuscript, Bekalkel, without
any meaning. The old rituals interpret it as signifying the faithful guardian
of the sacred ark, a derivation clearly fanciful.
A group of islands forming a
division of the British West Indies. Governor John Tinkler was appointed
Provincial Grand Master in 1752 and Brother James Bradford in 1759. Brother
Tinkler had been made a Freemason in 1730. These few facts are all that can be
found with reference to the introduction by the ''Moderns'' of Freemasonry to
the Bahamas. Possibly uo further steps were taken.
A warrant was granted by the
Ancient in 1785 for Lodge No. 228 but it was found to have ceased work when
the registers were revised at the Union of 1814.
Another Lodge, No. 242,
chartered at Nasau, New Providence existed longer but had disappeared when the
lists were again revised in 1832.
The Masonic Province of the
Bahamas originally comprised three Lodges chartered by the United Grand Lodge
of England, Royal Victoria No. 649, Forth No. 930, and Britannia No. 1277.
Brother J. F. Cooke was appointed the first Provincial Grand Master on
November 7,1842, Of the Provincial Grand Lodge then formed.
BAHRDT, KARL FRIEDERICH
A German Doctor of Theology,
who was born, in 1741, at Bischofswerda, and died in 1792. He is described by
one of his biographers as being "notorious alike for his bold infidelity and
for his evil life." We know no¨ why Thory and Lenning have given his name a
place in their vocabularies, as his literary labors bore no relation to
Freemasonry, except inasmuch as that he was a Freemason, and that in 1787,
with several other Freemasons, he founded at Halle a secret society called the
German Union, or the Two and Twenty, in reference to the original number of
The object of this society was
mid to be the enlightenment of mankind. It was dissolved in 1790, by the
imprisonment of its founder for having written a libel against the Prussian
It is incorrect to call this system of degrees a Masonic Rite (see German
Baird of Newbyth, the
Substitute Grand Master of Scotland in 1841.
Deputy' Grand Master of
England in 1744 under Lord Cranstoun and also under Lord Byron until 1752.
See Seales, Pair of
In architecture, a canopy supported by pillars over an insulated altar. In
Freemasonry, it has been applied by Some writers to the canopy over the
Master's chair. The German Freemasons give this name to the covering of the
Lodge, and reckon it therefore among the symbols.
BALDER or BALDUR
The ancient Scandinavian or
older German divinity. The hero of one of the most beautiful aud interesting
of the myths of the Edda; the second son of Odin and Frigga, and the husband
of the maiden Nanna. In brief, the myth recites that Balder dreamed that his
life was threatened, which being told to the gods, a council was held by them
to secure his safety.
The mother proceeded to demand
and receive assurances from everything, iron and all metals, fire and water,
stones, earth, plants, beasts, birds, reptiles, poisons, and diseases, that
they would not injure Balder. Balder then became the subject of sport with the
gods, who wrestled, cast darts, and in innumerable ways playfully tested his
invulnerability. This finally displeased the mischievous, cunning Loki, the
Spirit of Evil, who, in the form of an old woman, sought out the mother,
Frigga, and ascertained from her that there had been excepted or omitted from
the oath the little shrub Mistletoe. in haste Loki carried some of this shrub
to the assembly of the gods, and gave to the blind Hoder, the god of war,
selected slips, and directing his aim, Balder fell pierced to the heart.
Sorrow among the gods was unutterable, and Frigga inquired who, to win her
favor, would journey to Hades and obtain from the goddess Hel the release of
Balder. The heroic Helmod or Hermoder, son of Odin, offered to undertake the
journey. Hel consented to permit the return if all things animate and
inanimate should weep for Balder.
All living beings and all
things wept, save the witch or giantess Thock, the stepdaughter of Loki, who
refused to sympathize in the general mourning.
Balder was therefore obliged
to linger in the kingdom of Hel until the end of the world.
A portion of military dress,
being a scarf passing from the shoulder over the breast to the hip. In the
dress regulations of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United
States, adopted in 1862, it is called a scarf, and is thus described: "Five
inches wide in the whole, of white bordered with black, one inch on either
side, a strip of navy lace one-fourth of an inch wide at the inner edge of the
black. On the front center of the scarf, a metal star of nine points, in
allusion to the nine founders of the Temple Order, inclosing the Passion
Cross, surrounded by the Latin motto, In hoc signo vinces; the star to be
three and three-quarter inches in diameter. The scarf to be worn from the
right shoulder to the left hip, with the ends extending six inches below the
point of intersection."
The successor of Godfrey of
Bouillon as King of Jerusalem. In his reign the Order of Knights Templar was
instituted, to whom he granted a place of habitation within the sacred
enclosure of the Temple on Mount Moriah. He bestowed on the Order other marks
of favor, and, as its patron, his name has been retained in grateful
remembrance, and often adopted as a name of Commanderies of Masonic Templars.
There is at Bristol in England
a famous Preceptory of Knights Templar, called the Baldwyn, which claims to
have existed from time immemorial. This, together with the Chapter of Knights
Rosae Crucis, is the continuation of the old Baldwyn Encampment, the name
being derived from the Crusader, King of Jerusalem.
The earliest record preserved
by this Preceptory is an authentic and important document dated December 20,
1780, and reads as follows:
"In the name of the Grand
Architect of the Universe.
"The Supreme Grand and Royal
Encampment of the Order of Knights Templars of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights
Hospitallers and Knights of Malta, etc, etc.
"Whereas by Charter of Compact
our Encampment is constituted the Supreme Grand and Royal Encampment of this
Noble Order with full Power when Assembled to issue, publish and make known to
all our loving Knights Companions whatever may contribute to their knowledge
not inconsistent with its general Laws. Also to constitute and appoint any
Officer. or Officers to make and ordain such laws as from time to time may
appear necessary to promote the Honor of our Noble 0rder in general and the
more perfect government of our Supreme degree in particular.
We therefore the M0ST EMINENT
GRAND MASTER The Grand Master of the 0rder, the Grand Master Assistant
General, and two Grand Standard Bearers and Knights Companions for that
purpose in full Encampment Assembled do make known."
Then follow twenty Statutes or
Regulations for the government of the Order, and the document ends with "Done
at our Castle in Bristol 20th day of December 1780."
It is not clear who were the
parties to this "Compact," but it is thought probable that it was the result
of an agreement between the Bristol Encampment and another ancient body at
Bath, the Camp of Antiquity, to establish a supreme direction of the Order.
However that may be, it is clear that the Bristol Encampment was erected into
a Supreme Grand Encampment in 1780, An early reference to the Knights Templar
occurs in a Bristol newspaper of January 25, 1772, so it may fairly be assumed
that the Baldwyn Preceptory had been in existence before the date of the
Charter of Compact.
In 1791 the well-known Brother
Thomas Dunckerley, who was Provincial Grand Master and Grand Superintendent of
the Royal Arch Masons at Bristol, was requested by the Knights Templar of that
city to be their Grand Master. He at once introduced great activity into the
Order throughout England, and established the Grand Conclave in London-the
forerunner of the Great Priory.
The seven Degrees of the Camp
of Baldwyn at that time probably consisted of the three of the Craft and that
of the Royal Arch, which were necessary qualifications of all candidates as
set forth in the Charter of Compact, then that of the Knights Templar of St.
John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta, that of the Knights Rose Croix
of Heredom, the seventh being the Grand Elected Knights Kadosh.
About the year 1813 the three
Degrees of Nine Elect, Kilwinning, and East, Sword and Eagle were adopted by
the Encampment. The Kadosh having afterward discontinued, the five Royal
Orders of Masonic Knighthood, of which the Encampment consisted, were: Nine
Elect; Kilwinning; East, Sword and Eagle, Knight Templar, and the Rose Croix.
For many years the Grand
Conclave in London was in abeyance, but when H.R.H, the Duke of Sussex, who
had been Grand Master since 1813, died in 1843, it was revived, and attempts
were made to induce the Camp of Baldwyn to submit to its authority. These
efforts were without avail, and in 1857 Baldwyn reasserted its position as a
Supreme Grand and Royal Encampment, and shortly afterward issued Charters to
six subordinate Encampments. The chief cause of difference with the London
Grand Conclave was the question of giving up the old custom of working the
Rose Croix Degree within the Camp.
At last, in 1862, the Baldwyn
was enrolled by virtue of a Charter of Compact "under the Banner of the Grand
Conclave of Masonic Knights Templar of England and Wales." lt was arranged
that the Baldwyn Preceptory, as it was then called, should take precedence,
with five others "of time immemorial," of the other Preceptories; that it
should be constituted a Provincial Grand Commandery or Priory of itself; and
should be entitled to confer the degree of Knights of Malta.
In 1881 a Treaty of Union was
made with the Supreme Council of the Thirty-third Degree, whereby the Baldwyn
Rose Croix Chapter retained its time immemorial position and was placed at the
head of the list of Chapters. It also became a District under the Supreme
Council of the Thirty-third Degree and is therefore placed under an Inspector
General of its own.
The name given by the
Orientalists to the Queen of Sheba, who visited King Solomon, and of whom they
relate a number of fables (see Sheba, Queen of).
In the election of candidates,
Lodges have recourse to a ballot of white and black balls. Some Grand Lodges
permit the use of white balls with black cubes. However, the Proceedings of
the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania for 1890 (page 144) show that body decided for
itself that "Black balls and not black cubes must be used in balloting in a
Lodge," a decision emphasizing the old practice.
Unanimity of choice, in this
case, was originally required; one black ball only being enough to reject a
candidate, because as the Old Regulations say:
"The members of a particular
Lodge are the best judges of it; and because, if a turbulent member should be
imposed on them, it might spoil their harmony or hinder the, freedom of their
communication, or even break up and disperse the Lodge, which ought to be
avoided by all true and faithful" (see the Constitutions, 1738 edition, page
"But it was found inconvenient
to insist upon unanimity in several cases, and therefore the Grand Masters
have allowed the Lodges to admit a member, if not above three Ballots are
against him; though some Lodges desire no such allowance" (see above
Constitutions). This is still the rule under the English Constitution (see
In balloting for a candidate
for initiation, every member is expected to vote. No one can be excused from
sharing the responsibility of admission or rejection, except by the unanimous
consent of the Lodge.
Where a member has himself no
personal or acquired knowledge of the qualifications of the candidate, he is
bound to give faith to the recommendation of his Brethren of the investigating
committee, who, he is to presume, would not make a favorable report on the
petition of an unworthy applicant.
Brother Mackey was of opinion
that the most correct method in balloting for candidates is as follows :
The committee of investigation
having reported, the Master of the Lodge directs the Senior Deacon to prepare
the ballot-box. The mode in which this is accomplished is as follows: The
Senior Deacon takes the ballot-box, and, opening it, places all the white and
black balls indiscriminately in one compartment, leaving the other entirely
empty. He then proceeds with the box to the Junior and Senior Wardens, who
satisfy themselves by an inspection that no ball has been left in the
compartment in which the votes are to be deposited.
The box in this and in the
other instance to be referred to hereafter, is presented to the inferior
officer first, and then to his superior, that the examination and decision of
the former may be substantiated and confirmed by the higher authority of the
latter. Let it, indeed, be remembered, that in all such cases the usage of
Masonic circumambulation is to be observed, and that, therefore, we must first
pass the Junior's station before we can get to that of the Senior Warden.
These officers having thus satisfied themselves that the box is in a proper
condition for the reception of the ballots, it is then placed upon the altar
by the Senior Deacon, who retires to his seat. The Master then directs the
Secretary to call the roll, which is done by commencing with the Worshipful
Master, and proceeding through all the officers down to the youngest member.
As a matter of convenience,
the Secretary generally votes the last of those in the room, and then, if the
Tiler is a member of the Lodge, he is called in, while the Junior Deacon tiles
for him, and the name of the applicant having been told him, he is directed to
deposit his ballot, which he does and then retires.
As the name of each officer
and member is called, that brother approaches the altar, and having made the
proper Masonic salutation to the Chair, he deposits his ballot and retires to
his seat. The roll should be called slowly, so that at no time should there be
more than one person present at the box, for the great object of the ballot
being secrecy, no brother should be permitted so near the member voting as to
distinguish the color of the ball he deposits.
The box is placed on the
altar, and the ballot is deposited with the solemnity of a Masonic salutation
that the voters may be duly impressed with the sacred and responsible nature
of the duty they are called on to discharge.
The system of voting thus
described is advocated by Brother Mackey as far better on this account than
that sometimes adopted in Lodges, of handing round the box for the members to
deposit their ballots from their seats.
There is also the practice of
omitting the reading of the names of the officers and members, the Brethren in
such cases forming a line and the one at the head advancing separately from
the rest to deposit his ballot when the preceding brother leaves the box.
The Master having inquired of
the Wardens if all have voted, then orders the Senior Deacon to "take charge
of the ballot-box." That officer accordingly repairs to the altar, and takes
possession of the box Should the Senior Deacon be already in possession of the
box, as in other methods of balloting we have mentioned, then the announcement
by the Master may be "I therefore declare the ballot closed." In either case
the Senior Deacon carries it, as before, to the Junior Warden, who examines
the ballot, and reports, if all the balls are white, that "the box is clear in
the South," or, if there is one or more black balls, that "the box is foul in
the South." The Deacon then carries it to the Senior Warden, and afterwards to
the Master, who, of course, make the same report, according to the
circumstance, with the necessary verbal variations of ''West'' and ''East.''
If the box is clear, that is, if all the ballots are white, the Master then
announces that the applicant has been duly elected, and the secretary makes a
record of the fact. But if the box is font, the Master inspects the number of
black balls; if he finds only one, he so states the fact to the Lodge, and
orders the Senior Deacon again to prepare the ballot-box. Here the same
ceremonies are passed through that have already been described. The balls are
removed into one compartment, the box is submitted to the inspection of the
Wardens, it is placed upon the altar, the roll is called, the members advance
and deposit their votes, the box is scrutinized, and the result declared by
the Wardens and Master. If again one black ball be found, or if two or more
appeared on the first ballot, the Master announces that the petition of the
applicant has been rejected, and directs the usual record to be made by the
Secretary and the notification to be given to the Grand Lodge.
The Grand Lodge of
Massachusetts, 1877 (see also the Constitution of 1918, page 88), provides
that the "Master may allow three ballotings, at his discretion, but when the
balloting has been commenced it must be concluded, and the candidate declared
accepted or rejected, without the intervention of any business whatever."
Balloting for membership or
affiliation is subject to the same rules. in both cases ''previous notice, one
month before," must be given to the Lodge, "due inquiry into the reputation
and capacity of the candidate" must be made, and "the unanimous consent of all
the members then present" must be obtained.
Nor can this unanimity be
dispensed with in one case any more than it can in the other. It is the
inherent privilege of every Lodge to judge of the qualifications of its own
members, "nor is this inherent privilege subject to a dispensation."
The box in which the ballots
or little balls or cubes used in voting for a candidate are deposited. It
should be divided into two compartments, one of which is to contain both black
and white balls, from which each member selects one, and the other, which is
shielded by a partition provided with an aperture, to receive the ball that is
to be deposited.
Various methods have been
devised by which secrecy may be secured, so that a voter may select and
deposit the ball he desires without the possibility of its being seen whether
it is black or white. That which has been most in use in the United States is
to have the aperture so covered by a part of the box as to prevent the hand
from being seen when the ball is deposited.
BALLOT, RECONSIDERATION OF THE
See Reconsideration of the
BALLOT, SECRECY OF THE
The secrecy of the ballot is
as essential to its perfection as its unanimity or its independence. If the
vote were to be given viva voce, or by word of mouth, it is impossible that
the improper influences of fear or interest should not sometimes be exerted,
and timid members be thus induced to vote contrary to the dictates of their
reason and conscience.
Hence, to secure this secrecy
and protect the purity of choice, it has been wisely established as a usage,
not only that the vote shall in these eases be taken by a ballot, but that
there shall be no subsequent discussion of the subject. Not only has no member
a right to inquire how his fellows have voted, but it is wholly out of order
for him to explain his own vote.
The reason of this is evident.
If one member has a right to rise in his place and announce that he deposited
a white ball, then every other member has the same right in a Lodge of, say,
twenty members, where an application has been rejected by one black ball, if
nineteen members state that they did not deposit it, the inference is clear
that the twentieth Brother has done so, and thus the secrecy of the ballot is
at once destroyed.
The rejection having been
announced from the Chair, the Lodge should at once proceed to other business,
and it is the sacred duty of the presiding officer peremptorily and at once to
check any rising discussion of the subject. Nothing must be done to impair the
inviolable secrecy of the ballot.
BALLOT, UNANIMITY OF THE
Unanimity in the choice of
candidates is considered so essential to the welfare of the Fraternity, that
the Old Regulations have expressly provided for its preservation in the
following words: "But no man can be entered a Brother in any particular Lodge,
or admitted to be a member thereof, without the unanimous consent of all the
members of that Lodge then present when the candidate is proposed, and their
consent is formally asked by the Master; and they are to signify their consent
or dissent in their own prudent way, either virtually or in form, but with
unanimity; nor is this inherent privilege subject to a dispensation; because
the members of a particular Lodge are the best judges of it; and if a
fractious member should be imposed on them, it might spoil their harmony, or
hinder their freedom; or even break and disperse the Lodge, which ought to be
avoided by all good and true brethren" (see the Constitutions, 1723 edition,
However, the rule of unanimity
here referred to is applicable only to the United States of America, in all of
whose Grand Lodges it has been strictly enforced.
Anderson tells us, in the
second edition of the Constitutions, under the head of New Regulations (page
155), that." It was found inconvenient to insist upon unanimity in several
cases; and, therefore, the Grand Masters have allowed the Lodges to admit a
member if not above three ballots are against him; though some Lodges desire
no such allowance."
Accordingly, the Constitution (Rule 190) of the Grand Lodge of England, says:
"No person can be made a Mason
in or admitted a member of a Lodge, if, on the ballot, three black balls
appear against him ; but the by-laws of a Lodge may enact that one or two
black balls shall exclude a candidate; and by-laws may also enact that a
prescribed period shall elapse before any rejected candidate can be again
proposed in that Lodge."
The Grand Lodge of Ireland
(By-law 127) prescribes unanimity, unless there is a by-law of the subordinate
Lodge to the contrary.
The Constitution of Scotland
provides (by Rule 181) that "Three black balls shall exclude a candidate.
Lodges in the Colonies and in
foreign parts may enact that two black balls shall exclude." In the
continental Lodges, the modern English regulation prevails. It is only in the
Lodges of the United States that the ancient rule of unanimity is strictly
Unanimity in the ballot is
necessary to secure the harmony of the Lodge, which may be as seriously
impaired by the admission of a candidate contrary to the wishes of one member
as of three or more ; for every man has his friends and his influence.
Besides, it is unjust to any member, however humble he may be, to introduce
among his associates one whose presence might be unpleasant to him, and whose
admission would probably compel him to withdraw from the meetings, or even
altogether from the Lodge.
Neither would any advantage
really accrue to a Lodge by such a forced admission ; for while receiving a
new and untried member into its fold, it would be losing an old one. For these
reasons, in the United States, in every one of its jurisdictions, the
unanimity of the ballot is expressly insisted on; and it is evident, from what
has been here said, that any less stringent regulation is a violation of the
ancient law and usage.
A Masonic Congress which met
in Baltimore, Maryland, on the 8th of May, 1843, in consequence of a
recommendation made by a preceding convention which had met in Washington,
District of Columbia, in March, 1842.
The Convention consisted of
delegates from the States of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, Maryland,
District of Columbia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama,
Florida, Tennessee, Ohio, Missouri, and Louisiana.
Its professed objects were to
produce uniformity of Masonic work and to recommend such measures as should
tend to the elevation of the Order.
The Congress continued in
session for nine days, during which time it was principally occupied in an
attempt to perfect the ritual, and in drawing up articles for the permanent
organization of a Triennial Masonic Convention of the United States, to
consist of delegates from all the Grand Lodges. In both of these efforts it
failed, although several distinguished Freemasons took part in its
The body was too small,
consisting, as it did, of only twenty-three members, to exercise any decided
popular influence on the Fraternity. Its plan of a Triennial Convention met
with very general opposition, and its proposed ritual, familiarly known as the
Baltimore work, has almost become a myth. Its only practical result was the
preparation and publication of Moore's Trestle Board, a Monitor which has,
however, been adopted only by a limited number of American Lodges. The
Baltimore work did not materially differ from that originally established by
Webb. Moore's Trestle Board professes to be an exposition of its monitorial
part; a statement which, however, was denied by Doctor Dove, who was the
President of the Convention, and the controversy on this point at the time
between these two eminent Freemasons was conducted with too much bitterness.
The above Convention adopted a
report endorsing "the establishment of a Grand National Convention possessing
limited powers, to meet triennially to decide upon discrepancies in the work,
provide for uniform Certificates or Diplomas, and to act as referee between
Grand Lodges at variance. Whenever thirteen or more Grand Lodges should agree
to the proposition, the Convention should be permanently formed. "
Following the recommendation
of the Convention, representatives from the Grand Lodges of North Carolina,
Virginia, Iowa, Michigan, District of Columbia and Missouri met at Winchester,
Virginia, on May 11, 1846. Only eight delegates appearing, the Convention
adjourned without doing any business.
Another Masonic Convention was
held at Baltimore on September 23, 1847, to consider the propriety of forming
a General Grand Lodge. The following Grand Lodges had accredited delegates :
North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Maryland and the
District of Columbia. Brother William P. Mellen, of Mississippi, presided, and
Brother Joseph Robinson, of Maryland, was the Secretary. A Constitution was
adopted and this was forwarded to the several Grand Lodges with the
understanding that if sixteen of them approved the measure before January 1,
1849, it would go into effect and the first meeting thereunder would be held
at Baltimore on the second Tuesday in July, 1849. But the Constitution failed
to receive the approval of the required number of Grand Lodges and the project
for a Supreme Grand Lodge came to a halt.
A small column or pilaster,
corruptly called a banister; in French, balustre. Borrowing the architectural
idea, the Freemasons of the Scottish Rite apply the word baluster to any
official circular or other document issuing from a Supreme Council.
BALZAC, LOUIS CHARLES
A French architect of some
celebrity, and member of the Institute of Egypt. He founded the Lodge of the
Great Sphinx at Paris. He was also a poet of no inconsiderable merit, and was
the author of many Masonic canticles in the French language, among them the
well-known hymn entitled Taisons nous, plus de bruit, the music of which was
composed by M. Riguel. He died March 31, 1820, at which time he was inspector
of the public works in the prefecture of the Seine.
The neck ribbon bearing the
jewel of the office Lodge, Chapter, or Grand Lodge of various countries, and
of the symbolic color pertaining to the body in which it is worn.
The name of an officer known
in the higher Degrees of the French Rite. One who has in trust the. banner;
similar in station to the Standard-Bearer of a Grand Lodge, or of a Supreme
Body of the Scottish Rite.
A small banner or pennant. An
officer known in the Order of the Knights Templar, who, with the Marshal, had
charge of warlike under takings. A title of an order known as Knight Banneret,
instituted by Edward I. The banneret of the most ancient order of knighthood
called Knight Bachelor was shaped like Figure 1. The Knights Banneret, next in
age, had a pennant like Figure 2. That of the Barons was similar to the one
shown in Figure 3.
The pennon or pointed or
forked flag was easily shorn off at the ends to make the other style of
banneret and thus it came about that to show due appreciation of service the
pointed end could be clipped on the field of battle when the owner was
promoted in rank.
BANNERS, ROYAL ARCH
Much difficulty has been
experienced by ritualists in reference to the true colors and proper
arrangements of the banners used in an American Chapter of Royal Arch Masons.
It is admitted that. they are
four in number, and that their colors are blue, purple, scarlet, and white;
and it is known, too, that the devices on these banners are a lion, an oz, a
man, and an eagle. But the doubt is constantly arising as to the relation
between these devices and these colors, and as to which of the former is to be
appropriated to each of the latter.
The question, it is true, is
one of mere ritualism, but it is important that the ritual should be always
uniform, and hence the object of the present article is to attempt the
solution of this question. The banners used in a Royal Arch Chapter are
derived from those which are supposed to have been borne by the twelve Tribes
of Israel during their encampment in the wilderness, to which reference is
made in the second chapter of the Book of Numbers, and the second verse:
"Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard." But as
to what were the devices on the banners, or what were their respective colors,
the Bible is absolutely silent.
To the inventive genius of the
Talmudists are we indebted for all that we know or profess to know on this
subject. These mystical philosophers have given to us with wonderful precision
the various devices which they have borrowed from the death-bed prophecy of
Jacob, and have sought, probably in their own fertile imaginations, for the
The English Royal Arch Masons,
whose system differs very much from that of their American Companions, display
in their Chapters the twelve banners of the tribes in accordance with the
Talmudic devices and colors. These have been very elaborately described by
Doctor Oliver in his Historical Landmarks (11,583-97), and beautifully
exemplified by Companion Harris in his Royal Arch Tracing Boards.
But our American Royal Arch
Masons, as we have seen, use only four banners, being those attributed by the
Talmudists to the four principal Tribes Judah, Ephraim, Reubenu, and Dan. The
devices on these banners are respectively a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle.
As to this there is no question, all authorities, such as they are, agreeing
on this point.
But, as has been before said
there is some diversity of opinion as to the colors of each, and necessarily
as to the officers by whom they should be borne.
Some of the Targumists, or
Jewish biblical commentators, say that the color of the banner of each Tribe
was analogous to that of the stone which represented that Tribe in the
breastplate of the High Priest. If this were correct, then the colors of the
banners of the four leading Tribes would be red and green, namely, red for
Judah, Ephraim, and Reuben, and green for Dan; these being the colors of the
precious stones sardonyx, figure, carbuncle, and chrysolite, by which these
Tribes were represented in the High Priest's Breastplate. Such an arrangement
would not, of course, at all suit the symbolism of the American Royal Arch
Equally unsatisfactory is the
disposition of the colors derived from the arms of Speculative Freemasonry, as
first displayed by Dermott in his Ahiman Rezon, which is familiar to all
American Freemasons from the copy published by Cross in his Hieroglyphic
Chart. In this piece of blazonry, the two fields occupied by Judah and Dan are
azure, or blue, and those of Ephraim and Reuben are or, or golden yellow; an
appropriation of colors altogether uncongenial with Royal Arch symbolism.
We must, then, depend on the
Talmudic writers solely for the disposition and arrangement of the colors and
devices of these banners. From their works we learn that the color of the
banner of Judah was white; that of Ephraim, scarlet; that of Reuben, purple;
and that of Dan, blue; and that the devices of the same Tribes were
respectively the lion, the ox, the man, and the eagle. Hence, under this
arrangement---and it is the only one upon which we can depend-the four banners
in a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, working in the American Rite, should be
distributed as follows among the banner-bearing officers:
1. An eagle, on a blue banner.
This represents the Tribe of Dan, and is borne by the Grand Master of the
2. A man, on a purple banner. This represents the Tribe of Reuben, and is
borne by the Grand Master of the Second Veil.
3. An ox, on a scarlet banner. This represents the Tribe of Ephraim, and is
borne by the Grand Master of the Third Veil.
4. A lion, on a white banner. This represents the Tribe of Judah, and is borne
by the Royal Arch Captain.
The imaginary idol, or rather
the symbol, which the Knights Templar under Grand Master DeMolay were accused
of employing in their mystic rites. The forty-second of the charges preferred
against them by Pope Clement is in the' words:
Item quod ipsi per singulas
provincias habeant idola: videlicet capita qourum aliqua habebant tres facies,
et alia unum: et aliqua cranium humanum habebant; meaning, also, that in all
of the provinces they have idols, namely, heads, of which some had three
faces, some me, and some had a human skull.
Von Hammer-Purgstall, a bitter
enemy of the Templars, in his book entitled The Mystery of Baphomet Revealed
this old accusation, and attached to the Baphomet an impious signification. He
derived the name from the Greek words, baptim, and supreme wisdom, the baptism
of Metis, and thence supposed that it represented the admission of the
initiated into the secret mysteries of the Order.
From this gratuitous
assumption he deduces his theory, set forth even in the very title of his
work, that the Templars were convicted, by their own monuments, of being
guilty as Gnostics and Ophites, of apostasy, idolatry, and impurity. Of this
statement he offers no other historical testimony than the Articles of
Accusation, themselves devoid of proof, but through which the Templars were
made the victims of the jealousy of the Pope and the avarice of the King of
Others again have thought that they could find in Baphomet a corruption of
Mahomet, and hence they have asserted that the Templars had been perverted
from their religious faith by the Saracens, with whom they had so much
intercourse, sometimes as foes and sometimes as friends. Baphomet was indeed a
common medieval form of the word Mahomet and that not only meant a false
prophet but a demon. Hence any unholy or fantastic ceremonies were termed
baffumerie, mahomerie, or mummery.
Nicolai, who wrote an Essay on
the Accusations brought against the Templars, published at Berlin, in 1782,
supposes, but doubtingly, that the figure of the Baphomet, figura Baffometi,
which was depicted on a bust representing the Creator, was nothing else but
the Pythagorean pentagon, the symbol of health and prosperity, borrowed by the
Templars from the Gnostics, who in turn had obtained it from the School of
King, in his learned work on
the Gnostics, thinks that the Baphomet. may have been a symbol of the
Manicheans, with whose wide spreading heresy in the Middle Ages he does not
doubt that a large portion of the inquiring spirits of the Temple had been
Another suggestion is by
Brother Frank C. Higgins, Ancient Freemasonry ( page 108), that Baphomet is
but the secret name of the Order of the Temple in an abbreviated form thus:
Tem. Ohp. Ab. from the Latin Templi Omnium Hominum Pacis Abbas, intended to
mean The Temple of the Father of Peace among Men.
Amid these conflicting views,
all merely speculative, it will not be uncharitable or unreasonable to suggest
that the Baphomet, or skull of the ancient Templars, was, like the relic of
their modern Masonic representatives, simply an impressive symbol teaching the
lesson of mortality, and that the latter has really been derived from the
Hosea Ballou was the founder of the Universalist Denomination which with the
Unitarian Denomination introduced religious liberalism into New England.
He was born in Richmond, New
Hampshire, April 30, 1771, then in the wilderness. Until sixteen he could
barely read or write, and had no schooling until twenty, when he entered a
Quaker private school, after which he attended an academy. Before he died he
had preached some 10,000 sermons and written enough to fill one hundred books.
He was made a Mason (the particulars not known), and when he moved to Barnard
in New Hampshire he joined the Woodstock Lodge, no 31. He was Worshipful
Master in 1808. He delivered Masonic orations before a large number of Lodges.
The minutes of Woodstock Lodge and of its predecessor, Warren, No. 23, should
be published in facsimile because they are one of the few detailed records of
a back country, New England Masonic community in the Revolutionary Period. The
drinking of hard liquor, so prevalent in Colonial times even among churchmen,
appears to have lingered longest in Lodges, and evidently was one of the small
factors which led to the Anti-Masonic Crusade; it was one of the " Lodge
problems" to which Bro. Ballou often addressed himself.
BARBARY PIRATES, WARS ON
The regiments which fought
across North Africa in World War II were not the first Americans to fight in
Tunis, Algeria, Morocco, for in 1801 we sent our then infant navy there to
make war on the pirates of the Barbary Coast who had been destroying shipping
for many years, American included, and France and Britain together had not
been able to stop them. If we succeeded where the latter had failed it was
largely owing to the ingenuity of one man, William Eaton, Consul at Tunis, who
from out of Egypt and with a small group of natives infiltrated from behind
the coast. It was Eaton who sent home the famous message, "Send some cash and
a few marines." The Marine Corps was born in that war.
The majority of heroes and
leaders in the war, which was neither short nor easy, were Masons, Stephen
Decatur, William Bainbridge (probably), Commodore Edward Preble, Commodore
Isaac Chauncey, Commodore Thomas MacDonough, etc. Decatur's utterance, quoted
countless times, did not say that his country was never wrong or that he would
support it in wrongdoing ; he said, ''My country-may it ever be right, but,
right or wrong, my country ," the utterance plainly saying that his country
might be in the wrong. Like his father before him, who had belonged to Veritas
Lodge No. 16, Maryland, Decatur became a Mason early, in St. John's Lodge,
Newport, R. I., in 1799. William Eaton was raised in North Star Lodge,
Manchester, Vermont, in 1792.
BASKETT BIBLE, THE
What Bible did the Masons use
before 1717? Prior to 1611 it is almost certain that the majority of them used
the famous Geneva Bible, published in 1560. It was the first issue of the Book
to cut the text into chapters and numbered verses ; its cost was low ; it was
the Bible of the Reformation. Because in the Book of Genesis it printed the
line "made themselves breeches" instead of "made themselves aprons" it was
everywhere popularly called The Breeches Bible. The Authorized, or King James,
Version was first printed in 1611, in Black Letter, large folio, with 1400
pages. Because of a typographical error Ruth, III, verse 15, was printed with
a "he " instead of a "she," and for that reason it was everywhere called The
''He'' Bible. The title page was a copper plate, sumptuously designed,
semi-architectural in conception, with a symbolic scene representing the
Scheme of Redemption across the top; Moses and the High Priest in panels at
either side of the mid-page ; and in the lower corner two figures representing
the writers of the Old and the New Testament, with a symbolic picture of the
phoenix between them. At the extreme top were the Hebrew Letters JHWH;
immediately beneath it a dove.
Copies of the now very rare
first edition, if in good condition, sell for 53,000 to 55,000. In the Second
Issue this Version contained another famous misprint, Matthew XXVI, 36, where
"Jesus'' is printed aa "Judas."
(Printers sometimes made these
typographical errors out of malice. The "Wicked Bible" is the most notorious
example ; in it the "not" was purposely omitted from certain of the Ten
Commandments, for which Robert Barker and Martin Lucas, the King's Printers,
were haled into Star Chamber, were fined L300 by Archbishop Laud, and the
edition of 1000 copies confiscated.) For a century the Authorized Bible was no
doubt used by Masons as it was by everybody else, almost to the exclusion of
any other version.
In 1717, the year in which the
first Grand Lodge was constituted, John Baskett, an Oxford printer, published
an edition of his own, which came to be named after him, although it was
dubbed The Vinegar Bible because in Luke XX the word "vineyard" was misprinted
"vinegar." The title page, and for the first time in any Bible, consisted of a
prospect of buildings. For this reason, and also perhaps because it had been
published in 1717, or for both, it became popular among Masons, in America and
Australia as well aa in England; more often than any other it is mentioned in
the Inventories which were incorporated in old Lodge Minutes.
NOTE. The Baskett should not
be confused with the Baskerville Bible. In 1750 John Baskerville became a
designer of type, a rival to the famous Caslon whose type faces are standard
today. In 1758 Baskerville was elected printer to Cambridge University. In
1763 he produced his edition of the Bible, called after his name, and at a
cost of some 510,000. It was not appreciated at the time, and did not sell
well, but has since become one of the classics of type design. Baskerville
died in 1775. Any Lodge possessing a copy of his Edition of 1763 may treasure
it as highly as a Baskett first edition even though the latter is older by 46
American Masons have a
fondness for Harold Bayley's two books which English Masons might find it
difficult to explain; at least so it would be guessed from comparing the
circulation of them here with their circulation there. Perhaps it is because
he has let a fresh, new light into Masonic symbols, and done so with no
pseudo-occultistic obscurantism (a thing for which American Masons have no
stomach, even if it is published in A. Q. C.) perhaps it is because with
short, bold brush strokes he makes intelligible to us Americans what doubtless
already is familiar to Europeans.
He writes about the
Albigensians and the Huguenots, who carried on a sort of Protestant
underground movement for many years, in regions where any deviation from
strict Roman Catholic orthodoxy was examined by the Inquisition and punishable
by burning. These men were, many of them, makers of paper, which they produced
in little water-driven mills, in far-off places among the hills. They had
modes of recognition, passwords, tokens, secret words, etc., by which they
sent messages here and there. After they discovered how to lay in watermarks
in the sheets of paper they sent out to the cities they turned the marks into
symbols, which would "be understanded" by their friends and sympathizers and
would thus help to keep certain ideas alive. I t is about these fraternities,
or half-fraternities, their secrets and their symbols, that Mr. Bayley writes
in A New Light on the Renaissance; J. M. Dent & Co., London; and The Lost
Language of symbolism; J. B. Lippincott; New York; 1913. The latter has many
references to Freemasonry in chapters on Searching for the Lost, Theological
Ladder, King Solomon and Pillars, All-Seeing Eye, Tree of Life, Clasped Hands,
etc. (It can be remembered in connection with these books that Dr. J. T.
Desaguliers, architect of the first Grand Lodge, was a Huguenot refugee. )
Brother Frederick Foster's essay on "The Due Guard" which he contributed to
The Treasury of Masonic Thought (compiled by George M. Martin and John W.
Callaghan; David Winter & Son; Dundee; 1924), was based on Bayley's works.
In our Twentieth Century
America, the word "industry" denotes manufacturing and factories, classified
as heavy industry and light industry ; and connotes machines and factory
workers. When the Beehive is said to be an emblem of industry the word is not
used in that sense, indeed, is used with an almost opposite meaning-for it is
used in the sense of centuries ago, which was the true sense.
Industry was the employment of
a very large number of men, tens of thousands in many instances, on one
undertaking at one place and at the same time, and they might or might not use
machinery. It was the method by which in the ages before heavy machinery vast
building enterprises were accomplished, some of which have so long mystified
modern men, the building of the pyramids, of the ancient Egyptian canals, of
the hanging gardens of Babylon, of the Ziggurats, of vast Hindu temples, of
the Chinese Great Wall and Grand canal of the Mayas' City of Chichen-Itza,
etc. the same method by which in World War II the Burma and Ledo roads were
constructed as well as great airfields in the remote hills of China; and the
method by which from Caesar's time until modern times the Dutch have built
their hundreds of miles of dykes. The Beehive is the perfect emblem, or
typical instance of the power of industry, because what no one bee'or
succession of separate bees could accomplish is easy where hundreds of them
work together at one task at one time.
The Medieval Freemasons did
not study and think about ¨he same subjects that architects and builders now
except in fundamentals, did not secure the elements of a building ready-made
from factories, had no steam or electric or magnetic tools to use; chemistry
and physics were forbidden sciences, and could be studied by the initiate only
in secret or under a heavy camouflage of symbolism. They had two great
subjects: materials and men. A modern architect knows far more about materials
than the Medieval builder because he has universities, literature,
laboratories, and factories to draw on ; but he knows far less about men,
indeed, he knows almost nothing about men.
Where a modern builder looks
to machines as the means to accomplish his results, the Medieval builder who
had no power-driven machines had to look to men. For this reason the Medieval
builder knew far more about work than his modern counterpart because work is
nothing other than a man making use of himself as a means to get something
made or produced or accomplished. Where a modern foreman thinks of himself as
a supervisor of a building full of machines the Medieval foreman thought of
himself as a Master of workmen. By the same token a workman had to know
himself, instead of a machine, because he was his own machine. Skill is the
expert use of one's self.
It was for such reasons that
Medieval Freemasons thought much about and had a wide knowledge of the forms
of work. There are some fifty-two of these.
Industry itself is one of
them, the most massive and most dramatic, but not the most important. Where a
man makes everything by himself from the raw materials to the finished
product, is another. Where a number of men work in a line at the same bench
and where the first does one thing to the "job, " the second does another, and
so on until the "job" is completed by the last man, so that it is the job and
not the men who move, is another form of work. Where one man completes one
thing, another, perhaps in another place, completes another, and so on, and
where finally a man combines a number of completed things to make one thing,
is another form of work; etc., etc.
The general organization of a
Lodge is based on the principle of forms of work; so are the stations and
places of officers. Though as an emblem of the form of work called industry
the Beehive symbolizes only one in Particular it at the same time represents
the system of forms of work, is, as it were, an ensemble of them; and from it
a sufficiently well-informed thinker could think out the system of Masonic
Philosophy. In our Craft the whole of fraternalism is nothing other than the
fellowship required by the forms of work, because the majority of them require
men to work together in association, in stations and places, and therefore in
It is strange that in its
present-day stage of development the so-called science of economics should
concern itself solely with such subjects as wages, machines, money,
transportation because these are but incidentals and accidentals. Work is the
topic proper to economics ; and the forms of work are its proper
subject-matter. Any scholar or thinker who chances to be a Mason could find in
his own Fraternity a starting point for a new economics, as fresh and
revolutionary and revealing as was the work of Copernieus in astronomy, of
Newton in physics, of Darwin in biology. A beehive itself is a trifle, and
scarcely worth ten minutes of thought; what it stands for is one of the
largest and most important subjects in the world, and up until now one of the
BEGEMANN, GEORG E. W.
Georg Emil Wilhelm Begemann
was born in 1843; died in 1914 in Berlin, where he had lived since 1895. After
having been made a Mason in Rostock, Mecklenburg, he was instantly attracted
to the study of the Old Charges.
From 1888 until his removal to
Berlin he was Provincial Grand Master, the Grand National Lodge of Berlin.
From 1887 until his death he was a member of the Correspondence Circle of
Quatuor Coronati Lodge of Research, No. 2076, contributed much to Ars Quatuor
Coroiatoruni, and was among the most learned of specialists in Masonic
archeology and the study of the text of the Old Charges.
He published Vorgeschichte und
Aufänge der Freimaurerei in Ireland, in 1911; a book of similar title on
Scotland, in 1914; his principal work was Aufänge der Freimaurerei in England;
Vol. I, in 1909 ; Vol. II, in 1910. This latter work was to have been
translated and published by Quatuor Coronati Lodge, with Bro. Lionel Vibert,
Secretary, as translator-in-chief, but was stopped by the latter's death; it
is on the market in the United States in German.
German Freemasonry was begun
under the patronage of the nobility and members of the upper brackets of the
aristocracy, and had its source in French Masonry ; and therefore departed in
the main from many Ancient Landmarks, so that oftentimes the Craft Degrees
were under jurisdiction of High Grades; High Grades and Rites proliferated;
Rites not Masonic in any sense were suffered to attach themselves to
Freemasonry; and racial and religious discriminations were allowed. Begemann
was one of the greatest in a line of German Masonic scholars whose work was
aimed at restoring the German Craft to the original design. (See articles by
and about Begemann in A,Q,C., especially the paper by Douglas Knoop and G. P.
Jones in 1941.)
BENT, GOVERNOR CHARLES
Charles Bent was born at
Charlestown, Va., in 1797, studied medicine, graduated from West Point. After
resigning from the army he entered business in St. Louis. In 1828 he and his
brother William went west, erected a fort (or stockaded headquarters) near
what is now Las Animas which in time was to become famous from one end of the
Santa Fe trail to the other as Bent's Fort. After he had formed a partnership
with Col. Ceran St. Vrain (also a Mason) the firm of Bent & St. Vrain became
nationally known as second in size and influence only to Bro. John Jacob Astor
and the American Fur Co. at a time when beaver skins were used as money in the
whole of the West. He married Maria of the famous Spanish family of Jaramillo,
whose sister Josefa afterwards married General Kit Carson.
After New Mexico was formed
into a Territory of the United States, Bent was appointed the first Governor,
but in 1847 was assassinated in his home at Taos by a mob of Indians and
Mexicans. This was part of a plot to drive Americans out of the Territory
which had been schemed in Mexico City and was locally instigated by a corrupt
and criminal priest at Taos named Fra Martinez. Bent was (along with the
famous Senator Benton) a founding member of Missouri Lodge, No. 1, St. Louis,
in 1821. A Lodge formed at Taos by the Grand Lodge of Missouri in 1860 and
named Bent Lodge, No. 204, is now No. 42 on the rolls of the Grand Lodge of
New Mexico. (See House Executive Document, No. 60, Thirtieth Congress,
entitled "Occupation of Mexican Territory," and article by Bro. F. T. Cheetham
in The Builder; 1923, p. 358. Gould's History of Freemasonry; VI; Seribner's;
New York; page 36.)
BLACK MONKS AND BUILDERS
In the center of the little
Italian mountainous country where Virgil once lived and Horace had his farm,
and near where in other times Aquino was built, home of Juvenile and of Thomas
(St. Thomas Aquinas), there stood in early Roman times a temple of Apollo and
Venus. St. Benedict (480 - 543) founded on the site of it the first monastery
in Europe, a small house which he called San Germano, and later Mt. Cassino,
which, after having been more than once rebuilt, was in World War II bombed
into rubble by Allied planes after the Germans had turned it into a fortress.
This early monastery, which Benedict, a man of hard sense, founded in 529, he
turned into a Monastic Order, called the Benedictines or Black Monks (from
color of their habit), the first Monastic Order founded on the Continent;
other Orders, some of them its daughters, were to follow it, the Carthusians,
the Clusiacs, the Franciscans (half monastic), but none was ever to rival it
in strength and stability.
After they had become
established in centers as far away as England, and had become possessed of
property, the Benedictines had many Abbeys built, and other Monastic
structures. A number of these are famous buildings; a few were masterpieces of
A legend grew up long
afterwards that the Benedictines had themselves been Europe's first
architects, and a few Masons even began to believe that it was they who had
fathered Medieval Masonry, among the latter being Bro. Ossian Lang, who gave
the theory as much support as he could find (in his treatises on Eleventh
Century School for Builders, and his Black Monks).
Benedict's rule was founded on
work. Each member was assigned a form of work, and was expected to give his
daily time to itm, and each one was required to read at least one book a year.
But there is no evidence anywhere to prove that they were ever architects or
even plain builders; even the work rule fell in abeyance after the early
honeymoon period. In his massive Art and. the Reformation, G. G. Coulton
sweeps together every scrap of written records into a chapter, and shows that
the monks were not architects, and that they hired laymen to come in from the
outside to cultivate their fields and gardens, and even to work in the
kitchens ; and not many of them ever managed to read his one book a year, or
learned to read. If they ever had any connection with Freemasonry it has
escaped detection; one set of Fabric Rolls, probably belonging to York, shows
that the Freemasons there expressly stipulated that no monks from the nearby
Benedictine houses were to work with them. (There are abundant bibliographics
in the Cambridge Medieval History. See also Medieval Italy, by H. B. Cotterill,
London, George C. Harrap, 1915, and Renaissance of the Twelfth. Century, by F.
BLAVATSKY, H. P.
Subsequently to the
publication of the brief article on page 138 Bro. Joseph H. Fussell, secretary
of the Theosophieal Society at Point Loma, Calif., contributed to The New Age
of January, 1915, page 29, an article which clears up once and for all any
questions as to claims made for the founder of the Theosophical Society of
having been a Mason. She received from John Yarker, unsolicited, a certificate
making her a member of the so-called Ancient and Primitive Rite of Masonry
(not connected with Free and Accepted Masonry) but, as she clearly stated,
made no claim to any membership in any regular Lodge. The "Masonry of the
Orient," to which she referred in a published letter, and which appears to
refer to some form of self-styled Freemasonry indigenous to India, is one of
many questions for Craft historians to clear up. The wide-ranging and
indefatigable Yarker is another subject in the same category ; for while he
was a regular and loyal Mason, a contributor to Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, and
guilty of no clandestinism, his writings have left a trail of confusion behind
them because of his penchant for identifying Freemasonry with any form of
occultism, symbolism, or esotericism which resembled it. The Theosophical
movement has never in any of its sects or branches been recognized by or
identified with any regular Masonic Body.
Chaplain Couden of the House
of Representatives of the United States for a long period of years was blind,
and yet was a Mason.
W. W. Drake, Kileen, Texas,
became blind during his Mastership; he was reelected for a seeond term.
Charles F. Forshaw, Doncaster,
England, who died in 1800, was for a number of years widely known as a Masonic
musician. In his Notes on the Ceremony of Installation, page 52, Henry Sadler
gives a sketch of the most famous of blind Masons, George Aarons, Master of
Joppa Lodge, No. 1827, and of Lodge of Israel. He was a ritualist taught by
Peter Gilkes, and for nearly twenty years was Lecture Master in the leading
Lodges of Instruction. More remarkable still is Lux in Tenebris Lodge, on
Shaftsbury Avenue, London, which is a Lodge for blind Masons. The Craft in
England has always acted on the principle that when the Craft was transformed
from Operative to Speculative the Physical Qualifications were transformed
The term Masonic Baptism has
been applied in the United States by some authorities to that ceremony which
is used in certain of the advanced Degrees, and which, more properly, should
be called Lustration. It has been objected that the use of the term is
calculated to give needless offence to scrupulous persons who might suppose it
to be an imitation of a Christian sacrament. But, in fact, the Masonic baptism
has no allusion whatsoever, either in form or design, to the sacrament of the
Church. It is simply a lustration or purification by water, a ceremony which
was common to all the ancient initiations (see Lustration).
Bearded Brothers---at an
earlier date known as the Conversi---craftsmen known among the Conventual
Builders, admitted to the Abbey Corbey in the year 851, whose social grade was
more elevated than the ordinary workmen, and were freeborn. The Conversi were
Filicales or associates in the Abbeys, used a monastic kind of dress, could
leave their profession whenever they chose and could return to civil life.
Converts who abstained from secular pursuits as sinful and professed
conversion to the higher life of the Abbeys, could stay without becoming
monks. Scholae or gilds of such Operatives lodged within the convents.
We are told by Brother George
F. Fort in his Criticat Inquiry Concerning the Mediaeval Conventual Builders,
1884, that the scholae of dextrous Barbati Fratres incurred the anger of their
coreligionists, by their haughty deportment, sumptuous garb, liberty of
movement, and refusal to have their long, flowing beards shaven-hence their
name---thus tending to the more fascinating attractions of civil life as time
carried them forward through the centuries to the middle of the thirteenth,
when William Abbott, of Premontré, attempted to enforce the rule of shaving
the beard. "These worthy ancestors of our modern Craft deliberately refused,''
and they said, "if the execution of this order were pressed against them,
'they would fire every cloister and cathedral in the country." The decretal or
edict was withdrawn.
A title of great dignity and
importance among the ancient Britons, which was conferred only upon men of
distinguished rank in society, and who filled a sacred office. It was the
third or lowest of the three Degrees into which Druidism was divided (see
Druidical Mysteries). There is an officer of the Grand Lodge of Scotland
called the Grand Bard.
BARNEY, COMMODORE JOSHUA
Distinguished American naval
officer. Prominent for services rendered his country in the Wars of 1776 and
1812; wounded in land attack at Bladensberg.
Said to have attended, about
1779, the Lodge of Nine Sisters at Paris, but his name does not appear in
records of that Lodge published by Louis Amiable.
His name appears on the roster
of Lodge No. 3, Philadelphia, May 1, 1777 (see New Age, May, 1925). Born 1759,
at Baltimore, Maryland, Brother Barney died 1818, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Masonic ritualist, born at
Canaan, Connecticut, October, 1780. Made a Freemason in Friendship Lodge No.
20, at Charlotte, Vermont, in 1810. He was deeply interested in all that
pertained to the work and purposes of the Institution, and in August, 1817, he
went to Boston for the express purpose of receiving instruction directly from
Thomas Smith Webb, which he succeeded in doing, with the assistance of
Benjamin Gleason, then Grand Lecturer of Massachusetts.
He attended the Grand Lodge of
Vermont on October 6, 1817, and was registered as a visiting Brother. At this
meeting a request was presented on behalf of Brother Barney for the
approbation of this Grand Lodge, as a Lecturing Master. A committee was
appointed to investigate the certificates and documents respecting Barney's
qualifications and the report was as follows:
That they had examined Brother Barney on the first Degrees of Masonry, and
find him to be well acquainted with the Lectures, according to the most
approved method of work in the United States, and believe that he may be
advantageously employed by the Lodges and Brethren who may wish for his
services; but as many of the Lodges in this State are already well acquainted
with the several Masonic Lectures, we do not believe it would be consistent to
appoint a Grand Lecturer to go through the State, as the several Lodges have
to pay the District Deputy Grand Masters for their attendance. We therefore
propose to the Grand Lodge that they give Brother Barney letters of
recommendation to all Lodges and Brethren wherever he may wish to travel, as
an unfortunate brother deprived of his health, and unable to procure a living
by the common avocations of life, but who is well qualified to give useful
Masonic information to any who wish for his services.
A. Robbins, For committee.
His first work after being
authorized by his Grand Lodge was in Dorchester Lodge, at Vergennes, Vermont.
He was employed by twelve members to , instruct them in the work and lectures.
He continued lecturing in that State for several years. Brother Barney moved
West in 1826, settling at Harpersfield, Ashtabula County, Ohio. In 1832 he
assisted in establishing a Royal Arch Chapter in Cleveland, Ohio. He moved to
Worthington, Ohio, in 1834, and became a member of New England Lodge No. 4 in
Elected Grand Lecturer of the
Grand Lodge of Ohio in January, 1836, Which office he held until 1843. In 1841
the Grand Master said of him: "The duties of Grand Lecturer of the Grand Lodge
of Ohio, for the last two years especially, have been laborious and almost
incessant. It were unnecessary for me to state to you a fact, which you are
all so well apprised of, that his untiring and able exertions have essentially
conduced to the prosperity which is now so apparent among our Lodges.
The labors of that officer
are, however, now becoming burdensome, and the calls for his services will be
more frequent as the wants of the fraternity increase." Brother Barney was a
delegate to the Baltimore Convention in 1843. At the meeting of his Grand
Lodge in that year the question of recognition of the Grand Lodge of Michigan
was considered and he was appointed one of the committee to whom the matter
was referred, but at his request was excused from such service, and this is
the last record we have of him in connection with the Grand Lodge of Ohio.
About this time he settled in Chicago, Illinois, becoming a member of Apollo
Lodge No. 32 in that city.
He was appointed Grand
Lecturer of the Grand Lodge of Illinois in October, 1845, holding the office
for one year. Part of the years 1844 and 1845 were spent lecturing in
Michigan, and his labors during these two years gave to that State the system
which has been the authorized work for many years. Undoubtedly several states
owe much to this worthy Brother for their close connection with the ceremonial
work of Thomas Smith Webb. Brother Barney died on June 22, 1847, at Peoria,
Illinois (see Freemasonry in Michigan, J. S. Conover, 1896, page 249; the
Barney work is discussed in American Tyler, volume iii, No. 6, page 5, and No.
17, page 2, and vo1ume v, No 18, page 4, and No. 28, page10)
Augustin Barruel, generally
known as the Abbé Barruel, who was born, October 2, 1741, at Villeneuve de
Berg in France, and who died October 5, 1820, was an implacable enemy of
Freemasonry. He was a prolific writer, but owes his reputation principally to
the work entitled Mémoires pour servir à l'Histoire du Jacobinisme, or
Recollections to serve for a History of Jacobinism, in four volumes, octavo,
published in London in 1797. In this work he charges the Freemasons with
revolutionary principles in politics and with infidelity in religion. He seeks
to trace the origin of the Institution first to those ancient heretics, the
Manicheans, and through them to the Templars, against whom he revives the old
accusations of Philip the Fair and Clement V. His theory of the Templar origin
of Freemasonry is thus expressed (11, 382):
"Your whole school and all
your Lodges are derived from the Templars. After the extinction of their
Order, a certain number of guilty knights, having escaped the prosecution,
united for the preservation of their horrid mysteries. To their impious code
they added the vow of vengeance against the kings and priests who destroyed
their Order, and against all religion which anathematized their dogmas.
They made adepts, who should
transmit from generation to generation the same mysteries of iniquity, the
same oaths, and the same hatred of the God of the Christians, and of kings,
and of priests. These mysteries have descended to you, and you continue to
perpetuate their impiety, their vows, and their oaths. Such is your origin.
The lapse of time and the change of manners have varied a part of your symbols
and your frightful systems; but the essence of them remains, the vows, the
oaths, the hatred, and the conspiracies are the same.''
It is not astonishing that
Lawrie (History of Freemasonry, page 50) should have said of the writer of
such statements, that:
"That charity and forbearance
which distinguish the Christian character are never exemplified in the work of
Barruel, and the hypocrisy of his pretensions is often betrayed by the fury of
his zeal. The tattered veil behind which he attempts to cloak his inclinations
often discloses to the reader the motives of the man and the wishes of his
Although the attractions of
his style and the boldness of his declamation gave Barruel at one time a
prominent place among anti-masonic writers, his work is now seldom read and
never cited in Masonic controversies, for the progress of truth has assigned
their just value to its extravagant assertions.
A famous engraver who lived
for some time in London and engraved the frontispiece of the 1784 edition of
the Book of Constitutions. He was initiated in the Lodge of the Nine Muses in
London on February 13, 1777.
Born at Florence in Italy, he
studied in Venice, and then at Rome and Mi1an, practiced his art most
successfully, settling at London in 1764.After forty years in Eng1and he went
to Portugal and died in Lisbon. Brother Hawkins gives the year of his birth as
1728, and that of his death as 1813. Others give the dates as from 1725 to
1830, and 1813 to 1815.
But all authorities agree in
their high estimate of his ability.
American philanthropist. Born
at Oxford, Massachusetts, December 25, 1821; died at Glen Echo, Maryland,
April 12, 1912. During Civil War distributed large quantities of supplies for
the relief of wounded soldiers and later organized at Washington a Bureau of
Records to aid in the search of missing men. She identified and marked the
graves of more than twelve thousand soldiers at Andersonville, Georgia. She
took part in the International Committee of the Red Cross in Franco-Prussian
War, and was first president of the American Red Cross until 1904. She was the
author of the American Amendment providing that the Red Cross shall distribute
relief not only in war but in times of other calamities.
She later incorporated and
became president of the National First Aid of America for rendering first aid
to the injured. There is a reference to her in Masonic Tidings, Milwaukee,
December 1927, page 19, entitled Son of founder of Eastern Star tells of
beginnings of Order, in the course of which he says: "Yes, it is true that my
father gave the beloved Clara Barton the degree.
He was making a tour of Massachusetts, lecturing. When he reached Oxford he
found a message from Clara Barton, expressing a desire to receive the degree.
In the parlor of her home, father communicated to her the Order of the Eastern
Star. From this Clara Barton created the great American Red Cross, and
cheerfully gave her services to the heroes of the Civil War."
There is also another
reference in the New Age (March, 1924, page 178), where Clara Barton is said
to have observed when becoming a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, "My
father was a Mason; to him it was a religion, and for the love and honor I
bear him, I am glad to be connected with anything like this," However, Mrs.
Minnie E. Keyes, Grand secretary, Order of the Eastern Star, letter of May 2g,
1928, informs us that "The Chapter in Oxford, Massachusetts, was named for her
and With her permission in 1898, but she herself did not join until June,
The Secretary tells me the
Minutes of the meeting of June 29, 1906, show. After a short intermission this
Chapter received the great honor of being allowed to confer the degrees of
this Order upon our illustrious namesake, Miss Clara Barton. It was an
occasion long to be remembered as with feelings of pride and pleasure we
witnessed the work so impressively and gracefully rendered and received.
It was with quite reverential
feeling that at its close we were privileged to take her by the hand as our
Literally and originally a
royal palace. A Roman pagan basilica was a rectangular hall whose length was
two or three times its breadth, divided by two or more lines of columns,
bearing entablatures, into a broad central nave and side aisles.
It was generally roofed with
wood, sometimes vaulted. At one end was the entrance. From the center of the
opposite end opened a semicircular recess as broad as the nave, called in
Latin the Tribuna and in Greek the Apsis. The uses of the basilica were
variotts and of a public character, courts of justice being held in them. Only
a few ruins remain.
The significance of the
basilica to Freemasons is that it was the form adopted for early Christian
churches, and for its influence on the building gilds.
For the beginning of Christian
architecture, which is practically the beginning of Operative Freemasonry, we
must seek very near the beginning of the Christian religion. For three
centuries the only places in pagan Rome where Christians could meet with
safety were in the catacombs, long underground galleries. When Constantine
adopted Christianity in 324, the Christians were no longer forced to worship
in the catacombs. They were permitted to worship in the basilica and chose
days for special worship of the Saints on or near days of pagan celebrations
or feast days, so as not to attract the attention or draw the contempt of the
Romans not Christians.
Examples of this have come
down to us, as, Christmas, St. John the Baptist's Day, St. John the
Evangelist's Day, etc.
The Christian basilicas spread
over the Roman Empire, but in Rome applied specially to the seven principal
churches founded' by Constantine, and it was their plan that gave Christian
churches this name. The first builders were the Roman Artificers, and after
the fall of the Western Empire, we find a decadent branch at Como that
developed into the Comacine Masters, who evolved, aided by Byzantine workmen
and influence Lombardian architecture (see Como).
The basket or fan was among
the Egyptians a symbol of the purification of souls. The idea seems to have
been adopted by other nations, and hence, "initiations in the Ancient
Mysteries," says Rolle (Culte de Bacchus,1, 30), "being the commencement of a
better life and the perfection of it, could not take place till the soul was
The fan had been accepted as
the symbol of that purification because the mysteries purged the soul of sin,
as the fan cleanses the grain." John the Baptist conveys the same idea of
purification when he says of the Messiah, "His fan is in his hand, and he will
thoroughly purge his floor" (Matthew iii, 12; Luke iii, 17).
The sacred basket in the
Ancient Mysteries was called the xikvov, and the one who carried it was termed
the xwv or basket-bearer. Indeed, the sacred basket, containing the first
fruits and offerings, was as essential in all solemn processions of the
mysteries of Bacchus and other divinities as the Bible is in the Masonic
procession. As lustration was the symbol of purification by water, so the
mystical fan or winnowing-basket was, according to Sainte Croix (Mystéres du
Paganisme, tome ii, page 81), the symbol in the Bacchic rites of a
purification by air.
BASLE, CONGRESS OF
A Masonic Congress was held
September 24, 1848, at Basle, in Switzerland, consisting of one hundred and
six members, representing eleven Lodges under the patronage of the Swiss Grand
Lodge Alpina. The Congress was principally engaged upon the discussion of the
"What can and what ought Freemasonry to contribute towards the welfare of
mankind locally, nationally, and internationally?" The conclusion to which the
Congress appeared to arrive upon this question was briefly this:
"Locally, Freemasonry ought to
strive to make every Brother a good citizen, a good father, and a good
neighbor; whilst it ought to teach him to perform every duty of life
faithfully. Nationally, a Freemason ought to strive to promote and to maintain
the welfare and the honor of his native land, to love and to honor it himself,
and, if necessary, to place his life and fortune at its disposal;
Internationally, a Freemason is bound to go still further:
he must consider himself as a
member of that one great family,-the whole human race,-who are all children of
one and the same Father, and that it is in this sense, and with this spirit,
that the Freemason ought to work if he would appear worthily before the throne
of Eternal Truth and Justice."
The Congress of Basle appears
to have accomplished no practical result.
The question of the
ineligibility of bastards to be made Freemasons was first brought to the
attention of the Craft by Brother Chalmers I.
Paton, who, in several
articles in The London Freemason, in 1869, contended that they were excluded
from initiation by the Ancient Regulations.
Subsequently, in his
compilation entitled Freemasonry and its Jurisprudence, published in 1872, he
cites several of the 0ld Constitutions as explicitly declaring that the men
made Freemasons shall be "no bastards." This is a most unwarrantable
interpolation not to be justified in any writer on jurisprudence; for on a
careful examination of all the old manuscript copies which have been
published, no such words are to be found in any one of them.
As an instance of this
literary disingenuousness, to use no harsher term, we quote the following from
his work (page 60). 'The charge in this second edition [of Anderson's
Constitutions is in the following unmistakable words: 'The men made Masons
must be freeborn, no bastard (or no bondmen), of mature age and of good
report, hale and wund, not deformed or dismembered at the time of their
Now, with a copy of this
second edition lying open before him, Brother Mackey found the passage thus
printed: "The men made Masons must be freeborn (or no bondmen), of mature age
and of good report, hale and sound, not deformed or dismembered at the time of
their making." The words "no bastard" are Patos's interpolation.
Again, Patos quotes from
Preston the Ancient . Charges at makings, in these words: "That he that be
made be able in all degrees; that is, freeborn, of a good kindred, true, and
no bondsman or bastard, and that he have his right limbs as a man ought to
But on referring to Preston
(edition of 1775, and all subsequent editions) we find the passage to be
correctly thus: "That he that be made be able in all degrees; that is,
freeborn, of a good kindred, true, and no bondsman, and that he have his limbs
as a man ought to have." Positive law authorities should not be thus cited,
not merely carelessly, but with designed inaccuracy to support a theory.
But although there is no
regulation in the Old Constitutions which explicitly prohibits the initiation
of bastards, it may be implied from their language that such prohibition did
exist. Thus, in all the old manuscripts, we find such expressions as these :
he that shall be made a Freemason "must be freeborn and of good kindred"
Sloane Manuscript (No. 3323), or ''come of good kindred'' Edinburgh Kilwinning
Manuscript, or, as the Roberts Print more definitely has it"of honest
It is not, we therefore think,
to be doubted that formerly bastards were considered as ineligible for
initiation, on the same principle that they were, as a degraded class,
excluded from the priesthood in the Jewish and the primitive Christian church.
But the more liberal spirit of modem times has long since made the law
obsolete, because it is contrary to the principles of justice to punish a
misfortune as if it was a crime.
The reader should note in
addition to what Brother Mackey has said in the above article that the
Illustrations of freemasonry, by William Preston, edition of 1812 (page 82),
reprints a series of charges said to be contained in a manuscript in the
possession of the Lodge of Antiquity at London, and to have been written in
the reign of James the Second- The third charge says in part:
"And no master nor fellow
shall take no apprentice for less than seven years. And that the apprentice be
free-born, and of limbs whole as a man ought to be, and no bastard. And that
no master nor fellow take no allowance to be made Mason without the assent of
his fellows, at the least six or seven."
The fourth charge now goes on
"That he that be made be able
in all degrees; that is, free-born, of a good kindred, true, and no bondsman,
and that he have his right —limbs as a man ought to have." These charges may
well be studied in connection with what Brothers Paton and Mackey have
discussed in the foregoing.
BATCHELOR, JAMES CUNNINGHAM
Born of English parents in
Quebec, Canada, July 10, 1818. His parents removed during his infancy to New
York. Then he received a high school education in Saint Louis, studied
medicine in New Orleans, and especially distinguished himself during the
yellow fever epidemic there. He received his First Degree in Freemasonry at
Montgomery, Alabama, on April 11, 1846, the Honorary Thirty-third in 1857,
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, and became an Active in 1859. For
twenty-four years he was Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana. He
succeeded General AIbert Pike, who died April 2, 1891, as Grand Commander, the
Southern Jurisdiction, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. Brother Batchelor
died on July 28, 1893.
The truncheon or staff of a
Grand Marshal, and always carried by him in processions as the ensign of his
office. It is a wooden rod about eighteen inches long. In the military usage
of England, the baton of the Earl Marshal was originally of wood, but in the
reign of Richard II it was made of gold, and delivered to him at his creation,
a custom which has been continued. In the patent or commission granted by that
monarch to the Duke of Surrey the baton is minutely described as baculum
aureum circa utramque finem de nigro annulatum, meaning a golden wand, having
black rings around each end- a description that wil1 very well serve for a
BATS, PARLIAMENT OF
The Parliament which assembled
in England in the year 1426, during the minority of Henry VI, to settle the
disputes between the Duke of Gloucester, the Regent, and the Bishop of
Winchester, tbe guardian of the young king's person, and which was so called
because the members, being forbidden by the Duke of Gloucester to wear swords,
armed themselves with clubs or bats.
It has been stated by Preston
(Illustrations of Masonry, edition of 1812, page 165), that it was in this
Parliament that the Act forbidding Freemasons to meet in Chapters or
Congregations was passed; but this is erroneous, for that act was passed in
1425 by the Parliament at Westminster, while the Parliament of Bats met at
Leicester in 1426 (see Laborers, Statutes of).
A given number of blows by the
gavels of the officers, or by the hands of the Brethren, as a mark of
approbation, admiration, or reverence, and at times accompanied by the
Freemasonry was introduced
into Bavaria, from France, in 1737. However, the Handbuch of Schletter and
Zille declares that 1777 was the beginning of Freemasonry in Bavaria proper.
The meetings of the Lodges were suspended in 1784 by the reigning duke Charles
Theodore, and the act of suspension was renewed in 1799 and 1804 by Maximilian
Joseph, the King of Bavaria.
The Order was subsequently
revived in 1812 and in 1817. The Grand Lodge of Bayreuth was constituted in
1811 under the appellation of the Grossloge zur Sonne. In 1868 a Masonic
conference took place of the Lodges under its jurisdiction, and a constitution
was adopted, which guarantees to every confederated Lodge perfect freedom of
ritual and government, provided the Grand Lodge finds these to be Masonic.
An evergreen plant, and a
symbol in Freemasonry of the immortal nature of Truth. By the bay-tree thus
referred to in the old instructions of the Knight of the Red Cross, is meant
the laurel, which, as an evergreen, was among the ancients a symbol of
immortality. It is, therefore, properly compared with Truth, which Josephus
makes Zerubbabel say is "immortal and eternal. "
BAZOT, ETIENNE FRANÇOIS
A French Masonic writer, born
at Nievre, March 31, 1782. He published at Paris a Vocabulaire des Francs-Maçons
in 1810. This Freemasons' Dictionary was translated into Italian. In 1811 he
published a Manuel du Franc-maçon, or Freemason's Manual, one of the most
judicious works of the kind published in France.
He was also the author of
Morale de la Franc-maçonnerie, or Masonic Ethics, and the Tuileur Expert des
33 degrés, or Tiling for Thirty-three Degrees, which is a complement to his
Manuel. Bazot was distinguished for other literary writings on subjects of
general literature, such as two volumes of Tales and Poems, A Eulogy on the
Abbé de l'Epée, and as the editor of the Biographic Nouvelle des
Contemporaries, in twenty volumes.
B. D. S. P. H. G. F.
In the French instructions of
the Knights of the East and West, these letters are the initials of Beauté,
Divinité, Sagesse, Puissance, Honneur, Gloire, Force, which correspond to the
letters of the English monitors B. D. W.P.H.G.S., which are the initials of
equivalent words, Beauty, Divinity, Wisdom, Power, Honor, Glory, Strength.
An officer in a Council of
Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, corresponding to the Junior Deacon of a
Symbolic Lodge. The Beadle is one, say‚ Junius, who proclaims and executes the
will of superior powers. The word is similar to the old French bedel, the
Latin bedellus, and is perhaps a corrupted form of the Anglo-Saxon bydel, all
of which have the meaning of messenger.
One of those fortunate female‚
who are said to have obtained possession of the Freemasons' secrets. The
following account of her is given in A General History of the County of
Norfolk, published in 1829 (see volume ii, page 1304):
"Died in St. John's,
Maddermarket, Norwich, July, 1802, aged 85, Mrs. Beaton, a native of Wales.
She was commonly called the Freemason, from the circumstance of her having
contrived to conceal herself one evening, in the wainscoting of a Lodge-room
where she learned the secret-at the knowledge of which thousands of her sex
have in vain attempted to arrive. She was, in many respects, a very singular
character, of which one proof adduced is that the secret of the Freemasons
died with her."
There is no official
confirmation of this story.
From Beauseant, and fero
meaning to carry. The officer among the old Knight Templar whose duty it was
to carry the Beausean in battle. The office is still retained in some of the
high Degrees which are founded on Templarism.
The Chevalier Beauchaine was
one of the most fanatical of the irremovable Masters of the Ancient Grand
Lodge of France. He has established his Lodge at the Golden Sun, an inn in the
Rue St. Victor, Paris, where he slept, and for six francs conferred all the
Degrees of Freemasonry. On August 17, 1747, he organized the Order of Fendeurs
or Woodcutters, at Paris.
The vexillum belli, or
war-banner of the ancient Templars, which is also used by the modem Masonic
Order. The upper half of the banner was black, and the lower half white:
black, to typify terror to foes, and white, fairness to friends. It bore the
pious inscription, Non nobis, Domine, non nobis sed nomini tuo da gloriam.
This is the beginning of the first verse of Psalm cxv, "Not unto us, O Lord,
not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory."
The Beauseant is frequently,
says Barrington in his Introduction to Heraldry (page 121), introduced among
the decorations in the Temple Church, and on one of the paintings on the wall,
Henry I is represented with this banner in his hand.
As to the derivation of the
word, there is some doubt among writers. Bauseant or bausant was, in old
French, a piebald or party-colored horse; and the word bawseant is used in the
Scottish dialect with similar reference to two colors. Thus, Burns says:
His honest, sonsie, baws'nt
where Doctor Currie, in his
Glossary of Burns, explans bawsent as meaning "having a white stripe down the
face." It is also supposed by some that the word bauseant may be only a form,
in the older language, of the modern French word bienséant, which signifies
something decorous or becoming; but the former derivation is preferable, in
which bealmeant would signify simply a party-colored banner.
With regard to the double
signification of the white and black banner, the Orientalists have a legend of
Alexander the Great, which may be appropriately quoted on the present
occasion, as given by Weil in his Biblical Legends ( page 70).
"Alexander was the lord of
light and darkness, when he went out with his army the light was before him,
and behind him was the darkness, so that he was secure against all ambuscades;
and by means of a miraculous white and black standard he had also the power to
transform the clearest day into midnight and darkness, or black night into
noonday, just as he unfurled the one or the other. Thus he was unconquerable,
since he rendered his troops invisible at his pleasure, and came down suddenly
upon his foes. Might there not have been some connection between the mythical
white and black standard of Alexander and the Beauseant of the Templars? We
know that the latter were familiar with Oriental symbolism.''
Beauseant was also the war-cry
of the ancient Templars and is pronounced bo-say-ong.
Said to be symbolically one of
the three supports of a Lodge. It is represented by the Corinthian column,
because the Corinthian is the most beautiful of the ancient orders of
architecture; and by the Junior Warden, because he symbolizes the meridian
sun-the most beautiful object in the heavens. Hiram Abif is also said to be
represented by the Column of Beauty, because the Temple was indebted to his
skill for its splendid decorations. The idea of Beauty as one of the supports
of the Lodge is found in the earliest rituals of the eighteenth century, as
well as the symbolism which refers it to the Corinthian column and the Junior
Warden. Preston first introduced the reference to the Corinthian column and to
Beauty, in the Hebrew, n~x~n,
pronounced tif-eh-reth, was the sixth of the Cabalistic Sephiroth, and, with
Justice and Mercy, formed the second Sephirotic triad; and from the Cabalists
the Freemasons most probably derived the symbol (see Supports of the Lodge).
BEAUTY AND BANDS
The names of the two rods
spoken of by the prophet Zechariah ( xi, 7, 10, 14), as symbolic of his
pastoral office. This expression was in use in portions of the old Masonic
ritual in England; but in the system of Doctor Hemming, which was adopted at
the union of the two Grand Lodges in 1813, this symbol, with all reference to
it, was ex-punged. As Doctor Oliver says in his Dictionary of symbolic
Masonry, "it is nearly forgotten, except by a few old Masons, who may perhaps
recollect the illustration as an incidental subject of remark among the
Fraternity of that period."
BECKER, RUDOLPH ZACHARIAS
A very zealous Freemason of
Gotha, who published, in 1786, a historical essay on the Bavarian Illuminati,
under the title of Grundsatze Verfassung und Schicksale in Illulninatens Order
in Baiern. He was a very popular writer on educational subjects; his
Instructive Tales of Joy and Sorrow was so highly esteemed, that a half
million copies were printed in German and other languages. He died in 1802.
BEDARRIDE, THE BROTHERS
Mackey was convinced that the
Brothers Marc, Michel, and Joseph Bédarride were Masonic charlatans, notorious
for their propagation of the Rite of Mizraim, having established in 1813, at
Paris, under the partly real and partly pretended authority of Lechangeur, the
inventor of the Rite, a Supreme Puissance for France, and organized a large
number of Lodges.
In this opinion Brother Mackey
is supported by Clavel who says the founders, including Marc Bédarride, were
not of high character. This is repeated by Brother Woodford in the Cyclopedia
of Freemasonry. But Brother Mackenzie, Royal Masonic Cyclopedia, says the
evidence is insufficient to prove them charlatans. He further asserts:
"There is nothing to
distinguish in point of verity between the founder or introducer of one rite
above another. It must depend upon the coherence and intellectual value of the
rite, which becomes quite superfluous where there is no substantial advantage
gained for the true archeological and scientific value of Freemasonry, under
whatever name the rite may be formulated. It is in this sense that the
authorities of the Grand Lodge of England--ever the honorable custodians of
Freemasonry-have most properly resisted innovations. But there are several
quasi-Masonic bodies in this country, England, let in as it were by a side
door. Hence the brethren Bédarride had as much right to carry their false ware
to market as these."
Of these three brothers,
Bédarride, who were Jews, Michel, who assailed the most prominent position in
the numerous controversies which arose in French Freemasonry on account of
their Rite, died February 16, 1856. Marc died ten years before, in April,
Of Joseph, who was never very
prominent, we have no record as to the time of his death (see Mizraim Rite
The bee was among the
Egyptians the symbol of an obedient people, because, says Horapollo, "of all
insects, the bee alone had a king. " Hence looking at the regulated labor of
these insects when congregated in their hive, it is not surprising that a
beehive should have been deemed an appropriate emblem of systematized
industry. Freemasonry has therefore adopted the beehive as a symbol of
industry, a virtue taught in the instructions, which says that a Master Mason
"works that he may receive wages, the better to support himself and family,
and contribute to the relief of a worthy, distressed brother, his widow and
orphans" ; and in the Old Charges, which tell us that "all Masons shall work
honestly on working days, that they may live creditably on holidays."
There seems, however, to be a
more recondite meaning connected with this symbol. The ark has already been
shown to have been an emblem common to Freemasonry and the Ancient Mysteries,
as a symbol of regeneration--of the second birth from death to life. Now, in
the Mysteries, a hive was the type of the ark. "Hence," says Faber (Origin of
Pagan Idolatry, volume ii, page 133), "both the diluvian priestesses and the
regenerated souls were called bees; hence, bees were feigned to be produced
from the carcass of a cow, which also symbolized the ark; and hence, as the
great father was esteemed an infernal god, honey was much used both in funeral
rites and in the Mysteries." This extract is from the article on the bee in
Evans' Animl Symbolism in Ecclesiastical Architecture.
The' subject of a Freemason's
behavior is one that occupies much attention in both the ritualistic and the
monitorial instructions of the Order. In the Charges of a Freemason, extracted
from the ancient records, and first published in the Constitutions of 1723,
the sixth article is exclusively appropriated to the subject of Behavior. It
is divided into six sections, as follows:
Behavior in the Lodge while
Behavior after the Lodge is over and the Brethren not gone.
Behavior when Brethren meet without strangers, but not in a Lodge formed.
Behavior in presence of strangers not Freemasons.
Behavior at home and in your neighborhood.
Behavior toward a strange brother.
The whole article constitutes
a code of moral ethics remarkable for the purity of the principles it
inculcates, and is well worthy of the close attention of every Freemason.
It is a complete refutation of
the slanders of anti-Masonic revilers. As these charges are to be found in all
the editions of the Book of Constitutions, and in many Masonic works, they are
readily accessible to everyone who desires to read them.
BEHOLD YOUR MASTER
When, in the instal1ation
services, the formula is used, "Brethren, behold your Master," the expression
is not simply exclamatory, but is intends as the original use of the word
behold implies, to invite the members of the Lodge to fix their attention upon
the new relations which have sprung up between them and him who has just been
elevated to the Oriental Chair, and to impress upon their minds the duties
which they owe to him and which he owes to them. In like manner, when the
formula is continued, "Master, behold your brethren, " the Master's attention
is impressively directed to the same change of re1ations and duties.
These are not mere idle words,
but convey an important lesson, and should never be omitted in the ceremony of
spelled Bel, is usually
pronounced bell but both Strong in his Hebrew Dictionary, and Feyerabend in
his, prefer to say bale. The word is probably the contracted form of v,
commonly pronounced bay-ahl and spelled Baal, and he was worshiped by the
Babylonians as their chief deity. The Greeks and Romans so considered the
meaning and translated the word by Zeus and Jupiter.
Bel was one of the chief gods
of the Babylonians perhaps their supreme deity, and the word has been deemed a
Chaldaic form of Baal. Note Isaiah, xlvi, 1, "Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth,
their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle. " Baal signifies Lord
or Master and occurs several times in the Bible as a part of the names of
various gods. Alone, the word applies to the sun-god, the supreme male deity
of the Syro-Phoenician nations.
For an account of his worship
read First Kings xviii.
With Jah and On, it has been
introduced into the Royal Arch system as a representative of the
Tetragrammaton, which it and the accompanying words have sometimes ignorantly
been made to displace. At the session of the General Grand Chapter of the
United States, in 1871, this error was corrected; and while the Tetragrammaton
was declared to be the true omnific word, the other three were permitted to be
retained as merely explanatory.
American Colonist, born
January 8, 1681; graduated from Harvard University, 1699; died August 31,
1757. He was made a Freemason at London in 1704, according to a letter he
wrote to the First Lodge in Boston on September 25, 1741, and therefore
Brother M. M. Johnson names him the Senior Freemason of America.
Brother Belcher served as
Colonial Governor of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New Jersey (see New Age,
August,1925; Beginnings of Freemasonry in America, Melvin M. Johnson, 1924,
page 49 ; History of Freemasonry in the State of New York, Ossian Lang, page 6
; Builder, volume x, page 312).
Belenus, the Baal of the
Scripture, was identified with Mithras and with Apollo, the god of the sun. A
forest in the neighborhood of Lausanne is still known as Sauvebelin, or the
retreat or abiding place of Belenus, and traces of this name are to be found
in many parts of England. The custom of kindling fires about midnight on the
eve of the festival of St. John the Baptist, at the moment of the summer
solstice, which was considered by the ancients a season of rejoicing and of
divination, is a vestige of Druidism in honor of this deity.
It is a curious coincidence
that the numerical value of the letters of the word Belenus, like those of
Abrazas and Mithras, all representatives of the sun, amounts to 365, the exact
number of the days in a solar year. But before ascribing great importance to
this coincidence, it may be well to read what the mathematician Augustus De
Morgan has said upon the subject of such comparisons in his Budget of
Paraclozes (see Abrazas).
The Grand Orient of Belgium
has constituted three Lodges in this Colony-Ere Nouvelle, Daennen and Labor et
Libertas, the first two at Stanleyville and the third at Elizabethville.
L'Aurore de Congo Lodge at Brazzaville is controlled by the Grand Lodge of
Tradition states that the
Craft flourished in Belgium at Mons as early as 1721 but the first authentic
Lodge, Unity, existed at Brussels in 1757 and continued work until 1794. A
Provincial Grand Master Francis B.J. Dumont, the Marquis de Sages, was
appointed by the Moderns Grand Lodge in 1769. For some years, however,
opposition from the Emperor hiudered the expansion of the Craft.
0n January 1, 1814, there were
only 27 Lodges in existence in the country.
A Grand Lodge was established
by Dutch and Belgian Brethren on June 24, 1817, but it was not successful.
Belgium became independent in 1830 and a Grand Orient was formed on May 23,
1833, out of the old Grand Lodge. In 1914 it controlled 24 Lodges in Belgium
and one in the Belgian Congo.
King Leopold was himself
initiated in 1813 and, although he never took a very active part in the work
he always maintained a friendly attitude towards the Craft.
On March 1, 1817, a Supreme
Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite was established.
The fundamental law of
Freemasonry contained in the first of the Old Charges collected in 1723, and
inserted in the Book of Constitutions published in that year, sets forth the
true doctrine as to what the Institution demands of a Freemason in reference
to his religious belief:
"A Mason is obliged, by his
tenure, to obey the moral law; and if he rightly understands the art, he will
never be a stupid atheist nor an irreligious libertine.
But though in ancient times
Masons were charged in every country to be of the religion of that country or
nation, whatever it was, yet it is now thought more expedient only to oblige
them to that religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular
opinions to themselves."
Anderson, in his second
edition, altered this article, calling a Freemason a true Noachida, and saying
that Freemasons "all agree in the three great articles of Noah," which is
incorrect, since the Precepts of Noah were seven (see Religion of
See British Honduras
The use of a bell in the
ceremonies of the Third Degree, to denote the hour, is, manifestly, an
anachronism, an error in date, for bells were not invented until the fifth
century. But Freemasons are not the only people who have imagined the
existence of bells at the building of the Temple. Henry Stephen tells us in
the Apologie pour Herodote ( chapter 39 ), of a monk who boasted that when he
was at Jerusalem he obtained a vial which contained some of the sounds of King
Solomon's bells. The blunders of a ritualist and the pious fraud of a
relic-monger have equal claims to authenticity.
The Masonic anachronism,
however, is not worth consideration, because it is simply intended for a
notation of time--a method of expressing intelligibly the hour at which a
supposed event occurred.
Brother Mackey, in writing the
foregoing paragraph, had no doubt in mind the kind of bells used in churches
of which an early, if indeed not the earliest, application is usually credited
to Bishop Paulinus about 400 A.D.
However, in the Quarterly
Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1904, there is a report of the
discovery at Gezer of a number of small bronze bells, both of the ordinary
shape with clapper and also of the ball-and-slit form. If these bells are of
the same date as the city on whose site they were found, then they may have
like antiquity of say up to 3000 B.C. Bells are mentioned in the Bible (as in
Exodus xxviii 34, and xxxix, 26, and in Zechariah xiv, 20), but the
presumption is that these were mainly symbolical or decorative in purpose.
A significant word in Symbolic
Freemasonry, obsolete in many of the modem systems, whose derivation is
uncertain (see Macbenac).
The name of a cavern to which
certain assassins fled for concealment. The expression may be fanciful but in
wund has a curious resemblance to a couple of Hebrew words meaning builder and
A significant word in the
advanced degrees. One of the Princes or Intendants of Solomon, in whose quarry
some of the traitors spoken of in the Third Degree were found. He is mentioned
in the catalogue of Solomon's princes, given in First Kings (iv, 9). The
Hebrew word is, pronounced ben-day-ker, the son of him who divides or pierces.
In some old instructions we find a corrupt form, Bendaa.
A Roman pontiff whose family
name was Prosper Lambertini. He was born at Bologna in 1675, succeeded Clement
XII as Pope in 1740, and died in 1758. He was distinguished for his learning
and was a great encourager of the arts and sciences.
He was, however, an implacable
enemy of secret societies, and issued, on the 18th of May, 1751, his
celebrated Bull, renewing and perpetuating that of his predecessor which
excommunicated the Freemasons (see Bull).
The solemn invocation of a
blessing in the ceremony of closing a Lodge is called the benediction. The
usual formula is as follows:
"May the blessing of Heaven
rest upon us, and all regular Masons ; may brotherly love prevail, and every
moral and social virtue cement us. "
The response is, "So mote it
be. Amen," which should always be audibly pronounced by all the Brethren.
One who receives the support
or charitable donations of a Lodge. Those who are entitled to these benefits
are affiliated Freemasons, their wives or widows, their widowed mothers, and
their minor sons and unmarried daughters. Unaffiliated Freemasons cannot
become the beneficiaries of a Lodge, but affiliated Freemasons cannot be
deprived of its benefits on account of non-payment of dues.
Indeed, as this non-payment
often arises from poverty, it thus furnes a stronger claim for fraternal
BENEFIT SOCIETY, MASONIC
In 1798, a society was
established in London, under the patronage of the Prince of Wales, the Earl of
Moira, and all the other acting officers of the Grand Lodge, whose object was
"the relief of sick, aged, and imprisoned Brethren, and for the protection of
their widows, children, and orphans."
The payment of one guinea per
annula entitled every member, when sick or destitute, or his widow and orphans
in case of his death, to a fixed contribution- After a few years, however, the
Society came to an end as it was considered improper to turn Freemasonry into
a Benefit Club. Benefit funds of this kind have been generally unknown to the
Freemasons of America, although some Lodges have established a fund for the
The Lodge of Strict Observance
in the City of New York, and others in Troy, Ballston, Schenectady, etc.,
years ago, adopted a system of benefit funds.
In 1844, several members of
the Lodges in Louisville, Kentucky, organized a society under the title of the
Friendly Sons of St. John. It was constructed after the model of the English
society already mentioned. No member was received after forty-five years of
age, or who was not a contributing member of a Lodge ; the per diem allowance
to sick members was seventy-five cents; fifty dollars were appropriated to pay
the funeral expenses of a deceased member, and twenty-five for those of a
member's wife ; on the death of a member a gratuity was given to his family ;
ten per cent of all fees and dues was appropriated to an orphan fund; and it
was contemplated, if the funds would justify, to pension the widows of
deceased members, if their circumstances required it.
Similar organizations are Low
Twelve Clubs which have been formed in Lodges and other Masonic bodies and
these are usually voluntary, a group of the brethren paying a stipulated sum
into a common fund by regular subscriptions or by assessment whenever a member
dies; a contribution from this fund being paid to the surviving relatives on
the death of any brother affiliated in the undertaking.
But the establishment in
Lodges of such benefit funds is by some Brethren held to be in opposition to
the pure system of Masonic charity, and they have, therefore, been discouraged
by several Grand Lodges, though several have existed in Scotland and
Cogan, in his work On the
Passions, thus defines Benevolence : ''When our love or desire of good goes
forth to others, it is termed goodwill or benevolence.
Benevolence embraces all
beings capable of enjoying any portion of good; and thus it becomes universal
benevolence, which manifests itself by being pleased with the share of good
every creature enjoys in a disposition to increase it, in feeling an
uneasiness at their sufferings, and in the abhorrence of cruelty under every
disguise or pretext."
This spirit should pervade the
hearts of all Freemasons, who are taught to look upon mankind as formed by the
Great Architect of the Universe for the mutual assistance, instruction, and
support of each other.
BENEVOLENCE, FUND OF
This Fund was established in
1727 by the Grand Lodge of England under the management of a Committee of
seven members, to whom twelve more were added in 1730.
It was originally supported by
voluntary contributions from the various Lodges, and intended for the relief
of distressed Brethren recommended by the contributing Lodges. The Committee
was called the Committee of Charity.
The Fund is now derived partly
from the fees of honor payable by Grand Officers, and the fees for
dispensations, and partly from an annual payment of four shillings from each
London Freemason and of two shillings from each country Freemason; it is
administered by the Board of Benevolence, which consists of all the present
and past Grand Officers, all actual Masters of Lodges and twelve Past Masters.
The Fund is solely devoted to
charity,, and large sums of money are every year voted and paid to
petitioners. In the United States of America there are several similar
organizations known as Boards of Relief (see Relief, Board of).
There have been several
institutions in the United States of an educational and benevolent character,
deriving their existence in whole or in part from Masonic beneficence, and
among these may be mentioned the following:
Girard College, Philadelphia,
Masonic Widows and Orphans Home, Louisville, Kentucky.
Oxford Orphan Asylum, Oxford, North Carolina.
Saint John's Masonic College, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Masonic Female College, Covington, Georgia.
Besides the Stephen Girard
Charity Fund, founded in Philadelphia, the capital investment of which is
562,000, the annual interest being devoted "to relieve all Master Masons in
good standing,'' there is a Charity Fund for the relief of the widows and
orphans of deceased Master Masons, and an incorporated Masonic Home. The
District of Columbia has an organized Masonic charity, entitled Saint John's
Mite Association. Idaho has an Orphan Fund, to which every Master Mason pays
annually one dollar.
Indiana has organized the
Masonic Widows' and Orphans' Home Society. Maine has done likewise; and
Nebraska has an Orphans' School Fund (see Charity).
Found in some old rituals of the high degrees for Bendekar, as the name of an
Intendant of Solomon. It is Bengeber in the catalogue of Solomon's officers
(First Kings iv, 13), meaning the son of Geber, or the son of the strong man.
In 1728 a Deputation was
granted by Lord Kingston, Grand Master of England, to Brother George Pomfret
to constitute a Lodge at Bengal in East India, that had been requested by some
Brethren residing there ; and in the following year a Deputation was granted
to Captain Ralph Far Winter, to be Provincial Grand Master of East India at
Bengal (see Constitutions, 1738, page 194) ; and in 1730 a Lodge was
established at the "East India Arms, Fort William, Calcutta, Bengal,'' and
numbered 72. There is a District Grand Lodge of Bengal with 74 subordinate
Lodges, and also a District Grand Chapter with 21 subordinate Chapters.
The Bible is properly called a
greater light of Freemasonry, for from the center of the Lodge it pours forth
upon the East, the West, and the South its refulgent rays of Divine truth. The
Bible is used among Freemasons as a symbol of the will of God, however it may
Therefore, whatever to any
people expresses that will may be used as a substitute for the Bible in a
Masonic Lodge. Thus, in a Lodge consisting entirely of Jews, the Old Testament
alone may be placed upon the altar, and Turkish Freemasons make use of the
Koran. Whether it be the Gospels to the Christian, the Pentateuch to the
Israelite, the Koran to the Mussulman, or the Vedas to the Brahman, it
everywhere Masonically conveys the same idea-that of the symbolism of the
Divine Will revealed to man.
The history of the Masonic
symbolism of the Bible is interesting. It is referred to in the manuscripts
before the revival as the book upon which the covenant was taken, but it was
never referred to as a great light. In the old ritual, of which a copy from
the Royal Library of Berlin is given by Krause (Die drei ältersten
Kunsturkunden der Freimaurerbrüderschaft, or The Three Oldest Art Documents of
the Masonic Fraternity, 1, 32), there is no mention of the Bible as one of the
lights. Preston made it a part of the furniture of the Lodge; but in monitors
of about 1760 it is described as one of the three great lights. In the
American system, the Bible is both a piece of furniture and a great light.
The above paragraphs by Doctor
Mackey may well be extended on account of the peculiar position occupied by
the Bible in our Fraternity. No one goes through the ceremonies and
participates in Masonic activities uninfluenced by the Bible.
Studies of the Ritual
necessarily rest upon the Scriptures and of those inspired by Bible teachings
and language. One good Brother earnestly and faithfully labored to have
certain ceremonies freely edited but when he, devout Churchman as he was,
understood that sundry peculiarities of language followed the example of the
Bible, he gladly gave up his purpose to alter that which abides equally
typical of age as the Scriptures.
What had seemed to him mere
repetition was meant for weighty emphasis, as in James (x, 27) "Pure religion
and undefiled;" Hebrews (xii, 28) "with reverence and godly fear;" Colossians
(iv, 12) "stand perfect and complete," and also in the Book of Common Prayer,
the word-pairs "dissemble nor cloak," "perils and dangers," "acknowledge and
confess," and so on.
These may well be mentioned here as the tendency to change ceremonies is
seldom curbed by any consideration of the peculiar merit, other than their
quaintness, of the old expressions.
The Scriptures, the Holy
Writings, the Volume of the Sacred Law, the Old and New Testaments, the Holy
Bible, this word Bible from the Greek, the (sacred) books; the two parts, Old
and New Testaments, the former recording the Covenants, attested by the
prophets, between the God of Israel and His people, Christ the central figure
of the latter work speaks of the new Dispensation, a new Covenant, and the
word Covenant in the Latin became Testamentum from which we obtain the word
commonly used for the two divisions of the Bible, the Old and New Testaments.
These divisions are further separated into the books of the Bible, sixty-six
in all, thirty-nine in the Old Testament, twenty-seven in the New.
We must remember that Old and
New refer to Covenants, not to age of manuscripts.
Earliest Hebrew writings of,
the Old Testament only date back to the ninth century after Christ, several
centuries later than the earliest New Testament Scriptures.
There is also another method
of division in which the books of the Old Testament are counted but as
twenty-four, First and Second Kings, First and Second Samuel, First and Second
Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and then the minor prophets, as they are called,
being grouped as one for several hundred years by the Jews and then divided
into two in the sixteenth century. Roughly we may divide the books into the
law according to Moses; the historical books of Joshua, Samuel, and the
anonymous historians; the poetry and philosophy; and the prophecies, of the
These standards the books
contain are known as the canon, originally a measuring rod or rule. The canon
to some authorities admits none of the books of the Apocrypha, which are of
value for the insight they afford of Jewish religious life. There are the
Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint, and the Latin Old Testament, the Vulgate
(Septuagint, a translation traditionally made by seventy persons, from the
Latin septuaginta; and the Vulgate, another Latin expression, applied to the
Saint Jerome version and meaning what is common) which in these works include
the Apocrypha, usually held uncanonical by Protestants, and then there are
certain other books that both Roman Catholics and Protestants consider as
having even less authority. Apocrypha comes from two Greek works krypton, to
hide, and apo, meaning away. There is also an Apocrypha of the New Testament.
Many Christian writings are of this class. Some add much light upon the early
The New Testament was written
at various times, Saint Matthew being followed about 64-70 A.D, by the work of
Saint Mark at Rome. Saint Luke treats the subject historically, and claim is
made that this writer was also responsible for recording the Acts of the
Apostles. Saint John probably wrote his gospel near the close of the first
century. His style is distinctive, and his material favored in formulating the
The early Hebrew text of the
Bible was wholly of consonants. Not until the sixth or eighth centuries did
the pointed and accented lettering, a vowel system, appear, but before the
tenth century much devoted labor was applied upon critical commentaries by
Jewish writers to preserve the text from corruption. The Targum is practically
a purely Jewish version of the Old Testament dating from soon before the
Christian Era. The Septuagint is a Greek version used by the Jews of
Alexandria and a Latin translation of the sixth century by' Jerome is the
Vulgate. These three are leading versions.
The history of the several
translations is most interesting but deserves more detail than is possible in
our limited space. A few comments on various noteworthy editions, arranged
alphabetically, are as follows:
Coverdale's Version. Known as
the "Great Bible," translated by Miles Coverdale, 1488-1568, a York- shireman,
educated with the Augustine friars at Cambridge, ordained at Norwich, 1514,
becoming a monk.
By 1526 his opinions changed,
he left his monastery, preached against confession, and against images in
churches as idolatry. He was on the Continent in 1532 and probably assisted
Tyndale in his task. His own work, the first complete Bible in English,
appeared in 1535, the Psalms are those still used in the Book of Common
Prayer. He was at Paris in 1538 printing an edition, when many copies were
seized by the Inquisition, but a few got to England where the Great Bible was
published in 1539.
Coverdale was Bishop of Exeter
in 1551. An exile later, he had part in the Geneva edition, 1557-60.
Douai Version. Sometimes it is
spelled Douay. A town in northern France, formerly an important center for
exiled Roman Catholics from England.
Here the Douai Bible in
English was published anonymously, translated from the Vulgate and doubtless
by refugees at the Seminary at Douai and the English College at Rheims, the
New Testament first appearing in 1582, the Old Testament in 1609--10.
Sanctioned by the Roman
Catholic Church the text has undergone several revisions, notably in 1749--50.
Genevan Bible. Called also the
Breeches Bible from its translation of Genesis iii, 7 "They sewed fig leaves
together and made themselves breeches."
Printed in a plainly readable
type, this 1560 edition improved the former black-letter printing and was a
complete revision of Coverdale's "Great Bible" in a bandy form.
Following the plan of a New
Testament issued at Geneva in 1557, a Greek-Latin one in 1551, and the Hebrew
Old Testament, this Bible had the text separated into verses and there were
also marginal notes that proved popular.
King James Version. Known also
as the Authorized Version, a task begun in 1604, the work was published in
1611, the actual revision requiring two years and nine months with another
nine months preparing for the printing. Doctor Miles Smith, Bishop of
Gloucester, 1612, tells in the old preface of the style and spirit of his
They went to originals rather
than commentaries, they were diligent but not hasty, they labored to improve
and (modernizing the good Bishop's spelling) "lid not disdain to revise that
which we had done, and to bring back to the anvil that which we had hammered,
but having and using as great helps as were needful, and fearing no reproach
for slowness, nor coveting praise for expedition, we have at the length,
through the good hand of the Lord upon us, brought the work to that pass that
Mazarin Bible. Notable as the
first book printed from movable metal types, about 1450, probably by Gutenberg
in Germany, but this is also credited to other printers, as Peter Schoffer.
The name of this Latin reprint of the Vulgate is from that of Cardinal Mazarin,
1602-61, a Frenchman in whose library the first described copy was discovered.
Printers Bible. An early
edition having a curious misprint (Psalm cxix, 161), the "Princes have
persecuted me without a cause," reading the word Printers for Princes.
Revised Version. A committee
appointed in February, 1870, presented a report to the Convocation of
Canterbury, England, in May of that year, that it "should nominate a body of
its own members to undertake the work of revision, who shall be at liberty to
invite the co-operation of any eminent for scholarship, to whatever nation or
religious body they may belong."
Groups of scholars were formed
shortly afterwards and similar co-operating companies organized in the United
States, the Roman Catholic Church declining to take part. Ten years were spent
revising the New Testament, submitted to the Convocation in 1881, the Old
Testament revision in 1884, the revised Apocrypha in 1895. After this
conscientious labor had calm, not to say cool, reception, changes were made in
favorite texts, alterations upset theories, for some, the revision was too
radical and for others too timid, even the familiar swing and sound of the old
substantial sentences had less strength in their appeal to the ear and to many
the whole effect was weakened. Yet this would naturally be the result of any
painstaking revision, especially so with a work of such intimacy and
Later revisions have appeared.
One from the University of Chicago is a skillful edition of the New Testament
by Professor E. J. Goodspeed, whose attempt to reproduce the spirit today of
the conversational style of the old originals is praiseworthy as a purpose,
though we shall probably all continue to prefer that best known.
Tyndale's Version.. William
Tyndale, 1490-1536, was born in Gloucestershire, England, on the Welsh border,
went to the Continent, first to Hamburg, then to Cologne, to translate and
print the Bible. This publication forbidden, he and his secretary escaped to
Worms where an edition of the New Testament was completed in 1526. His
pamphlets indicting the Roman Church and the divorce of the English king,
Henry VIII, were attacks without gloves and powerful influence was exerted in
return. His surrender was demanded.
But not until 535 was he
seized, imprisoned near Brussels, tried for heresy and on October 6, 1536,
strangled to death and his body burnt. His translations are powerful and
scholarly, his literary touch certain and apt, experts crediting him with
laying the sure foundation of the King James Version of the Bible.
Vinegar Bible. A slip of some
one in an edition of 1717 gave the heading to the Gospel of Saint Luke xx, as
the "Parable of the Vinegar," instead of Vineyard.
Wicked Bible. An old
edition,1632, which omits by some accident the word not from the seventh
commandment (Exodus 14).
Wyclifle's Version. Spelled in
many ways, John of that name, 1320--84, an English reformer, condemned to
imprisonment through the Bulls of Pope Gregory XI, the death of the king and
other interferences gave him some relief, but his attacks did not cease and
his career was stormy. Dying in church from a paralytic stroke, his remains,
thirty years later were, by a Decree of the Council of Constance and at the
order of Pope Martin V, dug from the grave and destroyed by fire. Wycliffe's
personal work on the translation of the. Bible is in doubt, be it much or
little, though there is no question that his main contribution was his earnest
claims for its supreme spiritual authority and his success in making it
popular, his devotion and ability paving the way and setting the pace for the
pioneer English editions known by his name, the earliest finished about 1382,
a revision of it appearing some six years later.
The reader desirous of
studying the Bible will get great help in locating passages by any
Concordance, listing the words with their text references, Cruden's of 1737
being the basis of English editions. A Bible Dictionary and the Encyclopedias
assist in unearthing many details of consequence. Several special treatises on
various important persons and places are available, the scientific
publications of the Palestine Exploration Fund, established in 1865, very
useful. The study of the life of Christ is readily pursued through the New
Testament with what is called a Harmony of the Gospels, an arrangement to
bring corresponding passages together from the several documents, a convenient
exhibition in unity of the isolated but closely related facts. Books on the
Book of all Books are many.
Reason and Belief, a work by a
well known scientist, Sir Oliver Lodge, is not only itself worthy but it lists
others of importance for study. Appeal of the Bible Today, Thistleton Mark,
shows how the Bible interprets itself and how it bears interpretation, a book
listing freely many other authorities and itself also of great individual
These are typical of many
Of the literary values, two
books in particular show clearly the influence of the Scriptures upon
pre-eminent writers, George Allen's Bible References of John Ruskin, and The
Bible in Shakespeare by William Burgess, the latter treating a field which
many authors, Eaton, Walter, Ellis, Moulton, and others, have tilled. Listen
to John Ruskin (Our Fathers have told us, chapter iii, section 37) on the
Bible. It contains plain teaching for men of every rank of soul and state in
life, which so far as they honestly and implicitly obey, they Will be happy
and innocent to the utmost powers of their nature, and capable of victory over
all adversities, whether of temptation or pain.
Indeed, the Psalter alone,
which practically was the service book of the Church for many ages, contains
merely in the first half of it the sum of personal and social Wisdom.
The 1st, 8th, 14th, 15th,
19th, 23rd, and 24th psalms, well learned and believed, are enough for all
personal guidance; the 48th, 72nd, and 75th, have in them the law and the
prophecy of all righteous government ; and every real triumph of natural
science is anticipated in the 104th.
For the contents of the entire
volume, consider what other group of history and didactic literature has a
range comparable with it. There are:
I. The stories of the Fall and
of the Flood, the grandest human traditions founded on a true horror of sin.
II. The story of the Patriarchs, of which the effective truth is visible to
this day in the polity of the Jewish and Arab races.
III. The story of Moses, with the results of that tradition in the moral law
of all the civilized world.
IV. The story of the Kings-virtually that of all Kinghood, in David, and of
all Philosophy, in Solomon: culminating in the Psalms and Proverbs, with the
still more close and practical Wisdom of Ecclesiastics and the Son of Sirach.
V. The story of the Prophets-virtually that of the deepest mystery, tragedy,
and permanent fate, of national existence.
VI. The story of Christ.
VII. The moral law of Saint John, and his closing Apocalypse of its fulfilment.
Think, if you can match that
table of contents in any other-I do not say 'book' but 'literature.'
Think, no far as it is
possible for any of us---either adversary or defender of the faith-to
extricate his intelligence from the habit and the association of moral
sentiment based upon the Bible, what literature could have taken its place, or
fulfilled its function, though every library in the world had remained,
unravaged, and every teacher's truest words had been written down.
As to Shakespeare we are
reminded by the mention of his name of the monitorial item on the wasting of
man (from Henry viii, iii, 2), "Today he puts forth the tender leaves,
tomorrow blossoms, and bears his blushing honors thick upon him," and so on, a
selection seldom adhering closely to the original words.
This is the Shakespeare in
whose works we have so much biblical connection that Sprague, in his Notes on
the Merchant of Venice, says "Shakespeare is so familiar with the Bible that
we who know less of the Sacred Book are sometimes slow. to catch his
allusions." Green's History of the English People tells graphically and
convincingly of the power of the Bible at the Reformation when the translation
and reading of it in the common tongue was no longer heresy and a crime
punishable by fire, no more forbidden but almost the only, book in common
Had Shakespeare any' book at
all, that book was the Bible.
Brother Robert Burns ( The
Cotter's Saturday Night) poetically describes the evening worship, and the
reading of the Bible,
The priest-like father reads the sacred page,
How Abram was the friend of God on high;
Or, Moses bade autumnal warfare wage
With Malek's ungracious progeny ;
Or, how the royal bard did groaning lie
Beneath the stroke of Heaven's avenging ire ;
Or Jacob's pathetic plaint, and wailing cry;
Or rapt Isaiah's wild, seraphic fire ;
Or other sacred seers that tune the sacred lyre.
Perhaps the Christian volume
is the theme,
How guiltless blood for guilty man was shed;
How He, who bore in Heaven the second name,
Had not on earth whereon to lay His head:
How His first followers and servants sped ;
The precepts sage they wrote to many a land :
How he, who lone in Pathos banished,
Saw in the sun a mighty angel stand, ,
And heard great Bab'lon's doom pronounced by
The Standard Masonic Monitor
of Brother George E. Simons, New York (page 21), offers an admirable address
upon the Bible that for many years has been used by Brethren in various parts
of the United States and elsewhere.
The Standard Monitor prepared
by Brother Henry Pirtle, Louisville, Kentucky, 1921 (page 15), submits another
address equally, to be used with pleasure and profit. The growing custom of
presenting a suitably inscribed Bible from the Lodge to the initiate offers
further opportunity to the Brethren to enlarge upon this important theme.
A brief address is here given
upon the Bible as a Book peculiarly the cherished chart of the Freemason in
struggling through the storms of life to the harbor of peace:
The Rule and Guide of Masonic
Faith is the Holy Bible. From cradle unto grave we cling to books, the
permanent of friends, the sources of knowledge and inspiration.
Books are the lasting memories
of mankind. Youth relief upon the printed page for records of science, reports
of philosophy, foundations of history, words of inspiring wisdom. Knowledge of
the best books and a wise use of them is superior scholarship, highest
education. in age as in youth we turn the leaves of literature for renewed
acquaintance with the gracious pact and better hold upon the living present.
Of all the books is the one of leadership, the Book Supreme blazing the way
with Light of noblest excellence to man, the Bible.
Within these covers are laid
down the moral principles for the up building of a righteous life. Freemasonry
lays upon the Altar of Faith this Book. Around that Altar we stand a united
Brotherhood. There we neither indulge sectarian discussion nor the choice of
any Church. We say the Freemason shall have Faith but our God is everywhere
and we teach that it is the prayer that counts, not the place of praying. For
centuries the Bible has shone the beacon light of promised immortality, the
hope serene of union eternal with the beloved who go before.
Here is the message for Masonic comfort when all else fails, the rays of truth
glorifying God, enlightening Man.
Dr. George W. Gilmore, Editor
of the Homiletic Review, and Chaplain of Anglo-Saxon Lodge, No. 137, New York
City, prepared for us the following address for use in presenting a Bible to
the newly raised Freemason: My Brother: Already this evening your earnest
attention has been called to the three Great Lights in Masonry, especially to
the Holy Bible. its importance to the whole Masonic structure has been
emphasized. As you observe it now on the sacred Altar of the Brotherhood, its
position is emblematic of the significance already taught you. Just as it is
the basis on which the other two Great Lights rest, so its highest teachings
are the foundation on which Freemasonry is erected, and they have been
commended to you as the basis of your own faith and practice.
There is, however, a condition
in this recommendation implicit, in part, in the circumstances under which you
entered this lodge. Among the qualifications claimed for you as warranting
your admission to this place one was that you are " of lawful age."
This was not insignificant. it
meant that the Lodge was receiving you as one possessing mature judgment and
the ability of a man to follow his judgment with the appropriate will to
action. Freemasonry, my Brother, looks for no blind obedience to its commands.
lt expects that its adherents will focus upon its mandates their God-given
powers of intellect, and is confident that its precepts and its works will be
justified by a mature and considered estimate of their worth. Hence, in so
important a matter as that which concerns your own "faith and practice," you
are commanded to study this sacred book and "learn the way to everlasting
life," to read it intelligently and with as full appreciation of its origin
and growth as you may command.
You should realize, first, that this Book is not, speaking humanly, the
product of a single mind, the reflection of one generation. It is a double
collection of many tracts or treatises.
How many hands contributed to
the composition we do not now know and probably never shall.
Some of its parts are highly
complex, the product of whole schools of thought, ritual, and learning.
Its outstanding unity,
however, rests upon the sublime fact that the mind of the Great Architect of
the Universe has, in all ages and places, been in contact with the mind of His
sons, imparting to them as their capacities permitted, inspiring their
sublimest thoughts and guiding to their noblest action, and was in contact
with those who penned these books.
Second, this sacred volume
covers in the period when it was actually written possibly nearly or quite
thirteen hundred years-at least from the time of Moses to ths day, when 2
Peter was written.
And much earlier traditions, handed down by word of mouth (just as the
teachings of Freemasonry are transmitted), are embodied within its pages.
The Old Testament records the
history of a people from that people's unification out of clans and tribes to
its formation as a monarchy, its division, its subsequent decline and fall as
a kingdom, and its rebirth as a church state or theocracy. External history,
not recorded within the Bible, tells of the extinction of this church-state by
The history recorded in the
Old Testament relates not only to external events, but to the more important
matters of religion and ethics. It embraces not only the perfected thought of
1000 years of development, but also the crude morality of nomad tribes when
"an eye tor an eye" registered the current conception of justice.
It is a far cry from that
crude and cruel morality to the teaching of Micah: ''What doth Jehovah require
of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"
And the advance proceeds as we reach the New Testament. There we find such a
consummate climax of religion and morality as is reached in the summary of the
commandments:" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God With all thy heart and With
all thy soul and With all thy mind and With all thy strength; and thy neighbor
as thyself," conjoined with such peaks of self-control as in the command: "
Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you,
pray for them that despitefully use you."
The Bible is not, then, one
dead level of ethics, religion, or culture. It is the register of a progress
from a primitive stage of morals to the highest yet known. Not the inferior
starting points of this morality are commended to you, but that level of
action which best befits a man who would act on the square in this age of
If, therefore, you find in the
record the sharp-practice of a Jacob or the polygamy of a Jacob or a Solomon,
it is not there as a pattern. for your own life and practice. It is, just a
record, faithful to fact and the witness to fidelity in recording.
You are not to reproduce in
this age the life and morals of 1200 B. C., or of an earlier age. You are to
exercise the judgment of one living in the light of the prophets, of Jesus
Christ, and of the great teachers and moralists who have followed them.
The highest pattern is yours
to follow, that, as the Supreme Teacher expressed it, "Ye may be sons of your
Father in heaven.'' This is the spirit and this the method in and by which you
are encouraged to approach this masterpiece of literature, ethics, and
religion, to draw from it the principles of the conduct you as a Macon shall
exhibit in the lodge and in the world.
My brother, it is the
beautiful practice of this lodge to present to each of the initiates a copy of
the Great Light. It is my present pleasing duty to make this presentation in
the name of the Worshipful Master and in behalf of the Lodge.
Receive, it, read it with
painstaking care, study it sympathetically, appropriate its most exalted
teachings, exemplify them in your life.
Therein is found " the way to
In Masonic processions the
oldest Master Mason present is generally selected to carry the open Bible,
Square, and Compasses on a cushion before the Chaplain.
This brother is called the
Bible-Bearer. The Grand Bible-Bearer is an officer of the Grand Lodge of
The Blazing Star, which is
not, however, to be confounded with the Five-Pointed Star, is one of the most
important symbols of Freemasonry, and makes its appearance in several of the
Degrees. Hutchinson says "It is the first and most exalted object that demands
our attention in the Lodge." It undoubtedly derives this importance, first,
from the repeated use that is made of it as a Masonic emblem; and secondly,
from its great antiquity as a symbol derived from older systems.
Extensive as has been the
application of this symbol in the Masonic ceremonies, it is not surprising
that there has been a great difference of opinion in relation to its true
But this difference of opinion
has been almost entirely confined to its use in the First Degree. In the
higher Degrees, where there has been less opportunity of innovation, the
uniformity of meaning attached to the Star has been carefully preserved.
In the Twenty-eighth Degree of
the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, the explanation given of the Blazing
Star, is, that it is symbolic of a the Freemason, who, by perfecting himself
in the way of truth, that is to say, by advancing in knowledge, becomes like a
blazing star, shining with brilliancy in the midst of darkness. The star is,
therefore, in this degree, a symbol of truth.
In the Fourth Degree of the
same Rite, the star is again said to be a symbol of the light of Divine
Providence pointing out the way of truth.
In the Ninth Degree this
symbol is called the star of direction; and while it primitively alludes to an
especia1 guidance given for a particular purpose expressed in the degree, it
still retains, in a remoter sense, its usual signification as an emblem of
Divine Providence guiding and directing the pilgrim in his journey through
When, however, we refer to
Ancient Craft Freemasonry, we shall find a considerable diversity in the
application of this symbol.
In the earliest monitors,
immediately after the revival of 1717, the Blazing Star is not mentioned, but
it was not long before it was introduced. In the instructions of 1735 it is
detailed as a part of the furniture of a Lodge, with the explanation that the
"Mosaic Pavement is the Ground Floor of the Lodge, the Blazing Star, the
Center, and the Indented Tarsal, the Border round about it!''
In a primitive Tracing Board
of the Entered Apprentice, copied by Oliver, in his Historical Landmark (I,
133), without other date than that it was published early in the last
century," the Blazing Star occupies a prominent position in the center of the
Tracing Board. Oliver says that it represented BEAUTY, and was called the
glory in the center.
In the lectures credited to
Dunckerley, and adopted by the Grand Lodge, the Blazing Star was mid to
represent "the star which led the wise men to Bethlehem, proclaiming to
mankind the nativity of the Son of God, and here conducting our spiritua1
progress to the Author of our redemption. "
In the Prestonian lecture, the
Blazing Star, with the Mosaic Pavement and the Tesselated Border, are called
the Ornaments of the Lodge, and the Blazing Star is thus explained:
"The Blazing Star, or glory in
the center, reminds us of that awful period when the Almighty delivered the
two tables of stone, containing the ten commandments, to His faithful servant
Moses on Mount Sinai, when the rays of His divine glory shone so bright that
none could behold it without fear and trembling. It also reminds us of the
omnipresence of the Almighty, overshadowing us with His divine love, and
dispensing His blessings amongst us; and by its being placed in the center, it
further reminds us, that wherever we may be assembled together, God is in the
midst of us, seeing our actions, and observing the secret intents and
movements of our hearts."
In the lectures taught by
Webb, and very generally adopted in the United States, the Blazing Star is
said to be "commemorative of the star which appeared to guide the wise men of
the East to the place of our Savior's nativity," and it is subsequently
explained as hieroglyphically representing Divine Providence.
But the commemorative allusion
to the Star of Bethlehem seeming to some to be objectionable, from its
peculiar application to the Christian religion, at the revision of the
lectures made in 1843 by the Baltimore Convention, this explanation was
omitted, and the allusion to Divine Providence alone retained.
In Hutchinson's system, the
Blazing Star is considered a symbol of Prudence. "It is placed," says he, "in
the center, ever to be present to the eye of the Mason, that his heart may be
attentive to her dictates and steadfast in her laws;-for Prudence is the rule
of all Virtues; Prudence is the path which leads to every degree of propriety;
Prudence is the channel where self-approbation flows for ever; she leads us
forth to worthy actions, and, as a Blazing Star, enlighteneth us through the
dreary and darksome paths of this life'' (Spirit of Masonry, edition of 1775,
Lecture v, page 111).
Hutchinson also adopted
Dunckerley's allusion to the Star of Bethlehem, but only as a secondary
In another series of lectures
formerly in use in America, but which we believe is now abandoned, the Blazing
Star is said to be "emblematical of that Prudence which ought to appear
conspicuous in the conduct of every Mason; and is more especially
commemorative of the star which appeared in the east to guide the wise men to
Bethlehem, and proclaim the birth and the presence of the Son of God. "
The Freemasons on the
Continent of Europe, speaking of the symbol, say: "It is no matter whether the
figure of which the Blazing Star forms the center be a square, triangle, or
circle, it still represents the sacred name of God, as an universal spirit who
enlivens our hearts, who purifies our reason, who increases our knowledge, and
who makes us wiser and better men. "
And lastly, in the lectures
revised by Doctor Hemming and adopted by the Grand Lodge of England at the
Union in 1813, and now constituting the approved lectures of that
jurisdiction, we find the following definition:
"The Blazing Star, or glory in
the center, refers us to the sun, which enlightens the earth with its
refulgent rays, dispensing its blessings to mankind at large, and giving light
and life to all things here below."
Hence we find that at various
times the Blazing Star has been declared to be a symbol of Divine Providence,
of the Star of Bethlehem, of Prudence, of Beauty, and of the Sun.
Before we can attempt to
decide upon these various opinions, and adopt the true signification, it is
necessary to extend our investigations into the antiquity of the emblem, and
inquire what was the meaning given to it by the nations who first made it a
Sabaism, or the worship of the
stars, was one of the earliest deviations from the true system of religion.
One of its causes was the
universally established doctrine among the idolatrous nations of antiquity,
that each star Was animated- by the soul of a hero god, who had once dwelt
incarnate upon earth. Hence, in the hieroglyphical system, the star denoted a
To this signification,
allusion is made by the prophet Amos (v, 26), when he says to the Israelites,
while reproaching them for their idolatrous habits: "But ye have borne the
tabernacle of your Moloch and Chian your images, the star of your god, which
ye made to yourselves.''
This idolatry was early
learned by the Israelites from their Egyptian taskmasters; and so unwilling
were they to abandon it, that Moses found it necessary strictly to forbid the
worship of anything "that is in heaven above," notwithstanding which we find
the Jews repeatedly committing the sin which had been so expressly forbidden.
Saturn was the star to whose worship they were more particularly addicted
under the names of Moloch and Chian, already mentioned in the passage quoted
The planet Saturn was
worshiped under the names of Moloch, Malcolm or Milcom by the Ammonites, the
Canaanites, the Phoenicians, and the Carthaginians, and under that of Chian by
the Israelites in the desert.
Saturn was worshiped among the
Egyptians under the name of Raiphan, or, as it is called in the Septuagint,
Remphan. St. Stephen, quoting the passage of Amos, says, "ye took up the
tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god Remphan'' (see Acts vii, 43).
Hale, in his analysis of
Chronology, says in alluding to this passage : "There is no direct evidence
that the Israelites worshiped the dog-star in the wilderness, except this
passage; but the indirect is very strong, drawn from the general prohibition
of the worship of the sun, moon, and stars, to which they must have been
And this was peculiarly an
Egyptian idolatry, where the dog-star was worshiped, as notifying by his
heliacal rising, or emersion from the sun's rays, the regular commencement of
the periodical inundation of the Nile. And the Israelite sculptures at the
cemetery of Kibroth-Hattaavah, or graves of lust, in the neighborhood of
Sinai, remarkably abound in hieroglyphics of the dog-star, represented as a
human figure with a dog's head.
That they afterwards
sacrificed to the dog-star, there is express evidence in Josiah's description
of idolatry, where the Syriac Mazaloth (improperly, termed planets) denotes
the dog-star; in Arabic, Mazaroth."
Fellows (in his Exposition of
the Mysteries, page 7) says that this dog-star, the Anubis of the Egyptians,
is the Blazing Star of Freemasonry, and supposing that the 1atter is a symbol
of Prudence, which indeed it was in some of the ancient lectures, he goes on
to remark ; ''What connection can possibly exist between a star and prudence,
except allegorically in reference to the caution that was indicated to the
Egyptians by the first appearance of this star, which warned them of
But it will hereafter be seen
that he has totally misapprehended the true signification of the Masonic
symbol. The work of Fellows, it may be remarked, is an unsystematic
compilation of undigested learning; but the student who is searching for truth
must carefully eschew all his deductions as to the genius and spirit of
Notwithstanding a few
discrepancies that may have occurred in the Masonic lectures, as arranged at
various periods and by different authorities, the concurrent testimony of the
ancient religions, and the hieroglyphic 1anguage, prove that the star was a
symbol of God. It was so used by the prophets of old in their metaphorica1
style, and it has so been generally adopted by Masonic instructors.
The application of the Blazing
Star as an emblem of the Savior has been made by those writers who give a
Christian explanation of our emblems, and to the Christian Freemason such an
application will not be objectionable.
But those who desire to
refrain from anything that may tend to impair the tolerance of our system,
will be disposed to embrace a more universal explanation, which may be
received alike by all the disciples of the Order, whatever may be their
peculiar religious views. Such persons will rather accept the expression of
Doctor Oliver, who, though much disposed to give a Christian character to our
Institution, says in his Symbol of Glory (page 292), "The Great Architect of
the Universe is therefore symbolized in Freemasonry by the Blazing Star, as
the Herald of our salvation." Before concluding, a few words may be said as to
the form of the Masonic symbol. It is not a heraldic star or estella, for that
always consists of six points, while the Masonic star is made with five
This, perhaps, was with some
involuntary allusion to the five Points of Fellowship. But the error has been
committed in all our modern Tracing Boards of making the star with straight
points, which form, of course, does not represent a blazing star. John Guillim,
the editor in 1610 of the book A Display of Heraldirie, says:
"All stars should be made with
waved points, because our eyes tremble at beholding them.'' In the early
Tracing Board already referred to, the star with five straight points is
superimposed upon another of five waving points. But the latter are now
abandoned, and we have in the representations of the present day the
incongruous symbol of a blazing star with five straight points. In the center
of the star there was always placed the letter G, which like the Hebrew yod,
was a recognized symbol of God, and thus the symbolic reference of the Blazing
Star to Divine Providence is greatly strengthened.
BLAZING STAR, ORDER OF THE
The Baron Tschoudy was the
author of a work entitled The Blazing Star (see Tschoudy). On the principles
inculcated in this work, he established, says Thory Acta Latomorum I, 94), at
Paris, in 1766, an Order called "The Order of the Blazing Star," which
consisted of Degrees of chivalry ascending to the Crusades, after the Templar
system usually credited to Ramsay. It never, however, assumed the prominent
position of an active rite.
This is emphatically the color
of Freemasonry. It is the appropriate tincture of the Ancient Craft Degrees.
It is to the Freemason a symbol of universal friendship and benevolence,
because, as it is the color of the vault of heaven, which embraces and covers
the whole globe, we are thus reminded that in the breast of every brother
these virtues should be equally as extensive. It is therefore the only color,
except white, which should be used in a Master's Lodge for decorations. Among
the religious institutions of the Jews, blue was an important color. The robe
of the high priest's ephod, the ribbon for his breastplate, and for the plate
of the miter, were to be blue. The people were directed to wear a ribbon of
this color above the fringe of their garments; and it was the color of one of
the veils of the tabernacle, where, Josephus says, it represented the element
of air. The Hebrew word used on these occasions to designate the color blue or
rather purple blue, is tekelet; and this word seems to have a singular
reference to the symbolic character of the color, for it is derived from a
root signifying perfection; now it is well known that, among the ancients,
initiation into the mysteries and perfection were synonymous terms; and hence
the appropriate color of the greatest of all the systems of initiation may
well be designated by a word which also signifies perfection.
This color also held a
prominent position in the symbolism of the Gentile nations of antiquity. Among
the Druids, blue was the symbol of truth, and the candidate, in the initiation
into the sacred rites of Druidism, was invested with a robe composed of the
three colors, white, blue, and green.
The Egyptians esteemed blue as
a sacred color, and the body of Amun, the principal god of their theogony, was
painted light blue, to imitate, as Wilkinson remarks, "his peculiarly exalted
and heavenly nature."
The ancient Babylonians
clothed their idols in blue, as we learn from the prophet Jeremiah (x, 9). The
Chinese, in their mystical philosophy, represented blue as the symbol of the
Deity, because, being, as they say, compounded of black and red, this color is
a fit representation of the obscure and brilliant, the male and female, or
active and passive principles.
The Hindus assert that their
god, Vishnu, was represented of a celestial or sky blue, thus indicating that
wisdom emanating from God was m be symbolized by this color. Among the
medieval Christians, blue was sometimes considered as an emblem of
immortality, as red was of the Divine love. Portal says that blue was the
symbol of perfection, hope, and constancy. "The color of the celebrated dome,
azure," says Weale, in his treatise on Symbolic Colors, "was in divine
language the symbol of eternal truth; in consecrated language, of immortality,
and in profane language, of fidelity."
Besides the three degrees of
Ancient Craft Freemasonry, of which blue is the appropriate color, this
tincture is also to be found in several other degrees, especially of the
Scottish Rite, where it bears various symbolic significations; all, however,
more or less related to its original character as representing universal
friendship and benevolence.
In the Degree of Grand
Pontiff, the Nineteenth of the Scottish Rite, it is the predominating color,
and is there said to be symbolic of the mildness, fidelity, and gentleness
which ought to be the characteristics of every true and faithful brother.
In the Degree of Grand Master
of all Symbolic Lodges, the blue and yellow, which are its appropriate colors,
are said to refer to the appearance of Jehovah to Moses on Mount Sinai in
clouds of azure and gold, and hence in this degree the color is rather a
historical than a moral symbol.
The blue color of the tunic
and apron, which constitutes a part of the investiture of a Prince of the
Tabernacle, or Twenty-fourth Degree in the Scottish Rite, alludes to the whole
symbolic character of the degree, whose teachings refer to our removal from
this tabernacle of clay to "that house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens." The blue in this degree is, therefore, a symbol of heaven, the seat
of our celestial tabernacle.
Brothers John Heron Lepper and
Philip Crossle contributed to Ars Quatuor Coronalorum (volume xxxvi, part 3,
page 284), a discussion of Masonic Blue from which the following abstract has
been made. Reference being first directed to other contributions to the
subject in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum (xxii, 3; xxiii); and to the Transactions,
Lodge of Research (1909-In, page 109), the authors state their belief that the
Gold and Blue worn by the officers of the Grand Lodge of Ireland and the
members of the Grand Master's Lodge, Dublin, are symbolical of the Compasses
from the very inception of a Grand Lodge in Ireland, the symbolism being
introduced there from England in or before 1725. After the first dozen years
some variations were made in the established forms and the opinion is hazarded
that one of these changes was from sky-blue to the dark Garter Blue for the
ribbons and lining of the aprons then worn by the officers of the Grand Lodge
of England, afterwards the Moderns.
On Saint John's Day in June,
1725, when the Earl of Rosse was installed Grand Master of Ireland, he was
escorted to the King's Inns by "Six Lodges of Gentlemen Freemasons," the
members of one "wore fine Badges full of Crosses and Squares, with this Motto,
Spes mea in Deo est (My hope is in God), which was no doubt very significant,
for the Master of it wore a Yellow Jacket, and Blue Britches." Brethren of the
Grand Lodge still wear working aprons with yellow braid and yellow fringe with
sky blue border on a plain white ground with no other ornament. These are
probably syrnbolical of the compasses as in the following quotation from a
spurious ritual published in the Dublin Intelligence, August 29, 1730:
After which I was clothed.
N.B. The clothing is putting
on the Apron and Gloves.
Q. How was the Master clothed?
A. in a Yellow Jacket and Blue
Pair of Breeches.
N B The Master is not
otherwise Clothed than common. the Question and Answer are only emblematical,
the, Yellow Jacket, the Compass, and the Blue Breeches, the Steel Points.
At a Masonic Fête in the
Theater Royal, Dublin, December 6, 1731, we find "The Ladies all wore yellow
and Blue Ribbons on their Breasts, being the proper Colors of that Ancient and
Right Worshipful Society."
From the first the Grand Lodge
of Ireland issued Lodge Warrants bearing Yellow and Blue ribbons supporting
the seal showing a hand and trowel, a custom continued until about 1775.
The Grand Lode of Ireland
preserves a cancelled Warrant issued June 6, 1750, to erect a Lodge No. 209 in
Dublin. On the margin is a colored drawing of the Master on his throne and he
wears a yellow jacket and blue breeches-with a red cloak and cocked hat-all of
the Georgian period. An old picture-said to be after Hogarth-in the Library of
Grand Lodge of England shows a Freemason with a yellow waistcoat. Our late
Brother W, Wonnacott, the Librarian, thought the color of this garment was no
accident and is symbolical of the brass body of the Compasses.
Up to recent years the members
of Nelson Lodge, No, 18, Newry, County Down, Ireland, wore blue coats and
yellow waistcoats, both having brass buttons with the Lodge number thereon.
The color of the breeches has not been preserved but no doubt it was intended
to be the same as the coat.
Union Lodge, No. 23, in the
same town, must have worn the same uniform, for there is still preserved a
complete set of brass buttons for such a costume.
These two Lodges, 18 and 23,
were formed in 1809 from an older Lodge, No. 933, Newry, warranted in 1803.
But from the fact that in Newry there still works the oldest Masonic Lodge in
Ulster, warranted in 1737 and also from the fact that. Warrant No. 16,
originally, granted in l732 or 1733, was moved to and revived at Newry in
1766, there can be no question but that Masonic customs had a very strong
foothold in that town.
That this custom was an old
custom in Newry is also shown by the coat and vest which the late Brother Dr,
F, C. Crossle had made for himself, he being intensely interested in Masonic
lore, and having learned from the lips of many veteran Freemasons in Newry.
that. this was the old and correct Masonic dress for festival occasions. It is
true we cannot assume a general practice from a particular custom, as in the
case of the Newry usage, nevertheless the latter is another link in the chain.
A significant word in several
of the degrees which refer to the second Temple, because it was only the
tribes of Judah and Benjamin that returned from the captivity to rebuild it.
Hence, in the Freemasonry of the second Temple, Judah and Benjamin have
superseded the columns of Jachin and Boaz ; a change the more easily made
because of the identity of the initials.
Corruptly spelled benchorim in
some old monitors. This is a significant word in the high degrees, probably
signifying one that is freeborn, from son of the freeborn. The word has also a
close resemblance in sound to the Hebrew for son of Hiram.
or Beniah. Lenning gives this
form, Benayah. The son of Jah, a significant word in the advanced degrees. The
Hebrew is n-iz.
The Hebrew Word meaning a
covenant. A significant word in several of the advanced degrees.
Capital of the old kingdom of
Prussia, and the seat of three Grand Lodges, namely: the Grand National Mother
Lodge, founded in 1744; the Grand Lodge of Germany, founded in 1770, and the
Grand Lodge of Royal York of Friendship, founded in 1798 (see German y).
A small group of islands in
the West Atlantic Ocean. The first Provincial Grand Master of the Bermudas was
Brother Alured Popple, appointed by Lord Strathmore in 1744. A Lodge was
chartered in 1761 by the Grand Lodge, "Moderns," of England as Union Lodge,
No. 266. The first to be warranted by the Athol Grand Lodge was Saint George,
The English Provincial Grand
Lodge did not long survive but in 1803 a Province under the Grand Lodge of
Scotland was established in the Bermudas. Two Lodges, Saint George's and Civil
and Military, are still active under the Grand Lodge of Scotland.
It was discovered in 1813 that
the Lodges instituted by the "Ancient" were still working but those chartered
by the ''Moderns'' had ceased all activity. There is a Lodge, Atlantic
Phoenix, at Hamilton, at work , since 1797.
An expelled member under whose
name was published, in the year 1829, a pretended exposition entitled Light on
Masonry. The book was one of the fruits of the anti-Masonic excitement of the
day. It is a worthless production, intended as a libel on the Institution.
A famous preacher and
Theologian, born in France in 1090, was the founder of the Order of Cistercian
Monks. He took great interest in the success of the Knights Templar, whose
Order he cherished throughout his whole life. His works contain numerous
letters recommending them to the favor and protection of the great. In 1128,
he himself is said to have drawn up the Rule of the Order, and among his
writings is to be found a Sermo exhortatorius ad Milites Templi, or an
Exhortation to the Soldiers of the Temple, a production full of sound advice.
To the influence of Bemard and his untiring offices of kindness, the Templars
were greatly indebted for their rapid increase in wealth and consequence. He
died in the year 1153.
The Hebrew name is pronounced
tar-sheesh. A precious stone, the first in the fourth row of the high priest's
breastplate. Color, bluish-green. It has been ascribed to the tribe of
BEYERLE, FRANÇOIS LOUIS DE
A French Masonic writer of
some prominence toward the close of the eighteenth century. He was a leading
member of the Rite of Strict Observance, in which his adopted name was Eques à
Flore. He wrote a criticism on the Masonic Congress of Wilhelmsbad, which was
published under the title of Oratio de Conventu generali Latomorum apud aquas
Wilhelminas, prope Hanauviam. He also wrote an Essai sur la Franc-Maçonnerie,
ou du but essential et fondamenal de la Franc-Maçonnerie, Essay on
Freemasonry, or the essential and fundamental purpose of Freemasonry;
translated the second volume of Frederic Nicolai's essay on the crimes imputed
to the Templars, and was the author of several other Masonic works of less
importance. He was a member of the French Constitutional Convention of 1792.
He wrote also some political essays on finances, and was a contributor on the
same subject to the Encyclopédie Méthodique.
One of the builders of the Ark
of the Covenant (see Aholiab).
In French, we have a
Bibliographie des Ouvrages, Opuscules, Encycliques ou écrits les p1us
remarquables, publiés sur l'histoire de la Franc-Maçonnerie depuis 1723
jusqu'en 1814, Bibliography of the Works, Booklets, Circulars, or more
remarkable writings, published on the History of Freemasonry since 1725, as
far as 1814. It is by Thory, and is contained in the first volume of his Acta
Latotnorum. Though not full, it is useful, especially in respect to French
works, and it is to be regretted that it stops at a period anterior to the
Augustan age of Masonic literature. In German we have the work of Dr. Georg B.
F. Kloss, entitled Bibliographie der Freimaurerei, published at Frankfort in
1844. At the time of its publication it was an almost exhaustive work, and
contains the titles of about 5,400 items classified according to the subject
matter of the works listed. Reinhold Taute published his Maurerische
Buecherkunde at Leipzig in 1886. In 1911 begun the publication of the three
volumes of August Wolfstieg's Bibliographie der Freimauerischen Literatur
listing 43,347 titles of works treating of Freemasonry. The three volumes of
Wolfstieg's elaborate compilation, appearing respectively in 1911, 1912, and
1914, listing and briefly describing over forty-three thousand items, was
continued by Brother Bernhard Beyer of the Grand Lodge Zur Sonne in Beyreuth,
Germany, whose 1926 volume adds over eleven thousand references.
Brother Silas H. Shepherd,
Wisconsin Grand Lodge Committee on Masonic Research, has prepared a list of
Masonic Bibliographies and Catalogues in the English Language, 1920, and the
Committee has also published a selected List of Masonic Literature, 1923, and
these have been made all the more useful by An Essay on Masonic History and
Reference Works by Brother Shepherd. Brother William L. Boyden, Librarian,
Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite,
has described the method used in the great Library under his charge at
Washington, District of Columbia, in a pamphlet, Classification of the
Literature of Freemasonry, 1915, a plan peculiarly applicable to Masonic
libraries. In this connection we are reminded of the late Brother Frank J.
Thompson, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of North Dakota, and a greatly esteemed
correspondent of ours. He published about 1903 a System of Card Membership
Record for Masonic Bodies and a Scheme of Classification for Masonic Books,
the latter being an extension of the Dewey decima1 system.
BIELFELD, JACOB FREDERICK
Baron Bielfeld was born March
31, 1717, and died April 5, 1770. He was envoy from the court of Prussia to
The Hague, and a familiar associate of Frederick the Great in the youthful
days of that Prince before he ascended the throne. He was one of the founders
of the Lodge of the Three Globes in Berlin, which afterward became a Grand
Lodge. Through his influence Frederick was induced to become a Freemason. In
Bielfeld's Freundschaftlicher Briefe, or Familiar Letters, are to be found an
account of the initiation of the Prince, and other curious details concerning
Deputy Grand Master, Scotland,
A Freemason who owes his
reputation to the fact that he was the author of the universally known Entered
Apprentice's song, beginning:
Come let us prepare
We Brothers that are.
Met together on merry Occasion;
Let's drink, laugh, and sing;
Our wine has a spring.
'Tis a Health to an Accepted Mason.
This song first appeared in
Read's Weekly Journal for December 1, 1722, and then was published in the Book
of Constitutions in 1723, after the death of its author, which occurred on
December 30, 1722.
Birkhead was a singer and
actor at Drury Lane Theater in London, and was Master of Lodge V when Doctor
Anderson was preparing his Constitutions, His funeral is thus described in
Read's Weekly Journal for .January 12, 1723. "Mr. Birkhead was last Saturday
night carried from his Lodgings in Which-street to be interred at St Clements
Danes; the Pall was supported by six Free-Masons belonging to Drury-Lane
Play-house; the other Members of that particular Lodge of which he was a
Warden, with a vast number of other Accepted-Masons, followed two and two;
both the Pall-bearers and others were in their white-aprons"
(see also Entered
Apprentices's Song and Tune, Freemasons').
Black, in the Masonic ritua1,
is constantly the symbol of grief. This is perfectly consistent with its use
in the world, where black has from remote antiquity been adopted as the
garment of mourning.
In Freemasonry this color is
confined to but a few degrees, but everywhere has the single meaning of
sorrow. Thus in the French Rite, during the ceremony of raising a candidate to
the Master's Degree, the Lodge is clothed in black strewed with the
representations of tears, as a token of grief for the loss of a distinguished
member of the fraternity, whose tragic history is commemorated in that degree.
This usage is not, however,
observed in the York Rite. The black of the Elected Knights of Nine, the
Illustrious Elect of Fifteen, and the Sublime Knights Elected, in the Scottish
Rite, has a similar import.
Black appears to have been
adopted in the degree of Noachite, as a symbol of grief, tempered with
humility, which is the virtue principally dilated on in the ceremony.
The garments of the Knights
Templar were originally white, but after the death of their martyred Grand
Master, James DeMolay, the modern Knights assumed a black dress as a token of
grief for his loss.
The same reason led to the
adoption of black as the appropriate color in the Scottish Rite of the Knights
of Kadosh and the Sublime Princes of the Roya1 Secret.
The modern American
modification of the Templar costume abandons all reference to this historical
One exception to this
symbolism of black is to be found in the degree of Select Master, where the
vestments are of black bordered with red, the combination of the two colors
showing that the degree is properly placed between the Royal Arch and Templar
degrees, while the black is a symbol of silence and secrecy, the
distinguishing virtues of a Select Master.
The ball used in a Masonic
ballot by those who do not wish the candidate to be admitted. Hence, when an
applicant is rejected, he is said to be "blackballed."
The use of black balls may be
traced as far back as the ancient Romans. Thus, Ovid says in the Metamorphoses
(xv, 41), that in trials it was the custom of the ancients to condemn the
prisoner by black pebbles or to acquit him by white ones: Mos erat antiquus,
niveis atrisque lapillis, His dammare reos, illis absolvere culpae.
In German Lodges the Schwarze
Tafel, or Blackboard, is that on which the names of applicants for admission
are inscribed, so that every visitor may make the necessary inquiries whether
they are or are not worthy of acceptance.
BLACK BROTHERS, ORDER OF THE
Lenning says that the Schwarze
Brüder was one of the College Societies of the German Universities. The
members of the Order, however, denied this, and claimed an origin as early as
1675. Thory, in the Acta Latomorum (1, 313), says that it was largely spread
through Germany, having its seat for a long time at Giessen and at Marburg,
and in 1783 being removed to Frankfort on the Oder.
The same writer asserts that
at first the members observed the dogmas and ritual of the Kadosh, but that
afterward the Order, becoming a political society, gave rise to the Black
Legion, which in 1813 was commanded by M. Lutzow.
BLAÉRFINDY, BARON GRANT DE
Scottish officer in French
army; prominent in the French high grades and Scottish Philosophic Rite and
credited by some (see Histoire de la Franc-Maçonnerie Française, Albert
Lantoine, 1925, Paris, page 221) as the founder of the grades of the Sublime
Master of the Luminous Ring (Académie des Sublimes Maitres de l'Anneau
Lumineux), a system in which Pythagoras is deemed the creator of Freemasonry.
BLAVATSKY, HELENA PETROVNA
Russian theosophist, born July
31, 1831; died May 8, 1891, established at New York in 1875 the Theosophica1
Society. A sketch of the history of the Ancient and Primitive Rite of Masonry,
published by- John Hogg at London, 1880, says on page 58 that "The 24th of
November, 1877, the Order conferred upon Madam H. P. Blavatsky the Degrees of
the Rite of Adoption. "
Grand Master of the English
Grand Lodge of the Moderns, 1764-6.
BLESINTON, EARL OF
Grand Master of Ire1and,
1738-9; also of the English Grand Lodge of the Ancient, 1756-9. The name
Blesinton has been variously spelled by members of the family but the spelling
here given is taken from the signature of the Brother in the records of his
A blind man cannot be
initiated into Freemasonry under the operation of the old regulation, which
requires physical perfection in a candidate. This rule has nevertheless been
considerably modified in some Jurisdictions.
Physical blindness in
Freemasonry, as in the language of the Scriptures, is symbolic of the
deprivation of moral and intellectual light. It is equivalent to the darkness
of the Ancient Mysteries in which the neophytes were enshrouded for periods
varying from a few hours to many days. The Masonic candidate, therefore,
represents one immersed in intellectual darkness, groping in the search for
that Divine light and truth which are the objects of a Freemason's1abor (see
The three blows given to the
Builder, according to the legend of the Third Degree, have been differently
interpreted as symbols in the different systems of Freemasonry, but always
with some reference to adverse or malignant influences exercised on humanity,
of whom Hiram is considered as the type. Thus, in the symbolic Degrees of
Ancient Craft Freemasonry, the three blows are said to be typical of the
trials and temptations to which man is subjected in youth and manhood, and to
death, whose victim he becomes in old age. Hence the three Assassins are the
three stages of human life. In the advanced Degrees, such as the Kadoshes,
which are founded on the Templar system commonly credited to Ramsay, the
reference is naturally made to the destruction of the Order, which was
effected by the combined influences of Tyranny, Superstition, and Ignorance,
which are therefore symbolized by the three blows; while the three Assassins
are also said sometimes to be represented by Squin de Florean, Naffodei, and
the Prior of Montfaucon, the three perjurers who swore away the lives of
DeMolay and his Knights. In the astronomical theory of Freemasonry, which
makes it a modern modification of the ancient sun-worship, a theory advanced
by Ragon, the three blows are symbolic of the destructive influences of the
three winter months, by which Hiram, or the Sun, is shorn of his vivifying
power. Des Etangs has generalized the Templar theory, and, supposing Hiram to
be the symbol of eternal reason, interprets the blows as the attacks of those
vices which deprave and finally destroy humanity. However interpreted for a
special theory, Hiram the Builder always represents, in the science of Masonic
symbolism, the principle of good; and then the three blows are the contending
principles of evil.
"BLUE BANNER, THE" LODGE
Gould, Hughan, Lane, and
others who in the 1875-1890 period began the writing of Masonic history
according to the canons of scholarly work which elsewhere governed
professional historians, always hoped to find evidence of a great antiquity
for pre-1717 Lodges but insisted on documentary proof, and refused to accept
traditions, as they were right in doing, though it is now believed that they
were somewhat more skeptical than they needed to have been. Also, present-day
scholars know , they sometimes overlooked data which belonged neither to the
class of traditions nor to the class of documents ; these data are present
Lodge facts, customs, or possessions which in themselves, and necessarily,
imply a long period of time.
A datum of this kind, an
exceptionally interesting one, is the Blue Banner which was possessed by an
Edinburgh Lodge, the history of which is given in Annals of Journeyman Masons,
No. 8, by Seggie and Tumbull; Thomas Allan and Sons; Edinburg; l930. This
Lodge began as a sort of offshoot, or Side Order, of an old Operative Lodge,
and is therefore reminiscent of the "Acception" in the Mason Company of
London. The history of the Blue Banner goes back for about eight centuries ;
it was given to the Scottish Trade Gilds when they joined the Crusade under
Pope Urban A, and for centuries entitled its possessors not only to special
honors but to special privileges, and is more than once mentioned in the early
records of the burgh.
This history contains one
entry of a special interest to American Masons. In September, 1918, the Lodge
was visited by Bro. Sam Gompers, President of the American Federation of
Labor; he received the distinction for that Lodge a rare one, of being elected
an Honorary Member. His home Lodge was Dawson's No 16 Washington D. C.
See also An Historical Account
of the Blue Blanket; or Crafts-Men's Banner. Containing the Fundamental
Principles of the Good-Town, u¤th the Powers and Prerogatives of the Crafts of
Edinburgh, Etc., by Alexander Pennecuik; Edinburgh; 1722. There were 14
incorporated Crafts in Edinburgh in 1722.
BOOK OF CONSTITUTIONS
In England of the Eighteenth
Century a permanent association or society was required to have a sponsor, the
more exalted in the rank the better, who was named as its Patron - as the King
himself was Patron of the Royal (scientific) Society; it was also expected to
have authorization in the form of a charter, or deputation, or some similar
instrument ; and the older one of these written instruments might be, other
things being equal , the more weight it possessed. The old Masonic Lodges in
London at the beginning of the Century had Sir Christopher Wren as their
patron (so tradition affirms) and for written charter each one had a copy of
the Old Charges ; these documents attested that their original authority had
been a Royal Charter granted by a Prince Edwin seven centuries before ; and
though historians , for sound reasons, question this particular claim, it is
important to remember that neither the Lodges nor the public between 1700 and
1725 ever questioned it.
In 1716 representatives of
some four or five old Lodges, and Probably after discussions with other Lodges
not represented, decided to set up a Body in which each Lodge could be a
member, and which would be a central meeting place and at the same time could
bring the Lodges into a unity of work and practice. This they called a Grand (
or chief) Lodge; and in 1717 they erected it by official action, and put
Anthony Sayer in the Chair as Grand Master.
This new Grand Lodge was
itself a Lodge and therefore needed both a Patron and a Charter, or Old
Charges, of its own, and suitable for needs not identical with those of a
member Lodge. It found a Patron in the person of the Duke of Montague, elected
Grand Master in 1721, after a time, and especially after the sons of George A
had become Masons, it was under the patronage of the Royal Family and has been
so ever since (Queen Victoria officially declared herself its Patroness).
To prepare a Grand Lodge
equivalent of the Old Charges was a more difficult matter. Veteran Masons were
consulted ; old manuscripts were borrowed from Lodges (and sometimes not
returned, as when Desaguliers forgot to return documents to the Lodge of
Antiquity). Some of the Lodges which were opposed to the whole Grand Lodge
plan destroyed their documents. An unknown group of Masons forestalled the
Grand Lodge by having J. Roberts print a version, now called the Roberts
Constitutions, dated 1722 (of the two existing copies one is in the Iowa
Masonic Library). From the Lodges in favor of the Grand Lodge plan fourteen
veteran Masons acted as an advisory committee. By 1722 George Payne, a Grand
Master, had prepared an acceptable version of that part of the Old Charges,
the important half, which was called the Old Regulations. By the following
year, Grand Lodge, reporting through a Committee headed by James Anderson,
adopted a completed manuscript, entitled it The Constitution of Freemasons,
and had James Anderson print it. Why this book has been accredited to the
authorship of James Anderson is a mystery; he is called "author" at one or two
places but as then used the word could mean "editor" or "scribe"; and his name
does not appear on the title page. Payne wrote about one-half of it. J. T.
Desaguliers wrote the dedication; the rest of it was the joint work of many
hands and at least two Committees. The so-called historical part was
collected-the record says "collated''-from Lodge copies of the Old Charges
which differed much among themselves in detail. The title is a complete
description of the book :
"The Constitution, History,
Laws, Charges, Orders, Regulations, and Usages of the Right Worshipful
FRATERNITY of Accepted Free MASONS; collected From their general RECORDS and
their faithful TRADITIONS of many Ages.
To be Read At the Admission of
a NEW BROTHER, when the Master or Warden shall begin, or order some other
Brother to read as follows."
then follows the text, in the
first sentence of which reference is made to ''God, the great Architect of the
Universe,'' and Geometry is named as the Masonic art par excellence, because
it was the art used in architecture.
The publisher's signature on
the title page :
"London, Printed by William
Hunter, for John Senex at the Globe, and John Hooke at the Flower-de-luce over
against St. Dunstan's Church, in Fleet-Street. In the Year of Masonry 5723.
Anno Domini 1723."
This dating is a fact of prime
importance, for it proves that the Freemasons identified their Fraternity with
architecture which they rightly assumed to be as old as man. Theorists who
have argued for another origin' of Freemasonry, among the Ancient Mysteries,
or in occult circles, or in political circles, etc., will first have to
explain why the founders of the Speculative Craft had not even heard of such
origins ; and one may safely assume that they knew more about the founding of
Speculative Masonry than theorism two hundred years afterwards. As time
passed, and Lodges increased, amendments and revisions were called for; this
was satisfied by the issuance of new editions.
NOTE. The Fifth, or 1784,
Edition is there accredited to John Northouck, in reality it should have been
named after William Preston because he did the work on it. As each new Grand
Lodge was erected in one Country after another, and in America in one State
after another, it wrote or adopted a Book of its own. Such a Book dated as of
today bears on the face of it little resemblance to the Edition of 1723 ; but
the change from decade to decade has been a gradual one, always made in
response to new needs, and in their principles and every other fundamental any
regular Constitution of today is a direct descendant of the Constitution of
1723. The Ancient Grand Lodge, erected in London in 1751, which was to become
a rival of the 1717 Grand Body until 1813, published in 1756 a Book of its
own, which it called Ahiman Rezon ; this also was in substance a repetition of
the Book of 1723. Considered as a work of literature the most masterly version
is the original Constitution of Ireland, a re-writing of the 1723 Edition by
John Pennell, published in 1730.
A half century ago a number of
writers proposed the theory that "Operative" Masonry had become defunct; that
Desaguliers, Anderson, Payne, Montague, and a number of other ''gentlemen,''
"captured" the machinery of organization, and turned it into a Speculative
Fraternity. This theory went to pieces against such facts as:
first, that the Grand Lodge
began in 1716-not 1717- and that those gentlemen were not Masons for some time
afterwards, at least not London Masons, and were not among the founding
fathers, second, the old Lodges were not "Operative'' but only partly so, and
one of them was wholly composed of Speculatives. Desaguliers and his
colleagues were architects of the Grand Lodge system; they did not create
anything new, they only found a new way for carrying on what was already very
old. This is made clear by the Book of 1723 itself, and by the circumstances
under which it was prepared.
Masonic Bookplates, by J. Hugo
Tatsch and Winwood Prescott (The Masonic Bibliophiles; Cedar Rapids, Ia. ;
1928), lays down the accepted rules for a correct and (by connoisseurs)
acceptable Masonic Ex Libris, or bookplate. Taking it for granted that a
skilled artist will draw or paint it, and that it will be well engraved, the
two authors advise: first, that the Mason who is to use it shall include in it
only such emblems and symbols as represent the Rite (or Rites) to which he
belongs ; second, that it be "personalized" by including in the design
something to represent his own vocation, avocation, hobby, special interest,
Shute, who wrote and published
the first book on architecture ever to be printed in England, is said to have
been also the first engraver in England. After the Grand Lodge was formed in
1717 a long line of famous engravers were active members of the Craft; John
Pine, William Hogarth, Francesco Bartolozzi, John Baptist Cipriani, Benjamin
and John Cole, and our American Grand Master, inventor of a new process of
engraving, Paul Revere. Their work, and especially their Masonic designs,
should be studied by Masonic bookplate engravers. A Grand Lodge usually
employs its own coat-of-arms in its bookplate. Pine was the first to make an
engraved list of Lodges. (See also Book Plates and Their Value, J. H. Slater,
Henry Grant; 1898. In addition to collectors' prices it contains a history of
the development of Ex Libris art. Some publishers spell ''bookplate'' as one
word, others as two. The Tatsch and Prescott volume contains a full
bibliography. Ex Libris Lodge, No. 3765, was founded . in London, 1915, by
Ray V. Denslow, specialist in
early Middle Western Masonry, reported to The Builder, January, 1925, that "in
his opinion" Boone had not been a Mason. He added however that "a very good
friend" had in earlier days heard Boone spoken of as a Mason. Both the Grand
Lodges of Kentucky and of Tennessee have searched the old membership rolls but
have not found his name. When appropriating a sum toward the Boone monument at
Frankfort the resolution passed by the Grand Lodge of Kentucky made no mention
of Boone's possible membership. At least one pall-bearer at Boone's funeral
wore a Masonic collar. (It is interesting to note that "Boone" is a corruption
of "Bohun," a family name of King Henry VAI.)
BOYDEN LIBRARY CLASSIFICATION
Brother William L. Boyden,
librarian for the Supreme Council, A.&A.S.R.,S.J., at Washington, D.C., after
years of experience and experiment, perfected a library classification system
for Masonic books. He divided titles under ten general heads, in 400 classes
and subclasses. He made the system available to Masonic librarians in a
brochure of twenty-two pages, a working manual: Classification of the
Literature of Freemasonry and Related Societies, by W. L. Boyden; Washington,
D.C., 1915; e/o The Supreme Council A.&.A.S.R.,S.J.
BOYDEN MS., THE
A manuscript of the Old
Charges, nine feet long and about eight and one-half inches wide, belonging to
the Supreme Council, A.& A.S.R.,S.J., and in the vaults of the House of the
Temple, Washington, D.C.; it was discovered (presumably in 1925) by the late
W. L. Boyden, Librarian of the Supreme Council Library at the time, in North
Riding of Yorkshire near Yorkshire, Eng. Boyden published the text in The New
Age, February, 1926; page 77. The text accompanied by critical notes is given
in The Old 'Yorkshire' Old Charges of Masons, by H. Poole and F. R. Worts;
published by Installed Masters' Association, Leeds, England ; 1935 ; page 171.
Some English Brothers have
expressed regret (and not always un-spiced with resentment) that a Yorkshire
MS. should "have been sold off to America."
American Masons can understand
that feeling, and the more so in the case of Yorkshire which was the favorite
field of Hughan and of Thorp, who are both as well remembered and as much
revered by Masons on this side of the Atlantic as on that ; but at the same
time they feel that the strictures often expressed, and especially the
harshness in some instances, by Whymper, Gould, and Lane, are based on a
misunderstanding of facts. The strictures have arisen from the assumption that
a sizable number of precious, old, and oftentimes unique Masonic books and
MSS. have been drained off out of England into America; but there has never
been such a drain. The Boyden is the only MS. of which there is not at least
one copy left in England. The printed Roberts MS. owned by the Grand Lodge of
Iowa is one of two copies. The Carmick MS. owned by the Grand Lodge of
Pennsylvania was written in Pennsylvania. The American craft, and considering
that save for a very few years it is as old as the English Craft, and is in
the same Masonic family, is peculiarly poverty-stricken in MSS. and rare
books. Nor have the great and wealthy American collectors Huntington, Morgan,
etc., collected Freemasoniana; Rosenbach, famous for so many years as their
agent, told the writer that he had never included Masonic items in his search
lists. If harsh complaints were in order American Masons themselves have a
large ground for them ; during the French and Indian wars, the Revolutionary
War, and the War of 1812 America was "drained" of the larger part of its early
Masonic records, a fact which helps to account for the emptiness of the
history of pre-Revolutionary Masonry in America.
The same holds for the old
charge of "piracy." A small number of Eighteenth Century books (Oliver,
presston, etc.) were published here without permission and without payment to
their British authors ; to do so was both piratical and inexcusable. But there
was as quite as much piracy from the British end. Books by Harris Town,
Mackey, Morris, etc., were extensively pirated in England right down to the
middle of the Nineteenth Century : this Encyclopedia was pirated a in half
In the article which begins on
page 151 it is stated that the Gild of Bridge Builders was a religious
fraternity. Since that article written (it was based on the then most reliable
authorities) what may be called the archeology of bridge building has put that
ancient craft in a new light. Just as some bishop or abbot was given credit
for almost every cathedral, large church, or abbey, and even though the
prelate might not have been born when the construction was begun, so did the
same chroniclers make out that almost every other concerted public activity,
association, etc., had been either an action by the Church or else one
directed by it.
Even a local gild of six or
seven blacksmiths in a French town of the year1200 A.D. may appear in the
monkish chronicles as having been a Holy Brotherhood of the Church of St. Paul
Dedicated to St. Dominic, etc., the whole of it sounding as if black smithing
had been a holy rite. Everything in the Twelfth Thirteenth, and Fourteenth
Centuries was, as it were, asserted with the appearance of religion-it was
then as it is now with the Mexican language in which "good-bye" becomes "God
go with you," and a man asks for a match "in the name of God," and a mother
names a son Jesus and a Daughter Holy Annunciation.
There were fraternities of Bridge Builders in the Middle Ages ; they had their
Patron Saints; they went by religious names; but bridge building per se was no
more religious than it is now. A bridge was build at need, and often at the
expense of the taxpayers in a town; its construction might be entrusted to a
special gild formed for the purpose; it might be paid for by gifts or by
tolls; but the Masons who built it usually were ordinary Masons. Its was only
when great bridges were built, like London Bridge (which was a row of
buildings erected across the Thames) or when one was ornamented with carving
or with Sculpture, or involved difficult problems of engineering, that
Freemasons were called in; but it is doubtful if in many instances they formed
fraternities qua bridge builders, after the fashion of the separate
associations of castle builders, military architects, tilers, etc.
It is of interest that the
first great Modern bridge (at least it is so claimed by historians of it) was
to a peculiar extent almost an event in the history of Speculative
Freemasonry. The engineer and constructor of the famous Wearmouth Bridge in
England (pages are given to it in a number of histories of engineering) was
Bro. Rowland Burdon. He was made a Mason in Phoenix Lodge, no. 94, Sunderland
; he joined Palatine Lodge in 1791; in 1793 was elected Master, and served
several years. The foundation of the Bridge was laid with Masonic ceremonies
by the Provincial Grand Lodge, September 24, 1793; its completion was also
celebrated by ceremonies by the Provincial Grand Lodge on August 9, 1796
(during Washington's second term, it may be said to help Americans to place
(It happens that the builders
of the Brooklyn Bridge were Masons, as may be found in an article in the New
York Masonic Outlook. See History of Phoenix Lodge; see also other bridge
items in History of Britannia Lodge, page 104.)
NOTE. Apropos of the typical
Medieval custom of clothing everything with a religious guise it is
interesting to observe that ordinary business documents such as deeds, bills
of sales, contracts, or legal documents, or a physician's prescription, or a
parchment roll of kitchen recipes might be decorated with religious emblems
and begin-like the Old Charges-with a religious invocation.
Bishops often were educated
and trained in cathedral schools at a prince's or king's expense expressly to
hold positions in what is now the civil service. Even the since-canonized
Thomas à Beeket served for years in that capacity, and was made a bishop for
political reasons! Thousands of tonsured clerics were trained to work in
offices, government bureaus, etc., as clerks, bookkeepers, etc., and never
performed religious services in their lives. It is not out of any desire to
disparage religion, or to discredit the church, but solely in obedience to the
facts as found, that historians are agreed that the Ages of Faith were not
more faithful than other ages, and that the men were in their spirit, thought,
and conduct no more religious, or pious, in the Thirteenth Century than they
are now. The fact is important for Masonic history, because a reader of it may
gain the impression that because so many Medieval Freemasons worked on
churches, cathedrals, abbeys, priories, monasteries, chapels, etc., they were
in some peculiar sense a religious fraternity. They were men in religion, but
no more so than other men; ran their own affairs ; excluded priests from
control over their Lodges ; and had no religious rites, practices, or
doctrines peculiar to themselves.
The Lodge of Journeymen, in
the city of Edinburgh, is in possession of a blue blanket which is used as a
banner in Masonic processions. The history of it is thus given in the London
Magazine: "A number of Scotch mechanics followed Allan, Lord Steward of
Scotland, to the holy wars in Palestine, and took with them a banner, on which
were inscribed the following words from the 5lst Psalm, the eighteenth vers,
'In bona voluntate tua edificentur muri Hierosolymae,' meaning'ln Thy good
pleasure build Thou the walls of Jerusalem.' Fighting under the banner, these
valiant Scotchman were present at the capture of Jerusalem, and other towns in
the Holy Land; and, on their return to their own country, they deposited the
banner, which they styled The Banner of the Holy Ghost, at the altar of St.
Eloi, the patron saint of the Edinburgh Tradesmen, in the church of Saint
Giles. It was occasionally unfurled, or worn as a mantle by the
representatives of the trades in the courtly and religious pageants that in
former times were of frequent occurrence in the Scottish capital. "In 1482,
James III, in consequence of the assistance which he had received from the
Craftsmen of Edinburgh, in delivering him from the castle in which he was kept
a prisoner, and paying a debt of 6,000 Marks which he had contracted in making
preparations for the marriage of his son, the Duke of Rothsay, to Cecil,
daughter of Edward IV, of England, conferred on the good town several valuable
privileges, and renewed to the Craftsmen their favorite banner of The Blue
Blanket. ''James's queen, Margaret of Denmark, to show her gratitude and
respect to the Crafts, painted on the banner, with her own hands, a Saint
Andrew's cross, a crown, a thistle, and a hammer, with the following
inscription : 'Fear God and honor the king ; grant him a long life and a
prosperous reign, and we shall ever pray to be faithful for the defense of his
sacred majesty's royal person till death.' The king decreed that in all time
coming, this flag should be the standard of the Crafts within burgh, and that
it should be unfurled in defense of their own rights, and in protection of
their sovereign. The privilege of displaying it at the Masonic procession was
granted to the journeymen, in consequence of their original connection with
the Freemasons of Mary's Chapel, one of the four men incorporated trades of
the city. "The Blue Blanket was long in a very tattered condition ; but some
years ago it was repaired by lining it with blue silk, so that it can be
exposed without subjecting it to much injury. " An interesting little book was
written by Alexander pennecuik, Burgess and Guild-Brother of Edinburgh, and
published with this title in 1722 and in later editions describing the
Operative Companies of Edinburgh. The above particulars in the London Magazine
are found in Pennecuik's work with other details.
The first three degrees of
Freemasonry are so called from the blue color which is peculiar to them.
A Symbolic Lodge, in which the
first three degrees of Freemasonry are conferred, is so called from the color
of its decorations.
The degrees of Entered
Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason an sometimes called Blue Masonry.
In some of the advanced
degrees, these words are used to designate a Master Mason.
BOARD OF GENERAL PURPOSES
An organization attached to
the Grand Lodge of England, consisting of the Grand Master, Pro Grand Master,
Deputy Grand Master, the Grand Wardens of the year, the Grand Treasurer, the
Grand Registrar, the Deputy Grand Registrar, a President, Past Presidents, the
President of the Board of Benevolence, the Grand Director of Ceremonies, and
twenty-four other members. The President and six of the twenty-four members
are annually nominated by the Grand Master, and the remaining eighteen are
elected by the Grand Lodge from the Masters and Past Masters of the Lodges.
This board has authority to hear and determine all subjects of Masonic
complaints, or irregularity respecting Lodges or individual Freemasons, when
regularly brought before it, and generally to take cognizance of all matters
relating to the Craft.
BOARD OF RELIEF
See Relief, Board of
The name of the left hand (or
north) pillar that stood at the porch of King Solomon's Temple. It is derived
from the Hebrew pronounced bo'-az, and signifies in strength. Though Strong in
his Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary says the root is unused and of uncertain
meaning (see Pillars of the Porch).
a Hebrew word pronounced
bokeem and meaning the weepers. A password in the Order of Ishmael. An angel
spoke to Hagar as she wept at the well when in the wilderness with her son
The angel is looked upon as a
spiritual being, possibly the Great Angel of the Covenant, the Michael who
appeared to Moses in the burning bush, or the Joshua, the captain of the hosts
BODE, JOHANN JOACHIM CHRISTOPH
Born in Brunswick, 16th of
January, 1730. One of the most distinguished Freemasons of his time. In his
youth he was a professional musician, but in 1757 he established himself at
Hamburg as a bookseller, and was initiated into the Masonic Order. He obtained
much reputation by the translation of Sterne's Sentimental Journey and
Tristram Shandy, of Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield; Smollett's Humphrey
Clinker; and of Fielding's Tom Jones, from the English; and of Montaigne's
works from the French. To Masonic literature he made many valuable
contributions; among others, he translated from the French Bonneville's
celebrated work entitled Les Jésuites chassés de la Maçonnerie et leur
poignard bris par les Maçons, meaning The Jesuits driven from Freemasonry and
their weapon broken by the Freemasons, which contains a comparison of Scottish
Freemasonry with the Templarism of the fourteenth century, and with sundry
peculiar practices of the Jesuits themselves.
Bode was at one time a zealous
promoter of the Rite of Strict Observance, but afterward became one of its
most active opponents. In 1790 he joined the Order of the Illuminati,
obtaining the highest Degree in its second class, and at the Congress of
Wilhelmsbad he advocated the opinions of Weishaupt,. No man of his day was
better versed than he in the history of Freemasonry, or possessed a more
valuable and extensive library; no one was more diligent in increasing his
stock of Masonic knowledge, or more anxious to avail himself of the rarest
sources of learning. Hence, he has always held an exalted position among the
Masonic scholars of Germany. The theory which he had conceived on the origin
of Freemasonry--a theory, however, which the investigations of subsequent
historians have proved to be untenable--was, that the Order was invented by
the Jesuits, in the seventeenth century, as an instrument for the
re-establishment of the Roman Church in England, covering it for their own
purposes under the mantle of Templarism. Bode died at Weimar on the 13th of
A Royal Councilor of State and
Director of the School of Cadets at St. Petersburg, during the reign of
Alexander I. In 1805 he induced the emperor to revoke the edicts made by Paul
I and himself against the Freemasons. His representations of the true
character of the Institution induced the emperor to seek and obtain
Boeber may be considered as
the reviver of Freemasonry in the Russian dominions, and was Grand Master of
the Grand Lodge from 1811 to 1814.
The most celebrated of the
Mystics of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, born near Gorlitz, in
1575, and died in 1624. His system attracted, and continued to attract long
after his death, many disciples in Germany. Among these, in time, were several
Freemasons, who sought to incorporate the mystical dogmas of their founder
with the teachings of Freemasonry, so as to make the Lodges merely schools of
theosophy. Indeed, the Theosophic Rites of Freemasonry, which prevailed to a
great extent about the middle of the last century in Germany and France, were
indebted for most of their ideas to the mysticism of Jacob Boehmen.
BOHEMANN, KARL ADOLF ANDERSON
Born in 1770, at Jönköping in
the south of Sweden. He was a very zealous member of the Order of Asiatic
Brethren, and was an active promulgator of the advanced Degrees. Invited to
Sweden, in 1802, by the Duke of Sudermania, who was an ardent inquirer into
Masonic science, he was appointed Court Secretary.
He attempted to introduce his
system of advanced Degrees into the kingdom, but having been detected in the
effort to intermingle revolutionary schemes with his high Degrees, he was
first imprisoned and then banished from the country, his society being
interdicted. He returned to Germany, but is not heard of after 1815, when he
published at Plymouth a justification of himself. Findel in his History of
Freemasonry (page 560), calls him an impostor, but he seems rather to have
been a Masonic fanatic, who was ignorant of or had forgotten the wide
difference between Freemasonry and political intrigue.
A Lodge named The Three Stars
is said to have been established at Prague in 1726, and other Lodges were
subsequently constituted in Bohemia, but in consequence of the French
Revolution they were closed in 1793 by the Austrian Government.
BOHMANN, F. OTTO
A merchant in Stockholrn,
1695-1767, who left a legacy of 100,000 thalers to the Asylum for the Orphans
of Freemasons that was founded in Stockholm in 1753. A medal was struck in his
honor in 1768 (see Marvin's Masonic Medals, page 172).
The third largest political
division of the continent of South America. A Lodge was chartered in Bolivia
in 1875. Three others have since been established and all four pay allegiance
to the Grand Lodge of Peru.
Brother Oliver Day Street says
in his 1922 Report on Correspondence to the Grand Lodge of Alabama: "So far as
we have been able to ascertain this State has never been able to boast a Grand
Lodge, Grand Orient or Supreme Council of its own. Its only Masonic
organizations have been Lodges chartered by some of the Grand Lodges of the
neighboring states. Indeed, Peru and Chile are the only ones we can ascertain
which have even done this. Bolivia can scarcely be said to have a Masonic
A seaport on the west coast of
India. The first Lodge to be established in Bombay was opened in 1758 but it
disappeared from the register in 1813. In 1763 James Todd was appointed
Provincial Grand Master.
A Provincial Grand Master of
Western India and its Dependencies, Brother James Burnes was appointed in 1836
by the Grand Lodge of Scotland. None had been appointed by England since the
time of Brother Todd. Brother Burnes was a very active Freemason and it is a
curious fact that Brethren even left the English Lodges to support the new
English Freemasonry became
less and less popular and finally ceased to be practiced until 1848 when Saint
George Lodge No. 807, was revived.
In 1886 Scotland had issued
nineteen Charters to Lodges in Bombay and twelve years previously Captain
Morland, successor to Brother Burnes, was raised to the position of Grand
Master of all Scottish Freemasonry in India.
The Craft took no firm hold on
the natives of India.
Several of the princes were
initiated but the Parsees made the first real advance in the Order when
Brother Cama, one of their number, was elected Treasurer of the Grand Lodge of
England. The first Hindu to hold important office was Brother Dutt who became
head of a Lodge in 1874 (see India and Madras).
Brother Hawkins was of the
opinion that the word is really an incorrect transliteration of the Hebrew
word for builders, which should be Bonim; the construct form of which Bonai is
used in 1 Kings (v, 18), to designate a portion of the workmen on the Temple:
"And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them." Brother Hawkins
continues to the effect that Oliver, in his Dictionary and in his Landmarks
(1, 402), gives a mythical account of them as Fellow Crafts, divided into
Lodges by King Solomon, but, by a slip in his grammar he calls them Benai,
substituting the Hebrew construct for the absolute case, and changing the
participial o into e. The Bonaim seem to be distinguished, by the author of
the Book of Kings, from the Gibalim, and the translators of the authorized
version have called the former builders and the latter stone-squarers. It is
probable that the Bonaim were an order of workmen inferior to the Gibalim.
Anderson, in both of his editions of the Book of Constitutions, errs like
Oliver, and calls them Bonai, saying that they were "setters, layers, or
.builders, or light Fellow Crafts, in number 80,000.''
This idea seems to have been
perpetuated in the modern rituals. From this construct plural form Bonai some
one has formed the slightly incorrect form Bonaim.
Brother of Napoleon I. Born
November 15, 1784, and died June 24, 1860. King of Westphalia from 1807 to
1813 and afterwards known as the Duc de Montfort. Grand Master of the Grand
Orient of Westphalia. After 1847 he became successively Governor of the
Invalides, Marshal of France and President of the Senate (see also Histoire de
la Franc-Maçonnerie, Albert Lantoine, 1925, Paris). Jerome, son of the above,
also given as a Freemason.
Elder brother of Napoleon I.
Born January 7, 1768. Sent to Naples as King in 1806 and made King of Spain in
1808. After 1815 known as Comte de Survilliers. He was a Freemason. Appointed
by Napoleon I to the office of Grand Master of the Grand Orient of France in
1804. He died July 28, 1844.
Born September 2, 1778; died
July 25, 1846. Brother of Napoleon I. King of Holland in 1806. Grand Master
Adjoined of the Grand Orient of France in 1804. In 1805 became Governor of
Brother of Napoleon I. Born
May 21, 1775, and died at Rome, June 29, 1840. November 10, 1799, when
Napoleon I overthrew the National Councils of France at the Palace of Saint
Cloud, Lucien was President of the Council of Five Hundred and able to turn
the scale in favor of his brother. In 1800 was Ambassador at Madrid, Spain. A
member of the Grand Orient of France,
In the fourth article of the
Halliwell or Regius Manuscript, which is the earliest Masonic document known,
it is said that the Master shall take good care that he make no bondman an
apprentice, or, as it is in the original language :
The fourth artycul thys moste
That the Mayster hymn wel be-se,
That he no bondemon prentys make.
The regulation is repeated in
all the subsequent regulations, and is still in force (see Freebom).
This word, which is now
pronounced in one syllable, is the Hebrew word bo-neh, , builder, from the
verb banah, to build. It was peculiarly applied, as an epithet, to Hiram Abif,
who superintended the construction of the Temple as its chief builder. Master
Masons will recognize it as part of a significant word. Its true pronunciation
would be, in English letters, bo-nay; but the corruption into one syllable as
bone has become too universal ever to be corrected.
In the early lectures of the
eighteenth century, now obsolete, we find the following catechism:
Q. Have you any key to the
secrets of a Mason?
Q. Where do you keep it?
A. In a bone box, that neither opens nor shuts but with ivory keys.
The bone box is the mouth, the
ivory keys the teeth.
And the key to the secrets is afterward said to be the tongue.
These questions were simply used as tests, and were subsequently varied. In a
later lecture it is called the Bone-bone Box.
BONNEVILLE, CHEVALIER DE
BONNEVILLE, NICOLAS DE
On the 24th of November, 1754,
he founded the Chapter of the Advanced Degrees known as the Chapter of
A1l the authorities assert
this except Rebold, Histoire des Trois Grandes Loges, meaning the History of
the Three Grand Lodges, page 46, who says that he was not its founder but only
the propagator of its Degrees.
BONNEVILLE, NICOLAS DE
A bookseller and man of
letters, born at Evreux, in France, March 13, 1760. He was the author of a
work, published in 1788, entitled Les Jésuites chassés de la Maçonnerie et
leur poignard brisé par les Maçons, meaning The Jesuits driven from
Freemasonry and their weapon broken by the Freemasons, a book divided into two
parts, of the first of which the subtitle was La Maçonnerie écossaise comparée
avec les trois professions et le Secret des Templiers du 14e Siécle, meaning
Scottish Freemasonry compared with the three professions and the Secret of the
Templars of the Fourteenth Century, and of the second, Mémeté des quatre voeux
de la Compagnie de S. Ignace, et des quatre grades de la Maçonnerie de S.
Jean, meaning the Identity of the four pledges of the Society of Saint Ignace,
and of the four steps of the Freemasonry of Saint John. He also translated
into French, Thomas Paine's Essay on the Origin of Freemasonry; a work, by the
way, which was hardly worth the trouble of translation.
De Bonneville had an exalted
idea of the difficulties attendant upon writing a history of Freemasonry, for
he says that, to compose such a work, supported by dates and authentic facts,
it would require a period equal to ten times the age of man; a statement
which, although exaggerated, undoubtedly contains an element of truth.
His Masonic theory was that
the Jesuits had introduced into the symbolic Degrees the history of the life
and death of the Templars, and the doctrine of vengeance for the political and
religious crime of their destruction; and that they had imposed upon four of
the higher Degrees the four vows of their congregation. De Bonneville was
imprisoned as a Girondist in 1793. The Girondists or Girondins were members of
a political party during the French Revolution of 1791 to 1793, getting their
name from twelve Deputies from the Gironde, a Department of Southwestern
France. He was the author of a History of Modern Europe, in three volumes,
published in 1792. He died in 1828.
BOOK OF CHARGES
There seems, if we may judge
from the references in the old records of Freemasonry, to have formerly
existed a book under this title, containing the Charges of the Craft;
equivalent, probably, to the Book of Constitutions. Thus, the Matthew Cooke
Manuscript of the first half of the fifteenth century (line 534) speaks of "othere
chargys mo that ben wryten in the Boke of Chargys.''
BOOK OF CONSTITUTIONS
The Book of Constitutions is
that work in which is contained the rules and regulations adopted for the
government of the Fraternity of Freemasons. Undoubtedly, a society so orderly
and systematic must always have been governed by a prescribed code of laws;
but, in the lapse of ages, the precise regulations which were adopted for the
direction of the Craft in ancient times have been lost. The earliest record
that we have of any such Constitutions is in a manuscript, first quoted, in
1723, by Anderson( Constitutions, 1723, pages 32-3), which he said was written
in the reign of Edward IV.
Preston (page 182, edition
of1788) quotes the same record, and adds, that "it is said to have been in the
possession of the famous Elias Ashmole, and unfortunately destroyed,'' a
statement which had not been previously made by Anderson. To Anderson,
therefore, we must look in our estimation of the authenticity of this document
; and that we cannot too much rely upon his accuracy as a transcriber is
apparent, not only from the internal evidence of style, but also from the fact
that he made important alterations in his copy of it in his edition of 1738.
Such as it is, however, it contains the following particulars: "Though the
ancient records of the Brotherhood in England were many of them destroyed or
lost in the wars of the Saxons and Danes, yet King Athelstan (the grandson of
King Alfrede the Great, a mighty Architect), the first anointed king of
England, and who translated the Holy Bible into the Saxon tongue, 930 A. D.,
when he had brought the land into Rest and Peace, built many great works, and
encouraged many Masons from France, who were appointed Overseers thereof, and
brought with them the Charges and Regulations of the Lodges preserved since
the Roman times, who also prevailed with the King to improve the Constitution
of the English Lodges according to the foreign Model, and to increase the
Wages of Working Masons.
"The said king's youngest son,
Prince Edwin, being taught Masonry, and taking upon him the Charges of a
Master Mason, for the love he had to the said Craft and the honorable
Principles whereon it is grounded, purchased a free charter of King Athelatan
his Father, for the Masons having a Correction among themselves (as it was
anciently expressed), or a Freedom and Power to regulate themselves, to amend
what might happen amiss, and to hold a yearly Communication and General
"Accordingly, Prince Edwin
summoned all the Masons in the Realm to meet him in a Congregation at York,
who came and composed a General Lodge, of which he was Grand Master; and
having brought with them all the Writings and Records extant, some in Greek,
some in Latin, some in French, and other languages, from the Contents thereof
that Assembly did frame the Constitution and Charges of an English Lodge, and
made a law to preserve and observe the same in all time coming, and ordained
good Pay for Working Masons, ac."
Other records have from time
to time been discovered, most of them recently, which prove beyond a1l doubt
that the Fraternity of Freemasons was, at least in the fourteenth, fifteenth,
sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, in possession of manuscript
Constitutions containing the rules and regulations of the Craft.
In the year 1717, Freemasonry,
which had somewhat fallen into decay in the south of England, was revived by
the organization of the Grand Lodge at London; and, in the next year, the
Grand Master having desired, says Anderson, "any brethren to bring to the
Grand Lodge any old writings and records concerning Freemasons and
Freemasonry, in order to show the usages of ancient times, several old copies
of the Gothic Constitutions were produced and collated" (see Constitutions,
1738, page l10).
But these Constitutions having
been found to be very erroneous and defective, probably from carelessness or
ignorance in their frequent transcription, in September, 1721, the Duke of
Montagu, who was then Grand Master, ordered Brother James Anderson to digest
them "in a new and better method" (see Constitutions, 1738, page 113).
Anderson having accordingly
accomplished the important task that had been assigned him, in December of the
same year a committee, consisting of fourteen learned Brethren, was appointed
to examine the book ; and, in the March Communication of the subsequent year,
having reported their approbation of it, it was, after some amendments,
adopted by the Grand Lodge, and published, in 1723, under the title of The
Constitutions of the Freemasons, containing the History, Charges, Regulations,
etc., of that Most Ancient and Right Worshipful Fraternity. For the use of the
Lodges. A second edition was published in 1738, under the superintendence of'
a committee of Grand Officers (see the Constitutions of that year, page 133).
But this edition contained so many alterations, interpolations, and omissions
of the Charges and Regulations as they appeared in the first, as to show the
most reprehensible inaccuracy in its composition, and to render it utterly
worthless except as a literary curiosity. It does not seem to have been very
popular, for the printers, to complete their sales, were compelled to commit a
fraud, and to present what they pretended to be a new edition in 1746, but
which was really only the edition of 1738, with a new title page neatly pasted
in, the old one being canceled.
In 1754, Brother Jonathan
Scott presented a memorial to the Grand Lodge, ''showing the necessity of a
new edition of the Book of Constitutions.'' It was then ordered that the book
"should be revised, and necessary alterations and additions made consistent
with the laws and rules of Masonry" ; all of which would seem to show the
dissatisfaction of the Fraternity with the errors of the second edition.
Accordingly, a third edition was published in 1756, under the editorship of
the Rev. John Entick. The fourth edition, prepared by a Committee, was
published in 1767.
In 1769, G. Kearsly, of
London, published an unauthorized edition of the 1767 issue, with an appendix
to 1769 ; this was also published by Thomas Wilkinson in Dublin in the same
year, with several curious plates ; both issues are now very scarce. And an
authorized supplement appeared in 1776.
John Noorthouck published by
authority the fifth edition in 1784. This was well printed in quarto, with
numerous notes, and is considered the most valuable edition ; it is the last
to contain the historical introduction.
After the Union of the two
rival Grand Lodges of England (see Ancient Masons) in 1813, the sixth edition
was issued in 1815, edited by Brother William Williams, Provincial Grand
Master for Dorsetshire; the seventh appeared in 1819, being the last in quarto
; and the eighth in 1827; these were called the Second Part, and contained
only the Ancient Charges and the General Regulations. The ninth edition of
1841 contained no reference to the First or Historical Part, and may be
regarded as the first of the present issue in octavo with the plates of jewels
at the end.
Numerous editions have since
been issued. In the early days of the Grand Lodge of England in all
processions the Book of Constitution was carried on a cushion by the Master of
the Senior Lodge (Constitution, 1738, pages 117-26), but this was altered at
the time of the union and it is provided in the Constitutions of 1815 and in
the subsequent issues that the Book of Constitutions on a cushion shall be
carried by the Grand Secretary.
BOOK OF CONSTITUTIONS GUARDED
BY THE TILER'S SWORD
An emblem painted on the
Master's carpet, and intended to admonish the Freemason that he should be
guarded in all his words and actions, preserving unsullied the Masonic virtues
of silence and circumspection. Such is Webb's definition of the emblem in the
Freemasons monitor (edition of 1818, page 69), which is a very modern one, and
Brother Mackey was inclined to think it was introduced by that lecturer. The
interpretation of Webb is a very unsatisfactory one in the opinion of Brother
Mackey. He held that the Book of Constitutions is rather the symbol of
constituted law than of silence and circumspection, and when guarded by the
Tiler's sword it would seem properly to symbolize regard for and obedience to
law, a prominent Masonic duty.
BOOK OF GOLD
In the Ancient and Accepted
Scottish Rite, the volume in which the transactions, statutes, decrees,
balusters, and protocols of the Supreme Council or a Grand Consistory are
contained is called the Book of Gold.
BOOK OF MORMON
This sacred book of the
Mormons was first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith, who claimed to have
translated it from gold plates which he had found under Divine guidance
secreted in a stone box. The seat of their organization is at Salt Lake City,
Utah. In this connection, Mormonism and Masonry, by Brother S. H. Goodwin,
Grand Secretary of Utah, is a detailed and excellent work of reference.
BOOK OF THE DEAD
By some translated the Book of
the Master, containing the ancient Egyptian philosophy as to death and the
resurrection. A portion of these sacred writings was invariably buried with
the dead. The book in facsimile has been published by Doctor Lepsius, and
translated by Doctor Birch. The story of the judgment of Amenti forms a part
of the Book of the Dead, and shadows forth the verities and judgments of the
The Amenti was the Place of
Judgment of the Dead, situated in the West, where Osiris was presumed to be
buried. There were forty-two assessors of the amount of sin committed, who sat
in judgment, and before whom the adjudged passed in succession.
There seems to be a tie which
binds Freemasonry to the noblest of the cults and mysteries of antiquity.
The most striking exponent of
the doctrines and language of the Egyptian Mysteries of Osiris is this Book of
the Dead, or Ritual of the Underworld, or Egyptian Bible of 165 chapters, the
Egyptian title of which was The Manifestation to Light, or the Book Revealing
Light to the Soul. Great dependence was had, as to the immediate attainment of
celestial happiness, upon the human knowledge of this wonderful Book,
especially of the principal chapters.
On a sarcophagus or tomb of
the eleventh dynasty, according to the chronology of Professor Lepsius, say
2420 B.C., is this inscription: "He who knows this book is one who, in the day
of the resurrection of the underworld, arises and enters in; but he does not
know this chapter, he does not enter in so soon as he arises. " The conclusion
of the first chapter says: "If a man knows this book thoroughly, and has it
inscribed upon his sarcophagus, he will be manifested in the day in all the
forms that he may desire, and entering into his abode will not be turned back"
(see Tiele's History of Religions, page 25).
The Egyptian belief was that
portions of the Book of the Dead were written by the finger of Thoth, that
being the name of the Egyptian god of letters, invention and wisdom, the
mouthpiece and recorder of the gods, and umpire of their disputes, back in the
mist of time, 3000 B.C. The one hundred and twenty-fifth chapter describes the
last judgment. The oldest preserved papyrus is of the eighteenth dynasty.
Professor Lepsius fixes the date at 1591 BC.
The most perfect copy of this
Book of the Dead is in the Turin Museum, where it covers one side of the
walls, in four pieces, 300 feet in length.
The following extract is from
the first chapter: "Says That to Osiris, King of Eternity, I am the great God
in the divine boat; I fight for thee; I am one of the divine chiefs who are
the TRUE LIVING WORD of Osiris. I am That, who makes to be real the word of
Horus against his enemies. The word of Osiris against his enemies made truth
in That, and the order is executed by That. I am with Horus on the day of
celebrating the festival of Osiris, the good Being, whose Word is truth; I
make offerings to Ra (the Sun) ; I am a simple priest in the underworld,
anointing in Abydos, elevating to higher degrees of initiation; I am prophet
in Abydos on the day of opening or up heaving the earth. I behold the
mysteries of the door of the underworld; I direct the ceremonies of Mendes; I
am the assistant in the exercise of their functions; I AM GRAND MASTER OF THE
CRAFTSMEN WHO SET UP THE SACRED ARCH FOR A SUPPORT" (see Truth).
BOOK OF THE FRATERNITY OF
Years ago, a manuscript was
discovered in the archives of the City of Cologne bearing the title of
Brüderschaftsbuch der Steinmetzen, meaning the Brotherhood Book of the
Stonecutters, with records going back to the year 1396. Steinbrenner (Origin
and Early History of Masonry, page104), says: "It fully confirms the
conclusions to be derived from the German Constitutions, and those of the
English and Scotch Masons, and conclusively proves the in authenticity of the
celebrated Charter of Cologne."
BOOK OF THE LAW
The Holy Bible, which is
always open in a Lodge as a symbol that its fight should be discussed among
the Brethren. The passages at which it is opened differ in the various Degrees
(see Scriptures, Reading of the).
Masonically, the Book of the
Law is that sacred book which is believed by the Freemason of any particular
religion to contain the revealed will of God; although, technically, among the
Jews, the Torah, or Book of the Law, means only the Pentateuch or five books
of Moses. Thus, to the Christian Freemason the Book of the Law is the Old and
New Testaments; to the Jew, the Old Testament; to the Mussulman, the Koran ;
to the Brahman, the Vedas ; and to the Parsee, the Zendavesta.
The Book of the Law is an
important symbol in the Royal Arch Degree, concerning which there was a
tradition among the Jews that the Book of the Law was lost during the
captivity, and that it was among the treasures discovered during the building
of the second Temple. The same opinion was entertained by the early Christian
fathers, such, for instance, as Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Clemens Alexandrinus;
"for," says Prideaux, "they (the Christian fathers) hold that all the
Scriptures were lost and destroyed in the Babylonish captivity, and that Ezra
restored them all again by Divine revelation." The truth of the tradition is
very generally denied by Biblical scholars, who attribute its origin to the
fact that Ezra collected together the copies of the law, expurgated them of
the errors which had crept into them during the captivity, and arranged a new
and correct edition. But the truth or falsity of the legend does not affect
the Masonic symbolism. The Book of the Law is the will of God, which, lost to
us in our darkness, must be recovered as precedent to our learning what is
Truth. As captives to error, truth is lost to us ; when freedom is restored,
the first reward will be its discovery.
BOOK, ORDER OF THE
See Stukely, Doctor
See Anti-Masonic Books
See Tesselated Border
An island in the Malay
Archipelago, a great group of islands southeast of Asia. On August 13, 1885,
Elopura Lodge, No. 2106, was chartered by the Grand Lodge of England in North
Borneo at Elopura. It was, however, never constituted as the petitioners had
left before the Lodge could be opened, and it was erased from the register on
January 2, 1888.
Borneo Lodge of Harmony was
chartered on May 6, 1891, and constituted at Sandakan on June 7, the same
The name is sometimes given as
Bossonius. The Fourth Degree of the African Architects, also called the
Christian Philosopher. The latter reference is by Thory (Acta Latomorum, 1,
BOSTON TEA PARTY
England in 1773 passed a law
levying a tax on all tea shipped into the American Colonies by the East India
Three cargoes of tea were in
Boston harbor when from a meeting of citizens, December 16, 1773, held at the
Old South Church, forty or fifty men disguised as Indians emerged and in two
or three hours three hundred and forty-two chests of tea valued at about
eighteen hundred pounds sterling were emptied into the sea (see Brother Elroy
McKendree Avery's History of the United States and Its People, volume v, page
166). The secrecy and dispatch of the whole affair definitely indicates
previous rehearsals under competent leadership. On that very night the records
written by the Secretary state that Lodge of Saint Andrew closed until the
next night "On account of the few members in attendance" and then the entire
page is filled up with the letters T made large (see Centennial Memorial of
Saint Andrew's Lodge, page 347, also Green Dragon Tavern).
A Scottish Laird, of
Auchinleck, and of the family of the biographer of Doctor Johnson. Laird means
the proprietor of a landed estate; occasionally, merely a landlord. His
appearance in the Lodge of Edinburgh at a meeting held at Holyrood in June,
1600, affords a very early authentic instance of a person being a member of
the Masonic Fraternity who was not an architect or builder by profession.
Brother Boswell signed his name and made his mark-as did the Operatives.
Called in Hebrew kho'shen, or
kho-shen mish-pow, the breastplate of judgment, because through it the High
Priest received divine responses, and uttered his decisions on all matters
relating to the good of the commonwealth. It was a piece of embroidered cloth
of gold, purple, scarlet, and fine white, twined linen. It was a span, or
about nine inches square, when doubled, and made thus strong to hold the
precious stones that were set in it. It had a gold ring at each corner, to the
uppermost of which were attached golden chains, by which it was fastened to
the shoulder pieces of the ephod-the vestment worn by the High Priest over his
tunic; while from the two lowermost went two ribbons of blue, by which it was
attached to the girdle of the ephod, and thus held secure in its place.
In the breastplate were set
twelve precious jewels, on each of which was engraved the name of one of the
twelve tribes. The stones were arranged in four rows, three stones in each
row. As to the order of arrangement and the names of the stones, there has
been some difference among the authorities. The authorized version of the
Bible gives them in this order:
Sardius, topaz, carbuncle,
emerald, sapphire, diamond, ligure, agate, amethyst, beryl, onyx, jasper.
This is the pattern generally
followed in the construction of Masonic breastplates, but modem researches
into the true meaning of the Hebrew names of the stones have shown its
Especially must the diamond be
rejected, as no engraver could have cut a name on this impenetrable gem, to
say nothing of the pecuniary value of a diamond of a size to match the rest of
EMERALD, TOPAZ, SARDIUS,
JASPER, SAPPHIRE, CARBUNCLE,
AMETHYST AGATE, LIGURE,
BERYL ONYX, CHRYSOLITE,
FIG. 1 VULGATE VERSION OF
Josephus, Antiquities of the
Jews (III, vii), gives the stones in the following order: Sardonyx, topaz,
emerald; carbuncle, jasper, sapphire ; ligure, amethyst, agate; chrysolite,
onyx, beryl. Kalisch, in his Colmmentary on Exodus, gives a still different
order: Cornelian (or sardius), topaz, smaragdus; carbuncle, sapphire, emerald;
ligure, agate, amethyst; chrysolite, onyx, jasper. But perhaps the Vulgate
translation is to be preferred as an authority, because it was made in the
fifth century, at a time when the old Hebrew names of the precious stones were
better understood than now. The order given in that version is shown in the
diagram Fig. I. A description of each of these stones, with its symbolic
signification, with be found under the appropriate head.
On the stones were engraved the names of the twelve tribes, one on each stone.
The order in which they were placed, according to the Jewish Targums--various
ancient forms of the Hebrew Scriptures in Aramaic or Chaldee language, was as
Fig. 2, having a reference to the respective ages of the twelve sons of Jacob.
LEVI ............. SIMEON
ZEBULUN ..... ISSACHAR ........ JUDAH
GAD ............. NAPHTALI ......... DAN
BENJAMIN .. JOSEPH .............. ASHER
FIG. 2. TWELVE TRIBES
ACCORDING TO TARGUMS
The differences made by
various writers in the order of the names of the stones arise only from their
respective translations of the Hebrew words. These original names are detailed
in Exodus (xxviii), and admit of no doubt, whatever uncertainty there may be
as to the gems which they were intended to represent. Fig. 3 illustrates the
Hebrew names of the stones.
A description of the
breastplate is given in chapters xxviii and xxxix of Exodus. From the former,
authorized version of the Bible, we take the following four verses (17-21) :
"And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones ; the
first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle : this shall be the
first row. And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.
And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.
And the fourth row a beryl,
and an onyx, and a jasper : they shall be set in gold in their enclosings. And
the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve according
to their names, like the engravings of a signet ; every one with his name
shall they be according to the twelve tribes." In the margin the word ruby is
given instead of sardius in the first row of stones. The revised version
suggests that ruby be substituted for sardius, emerald for carbuncle,
carbuncle for emerald, sardonyx for diamond, amber for ligure or jacinth,
chalcedony for beryl, and beryl for onyx, in the list found in Exodus xxviii.
Students of the Scriptures
conclude that from the dimensions of the breastplate, given in Exodus (chapter
xxviii ), a span which would be equivalent to eight or nine inches, the twelve
stones even after allowing some reasonable space for their setting must have
been of considerable size and therefore of only moderate rarity. Furthermore,
as they were engraved with the names of the twelve tribes they could have been
of only moderate hardness; and finally, preference may well be given to stones
which research has shown to have been actually used for ornamental purposes in
early bible times. In regard to this matter the article by Professor Flinders
Petrie is of especial importance (see Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible, iv,
The breastplate which was used
in the first Temple does not appear to have been returned after the Captivity,
for it is not mentioned in the list of articles sent back by Cyrus. The
stones, on account of their great beauty and value, were most probably removed
from their original arrangement and reset in various ornaments by their
captors. A new one was made for the services of the second Temple, which,
according to Josephus, when worn by the High Priest, shot forth brilliant rays
of fire that manifested the immediate presence of Jehovah. But Josephus adds
that two hundred years before his time this miraculous power had become
extinct in consequence of the impiety of the nation. It was subsequently
Baw-rek-ath' ...... Pit-daw'
Yah-hal-ome' ..... Sap-peer' .... No,-pek
Akh-law'-maw ... Sheb-oo' ..... Leh'-shem
Yaw-shef-ay' ...... Sho'-ham ... Tar-sheesh
FIG. 3. HEBREW NAMES OF THE
STONES IN BREASTPLATE WITH THEIR PRONUNCIATION
carried to Rome together with
the other spoils of the Temple.
Of the subsequent fate of
these treasures, and among them the breastplate, there are two accounts: one,
that they were convoyed to Carthage by Genseric after his sack of Rome, and
that the ship containing them was lost on the voyage; the other, and, as King
thinks, in Antique Gems (page137), the more probable one, that they had been
transferred long before that time to Byzantium, and deposited by Justinian in
the treasury of Saint Sophia.
The breastplate is worn in
American Chapters of the Royal Arch by the High Priest as an essential Part of
his official vestments. The symbolic reference of it, as given by Webb, is
that it is to teach him always to bear in mind his responsibility to the laws
and ordinances of the Institution, and that the honor and interests of his
Chapter should be always near his heart.
This does not materially
differ from the ancient symbolism, for one of the names given to the Jewish
breastplate was the memorial, because it was designed to remind the High
Priest how dear the tribes whose names it bore should be to his heart.
The breastplate does not
appear to have been original with or peculiar to the Jewish ritual. The idea
was, most probably, derived from the Egyptians.
Diodorus Siculus says (in his
book 1, chapter 75), that among them the chief judge bore about his neck a
chain of gold, from which hung a figure or image , composed of precious
stones, which was called Truth, and the legal proceedings only commenced when
the chief judge had assumed this image.
Aelian (book xxxiv), confirms
this account by saying that the image was engraved on sapphire, and hung about
the neck of the chief judge with a golden chain.
Peter du Val says that he saw
a mummy at Cairo, round the neck of which was a chain, to which a golden plate
was suspended, on which the image of a bird was engraved (see Urim and Thummim).
BREAST, THE FAITHFUL
One of the three precious
jewels of a Fellow Craft. It symbolically teaches the initiate that the
lessons which he has received from the instructive tongue of the Master are
not to be listened to and lost, but carefully treasured in his heart, and that
the precepts of the Order constitute a covenant which he is faithfully to
BREAST TO BREAST
See Points of Fellowship
This word, being the plural of
Brother in the solemn style, is more generally used in Masonic language,
instead of the common plural, Brothers. Thus Freemasons always speak of The
Brethren of the Lodge, and not of The Brothers of the Lodge.
BRETHREN OF HARMONY
Identical with the Fréres
Noirs, or Black Brethren.
BRETHREN OF THE BRIDGE
See Bridge Builders of the
BRETHREN OF THE MYSTIC TIE
The term by which Freemasons
distinguish themselves as the members of a confraternity or brotherhood united
by a mystical bond (see Mystic Tie).
BRETHREN ROSE CROIX OF THE
See Marconis, also Memphis,
BREWSTER, SIR DAVID
See Lawrie, Alexander
A most significant symbol in
the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Degrees of the Scottish Rite, at which an
important event transpires. The characteristic letters which appear on the
Bridge, L. O. P., refer to that liberty of thought which is ever thereafter to
be the inheritance of those who have been symbolically captive for seven weeks
It is the new era of the
freedom of expression, the liberation of the former captive thought. Liberty,
but not License. It is also a symbol in the Royal Order (see Lakak Deror
Pessah; also Liber; also Liberty of Passage).
BRIDGE BUILDERS OF THE MIDDLE
Before speaking of the
Pontifices, or the Fraternity of Bridge Builders, whose history is closely
connected with that of the Freemasons of the Middle Ages, it will be as well
to say something of the word which they assumed as the title of their
The Latin word pontifex, with
its equivalent English pontiff, literally signifies the builder of a bridge,
from pons, meaning a bridge, and facere, to make. But this sense, which it
must have originally possessed, it seems very speedily to have lost, and we,
as well as the Romans, only recognize pontifex or pontiff as significant of a
sacerdotal priestly character.
Of all the Colleges of Priests
in ancient Rome, the most illustrious was that of the Pontiffs. The College of
Pontiffs was established by Numa, and originally consisted of five, but was
afterward increased to sixteen. The whole religious system of the Romans, the
management of all the sacred rites, and the government of the priesthood, was
under the control and direction of the College of Pontiffs, of which the
Pontifex Maximus, or High Priest, was the presiding officer and the organ
through which its decrees were communicated to the people. Hence, when the
Papal Church established its seat at the City of Rome, its Bishop assumed the
designation of Pontifex Maximus as one of his titles, and Pontiff and Pope are
now considered equivalent terms.
The question naturally arises
as to what connection there was between religious rites and the building of
bridges, and why a Roman priest bore the name which literally denoted a bridge
builder. Etymologists have in vain sought to solve the problem, and, after all
their speculation, fail to satisfy us.
One of the most tenable
theories is that of Schmitz, who thinks the Pontifices were so called because
they superintended the sacrifices on a bridge, alluding to the Argean
sacrifices on the Sublician Bridge.
But Varro gives a more
probable explanation when he tells us that the Sublician Bridge was built by
the pontifices; and that it was deemed, from its historic association, of so
sacred a character, that no repairs could be made on it without a previous
sacrifice, which was to be conducted by the Chief Pontiff in person.
The true etymology is,
however, undoubtedly lost; yet it may be interesting, as well as suggestive,
to know that in old Rome there was, even in a mere title, supposing that it
was nothing more, some sort of connection between the art or practice of
bridge building and the mysterious sacerdotal rites established by Numa, a
connection which was subsequently again developed in the Masonic association
which is the subject of the present article.
Whatever may have been this
connection in Pagan Rome, we find, after the establishment of Christianity and
in the Middle Ages, a secret Fraternity organized, as a branch of the
Traveling Freemasons of that period, whose members were exclusively devoted to
the building of bridges, and who were known as Pontifices, or Bridge Builders,
and styled by the French les Fréres Pontifes, or Pontifical Brethren, and by
the Germans Brückenbrüder, or Brethren of the Bridge. It is of this Fraternity
that, because of their association in history with the early corporations of
Freemasons, it is proposed to give a brief sketch.
In the eleventh and twelfth
centuries, the methods of intercommunication between different countries were
neither safe nor convenient. Travelers could not avail themselves of the
comforts of either macadamized roads or railways. Stage-coaches were unknown.
He who was compelled by the calls of business to leave his home, trudged as a
pedestrian wearily on foot, or on horseback, if his means permitted that mode
of journeying; made his solitary ride through badly constructed roads, where
he frequently became the victim of robbers, who took his life as well as his
purse, or submitted to the scarcely less heavy exactions of some lawless
Baron, who claimed it as his high prerogative to levy a tax on every wayfarer
who passed through his domains. Inns were infrequent, incommodious, and
expensive, and the weary traveler could hardly have appreciated Shenstone's
Whoever has traveled life's
Wherever his stages may have been,May sigh to think he still has found
His warmest welcome at an inn.
But one of the greatest
embarrassments to which the traveler in this olden time was exposed occurred
when there was a necessity to cross a stream of water.
The noble bridges of the
ancient Greeks and Romans had been destroyed by time or war, and the
intellectual debasement of the dark ages had prevented their renewal. Hence,
when refinement and learning began to awaken from that long sleep which
followed the invasion of the Goths and Vandals and the decline and fall of the
Roman Empire, the bridge less rivers could only be crossed by swimming through
the rapid current, or by fording the shallow places.
The earliest improvement
toward a removal of these difficulties consisted in the adoption of rafts or
boats, and gilds or corporations of raftsmen and boatmen, under the names of
Linuncularii, Lintrarii, and Utricularii, were formed to transport travelers
and merchandise across rivers. But the times were lawless, and these watermen
oftener plundered than assisted their patrons. Benevolent persons, therefore,
saw the necessity of erecting hostelries on the banks of the rivers at
frequented places, and of constructing bridges for the transportation of
travelers and their goods.
All the architectural labors
of the period were, as is well known, entrusted to the gilds or corporations
of builders who, under the designation of Traveling Freemasons, passed from
country to country, and, patronized by the Church, erected those magnificent
cathedrals, monasteries, and other public edifices, many of which have long
since crumbled to dust, but a few of which still remain to attest the wondrous
ability of these Operative Brethren. Alone skilled in the science of
architecture, from them only could be derived workmen capable of constructing
safe and enduring bridges.
Accordingly, a portion of
these Freemasons, withdrawing from the general body, united, under the
patronage of the Church, into a distinct corporation of Fréres Pontifes, or
Bridge Builders. The name which they received in Germany was that of
Brückenbrüder, or Brethren of the Bridge. A legend of the Church attributes
their foundation to Saint Benezet, who accordingly became the patron of the
Order, as Saint John was of the Freemasons proper. Saint Benezet was a
shepherd of Avilar, in France, who was born in the year 1165.
"He kept his mother's sheep in
the country," says Butler, the historian of the saints, "being devoted to the
practices of piety beyond his age; when moved by charity to save the lives of
many poor persons, who were frequently drowned in crossing the Rhone, and,
being inspired by God, he undertook to build a bridge over that rapid river at
Avignon. He obtained the approbation of the Bishop, proved his mission by'
miracles, and began the work in 1177, which he directed during seven years. He
died when the difficulty of the undertaking was over, in 1184.
His body was buried upon the
bridge itself, which was not completely finished till four years after his
decease, the structure whereof was attended with miracles from the first
laying of the foundations till it was completed, in 1188.''
Divesting this account, which
Butler has drawn from the Acta Sanctorum of the Bollandists, of the
miraculous, the improbable, and the legendary, the naked fact remains that
Benezet was engaged, as the principa1 conductor of the work, in the
construction of the magnificent bridge at Avignon, with its eighteen arches.
As this is the most ancient of the bridges of Europe built after the
commencement of the restoration of learning, it is most probable that he was,
as he claimed to have been, the founder of that Masonic corporation of
builders who, under the name of Brethren of the Bridge, assisted him in the
undertaking, and who, on the completion of their task, were engaged in other
parts of France, of Italy, and of Germany, in similar labors.
After the death of Saint
Benezet, he was succeeded by Johannes Benedictus, to whom, as Prior of the
Bridge, and to his Brethren, a charter was granted in 1187, by which they
obtained a chapel and cemetery, with a chaplain.
In 1185, one year after the
death of Saint Benezet, the Brethren of the Bridge commenced the construction
of the Bridge of Saint Esprit, over the Rhone at Lyons. The completion of this
work greatly extended the reputation of the Bridge Builders, and in l189 they
received a charter from Pope Clement III. The City of Avignon continued to be
their headquarters, but they gradually entered into Italy, Spain, Germany,
Sweden, and Denmark.
The Swedish chronicles mention
one Benedict, between the years l178 and l191, who was a bishop and bridge
builder at Skara, in that kingdom. Could he have been the successor, already
mentioned, of Benezet, who had removed from Avignon to Sweden?
As late as 1590 we find the
Order existing at Lucca, in Italy, where, in 1562, John de Medicis exercised
the functions of its chief under the title of Magister, or Master. How the
Order became finally extinct is not known; but after its dissolution much of
the property which it had accumulated passed into the hands of the Knights
Hospitalers or Knights of Maita.
The gild or corporation of
Bridge Builders, like the corporation of Traveling Freemasons, from which it
was an offshoot, was a religious institution, but admitted 1aymen into the
society. In other words, the workmen, or the great body of the gild, were of
course secular, but the patrons were dignitaries of the Church.
When by the multiplication of
bridges the necessity of their employment became less urgent, and when the
numbers of the workmen were greatly increased, the patronage of the Church was
withdrawn, and the association was dissolved, or soon after fell into decay;
its members, probably, for the most part, reuniting with the corporations of
Freemasons from whom they had originally been derived.
Nothing has remained in modern
Freemasonry to preserve the memory of the former connection of the Order with
the bridge builders of the Middle Ages, except the ceremony of opening a
bridge, which is to be found in the rituals of the last century; but even this
has now become almost obsolete. Lenning, who has appropriated a brief article
in his Encydopädie der Freimaurerei to the Brückenbrüder, or Brethren of the
Bridge, incorrectly calls them an Order of Knights. They took, he says, vows
of celibacy and poverty, and also to protect travelers, to attend upon the
sick, and to build bridges, roads, and hospitals.
Several of the inventors of
advanced degrees have, he thinks, sought to revive the Order in some of the
degrees which they have established, and especially in the Knights of the
Sword, which appears in the Ancient and Accepted Rite as the Fifteenth Degree,
or Knights of the East; but Brother Mackey could find no resemblance except
that in the Knights of the Sword there is in the ritual a reference to a river
and a bridge.
He was more inclined to
believe that the Nineteenth Degree of the same Rite, or Grand Pontiff, was
once connected with the Order we have been considering; and that, while the
primitive ritual has been lost or changed so as to leave no vestige of a
relationship between the two, the name which is still retained may have been
derived from the Fréres Pontifes of the twelfth century. This, however, is
mere conjecture, without any means of proof. Accordingly Brother Mackey was of
the opinion that all that we do positively know is, that the bridge builders
of the Middle Ages were a Masonic association, and as such are entitled to a
place in all Masonic histories.
BOURBON, PRINCE LOUIS DE,
COMTE DE CLERMONT
Said to have been elected
December 2, 1743, the fourth Grand Master in France. At first he was energetic
and in 1756 the name of the Grand Lodge was changed from that of the English
Grand Lodge of France to the Grand Lodge of France.
He died in 1771, leaving
Freemasonry in a much less flourishing condition as he neglected it during the
latter part of his life, delegating his work to others (see Histoire de la
Franc-Maçonnerie Française, Albert Lantoine, 1925, Paris, pages 64-9, etc.).
A limit or boundary; a word
familiar to the Freemason in the Monitorial Instructions of the Fellow Craft's
Degree, where he is directed to remember that we are traveling upon the level
of time to that undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns; and
to the reader of Shakespeare, from whom the expression is borrowed, in the
beautiful soliloquy of Hamlet:
Who would fardels bear;
To grunt and sweat under a wearly life ;
But that the dread of something after death
The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns-puzzles the will.Act III, Scene 1. Fardels here means
Sometimes in the Lodges of
Scotland the Treasurer was formerly so called. Thus, in the Minutes of the
Lodge of Journeymen Freemasons of Edinburgh, it was resolved, on December, 27,
1726, that the Warden be instructed "to uplift and receive for the use of the
society a1l such sum or sums of money which are due and indebted to them or
their former Box-masters or his predecessors in office."
BOX OF FRATERNAL ASSISTANCE
A box of convenient shape and
size under the charge of the Hospitaler or Almoner, in the Modern French and
Scottish Rites, wherein is collected the obligatory contributions of the duly
assembled Brethren at every convocation, which collections can only be used
for secret charitable purposes, first among the members, but if not there
required, among worthy profane; the Master and the Hospitaler being the only
ones cognizant of the name of the beneficiary, together with the Brother who
suggests an individual in need of the assistance.
Grand Chaplain of Scotland.
May 8, 1843, delivered the oration on the death of the Duke of Sussex.
The Royal Masonic Institution
for Boys is a charity of the Freemasons of England.
It was founded in the year
1798 by a number of Brethren belonging to the Ancient Constitution who were
members of the Lodge of United Mariners, No. 23, now No. 30. This benevolence
was for clothing and educating the sons of indigent and deceased Brethren,
according to the situation in life they are most probably destined to occupy,
and inculcating such religious instruction as may be conformable to the tenets
of their parents, and ultimately apprenticing them to suitable trades.
Brother Francis Columbine
Daniel, of the Royal Naval Lodge of the Moderns, started a somewhat similar
Institution, but the two were happily united in 1817 to the lasting benefit of
the Craft at large.
Similar schools have been
established by the Freemasons of France, Germany, and other countries.
Ossian Lang's History of
Freemasonry in the State of New York says: "It will be of interest to many to
learn that the common school system of New York is directly indebted to the
Masonic Fraternity of that state for its founding. In 1810 the Grand Lodge
determined to provide for the free education of children of Freemasons in
non-sectarian schools, facilities which had theretofore been lacking. Free
schools financed by the Lodges were established, which rapidly grew in
popularity, and these attracted so much attention that in 1817 the legislature
enacted laws providing for the assumption by the State Government for the
growing system, and its extension to meet the requirements of the entire
The religious system practiced by the Hindus. It presents a profound and
spiritual philosophy, strangely blended with the basest superstitions. The
Veda is the Brahmanical Book of the Law, although the older hymns springing
out of the primitive Aryan religion have a date far anterior to that of
comparatively modern Brahmanism. The Laws of Menu is really the text-book of
Brahmanism; yet in the Vedic hymns we find the expression of that religious
thought that has been adopted by the Brahmans and the rest of the modern
The learned Brahmans have a
bidden or esoteric faith, in which they recognize and adore one God, without
form or quality, eternal, unchangeable, and occupying all space; but confining
this concealed doctrine to their interior schools, they teach, for the
multitude, an open or exoteric worship, in which the incomprehensible
attributes of the supreme and purely spiritual God are invested with sensible
and even human forms. In the Vedic hymns all the powers of nature are
personified, and become the objects of worship, thus leading to an apparent
But, as J. F. Clarke in his
Ten Great Religions (page 90) remarks, "behind this incipient polytheism lurks
the original monotheism ; for each of these gods, in turn, becomes the Supreme
Being." And Max Müller says (Chips, 1, 2) that "it would be easy to find in
the numerous hymns of the Veda passages in which almost every important deity
is represented as supreme and absolute."
This most ancient
religion-believed in by one seventh of the world's population, that fountain
from which has flowed so much of the stream of modem religious thought,
abounding in mystical ceremonies and ritual prescriptions, worshiping, as the
Lord of all, "the source of golden fight," having its ineffable name, its
solemn methods of initiation, and its symbolic rites-is well worth the serious
study of the Masonic scholar, because in it he will find much that will be
suggestive to him in the investigations of the dogmas of his Order.
In speaking of the Brahmins,
or Brahmans (Kenning's Cyclopaedia of Freemasonry), Brother A. F. A. Woodford
tells us, " It has been said, and apparently on good authority, that they have
a form of Masonic initiation and recognition amongst them"
A Mohawk Indian Chief, made a
Freemason "and admitted to the Third Degree" at London, England, on April 26,
1776. This was in a Lodge of the Moderns, the Falcon, in Princess Street,
Brother Hawkins records that
during the War of American Independence Brant was in command of some Indian
troops on the British side, by whom Captain McKinsty, of the United States
Army, had been captured. The Indians had tied their prisoner to a tree and
were preparing to torture him, when he made the mystic appeal of a Freemason
in the hour of danger. Brant interposed and rescued his American brother from
his impending fate, took him to Quebec, and placed him in the hands of some
English Freemasons, who returned him, uninjured, to the American outposts.
Clavel has illustrated the occurrence on page 283 of his Histoire Pittoresque
de la Franc-Maçonnerie. Joseph Brant, or Thayendanegea, to use his native
name, was bom on the banks of the Ohio River in 1742 and was educated at
He was a member of Lodge No.
11 at the Mohawk village, about a mile and a half from Brantford, and was also
affiliated with Barton Lodge No. 10 at Hamilton, Canada. Brother Robertson,
History of Freemasonry in Canada, records (on page 687) that Brother Brant
translated the Gospel of St. Mark into the Mohawk language and this was
published in 1787.
Brother A. F. A. Woodford,
Kenning's Cyclopoedia, says that he has been reported as Grand Master in
England in 1502 and was probably connected with the Operative Lodges.
See Pillars of the Porch
See Serpent and Cross
BRAZEN SERPENT, KNIGHT OF THE
See Knight of the Brazen
The largest state and republic
in South America. The first Lodge in Brazil is said to have been established
by French authority as early as 1815. At any rate it was at work in 1820 and
was divided into three parts which in 1821 met and formed the Grand Orient of
Brazil according to the French Rite. In October, however, it was closed by
order of the Emperor of Brazil, then Grand Master, and lay dormant for ten
Eight years later a Grand
Orient of Brazil was formed with José Bonefacio de Andrada e Silva as Grand
Master. In November, 1832, the Supreme Council of Belgium instituted a Supreme
Council, Thirty-third Degree, which in1832 was divided into three parts, each
of which deemed to be a Supreme Grand Council. In 1835 there existed two Grand
Orients and four Supreme Councils.
Out of these several Bodies
there finally emerged the original Grand Orient which in 1863 divided into
two, the Grand Orient of Lavrado Valley and the Grand Orient of Benedictino
Valley, the former inclined to Roman Catholicism, the latter opposed to it.
In 1872 the two parties united
; the following year they divided again. An attack by the Bishop of Pemambuco
was the indirect cause of a movement towards Masonic union in 1877, and on
January 18, 1883, the union was achieved in a Body which recognized the
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, the Modem French Rite and the Adonhiramite
In 1914 the Grand Orient
exercised authority over 390 constituent Lodges, while England, Germany, and
Italy were also represented in this territory. A further 50 Lodges paid
allegiance to the Grand Orients of Parana and Rio Grande do Sul, the former of
which has since united with the Grand Orient at Rio de Janeiro.
There are two German Lodges at
Porto Alegre, and one each at Sertas S. Anna, Sapyranga, Santa Cruz,
Candelaria, and Joinville. The Grand Orient of Italy has a Lodge at Botucatu,
and one at San Paolo.
Eugene Seeger, formerly
Consul-General of the United States at Rio de Janeiro, in an article on Brazil
(see Current History, July, 1923), referred to the popularity of Freemasonry
there and asserted that it was largely due to the great number of free public
schools established and supported by the Freemasons for educating future
citizens of that republic.
Consecrated bread and wine,
that is to say, bread and wine used not simply for food, but made sacred by
the purpose of symbolizing a bond of brotherhood, and the eating and drinking
of which are sometimes called the Communion of the Brethren, is found in some
of the advanced Degrees, such as the Order of High Priesthood in the American
Rite, and the Rose Croix of the French and Scottish Rites.
It was in ancient times a
custom religiously observed, that those who sacrificed to the gods should
unite in partaking of a part of the food that had been offered. And in the
Jewish Church it was strictly commanded that the sacrificers should ''eat
before the Lord," and unite in a feast of joy on the occasion of their
offerings. By this common partaking of that which had been consecrated to a
sacred purpose, those who partook of the feast seemed to give an evidence and
attestation of the sincerity with which they made the offering ; while the
feast itself was, as it were, the renewal of the covenant of friendship
between the parties.
BREADTH OF THE LODGE
See Form of the Lodge
In one of the Old Lectures,
quoted by Doctor Oliver, it is said : ''A Mason's breast should be a safe and
sacred repository for all your just and lawful secrets. A brother's secrets,
delivered to me as such, I would keep as my own; as to betray that trust might
be doing him the greatest injury he could sustain in this mortal life; nay, it
would be like the villainy of an assassin who lurks in darkness to stab his
adversary when unarmed and least prepared to meet an enemy."
It is true, that the secrets
of a Freemason, confided as such, should be as inviolate in the breast of him
who has received them as they were in his own before they were confided. But
it would be wrong to conclude that in this a Freemason is placed in a position
different from that which is occupied by every honorable man. No man of honor
is permitted to reveal a secret which he has received under the pledge of
Nevertheless, it is as false
as it is absurd, to assert that either the man of honor or the Freemason is
bound by any such obligation to protect the criminal from the vindication of
the law. It must be left to every man to determine by his own conscience
whether he is at liberty to betray a knowledge of facts with which he could
not have become acquainted except under some such pledge. No court of law
would attempt to extort a communication of facts made known by a penitent to
his confessor or a client to his lawyer for such a communication would make
the person communicating it infamous. In this case, Freemasonry supplies no
other rule than that which is found in the acknowledged codes of Moral Ethics.
The dipioma or certificate in
some of the advanced degrees is so called.
A Freemason is said to be
bright who is well acquainted with the ceremonies, the forms of opening and
closing, and the ceremonies of initiation. This expression does not, however,
in its technical sense, appear to include the superior knowledge of the
history and science of the Institution, and many bright Freemasons are,
therefore, not necessarily learned; and, on the contrary, some learned
Freemasons are not well versed in the exact phraseology of the ceremonies. The
one knowledge depends on a retentive memory, the other is derived from deep
research. It is scarcely necessary to say which of the two kinds of knowledge
is the more valuable. The Freemason whose acquaintance with the Institution is
confined to what he learns from its esoteric ceremonies will have but a
limited idea of its science and philosophy. And yet a knowledge of the
ceremonies as the foundation of higher knowledge is essential.
The Scotch term for Masonic
A province in the western Dominion of Canada. The first Lodge established in
this province was Victoria, No. 783, by the Grand Lodge of England, March 19,
1859. In 1871 the Grand Lodge of England had four Lodges and the Grand Lodge
of Scotland five Lodges. A Convention was held on October 21, 1871; eight out
of the nine Lodges were represented, and the Grand Lodge of British Columbia
was duly organized. Brother Israel Wood Powell, M. D., Provincial Grand Master
of Scotland, was elected the first Grand Master.
BRITISH EAST AFRICA
or KENYA COLONY. The Grand
Lodges of England and Scotland have each chartered a Lodge in this district at
A country in South America.
The Grand Lodge of Holland warranted Lodge Saint Juan de la Ré-Union in 1771
at Georgetown. It did not however survive very long. Lodges were also
chartered by the Grand Lodges of New York, England, Scotland, etc. The Grand
Lodge of Scotland has two Lodges at Georgetown.
Known also as Belize, a
British colony in Central America. Amity Lodge, No. 309, was chartered at St.
George's Quay by the Grand Lodge of England, but as it did not succeed it was
dropped from the Register in 1813. In 1820 British Constitution Lodge was
warranted by the United Grand Lodge of England at Honduras Bay but, with that
of another Lodge chartered in 1831, its name was omitted from the Register on
June 4, 1862.
English Red Apron Lodge, now
No. 8, founded 1722, having Centenary Warrant but no special jewel. Officers
permitted golden or gilt jewels, same as Lodge of Antiquity. This honor
conferred when Lord Cranstoun became Grand Master, 1745. He was a member of
the British Lodge and the jewels used by its Master and Wardens were those
worn by the Grand Master and the Grand Wardens and these jewels were gilded
before they were returned to the owners, who were permitted to continue their
use of them in gold or gilded metal.
In the lectures of the early
part of the eighteenth century the Immovable Jewels of the Lodge are said to
be "the Tarsel Board, Rough Asmar, and Broached Thurnel"; and in describing
their uses it is taught that "the Rough Ashlar is for the Fellow Crafts to try
their jewels on, and the Broached Thurnel for the Entered Apprentices to learn
to work upon."
Much difficulty has been met
with in discovering what the Broached Thurnel really was. Doctor Oliver, most
probably deceived by the use to which it was assigned, says in his Dictionary
of Symbolic Masonry that it was subsequently called the ' Rough Asmar. This is
evidently incorrect, because a distinction is made in the original lecture
between it and the Rough Asmar, the former being for the Apprentices and the
latter for the Fellow Crafts. Krause (Kunsturkenden,1, 73), has translated it
by Drehbank, which means a turning-lathe, an implement not used by Operative
Freemasons. Now what is the real meaning of the word? If we inspect an old
tracing board of the Apprentice's Degree of the date when the Broached Thurnel
was in use, we shall find depicted on it three symbols, two of which will at
once be recognized as the Tarsel, or Trestle Board, and the Rough Ashlar, just
as we have them at the present day; while the third symbol will be that
depicted in the margin, namely, a cubical stone with a pyramidal apex.
This is the Broached Thurnel.
It is the symbol which is still to be found, with precisely the same form, in
all French tracing boards, under the name of the pierre cubique, or cubical
stone, and which has been replaced in English and American tracing boards and
rituals by the Perfect Ashlar.
For the derivation of the
words, we must go to old and now almost obsolete terms of architecture. On
inspection, it will at once be seen that the Broached Thurnel has the form of
a little square turret with a spire springing from it. Now, broach, or broche,
says Parker in the Glossary of Terms in Architecture (page 97), is "an old
English term for a spire, still in use in some parts of the country, as in
Leicestershire, where it is said to denote a spire springing from the tower
without any intervening parapet. Thurnel is from the old French tournelle, a
turret or little tower.
The Broached Thurnel, then,
was the Spired Turret. lt was a model on which apprentices might learn the
principles of their art, because it presented to them, in its various
outlines, the forms of the square and the triangle, the cube and the pyramid."
Brother Hawkins had somewhat
different conclusions about the matter and added the following comments:
In Ars Quatuor Coronatorum
(xii, 205), Brother G. W. Speth quotes from the Imperial Dictionary: "Broach,
in Scotland, a term among masons, signifying to rough hew. Broached Work, in
Scotland, a term among masons, signifying work or stones that are rough-hewn,
and thus distinguished from Ashlar or polished work. Broaching-Thurmal,
Thurmer, Turner, names given to the chisels by which broached work is
And therefore Brother Speth
suggests that the Broached Thurnel was really a chisel for the Entered
Apprentices to learn to work with. We find that the new English Dictionary
explains Broached as a term used "of stone; chiselled with a broach," or
narrow-pointed chisel used by Freemasons; but Brother Hawkins points out that
this still leaves it uncertain what a "Thurnel" is.
Brother Clegg has had the
advantage of actually working with broaching tools and therefore ought to know
something about broached work. The word broach in the industries is usually
applied to the operation of shaping or forming some part by special tools made
to produce some particular shape or design. A triangular hole in a piece of
metal or any other material can for example be furnished to a considerable
degree of accuracy by simply forcing the cutting tool through it as a final
operation. This is called broaching and the tools for the purpose are known as
broaches. A tool that is used to smooth out, a small opening by being rotated
within it is often called a broach and, as will be seen, the idea is that the
broach is used to form a special shape. These special shapes therefore are
known as work which is broached and this agrees very closely with the
understanding that underlies each of the comments made above.
The exact meaning of Thurnel
or Thurmal is not any too clear but has evidently been applied to the
instrument as well as the product of its work. Brother Charles E. Funk of the
Editorial Department of the Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary of the
English Language has very kindly read the above article and favors us with the
I have gone through fifteen or
more dictionaries from 1643 up to Murray's New English Dictionary, including
several dialectical dictionaries and one on archaisms. None of them record any
such spelling as thurnel, thurmal, nor thurmer.
Broach or broche, broch,
broache, broych, brooch, brotch - are not so obscure. Five centuries and more
of usage still find the early senses preserved. But even so, ambiguity is not
avoided in attempting to determine the expression broached thurnel, for broach
may refer either (1) to the mason's tool, a narrow pointed chisel by which he
furrowed the surface of stone, as in the quotation of 1703, "to broych or
broach, as Masons an Atchler or ashlar when with the small point of their ax
(?) they make it full of little pits or small holes;" also that of 1544, " In
hewinge, brochinge, and scaplyn of stone for the chapell ;'' or
(2) to the name of the spire
itself, a current form in England today which dates from 1501, " For trassying
& makyn moldes to the brooch."
With this second and still
current usage of broach, then, and assuming that thumel is a variant spelling
of tournelle, as it might well have been, we can derive a thoroughly
satisfactory explanation of the expression and one which also agrees with the
old illustrations, a spired turret. This view may be further supported while
we recall the old German form Thurm or tower.
Murray lends further support
to this view in his record of the variants of tournelle, which appeared
variously from 1400 to the middle of the seventeenth century as tornel,
turnelle, tornelle, toumel, tornil, and tournell.
A1l of this may lend weight to
the theory as given by Mackey. But if this theory is accepted, the mystery is
still unsolved, for by which logic would the symbol of Fellow Craft be the
Rough Ashlar and that of the Apprentice be such a highly finished work as the
Spired Turrett One would expect a reversal of such symbolism at the least.
It seems, therefore, that the
explanation as a spired turret is inappropriate---one would not expect an
apprentice " to learn to work upon" such a structure. We are forced, then, to
consider the first definition of broach and to do some more or less
etymological guesswork with thurnel, which I am offering as a possible clue-I
can not locate the missing link to make it conclusive, for we have no
reference books covering the subject of stone-dressing tools on our shelves.
Dialectically th was occasionally substituted for f.
We have such instances as
thane for fane, thetch for fetch, and thurrow for furraw, and others. I would
expect, therefore, to find some dressing tool, no longer employed, perhaps, or
now under another name, which was called a furnel, fournel, fornel, or even
firnel, perhaps with an m in place of the n. It may be that the firming-chisel
is the present type. This tool would be a tapered handtool, set in a flat head
to receive blows from a hammer, and would be used for rough dressing. Possibly
it might be the former which was thus described in 1688:
" The second is termed a
Former, it is a Chissel used before the Paring Chissel in all works. The
Clenser, or Former, is a broad ended Iron Plate, or Old-Cold? Chessel with a
broad bottom, set in an Handle; with which Tool they smooth and make even the
Stone after it is cut into that form and Order, as the Work-man will have it."
Again it may have been a
development from the formal referred to by Bossewell in 1572:
" A Sledge or a Hammer, of some called a formal,'' ( fore-mall, later called a
forehammer). A broached formal would then have been a tool, perhaps a hammer
head, shaped something like the blacksmith's set hammer, with one broad flat
face, the other tapering to a point. The pointed end would be used for
broaching, and the flat end for hammer finishing. Note that both these
descriptions might well refer to the ax in the quotation of 1703.
And further, although the
members of the family give Fourneaux or Fournivalle as the original form of
the name. I offer the conjecture that the name Furnald, Fernald may have had
its original from the occupational term furnel (thurnel).
In the latter part of Brother
Funk's consideration of this matter he had in mind the name of James C.Femald,
who was editorially connected with his company and a distinguished author.
Among the Hebrews, columns, or pillars, were used metaphorically to signify
princes or nobles, as if they were the pillars of a state. Thus (in Psalm xi,
3), the passage, reading in our translation, "If the foundations be destroyed
what can the righteous do?" is, in the original, "when the columns are
overthrown," that is, when the firm supporters of what is right and good have
So the passage in Isaiah (xix, 10), should read: "her (Egypt's) columns are
broken down," that is, the nobles of her state.
In Freemasonry, the broken
column is, as Master Freemasons well know, the emblem of the fall of one of
the chief supporters of the Craft. The use of the column or pillars as a
monument erected over a tomb was a very ancient custom, and was a very
significant symbol of the character and spirit of the person interred. It is
accredited to Jeremy L. Cross that he first introduced the Broken Column into
the ceremonies, but this may not be true (see Monument).
BROMWELL, HENRY P. H.
Born at Baltimore, Maryland,
August, 1823, died at Denver, Colorado, January 9, 1903. Admitted to the bar
in Vandalia, Illinois, 1853. Representative to Congress from 1865 to 1869 from
that State-went to Colorado in 1870 and in 1879 elected a member of the
Legislature and in 1881 appointed Commissioner to revise the 1aws of the
Made a Freemason at Vandalia
in 1854 and chosen Grand Master in 1864. Served as Grand Orator of the Grand
Lodge of Colorado in 1874, and was elected Honorary Grand Master of that Body
in 1889 in consideration of his distinguished services to the Craft. He was
the originator of what has been styled a new branch of Freemasonry, known as
the Free and Accepted Architects, the object of which was to restore and
preserve the lost work of the ancient Craft. At one time there were five
Lodges of Architects in the United States, and also a Grand Lodge.
The instruction embodied in
the Degrees was in no sense an innovation, but designed to impart to students
of the Craft a knowledge of Masonic symbolism not otherwise obtainable. His
famous book entitled Restorations of Masonic Geometry and Symbol, being a
dissertation on the lost knowledge of the Lodge, was begun in 1884 and on it
he worked for sixteen hours a day for six years and two months.
One Chapter, devoted to the
floors of the three Lodges, occupied two years and two months in its
preparation, while the book was read and re-read fourteen times for correction
The term which Freemasons
apply to each other. Freemasons are Brethren, not only by common participation
of the human nature, but as professing the same faith; as being jointly
engaged in the same labors, and as being united by a mutual covenant or tie,
whence they are also emphatically called Brethren of the Mystic Tie (see
Companion and Mystic Tie).
When our Savior designated his
disciples as his Brethren, he implied that there was a close bond of union
existing between them, which idea was subsequently carried out by Saint Peter
in his direction to "Love the Brotherhood."
Hence the early Christians
designated themselves as a brotherhood, a relationship unknown to the Gentile
religions; and the ecclesiastica1 and other confraternities of the Middle Ages
assumed the same title to designate any association of men engaged in the same
common object, governed by the same rules, and united by an identical
interest. The association or Fraternity of Freemasons is in this sense called
Admission to the Craft.
Cunningham's Diary, the diary and general expenditure book of William
Cunningham of Craigends, edited by the Reverend James Dodd, D.D., 1887, and
published by the Scottish Historical Society., has the following entries:
June 17, 1676.
To my mai1 to pay his trave1ing. . . . . . . . . 01 2 0
June 26, 1677.
To Andrew Greg his servant in part of
his fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . 02 0 0
To him to pay his Brothering with. . . . . . . . 01 4 0
Glossary at end of book
explains that Brothering means admission to the Craft Fellowship.
See Kiss, Fraternal
At a very early period in the
course of his initiation, a candidate for the mysteries of Freemasonry is
informed that the great principles of the Order are Brotherly Love, Relief,
and Truth. These virtues are illustrated, and their practice recommended to
the aspirant, at every step of his progress; and the instruction, though
continually varied in its mode, is so constantly repeated, as infallibly to
impress upon his mind their absolute necessity in the constitution of a good
Freemason. Brotherly Love might very well be supposed to be an ingredient in
the organization of a society so peculiarly constituted as that of
Freemasonry. But the Brotherly Love which we inculcate is not a mere
abstraction, nor is its character left to any general and careless
understanding of the candidate, who might be disposed to give much or little
of it to his Brethren, according to the peculiar constitution of his own mind,
or the extent of his own generous or selfish feelings. It is, on the contrary,
closely defined; its object plainly denoted; and the very mode and manner of
its practice detailed in words, and illustrated by symbols, so as to give
neither cause for error nor apology for indifference.
Every Freemason is acquainted
with the Five Points of Fellowship-he knows their symbolic meaning-he can
never forget the interesting incidents that accompanied their explanation; and
while he has this knowledge, and retains this remembrance, he can be at no
loss to understand what are his duties, and what must be his conduct, in
relation to the principle of Brotherly Love (see Points of Fellowship).
BROTHERS OF THE BRIDGE
See Bridge Builders of the
BROTHERS OF THE ROSY CROSS
BROWN, DR. JOHN
See Latin Lodge
In 1798, John Browne
published, in London, a work entitled The Master Key through all the Degrees
of a Freemason's Lodge, to which is added, Eullogiums and Illustrations upon
Freemasonry. In 1802, he published a second edition under the title of
Browne's Masonic Master Key through the three degrees, by way of polyglot.
Under the sanction of the Craft in general, containing the exact mode of
working, initiation, passing and raising to the sublime Degree of a Master.
Also, the several duties of the Master, officers, and Brethren while in the
Lodge, with every requisite to render the accomplished Mason an explanation of
all the hieroglyphics.
The whole interspersed with
illustrations on Theology, Astronomy, Architecture, Arts, Sciences, many of
which are by the editor. Browne had been, he says, the Past Master of six
Lodges, and wrote his work not as an offensive exposition, but as a means of
giving Freemasons a knowledge of the ritual. It is considered to be a very
complete representation of the monitorial Prestonian lectures, and as such was
incorporated by Krause in his Drei altesten Kunsturkuenden.
The work by Browne is printed
in a very complicated cipher, the key to which, and without which the book is
wholly unintelligible, was, by way of caution, delivered only personally and
to none but those who had reached the Third Degree. The explanation of this
"mystical key," as Browne calls it, is as follows:
The word Browne supplies the
br o w n e.
a e i o u y
These six vowels in turn
represent six letters, thus:
a e i o u y.
k c o l n u
Initial capitals are of no
value, and supernumerary letters are often inserted. The words are kept
separate, but the letters of one word are often divided between two or three.
Much therefore is left to the shrewdness of the decipherer. The initial
sentence of the work may be adduced as a specimen: Ubs Rplrbsrt wbss ostm
ronwprn Pongth Mrlwdgr, which is thus deciphered: Please to assist me in
opening the Lodge. The work is now exceedingly rare.
See Vielle Bru, Rite of
See Robert I, also Royal Order
The introduction of
Freemasonry into Scotland has been attributed by some writers to Robert, King
of Scotland, commonly called Robert Bruce, who is said to have established in
1314 the Order of Herodom, for the reception of those Knights Templar who had
taken refuge in his dominions from the persecutions of the Pope and the King
of France. Thory (Acta Latomorum,1, 6), copies the following from a manuscript
in the library of the Mother Lodge of the Philosophical Rite:
"Robert Bruce, King of
Scotland, under the name of Robert the First, created, on the 24th June, 1314,
after the battle of Bannockburn, the Order of Saint Andrew of the Thistle, to
which has been since united that of Herodom (H-D-M) for the sake of the Scotch
Masons, who composed a part of the thirty thousand men with whom he had
conquered an army of a hundred thousand Englishmen. He reserved, in
perpetuity, to himself and his successors, the title of Grand Master. He
founded the Royal Grand Lodge of the Order of H-D-M at Kilwinning, and died,
full of glory and honors, the 9th of July, 1329."
Doctor Oliver (Landmarks,11,
13), referring to the abolition of the Templar Order in England, when the
Knights were compelled to enter the Preceptories of the Knights of Saint John,
as dependents, says:
"In Scotland, Edward, who had
overrun the country at the time, endeavored to pursue the same course; but, on
summoning the Knights to appear, only two, Wa1ter de Clifton, the Grand
Preceptor, and another, came forward. On their examination, they confessed
that all the rest had fled; and as Bruce was advancing with his army to meet
Edward, nothing further was done.
The Templars, being debarred
from taking refuge either in England or Ireland, had no alterative but to join
Bruce, and give their active support to his cause. Thus, after the battle of
Bannockburn, in 1314, Bruce granted a charter of lands to Walter de Clifton,
as Grand Master of the Templars, for the assistance which they rendered on
that occasion. Hence the Royal Order of H-R-D-M was frequently practiced under
the name of Templary."
Lawrie, or the author of
Lawrie's History of Freemasonry, who is excellent authority for Scottish
Freemasonry, does not appear, however, to give any credit to the narrative.
Whatever Bruce may have done for the advanced Degrees, there is no doubt that
Ancient Craft Freemasonry was introduced into Scotland at an earlier period.
But it cannot be denied that Bruce was one of the patrons and encouragers of
BUILDERS' RITES AND CEREMONIES
These have been summarized in
two lectures published at Margate, England, 1894, by Brother George IV. Speth
on October 30, and November 13, 1893, in discussing the Folklore of
Freemasonry. Brother Speth says that for those of his Brethren who would take
the trouble to read between the lines, a matter by no means difficult, he
ventures to hope that the facts may not prove dumb guides, but direct their
thoughts to the true significance of our ceremonial customs, and confirm in
their minds the certainty of the marvelous antiquity, in its essence, although
perhaps not in its exact outward form, of the solemn climax of our beloved
ritual. Many of us have seen a foundation-stone laid, and more have read of
the proceedings. When conducted by Freemasons the ceremony includes much
beautiful symbolism, such as trying and pronouncing the stone well laid,
pouring wine and on and corn over it, and other similar rites: but in almost
all cases, whether the ancient Craft be concerned in the operation or not,
there are placed in a cavity beneath the stone several objects, such as a list
of contributors to the funds, a copy of the newspaper of the day, and above
all, one or more coins of the realm. Should you ask the reason for this
deposit, you will probably hear that these objects were placed there for a
future witness and reference.
Although this alleged motive
is apparently reasonable, yet it is obviously absurd for surely the hope of
all concerned is that the foundation-stone never would be removed and that the
witness would for ever remain dumb.
Grimm puts it in this way. "
It was often though necessary to immure live animals and even men in the
foundation on which the structure was to be raised, as if they were a
sacrifice offered to the earth, who had to bear the load upon her: by this
inhuman rite they hoped to secure immovable stability or other advantages."
(See Teutonic Mythology, 1884, translated, Stalleybrass, 1883 page l141.)
Baring-Gould says, "When the primeval savage began to build he considered
himself engaged on a serious undertaking. He was disturbing the face of Mother
Earth, he was securing to himself in permanency of portion of that surface
which had been given by her to all her children in common. Partly with the
notion of offering a propitiatory sacrifice to the Earth, and partly also with
the idea of securing to himself for ever a portion of son by some sacramental
act, the old pagan laid the foundation of his house and fortress in blood."
(See On Foundations, Murray's Magazine, l887)
In Bomeo, among the Mnanau
Dyaks, at the erection of a house, a deep hole was dug to receive the first
post, which was then suspended over it ; a slave girl was placed in the
excavation; at a signal the lashings were cut, and the enormous timber
descended, crushing the girl to death (see E. B. Tylor, Primitive Culture,
1871, page 96).
The following accounts would
show how widespread was this sacrificial rite. It was, in fact, universal: a
rite practiced apparently by all men at all times in all places. King Dako
bunt his palace on the body of Danh. The name of his chief town, Dahomey,
means on the body of Danh (see F. Liebrecht, Zur Folkskunde, 1879, page 287).
In Polynesia, the central
pillar of one of the temples at Maeva was planted on the body of a human
victim (see G. L. Gomme, Folklore Relics of Early Vnlage Life, 1883, page 27).
A seventeenth century account
of Japan mentions the belief there that a wall laid upon the body of a willing
human victim would be secure from accident: accordingly when a great wall was
to be bunt, some wretched slave would offer himself as a foundation, lying
down in the trench to be crushed by the heavy stones lowered upon him (see
Tyler, Primitive Culture, 1871, page 87).
Formerly in Siam, when a new
city gate was being erected, it was customary for a number of officers to lie
in wait and seize the first four or eight persons who happened to pass by, and
who were then buried alive under the gate posts to serve as guardian angels
(see Folk-lore Relics, page 28).
In the year 1876, the old
church at Brownsover, about two miles from Rugby, England, was restored: The
earlier parts of the building were of Norman, the later of early 13th century
architecture. It was found necessary to lower the foundations of the north and
south walls of the church, and in doing so, two skeletons were discovered, one
under each wall, about one foot below the original foundations, exactly
opposite each other and about six feet from the chancel wall which crosses the
north and south walls at right angles. Each skeleton was covered with an oak
slab about six feet in length by ten inches wide and two inches thick of the
color of bog-oak. These pieces of plank had evidently been used as carpenters'
benches, from the fact that each of them had four mortice holes cut in such a
form as to throw the legs outwards, and from the cuts made in them by edged
tools. The skeletons were found in a space cut out of the solid clay which had
not been moved on either side, just large enough to take the bodies placed in
them. The skeletons were seen in situ: they could not have been placed there
after the original walls were bunt (see Antiquary iii, page 93).
Some substitutions are
curious. Animals are to be met with of many kinds. In Denmark a lamb used to
be bunt in under the altar, that the church might stand.
Even under other houses swine
and fowls are buried alive. (See Grimm page 1142.) The lamb was of course very
appropriate in a Christian Church, as an allusion to " the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world."
In the Book of Revelation this
epithet is only a metaphor, yet Brother Speth says it would scarcely have been
understood unless the rite we are treating of had been known to the Jews. That
it was known, the curse pronounced by Joshua upon the man who should adventure
to rebuild Jericho, proves to demonstration. "And Joshua adjured them at that
time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth
this city of Jericho ; he shall lay the foundation thereof in his first-born,
and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates thereof,'' (See Joshua vi,
26, also First Kings xvi, 34.)
The population of India
believe at the present day that to give stability to new construction, a human
being should be sacrificed and buried in the foundations (see Folk-lore
Journal, 1, page 23). All the great engineering works are believed by the
common people to be protected against the angry gods of winds and rivers by
animal and human sacrifices being performed under the direction of English
officers at the beginning or conclusion of the undertaking (see Folk-lore
Journal 1, page 92). A correspondent of the Times, dating from Calcutta,
August 1, 1880, writes: "A murmur has got abroad and is firmly believed by the
lower classes of the natives, that the government is about to sacrifice a
number of human beings in order to ensure the safety of the new harbor works,
and has ordered the police to seize victims in the streets. So thoroughly is
the idea implanted, that people are afraid to venture out after nightfall.
There was a similar scare in
Calcutta some seven or eight years ago, when the Hooghly bridge was being
constructed. The natives then got hold of the idea that Mother Ganges,
indignant at being bridged, had at last consented to submit to the insult on
the condition that each pier of the structure was founded on a layer of
(see Folk-lore Record iii, page 283).
But we need not go to India
for such accusations. In Nature, under date June 15, 1871, we find: " It is
not many years since the present Lord Leigh was accused of having built an
obnoxious person-one account, if we remember right, said eight obnoxious
persons-into the foundation of a bridge at Stoneleigh."
In Scotland there is a current
belief that the Picts, to whom local legend attributes building of prehistoric
antiquity, bathed their foundation stones with blood (see Folk-lore Relics,
page 29). Brother Speth heard people in Kent, of certainly not the least
educated classes, assert that both the strength and the peculiar pink tinge
which may sometimes be detected in Roman cement, is owing to the alleged
practice of the Romans mixing their cement with blood. Did Shakespeare speak
only metaphorically, or was he aware of the custom when he makes Clarence say,
I will not ruinate my father's house,
Who gave his blood to lime the stones together,
And set up Lancaster.
Henry vi, part iii, act v, scene 1.
Note the words of King John as
given by Shakespeare,
There is no sure foundation set in blood,
No certain life achieved by others' death.
King John iv, 2.
Brother Speth gives an
experience of the Rev. Baring-Gould. " It is said in Yorkshire," he writes, "
that the first child baptized in a new font is sure to die---a reminiscence of
the sacrifice which was used at the consecration of every dwelling and temple
in heathen times, and of the pig or sheep killed and laid at the foundation of
churches. When I was incumbent at Dalton a new church was built. A blacksmith
in the village had seven daughters, after which a son was born, and he came to
me a few days before the consecration of the new church to ask me to baptize
his boy in the old temporary church and font. 'Why, Joseph,' said I, 'if you
will only wait till Thursday the boy can be baptized in the new font on the
opening of the new church.' 'Thank you, Sir,' said the blacksmith, with a
wriggle,'but you see it's a lad, and we should be sorry if he were to deem, if
he'd been a lass instead, why then you were welcome, for 'twouldn't ha'
mattered a ha'penny. Lasses are ower mony and lads ower few wi' us'."
Now, it is surely unnecessary,
continues Brother Speth, to explain why we bury coins of the real under orum
foundation stones. ''Our forefathers, ages ago, buried a living human
sacrifice in the same place to ensure the stability of the structure: their
sons substituted an animal: their sons again a mere effigy or other symbol:
and we, their children, still immure a substitute, coins bearing the effigy,
impressed upon the noblest of metals, the pure red gold, of the one person to
whom we all are most loyal, and whom we all most love, our gracious Queen. I
do not assert that one in a hundred is conscious of what he is doing: if you
ask him, he will give some different reason: but the fact remains that
unconsciously, we are following the customs of our fathers, and symbolically
providing a soul for the structure. 'Men continue to do what their fathers did
before them, though the reasons on which their fathers acted have been long
A ship could not be launched
in the olden times without .a human sacrifice: the neck of the victim was
broken across the prow, and his blood besprinkled the sides, while his soul
entered the new home provided for it to ensure its safety amid storm and
tempest: to-day we symbolize unconsciously the same ceremony, but we content
ourselves with a bottle of the good red wine, slung from the dainty fingers of
Brother Speth gives numerous
facts from various parts of the world and of widely separated times.
Perhaps as significant as any
and certainly as interesting are the particulars brought to his attention by
Brother William Simpson and dealing with Old Testament days. Referring to
Assyrian foundation stones in the reign of Sennacherib who was on the throne
705-681 B.C., we have the roya1 message from Records of the Past (new series,
volume vi, page 101), the words "my inscription" relating in Brother Simpson's
note to the foundation stone, the 1atter probably being a brick or clay
I bunt that palace from
foundation to roof
and finished it. My inscription
I brought into it. For future days,
whoever-among the kings, my successors, whom
. ASSUR and ISTAR
Shall call to the rule over the land and the people--
the prince may he, if this palace
becomes old and mined, who builds it anew
May he preserve my inscription,
anoint it with oil, offer sacrifices, return it to its place ;
then will Assur and Istar hear his prayer.
The same work (Records of the
Past, new series, volume v, page 171) contains an inscription of Cyrus the
Persian King mentioning his discovery of the foundation stone of the Assyrian
Assurbanipal, 668-626 B.C., usually identified with the Asnapper of Ezra iv,
10. Here we find a foundation stone instead of the "inscription" and a
significant ceremony is described that agrees with that of Sennacherib's and
is truly very like the modern Masonic Rite when dedicating hall or temple or
laying a corner-stone:
. . . . the foundation-stone
of Assur-bani-pal King of Assyria,
who had discovered the foundation stone of Shalmaneser son of Assur-natsir-pal,
I laid its foundation and made firm its bricks. With beer, wine, on (and)
A simnar announcement by Cyrus
is also given on page 173 of the above work :
. . . . the inscription containing the name of Assan-bani-pal I discovered
anddid not change ; with oil I annointed (it) ; sheep I sacrificed ;
with my own inscription I placed (it) and restored (it) to its place.
Foundation sacrifices and the
substitution of various kinds used for them are considered freely by several
authorities and there is a bibliography. of them to be found in Burdick's
Foundation Rites, 1901. We may note that in folklore customs persist and
explanations change or as Sir J. G. Frazer (Golden Bough, 1890, ii, page 62)
says "Myth changes while custom remains constant; men continue to do what
their fathers did before them, though the reasons on which their fathers acted
have long been forgotten." That so many legends contain allusions to
foundation sacrifices is ample proof that such existed. Brother Speth says
further "Had we never found one single instance of the rite actually in
practice, we might still have inferred it with absolute certainty from the
legends, although these do not always give us the true motive."
When it may have become
unlawful or otherwise impracticable to bury a body, then an image, a symbol of
the living or the dead, was laid in the walls or under them. The figure of
Christ crucified has been found built into an old church wall. Representations
of children, candles-the flame being a symbol of life even as a reversed torch
is a type of death, empty coffins, bones of men and animals, and so on, have
been discovered in or under the masonry when taking down important structures.
Freemasons will understand the significance of these old customs. Every laying
of a corner-stone with Masonic ceremonies is a reminder of them, and every
completed initiation a confirmation.
The subject may be studied
further in Jew and Human Sacrifice, Herman L. Strack, English translation of
eighth edition, page 138, with bibliographical notes on page 31; Blood
Covenant, H. Clay Trumbull, and particularly pages 45-57 of his other book the
Threshold Covenant, the first of these works discussing the origin of
sacrifice and the significance of transferred or proffered blood or life, and
the second treating of the beginning of religious rites and their gradual
development ; Foundation Rites, Louis Dayton Burdick ; Bible Sidelights, Dr.
R. A. Stewart Macalister, Director of Excavations for the Palestine
Exploration Fund; James Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, page 368, and in
Doctor Mackey's revised History of Freemasonry, page 1072.
The primitive designation of
the month Marchesvan (see Zif). Doctor Oliver says in his Landmarks (11, 551),
that this is one of the names of God among the ancients. It is also said to be
an Assyrian word signifying Lord or Powerful.
BULL, OLE BORNEMANN
Famous Norwegian violinist.
Born at Bergen, February 5, 1810, and died near there on August 17, 1880.
After brilliant concert tours in Europe, was in the United States, 1843-5, and
again, 1852-7. James Herring, formerly Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of
New York, gave an address at the celebration of the centennial anniversary of
Saint John's Lodge No. 1, New York, December 7, 1857, showing that Ole Bull
was a Freemason. He gave his farewell concert in New York, October 30, 1845,
for Masonic charitable purposes, the Grand Lodge Widows' and Orphans' Fund,
which netted the Craft $1,427.55.
An edict or proclamation
issued from the Apostolic Chancery, with the seal and signature of the Pope,
written in Gothic letters and upon coarse parchment. This derives its name
from the leaden seal which is attached to it by a cord of hemp or silk, and
which in medieval Latin is called bulla. Several of these Bu1ls have from time
to time been aimed against Freemasonry and other secret societies, subjecting
them to the heaviest ecclesiastical punishments, even to the greater
excommunication. According to these Bulls, a Freemason is by reason of that
fact excommunicated by continuing his membership in the Society, and is thus
deprived of all spiritual privileges while living, and the rites of burial
The several important Bulls
which have been issued by the Popes of Rome intended to affect the Fraternity
of Freemasons are as follows: the Bull In Eminenti of Clement XII, dated 24th
of April, 1738. This Bull was confirmed and renewed by that beginning Providas,
of Benedict XIV, 18th of May, 1751; then followed the edict of Pius VII, 13th
of September, 1821; the apostolic edict Quo Graviora of Leo XII, 13th of
March, 1825 ; that of Pius VIII, 21st of May, 1829 ; that of Gregory XVI, 15th
of August, 1832; Pius IX in 1846 and 1865; and finally that of Leo XIII, who
ascended to the papacy in 1878, and issued his Bull, or encyclical letter,
Humanum Genus, on April 20, 1884. Whatever may have been the severity of the
Bulls issued by the predecessors of Leo XIII, he with great clearness ratifies
and confirms them all in the following language: "Therefore, whatsoever the
popes our predecessors have decreed to hinder the designs and attempts of the
sect of Freemasons ; whatsoever they have ordained to deter or recall persons
from societies of this kind, each and all do we ratify and conform by our
Apostolic authority," at the same time acknowledging that this "society of men
are most widely spread and firmly established."
This letter of the Romlan
hierarchy thus commences : "The human race, after its most miserable
defection, through the wiles of the devil, from its Creator, God, the giver of
celestial gifts, has divided into two different and opposite factions, of
which one fights ever for truth and virtue, the other for their opposites.
One is the kingdom of God on
earth . . , the other is the kingdom of Satan."
That, "by accepting any that
present themselves, no matter of what religion, they (the Freemasons) gain
their purpose of urging that great error of the present day, viz., that
questions of religion ought to be left undetermined, and that there should be
no distinction made between varieties. And this policy aims at the destruction
of all religions, especially at that of the Catholic religion, which, since it
is the only true one, cannot be reduced to equality with the rest without the
"But, in truth, the sect
grants great license to its initiates, allowing them to defend either
position, that there is a God, or that there is no God."
Thus might we quote continuous
passages, which need only to be stated to proclaim their falsity, and yet
there are those who hold to the doctrine of the infallibility of the Pope.
BRÜN, ABRAHAM VAN
A wealthy Freemason of
Hamburg, who died at an advanced age in 1748. For many years he had been the
soul of the Société des ancients Rose-Croix in Germany, which soon after his
death was dissolved. This is on the authority of Thory (Ada Latomorum ii,
BRUNSWICK, CONGRESS OF
Convoked in 1775, by
Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick. Its object was to effect a fusion of the various
Rites; but it terminated its labors, after a session of six weeks, without
BRUNSWICK, FREDERICK AUGUSTUS,
Born 1740, second son of Duke
Charles I. In 1769 he affiliated with a Chapter of the Strict Observance;
declared National Grand Master of Prussia, 1772, serving until 1799. Rendered
distinguished service in the Seven Years' War, and said to have written much
on Rosicrucianism, alchemy and magic.
BRUNSWICK, FERDINAND, DUKE OF
Born 1721 and died July 3,
1792. Served in several wars with Frederick the Great, resigning his military
command in 1766 and devoting himself to Freemasonry.
Initiated in 1740 in the Lodge
Three Globes at Berlin ; in 1743 received his Master's Degree at Breslau;
became Protector of the Lodge Saint Charles, Brunswick, in 1764; and English
Past Grand Master of Brunswick in 1770; Protector of Von Hund's Strict
Observance in 177; declared Grand Master of the Scottish Lodges in 1772. In
1782 the Duke of Brunswick was present at the Convent at Wnhelmsbad when the
Templar system is supposed to have been given up and when there he was
declared General Grand Master of the assembled Lodges. Patronized the
Nluminati and said to have been General Obermeister (Overseer) of the Asiatic
Brethren. An eminent German Craftsman, presiding at the Saint John's Festival
at Brunswick in 1792, when he declared that he had been a Freemason fifty
BRUNSWICK, MAXIMNIAN J. L.,
Admitted in the Saint Charles
Lodge, Brunswick, Germany, in 1770, becoming its Protector. Youngest son of
Duke Charles I, educated at the Collegium Carolinum and went to Italy, 1775,
with the German literary Freemason, Lessing. Served Frederick the Great with
military honors and lost his life trying to save a drowning man in the River
BRUNSWICK, WNLIAM A, PRINCE OF
Third son of Duke Charles I of
Brunswick, Germany, known to have joined the Lodge Saint Charles in 1769. Died
BRYAN, WILLIAM JENNINGS
American statesman and orator,
born March 19, 1860; died July 26, 1925. Three times nominated for presidency
of the United States, 1896, 1900, and 1908, and twice defeated by Brother
McKinley, and lastly by Brother Taft. In Spanish-American War, 1898, he became
Colonel of the Third Regiment, Nebraska Volunteer Infantry. Secretary of
State, 1913. He was a member of Lincoln Lodge No. 19, Lincoln, Nebraska (see
New Age, March, 1925).
This parchment roll---one of
the "Old Charges"-is so named because it was presented to the Grand Lodge of
England in 1880 by Mr. George Buchanan, of Whitby, by whom it was found
amongst the papers of a partner of his father's. It is considered to be of the
latter part of the seventeenth century-say from 1660 to 1680. This manuscript
was first published at length in Gould's History of Freemasonry (volume 1,
page 93), being adopted as an example of the ordinary class of text, and since
then has been reproduced in facsimne by the Quatuor Coronati Lodge of London
in volume iv of the Masonic reprints published by this scholarly body.
BUCKINGHAM, GEORGE VALIERS,
Poet, playwright, statesman,
described by Dryden as the "epitome of mankind," but really a spendthrift of
time. Doctor Anderson says he was Grand Master of England in 1674. Born
January 30, 1628, and died April16, 1687.
The religion of the disciples of Buddha. It prevails over a great extent of
Asia, and is estimated to be equally popular with any other form of faith
among mankind. Its founder, Buddha-a word which seems to be an appellative, as
it signifies the enlightened-lived about five hundred years before the
Christian era, and established his religion as a reformation of Brahmanism.
The moral code of Buddhism is
excellent, surpassing that of any other heathen religion. But its theology is
not so free from objection. Max Müller admits that there is not a. single
passage in the Buddhiat canon of scripture which presupposes the belief in a
personal God or a Creator, and hence he concludes that the teaching of Buddha
was pure atheism.
Yet Upham (Histom and Doctrine
of Buddhimn, page 2 ), thinks that, even if this be capable of proof, it also
recognizes ''the operation of Faith called Damam, whereby much of the
necessary process of conservation or government is infussed into the system."
The doctrine of Nirvana,
according to Burnouf, taught that absolute nothing or annihilation was the
highest aim of virtue, and hence the belief in immortality was repudiated.
Such, too, has been the general opinion of Oriental scholars; but Müller
(science of Religion, page 141), adduces evidence, from the teachings of
Buddha, to show that Nirvana may mean the extinction of many things---of
selfishness, desire, and sin-without going so far as the extinction of
The sacred scripture of
Buddhisin is the Tripitaka, literally, the Three Baskets. The first, or the
Vinaya, comprises all that relates to moralityy ; the second, or the Sitras,
contains the discourses of Buddha; and the third, or Abhidharma, includes all
works on metaphysics and dogmatic phnosophy. The first and second Baskets also
receive the general name of Dharma, or the Law. The principal seat of Buddhism
is the island of Ceylon, but it has extended into China, Japan, and many:
other countries of Asia (see Aranyaka, Aryan, Atthakatha, Mahabharata,
Mahadeva, Mahak asyapa, Pitaka, Puranas, Ramayana, Sakti, Sastra, Sat B'hai,
Shaster, Shesha, Sruti, Upanishad, Upadevas, Vedas, Vedanga, Zenana and
A Lodge was chartered in this city, and named the Southern Star, by the Grand
Lodge of Pennsylvania in 1825. Others followed, but in 1846 in consequence of
the unsettled state of affairs their labors were suspended. A revival occurred
in 1852, when a Lodge named L'Ami des Naufragés was established in Buenos
Ayres by the Grand Orient of France; and in 1853 the Grand Lodge of England
erected a Lodge named Excelsior (followed in 1859 by the Teutonia, which
worked in German and was erased in 1872), and in 1864 by the Star of the
South. In 1856 there was an irregular Body working in the Ancient and the
Accepted Scottish Rite, which claimed the prerogatives of a Grand Lodge, but
it was never recognized, and soon ceased to exist. On September 13, 1858, a
Supreme Council and Grand Orient was established by the Supreme Council of
In 1861 a treaty was concluded
between the Grand Lodge of England and the Grand Orient of the Argentine
Republic, which empowered the former to establish Lodges in La Plata and to
constitute a District Grand Lodge therein, which had some Lodges under its
rule, when many more acknowledged the authority of the "Supreme Council and
Grand Orient of the Argentine Republic in Buenos Ayres," which was formed in
1895 by combination of the Grand Orient and Supreme Council.
See Cody, Colonel William
A corruption, in the American
Royal Arch, of the word Bel. Up to a comparatively recent period says Doctor
Mackey, it was combined with another corruption, Lun, in the mutated form of
Buh-Lun, under which disguise the words Bel and On were presented to the
BUHLE, JOHANN GOTTLIEB
Professor of Phnosophy in the
University, of Güttingen, who, not being himself a Freemason, published, in
1804, a work entitled Ueber den Ursprung und die vornehmsten Schieksale des
Ordens der Rosenkreuzer und Freimaurer, that is, On the Origin and the
Principal Events of the Orders of Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry. This work,
logical in its arguments, false in many of its statements, and confused in its
arrangement, was attacked by Frederick Nicolai in a critical review of it in
1806, and is spoken of very slightingly even by De Quincey, himself no very
warm admirer of the Masonic Institution, who published, in 1824, in the London
Magazine (volume ix), a loose translation of it, "abstracted, re-arrenged, and
improved," under the title of Historicocritical Inquiry into the Origin of the
Rosicrucians and the Freemasons. Buhle's theory was that Freemasonry was
invented in the year 1629, by John Valentine Andreä. Buhlu was born at
Brunswick in 1753, became Professor of Phnosophy at Güttingen in 1787, and,
having afterward taught in his native city, died there in 1821.
The chief architect of the
Temple of Solomon is often called the Builder. But the word is also applied
generallyy to the Craft; for every speculative Freemason is as much a builder
as was his operative predecessor. An American writer, F. S. Wood, thus alludes
to this symbolic idea: "Freemasons are called moral builders.
In their rituals, they declare
that a more noble and glorious purpose than squaring stones and hewing timbers
is theirs,- fitting immortal nature for that spiritual building not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens." And he adds, "The builder builds for a
century; Freemasons for eternity.'' In this sense, the Builder is the noblest
title that can be bestowed upon a Freemason.
See Smitten Builder
BUILDERS, CORPORATIONS OF
See Stone Masons o f the
The name given by the Grand
Orient of France to the monthly publication which contains the official record
of its proceedings. A similar work has been issued by the Supreme Council of
the Ancient and Accepted Rite for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United
States of America, and by several other Supreme Councils and Grand Orients.
The well-known author of the
Pilgrim's Progress. He lived in the seventeenth century, and was the most
celebrated allegorical writer of England. His work entitled Solomon's Temple
Spiritualized will supply the student of Masonic symbolism with many valuable
Famous horticulturist, born
March 7, 1849; died April 11, 1926. Became a Freemason in Santa Rosa Lodge No.
57, in California, on August 13, 1921. His successful experiments with fruits
and flowers gave him an international reputation (see New Age, March, 1925).
BURDENS, BEARERS OF
A class of workmen at the
Temple mentioned in Second Chronicles (11. 18), and referred to by Doctor
Anderson (Constitutions 1738, page i i), as the Ish Sabbal, which see.
BUREAU INTERNATIONAL DE
See International Bureau for
BURI or BURE
The first god of Norse
mythology. In accordance with the quaint cosmogony of the ancient religion of
Germany or that of Scandinavia, it was believed that before the world came
into existence there was a great void, on the north side of which was a cold
and dark region, and on the south side one warm and luminous. In Niflheim was
a well, or the "seething caldron," out of which flowed twelve streams into the
great void and formed a huge giant.
In Iceland the first great
giant was called Ymir, by the Germans Tuisto (Tacitus, Germania, chapter 2),
whose three grandchildren were regarded as the founders of three of the German
races. Contemporary with Ymir, and from the great frost blocks of primeval
chaos, was produced a man called Buri, who was wise, strong, and beautiful.
His son married the daughter of another giant, and their issue were the three
sons Odin, Wili, and We, who ruled as gods in heaven and earth. By some it has
been earnestly believed that upon these myths and legends many symbols of
Freemasonry were founded.
The right to be buried with
the set ceremonies of the Order is one that, under certain restrictions,
belongs to every Master Mason.
None of the ancient
Constitutions contain any law upon this subject, nor can the exact time be now
determined when funeral processions and a burial service were first admitted
as regulations of the Order.
The first official notice,
however, that we have of funeral processions is in November, 1754. A
regu1ation was then adopted which prohibited any Freemason from attending a
funeral or other procession clothed in any of the jewels or clothing of the
Craft, except by dispensation of the Grand Master or his Deputy (see
Constitutions, 1756, page 303).
There are no further
regulations on this subject in any of the editions of the Book of
Constitutions previous to the modern code which is now in force in the Grand
Lodge of England. But Preston gives us the rules on this subject, which have
now been adopted by general consent as the law of the Order, in the following
"No Mason can be interred with
the formalities of the Order unless it be by his own special request
communicated by the Master of the Lodge of which he died a member, foreigners
and sojourners excepted; nor unless he has been advanced to the third degree
of Masonry, from which restriction there can be no exception.
Fellow Crafts or Apprentices
are not entitled to the funeral obsequies'' (see Illustrations, 1792, page
The only restrictions
prescribed by Preston are, it will be perceived, that the deceased must have
been a Master Mason, that he had himself made the request and that he was
affiliated, which is implied by the expression that he must have made the
request for burial to the Master of the Lodge of which he was a member.
The regulation of 1754, which
requires a Dispensation from the Grand Master for a funeral procession, is not
considered of force in the United States of America, where, accordingly,
Freemasons have generally been permitted to bury their dead without the
necessity of such Dispensation.
Born January 12, 1729, new
style, at Dublin, Ireland, and died July 8, 1797, in England. Famous
statesman, writer and orator who championed the cause of the American
Colonists on the floor of the English Parliament, April 19, 1774.
His father, a Protestant
attorney, his mother a Roman Catholic Published in 1756 the satire A
Vindication of Natural Society, then his Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin
of our Ideas on the Sublime and Beautiful, translated into German and
annotated by another Freemason, Lessing; a series of Hints on the Drama and an
Abridgment of the History of England; and became interested in America and
wrote an Account of the European Settlements. Brother George W. Baird
(Builder, October, 1923) says that Burke was a member of Jerusalem Lodge No.
44, Clerkenwell, London. In Builder (July, 1923), Brother Arthur Heiron
mentions Samuel Johnson, James Boswell, Sir William Forbes, Richard Savage,
Alexander Pope, Richard Garriek, Jonathan Swift, close friends or
contemporaries of Burke, as active and proven Freemasons. There is an
impressive statue of Edmund Burke at Washington, District of Columbia (see
also New Age, January, 1924).
BURNES, SIR JAMES
A distinguished Freemason, and
formerly Provincial Grand Master of Western India under the Grand Lodge of
Scotland from 1836 to 1846. In 1846 he was appointed Grand Master of Scottish
Freemasons in India. He returned home in 1849, and died in 1862, after serving
for thirty years in the Indian Medical Service. He was the author of an
interesting work entitled a Sketch of the History of the Knights Templars. By
James Burnes, LLD., F.R.S., Knight of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order;
published at London, in 1840, in 74 + 60 pages in small quarto.
In the third chapter of Exodus
it is recorded that, when Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro on Mount Horeb,
"the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst
of a bush," and there communicated to him for the first time his ineffable
Name. This occurrence is commemorated in the Burning Bush of the Royal Arch
Degree. In all the systems of antiquity, fire is adopted as a symbol of Deity
; and the Burning Bush, or the bush filled with fire which did not consume,
whence came forth the Tetragrammaton, the symbol of Divine Light and Truth, is
considered in the advanced degrees of Freemasonry, like the Orient in the
lower, as the great source of true Masonic light ; wherefore Supreme Councils
of the Thirty-Third Degree date their balustres, or official documents, "near
the B.'. B.'.," or Buming Bush, to intimate that they are, in their own rite,
the exclusive source of all Masonic instruction.
BUILDER GILDS, ANCIENT
Some thirty miles southwest of
Cairo, west of the Nile, and on the Libyan desert, is an oasis in a sunken
depression of many hundreds of square miles, in which from 300 B.C. to 300
A.D. circa existed a number of cities and a rich civilization.
This region was sustained by an irrigation system comparable in size and as an
engineering achievement with our TVA; when that irrigation system was
destroyed the Fayum, as its name was, reverted to desert, and its towns were
covered by sand. In 1888 Dr. W. M. Flinders Petrie exeavated a tomb at Hawara
and made the astounding discovery that mummy cases there were built up of and
stuffed with written papyri. Later on he had among his assistants B. P.
Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt. These two young men began in 1896 to excavate the
whole Fayum, and with such success that in 1897 in the ruins of the town of
Oxyrhynchus they came upon the greatest find of written manuscripts ever made
in the whole history of archeology, and sent back to England tons of
These had been written, most
of them, in the Koine, a form of Greek in use throughout the Eastern
Mediterranean during the general period of the first three centuries of our
These documents were not of
scholarly writings but were such as could be recovered from the wastebaskets
of any modern city: letters, business ledgers, wills, recipes, poems, and
songs, daily papers, sermons, pamphlets, financial reports, tax receipts,
For the first time they gave
historians a detailed, day by-day picture of men and their affairs in Egypt,
Palestine, Greece, and Rome as things were in the first centuries of the
Christian era. The students and historians of Freemasonry will henceforth have
to examine the Fayum papyri in their studies of ancient builder gilds and of
that once favorite subject of Masonic writers, the Ancient Mysteries, because
among these tens of thousands of documents are many which for the first time
furnish written records of gilds of that period and of the Ancient Mystery
cults. In the volumes of the papyri published in 1907 and in 1910 by the
British Museum are a number of documents relating to the mason crafts. Legal
forms used by the ironworkers, the carpenters, and the gild of masons show
that such gilds (or collegia) of the years 100 A.D. to 200 A.D. were very like
the gilds of masons in the Middle Ages.
It is only now beginning to be
realized that the Mason gilds of the Middle Ages from which our Fraternity is
descended were of dual nature, a fact made especially evident in the body of
Medieval law ; on the one side a Mason gild was a trade association for the
purpose of controlling hours, wages, the rules of daily work, etc. ; on the
other side it was a fraternity, with a Patron Saint, a chapel to attend, with
feasts at set times, with relief for widows, orphans, etc., and for Masons in
distress. The Oxyrynchus manuscripts make it clear that the builder gilds of
2000 years ago also were dual organizations of the same kind ; they met in
their own rooms, had the equivalent of masters and wardens, gave relief, had
feasts, also acted as burial clubs, and also were trade, or craft,
The Egypt Exploration Fund (Graeeo-Roman
Branch) published Part I of the documents found by Hunt and Grenfell as The
Oxyrhynchus Papyri,' by Grenfell and Hunt; London; 1898; 37 Great Russell St.,
W.C., and 59 Temple Street, Boston, Mass. The latest volume at hand is Greek
Shorthand Manuals, edited by H. J. M. Milne (from a family famous in
Freemasonry for three centuries) ; London ; 1934. For non-archeologists one of
the best introductions is the fascinatingly-written The New Archaeological
Discoveries, and Their Bearing Upon the New Testalnent, etc., by Camden M.
Cobem; Fttnk & Wagnalls Co. ; New York; 1917. The Twentieth Century New
Testament was based on the Fayum discoveries ; some authorities believe that
the books of the New Testament were written in the Koine, others that it was
written first in Aramaic and then translated into the Koine,' in either event
New Testarnent Greek was the Koine instead of the Greek of Plato and
(The shiploads of documents
unearthed since 1885 in Egypt, Palestine, and Greece have swept away once and
forever mountains of nonsense about the pyramid builders and the Egyptian
Mysteries. Scores of Masonic writers, exercising their rights to guess, wrote
pseudo-learned volumes to prove that Freemasonry began with the pyramids [a
very common type of structure] or the Book of the Dead, etc. ; their theories
are now rendered forever impossible. It is not an exaggeration to say that
when the last of the tons of mss. are translated, edited, and published
scholars can write a day-by-day history of the eastern Mediterranean countries
from 300 B.C. to 300 A.D. It is an astonishing fact that less is known about
the Twelfth Century in England and Europe than about that much more ancient
During the first two or three
decades after the forming of the first Grand Lodge of Speculative Masons in
London, in 1717, the daily papers of London, and to a lesser extent in
Edinburgh, Dublin, and other cities, published news about Freemasonry on the
same footing as other news . In its earliest years the new Grand Lodge
published no Proceedings, and did not even keep Minutes; after the Lodges had
multiplied not only in London, but elsewhere they began to demand reports from
the Quarterly Grand Communications. The earliest Grand Lodge Minutes
(reproduced in facsimile in Quatuor Coronati Antigrapha) were in reality not
Minutes but reports, and in them the list of Lodges were deemed the most
important portion. It was to save the Grand Secretary the drudgery of making
many copies by hand that the "Minutes" were for some years engraved by Pine
with his successors hence the origin of the famous "Engraved Lists"upon which
Bro. John Lane was the first and most eminent authority. (See Lane's Lists of
The earliest Lodges demanded
that their members should attend, and in many instances fined them for
non-attendance; to make this rule "all-square" the Lodge in turn had its Tiler
(who was paid) go in person to notify each member of the next Lodge meeting.
This method gradually gave way
to the issuing of printed summons, for which an engraved plate was made,
leaving a blank for the date ; a number of these plates were masterpieces of
the engraver's art---an art which had a large vogue in the Eighteenth Century.
The same methods were used in
general by American Lodges until after the Revolution, when for about a
quarter of a century they made a large use of newspapers. With the sudden
explosion of the Anti-Masonic Crusade after the so-called "Morgan Affair"this
publicity was stopped, and for many years was not encouraged even after the
crusade had died away because it had been abused.
From the Civil War to the
first decade of the Twentieth Century a Lodge either sent out no notices, or
spread them by word of mouth, or published very brief and formal notices in
In the beginning of this
Century Lodges began the issuing of Bulletins, a method being used, or being
adopted, by an ever-increasing number. In majority of instances a Bulletin is
printed by the Lodge and prepared and mailed by the Secretary; in a minority
of instances, especially in cities, either Bulletins or small periodicals are
privately prepared and published by local printers who cover their costs and a
very small margin of profits with an income from local advertising.
The typical Lodge Bulletin is
a printed two or four pages leaflet, of envelope size; in it are names,
addressed, and telephone numbers of Lodge officers, and oftentimes of
Committee chairmen, or Committee members; notices of regular or special
Communications, and of special occasions; and in some instances a small number
of news items.
Lodge Bulletins have been
discussed in Masonic jurisprudence; and both Grand Lodges and Grand Masters
have made rules or decisions to regulate them.
It is generally accepted and
established that a Lodge, or the Worshipful Master, or both, have the
authority to exercise complete control of any information or news which
emanates from or about a Lodge, whether published by the Lodge itself or by a
private printer or publishing company.
BURNS AS MASONIC LAUREATE
On page 164 of this
Encyclopedia Bro. Dudley Wright is quoted in a passage which tries to show
that the long tradition that Robert Burns had been named Poet-Laureate of
Canongate Kilwinning Lodge was "a happy delusion" ; and Bro. Robert I. Clegg,
when quoting him, makes use of a pamphlet which that Lodge had published in
1925. It is possible that both of these cautious editors overlooked the
detailed and exhaustive History of the Lodge Canongate Kilwinning No. 2, by
Allan MacKenzie; Edinburgh; 1888 Bro. MacKenzie devotes the whole of one
chapter to the Laureateship. Out of Lodge records, personal correspondence,
the recollections of old members, newspapers, reports, and by use of internal
evidence he constructs an argument solid enough and cogent enough to convince
a Supreme Court.
Bro. Wright uses as an
argument the fact that no record was made in the Lodge Minutes. It was never
suggested that the naming of Burns as Poet Laureate had ever been made by the
Lodge in an official action, and hence it naturally would not go into the
Minutes ; it is more likely that it was made at a banquet, informally, by the
body of the members acting spontaneously. Even so, Burns accepted it in all
seriousness; as did also the Lodge, which went to great expense to have the
painting made which is reproduced on the sheet following page 156.
As will be seen in the key on
the sheet opposite that reproduction one of the notables whose portrait stands
out conspicuously from a circle of notables is James Boswell, biographer of
Dr. Samuel Johnson. Boswell was made a Mason in the Lodge in 1759 ; was Junior
Warden in 1761; was Depute Master in 1767-l768 ; and Right Worshipful Master
from 1773 to 1775.
Bro. MacKenzie's book is a
wonderfully moving picture of Lodge life in Eighteenth Century Scotland.
Through it move James Hogg,
the ''Atrox Shepherd, " successor to Bums as Scotland's poet, celebrated in a
stanza by Wordsworth, who when asked to be Masonic Poet Laureate first
refused, then relented and wrote a Masonic "shepherd's song" for his Lodge;
Sir Wm. Forbes; the tremendous Lord Mondobbo; Henry Erskine ; some princes
from Russia, etc. ; the Lockharts, father and son, the latter Sir Walter
Scott's son-in-law and biographer ; and Professor Wilson, better known as
Christopher North, author of the Noctes A Ambrosianae, which American
booklovers still read ; and in the background, Sir Walter Scott and his
father, both enthusiastic Craftsmen in their own Lodge.
One of the most celebrated and
best loved of Scottish poets. William Pitt has said of his poetry, "that he
could think of none since Shakespeare's that had so much the appearance of
sweetly coming from nature." Robert Burns, or Robert Burness, as the name was
originally spelled, was born at Kirk Alloway, near the town of Ayr, January
25, 1759. His father was a religious peasant-farmer living in a humble cottage
on the banks of the Doon, the river destined to be eulogized so touchingly in
many of Burns' verses in after life. Burns died in the thirty-seventh year of
his life on July 21, 1796, broken in health. For years he had been feted,
lionized and honored by the entire Scottish nation.
At the age of twenty-three he
became closely associated with the local Freemasonry, being initiated July 4,
1781, in Saint David's Lodge, Tarbolton, shortly after the two Lodges of Saint
David, No. 174, and Saint James, No. 178, in the town were united.
He took his Second and Third
Degrees in the month of October following his initiation. In December Saint
David's Lodge was divided and the old Lodge of Saint James was reconstituted,
Burns becoming a member. Saint James' Lodge has still in its keeping, and we
have personally inspected the Minute Books containing items written in Burns'
own handwriting, which Lodge he served as Depute Master in 1784.
From this time on Freemasonry
became to the poet a great and propelling power. At the time of his initiation
into Saint David's Lodge Burns was unnoticed and unknown and, it must be
admitted, somewhat unpolished in manner, although he had managed to secure
before his sixteenth year what was then considered to be an "elegant"
With almost no exceptions his
boon companions were all Freemasons and this close association with Brethren,
many of whom were high in the social scale, but who recognized his talents and
ability, did much to refine and stimulate him intellectually, influence his
thought, inspire his muse, and develop that keen love of independence and
brotherhood which later became the predominant factors of his life. The poet
held the position of Depute Master of Saint James' Lodge until about 1788, at
which time he read his famous Farewell to the Brethren of Saint James' Lodge,
Tarbolton, given below:
Adieu! a heart-warm, fond
Dear Brothers of the Mystic tie!
Ye favoured, ye enlighten'd few,
Companions of my social joy!
Tho' I to foreign lands must hie,
Pursuing Fortune's slidd'ry ba',
With melting heart, and brimful eye,
I'll mind you still, tho' far awa'.
Oft have I met your social
And spent the cheerful, festive night ;
Oft honoured with supreme command,
Presided o'er the Sons of Light;
And by that Hierog1yphic Bright,
Which none but craftsmen ever saw!
Strong Mem'ry on my heart shall write
Those happy scenes, when far awa'!
May Freedom, Harmony, and
Unite you in the Grand Design,
Beneath th' Omniscient Eye above--
The glorious Architect Divine--
That you may keep th' Unerring Line,
Still rising by the Plummet's Law,
Till ORDER bright completely shine,
Shall be my pray'r when far awa'.
And you, FAREWELL! whose
Juatly the Highest Badge to wear !
Heav'n bless your honour'd, noble NAME,
To Masonry and Scotia dear.
A last request permit me here,
When yeany ye assemble a',
One round, I ask it with a tear,
To him, the Bard that's far awa'.
About this same time the poet
presided as Master over a Lodge at Mauchline, which practice was, as a matter
of fact, irregular, as the Charter of the Lodge covered only meetings held in
Tarbolton, but, it is stated, Burns' zeal in the furthering of Freemasonry was
so great that he even held Lodges in his own house for the purpose of
admitting new members.
Mention is also made, however,
that Lodes' were not then tied to a single meeting place as now. Regarding
this, Professor Dugald Stewart, the eminent philosophic writer and thinker,
and himself an Honorary Member of the Saint James Lodge, says, "In the course
of the same season I was led by curiosity to attend for an hour or two a
Masonic Lodge in Mauchline, where Bums presided.
He had occasion to make some
short, unpremeditated compliments to different individuals from whom he had no
reason to expect a visit, and everything he said was happily conceived and
forcibly as well as fluently expressed."
Burns found himself in need of
funds about this time and it was due to the suggestions and assistance of
Gavin Hamilton, a prominent member of the Order and a keen admirer of Bums,
that the poet collected his first edition of poems and was able to have them
published through the able assistance of such eminent Fellow Craftsmen as
Aiken, Goudie, John Ballantine, and Gavin Hamilton. A Burns Monument has since
been erected, in August, 1879, in Kay Park, which overlooks the little
printing office where the first Kilmarnoek edition of his poems was published.
Dr. John Mackenzie, a man of
fine literary taste and of good social position, whom Bums mentions in several
of his Masonic poems, lid much at this period by. way of kindly and discerning
appreciation to develop the poet's genius and make it known to the world. It
was due to a generous loan made by. John Ballantine, before mentioned, that
Burns was able to make the trip to Edinburgh and have a second edition of his
poems published. At Edinburgh, due to the good offices of the Masonic Brethren
there, Burns was made acquainted with and was joyously accepted by the
literary leaders of the Scottish capital. Reverend Thomas Blacklock, a member
of the Lodge of Saint David, Edinburgh, No. 36, and afterwards Worshipful
Master of Ayr Kilwinning Lodge, received Burns on his arrival, lavished upon
him all the kindness of a generous heart, introduced him into a circle of
friends worthy and admiring, and did all possible to further the interest of
the young poet. Brother Sir Walter Scott, the novelist, addressed a letter to
this Lodge of Saint David, Edinburgh, which is now in their possession in
which he pays rare tribute to Robert Burns.
On October 26, 1786, Burns was
made an Honorary Member of the Saint John Lodge, No. 22, Kilmarnock, the first
of the Masonic Orders to designate him as their Poet and honor him with
honorary membership. Just previous to this he joined the Saint Jolln's
Knwinning Lodge, Kilmarnock, warranted in 1747 but not coming under Grand
Lodge until 1808, on which occasion in the Lodge was presided over by his
friend, Gavin Hamilton. On February 1, 1787, Burns became a member of the
Lodge of Canongate Kilwinning, No. 2, Edinburgh, which possesses the most
ancient Lodge-room in the world, and this Lodge is said to have invested Burns
with the title of the Poet-Laureate of Lodge Canongate Kilwinning on March 1,
1787, from which time on Burns affixed the word Bard to his signature. This
Lodge issued a booklet on Saint John's Day 1925, from which we quote the
The fact of the inauguration
of Burns as Poet.-Laureate was, some time ago, finally and judicially
established after an elaborate and exhaustive inquiry by the Grand Lodge of
Scotland, which possesses the well-known historic Painting representing the
scene, painted by Brother Stewart Watson, and presented to Grand Lodge by Dr.
James Burness, the distinguished Indian traveler and administrator, and a
distant relative of Burns through his ancestry in Kincardineshire, from which
Burns' father migrated to Ayrshire.
On the other hand, Brother
Dudley Wright, in the Freemason, London, February 7, 1925, says:
The principal fallacy, which
has lately found frequent repetition even in some Scottish Lodges, is the
statement that Robert Burns was on a certain night installed or invested as
the Poet Laureale of canongate Kilwinning Lodge, No. 2.
Bums became a member of this
Lodge on February 1, 17S7, as testified by the following Minute: " The Right
Worshipful Master, having observed that Brother Burns was present in the
Lodge, who is well known as a great poetic writer and for a late publication
of his works which have been universally commended, Submitted that he should
be assumed a member of this Lodge, which was unanimously agreed to and he was
The story runs that exactly a
month afterwards, on March 1, 1787, Burns paid a second visit to Lodge
canongate Kilwinning, when he was invested as Poet Laureate of this famous
Lodge, and there is in existence a well-known painting of the supposed scene,
which has been many times reproduced. The picture, however, is only an
imaginary one, for one of the characters depicted as being present-Grose, the
Antiquarian-did not become a Freemason until 1791. James Marshall, a member of
the craft, published, in 1846, a small volume entitled A Winter with Robert
Burns, in which he gave a full account of the supposed investiture, with
biographical data of the Brethren stated to have been present on that
Robert Wylie, also, in his
History of Mother Lodge Kilwinning, of which he was Secretary, published in
1878, has repeated the story, and added that " Burns was very proud of the
honor''; while Dr. Rogers, in The Book of Robert Burns, volume I, page 180 has
also repeated the story, giving the date of the event as June 25, 1787, and
adding the information that Lord Torpichen was then Depute Master, and that in
compliment to the occasion, and as a token of personal regard, on the
following day he despatched to the poet at his lodgings in the Lawnmarket a
handsome edition of Spenser's works, which the poet acknowledged in a letter.
There was a meeting of Lodge
Canongate Kilwinning on March 1, 1787, the Minute of which is in existence,
but it contains no reference to the investiture of Burns as Poet Laureate of
the Lodge. It reads as follows: " St. Johns chapel, March 1, 1787. The Lodge
being duly constituted it was reported that since last meeting R. Dalrymple
Esq., F. T. Hammond Esq., R. A. Maitland Esq., were entered apprentices; and
the following brethren passed and raised : R. Sinclair Esq., Z. M'Donald Esq.,
C. B. Cleve Esq., captain Dalrymple, R. A. Maitland Esq., F. T. Hammond Esq.,
Mr. Clavering, Mr. M'Donald, Mr. Millar, Mr. Hine, and Mr. Gray, who all paid
their fees to the Treasurer. No other business being before the meeting, the
It is not a pleasing task to
dispel such a happy delusion, but it must be admitted that the investiture
certainly did not take place on that occasion, when there is no record that
Burns was even present. Had the investiture taken place, it would certainly
have been recorded on the Minutes, especially when regard is had to the fact
that his very admission to the Lodge a month previously was made the subject
of so special a note. There were only three meetings of the Lodge held in
1786-7 session, and at one of these only,-that of the night of his admission
as a Joining Member -is there any record of the presence of Robert Burns. But
did not Burns call himself Laureated, somebody may ask. Certainly he did,
particularly in the following stanza:
To please you and praise you,
Ye ken your Laureate scorns ;
The prayer still you share still
Of grateful Robert Burns.
But those words were written
on May 3, 1786, before the date of his admission into Lodge, Canongate
Kilwinning. While Brother Burns may not have actually been appointed Poet
Laureate of Canongate Kilwinning Lodge, and the account of the meeting of
February 1 does not indicate anything more than that he was "assumed" a
member, yet later mention of Brother Burns in the Minutes does suggest that
the Brethren in some degrees considered our Brother as Poet Laureate.
For instance, on February 9,
1815, the Lodge resolved to open a subscription among its members to aid in
the erection of a "Mausoleum to the memory of Robert Burns who was a member
and Poet Laureate of this Lodge. " There is the further allusion on January
16, 1835, in connection with the appointment of Brother James Hogg, the
''Ettrick Shepherd" to the "honorary office of Poet Laureate of the Lodge,
which had been in abeyance since the death of the immortal Brother Robert
Burns" (see also Lodge).
Shortly after the publication
of the second edition of his verse at Edinburgh, Burns set out on a tour with
his friend, Brother Robert Ainslie, an Edinburgh lawyer. Brother A. M. Mackay
tells us in a pamphlet issued by Lodge Saint David, Edinburgh, No. 36, on the
Festival of Saint John, December 19, 1923, that "Burns visited the old fishing
town during the course of a tour through the Border Counties in the early
summer of 1787." The records of the Lodge contain no reference to the Poet, or
to the Royal Arch Degree of which Burns and his friend became members, but
several prominent Brethren in Saint Ebbe were Royal Arch Masons and, although
working under no governing authority, appear to have occasionally admitted
candidates into that Order. Brothers Burns and Ainslie arrived at Eyemouth on
Friday, May 18, and took up their abode in the house of Brother William
Grieve, who was, the Poet informs us, "a joyous, warm hearted, jolly, clever
fellow." It was, no doubt, at the instigation of their host that the meeting
of Royal Arch Masons, held on the following day, was arranged:
Eyemouth 19th May 1787. At a
general encampment held this day, the following Brethren were made Royal Arch
Robert Burns, from Lodge Saint
James, Tarbolton, Ayrshire; and Robert Ainslie from the Lodge of Saint Luke,
Edinburgh, by James Carmichael, William Grieve, Donald Dow, John Clay, Robert
Grieve, etc., etc.
Robert Ainslie paid one guinea
admission dues, but, on account of Brother Bum's remarkable poetical genius,
the encampment unanimously agreed to admit him gratis and considered
themselves honored by having a man of such shining annuities for one of their
It is suggested by Brother A.
Arbuthnot Murray, formerly Grand Scribe E. of the Supreme Grand Royal Arch
Chapter of Scotland, who is an authority on the old working of the Scottish
Royal Arch Chapters, that Burns was probably made a Knight Templar as well, as
under the old regime the two ceremonies were always given together (see also
Dudley Wright in Robert Burns
and Freemasonry says, "On December 27, 1788, Burns was unanimously assumed,
being a Master Masson' a member of the Saint Andrews Lodge, No. 179, Dumiries.
The Secretary wrongly described him as of 'Saint David Strabolton Lodge, No.
178.'" The poet's last attendance at this Lodge was in 1796, a few months
after which he contracted the fatal fever which led to his death.
A word should be said here in
refutation of the slanderous charge that Burns acquired the habits of
dissipation, to which he was unfortunately addicted, at the festive meetings
of the Masonic Lodges (see Freemasons Magazine, London, volume v, page 291),
and his brother, Gilbert's, testimony is given below, "Towards the end of the
period under review, in his, twenty-fourth year, and soon after his father's
death, he was furnished with the subject of his epistle to John Rankin. During
this period, also, he became a Freemason, which was his first introduction to
the life of a boon companion. Yet, notwithstanding these circumstances, and
the praise he has bestowed on Scotch drink, which seems to have misled his
historians, I do not recollect during these seven years, nor till towards the
end of his commencing author, when his growing celebrity occasioned his often
being in company, to have ever seen him intoxicated ; nor was he at all given
Notwithstanding this, however,
the poet undoubtedly enjoyed convivial gatherings and he wrote to a friend,
James Smith, "I have yet fixed on nothing with respect to the serious business
of life. I am, as usual, a rhyming, Mason-making, rattling, aimless, idle
fellow." In spite of this "idleness," Burns was very prolific in verse and
especially did he give of his genius liberally in service to the Masonic
Order, an example of one of these verses being given below:
A' ye whom social pleasure
Whose heart the tide of kindness warms,
Wha hold your being on the terms,
Each aid the others,
come to my bowl, come to my arms,My friends, my Brothers.
Among the various poetic
Masonic effusions of this "heaven-taught plowman" is the following, which was
written in memory of his beloved friend, a fellow-poet and Brother, Robert
Curse on ungrateful man that
can be pleased,
And yet can starve the author of his pleasure .
Oh, thou, my Elder Brother in misfortune,
By far my elder Brother in the Muses,
With tears I pity thy unhappy fate !
Why is the bard unfitted for the wond,
Yet has so keen a relish of its pleasures?
Part of the proceeds of the
Edinburgh edition of Burns' poems was used in the erection of a tombstone over
the remains of this same Scottish poet, Robert Ferguson, on which he inscribed
No sculptured marble here, nor
No storied um, nor animated bust,
This simple stone directs pale Scotis's way,
To pour her sorrows o'er her poet's dust.
A monument was erected for
Robert Burns, himself, by public subscription, at his birthplace, January 25,
1820. The corner-stone was laid with appropriate Masonic honors by the Deputy
Grand Master of the Ancient Mother Lodge at Kilwinning, assisted by all 'the
Masonic Lodges in Ayrshire.
At a meeting in 1924 of the
Scots Lodge of London in honor of Robert Burns, Sir John A. Cockbum, M.D., in
the address of the evening explained to us that the poet when young had
suffered from a rheumatic fever that frequently resulted in a condition
peculiarly liable at any time later to sudden fatal consequences. Sir John
also urged that due consideration should be given to the tendency and practice
of the era when Burns flourished, when a free use of intoxicants was common.
Everything that is done in a
Masonic Lodge, relating to the initiation of candidates into the several
degrees, is called its work or labor; all transactions such as are common',to
other associations and societies come under the head of business, and they are
governed with some peculiar differences by rules of order, as in other
societies (see 0rder, Rules of).
An ancient city of Phenicia,
celebrated for the mystical worship of Adonis, who was slain by a wild boar.
It was situated on a river of the same name, whose waters, becoming red at a
certain season of the year by the admixture of the clay which is at its
source, were said by the celebrants of the mysteries of Adonis to be tinged
with the blood of that god.
This Phoenician city, so
distinguished for the celebration of these mysteries, was the Gebal of the
Hebrews, the birthplace of the Giblemites, or stone-squarers, who wrought at
the building of King Solomon's Temple; and thus those who have advanced the
theory that Freemasonry is the successor of the Ancient Mysteries, think that
they find in this identity of Byblos and Gebal another point of connection
between these Institutions.
Every subordinate Lodge is
permitted to make its own by-laws, provided they do not conflict with the
regulations of the Grand Lodge, nor with the ancient usages of the Fraternity.
But of this, the Grand Lodge is the only judge, and therefore the original
by-laws of every Lodge, as well as all subsequent alterations of them, must be
submitted to the Grand Lodge for approval and confirmation before they can
become valid, having under the English Constitution previously been approved
by the Provincial or District Grand Master. | <urn:uuid:a61e2f3a-85d8-43bc-9247-0703471517ef> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://phoenixmasonry.org/mackeys_encyclopedia/b.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00140-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957718 | 90,918 | 3.1875 | 3 |
8 August 2013 Coca cultivation in Colombia, one of the world's largest producers along with Bolivia and Peru, fell by a quarter in 2012, according to a new survey presented today by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Government.
The area under cultivation in Colombia fell to 48,000 hectares (ha), down from 64,000 ha in 2011, UNODC said in a news release about the survey.
Of the country's 32 departments, coca bush cultivation affected 23. Of those, 17 had smaller cultivation. Nariño, Putumayo, Guaviare and Cauca saw the greatest declines and seven departments are now below the 100-hectare level.
Meanwhile, more coca was grown in Caquetá, Chocó and Norte de Santander. Satellite images and field surveys showed that some 80 per cent of cultivation was concentrated in eight departments, with roughly half taking place in three of those areas.
The Government manually eradicated almost 30,500 ha of coca bush in 2012 and sprayed nearly 100,550 ha of coca crops from the air, similar to 2011 levels.
The survey reported that these efforts curbed the area affected by coca cultivation in 2012 from 135,000 ha to 48,000 ha by the end of the year.
“The impact of the Government efforts to eradicate illicit coca crop is visible. However, the 2012 and previous surveys show that after eradication takes place, cultivation often resumes in new or previously cleared fields,” said Bo Mathiasen, UNODC Representative in Colombia.
He added that crop eradication, even when it yields positive results, must be complemented by alternative livelihood schemes to improve social, economic and environmental conditions and to achieve a sustainable reduction in the area under cultivation.
It is less lucrative to produce coca than in the past, the survey reported, even with a farmer grossing an average income of $1,220 per year. The farm-gate value of coca leaf and derivatives, such as coca paste and cocaine base, was estimated at $370 million in 2012, down from $422 million in the previous year and worth 0.2 per cent of national gross domestic product (GDP) and 3 per cent of the GDP related to the agricultural sector.
The number of households involved in coca cultivation fell 3 per cent from 62,400 in 2011 to 60,600 in 2012.
In 2005, 82 per cent of coca growers were dependent on the crop and its derivatives, compared to 60 per cent in this year's survey. The survey also reported that some 30 per cent of farmers are currently involved in the conversion of coca leaf into cocaine base – half the 2005 figure.
News Tracker: past stories on this issue | <urn:uuid:a82c1e7c-1f49-415a-bfbf-962bd0b5e76c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=45589 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00001-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9437 | 573 | 2.6875 | 3 |
First off, for the people that ignore it, GNU is a recursive acronym for “GNU’s Not Unix!”. The term aims to emphasize that while GNU’s design is Unix-like, it is free software and contains no-Unix code. The rest of the story is pretty much known, Richard Stallman initiates the GNU project in 1983 and founds the Free Software Foundation (FSF) in 1985 in order to develop GNU project further.
GNU’s project goal was to deliver an open source Unix-compatible operating system and while GNU released a set of GNU programs like GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) and bash, what was missing was a kernel. In 1991 an unknown back then developer named Linus Torvalds released Linux and one year later most of the GNU tools had been ported in Linux kernel.
In 1994 Ian Murdock the founder of Debian named the project to GNU/Linux and he noted:
“this change was made in response to a request by Richard Stallman (who initially proposed “Lignux,” but suggested “GNU/Linux” instead after hearing complaints about the awkwardness of the former term).”
There is a lot of controversy about GNU/Linux term and many people think today that this is the right term. However the founder of Linux, Linus Torvalds said:
“Umm, this discussion has gone on quite long enough, thank you very much. It doesn’t really matter what people call Linux, as long as credit is given where credit is due (on both sides). Personally, I’ll very much continue to call it Linux“.
But later when Linus was asked whether the name “GNU/Linux” was justified, he replied:
“Well, I think it’s justified, but it’s justified if you actually make a GNU distribution of Linux … the same way that I think that “Red Hat Linux” is fine, or “SuSE Linux” or “Debian Linux”, because if you actually make your own distribution of Linux, you get to name the thing, but calling Linux in general “GNU Linux” I think is just ridiculous”
Stallman according to Linux Journal seems to said “Linus got the glory for what [Stallman] wanted to do” .
There are some interesting stories about all these in Wikipedia and I included the links on the end of the page. Personally I feel that the right term is just Linux. Anyway..
Steve Jobs vs Bill Gates. Epic Rap Battles of History
Back to the funny part of the post. Epic Rap Battles of History is my favorite YouTube show and this month a battle between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates takes place. Somewhere in the end of the video GNU term is mentioned. Okay is not big deal, but I hope to enjoy it :)
Well Microsoft and Apple for now..
Note* Please people don’t go on the matter of inappropriate content ;) | <urn:uuid:0997ca15-d144-48d2-84cd-e9273146ab64> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://worldofgnome.org/gnu-in-epic-rap-battles-of-history/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396100.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00117-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947687 | 640 | 2.75 | 3 |
An excerpt from
Nationalizing Blackness Afrocubanismo and Artistic Revolution in Havana, 1920-1040
by Robin D. Moore
University of Pittsburg Press, 1997
Like many costumbrista artists, Landaluze was born in Spain. His tendency to ridicule what he considered unique and laughable in Cuban society was a source of embarrassment to members of the isleño bourgeoisie, who took pains to avoid these subjects in artistic expression (Castellanos 1990, 28). Landaluze is especially interesting as an early representative of Cuban nationalist art, despite his strong allegiance to Spain and his conservative political views. As Portuondo points out, "This man, who was a decided enemy of [Cuban] independence and other progressive political movements was also the initiator of Cuban painting," Some suggest that the works of Landaluze directly anticipate those of the afrocubanismo vanguard of the 1920s and 1930s (Castellanos 1990, 13). Whatever his status, Landaluze provides some of the best visual documentation available on Afrocuban expressive arts in the nineteenth century and of Cuban society generally.
Front Door | Contents | Galleries | Site Index | Timetables | <urn:uuid:be1b6092-a560-429e-81a0-4be111317fa0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/oriente/Landaluze.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403502.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00001-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934588 | 250 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Charles Boys' parents were Caroline Goodrich Dobbie and the Rev Charles Boys who was the vicar at Wing. Charles was one of a large family, being his parents' eighth child, and he was brought up in the vicarage at Wing. He was educated at Marlborough, and in the dedication of his book on Soap bubbles he expressed his gratitude to Mr G F Rodwell, the first science master appointed at that school. From there Boys went to the Royal School of Mines where he was taught physics by Frederick Guthrie. He graduated in mining and metallurgy. The school had no mathematics department so Boys learnt mathematics from books including Todhunter's Integral Calculus. He always claimed, perhaps because of this lack of mathematical education, that he was not a mathematician. Others, including his pupils, certainly did not agree with this as he showed a wide knowledge of geometrical methods.
Boys is famed as a physicist and inventor of instruments. While still at the Royal School of Mines he invented an integraph, a machine for drawing the antiderivative of a function. He published a description of this instrument in the Philosophical Magazine in 1881. After graduating in mining it was natural for Boys to seek employment at a colliery, which he did. After a short time in this employment, Guthrie offered him employment as a demonstrator in physics. He accepted this post and began his academic career.
It was his invention of a fused quartz fibre suspension that brought him great fame, and his applications of quartz fibres are described in in the following way:-
One application he made of [quartz fibres] was to the suspension of the moving system of his radiomicrometer for the measurement of radiant heat, an instrument so sensitive that, aided by a reflecting telescope to bring the heat to a focus, it could detect the differences in radiation from different parts of the moon's disc and would respond to the heat of a candle at a distance of more than a mile ... He also made use of quartz fibres in his repetition of Cavendish's famous experiment for the determination of the gravitational constant.
It was by using a quartz fibre suspension in Cavendish type experiments that Boys was able to improve the value obtained for the gravitational constant. He used quartz fibres to suspend a short (less than one inch long) beam with spheres at each end. He was then able to use attracting masses much larger in proportion than Cavendish had been able to use, thus enabling him to make accurate measurements of the small forces involved. His work on gravitation is certainly his most important contribution and shows the precision which he could achieve in his experiments. However there were many problems which he had to overcome, such as the vibrations in the earth caused by traffic. To avoid these problems he conducted his experiments in Oxford, rather than London, but he still had to make his measurements at times when no shunting was going on in the railway yards more than a mile from his laboratory. His remarkably accurate results were published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1895.
Further contributions which Boys made to other areas are also described in :-
Another subject to which he devoted a great deal of attention was the photography of lightning flashes and of rapidly moving objects, such as bullets, and soap films provided him with a study in which his powers of delicate manipulation found full scope, his book on "Soap bubbles, their colours, and the forces which mould them" being a classic in its way.
In 1888 Boys was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. The following year he became assistant professor at the Royal College of Science, South Kensington, a post he held until 1897. While holding this post he supplemented his income examining for the University of London. He married Marion Amelia Pollock in 1892, and we comment below about how this marriage ended in divorce. They had one daughter and one son.
In 1887 Boys took up an applied science post of Metropolitan Gas Referee and he held this post until the Referees were abolished in 1939. Even then, his services were retained in an advisory capacity until 1943. It was in this role that he worked for many years to improve the instruments used to measure the calorific value of gas. This enabled gas to be priced in terms of its calorific value rather than in terms of its volume.
His (alleged) ill-treatment of his wife led to her having an affair with Forsyth and a scandal at Cambridge resulted. Boys divorced his wife in 1910 after 18 years of marriage. From 1913 onwards he lived in rooms in Westminster, going every weekend to the country where he had a workshop.
After 1939 he retired permanently to his country house where he became interested in growing weeds. He published Weeds, weeds, weeds in 1937.
Boys received many honours in addition to election to the fellowship of the Royal Society which we mentioned above. He received the Royal Medal from the Royal Society in 1896 and from the same Society he received its Rumford Medal in 1924. He was also awarded the Duddell Medal of the Physical Society in 1925, and the Elliot Cresson Medal of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia in 1939. He was elected to the New York Academy of Sciences and the Physical Society of Moscow. He was knighted in 1935.
Other honours included election to the presidency of the Röntgen Society in 1906-07, of the Mathematics and Physics Section of the British Association in 1903, and of the Physical Society in 1916-17. The University of Edinburgh awarded Boys an honorary degree in 1932.
Article by: J J O'Connor and E F Robertson | <urn:uuid:85a134e2-c2c3-4a65-a7db-6a96546114a0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Boys.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00023-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989666 | 1,155 | 3.234375 | 3 |
A History of New York City to 1898
An attempt to review Gotham in a brief notice is as reckless as presenting the Himalayas in a three-minute, two-slide, one-question lecture. This disciplined yet exuberant narrative from the Dutch purchase of Indian land in the 1620s to Brooklyn’s union with New York in 1898 defies assessment in half-dozen summary paragraphs; it calls for the considered opinions of a life-long student of the city, writing at length. Nevertheless, some of the richness and reward of Gotham can be introduced. Edwin Burrows and Mike Wallace are amply endowed with the energy, research strengths, analytical skills, literary abilities and above all the zestful imagination that New York City’s fast-moving, exciting story demands. Gotham is monumental but never overwhelming: It is the work of master literary masons. The narrative is Romanesque in its integrity and solidity of structure but reflects a Gothic precision in its detailing. The authors paint a broad canvas, fully accepting that New York City’s history cannot be divorced from great national events—the Revolutionary and Civil wars and westward expansion—or from the shaping roles of federal and state legislation; foreign wars; trade and canals, railroads and electrification—and they invariably include concise chronicling and incisive comment on these forces and their effects on New York —“a city of capital, not a capital city.”
The patterns of Dutch and English settlement, the threatened survival of a fought-over township of fewer than 5,000 inhabitants, the dependency on imports, the questionable benefits of accepting needy immigrants, the dynamics of governance dictated from overseas, the struggles of populace vs. politicians, of free thought vs. permitted expression, and the stop-and-start growth of a city ever more burdened by its citizens? needs and expectations are powerfully and clearly told, making for a colorful, enthralling narrative. Burrows and Wallace bring the same refreshing style to recounting the steady rise (and frequent crises) of capitalism, catalyst to the city’s growth as both marketplace and manufacturing center and motive force behind the building of docks, ships, highways and railroads. They also clearly chart the city’s territorial growth; they analyze business and employment practices and the frequent and sometimes deadly conflicts between employers and workers; they highlight the inextinguishable energy of artisans, craftworkers and laborers—male and female—to secure decent wages in bearable environments.
The foregoing are expected topics in New York City’s history. In Gotham they form a visible framework. The authors? clear and supple prose brings clarity and strength to their treatment of these basic themes. Their insertion of key data and supporting citations into clean, fast-moving prose is masterful. This is history with a beating heart; the players command the stage, the documentation lurks in the wings.
Where Burrows and Wallace most powerfully seize the reader’s imagination is in the vast range of other elements they illuminate in New York City’s dramatic story. Among these are the city’s changing ethnic makeup, income distribution and related social tensions; the growth of personal wealth (great or moderate) that shaped fashions in homes, luxury goods, diet and entertainment; epidemics, public health; philanthropy; political corruption and hard-won reform; transportation; water supply; policing and prostitution and real or pretended concern for public morals. Racism, anti-semitism and religious persecution are clearly presented. Fashion, theater, literature and poplar entertainment, together with the growing power of an often confrontational press and New York City’s national leadership in publishing and intellectual activity receive detailed attention, as do scientific and technological advances.
These themes are far from decorative clothing for a powerful body. Through sharply drawn vignettes and well-chosen direct quotations, we enter the pulsing worlds and intense lives of men and women of every background, rank and calling. Members of the great political, mercantile and landed families rub shoulders with firebrand reformers, earnest philanthropists, religious proselytizers, men and women of letters, theater managers, madams and prostitutes, abortionists, contortionists, extortionists and bullies and bruisers. Most speak with their own voices and speak forcefully. In addition to drawing extensively upon the basic trio of public records, political memoirs and newspaper articles, the authors have skillfully mined the rich ore of personal diaries, particularly those of Philip Hone and George Templeton Strong, both of such interest as to demand wider availability and larger readership.
Throughout the book the authors clearly present the many contributions of minorities and women in shaping the city—a process that began in Dutch days with both free and enslaved blacks contributing technical skills essential to the city’s survival. African-American participation in the Revolutionary and Civil War is traced, as is black leadership in the struggles for emancipation. Similarly, the fortunes of the African Free School, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and other mutual aid associations are tracked. Hilletje Wilbruch, who ran New Amsterdam’s first hospital (1658) and Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, who two centuries later (1853) was a provider of medical services for needy women, are among the hundreds of their sex whose pioneering work—meritorious or notorious—receives full recognition.
Gotham is certain to explode any comforting pictures of Old New York and its honest burghers: it is an account of a city long dependent on Caribbean trade, its primacy threatened by a burgeoning Philadelphia. The authors depict greed triumphant, good government withheld, monopolies and manipulation dominant, class warfare at its most ferocious, widespread crime and prostitution, and property exploiters and rack-renting landlords bitterly opposing every urban amenity or public benefit. Bribery won political power, political power guaranteed unlimited kickbacks. To quote Lewis Mumford (The Culture of Cities), New York’s ruling classes believed in “the exploitation of the proletariat with occasional philanthropy as an insurance policy.”
Concurrently, Gotham is the history of human energy, of extraordinary people (Astors, Vanderbilts, Stewarts, Morgans et al.) risking fortunes to create new industries, of visionary “improvers” (DeWitt, Clinton, Cooper, Edison, Waring et al,) and dedicated public benefactors such as John Pintard, John H. Griscom, Olmsted and Vaux, and Andrew Haswell Green. It is also the history of ordinary people, often heroic in standing for principle and beaten and jailed for their courage. Not least, Gotham offers an unrivaled gallery of devious divines, poltroonish politicos, engaging fortune-seekers, mad inventors, eccentrics, corrupt police, cheerful crooks and incorrigible rogues. In their Introduction Burrows and Wallace state that Gotham can be seen at one level as about connections—and in this expansive and unprejudiced text every vignette and fact meaningfully connects.
Scholars may argue the finer points of the authors? weighting and interpreting of a number of political or legal decisions, pedants may find a sprinkling of possible errors, ethnicists may want more on the minority of their choosing, info-addicts will demand a note on Labadists, Walsh’s “wretched end,” Sir Danvers Osborne’s suicide and trampouzing—but no reader will leave Gotham disappointed. This is a handsome book, with clear type on well laid-out pages. Major divisions, chapter heads and subheads are uniformly helpful; the 43-page bibliography fully supports the short-form, back-of-the-book chapter references. The name index is comprehensive; the subject index is very finely detailed.
Gotham promises to become a classic: it is an essential purchase for any public or academic library—and should be made required reading in the dimly lit interiors of the New York State Legislature and City Hall. For individuals with any interest at all in New York City, this book is an unbeatable investment in knowledge and reward.
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The author provided free copies of his/her book to have his/her book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the author for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love and make no guarantee that the author will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255. | <urn:uuid:f49c56a1-5d6f-416d-b126-d7c40707b6c8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/gotham/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00003-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925549 | 1,777 | 2.671875 | 3 |
ATS 2008, TORONTOWomen who are stressed during pregnancy may pass some of that frazzlement to their fetuses in the form of increased sensitivity to allergen exposure and possibly future asthma risk, according to researchers from Harvard Medical School who will present their findings at the American Thoracic Societys 2008 International Conference in Toronto on Sunday, May 18.
While predisposition to asthma may be, in part, set at birth, the factors that may determine this are not strictly genetic. Certain substances in the environment that cause allergies, such as dust mites, can increase a childs chance of developing asthma and the effects may begin before birth, said Rosalind J. Wright, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of medicine at Brigham & Womens Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Mothers stress during pregnancy can also influence the babies developing immune system. While animal studies suggest that the combination of stress and allergen exposure during pregnancy may magnify the effects on the immune system, this is the first human study to examine this directly. The researchers analyzed levels of maternal stress and mothers exposure to dust mite allergen in their homes while pregnant with respect to cord blood IgE expressiona marker of the childs immune response at birth in 387 infants enrolled in the Asthma Coalition on Community, Environment, and Social Stress (ACCESS) project in Boston.
They found increased levels of IgE expression in cord blood among infants whose mothers experienced higher level stress even when exposed to relatively low levels of dust mite during pregnancy. This indicates that mothers stress during pregnancy magnified the effect of dust exposure on the childs immune system such that the childs immune response at birth may be altered even with lower levels of dust exposure in the home. The results held true regardless of the mothers race, class, education or smoking history.
This research adds to a growing body of evidence that links maternal stress such as that precipitated by financial problems or relationship issues, to changes in childrens developing immune systems, even during pregnancy, said Dr. Wright. This further supports the notion that stress can be thought of as a social pollutant that, when breathed into the body, may influence the bodys immune response similar to the effects of physical pollutants like allergens, thus adding to their effects.
While these findings are important, Dr. Wright noted that only with continued follow-up of these children will they know if these effects will result in increased asthma risk. Moreover, it will be important to replicate these findings in larger populations to give a clearer picture of the relationship between prenatal maternal stress, allergen exposure and subsequent childhood asthma development.
It is notable that these findings were obtained in a U.S. urban population, which may be more likely to be simultaneously exposed to multiple factors, including stress and indoor allergens. More studies like this may help explain why asthma occurs more frequently in these high-risk groups, said Junenette Peters, Sc.D., postdoctoral research fellow who presented these results.
In the meantime, the findings suggest that when such exposuresprenatal stress, allergen exposure occur together, there is a magnified increase in risk, which supports the assessment of maternal psychological well-being along with other environmental factors as part of a prenatal health program.
|Contact: Keely Savoie|
American Thoracic Society | <urn:uuid:28134239-32ee-4880-946b-8a9baece4871> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-1/Mothers-prenatal-stress-predisposes-their-babies-to-asthma-and-allergy-19681-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00111-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94256 | 687 | 2.828125 | 3 |
By David Wagner
|Corylus cornuta (wild hazelnut)|
September marks the beginning of the end as far as summer is concerned. On the one hand, some of our best days occur this month, beautiful and sunny but not too hot. Shortening days are impossible not to notice; the fastest rate of change occurs around the equinox, Sept. 22 this year.
There is a great bird event midmonth: the passage of Vaux’s swifts southward. They roost in huge numbers at various stopping points. In Eugene it is the old chimney of Agate Hall, at 17th and Agate. It is a sight to see them swirling in the evening sky by the thousands, then swoop into the chimney together.
Gardens are bountiful this time of the year. The earliest tomatoes are producing well, the biggest ones need a few more sunny days to mature. If you don’t already practice preservation, this is a good year to learn. Simply chopping and freezing in zipper bags works for much produce, even zucchini. They will be wonderful in a soup come January.
Squirrels and scrub jays are busily burying hazelnuts and acorns. This appears to be a big acorn year for Kellogg’s black oak, not so for the Oregon white oak. The tribes of this area never did use acorns much, but their middens are filled with wild hazelnut shells. It is a marvel that they were able to find enough for a harvest. To a casual botanist nuts are scarce on wild hazelnuts, and competition with squirrels and birds must be tough.
David Wagner is a botanist who has worked in Eugene for more than 30 years. He teaches mosses and is president of the Eugene Natural History Society. He may be reached at email@example.com | <urn:uuid:2a71f403-9aaa-4241-bcd3-6e636a08b434> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2009/09/03/abouttime.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392159.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00025-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954072 | 395 | 2.671875 | 3 |
The Falklands War was a remarkable episode in the history of three countries: Great Britain, Argentina and the Falkland Islands. It brought about fundamental changes in each case. It was a dazzling military accomplishment too, and because of the intense worldwide media interest at the time the detailed record now available provides a unique case study for historians to examine a small war from every conceivable angle; militarily, politically, and sociologically.
In Britain at that time, the Thatcher government was falling rapidly in public opinion polls and was facing the prospect of losing the next election after just one very difficult term in office. Margaret Thatcher was propelled into two further terms in office by the decisive leadership she had shown and by the sense of national regeneration and optimism following victory in the South Atlantic.
Argentina had been ruled by a brutal and bloody military dictatorship which had launched the invasion in a desperate attempt to shore up popular support. It worked; the nation rallied behind the Junta in an outpouring of nationalistic pride. Their defeat led directly to the end of military rule and the establishment of democracy in that country. However, it did not mean the end of Argentine aspirations over the Falkland Islands.
The Falkland Islands was seemingly forgotten and unwanted, and starved of investment by absentee landlords. Very few people in Britain even knew where the Falklands were. The invasion and subsequent liberation changed everything. The Islanders found a new sense of vitality, made economic and political reforms, and over the following twenty years turned their country into a prosperous place to be, with a bright future.
As a military venture, Argentina made a number of catastrophic errors. Errors of judgement, errors of timing, errors of tactics, and errors of leadership. Despite all that they still had all the advantages, and once in possession of the Islands they should have been unmovable. Britain had to send a hastily assembled fleet half way round the globe, with minimal support at such extreme range, make a hazardous amphibious landing, and assault well-established defences to recapture the Islands.
In accomplishing that objective, Britain showed the value of a well-trained, well-led professional force. The task force, as it was called, comprised around 100 ships of all shapes and sizes, many requisitioned and still crewed by civilians, and altogether almost 30,000 men and women. They were awarded the South Atlantic Medal for their part in the war. The South Atlantic Medal Association (1982) and this website are theirs, and this is their story. | <urn:uuid:bbb03b24-8c2c-4048-9d66-475849af5e8e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sama82.org.uk/1982/tabid/76/Default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398873.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00026-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974708 | 507 | 3.859375 | 4 |
Pushing Chirped-Pulse Fourier Transform Spectroscopy to Millimeter-Wave Frequencies
Researchers Brandon Carroll, Justin Neill & Dan Zaleski
Chirped-pulse Fourier transform spectroscopy, which builds on recent technological advances in arbitrary waveform generation and detection, is a powerful technique for broad-bandwidth molecular rotational spectroscopy. The coming availability of sensitive radio telescopes with high detection bandwidths in the microwave and millimeter-wave regions provides the driving force for pushing chirped-pulse spectrometers to higher frequency.
In developing chirped-pulse spectrometers at millimeter-wave frequencies, the primary challenges are producing phase-stable chirped pulses, overcoming the reduced power levels available as frequency increases, and sensitively detecting molecular emissions against zero background. Chirped-pulse millimeter wave spectrometers have been constructed to date at MIT (R. Field) and NIST (D.F. Plusquellic, K.O. Douglass). Here we present the design of a Ka-band (26-40 GHz) chirped-pulse spectrometer that can collect a 15 GHz spectrum in 10 microseconds, with high phase stability (permitting extensive signal averaging) and accurate relative intensities. This spectrometer can detect transient species, such as radicals or ions, that are challenging to synthesize in large abundances. Also, this spectrometer overlaps in frequency with both the Green Bank Telescope and Expanded Very Large Array (above).
The primary concern of the current spectrometer design is the presence of spurious signals and “ghosts”. Ghosts are molecular signals that are the result of sub-harmonic mixing. This is a problem because ghosts can occupy a large number of detection channels for a dense spectrum. Fortunately, the main ghosts that remain come from sub-harmonic mixing of twice the PDRO frequency, and are thus predictable and able to be cut. Ultimately the final design will utilize a 44 GHz PDRO. Down-converting from above the molecular signals will greatly reduce the effects of sub-harmonic mixing. A filter for a 44 GHz PDRO is currently being prototyped (K&L Microwave).
The measurement of the pure rotational spectrum of OCS (0.4% dissolved in neon), shown above, is used to demonstrate the sensitivity and intensity accuracy of the Ka-Band CP-FTMW spectrometer. After 315,000 signal acquisitions, the signal to noise of the J=3-2 rotational transition of the normal species of OCS was approximately 200,000:1. The isotopomer O13C33S can clearly be seen in natural abundance. Across all measured isotopomers, the relative intensities are on the order of 27.64% of the literature isotope abundance ratios. Accurate relative intensities allow relative species populations and relative dipole moments to be derived.
* Indicates that the molecule is interstellar
A major advantage of this spectrometer is in the ability to analyze complex mixtures, especially for experiments in which a pulsed-discharge nozzle (PDN) introduces countless new molecular carriers. These new signals could be the result of synthesis, fragmentation, ions, radicals, or high energy conformers. Many of these discharge products may also be found in the interstellar medium (ISM). This ability is demonstrated above. Allene (0.1% in Neon carrier gas) was discharged at 1.1 kV. Because allene has no rotational spectrum, all observed molecular species are due to synthesis in the discharge nozzle. A total of 159 molecular transitions were identified, 60 by using Splatalogue.net.
G.G. Brown et al. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 79 (2008) 053103.
G.B. Park et al., 64th International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy, 2009.
K.O. Douglass et al., 65th International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy, 2010. | <urn:uuid:62ab50c3-5b44-4c74-b945-b9952fc227af> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.virginia.edu/ccu/CP-FTMW_JN_BC.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397636.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00000-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.874802 | 835 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Nothing feels better in pregnancy than a long, warm shower and shampoo after a long day being pregnant. Women rarely check soap and shampoo ingredient labels because they are not consuming the products.
The scalp and skin absorb chemicals found in soaps and shampoos, most importantly known and potential carcinogens.
Two sodium based ingredients found on the back of soap or shampoo bottle may be sodium laurel sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate. These sodiums can be difficult to tell apart, but pregnant women need only remember “laureth”. Sodium laureth sulfate is a potential carcinogen. OSHA and the American Cancer Society claim the ingredient is safe. The Environmental Protection Agency, however, lists the ingredient 1,4-dioxane as a “probable” human carcinogen. Some products containing sodium laureth sulfate also contain 1,4-dioxane.
The Food and Drug Administration knows soaps and shampoos contain sodium laureth sulfate and 1,4-dioxane. While they claim to be monitoring 1,4-dioxane levels, the FDA has not banned the ingredient or forced manufacturers to remove the ingredient from human products. Instead, they suggest manufacturers remove 1,4-dioxane and leave it at that. The Organic Consumers Association completed testing for 1,4-dioxane, in 2008, with alarming results. Children’s shampoo, raw cosmetic materials, and finished cosmetic products all tested positive for 1,4-dioxane.
Pregnant women need to stay away from soaps and shampoos containing sodium laureth sulfate as the product could also contain 1,4-dioxane. Natural products are available with organic, safe ingredients perfect for use during pregnancy. The general rule of thumb is – “If you can’t pronounce it, don’t use it!”
When choosing soap and shampoo products during pregnancy, it is also important to watch out for oxybenzone. This ingredient is commonly used to increase absorption of ingredients into the skin and is known to cause cell damage and potentially birth defects in male infants.
Beauty care is an important part of feeling beautiful during pregnancy, but the brass facts are that some products contain ingredients that could be harmful to the mother and fetus, including those used in soap and shampoo. | <urn:uuid:88b2db12-4352-48c5-ab86-f0d15cfd22e4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.babymed.com/soap/soap-shampoo-and-pregnancy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00065-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928002 | 481 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Can measuring the positions and velocities of thousands of galaxies provide insight into the nature of dark energy? If so, we may have found a way to study what is perhaps the most puzzling question in astrophysics, the discovery that the expansion of the universe is proceeding faster today than it did in the past. Armchair theorists love dark energy because we know so little about it, and I routinely get e-mails offering to tell me exactly what dark energy is, few of which have any bearing on current observation or theory.
But that’s the way of mysteries — they incite comment — and as mysteries go, dark energy is a big one, perhaps the biggest now stirring the astrophysical cauldron. If we assume a dark energy producing a check on the gravitational pull of all matter in the cosmos, we’ve got the attention not just of cosmologists but propulsion theorists, who would love to find out how such a repulsive force might work. And if there is no such thing as dark energy, then determining why should tell us much about where and how we need to tweak current theories of gravitation, which also may have propulsion implications.
The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope array is at the heart of the latest dark energy work, looking at redshift distortions of distant galaxies by the thousands. The work relies on the fact that the expanding universe pushes galaxies away from each other, even as gravity tries to pull them together. Olivier Le Fevre, a member of the large international team behind this study, focuses on its technique:
“By measuring the apparent velocities of large samples of galaxies over the last thirty years, astronomers have been able to reconstruct a three-dimensional map of the distribution of galaxies over large volumes of the Universe. This map revealed large-scale structures such as clusters of galaxies and filamentary superclusters. But the measured velocities also contain information about the local motions of galaxies; these introduce small but significant distortions in the reconstructed maps of the Universe. We have shown that measuring this distortion at different epochs of the Universe’s history is a way to test the nature of dark energy.”
With thirteen thousand spectra in a field of view twenty times the size of the full Moon now available, the team can compare its result to the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey of the ‘local’ universe, assessing what the comparison tells us about dark energy. What seems to be emerging thus far is a confirmation of the technique, which will now require a set of future measurements to be extended over an area ten times larger than the current field. We are, in other words, still at the point of shaping our tools, and unable to make the definitive call on dark energy vs. competing explanations for what we observe. But shaping our tools is simply part of the necessary and painstaking preliminaries that make all science work.
The paper is Guzzo et al. (and I do mean ‘et al.,’ as there are 51 authors listed!), “A test of the nature of cosmic acceleration using galaxy redshift distortions,” Nature 451 (31 January 2008), pp. 541-544 (abstract). Also be aware of Strauss, “Cosmology: An ancient view of acceleration,” in the same issue (more on this one when I have time to study it). | <urn:uuid:1d46a2bc-5e2c-4738-be51-9118fe09af16> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=1700 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00067-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927964 | 689 | 3.296875 | 3 |
First front-wheel drive Volvo turns 25 years
Today all Volvos are either front- or four-wheel driven. In1985 it was a different situation. Since 1927, rear-wheel drive had been used by Volvo Car Corporation but on October 15, 1985, Volvo published a picture of their first series-produced front-wheel drive car - the 480ES. There, a new technical era began and since 1998 all Volvos are either front- or four-wheeldriven. And everything started in 'space'...
The future was called Galaxy
Volvo 480 ES was the result of a strategic product planning project. This project - which was all about the future Volvo cars and called Galaxy - contained several suggestions for future replacements of the 340/360 cars, the 240 line-up and the 760/740 models in a long term perspective. To put it simple, Galaxy resulted in the 400 and 850 cars. Work progressed on two fronts; at Volvo Car Corporation in Gothenburg with the larger car and in the Dutch company Volvo Car B.V. with the compact models.
Volvo 480 ES was the first model to emanate from a whole new generation of cars from Volvo Car B.V., Volvo Car Corporation's Dutch subsidiary that built its cars in the Born plant. It wasn't just the technical layout with front-wheel drive that made the 480 different from other Volvos, it was also sleek and boldy wedge-shaped, a 2 + 2 seater with its rear body shaped like an estate car and a glass tailgate. It also featured pop-up headlamps and the classic Volvo grille with its diagonal ribbon was merely hinted - positioned below the front bumper. Its exterior was the work of Dutchman John De Vries with Briton Peter Horbury being responsible for the inside. The latter was later to become head of design at Volvo Cars. Twice to be exact.
A real roadcar
The official Volvo 480 ES debut took place at the international motorshow in Geneva. Not only was the car cool to look at, but it was also a great roadcar. The dynamic properties of the 480 well matched its sporty looks, in spite of a modest 109 hp power output. The engine was a 1.7 litre SOHC Renault unit with electronic fuel-injection. It was installed transversely in the 480, another Volvo first, and drove the frontwheels through a five-speed gearbox. This way of designing a car - with a compact powerpack at the front which results in plenty of room for the occupants inside the wheelbase - was new to Volvo but soon adopted across the model range.
Volvo 480 was very well equipped in standard version, filled with practical and personal solutions. A lot of them were electronically controlled which in turn caused its fair bit of reliability problems. Of course, such a well-equipped car couldn't come cheap but the 1986 480 ES was competitively priced at SEK 120,000 incl.taxes.
Turbo at the top
For model year 1988 more power was added in the form of turbocharging. The Volvo 480 Turbo was fitted with an electronically-controlled turbocharger unit with intercooler which raised power output to 120 hp and resulted in a top speed in excess of 200 kph. In 1993, the normally-aspirated engine was enlarged to 2 litres, resulting in 110 hp and much improved torque characteristics.
A prototype convertible was shown at the 1990 Geneva Motorshow but never reached production. However, both prototypes that were built have survived and sit in Volvo Museum. Another couple of design studies, among them a targatop and a fastback were also built and have also been saved for the future.
The original US launch plans were for different reasons never realized, one of them being the ES's lack of performance. But they were essential in order to reach the anticipated volumes that were in the original plans and to pave the way for more 400 models. Volvo 480 cars were hence sold in Europe and appr. 3,800 cars reached Sweden, of a total production of 76,375 units during the ten year period 1985 - 1995.
In its final version, the 480 Turbo cost SEK 214,600 incl taxes. The last 480 rolled off the line in Born at the same time as the new S40 compact was introduced on September 7, 1995, and another technical generation took over. | <urn:uuid:8710e9c3-491c-46cc-a3ea-d8b68362c2f1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/pressreleases/34913 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00009-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970762 | 900 | 2.6875 | 3 |
The news if full of stories about the recent deaths in Louisiana from infections with Naegleria fowleri, often called the brain-eating amoeba. This is a very rare infection caused when this amoeba that is found most often in warm fresh water lakes and streams gets into the nose and then infects the brain leading to it’s moniker as the brain eating amoeba. The result is a usually fatal amoebic meningoencephalitis. At least one of the cases in Louisiana seemed to be related to use of non-sterilized tap water in a Neti Pot solution.
You may know about neti-pots and sinus rinse being used for management of various nose and sinus problems, and I’ve long been a strong proponent of sinus rinse therapy. I tend to prefer the much simpler to use sinus rinse bottles to the Neti-pot, but they are both very effective. I have not been rigorous about telling patients to use distilled or previously boiled water for this use, but after these admittedly rare but preventable issues I plan to change this advice.
Naegleria fowleri is the only species in the Naegleria family of amoeba that causes infection in humans. Most commonly this infection occurs after swimming in infested waters. The life cycle of the Naegleria fowleri organism is in three stages. The organism can exist as cysts, essentially a resting stage, as trophozoites which is the infectious stage to humans, and a flagellated stage. If the trophozoite enters the nose it can migrate through the olfactory nerve up through the top of the frontal sinuses into the brain where it can cause primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. Typically trophozoites are seen in brain tissue and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), but occasionally flagellated forms are seen in CSF.
In the US Naegleria fowleri is found primarily in warm water of the southern tier of states. It is also sometimes seen in geothermal springs and in industrial warm water effluent or heated poorly chlorinated swimming pools or hot water heaters not kept at temperatures over 47 degrees C (116.6 degrees F).
Naegleria fowleri amoebic meningoencephalitis is rare. In the years from 2001-2010 according to CDC records only 32 cases were documented in the U.S., with 30 being from recreational water activities and 2 from a contaminated geothermal drinking water supply. (1)
The CDC site notes that in southern states there is a high incidence of Naegleria fowleri in the waters, yet the very rare cases of brain-eating amoeba infections due to Naegleria fowleri make it clear that the risk of any given exposure to these waters is very low. Now using sterilized water for Neti Pot solution recipes and sinus irrigation seems a reasonable additional step to avoid brain eating amoeba infections.
To check out other uncommon and strange diseases also see: | <urn:uuid:71b1ab2e-d3f7-48e6-abfc-dba60acf725c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://drpullen.com/braineatingamoebanaegleriafowleri | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398628.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00006-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939507 | 643 | 2.9375 | 3 |
This analysis includes a valuation of coral reef-associated fisheries, potential losses to tourism due to beach erosion, and examines the role of coral reefs in reducing coastal flooding during storms. In addition, we provide a literature review of 16 coral reef valuations conducted in Jamaica...
A new economic valuation shows what Jamaica’s economy stands to lose if its coral reefs decline further.
Coral reefs provide significant value to the Jamaican economy, including tourism, fisheries and shoreline protection, according to new analysis released today.
More than 75 percent of the coral reefs in the Atlantic region are at risk from local threats (i.e., coastal development, overfishing/destructive fishing, marine-based pollution, and/or watershed-base
This working paper looks at the benefits that coastal ecosystems provide to the Dominican Republic. The studies highlight the contribution of coastal ecosystems to the economy and the need for greater investment in protecting coastal and marine ecosystems, including better management of marine...
In Latin America the BOP market is $509 billion and includes 360 million people, 70 percent of the population in the 21 countries surveyed.
Nine Caribbean sub-regions---Bahamian, Bermuda, Eastern Caribbean, Florida, Greater Antilles, Gulf of Mexico, Southern Caribbean, Southwestern Caribbean, and Western Caribbean.
When the four threats -- coastal development, sedimentation, marine-based pollution, and overfishing -- are integrated into the Reefs at Risk Threat Index, nearly two-thirds of the region's coral reef
Most reported observations of coral disease worldwide have been in the Caribbean.
Source: Global Coral Disease Database, United Nations Environment Programme -- World Conservation Monitoring Ce
Observations of coral bleaching in the Caribbean are widespread. Of the over 500 observations in recent decades, 24 were during the 1980s, over 350 during the 1990s, and over 100 since 2000. | <urn:uuid:34bb9e38-c412-4ec8-9843-6bfdc8494d8c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wri.org/geography/caribbean?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00170-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926874 | 381 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Metrology on a Chip
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are being used by the Materials team to miniaturise and replicate on the micro-scale, an industry standard metrology technique for determining the piezoelectric coefficients of bulk samples.
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are being used by NPL's Materials team to miniaturise and replicate on the micro-scale, an industry standard metrology technique for determining the piezoelectric coefficients of bulk samples.
The Berlincourt method, as it is known, applies an oscillatory force to a piezoelectric sample, and the resultant charge developed across the piezoelectric device is compared to the charge produced on a calibrated reference sample.
MEMS devices, designed and simulated at NPL using Coventorware software were fabricated using a bulk and surface micromachining process at the US foundry MEMSCAP. The devices use thermal bimorph actuation techniques to apply the necessary force to the piezoelectric and are capable of probing the properties of samples with lateral dimensions ranging from a few millimetres down to ~10 micrometres. This is the first metrological technique capable of measuring the direct piezoelectric effect at these length scales, and will be an important tool in determining the effects of size reduction of functional materials, and how ferroelectrics can be integrated into micro-scale devices.
Find out more about NPL's work in Functional Materials
For more information, please contact Jenny Wooldridge
Please note that the information will not be divulged to third parties, or used without your permission | <urn:uuid:4ff21452-c2e3-4301-91df-0f4b1d206cb7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.npl.co.uk/science-technology/advanced-materials/materials-areas/functional/piezo-mems | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396875.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00041-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.859149 | 344 | 2.71875 | 3 |
TUESDAY, April 9 (HealthDay News) -- Although students who get free or discounted lunches through federal programs are more likely to be obese than students who don't, kids in states that set higher standards for these meals are less likely to suffer that fate, new research finds.
"Students who participate in the school lunch program tend to be more obese in general, not because of the program itself but because they usually come from lower-income households where obesity is more of a problem," explained study author Daniel Taber, a research scientist with the Health Policy Center of the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
"So, what we looked at was a state-by-state comparison of the gap in obesity between those kids who participate in the school lunch program and those who don't," Taber said. "And what we saw was that the gap was smaller in states that exceeded the USDA [U.S. Department of Agriculture] standard."
Taber and his colleagues report their findings online April 8 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
First established in 1946, U.S. National School Lunch Program (NSLP) meals are now consumed daily by about 32 million schoolchildren across the United States. Participation is offered to those from households where income levels are low enough to qualify.
Although lauded for its intent, the federally funded program is administered at the state -- rather than federal -- level, and it has faced criticism for often not meeting current USDA nutritional standards.
To explore the effect of any differences, the team took a snapshot of nearly 4,900 eighth-grade students across 40 states in 2006-2007.
Body mass index (or BMI, a measurement based on height and weight) and obesity data on the students was gleaned from a national study launched in 1998 to track a nationally representative sample of school kids.
Some of the kids got free or discounted NSLP lunches; some purchased food at school at market rates; and some got their lunches from home or elsewhere.
The investigators found that in states where USDA nutritional standards were exceeded, just about 21 percent of the NSLP children were found to be obese, compared with a little more than 17 percent of non-NSLP children.
However, that spread was much wider in states serving at-standard meals, with 26 percent of NSLP kids deemed obese compared with just under 14 percent of non-NSLP students. Similarly, BMI gaps were also greater in states where minimum standard meals were offered.
What's more, the researchers found that students consuming healthier meals were not more likely to seek other sources (such as vending machines or fast-food establishments) for less nutritional sweet or salty foods and/or sugary drinks.
That said, Taber said that going forward there is reason to be optimistic, given that states are now in the process of updating the NSLP laws that had been place when the study was conducted to more closely match updated USDA standards. The newer standards place a greater emphasis on the importance of preparing meals that include whole grains, fruits, vegetables and skim milk, while cutting back on trans fats.
"What this means is that what had been above-standard during our study will now be standard," he noted. "So, essentially those states that had been providing meals that exceeded previous USDA standards were ahead of the curve. And they saw benefits as a result, as opposed to those states that only met outdated minimums, and therefore missed an opportunity to lower obesity risk."
In an accompanying editorial, Marion Nestle, a professor in the department of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University in New York City, said the findings are important because they highlight the government's key role in "leveling the playing field," so that all children are exposed to quality nutrition rather than junk food.
"The food industry cannot make significant changes on its own because food companies are beholden to stockholders' concerns about returns to investors," she said. "Consumer demand also doesn't work in the face of millions of dollars spent on food marketing, advertising and lobbying," Nestle pointed out.
"[But] if you take junk food and sodas out of schools, kids don't eat as much of them and are healthier," Nestle said. "If you have strict nutrition standards for school food, the food is healthier and so are the kids. This may seem self-evident, but now we have research to prove it."
For more on the U.S. National School Lunch Program, visit the U.S. Food and Nutrition Service.
SOURCES: Daniel Taber, Ph.D., research scientist, Health Policy Center, Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago; Marion Nestle, Ph.D., M.P.H., professor, department of nutrition, food studies, and public health, New York University, New York City; April 8, 2013, JAMA Pediatrics, online
All rights reserved | <urn:uuid:01dbd0c3-f3c0-4cc5-81c7-9efa860f9610> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-1/Better-School-Lunches-May-Lead-to-Slimmer-Students-103573-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00026-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975838 | 1,021 | 3.359375 | 3 |
I have got to get a solar telescope. Why? Because this:
That is a gorgeous shot of the Sun (which you really want to click to embiggen) taken by Spanish astronomer Paco Bellido on July 23. He was using a Coronado Solarmax telescope that was equipped with a special filter that shows warm hydrogen roiling on and above the surface of the Sun.
The image is inverted, so that dark material appears bright and vice versa. Long curls of filaments hang across the Sun’s face; megatons of hydrogen plasma suspended by our star’s powerful magnetic field. They really look three-dimensional, don’t they? Bellido made a red/green anaglyph version if you have the glasses for it, and that makes those filaments really pop out.
Sometimes filaments collapse back onto the Sun’s surface, and sometimes they erupt away. Alan Friedman, whose work has been on this blog many, many times, was observing the Sun on July 26 and caught one suspended without visible support above the Sun’s limb:
In fact that hydrogen is trapped in the Sun’s magnetic field, so it was being supported (and, I’ll add, when a filament is seen against the backdrop of space it’s called a prominence). Friedman’s image is also inverted—he created a positive one for purists, too, if you'd like to see it. In the larger version of his picture you can see tremendous detail, but note that the Sun is about 1.4 million kilometers (860,000 miles) across, so something that looks small still dwarfs our entire planet! That filament you see wrapping around the Sun at the upper left is probably 300,000 km in length—almost enough to stretch from the Earth to the Moon.
I’ll note that we should now be approaching the peak of the solar magnetic cycle, when sunspots should be numerous and activity on the rise. However, the Sun hasn’t been holding up its end of the bargain; it’s still way below what we’d expect it to be doing. This whole cycle has been weird literally since it started, and I’m still not sure what the Sun’s going to do. Will it come roaring back, or will it continue to fizzle? Only time will tell. | <urn:uuid:ae3fbae5-fa47-4ff0-b6f3-00cb2fda4d8c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/08/07/solar_filaments_vast_ribbons_of_gas_hang_over_the_sun_s_surface.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00110-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955443 | 496 | 2.796875 | 3 |
U.S. military officials plan to stem the rising toll of suicide among service members with a controversial data-driven tactic. The National Institute of Mental Health and the U.S. Army have recently seen the fruits of a 65 million dollar partnership to create an assessment program that aims to flag soldiers at high risk so that officials can intervene and offer help before to prevent potential suicides from occurring.
The first-of-its-kind program was developed using data gathered from a study of around 400,000 soldiers’ deployment, health and personnel records between from between 2004 and 2009, conducted by former Army secretary Pete Geren. By examining thousands of personnel records with an eye for key risk factors, researchers identified a subgroup of soldiers that comprised 0.8 percent of the total sample, yet accounted for an astounding 14 percent of all suicides. In this subgroup, the suicide rate was 358 out of 100,000—30 times greater than the historical rate for the army. The findings from the study were then compiled to build a profile that would be used to identify the most at-risk soldiers.
Once the computer identified soldiers who fit the profile, company commanders would be given a list of names of the at-risk soldiers within their units so that they could approach them for counseling. Mental health providers would also be alerted.
Kim Ruocco, a director at the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors raised concerns that with soldiers anxieties already high due to the military’s planned downsizing, the new program may inadvertently isolate troubled soldiers and exacerbate their problems. But military leaders emphasized that soldiers who were identified as at-risk would be approached with support and reassured that asking for help would not threaten their job.
The program also has detractors in the civilian scientific community. Lanny Berman, a psychologist and executive director of the American Association of Suicidology told USA Today that there is no way to link the program directly to any change in suicide rate, making it hard to judge the effectiveness of the effort. However, Army Deputy Undersecretary Thomas Hawley emphasized that the program “is not an academic exercise … this is a real-world effort for real soldiers."
Military leaders are hoping to launch the pilot program by next spring. | <urn:uuid:e4d4fd20-a6d1-4a15-8b86-207af7072a85> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.thedailybeast.com/the-hero-project/articles/2013/10/08/military-trying-to-predict-suicides.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396100.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00052-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964379 | 455 | 2.671875 | 3 |
By now, most of us have gotten the message that the less plastic we use, the better off our planet and bodies will be. By using less plastic, particularly in the kitchen, we can reduce our daily toxic loads simply by ingesting fewer of the chemicals that leech out of plastics when heated. So how to cut exposure in a plastic-wrapped world? Start by learning which plastics to avoid and how to use the rest as wisely. To start tapering off your plastic dependency, here’s what I suggest:
- Say no way BPA.
Top of the heap to avoid: plastics containing BPA’s. They significantly increase the risk of certain cancers, numerous hormonal and reproductive problems plus a host of other chronic diseases. To make matters worse, BPA’s appear to be even more dangerous to babies and children, who are most often exposed to BPA’s via certain types sippy cups, food containers and toys! In short, there’s no good news whatsoever about BPA’s, so steer clear of them.
Come out, come out where ever you are!Where do the BPA’s lurk? Tucked into the linings of most metal cans, including canned foods and baby formula – a horrifying thought when you think about how long some canned items can sit on a shelf, leeching BPA’s into your food! Where else? In containers marked “PC” (aka polycarbonate) and most containers marked with the recycling code “7.” Keep them out of baby’s mouth and yours by avoiding canned goods as well as hard, see-thru plastic baby bottles, sippy cups and plastic water bottles. To drink in fewer toxins without giving up portability and convenience, buy only BPA-free baby bottles and water bottles.
- Make yourself a glass act.
My ultimate prescription: Skip plastic altogether and store, cook, eat and drink with all glass, all the time. If that’s not always feasible, at least be aware of what you’re bringing into your home. When buying food and beverage items, look for the recycling codes on the bottom of the container. If they’re tagged with a # 1,2, 4 or 5, they’ll be BPA-free, making those containers an OK choice for the short-term. Although #6 is BPA free, it is polystyrene, which I recommend you avoid as well as it is a possible carcinogen and toxic to the nervous system. When you get home from the store, decant purchases from their plastic containers into glass ones to stop further chemical leeching.
- Hey what about number 3?
Give items marked with a “3” a wide berth! The seemingly innocuous number 3 actually denotes that the item is made of PVC, also known as vinyl, a notorious toxic off-gasser. You’ll see it most often in toys and plastic wraps. Avoid them both. If you bring home food wrapped in plastic wrap, remove it immediately and transfer the food into a glass container for storage. When cooking in the microwave, never use plastic wrap to speed heating or reduce splatters, cover items with a paper towel instead. Need an easy way to help remember the BPA bad boys? Make this your shopping mantra: PC-7-3 — BPA’s, not for me!
- Treat your plastics right.
Think of it this way: Plastics — if you heat ‘em you eat ‘em. In other words, never cook or microwave in plastic containers, no matter how BPA-free they may be. Heating any kind of plastic, with BPA’s or without, will increase chemical leeching and add to your toxic load. The heat ‘em/eat ‘em rule applies to cleaning plastics as well. A good rule of thumb is to hand-wash plastics with warm soapy water, non-abrasive sponges or dish towels and allow to air dry. Most dishwashers clean so hot that they help degrade the plastic and speed their breakdown, which again, will allow more leeching to occur.
- Know when to say good-bye.
Know when it’s time to retire a plastic item. Though they may last forever in the landfill, it’s bad for your health to use them forever. When to toss? Take a close look. If an item is scratched, cloudy or battle-scarred from years of good service, decommission it to prevent tiny flecks of plastic from mixing into your food. Last but not least – never re-use single use-bottles, as they too are not designed to withstand repeated usage or repeated washings. Better yet, don’t buy single-use bottles in the first place for a healthier body and planet. My advice? Keep it glassy!
- # # #Frank Lipman MD is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of Integrative and Functional Medicine. A practicing physician, he is the founder and director of the Eleven Eleven Wellness Center in NYC and the developer of Be Well by Dr. Frank Lipman, a line of leading-edge supplements and kits to make healthy living easy for busy people. To hang with Frank, visit his blog, follow him on Twitter or join his Facebook community today. | <urn:uuid:a0c5aa45-54ee-479a-8296-6b578213a553> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://thedailylove.com/plastics-live-better-without-em/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00155-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931321 | 1,119 | 2.828125 | 3 |
April 29 (HealthDay News) -- Danish scientists testing a novel HIV treatment in human trials contend that they're confident their strategy will result in a cure for the AIDS-causing virus, according to news reports.
The technique -- already tested successfully in lab experiments -- involves freeing the HIV virus from DNA cells, where it collects in "reservoirs," and bringing it to the surface of the cells, the Telegraph
in Great Britain reported. Once the virus has surfaced, it can be permanently destroyed by a "vaccine" that primes the body's natural immune system, the researchers said.
"I am almost certain that we will be successful in releasing the reservoirs of HIV," said Dr. Ole Sogaard, a senior researcher at the Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, according to the news report. So far the clinical trials are "promising," he said. ...
... Sogaard said a "cure" is different than a preventative vaccine. That means continued awareness of unsafe behaviors -- such as avoiding unprotected sex or sharing needles for intravenous drug use -- is still the key to combating HIV. ...
May 3, '13
by herring_RN Guide
A caller to talk radio said he doesn't believe "they" want a cure because there is minimal profit curing HIV compared to the expensive medication needed to treat it as a chronic disease.
I disagree. I think if the scientists are successful Denmark and other European countries may make it available first. It can treat the young people in Africa. Doctors in the United States will use it as soon as possible.
I prayed for their success.
Last edit by herring_RN on May 4, '13
: Reason: typos | <urn:uuid:d80f794d-3d06-47f3-a32d-a7251048d1da> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://allnurses-breakroom.com/world-news-current/hiv-cure-looks-830899.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398873.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00093-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952726 | 353 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Progress of Natural Regeneration after Final Felling under the Current Silvicultural Practices in Matang Mangrove Reserve
Srivastava, P. B. L and Khamis, Daud (1978) Progress of Natural Regeneration after Final Felling under the Current Silvicultural Practices in Matang Mangrove Reserve. Pertanika (2). pp. 126-135.
The paper presents the results of an investigation on the progress of regeneration of mangrove forests after logging with emphasis on species composition, distribution pattern and stocking. The investigation was undertaken in the Port Weld Range of The Matang Mangrove Reserve. The areas chosen belong to inundation classes III and IV (Watson, 1928) representing a typical Rhizophora. type. Two age classes, i.e. 12 months and 24 months after felling, were sampled by means of Linear Regeneration Sampling (LRS 1) method. Rhizophora spp. and Bruguiere parviflora were the most important species in the residual stands with 3701 and 3376 seedlings per acre of Rhizophora spp. respectively in the areas 12 and 24 month after final felling. There was a significant decrease in the number of B.. parviflora seedlings in the areas 2..f- months after felling with only 62 seedlings per acre compared to 1282 seedhngs per acre, 12 months after felling. There was no large scale mortality in the Rhizophora seedlings with time during this period. At both the age classes, the areas had enough number of seedlings to produce a fully stocked stand at the end of rotation if no large scale mortality occurred.
Repository Staff Only: Edit item detail | <urn:uuid:ea2760a1-dce7-4c00-afd3-4e80e69eb00e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/2013/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00163-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908134 | 358 | 2.546875 | 3 |
photographing the river, conducting bathymetry and seismology studies,
and characterizing channel sediment changes. Within the
study area, the Penobscot River channel in both flowing and impounded reaches
is dominated by coarse sediment with a predominately sand matrix. This is in
striking contrast to fine-grained sediment storage noted in many impoundments. Click to learn more: Geological Survey work
Water Quality/Insect Diversity
The Penobscot Indian Nation Water Resources Program monitors aquatic benthic
macroinvertebrates from seven specific locations and characterize water quality conditions via water samples and measurements from 10 sites. Water quality parameters collected include dissolved oxygen, temperature, conductivity, BOD, bacteria, turbidity, secchi
transparency, total suspended solids, pH, chlorophyll, and total phosphorous.
Researchers collect samples throughout the system that are
used for stable isotope analysis to provide
information on nutrient cycling and feeding habits of the various
species at different places and times throughout the system. Stable isotope
studies are based on the idea that "you are what you eat" because isotope
signatures of consumers reflect the isotope values of their prey, which in turn
can be used to infer food chain level and habitat associations (in this case
marine vs. freshwater). Pre-dam removal data collected in 2009-2011 shows
strong isotopic distinctions between the freshwater and marine food webs. Click to learn more: Marine Nutrients
SONAR systems are used to monitor fish presence, abundance and movements in rivers, estuaries, and oceans. Our goal is to measure and understand changes in fish populations before and after the Penobscot River Restoration Project. We have been developing a standardized approach for long-term SONAR monitoring, and collecting pre-restoration data that will be the baseline for comparison in subsequent years following restoration activities. When correlated with other data, it is hoped that hydroacoustics will provide accurate estimates not only of biomass, but also of fish species.
Riparian Zone and Wetlands
Researchers are collecting data on the recolonization of the riparian zone of the river with specific attention on native and invasive plants, as well as wetland characterization.
Atlantic salmon adults
and other species including river herring and American shad,
are being tracked as they move past dams on their upstream migration. PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) technology allows fish to be tracked via loops of wire (antennas) tagged fish must swim through located near the entrances
and exits of fishways. This allows researchers to determine if a fish
entered a fishway, and, if so, if it was successful in passing upstream.
Atlantic salmon smolt, both hatchery and wild, are being tagged and tracked as they descend the river, passing over and through dams, to the Atlantic. Several years of
results indicate that in the Penobscot River, migrating salmon move more
quickly through areas without dams than those with dams. Survival is markedly
higher in river reaches without dams. Click to learn more about Atlantic Salmon: spotlight on salmon
assessing habitat and spawning of two species of sturgeon (shortnosesturgeon
and Atlantic sturgeon) in the Penobscot River. The presence of reproductive
females and suitable spawning habitat in the upper river has been documented.
Reproductive females from the Penobscot River have been tracked moving to the
Kennebec River, potentially indicating a complex reproductive migration pattern. Click to learn more: spotlight on sturgeon
Researchers are electrofishing to provide detailed information on species, total fish biomass, and abundance. Pre-removal many diadromous species were restricted to tidal waters below Veazie Dam, although Atlantic salmon, sea lamprey, and American eel were observed upstream. These data indicate that the restoration of connectivity through dam removal will likely result in predictable shifts in fish assemblages. Click to learn more: Electrofishing
Meet the Scientist!: Steve Coghlan describes the impact of dam removal on sea-run fish and his work investigating fish communities pre-dam removal. | <urn:uuid:a3e1f316-6fcc-477e-aaa6-a6fd7a916377> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.penobscotriver.org/content/4097/science-and-monitoring | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00106-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914864 | 865 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Explainer: 11 historic bear markets
By one common definition, a bear market occurs when stock prices fall for a sustained period, dropping at least 20 percent from their peak. The Great Recession was accompanied by a painful bear market that lasted nearly a year and a half.
Here is a look at some notable bear markets of the past 80 years, with the crash of 1929 shown for comparison.Video: From the archives: tumult in the U.S. economy
September 1929 to June 1932
The stock market crash of Oct. 29, 1929, marked the start of the Great Depression and sparked America's most famous bear market. The S&P 500 fell 86 percent in less than three years and did not regain its previous peak until 1954.
S&P 500 high: 31.86
Loss: 86.1 percent
Duration: 34 monthsVideo: The crash of 1929: A look back
May 1946 to June 1949
Less than a year after the end of World War II, stock prices peaked and began a long slide. As the postwar surge in demand tapered off and Americans poured their money into savings, the economy tipped into a sharp "inventory recession" in 1948.
S&P 500 high: 19.25
Loss: 29.6 percent
Duration: 37 months
December 1961 to June 1962
The economy expanded, but the Bay of Pigs attack of April 1961 and Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 sparked Cold War jitters and a brief bear market.
S&P 500 high: 72.64
Loss: 28.0 percent
Duration: 6 months
November 1968 to May 1970
Rapid-fire growth ended with a mild recession, accompanied by relatively high inflation of about 6 percent annually. The bear market began just as Richard Nixon was elected president after a tumltuous year of assassinations and riots. The weak economy added to a tense national atmosphere dominated by the growing U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
S&P 500 high: 108.37
S&P 500 loss: 36.1 percent
Duration: 18 months
January 1973 to October 1974
Israel's Yom Kippur War and the subsequent Arab oil embargo sent energy prices soaring, sparking a lengthy recession. The annual consumer inflation rate topped 10 percent. The Watergate scandal forcing President Nixon to resign.
S&P 500 high: 119.87
Loss: 48.0 percent
Duration: 21 monthsVideo: Oct. 17, 1973: OPEC announces its 1973 oil embargo
November 1980 to August 1982
After nearly a decade of sustained inflation, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to nearly 20 percent, pushing the economy into recession. The combination of high inflation and slow growth — known as stagflation — was a factor behind Ronald Reagan's victory over President Carter in 1980.
Duration: 21 months
S&P 500 loss: 27.8 percent
August 1987 to December 1987
After a prolonged bull run, computerized "program trading" strategies swamped the market and contributed to the Black Monday crash of Oct. 19. Investors were also nervous after a heated debate between the U.S. and Germany over currency valuations, sparking fears of a devaluation of the dollar. As a result the Dow fell 22.6 percent -- the worst day since the Panic of 1914. Yet while the days after the crash were frightening, by early December the market had bottomed out, and a new bull run had started.
S&P 500 high: 337.89
Loss: 33.5 percent
Duration: 3 monthsVideo: Deja vu? 1987 markets rebound after 'Black Monday'
March 2000 to October 2002
The bursting of the dot-com bubble followed a period of soaring stock prices and exuberant speculation on new Internet companies. Companies with little or no profits had market values that often equaled or exceeded that of established "old-economy" corporate giants. The Nasdaq composite index, which soared in value thanks to the listings of hundreds of tech start-ups, plunged 50 percent in nine months and never again came close to its 2000 peak.
S&P 500 high: 1527.46
Loss: 49.1 percent
Duration: 30 monthsVideo: Free fall: The dot-com bust of 2001
October 2007 to March 2009
A long-feared bursting of the housing bubble became a reality beginning in 2007, and the rising mortgage delinquency rate quickly spilled over into the credit market. By 2008, Wall Street giants like Bear Stearns and Lehman Bros. were toppling, and the financial crisis erupted into a full-fledged panic. By February the market had fallen to its lowest levels since 1997.
S&P 500 high: 1565.15, Oct. 9, 2007
Low: 682.55, March 5, 2009
S&P 500 loss: 56.4 percent
Duration: 17 monthsVideo: Dow goes under 10,000
Source: Global Financial Data, msnbc.com research
Data: Latest rates in the US
|Mortgage rates||View rates in your area|
|30 yr fixed mtg||3.56%|
|15 yr fixed mtg||2.76%|
|30 yr fixed jumbo mtg||4.33%|
|Auto rates||View rates in your area|
|48 month new car loan||3.16%|
|36 month used car loan||3.26%|
|36 month new car loan||3.01%|
|Home equity rates||View rates in your area|
|Home equity type||Today||+/-||Chart|
|$30K HELOC FICO||4.74%|
|$30K home equity loan FICO||4.49%|
|$75K home equity loan FICO||4.13%|
|Credit card rates||View more rates|
|Card type||Today||+/-||Last Week|
|Low Interest Cards||12.02%||12.02%|
|Cash Back Cards||16.70%||16.70%|
|Savings rates||View rates in your area|
|Money market account||0.25%|
|$10K Money market account||0.24%|
|6 month CD||0.33%| | <urn:uuid:a0745471-8665-464e-805f-a7fdadbce177> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nbcnews.com/id/37740147/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/t/historic-bear-markets/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395160.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00032-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913444 | 1,309 | 3.25 | 3 |
The common mode choke is a device often used when attempting to reduce the EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) produced in an electronic circuit. Many modern systems carry signals in differential mode; that is, the signals are transmitted along two wires where one carries the signal from its source and the other carries the signal's return (which is generally at ground potential). The distinguishing characteristic of a differential signal is that its two signal components travel in opposite directions along parallel wires, which may be comprised of (for example) a twisted pair or coaxial cable.
Often, EMI problems are caused by common mode current. Common mode current is defined as those signal components which flow in the same direction along the two wires in a differential system. All cables and wires have the capactity to act as antennas. Noise from external sources (radio stations, power supplies, nearby unrelated electronic equipment) can induce a current in, say, the outer conductor of a piece of coax. If the outer conductor is tied to ground, as is often the case, an induced current might begin to flow away from ground potential along the line designated for the signal return. This can result in "mixing" with the signal itself, which distorts the signal.
The most basic common mode choke consists of two windings, or coils, with a common core. The schematic symbol for the common-mode choke looks like two parallel inductors:
Such an arrangement will allow differential signals to pass unimpeded because of the principles of inductance and magnetic flux. (Quit yawning!) In our common mode choke, the two coils of wire share the same core. When current flows in either of the coils, magnetic flux is induced in the core. Since the two components of a differential signal are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction, there will be two flux components induced in the core which will cancel one another out. Any common-mode signals put through the coils will introduce flux to the core that adds, rather than cancels, resulting in impedance of the signal.
Node your job! | <urn:uuid:98e40ccf-81bc-4aae-9ce5-20380159313f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1503998 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00115-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94217 | 417 | 3.828125 | 4 |
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In a study from England, most babies who died from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) were sleeping with an adult or another child at the time.
Many of these "co-sleeping" deaths occurred in a potentially hazardous environment, such as in a bed or a sofa shared with an adult who recently used drugs or alcohol, according to the report in the British Medical Journal.
Since the early 1990s, the rate of SIDS in the UK has decreased markedly, but to achieve further gains, specific advice must be given to the public regarding the dangers of co-sleeping arrangements, Dr. Peter Fleming, from the University of Bristol, UK, and colleagues emphasize.
Their findings stem from a 4-year study conducted in a southwest region of England, featuring 4.9 million people and 184,000 births. The study focused on 80 infants who died from SIDS, 87 who were randomly selected from the population, and 82 who had known risk factors for SIDS, such as having young, socially deprived, mothers who smoked, but did not die.
Overall, 54 percent of SIDS infants were sleeping with someone else at the time of death.
By contrast, when the parents in the comparison groups were interviewed, just 20 percent said that their babies had been sleeping with someone else in the preceding 24 hours.
As noted, parental use of drugs and alcohol may have played a role in the association between SIDS and co-sleeping. In 31 percent of SIDS infants, a parent had recently used drugs or alcohol compared with just 3 percent of comparison infants.
Co-sleeping on a sofa was also more common among SIDS infants than among others: 17 versus 1 percent.
Pillow use, swaddling, maternal smoking, preterm birth, and fair or poor health were all more common among SIDS infants than among the other babies.
Public health campaigns to prevent SIDS appear to be having an impact as many known risk factors occurred infrequently in the study, such as covering the infant's head during sleep, exposure to tobacco after birth, use of a pacifier, and sleeping in the side position.
However, use of the belly-down or "prone" position, a well-established risk factor for SIDS and the focus of the "Back to Sleep" campaign started in the 1990s, was still an important factor, seen in 29 percent of SIDS infants compared with 10 percent of comparison babies.
Not everyone, however, agrees fully on the link between bed sharing and SIDS, Dr. Edwin A. Mitchell, from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, notes in a related editorial.
"The major disagreement in the bed sharing debate," he says, "is whether the advice to avoid bed sharing should apply at all times in the first 6 months of life, or whether it is acceptable to condone or even encourage bed sharing in the small group that has not been shown to be at increased risk (infants of mothers who do not smoke, who are aged 3 months or more, and whose mothers have not taken alcohol or drugs and do not co-sleep on a sofa."
Nonetheless, in Mitchell's opinion, "the safest place for an infant to sleep is in a cot beside the parents' bed in the first 6 months of life."
SOURCE: BMJ/British Medical Journal, October 14, 2009 Online First issue. | <urn:uuid:57bc37bc-0841-493c-8910-a91d4c0df3c8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.lifescript.com/health/centers/sleep/news/2009/10/14/over_half_of_sids_deaths_occur_during_co-sleeping.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00099-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975631 | 700 | 2.796875 | 3 |
The future is here. We’ve all heard about the Internet of Things, another buzz word circulating the tech community recently. Although technically in existence for more than two decades, the Internet of Things movement has gained greater momentum in the last few years—most notably stepping into a bigger spotlight with Google’s $3.2 billion purchase of Nest Labs, a home device company responsible for the best-selling Nest thermostat. By keeping track of manually inputted temperature settings and surrounding environmental data like room humidity and lighting, Nest eventually collects enough data to learn the daily behavior and preferences of the residents in the home.
These ideas tie into the concept of the Quantified Self, the movement to incorporate technology into data acquisition on aspects of a person’s daily life. Things like daily food consumption, quality of surrounding air, blood oxygen levels, physical and mental performance, and even mood and arousal can be tracked, measured and analyzed—all in the name of improving daily functions and making better decisions (or maybe just nodding thoughtfully at the data instead).
Milking the Benefits in the Dairy Industry
So how does the Quantified Self and the Internet of Things fit with cows, pastures, farmers and milk? Three words: robotic milking machines. Dutch company Lely, self-proclaimed innovators in agriculture, created the Astronaut A4, a state-of-the-art “fully automated milk harvester.” Although the robotic milking machine will set you back about $200,000, the Lely Astronaut A4 collects a large range of cow data to help dairy farmers make better decisions regarding milk production and herd management.
The A4 keeps track of each individual cow’s feeding and health history, preventing cows from sneaking back into the machine for more food if they return too close to their last visit. The system tracks different variables on each cow as it’s being milked: its weight, milk production, time required for milking, amount of feed eaten, and how long the cow chews on its cud. If there’s a health issue with one of the herd, farmers can isolate the problem right away. The machine collects data on the milk itself too, checking the color fat and protein content, temperature, somatic cell count and overall quality.
Equipped with access to more data, dairy farmers are able to gain greater knowledge into their industry and thus maximize outputs. All of this data have translated to better decision-making for the farmers, better quality control of milk production and generally happier cows—and who doesn’t want happy cows? Having a machine do the work allows farmers to focus their energy elsewhere too, freeing up time for really anything else. The trend is clear: as the technology continues to get better, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more quantifiable and actionable data. Quantified Self, the movement to incorporate technology into data acquisition on aspects of not only a person’s daily life, but a cow’s daily life as well. | <urn:uuid:f6448e4e-d4f5-464f-933a-21bb0240675e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.infochimps.com/2014/03/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393463.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00143-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931667 | 627 | 2.703125 | 3 |
PRINT THIS DATA
This climate type is characterized by extremely variable temperature conditions, with annual means decreasing and annual ranges increasing poleward, and relatively little precipitation. This climate is typically located deep within the interiors of continents and is contiguous with the tropical desert climates of North and South America and of central Asia. This region type owes its origins to locations deep within continental interiors, far from the windward coasts and sources of moist, maritime air. Remoteness from sources of water vapor is enhanced in some regions by mountain barriers upwind.
The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Bsh". (Mid-Latitude Steppe and Desert Climate).
The average temperature for the year in Veraval is 80.0°F (26.7°C). The warmest month, on average, is June with an average temperature of 86.0°F (30°C). The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of 72.0°F (22.2°C).
The highest recorded temperature in Veraval is 108.0°F (42.2°C), which was recorded in March. The lowest recorded temperature in Veraval is 45.0°F (7.2°C), which was recorded in December.
There are an average of 59.0 days of precipitation, with the most precipitation occurring in July with 16.0 days and the least precipitation occurring in January with 1.0 days.
In terms of liquid precipitation, there are an average of 59.0 days of rain, with the most rain occurring in July with 16.0 days of rain, and the least rain occurring in January with 1.0 days of rain. | <urn:uuid:2a2a1f98-5401-4b75-a5a3-ba551ebb14af> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=90924&cityname=Veraval%2C+Gujarat%2C+India&units= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00172-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959501 | 351 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Thinking About a Home Wind Turbine? Not So Fast!
Residential wind turbines are an appealing option for renewable energy at home. Per rated unit of output they seem to be cost-effective, somewhat less than solar PV panels. Each successive new product is more attractive than its predecessors, with many as suitable for a sculpture garden as for your rooftop. And, there’s something primal and satisfying about the thought of a spinning turbine in the yard, perhaps harkening back to the pinwheels of our youth. We’ve written previously about some of the most compelling residential-sized options that combine these benefits.
But before you put one at the top of your green dream list, make sure you read this article by Alex Wilson of Building Green. Mr. Wilson is one of the true giants in the green building field, and he’s literally written the book on how to design and build a functional green home (and a good book it is - we highly recommend it!).
What he has found after talking to many testers, developers and manufacturers is that building-integrated wind turbines fall far short of their stated promise. Why? He points out a number of factors that result in poor wind turbine performance:
* Buildings cause turbulence, and wind turbines don’t like turbulence. Wind turbines are generally designed to face directly into a laminar (i.e. smooth) flow of wind. Predicted performance statistics are developed under these ideal conditions. But buildings and accompanying structures redirect wind, causing it to separate into streams that "confuse" wind turbines. This turbulence causes turbines to perform at less than their rated levels even if the building accelerates actual wind speed.
* Turbines can be noisy and cause vibrations. Although vertical axis wind turbines are significantly better, even today’s latest wind turbines can create significant noise and vibrations. Part of this comes from the turbine itself, but another component is the oscillations (and associated resonance) that the turbines create in building structures.
* Actual performance is often much less than predicted performance. For a variety of reasons, small wind turbines mounted on buildings almost never produce as much energy as predicted. Mr. Wilson cites a conversation with Ron Stimmel, an executive from the American Wind Energy Association (the industry trade group), in which Mr. Stimmel says that he’s never seen a small building-mounted wind turbine that achieves the expected performance. In many cases, actual performance was only 5-10% of predicted performance, and some systems generated less electricity than their control electronics used! This all leads to ”¦
* High cost relative to other renewable energy sources. At face value wind turbines seem to be less expensive than PV and other forms of renewable energy (when you look at $ / watt of capacity). But when you factor in the higher cost of mounting a turbine on a building combined with the poor performance mentioned above, solar PV ends up being a more economical choice.
We’re sure that technological advances will continue, and that innovative wind turbine manufacturers will develop better turbines for buildings in the future. But until then, proceed with caution. As much as you might want a wind turbine spinning away on your San Francisco (or Boston) home, they’re probably still best suited for a ranch in Montana!
This article is reproduced with the kind permission of Low Impact Living. For more news and information visit: www.lowimpactliving.com. | <urn:uuid:45c45f16-905e-4bad-bc8e-89d57ca98230> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/39896 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00179-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944138 | 707 | 2.625 | 3 |
History of Ice Making
From the bigger-picture perspective, ice is pretty much as old as the Earth itself. Commercially speaking, its practical benefits only date back a little more than 200 years. Even before electricity was made available to homes and businesses around the world, people could purchase ice; of course, back then, it was a very different commodity.
In those early days, you ordered a sizable block of ice. Once it arrived at your door, you lugged it across the kitchen and hoisted it up into ye olde icebox. There, it would keep the butter firm and the meat from spoiling for a few days until it melted, and the process began again. Along came the power of electricity and as if by magic, things changed.
Fridges no longer needed a block of ice to function; in fact, with the use of a metal tray, you had the power to make your own smaller cubes to be used in warm drinks. A short time later, even ice trays became obsolete with the onset of automatic ice makers. Now, most home fridges come equipped with the ability to intuitively produce ice as your family uses it.
So clearly the ice industry has come a long way from those days of having to beat, bang and chip away at a big block to get a cold drink. You can now have a machine in your home dedicated to the sole purpose of giving you the wonderful, soft, enduring nuggets once only available at a handful of public venues. In light of the choices now gracing the ice maker market, you may want to treat yourself to one for your home as well as one for the road.
The Problem with Conventional Ice Makers
Automatic ice makers now found in almost all refrigerator/freezer models could be considered the best thing since sliced bread. Nobody has to remember to fill any empty trays, and today’s generation never has to know the struggle of twisting those plastic devils to break the cubes loose, ultimately chasing them across the kitchen floor and having to start all over again. Still, there’s a small problem with this little invention.
Common ice makers give you two options: cubed and crushed. Cubes melt too quickly, leave you with a watered down drink and aren’t much fun to munch on once your beverage is gone. Punch the crushed button, and you get cubes sent violently through an auger on their way to your cup resulting in a heavily diluted drink with nothing left in the end but emptiness. Plenty of people have said there must be a better way; fortunately, several engineers agreed with that sentiment over the years and came up with one.
Little Nuggets of Pure Inspiration
Any ice aficionado can tell you nugget ice belongs in a category all by itself, and some less opinionated on the matter simply understand not all ice is created equal. If you’ve ever served time in a hospital, nugget ice makers produce the lovely little bits you get in those giant complimentary cups when you’re not allowed any real food. They’re also what you’ll find in certain convenience store and restaurant chains throughout this great nation of ours. These will remain nameless, but if you’re a die-hard fan of nugget ice, you don’t need a map to find them.
Nugget ice gives people a level of satisfaction you just won’t find with cubes in whole or mutilated form. Many find themselves rushing to those anonymous venues to purchase bags or cups to bring home, only to have it melt before they get there. Well, technology happens to have taken yet another turn. You can now get a nugget ice maker for home or on-the-go, bringing the dream right into your own kitchen, campsite or perfect spot on the beach.
How Does a Nugget Ice Machine Work?
Whether in rectangular prism, crescent, star, heart or other cute shape, traditional ice cubes are nothing more than solid lumps of frozen water. Commercial and residential nugget ice machines operate on an entirely different level. For starters, they create smaller pieces, but this is just a surface element.
You’re probably well aware of the signature texture of nugget ice. It’s softer partially because of the molds involved. They leave minuscule spaces throughout each piece, which take in trace amounts of beverage. This distinctive molding process also freezes each nugget in an unusual manner. Though they’re thoroughly frozen for the most part, they also contain tiny amounts of water brought to temperatures just above the freezing point.
The result is clear. Nugget ice machine home versions give you little pieces of partially frozen delight taking up more space in the cup, so your sodas, fruity beverages and even filtered water may not disappear as quickly as with mundane cubes. Despite cooling drinks more efficiently thanks to their slightly unfrozen droplets of water inside, nuggets actually melt less quickly than other types of ice. This leaves everyone with something tasty, fun and far less painful to snack on post-drink.
Bringing a New Nugget Ice Machine Home
If you’re looking to enjoy nugget ice anytime you want without having to venture out of your house, a number of manufacturers are ready to cater to your desires. Obviously, not all of them are the same. Some certainly stand out amongst the crowd of available options, so consider the following popular models before placing an order.
Scotsman Brilliance 60 lb. Nugget Ice Machine, Door Finish: Stainless Steel
Scotsman has emerged as a leader in the custom ice industry, and their Brilliance 60 lb. model carries on the tradition with a 4.3 out of 5 star customer rating. The “60 pounds” portion of its description refers to ice-making capacity, but it’s capable of storing up to 26 pounds of ice until you’re ready to use it. Its stainless steel finish offers the sleek appearance growing increasingly popular in modern household kitchens while a self-closing door helps keep your expectations from inadvertently going down the drain.
At 139 pounds, and requiring electricity as well as a permanent drainage connection, this model won’t be coming along on your next vacation. It is, however, designed to fit snugly in your kitchen without taking up a lot of much-needed space. Current owners praise this Scotsman ice machine’s functionality and quiet operation as compared to other brands.
EdgeStar 12 Built-In Ice Maker – Stainless Steel Door
Whereas Scotsman’s contribution to the lineup is solely a free-standing unit, the EdgeStar 12 model can stand on its own or be built into a cabinet or installed under your kitchen counter. Generating up to 12 pounds of ice daily, it doesn’t offer the same volume as some other models, but if you’re not blessed with a houseful of teenagers or entertaining a number of guests on a regular basis, it should be more than capable of keeping your family supplied with nugget ice.
This model features reversible door attachment to fit your own preferences or accommodate the current layout of your kitchen. Defrosting is manual, which could be considered either a benefit or a disadvantage. While it doesn’t require an established drainage connection, cleanup after a defrosting cycle may require a bit of work.
The EdgeStar 12 should work off your standard household circuit, so you don’t need a panel upgrade for it. Having it installed by a professional plumber is recommended, though. A 25 ft., ¼ inch water intake line is included with purchase.
Sunpentown IM-150US Stainless Steel Undercounter Ice Maker with Freezer
Sunpentown focuses on energy efficiency, and this is a function they’ve built into their IM-150US residential nugget ice machine. An under-counter model featuring a stainless steel door and black casing, this model is among those designed to blend well with most modern kitchen appliances while leaving you plenty of space to continue with your daily routines. Like the previously detailed option, this one lets you choose which direction for the door to swing and can produce up to 12 pounds of ice per day. It can also store up to six pounds for you to use when the need arises.
You can plug this home nugget ice maker into a standard outlet without concern. It works as a free-standing unit or built into your kitchen setup. Home-based critics are giving this model a 4.1 overall rating.
Sunpentown IM-101S Portable Ice Maker with LCD with Stainless Steel Body
Also created by Sunpentown, the IM 101S model is a bit different. Unlike the others making the cut, this one is portable, so you actually can take it with you for a day at the lake or a weekend getaway at your favorite campground. Though it’s capable of giving you 35 pounds of ice in a day, it’s also said to produce about 12 cubes in 10 minutes. You may want to give it a running start before filling up your cups.
Weighing in at 50 pounds, it’s a little on the heavy side. Many current owners say the ability to make three different sizes of ice cubes makes toting it around well worthwhile. It features an LCD display to let you know what it’s thinking, so you won’t have to worry about any surprises.
Ivation Portable High Capacity Countertop Ice Maker
While this countertop nugget ice maker fits nicely in a home, camper, small apartment or dorm room, it can also be tucked neatly into the trunk of your car for on-the-go ice. Like Sunpentown’s portable model, this one can make three different sizes for you and your guests to enjoy. It stores 2.8 liters of water and makes up to 26.5 pounds of ice per day. It’s also quite a bit lighter than the previous portable option at 25 pounds.
Ivation’s answer to portable ice machines recycles melted ice for fewer fill-ups. Its built-in control panel lets you choose which ice you’d like; at the same time, it clues you in on when the reservoir needs to be refilled or the ice machine emptied. You’ll also be digitally notified if the unit isn’t working as it should.
Portable Ice Maker AB-ICE26S, Color Silver, By Avalon Bay
Avalon Bay’s portable ice maker can also be a great vacation buddy while serving your beverage needs at home. This one has the capacity to generate up to 26 pounds of ice in 24 hours in your choice of small or large cubes. Indicators let you know when it’s time to empty out fresh ice or refill the unit’s reservoir.
It’s a little lighter than both the other portable models mentioned here, weighing only 20 pounds. It’s said to put out nine cubes in as little as six minutes, making it somewhat faster than its Sunpentown counterpart. This unit does need electricity to work, so you’ll need to be close to an outlet to enjoy its refreshing benefits.
Our Final Thoughts on Nugget Ice Maker Home Versions
In the portable nugget ice maker category, the Sunpentown IM-101S is the most expensive of the three models. It’s also the heaviest and has the smallest reservoir at just over a gallon, but it has the highest output capacity. If you’re looking for a lot of ice, this one may be your best bet.
Ivation’s take-along model comes in on the lower end of the price spectrum, but it’s been deemed fully capable of keeping up with the demand of a smaller crowd. Avalon Bay gives you a lighter mid-priced version only slightly more costly than Ivation, but it only offers two size options where cubes are concerned. Still, it generates those cubes a little faster than the other models.
Looking at your choices in the nugget ice machine for home use realm, Scotsman’s Brilliance 60-pound model offers the highest capacity, but with this power comes the heftiest price tag of the bunch. EdgeStar and Sunpentown each generate 12 pounds of highly-coveted nugget ice per day. Both models share similar features and can essentially fit in your location of choice. Sunpentown’s answer to the growing home nugget ice demand is the least expensive in this class.
Your primary considerations should be how much of your budget can safely be allotted to a nugget ice maker for home as well as just how much ice you expect to need on a regular basis. Also take into account whether or not you want to take your unit along when you’re on the go. The most popular residential models aren’t portable by any means. Portable models could potentially be used in your home kitchen, but they may not meet the demands of everyday life. | <urn:uuid:2c6eecaa-d8cf-4e8b-97d9-f6e43775145d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.newhomewarereviews.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00061-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946656 | 2,707 | 2.953125 | 3 |
The fear of breaking into a clothes-drenching sweat during business meetings or social events can lead to anxiety and even depression.
When hot flashes degrade the quality of your sleep or prevent you from being fully functional during the day, you need to take action.
What’s Happening When You Have a Hot Flash?
Hot flashes are connected to changes in your estrogen levels, though the specific cause and effect relationship is still under study. Though flagging levels of estrogen may set the stage for hot flashes, the actual hot flashes are the result of a sudden resetting of the body’s thermostat. If your brain senses that your body is too hot—for any reason, including low estrogen, increased blood flow to the brain, a high ambient temperature, or even the ingestion of hot, spicy foods—it sends out a signal that your body needs to cool off. In response, your pituitary gland sends out luteinizing hormone (LH), which causes the blood vessels near your skin’s surface to dilate to release heat through your skin. This heat-releasing action makes your skin temperature (and your body temperature) rise, followed by an increase in perspiration. The perspiration helps to cool the skin, which can result in a clammy feeling. If you’ve perspired heavily, you may be left damp and even chilly. Your body temperature drops and your blood vessels constrict. If you are damp and cold, you may begin to shiver. That’s the hot flash in action.
Common Hot Flash Triggers
As mentioned, hot flashes are signals that your body may be suffering fluctuating levels of estrogen or that your estrogen levels have declined dramatically. But other factors can cause hot flashes or contribute to their severity. Many women find, for example, that they have hot flashes during periods of anxiety and nervousness; other studies have found that some prescription antihypertensive and antianxiety medications may also cause hot flashes. As mentioned earlier, hot flashes may indicate that your body is reacting to certain foods or beverages or even the temperature of the air around you—some women report their hot flashes are more severe and last longer when they occur during hot weather or in a hot room.
How Many, How Bad, How Long?
Although many women don’t seem to notice hot flashes until after menopause has occurred, many others begin having them during perimenopause, with forty-eight being an average age for the onset of hot flashes.
A number of studies have been conducted on the prevalence, frequency, and intensity of hot flashes in perimenopausal and menopausal women. In general, women who experience hot flashes start having them within at least one year before menopause, and continue having them for one to six years.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’s publication "Managing Menopause" lists the findings of one study, in which 501 women were asked about the frequency and severity of their hot flashes. Of those participating in the study, 87 percent reported having one or more flashes per day; of those experiencing multiple daily hot flashes, the numbers of incidents per day ranged from five to fifty, with one-third of the women reporting more than ten. Another study reported a lower frequency of hot flashes—participants had an average of only three or four flashes a day. That study also showed that, on average, hot flashes lasted about three and one-half minutes, though some can come and go in no more than five seconds. And in nearly every study, almost three-fourths of the respondents said their hot flashes were mild, moderate, or only variably intense.
Techniques for Turning Down the Heat
A number of treatment options to help you alleviate—or even eliminate-hot flashes caused by the onset of menopause are discussed later in this website. But you have a variety of first-defense techniques available to you that don’t require any special medication or therapeutic program. Try these simple techniques to avoid hot flashes or minimize their severity:
- Avoid triggering foods and drinks. Spicy foods—foods heavy in capsaicin, the heat-inducing chemical in cayenne and other hot peppers - can contribute to hot flashes. Caffeine and alcohol are also common triggers, so you should avoid caffeinated beverages, excessive amounts of chocolate, and alcoholic beverages if you are suffering from hot flashes.
- Drink plenty of water during the day—at least thirty-two ounces, more if possible. Keep a glass of ice water with you during meetings and conferences and set a thermal-lined drink container of ice water on your nightstand, ready to help cool down raging hot flashes.
- Get at least thirty minutes of exercise every day. Regular exercise is an integral part of any healthy lifestyle, but it might offer specific relief from vasomotor symptoms. Exercise, including stretching, aerobic, and weight-bearing activities, has been shown to cut down on the frequency of hot flashes, and may even help limit the length and severity of hot flashes that occur. Regular exercise also promotes a general feeling of well-being that can help reduce anxiety and stress that can contribute to hot flashes.
- Wear layers of moisture-absorbing clothing. When a hot flash strikes, you can take off one or more layers of clothing to help cool your skin temperature quickly. Cotton fabrics are particularly helpful in allowing adequate air to reach the skin, and they’re good at absorbing perspiration. Cotton wicks moisture away from the skin and into the air, so both you and your clothing can dry more quickly. | <urn:uuid:3e90c673-ab1d-47b2-bc06-a505da2ad464> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.menopausesigns.org/dealing-with-hot-flashes.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00077-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94219 | 1,155 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Individual differences |
Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology |
Marsha M. Linehan (born May 5, 1943) is an American psychologist and author. She is responsible for the development of Dialectical Behavior Therapy or DBT. The purpose of Dialectical Behavior Therapy was first designed for the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder, but it has been found to be useful in the treatment for other diagnoses as well. Linehan’s DBT module has been adapted to assist in the treatment of Depression, Anxiety, Anger, Impulsivity, and periods of Cognitive Disfunction. As well as suicide, and areas of impulse control such as substance abuse, eating disorders, problem gambling, and over spending. An adaptation of Linehan’s work is being currently used in treatment of individuals with developmental disabilities, mental illness and with Juvenile Offenders in Washington State.
DBT is based much after behaviorism theory, while implementing areas of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT as well and eastern zen practices. From combining both Eastern Zen and western Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Linehan discovered Dialectics, an approach in which thesis is paired with anti-thesis bringing synthesis. Linehan's DBT works with helping people move past the tendency to bounce back and forth from one extreme to another. These extremes usually occur on three axes: from emotional vulnerabliltiy to self-invalidation, from active-passivity to apparent competences, and from unrelenting crisis to inhibited grieving (Linehan 7-10).
Linehan was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma,
During a speech at the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut on June 17, 2011, Dr. Linehan disclosed that she suffers from borderline personality disorder. In an article published at the New York Times website on June 23, 2011, she disclosed her own history of self-harm and multiple suicide attempts, as well as her own efforts through therapy to recover from the disorder and live a healthy, productive life.
Dr. Linehan developed DBT as a result of her own transformation that occurred in 1967, while she prayed in a small Catholic chapel in Chicago. She describes the situation in detail; "One night I was kneeling in there, looking up at the cross, and the whole place became gold - and suddenly I felt something coming toward me… It was this shimmering experience, and I just ran back to my room and said, 'I love myself.' It was the first time I remembered talking to myself in the first person. I felt transformed." Linehan, then, takes this “radical acceptance,” as she calls it, and incorporates it into the techniques of cognitive behavioral therapy meant to change the harmful behavior of a self-cutter or a person who battles chronic suicidal ideations. In essence, DBT strives for a balance between acceptance and change, or integrating contradictory philosophies (“you are loved the way you are,” however, “you must strive to change”).
She attended Loyola University in Chicago in 1968 where she graduated Cum Laude with a B.S in Psychology. Following earning her bachelors degree, she continued her education at Loyola University and was able to accomplish earning her M.A in 1970 and Ph. D. in 1971, both in Psychology. During her time at Loyola University, Linehan served as lecturer for the psychology program. After leaving Loyola University, Linehan started her post doctorate internship at The Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service in Buffalo, NY between 1971-1972. During this time, Linehan served as an adjunct assistant professor at State University College of Buffalo. From Buffalo, Linehan completed her Post-Doctorate fellowship in Behavior Modification at the State University of New York in Stony Brook.
Linehan then returned to her alma mater Loyola University in 1973 and served as an adjunct professor at the university until 1975. During this same time frame Linehan also served as an Assistant Professor in Psychology at The Catholic University of America from 1973 to 1977. In 1977, Linehan took a position at the University of Washington as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Psychiatry and Behavior Sciences department.
Linehan’s DBT moduleEdit
In the development of Linehan’s treatment model of DBT she came up with four skill modules to aid the patient reach a state of what she calls wisemind. This state of mind is area between the rational, and emotional state of mind. In the rational mind, the individual is solely focused on the facts and observations, and a suppression of emotions occurs. Oppositely, in the emotional state of mind the patient can be experiencing such high levels of emotions that she/he does not see the positive/negatives of their behavior; this is also identified as emotional hijacking. In the emotional mind the individual tends to ignore the facts leading to a cognitive distortion of their thoughts and experiences in their environment.
Mindfulness is considered the most important part of Linehan’s DBT skill module. The mindfulness skills focus on "what" and "how" skills; "what" the individual needs to do in order to be mindful and "how" to do this. For example, a typical approach to developing the "what" skill would include an intent and attempt to observe, describe and participate in open dialogue. The "how" skill may require non-judgement, one-mindfulness, and collaboratively determining what is effective.
Interpersonal Effectiveness skills that are used in DBT sessions focus on assertiveness in saying no, making a request, and coping with problems. The purpose of the Interpersonal effectiveness skills are to allow the individual to increase the likelihood of goals being met, while maintaining self respect and keeping the relationship.
Distress Tolerance is the skill set for accepting, finding meaning for, and tolerating distress. This area of DBT focuses on learning to bear the emotional pain resulting from distressing circumstances and events in the individual's life. An important focus in Distress Tolerance is the idea of radical acceptance. Linehan describes radical acceptance as a means by which to free oneself from suffering, and requires a choice to let go of fighting with reality. These skills in "letting go" promote acceptance without judgment or evaluation of the self, others or the situation in general. In theory, focusing on the acceptance of reality rather than the approval of reality will foster a clearer understanding of controllable vs. uncontrollable factors and help facilitate manageability of emotional pain.
Emotional Regulation assists individuals with reducing their vulnerability to an emotional state of mind. This is accomplished by providing methods to identify and label emotions, finding barriers in changing emotions and applying distress tolerance skills. The other key component of this skill set is to find ways to increase positive emotional events through healthy living and participation in activities that increase self-confidence.
While at the University of Washington, Linehan as furthered her career and is now a Professor of Psychology; a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral sciences. Linehan has earned several awards for her work. She has been recognized for her research and clinical work dealing with the behavioral sciences, including the Louis I. Dublin award for Lifetime Achievement in the field of suicide in 1999, The Outstanding Educator Award for Mental Health Education from the New England Educational Institute in 2004, and Career Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association in 2005. Linehan is the past-president of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, a fellow of both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychopathological Association and a diplomat of the American Board of Behavioral Psychology.
Linehan has authored three books, including two treatment manuals: Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder and Skills Training Manual for Treating Borderline Personality Disorder. She has also contributed to and has been published extensively in scientific journals.
- *Lineha M et al. Two-Year Randomized Controlled Trial and Follow-up of Dialectical Behavior Therapy vs Therapy by Experts for Suicidal Behaviors and Borderline Personality Disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2006;63:757-766.Research Article]
- Aaron Beck
- Albert Ellis
- Marshall Rosenberg
- Dialectical behavioral therapy
- Cognitive behavioral therapy
- Rational emotive behavior therapy
- Nonviolent Communication
- Expressive therapy
- *Lieb K et al. Borderline personality disorder. Lancet. 2004;364:453-61.Review Article:
- Curriculum Vitae regarding Marsha M. Linehan (and biography).
- Behavioral Research and Therapy Clinics.
- Link is to a site that gives a brief overview of DBT.
- Interesting article on how DBT has been used in the treatment of Female Juvenile Offenders
- Report of success of Linehan's treatment model in Washington State with Juvenile Offenders.
4.)Linehan, M.M (1995). Understanding Borderline Personality Disorder:The Dialectic Approach program manuel. New York: Guilford Press
5.)Linehan, MM (1993). Skills Training Manuel For Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder. New York Guilford Press.
- de:Marsha M. Linehan
|This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).|
<ref>tags exist, but no
<references/>tag was found | <urn:uuid:af112ec4-621b-488c-bd5f-a9863ebc8d88> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Marsha_Linehan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00128-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932754 | 1,925 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Two years ago, when Oregon parents Jill Brown and Jason Young met Brad and Tricia Salyers, the families had no idea that they would eventually be sharing in a tragedy that sickened four of the Salyers’ children and left Brown and Young’s youngest child, Kylee – 23 months old at the time – with such severe medical complications that she would need a kidney transplant from her mother.
All of that and more happened beginning in April 2012 when the children were among 19 people – 15 of them under the age of 19 — who fell ill with E. coli O157:H7, a potentially fatal foodborne pathogen. Soon after, Oregon health officials determined that the outbreak was caused by raw milk from Foundation Farm near Wilsonville in Western Oregon — the Salyers’ family farm. Four of the sickened children were hospitalized with kidney failure.
Foundation Farm had been providing 48 families with raw milk. Raw milk is milk that hasn’t been pasteurized to kill harmful and sometimes deadly foodborne pathogens such as E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella and Campylobacter.
While many raw milk advocates say it has inherent nutritional advantages and even helps cure or ease the symptoms of ailments such as asthma and various allergies, most food-safety experts discount those claims as anecdotal, saying they’re not based on science. They also warn of the serious risks to human health associated with drinking milk that hasn’t been pasteurized.
The symptoms of E. coli O157:H7 infection typically include bloody diarrhea and other digestive-tract problems. In some people, this type of E. coli may also cause severe anemia or hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a complication in which toxins destroy red blood cells, which are typically smooth and round. The misshapen or deformed blood cells can clog the tiny blood vessels in the kidneys, causing them to fail.
Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) underscore the potential dangers of raw milk. According to the agency, between 1998 and 2011, 148 outbreaks due to consumption of raw milk or raw milk products were reported. In those outbreaks, there were 2,384 illnesses, 284 hospitalizations and two deaths. Estimates from the agency put raw milk consumption at 3 percent of total milk consumption.
Currently, 29 states allow some form of on- or off-farm raw milk sales, but only a few allow sales in grocery stores. In Oregon, it is against the law to sell raw cow’s milk, although there is an exemption for very small herds (no more than three cows on the premises, with no more than two of them being milked). Under that exemption, the milk must be sold on the farm and no advertising of the product is allowed. CDC has documented fewer illnesses and outbreaks from raw milk in states that prohibit sales.
Goals in common
The irony of this story is that the two families shared a common goal to provide their children with nutritious food. Now they share another goal: to warn people that raw milk can be dangerous to drink, or even deadly. As parents, they want to let other parents know that they shouldn’t feed raw milk to their children, no matter what some raw-milk farmers and advocacy organizations might say.
“There might be some benefits of raw milk, but there are huge risks,” Jill Brown, Kylee’s mother, told Food Safety News. “There needs to be more public awareness that this is a high-risk food. If I had known what I know now, I would never have fed it to my daughter.”
Despite formerly selling raw milk, the Salyers agree.
“The people who bought our milk thought it was the healthiest choice for their kids,” said Brad Salyers, co-owner of Foundation Farm. “But I see things differently now. By far, it’s the most dangerous food you can feed them because of the chance it can be contaminated with E. coli or other harmful pathogens.”
Knowing he fed raw milk to his children, Salyers’ thoughts on the topic now veer into the emotional:
“It breaks my heart that anyone would give it to their children,” he said. “What’s even more troubling is that some of our friends who saw what our kids went through are still feeding raw milk to their children.”
Salyers rankles at what he says is the proliferation of too much misinformation about raw milk’s purported health benefits.
“It’s duping people into thinking you can safely drink raw milk,” he said.
The worst part of this, he added, is that children are especially vulnerable to contracting E. coli or other pathogens from raw milk, primarily because their immune systems are still developing.
According to a recently released statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the health claims related to drinking raw milk have not been verified by scientific evidence, and, therefore, do not outweigh the potential health risks that raw milk poses to pregnant women and children.
“Children depend on their parents,” Salyers said. “They don’t make the decision to drink or not to drink raw milk. They’re at the mercy of their caretakers.”
“We definitely want to get the word out about the dangers of raw milk,” Tricia Salyers said.
Sold their cows
Once the Salyers saw what Brad Salyers refers to as the “devastation that HUS can cause in children,” they immediately sold their cows.
“We didn’t want to put kids at risk,” Salyers said, pointing out that four of his family’s five children came down with E. coli, with one of the four developing HUS.
“She fought for her life for 27 days,” he said.
He objects to conspiracy theories that paint the government and food-safety scientists as “the enemy” when it comes to restrictive raw milk laws and the information they provide to customers (and farmers) about the potential dangers of raw milk.
“They’re so cynical that they can’t see straight,” said Salyers. “They put their trust in some organizations with myopic agendas — places that glorify raw milk as ‘miracle’ food. That’s nonsense. It’s based on a lot of misinformation.”
So why do people ignore warnings about the potential dangers of raw milk? According to a 2011 study that looked at what motivated people in Michigan to drink raw milk, cynicism about government surfaced. The study’s authors told Food Safety News that they were surprised to find that only a small percentage of those surveyed trusted public health officials regarding which foods are safe to eat or drink.
The survey respondents also took issue with some of the survey’s other statements, once again revealing sharp differences of opinion with official government views on the potential health hazards of drinking raw milk. For example, when asked if they agreed or disagreed with the statement that, “Drinking raw milk increases your risk of getting a foodborne disease,” an average of 44 (or 78.6 percent) disagreed. Only six respondents agreed with the statement, and another five (or 8.9 percent) respondents said they weren’t sure.
As for those who think that “knowing your farmer” is safeguard enough, even raw-milk dairies with high sanitation standards and licensed and inspected by states that allow raw milk sales – California and Washington state are two of these – have been subject to recalls due to the presence of pathogens such as E. coli and Campylobacter in their milk. Those recalls are typically triggered by foodborne-illness outbreaks that have sickened people.
According to CDC, while adherence to good hygienic practices during milking can reduce contamination, it cannot eliminate it.
“The dairy farm environment is a reservoir for illness-causing germs,” CDC says. “No matter what precautions farmers take, and even if their raw milk tests come back negative, they cannot guarantee that their milk, or the products made from their milk, are free of harmful germs.”
Logistics come into the picture here. There’s no way to test every part of every batch of milk 365 days a year. While testing will provide important clues about whether things are being done right, it doesn’t ensure that all of the milk a farm produces will be safe.
Or, as Dr. Tim Jones, epidemiologist with the Tennessee Department of Health, puts it: “Those who consume raw milk are playing Russian roulette with their health; the glass they drink today may not have deadly microorganisms, but the one they drink tomorrow may cause serious health problems or even death.”
Germs such as E.coli, Campylobacter and Salmonella can contaminate milk during the process of milking dairy animals, including cows, sheep and goats. Animals that carry these germs usually appear healthy.
Brad Salyers said that a health official who visited his farm after the outbreak told him that it’s not just about making sure the cow’s udder is clean. Contamination could occur from something as simple as one drop of rain containing some E. coli O157:H7 bacteria picked up from the cow’s hide trickling down the side of the cow. Not only are these germs extremely tiny, it takes only one or two of them to replicate inside the milk and make someone sick. And, unlike earlier strains of E. coli, this toxin-releasing strain, which wasn’t identified as a cause of human illness until the 1980s, is far more virulent.
This chronology can confuse people. They don’t understand how their grandparents who drank raw milk all of their lives never got sick from E. coli. But scientists believe E. coli didn’t pick up the genes that cause human illness until late last century. Now that this disease-causing strain of the bacterium is commonly found in most cowherds, people can, and do, become ill from drinking contaminated milk.
Even more confusing for some is that cows that have this strain of E. coli in their systems generally don’t show any signs of being infected with it. Then, too, it can come and go on a farm. It can be present in some of the cows or in water tanks or the soil for awhile and then disappear from one or all of these possible “harboring” places, only to return again.
Like most mothers, Jill Brown wanted to feed her family the best food possible. For her, that meant growing a garden, buying as much food as she could from local farmers, and eventually buying raw milk for her toddler, who was an avid milk drinker.
Her quest to find raw milk was in large part triggered by her desire to steer clear of “industrial agriculture” and buy from a local farm instead. She saw it as a good fit with the philosophy of the “local food movement,” which her family and many of their friends embrace.
“I wanted to know where the milk I was buying was coming from,” she said. “My research led me to believe that raw milk from a local farm would be healthier than the milk I bought at the store.”
After finding Foundation Farm through an Internet search, Brown became a herd-share member. Under a herd-share arrangement, people can buy a share of the herd, or even an individual cow, with the understanding that they are not customers of the dairy but rather owners of the herd and the milk produced by the herd. Some refer to this arrangement as a “legal loophole.” In Oregon, herd shares have not been challenged in court, according to information from the state’s agriculture department.
Foundation Farm was providing raw milk to 48 households under a herd-share arrangement. On the legal front, the families couldn’t sue the Salyers after the outbreak because the Salyers didn’t have insurance, and they were leasing the land where they were farming. In short, they had no assets that could be taken and sold to raise money for the aggrieved families.
While it was a commitment to go to the farm once a week to get the milk, Brown believed it was well worth it, despite the inconvenience and additional cost.
“It felt good to know that we were getting ‘real, actual milk,’” she said. “[The Salyers] seemed to be doing everything right.”
In talking with them, she had learned that, before setting up a herd share, they had visited other raw-milk dairies and had improved on what they saw.
Even though, for the most part, no one in her family except Kylee drank milk, the toddler loved it and thrived on the raw milk from Foundation Farm. But it was short-lived. Brown said that Kylee probably only drank it for three months before things went wrong.
“It was pretty sudden,” Brown said. “We went to the farm to get some milk on Friday, the last day of spring break.”
The following Wednesday, Kylee was sick, an “exploding diaper” the first sign of problems to come. On Friday, her dad stayed home with her and took her to the pediatrician, who said she had a stomach bug.
By Saturday, she couldn’t keep food down and was becoming dehydrated. They took her to the emergency room, where she was put on an IV, with oral rehydration administered every 10 minutes.
They chose to take her home that night, and, on Sunday, she was starting to feel better. But, on Monday night, they were called back to the hospital.
When Brown stood Kylee up, she was dismayed to see her walking backward, apparently disoriented. She rushed Kylee to the emergency room and was told that her kidneys had shut down. Kylee was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit, and, the next day, she received the necessary set-up lines to start dialysis.
“That’s when our whole life changed,” Brown said. “From there, every step of the way, things got worse and worse. Each day brought more bad news.”
Kylee developed edema, was having a hard time breathing, and her eyes were crossing.
“She had had a stroke,” said Brown.
Once a happy, energetic toddler, Kylee now couldn’t walk or say words, although for the first couple of days she did say “mama,” “papa,” and “no.”
Even though test results from a stool sample submitted on Monday were not back yet, Kylee was diagnosed with HUS.
Brown went to work researching the medical problem.
“When you’re Googling ‘bloody stool or vomiting,’ one of the top things that comes up is raw milk,” she said.
Several days after Kylee had been admitted to the hospital, another child with E. coli was admitted. By April 21, a total of 19 people were confirmed ill with E. coli traced to raw milk from Foundation Farm. Of those, 15 were under the age of 19. Four of the Salyers’ five children were among those ill, with one of them among four children suffering from HUS.
Kylee was on a ventilator, but she wasn’t getting better. Before long, the other children who had been hospitalized were talking about going home. But that wasn’t in store for Kylee.
The lab results came back and showed that her bowels were necrotic and that she needed surgery. Her heart stopped while she was in surgery and she had to be brought back to life.
“That was probably the hardest part,” said Brown.
But then suddenly, Kylee started doing much better. They took her off of dialysis in early June. She had been on dialysis for eight weeks.
After five weeks of rehab in the hospital, Kylee could go home, and Brown started going to work two days a week. November and December were good months. Kylee was getting stronger and sitting up on her own.
But then in January, lab tests came back that didn’t look good. By February, the toddler had to go to the dialysis center in the hospital three times a week for three hours a day. She was also admitted frequently throughout 2013 for multiple staph infections and other issues related to her kidneys.
Brown quit her job in May to stay home, finding it too hard to manage a household with two other children and be at the hospital for Kylee. In the meantime, Kylee struggled. Being on dialysis, she had only 15 percent kidney function and didn’t have the energy for weekly physical therapy sessions.
The doctors decided that the toddler needed a kidney transplant. Brown and Young started the donor “work up” for a kidney transplant in June and July and were scheduled for the transplant on Sept. 9.
“She’ll get 120 percent of her kidney function from this,” Brown told Food Safety News several days before the surgery. “The hope is that she’ll feel better and have the energy for therapy.”
Kylee’s father Jason Young told videographer Terry Tainter that when they realized that their toddler was going to need a kidney transplant, the word “now” took on new meaning.
“One of the biggest things that went through my mind at that point is that this is now,” he said. “This is now a lifelong thing. There is no full recovery from this anymore. And there never will be. It’s always going to have to be someone else’s organ that keeps her alive.”
People who have kidney transplants often have to have another in future years, something that both Brown and Young know.
All in all, the little girl has spent close to 200 days in the hospital since she was admitted in April 2012, with her mother by her side much of the time. The good news is that, as of mid-February 2014, the last time she had to be hospitalized was September 2013.
Before the transplant surgery, Tricia Salyers started a fundraiser. After the operation, she let Facebook readers know that Kylee was making “HUGE” strides forward in her recovery.
“What a miracle this transplant has been,” she said, adding that all sorts of bills have been coming in from, among them, the insurance company, the hospital, and pharmacies. Salyers said that the $7,500 fundraising goal would get Brown and Young through the end of the year and pay off current medical debts.
On Jan. 26, Brown was happy to report that the goal was met, although medical bills will burden the family for years to come.
Through all of this, Brown and Tricia Salyers became friends.
“I’m so glad I chose to move on and forgive,” Brown said. “It’s so easy to blame the farmer. But they were just as much blindsided as we were. They fed all of their kids the milk. I do believe they thought they were doing things right.”
Kylee will continue to need physical therapy and speech therapy for a long time, only part of which insurance will cover. But the family recently received some good news. The Wheel to Walk Foundation has approved Kylee for a grant to help cover the cost of her intensive therapy that insurance doesn’t cover. Even so, there are still a lot of uncovered expenses, including medical equipment and medications such as immunosuppressants to prevent her system from rejecting her mother’s kidney.
Although Kylee is for the most part stable medically, she still can’t speak words, can’t walk, uses a special table to stand, and eats through a special tube. Because she understands what’s going on around her, she experiences a lot of frustration in not being able to express her thoughts and feelings in words.
With limited insurance and no chance of getting a settlement to help pay the bills, and with their two-story house no longer suitable for a child with Kylee’s disabilities, Brown and Young have had to sell their home. The sale is expected to close in mid-March.
In another unforeseen bond tying the two families together, Tricia Salyers, who went into real estate after she and her husband sold the cows, handled the sale of Brown and Young’s home.
The farmer’s perspective
That led them to information that extolled the benefits of raw milk from grass-fed cows.
“We believed all the hype about its benefits,” he said.
They started buying raw milk from a farm but eventually decided to buy their own cow, thinking they could improve on what they saw at the farm. Once they had their own cow, they quickly realized they were going to have a surplus of milk. Thinking that they could find people who would want it, the Salyers visited other farmers known for their dedication to cleanliness and learned from them.
“I felt I had enough information to put the necessary safeguards into place,” Brad Salyers said. “I’m not one to take shortcuts or wing it.”
Once they started making their raw milk available, demand grew and soon there was a waiting list.
“It snowballed,” he said. “We got more cows. Before long, we had five and were milking three.”
Now when he hears people talk about the safety of raw milk from grass-fed cows, he warns them not to jump to conclusions.
“Cows aren’t like horses,” he said. “Cows like to lie down a lot. Their udders and hides can be in manure. It’s dangerous because that’s where E. coli can be.”
But he said he also thinks there can also be problems with an imbalance of nutrients and bacteria in their digestive system. He thinks that’s what happened when he switched the cows from dry forage to pasture too quickly.
He called the vet because one of his cows wasn’t acting quite right. When the vet came, he found an improper pH balance in the urine. He told Salyers he was pretty sure he’d find some bacteria.
David Smith, a veterinarian and professor at Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Science, told Food Safety News that it’s possible that the switch in diet resulted in the cows’ shedding E. coli O157:H7 in their manure, but he also said the diet change “did not make it appear out of nowhere.”
“It was on the farm,” he said, pointing out that this strain of E. coli is common to all beef and dairy herds and that it should be assumed that it is present in some cattle on all cattle farms.
It was while the vet was there that Tricia Salyers came out to the barn and told her husband that the doctors at the hospital had confirmed that Kylee was ill with E. coli O157:H7.
When Salyers walked back into the house, the phone was ringing. It was a state official asking him if they had informed their customers about the problem. Tricia, meanwhile, had already e-mailed their customers the information.
“It was the scariest time of our lives,” he said.
Why did they do it?
“I blamed myself for the longest time,” Brown said about the devastating effects raw milk had on her daughter. “But I know that I’m an amazing mom who was trying to do the best for my family.”
When doing research on raw milk, she discovered that “it’s a two-edged topic with no middle ground between. On one side are government and dairy industry representatives pointing to the inherent risks of raw milk. On the other hand are the raw-milk advocates who fervently believe that locally grown and produced foods, including raw milk, are healthier than foods produced on what they refer to as ‘industrialized farms.’
“I do follow their philosophies about local foods, and since raw milk was part of what they believed in, I went along with it,” Brown said.
The fact that she did still baffles her, especially since she considers herself to be levelheaded. She was on debate teams in high school and college and knows how important it is to gather objective information and not to be swayed by emotion.
“Debate is all about being well-researched,” she said. “You learn to look at every side. That’s why I get so frustrated about what I did. I know now that different choices could have been made.”
It discourages her that despite continuing news about E. coli outbreaks caused by raw milk, so much of the information spread about raw milk praises its health benefits.
The Weston A. Price Foundation is a good example of one such information source. Its website shows a happy, healthy-looking family with this headline above the photo: “They’re happy because they eat butter.” Under the picture is some more information: “They also eat plenty of raw milk, cheese, eggs, liver, meat, cod liver oil, seafood, and other nutrient-dense foods that have nourished generations of healthy people worldwide.”
Brown doesn’t think that raw-milk dairy farmers are dishonest or “sleazy,” and she thinks that they’re trying to offer the community what they believe is a “valuable resource.”
“But many of them are not educated enough,” she said. “Our farmer didn’t know the risk. I do believe that they thought they were doing it right.”
Like Brown, Brad Salyers also has misgivings about his experience with raw milk. Describing himself as a Christian, he said he trusted in the Lord to help him deal with what he describes as “the guilt and shame that was mentally devastating.”
“I had to believe that in my heart I was making the best decision for my children with the information I had,” he said.
Salyers said he would like to see farmers be more educated about raw milk. As a contractor, he had to take classes to get his license, and he believes something similar should be put in place for raw-milk producers.
He also believes that raw-milk producers should be required to carry liability insurance.
“It’s just part of running a business,” he said. “I don’t see why a farmer producing such a potentially dangerous product shouldn’t have to have insurance.”
In retrospect, he said he wouldn’t hesitate to support legislation that would safeguard children from raw milk, even though he knows it goes against the principle of “freedom of choice.”
“It’s just too dangerous for the children,” he said.
What about locally produced, ‘gently pasteurized’ milk?
Buying milk from a local farm conjures up scenes of contented cows grazing on lush green pastures, complete with a farm family dedicated to the health of the cows and the quality of the milk.
For the most part, but not always, this is “raw-milk country”— small-scale dairy farmers who can sell their milk at higher prices than milk sold in the stores. Those higher prices are based in part on the higher expenses that come with producing milk on such a small scale but also on the willingness of raw-milk customers to spend more money for what they consider to be a premium product.
Raw-milk farmers and raw-milk customers alike extoll this business model, saying it helps keep family-scale dairy farmers in business instead of being pushed off the map by ever-expanding dairy operations that depend on what’s referred to as “efficiency of scale” to stay in business.
“It used to be that the only alternative to conventional mass-produced milk was raw milk,” said Steve Judge, founder of Bob-White Systems and developer of the LiLi (Low Input-Low Impact) Pasteurizer. “But our goal is to give people the choice of either raw milk or farm-fresh ‘gently’ pasteurized milk.”
The LiLi pasteurizes the milk without homogenizing, separating or standardizing its nutritional value and farm-fresh flavor, according to the company’s website.
Judge said that in designing the LiLi Pasteurizer, he wanted a small machine that would allow small-scale farms to sell farm-fresh pasteurized milk direct to consumers.
With the LiLi Pasteurizer, the milk gets heated to 163 degrees F and held at that temperature for 15 seconds, after which it is immediately cooled to less than 60 degrees F. After the milk is pasteurized, it’s sent to a cooling tank where it can be cooled to 38 degrees F in less than an hour. This allows for a pasteurization speed of two gallons a minute.
“I believe that the minimal damage done to milk by properly done, high-temperature, short-time pasteurization is a worthwhile compromise if it also expands the availability of locally produced farm fresh milk,” he said.
Although the LiLi can work for small dairies of four to 10 cows, Judge said it could handle milk from up to 100 cows. Bottom line, he said, “Anywhere you grow grass, you can do this.” Better yet, it meets all state and federal regulations.
While raw-milk proponents say that pasteurization kills many of the healthful components such as vitamins and enzymes, Judge said that he sent samples of raw milk and milk pasteurized with the LiLi to a food-safety lab for a comparison of 50 different nutrients. While there was a drop in lactic acid colonies and a slight drop in Vitamin B-12 in the pasteurized sample, other vitamins did just fine, including vitamins C and D.
“There was minimal damage,” he said.
That pretty much lines up with a recent rundown of a nutrient comparison between raw and pasteurized milk provided by the Purdue University Extension.
As for flavor, Judge said that one taste of milk pasteurized with the LiLi would convince anyone that it’s indistinguishable from raw milk. “It has a bright, clean, fresh flavor,” he said.
Other farms offer vat, or batch, pasteurized milk, which they also describe as “gently pasteurized.” In this method, the milk is heated to 145 degrees F and held at that temperature for 30 minutes and then cooled as quickly as possible. Proponents of this method also say that it provides a good option to raw milk.
In contrast, said Judge, most conventional milk bottlers use a method that heats milk to 170 degrees F and holds it at that temperature for no less than 15 seconds. Proponents of this method say that it destroys most bacterial pathogens, while largely protecting milk proteins from degradation.
“Ultra-pasteurized” refers to milk heated to at least 280°F for not less than two seconds.
Unfortunately, said Judge, as of yet, there is no association of dairy farms that produce “gently pasteurized milk,” although an Internet search will yield some farms in various locations that do.
Of course, for those whose main reason for buying raw milk is that they want to support local farms, there’s always the option of pasteurizing the milk at home.
What about those allergies?
Many parents who buy raw milk for their children do so because their children have allergic reactions to pasteurized milk. Many say that their children do better on raw milk. Some go so far as to say that raw milk can cure allergies, eczema, asthma and other ailments.
Like other raw-milk farmers, Brad Salyers said that many of his customers had children with allergies.
It’s not surprising that milk comes into the picture. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), milk is at the top of the list of the eight major food allergens that account for 90 percent of food-allergic reactions.
And, even though most food allergies cause relatively mild and minor symptoms, some food allergies can cause severe reactions and may even be life-threatening, says FDA.
Also, according to the agency’s site, there is no cure for food allergies. And the agency recommends strict avoidance of food allergens and early recognition and management of allergic reactions to food.
Following this line of thinking, Mike Tringale, an official with the Asthma and Allergic Foundation of America, told Food Safety News that raw milk isn’t a cure for an allergy to pasteurized milk.
“The milk protein in pasteurized milk is in raw milk, too, so anyone with a milk allergy would still be affected,” he said. “Allergies in general are caused by a chronic disease of the immune system, and it’s genetic – you inherit a hypersensitive immune system.”
Interestingly enough, though, people don’t inherit specific allergies. For example, a person’s mother can be allergic to cats and the dad to dogs, yet the child can develop an allergy to peanuts, or other triggers.
Tringale describes allergies as “what happens when a person’s body misinterprets the foods or pollens in his or her environment.”
Speaking specifically about milk, he said that pasteurized or raw milk doesn’t eliminate the allergenic protein in milk, which is what makes milk white.
He discounts assumptions such as the idea that getting back to simple agrarian life makes the body more defensive against allergies, calling them “old wives’ tales.”
He does say, however, that some research is turning up evidence that babies raised on farms or with cats and dogs may have a lower prevalence of allergies later in life.
“But the jury is still out on that,” he said.
But when it comes to raw milk, he pointed out that it is not going to change your immune system.
“The thought that this can cure allergies is actually a dangerous thought,” he said.
As for doing “their homework” on milk allergies, Tringale said that parents need to work with their doctor to make sure they’re on the right path. If they don’t do that, they haven’t done their homework.
And, when all is said and done, it doesn’t come down to deciding in favor of either pasteurized or raw milk.
“The real question is, ‘How do I supply nutrition for my children if I can’t feed them milk?’” he said.
Fortunately, said Tringale, this doesn’t have to be hard – at least if a child has only one or two allergies. There are ways to make sure that children have nutritious diets. He recommends an interactive website, kidswithfoodallergies.org, which allows parents of kids with allergies to talk with one another for support, to find recipes and share ideas.
However, parents with children who have more than one or two allergies need to work with a nutritionist to make sure their children are getting all of the necessary nutrients.
“Getting as close to good health as possible is what people should be aiming for,” he said. “It’s important that in trying to do that, they’re not making poor choices.”
Updates on Kylee’s progress can be found on her Facebook page.
Food Safety News will feature a video interview with Kylee’s parents on Wednesday, February 19. | <urn:uuid:fc85a910-1809-4b79-810c-79510834086b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2014/02/a-mom-and-a-dairymans-plea-dont-feed-children-raw-milk/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00034-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979309 | 7,701 | 2.921875 | 3 |
With the staggering epidemic of obesity in our nation’s children, one would think that parents would be thrilled to see their kids romping on the jungle gym, playing with friends on the deck, or coloring at the backyard picnic table.
They would be, were it not for the pressure-treated wood used in more than 90 percent of all outdoor wooden structures in the United States. Sold at most retail home-building stores and known as extremely effective against the ravages of weather and insects, this wood is so hearty in part because it’s treated with arsenic, a toxic metallic element.
A nationwide sampling of 13 cities, including Missoula, found hazardous levels of arsenic on the surface of pressure-treated wood purchased at various retail stores, including Home Depot and Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse.
According to a report prepared by the Environmental Working Group and the Healthy Building Network, “An area of arsenic-treated wood the size of a 4-year-old’s hand contains an average of 120 times the amount of arsenic allowed in a six-ounce glass of water by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.” The report also says that “arsenic sticks to children’s hands when they play on treated wood, and is absorbed through the skin and ingested when they put their hands in their mouths.”
“In the last year or so, research has come out saying that arsenic is much more harmful than originally believed,” says Alexandra Gorman of Women’s Voices for the Earth, a Missoula-based environmental justice organization. “We are trying to step up awareness and encourage people to order arsenic testing kits [available from the EPA], then make decisions based on that information. … It seems absurd that there are guidelines for builders while handling this wood but there are few or no guidelines for kids playing on or around these structures after they’re built.”
According to Don Harris, a public relations manager at Home Depot, pressure-treated wood has been sold and used safely for years. “It is a huge commodity and we continue to sell it based on the EPA’s long-standing position that if the product is handled safely, it is fine. I think it’s good that environmental organizations raise awareness about things like this, but I’m tired of Home Depot being beat up over it. We take our direction from the EPA. I mean, if all the wood we sold was untreated, we would have other environmental organizations after us for cutting down too many trees.”
Though Home Depot does not carry alternatives to arsenic-treated wood, they will order them upon request. Those alternatives cost between 30 and 50 percent more than pressure-treated wood.
Arsenic-treated wood is already banned or strictly regulated in Australia, Germany, and Japan. It has also been banned in many zoos across the country, deemed “unsafe for animals.” | <urn:uuid:ed36c253-c21e-423d-bdf0-902f7985252d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://m.bigskypress.com/missoula/arsenic-common-in-wood-used-in-playgrounds/Content?oid=1133735 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403825.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00143-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96954 | 610 | 2.734375 | 3 |
A puzzle in which the answer can be deduced from a given set of premises: I like to do logic problems to keep my mind sharp
More example sentences
- Your ability to do a logic problem or to do geometry seems to be more related to age itself.
- Can you solve this logic problem?
- I had hoped that if learners practice simple logic problems and develop their ability to reason, it will be easier for them to make the progression to more advanced problems.
For editors and proofreaders
Syllabification: log·ic prob·lem
Definition of logic problem in:
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed. | <urn:uuid:4a571dae-6ea5-434c-82a0-55899a323676> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/logic-problem | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397636.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00161-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930018 | 152 | 3.34375 | 3 |
Search articles from 1992 to the present.
Centipedes and Millipedes
This article was published originally on 1/16/2004
Millipedes and most centipedes prefer to live outdoors in damp habitats. They can be found under logs, mulch, leaves and rocks. Millipedes feed on decaying plant matter and are important decomposers. Centipedes are predators and eat insects, and other small arthropods.
Millipedes are brown to black in color and usually 1 to 1 1/2 inch long. They have a smooth cylindrical body and will curl up when disturbed or dead. You can tell the difference between millipedes and centipedes by looking at the legs. Millipede legs are short and underneath the body, whereas centipede legs are long and stick out along the sides of their bodies. Millipedes have two pairs of legs per body segment, while centipedes have one pair per segment.
The house centipede, Scutigera coleoptrata, is a centipede species that is capable of living and reproducing in buildings. The body is brown to grayish yellow and has three dark stripes on top. The house centipede is about 1 1/2 inches long and has very long slender legs. The house centipede is active at night and feeds primarily on small insects such as cockroaches, and other arthropods. Centipedes are considered beneficial because they eat other insects; however, most people don't like seeing them running across the floor.
Millipedes can become a pest when they wander into buildings. However, unlike the house centipede millipedes do not reproduce indoors. Millipedes also migrate long distances during certain times of the year (varies with the weather, but commonly in spring or fall) and will occasionally enter structures in large numbers these migrations.
Management of centipedes and millipedes needs to focus on reducing the number entering the home by sealing cracks in foundations and around doors. Also, reducing centipede and millipede habitat around the foundation will help. They prefer moisture, so you can reduce suitable habitat by raking back mulch from the foundation, keeping plantings trimmed to allow sunlight to dry the soil, and letting soil dry between watering. Perimeter spraying of insecticides are of limited benefit in controlling centipedes and millipedes because the products do not always reach their protected habitats.
When centipedes and millipedes get indoors it is best to remove them with a vacuum or broom. Sticky traps can be placed against walls near entryways in areas where they are commonly observed. Reducing moisture and removing hiding places (old newspapers, boxes, etc) will also help in managing these occasional invaders. Indoor use of insecticides is not recommended for controlling millipedes because they usually die in a short time because of the dryness. Controlling house centipedes is best accomplished by reducing the number of insects they are using for food.
Year of Publication:
IC-491(1) -- January 16, 2004 | <urn:uuid:c3e9ae4c-e9cb-44bc-865e-15167ae8b611> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/2004/1-16-2004/centimilli.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00117-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938925 | 636 | 3.890625 | 4 |
Columbia Student Advises Community on How to Cut Greenhouse Gases
by Jessie Stensland
Global warming is a hot issue these days.
Former Vice President Al Gore is getting rave reviews for his movie about climate change. President George Bush finally admitted last year that human activity “may” be causing global warming.
While the federal government has been resistant toward taking substantial steps to curb the problem, many individuals and communities across the nation are making efforts large and small to be part of the solution.
The city of Oak Harbor, WA is one of them.
City leaders are participating in an innovative climate protection effort this summer with the help of Eun Soo Lim, a Columbia University graduate student. She’s working to quantify the city’s contribution of greenhouse gases.
Afterward, she’ll present an action plan to the City Council with practical ways the city government and the community at large can cut fuel and electricity consumption.
“There are everyday, little things that can add up,” Lim said. Using a bicycle whenever possible, for example, is a great way to cut fuel consumption, with added benefit of exercise.
The City Council passed a resolution at their last meeting to participate in the Cities for Climate Protection Campaign, a voluntary program to combat global warming. It’s sponsored by a group of local governments with a really long name, the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives Local Government for Sustainability, along with the Northwest Clean Air Agency.
The resolution itself is a miniature lesson on global warming.
“Scientific consensus has developed that Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere have a profound effect on the Earth’s climate...” it states. “In 2006 the U.S. National Climatic Data Center confirmed clear evidence of human influence on climate due to changes in greenhouse gases.”
Many communities in Washington are taking part in the program. Coupeville Mayor Nancy Conard said her town and Langley are sharing a graduate student, Mariah VanZerr. She’s giving an update on the project and a PowerPoint presentation, titled “Practical Solutions to Global Warming,” at the Town Council meeting at 6:30, next Tuesday, Aug. 8.
Many people feel that part of the solution is to change people’s everyday habits.
“The idea is for the city to take the lead in educating the community to take steps to reduce greenhouse gases,” said Oak Harbor interim City Supervisor Cathy Rosen. “We want to be a good steward and set a good example.”
In fact, Rosen said the city has been trying to become “greener” for years. There’s the recycling program, the new playground made from recycled materials and two new city-owned Ford Escape hybrids.
The city was awarded a grant for diesel retrofits on garbage trucks, which will dramatically reduce their greenhouse emissions. Sandra Place, the city’s equipment and purchasing coordinator, researched and wrote the grant applications.
While global warming might not seem like a terrible thing for those who live on temperate Whidbey Island, climate experts warn that it will have profound and unpredictable impacts on the Pacific Northwest.
A report by the University of Washington’s Climate Impact Group warns that planning should begin now to deal with global warming impacts on snowpack, salmon, hydroelectricity, agriculture and the ski industry.
Lim points out that even a small increase in average yearly temperatures will melt huge amounts of the snowpack in the mountains, which is the state’s natural water reservoir. Snowpack was been declining in the West over the last 40 years as temperatures increase. Less snow in the mountains will impact the timing and volume of stream flow.
That’s an important consideration for Oak Harbor since the city depends on water piped in from the Skagit River.
“Everything is connected to global warming,” Lim said. “Human health, the economy, wildlife, agriculture — our everyday life. It’s really important not to ignore this.”
Lim said she is working for “10 intense weeks” in the city public works department. She’s currently working with Puget Sound Energy, Cascade Natural Gas and Amerigas, as well as the Washington State Department of Transportation and Island Transit.
She’ll use data from the agencies and companies to develop a profile of energy consumption for both the city government.
Once the profile is completed, she’ll create a targeted action plan with ways in which the city and community can cut consumption, with specific goals for the future.
“Most of the program will require the city spending money in the beginning,” she said, “but the long-term savings will be a huge benefit.”
Reprinted with permission from whidbynenewtimes.com
About The Earth Institute
The Earth Institute at Columbia University is the world's leading academic center for the integrated study of Earth, its environment and society. The Earth Institute builds upon excellence in the core disciplines earth sciences, biological sciences, engineering sciences, social sciences and health sciences and stresses cross-disciplinary approaches to complex problems. Through research, training and global partnerships, it mobilizes science and technology to advance sustainable development, while placing special emphasis on the needs of the world's poor. For more information, visit www.earth.columbia.edu. | <urn:uuid:d0e25321-1f25-428a-8f44-7755d1a6fbe6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/news/2006/story08-02-06.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00128-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926307 | 1,137 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Heard Island and McDonald Islands
Heard Island and McDonald Islands are uninhabited, barren, sub-Antarctic islands in the Southern Ocean, far due south of India and roughly 200 miles southeast of Kerguelen of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. The islands are administered by Australia.
Heard Island is largely ice-covered, bleak and mountainous and is dominated by a large massif (Big Ben) and by an active volcano (Mawson Peak). The McDonald Islands are small, rocky and actively volcanic. The islands are populated by large numbers of seal and bird species, and have been designated a nature reserve. There are 4 types of penguins that are located on Heard Island
Visiting these islands will require careful planning and preparation as there are no permanent human inhabitants. Access will require either mounting or joining an expedition. Because of the islands' status as a nature reserve, permission to land from the Australian Antarctic Division will be necessary; landings can only be made on the McDonald Islands for "compelling scientific reasons".
There is no economic activity on Heard or the McDonald Islands.
There are two structures on the island, a ruined sealers hut near Oil Barrel Point, and an apple hut of unknown condition at the northern end of Atlas Cove. | <urn:uuid:998997c8-f98c-4c28-b1a4-cfac62044257> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://wikitravel.org/wiki/en/index.php?title=Heard_Island_and_McDonald_Islands&oldid=2184814 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403508.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00122-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928291 | 259 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Learn how good food can improve your health
Have you ever wondered if you are getting adequate nutrients from the food you eat?
Eating well for good health
Have you ever wondered if you are getting adequate nutrients from the food you eat? It is a common misconception that malnutrition means not getting enough food. This is, however, incorrect! People who take in insufficient food can be malnourished, but also those who consume too much face the same risks.
Malnutrition is defined as “An abnormal physiological condition caused by inadequate, unbalanced or excessive consumption of macronutrients and/or micronutrients. Malnutrition includes undernutrition and overnutrition as well as micronutrient deficiencies.” In other words, malnutrition, in fact, occurs when a person’s diet contains too few or too many nutrients. Any of us could suffer from malnutrition and not know it!
In order to have a healthy and balanced diet it is important to make the right choices, but often these choices are based on other factors than just nutrition: the availability and the cost of food; the taste and appearance; personal likes and dislikes; cultural practices and traditions.
There is no “ideal” diet that is right for everyone. Nutritional needs are specific to each individual, but everyone needs a diet that is balanced and includes a variety of foods that supply the different kinds and amounts of nutrients we need for good health.
While individual nutritional and dietary needs vary with age, sex, health, status and activity levels, most general dietary advice for adults recommends:
- Eating starchy carbohydrates as the basis of most meals.
- Eating fruits and vegetables as much as possible every day.
- Eating legumes regularly.
- Consuming milk and milk products regularly in small amounts.
- Eating meat, poultry, eggs and fish regularly within normal amounts.
- Choosing carefully the types of fats and oils in the diet and using limited amounts.
- Limiting consumption of sugar, sugary foods and beverages.
- Limiting consumption of salt.
- Limiting consumption of alcohol.
- Maintaining energy balance to keep a healthy body weight.
- Drinking plenty of water every day.
Are you interested in learning more about how to improve your diet and eating habits? Download the book here and share it with your friends and family! | <urn:uuid:54274d1e-5b8d-495e-81ca-78809de998e0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fao.org/zhc/detail-events/en/c/214152/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397864.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00135-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95803 | 486 | 3.890625 | 4 |
A long-standing land dispute between the Syrian Orthodox community in south-east Turkey and the local villagers has finally turned into a legal battle attracting international attention. The disagreement has been closely monitored by the European Union for some time, and US President Barack Obama and the State Department are monitoring the dispute.
In a remote village near Midyat, South East Turkey, a land dispute with neighboring villages is threatening the future of Mor Gabriel, one of the World’s oldest Christian monasteries, also known as the monastery of St. Gabriel, a property of the Syrian Orthodox Church (Suryani).
In August 2008, three mukhtars (low level elected officials with limited authority) in Midyat, filed a criminal complaint with a local prosecutor against the Monastery of St. Gabriel alleging it “illegally appropriated territory by building a wall.” (See US Department of State, 2008 Human Rights Report: Turkey.)
On September 4, a Cadastre court ruled against the monastery and reclaimed all but 30 percent of the monastery’s lands. Official papers from the 1950s documented the provincial administrative board’s approval of the monastery’s borders.
St. Gabriel Monastery was founded in 397. It has 3 monks and 14 nuns. It also has 12,000 ancient corpses buried in a basement crypt. On the details of this conflict, see the Wall Street Journal article at http://s.wsj.net/article/SB123638477632658147.html
While this episode is sponsored by the Turkish government who initiated the whole conflict, the question arises as is this a first step towards the Islamization of the remnants of Christians found in the region of Tur Abdin (an Aramaic term means the mountain of worshippers), or using the normal tactics through a campaign of intimidation to make the remaining Christians leave Turkey and converting the Monastery into a mosque or a museum.
For Christians, Turkey is an important country. According to the Bible, it was in the Turkish town of Antioch that the folConversion of Christian Churches into Mosqueslowers of Jesus were first called Christians. The first adherents to Christianity were Syriac speaking people of the Aramaean ancestry, including the Syrian Orthodox Church (Suryani) and the Church of the East (popularly know as the Nestorian Church or the Assyrian Church.)
Turkey is the birthplace of Apostles and Saints, including Paul of Tarsus, Timothy, St. Nicholas of Myra, and many others. St. Peter went on missionary journeys farther into the Gentile world [Turkey].
Read the entire article on the Assyrian Times website (new window will open). | <urn:uuid:5d70d007-d743-42e6-9162-3f1660553c13> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles-2009/Sawma-The-Great-Monastery-Of-St-Gabriel-In-Captivity.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397744.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00005-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957017 | 550 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Old Calendar: St. Peter Claver, priest; St. Gorgonius, martyr
Peter Claver was born of a distinguished family in Catalonia, Spain. He became a Jesuit in 1604, and left for Colombia in 1610, dedicating himself to the service of black slaves. For thirty-three years he ministered to slaves, caring for the sick and dying, and instructing the slaves through catechists. Through his efforts three hundred thousand souls entered the Church. He is the Patron of the Negro Missions.According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Gorgonius. Two martyrs named Gorgonius suffered during Diocletian's persecution. One, a Roman, is buried on the Via Labicana; the other, a high court functionary at Nicomedia in Asia Minor, was one of Diocletian's first victims. Later the two were confused and the name Gorgonius occurs only once in the Roman Martyrology.
St. Peter Claver
Peter was born of a distinguished family in Catalonia, Spain in 1581. He joined the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), and after his novitiate in Taragona was sent to the college of Montesione, at Palma in Majorca. There he met Brother Alphonse Rodriguez (also a saint), the humble porter of the convent. Alphonse set Peter's soul on fire to save the souls of the African slaves — thousands being lost because there was no one to minister to them. His superiors finally sent Peter to New Granada in April of 1610. He was never to return to his native Spain.
- Learn the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
- Find out more about St. Alphonsus Rodriguez.
- Study modern missionary activities and perhaps ways to become a missionary in small ways; read what Pope John Paul II says about Missionary Activity and Consecrated Life.
- Take a look at African American history, injustice of the slave trade, and African American Catholics today, etc.
There are two martyrs with this name, a source of considerable confusion. The one was born in Nicomedia and was martyred under Diocletian. Concerning him is the following legendary account: "Gorgonius, a native of Nicomedia, served as a treasurer to Emperor Diocletian. Aided by one of his colleagues, Dorotheus, he converted his fellow officials to the Christian faith. On one occasion, upon witnessing the cruel torturing of a martyr in Diocletian's presence, both Gorgonius and Dorotheus were moved to become martyrs themselves. Fearlessly they addressed the Emperor: 'O Caesar, why do you restrict your punishments to this one witness? Both of us profess the same faith against which you inflict so dire a judgment. See, we are ready to undergo the same suffering.' Without delay the Emperor had them put into irons; he ordered their wounds to be washed with salt and vinegar before tying them to a heated grill. After further torture, they were hanged, about the year 303."
- The Postcommunion prayer (Tridentine Liturgy) is particularly beautiful: "May eternal bliss shine upon and gladden Your family, Lord; for through Your martyr Gorgon we are steeped at all times in the sweet odor of Christ." This prayer indeed indicates how highly the ancient Church respected martyrs. Let us realize that we are a great family whose most illustrious members are those who have died for the faith. From their passion we still draw benefit; and we should rejoice spiritually over them. Pray that you will have the grace to always stand up for your belief in Christ, even if it should cost you your life. | <urn:uuid:22823b7e-5451-4a2d-a880-0c799e70e30f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2014-09-09 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00197-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967502 | 789 | 3.21875 | 3 |
UNECE Releases Guidance on Sustainable Mobilization of Wood
19 May 2010: The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has released a publication titled "Good Practice Guidance on the Sustainable Mobilization of Wood in Europe," which provides an overview of measures countries can take to mobilize their wood resources to help Europe reach its renewable energy objective of 20% by 2020.
The publication was jointly produced by: UNECE/UN Food and Agriculture (FAO) Forestry and Timber Section; FOREST EUROPE; and the European Commission's Directorate General Agriculture and Rural Development. The authors recommend stepping up the supply of wood from Europe's sustainably managed forests, noting that only 60% of the annual natural growth of the forests is currently being harvested. The publication presents a selection of eight mobilization areas, together with concrete measures and examples of good practice, which policy makers and practitioners can take into account when developing wood mobilization strategies and practices for their own region.
It aims to, inter alia, provide a practical contribution at country level to the preparation of national energy plans and strategies, including the National Renewable Energy Action Plans of the EU, and to help EU and other European countries to achieve their climate change and energy commitments. It lists general principles for the sustainable mobilization of wood, including that the “cascade” use of wood products may be encouraged in situations where life cycle analysis, logistical and cost factors indicate its efficiency in order to utilise resources most efficiently and to maximize climate change mitigation potential.
It concludes by underlining that adopting and further developing mobilization practices can: contribute to adaptation and mitigation efforts needed in the context of climate change; help achieve renewable energy targets; and provide additional jobs and income in rural areas. [UNECE Press Release] [The Publication] | <urn:uuid:fc5f3e06-4bf3-4483-9390-08848c0ed320> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://climate-l.iisd.org/news/unece-releases-guidance-on-sustainable-mobilization-of-wood/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399106.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00174-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928579 | 362 | 3.140625 | 3 |
For February's observance of Black History Month, NEA/AFT affiliate NYSUT (New York State United Teachers) offers a free poster honoring the NAACP, which was instrumental in winning the 1954 desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education. NYSUT's poster features a photograph of 6-year-old Ruby Bridges, the first African-American child to attend William Frantz Elementary, and her quote: "Don't follow the path. Go where there is no path and start a trail."
More BHM resources.
How will your class observe Black History Month? Tell us on the MTA Facebook Fan page. | <urn:uuid:f1e32547-d8d8-4b91-b8ce-dad61bdf9785> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://massteacher.org/News/archive/2010/01-29.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00040-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928168 | 130 | 3.078125 | 3 |
|Name: _________________________||Period: ___________________|
This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. How many men does Freedman say were killed in World War I?
(a) 50 million.
(c) 20 million.
(d) 10 million.
2. How would Eleanor go about making a recommendation to her husband, according to Freedman?
(a) She would talk to him when they were alone.
(b) She would buy a book or bring a guest who could articulate her idea.
(c) She would make her proposal in the most concise way.
(d) She would talk to her husband's advisors, and convince them to support her idea.
3. Where would Franklin Roosevelt go for his health?
(a) The Maine Coast.
(b) Warm Springs.
(d) Ballston Spa.
4. What was Franklin Roosevelt in charge of in Europe?
(c) Establishing U.S. bases.
(d) Closing U.S. naval bases.
5. What does Freedman say was a contentious issue between Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt?
(a) Civil rights.
(b) Employment programs for the poor.
(c) The U.N.
(d) Women's rights.
6. What does Freedman say was the effect of Franklin Roosevelt's paralysis?
(a) He became more understanding of people's hardships.
(b) He learned to remain untouched by political attacks.
(c) He despaired, but was occasionally inspired.
(d) He began to drink and became depressed.
7. How does Freedman say the trip to see troops affected Eleanor Roosevelt?
(a) She lost 30 pounds.
(b) She was invigorated.
(c) She became severely depressed.
(d) She returned very sick.
8. What did Eleanor attribute to Esther Lape and Elizabeth Read?
(a) Her political awakening.
(b) Her triumph over shyness.
(c) Her ability to speak up to her mother-in-law.
(d) Her devotion to her husband.
9. What did Eleanor Roosevelt prefer to chauffeured limousines?
(a) A Plymouth convertible.
(b) A Ford roadster.
(c) A Dodge coupe.
10. What did Eleanor Roosevelt NOT start to get invitations for after she joined the Women's Democratic News?
(a) Radio interviews.
(b) Campaign for office.
(c) Political debates.
(d) Speaking engagements.
11. What was America's initial stance toward the war in Europe?
(a) Gunboat diplomacy.
(c) Speak softly and carry a big stick.
12. When did Franklin Roosevelt take office in the White House?
(a) March 1933.
(b) March 1931.
(c) April 1934.
(d) February 1932.
13. Who was allowed into Eleanor Roosevelt's press conferences?
(a) Only unemployed people.
(b) Only teachers and social workers.
(c) The media.
(d) Only female reporters.
14. What did Eleanor Roosevelt work with a private coach to improve?
(a) Her public speaking.
(b) Her writing.
(c) Her driving.
(d) Her sense of diplomacy and propriety.
15. What was Roosevelt and the Democrats' position on the League of Nations?
(a) They were in favor of limiting U.S. involvement in it.
(b) They were opposed to joining it.
(c) They wanted the U.S. to run it.
(d) They were in favor of joining.
Short Answer Questions
1. What did Eleanor like about Louis Howe?
2. What did Eleanor Roosevelt dislike about the prospect of moving to Washington D.C.?
3. What did Marion Dickerman and Eleanor Roosevelt do together after Marion invited Eleanor to teach?
4. What was Eleanor's position at the League of Women's Voters?
5. How did Franklin Roosevelt show his regard for Marion Dickerman and Nancy Cook?
This section contains 568 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) | <urn:uuid:8d85cf53-8d8a-4f88-9e0b-87942050cdcb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bookrags.com/lessonplan/eleanor-roosevelt/test2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00126-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96081 | 913 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Comic book explains TB vaccine clinical trial
TALLINN, ESTONIA: Finding participants for clinical trials is one of the challenges in the development of new vaccines against tuberculosis (TB). The South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI) recently launched a new means to reach out to communities where trials take place: a comic book.
The 12-page comic book, printed in Afrikaans, Xhosa and English, aims to communicate information on TB vaccine clinical research in an entertaining and understandable way. Under the title 'Carina's Choice' it tells the story of a young woman's decision to enroll her baby daughter into a clinical trial for new TB vaccines. “Why did you do that?” a friend asks her on the cover, inside the answer follows.
The comic gives information on TB vaccine clinical trials and deals with common questions and misunderstandings on those trials in communities. Consultative focus group sessions with community stakeholders were held in the development of the comic, which helped shape among others the characterisation, setting, facts and community concerns that needed to be communicated, and language used.
“Many people in the community are not familiar with research,” explains SATVI co-director Hassan Mahomed, adding that levels of education and literacy are often low. “Regarding clinical trials, there is some superstition, many myths exist about e.g. taking blood, as well as ideas that people are used as guinea pigs, bad things will happen, or other negative attitudes. The comic deals with these thoughts, it explains what happens in trials. This way, we hope to increase knowledge and understanding.”
SATVI is conducting clinical trials in South-Africa for multiple novel TB vaccines. According to Mahomed, tuberculosis is widely known among communities, but not everybody is equally familiar with the need for new vaccines. The limitations of Bacille Calmette Guérin (BCG), the currently only available vaccine, are referred to in the comic book as well. Around 10,000 books have been printed, Stop TB Partnership funded the design. “The comics will be handed out through clinics, NGOs and at home visits,” Mahomed said at the sidelines of the Second Global Forum on TB Vaccines in Tallinn (September 21-24), Estonia.
The comic is a new tool for SATVI, which already works with e.g. posters, leaflets and DVDs explaining what clinical trials are all about. “Also through local media, radio, newspapers and NGOs we inform people about trials,” Mahomed adds. SATVI staff go out to communities, workplaces, schools, clinics and homes of newborns to contact and recruit people.
SATVI further works with a community advisory board (CAB) made of individuals from the community to represent the community's interests in clinical trials. “They give advice to the researchers and input from the community. In every way it is very important to engage with communities”
SATVI staff and CAB members are also present in the comic book. It ends with a bill of rights for research participants. “It is all about informed consent,” Mahomed says. “At all times, even when people are participating already, they need to be constantly reminded of their rights and informed about the process of the trial.”
“We don't know yet what impact the comic books will have,” he continues. “The comics will be handed out to groups of community members in different settings. After reading the comics, they will be engaged in focus group discussions to check understanding of the issues raised and also attitudes towards the comics themselves. Of course we hope the comic will have effect and improve understanding.”
The Worcester Senior Secondary, a local high school, has converted the comic book into a theatre play. This play was the centerpiece of the official launch of the book on October 9.
(The author is a freelance journalist writing for Citizen News Service (CNS) and Associate Communications atTuBerculosis Vaccine Initiative – TBVI)
- Shared under Creative Commons (CC) Attribution License | <urn:uuid:621a14a7-b242-414d-912a-e8e6628e7ff0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.modernghana.com/news/300238/1/comic-book-explains-tb-vaccine-clinical-trial.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00056-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956153 | 852 | 2.625 | 3 |
XPath - Descendants "//"
As you know, the slash "/" is used to separate parent from child in our XPath expressions. However, when you put two slashes together "//", it does something completely different. Two slashes are used to select the descendants of an element.
This lesson will teach you how to advance your XPath knowledge and save time with the descendant double-slash "//".
We will be using our lemonade2.xml file, which you can download.
XML Code, lemonade2.xml:
<lemonade supplier="mother" id="1">
<pop supplier="store" id="2">
<chips supplier="store" id="3">
XPath - Choosing Descendants
Although relative and absolute paths will let you select anything you want in your XML document, they can sometimes be quite time-consuming. If you wanted to select each price element that was a descendant of drink, you would have to write two absolute XPath expressions.
Absolute XPath Expression:
Or you could use the relative XPath expressions.
Relative XPath Expression:
Although this isn't that much work, imagine if you had fifty different types of drinks, each with their own price. Not only that, but you would have to write additional XPath expressions as more drinks were added and taken away from the XML document!
The "//" sequence will save you a lot of time. If you wanted to select every price element that has a drink ancestor, this expression would get the job done.
Relative Location with Descendants XPath Expression:
This powerful little expression has a lot going on, so let's look at it in more detail to ensure you understand how it works.
- We start our expression with the relative location drink.
- We tell XPath that we want to select from the descendants of drink with "//"
- We specify that we specifically want to select the price descendant.
- We pat ourselves on the back for getting the job done efficiently!
With the use of the descendant sequence "//", you can save yourself a lot of time. The hard part of XPath is the sheer number of solutions for a given problem, but with some practice, you'll be able to choose which set of tricks will get the job done in the best way.
Download Tizag.com's XML Book
If you would rather download the PDF of this tutorial, check out our
XML eBook from the Tizag.com store.
Found Something Wrong in this Lesson?
Report a Bug or Comment on This Lesson - Your input is what keeps Tizag improving with time! | <urn:uuid:434d7761-793c-4e32-bcea-5ffcf1219393> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.tizag.com/xmlTutorial/xpathdescendant.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00159-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.883141 | 561 | 3.390625 | 3 |
Schools today are getting a real education in the benefits of wireless networks. And why wouldn’t they? This technology is helping bring more computers into the classroom and into the hands of students, as well as giving instructors the flexibility to take learning across campus, community, and the World Wide Web.
Using Radio Frequency (RF), today’s wireless local area networks (LANs) have speeds of two, five, 11, and 24 Mbps; are as reliable as traditional wired LANs; and can be used virtually anywhere to access a school’s network, e-mail, or the Internet. The benefits are as numerous as its applications. “Most of the systems operate in the unlicensed frequency band – that would be the 900 megahertz ISM band, which stands for Industrial, Scientific, and Medical. The 2.4 gigahertz unlicensed band includes the Wi-Fi devices, point-to-point microwave, cordless phones, and the Bluetooth applications. And then the last frequency band that is specifically used for wireless application is the 5.8 gigahertz band. All of these are regulated under Part 15 of the FCC rules,” explains David D. Donohoe, vice president of engineering, Comsearch, Ashburn, VA.
Significant advances have been made in recent years. “With the technology gains made in wireless over the last two years, a tremendous upgrade in wireless’ capability, as well as the amount of security enablement for software and hardware detection, many of the objections to wireless have flat gone away. They just don’t hold water anymore,” says Doug Boswell, wireless solutions specialist, Education Sector, IBM Global Services, Houston.
Why Wireless? Why Not?
Educators and administrators are looking for ways to make computer technology accessible to all students, promote new ways of teaching and learning, as well as better prepare children and young adults for the high-tech world that awaits them after their school days are done. Balancing these goals with the constraints of overcrowded, portable, aging, and sometimes historic school buildings is a challenging prospect. According to Boswell, “Certainly when you talk about older schools, it’s very difficult to capture unused space that’s amendable to computerization.”
When Muskogee Public Schools in Muskogee, OK, uncovered some of these challenges with a 1930s, WPA-built facility, wireless technology was implemented building-wide. “It’s all block walls, so cabling that building is a bear. The wireless worked flawlessly. We mounted access points in the drop ceilings,” says Ron Chandler, director of technology, Muskogee Public Schools, Muskogee, OK. Rapid deployment and minimal construction are two benefits that make wireless systems that much more appealing for school facility managers.
Paired with laptop computers, wireless systems minimize the amount of space consumed by technology (turning student desktops into computer stations when necessary), as well as providing instructors and students with increased mobility. “One of the classrooms is a special ed classroom where the students work in small groups, so we had different types of desks and tables. The idea is that they move tables around and they rearrange furniture. It’s very difficult to do that if you’ve got computer cables everywhere,” explains Rick Musto, project director, LPA Inc., Irvine, CA, about one of the two prototype “classrooms of the future” in the Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD).
Wireless technology can be a wonderful extension of the existing hard-wired system. “In a lot of places where you have the wired infrastructure and you put a mobile application or wireless application in, you’ve got a redundant network,” says Donohoe. “You can bet that wireless will cost half of what a wired solution will cost, [when] you consider all the elements.”
Employing access points or antennas and cabling from these to the network, a wireless system can be implemented in a number of applications, varying in scope and scale. In the simplest application, mobile carts containing wireless LAN equipment can be plugged into the classroom’s network connection, laptops can be removed from the cart, and each student can begin computing at the desktop. “The idea with the carts is that every class can share when it’s necessary so that you don’t have to have a computer for everybody in school,” says Boswell.
Classroom-wide or facility-wide wide wireless (usually wide area network) systems operate on the same principle, except that wireless access points are installed strategically throughout the area. Any device that is wirelessly enabled with 802.11 technology can access the network.
Before undergoing a $22.6 million capital improvement program at Loara High School, the AUHSD renovated two prototype classrooms of the future. “They have wireless laptops in the classrooms – one for each child,” explains Sarah Creighton, director of Education Services, McCarthy Building Cos., Newport Beach, CA. “We designed a custom cabinet that sits in the corner of the room that has pull-out shelves to house laptops. The cabinet is wired for power so whenever the computers aren’t being used [they] are being charged,” adds AUHSD Director of Facilities and Planning Gordon Getchel.
Higher education institutions are exploring campus-wide wireless systems as a way to not only enable students technologically but also to distinguish themselves. “We were aware that many of the schools with whom we compete were already ahead of us in deploying wireless technology to some degree. We wanted to both meet that competition and get ahead of it by doing something on a fairly large scale,” says Carl Whitman, executive director, E-operations, American University, Washington, D.C. The system implemented at American University is known as a distributed antennae system, serving both the purpose of data transmission as well as cellular telephone communication. “All together we have about 700 antennas throughout the campus that tie back on each floor to a wiring closet where the RF distribution equipment from the vendor is located,” Whitman explains. The loss of revenue due to cell phone usage by incoming freshman was mitigated by partnering with a cellular provider and offering students a service package.
While total adoption of wireless is a long way off, smart schools are giving the technology an “A+.”
Jana J. Madsen (email@example.com) is senior editor at Buildings magazine.
Take Some (Wire) Free Advice
If you’re considering wireless for your school(s), follow a few basic (but important) steps:
Find a company experienced in wireless implementation and engage them in a professional services contract.
Complete site surveys to identify “dead spots” in signal transmission, to assist in mapping the location(s) of antennas and/or access points, and to gauge the level of expense involved.
Bid out the system components.
Take into consideration the amount of interference possible.
Once installed, perform routine checks to ensure optimum system performance. | <urn:uuid:5b9f9c6c-8b13-41b4-8cb5-b0bc3498f85a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.buildings.com/article-details/articleid/1466/title/wireless-schools.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00192-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952729 | 1,488 | 3.25 | 3 |
People who watch violent television, films or video games are more likely to be aggressive, as they interpret the mildest of slights as provacation, researchers have found.
The International Society for Research on Aggression (IRSA) concluded that that evidence shows that media violence consumption can act as a trigger for aggressive thoughts or feelings already stored.
They have now warned parents to keep an eye on what their children are watching, telling them to use a "you are what you eat" approach.
In their report, based on a review of pre-existing research literature, the commission concluded that aside from being sources of imitation, violent images such as scenes in movies, games or even pictures in comic books act as triggers for activating aggressive thoughts and feelings already stored in memory.
If these aggressive thoughts and feelings are activated over and over again because of repeated exposure to media violence, they become chronically accessible, and therefore more likely to influence behaviour.
The commission concluded: "One may also become more vigilant for hostility and aggression in the world, and therefore, begin to feel some ambiguous actions by others, such as being bumped in a crowded room, are deliberate acts of provocation."
The researchers wrote: "Parents can also set limits on screen use, and should discuss media content with their children to promote critical thinking when viewing. Schools may help parents by teaching students from an early age to be critical consumers of the media and that, just like food, the 'you are what you eat' principle applies to healthy media consumption."
While most public policy has focused on restricting children's access to violent media, the commission found that approach to have significant political and legal challenges in many countries.
For that reason, it recommends putting efforts into improving media ratings, classifications, and public education about the effects of media on children.
The report is published in journal Aggressive Behaviour. | <urn:uuid:a5b2ce7a-1764-4a79-ac10-b96ba73886fb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/9505755/People-who-watch-violent-television-more-likely-to-be-aggressive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394605.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00009-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970415 | 380 | 3.125 | 3 |
[Annelida] Xerobdella lecomtei leech in climate trouble?
(by g.read from niwa.co.nz)
Sun Sep 9 17:47:22 EST 2007
There is a better report than the one below online at:
Kutschera U et al. ( 2007 ). The European land leech: biology and
DNA-based taxonomy of a rare species that is threatened by climate
warming. Naturwissenschaften ( DOI 10.1007/s00114-007-0278-3 )
The paper is dedicated to the species discoverer, naturalist Georg
Ritter von Frauenfeld (18071873), on the occasion of his 200th
News report: Climate change sucks life from rare leech
Oslo, Sept 5 Reuters
The Austrian forest habitat has dried out since the 60s contributing to
the demise of the rare European leach, Xerobdella lecomtei
A rare European leech seems to be headed toward extinction as global
warming dries out the Austrian forest home of the tiny blood-sucker,
scientists said on Wednesday.
Researchers at German and Austrian universities found only one juvenile
leech in birch forests near Graz, Austria, in searches from 2001-2005.
Scientists had found 20 specimens, up to 4cms long, in the same forests
in the 1960s.
"Recent human-induced warming may have led over past decades to the
almost complete extinction of a local population of this rare animal
species," they wrote in a study to be published in the journal
A rise in average summer temperatures in the region of 3 deg C since the
1960s, widely blamed on greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, had
apparently dried out the forests where leeches lived on moist bark and
The leeches, formally known as Xerobdella lecomtei, were first found
only in 1868 and feed on earthworms. More studies would be needed to see
if the leeches were managing to survive in a cooler, higher region.
UN studies say that the world may be facing the worst wave of
extinctions since the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago because of
threats such as climate change and a loss of habitats to cities, roads
The scientists said that it was a rare example of a species in trouble
even though its habitat was broadly intact. The one leech found died
after about 10 months in a laboratory.
Geoff Read <g.read from niwa.co.nz>
More information about the Annelida | <urn:uuid:e6feb71e-315d-4787-ae14-40527612a9b7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bio.net/bionet/mm/annelida/2007-September/002818.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396459.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00056-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90235 | 546 | 3.25 | 3 |
The big knocks against petroleum-based fuels including gasoline and diesel are that one day they’ll run out, and in the meantime, they are literally choking the planet with their emissions.
On the other hand, these liquid-based fuels have a high energy density -- they pack a mighty kick in a small amount of volume compared to other known fuel sources. One happy medium for many fleets is the use of non-petroleum, renewable fuels such as biodiesel. Derived from soybeans, algae, or even used cooking oil, biodiesel provides nearly the same power output as petroleum-based diesel, but with substantially lower emissions.
It can be blended with regular diesel in varying concentrations (B100 is 100-percent biodiesel) and is generally safe for diesel engines as long as the fuel is of high quality. It’s even been said that the fat concentrations in biodiesel provide helpful lubrication to engine parts. Once a novelty, today you can find biodiesel at many filling stations alongside the pumps for regular unleaded. Some companies, including McDonald's and Wal-Mart, even recycle their stores’ own cooking oil for use as fleet fuels.
Biodiesel does come with some caveats, however. It reacts badly with PVC and certain other plastics, as well as parts made from natural rubber (found mostly on older cars). Then there’s the debate over whether fertile farmland should be used to grow crops for vehicle fuel or for food.
In any case, many policy makers see biodiesel and other homegrown liquid fuels such as ethanol as not only bulwarks against climate change, but also as steps along the path of weaning the United States from its dependence on foreign oil.
Conventional fuels can’t help but spew carbon dioxide and soot particles into the environment -- it’s in their chemical composition. But one technology drastically cuts emissions by making regular-fuel vehicles super efficient. Learn how it’s done on the next page. | <urn:uuid:013f5770-362a-45e2-83b0-5ed8380b53b3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/fuel-consumption/5-environmental-solutions-fleet-fuel2.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00190-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961819 | 404 | 3.3125 | 3 |
In 2008, U.S. wind power generation capacity exceeded the 25 GW mark by adding more than 8 GW from the year before, representing the largest individual gain of any country in the world. This growth rate of 50% surpassed that of the year before, indicating that the market is still relatively young and has room to grow, despite the economic downturn. The market for wind turbines will continue to grow through 2015 driven by new generation additions as well as replacements of smaller, older turbines with new, larger, more efficient turbines. In 2007, generation capacity from renewable sources made up only 4% of the world’s electricity sources, but 16% of new electricity generation capacity additions were from renewables with wind power making up more than 80% of these gains by renewables.
Source: Pike Research | <urn:uuid:9c10e2ba-e31a-419c-9d54-0dceed84b9f0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ecmweb.com/print/content/north-american-wind-energy-outlook | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397795.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00060-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957512 | 159 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Use of indoor tanning beds increases risk of melanoma between twofold and fourfold depending on the device and length of time indoor tanning is used, according to a report in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Philadelphia (Vocus) -- American Association for Cancer Research Hosted Press Conference on Findings
(recording available below)
In the largest study of its kind on this issue, researchers found that among 1,167 melanoma cases and 1,101 healthy controls, those who had tanned indoors had a 74 percent increased risk of melanoma. If the devices emitted primarily UVA radiation, the risk was 4.4-fold.
Risk increased along with greater years of use, number of sessions or total hours of use.
The Food and Drug Administration is currently considering a ban on indoor tanning beds among teenagers. Results from this study suggest the greater risk of melanoma observed among teenagers is more likely due to increased years of tanning rather than biology. Currently, indoor tanning use is much more common among teenage girls and young women than boys or men.
The AACR hosted a press conference on the report on Thursday, May 27 at 11a.m. ET, moderated by Tim Rebbeck, Ph.D., editor-in-chief of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, and professor of epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania.
The following scientists participated in this press conference:
Lead author DeAnn Lazovich, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology and community health in the School of Public Health and Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota:
“It had been previously thought that those tanning with UVB, rather than UVA, radiation would be at increased risk for melanoma. Our study shows that there is no such thing as a safe device.”
Electra Paskett, Ph.D., associate director for population sciences at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute:
“Too many teenagers tend to live a life ignorant of risk. They believe that because they are not old they will never be old. We need to encourage a shift in social norms about tanning similar to what was done with smoking because the risk is that high.”
Allan Halpern, M.D., chief of the dermatology service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center:
“We see over 120,000 melanoma cases in the United States every year and over 8,500 deaths. Tanning bed use is definitely one of the factors fueling this epidemic.”
Listen to a recording of the teleconference.
Subscribe to the AACR RSS News Feed
Subscribe to the Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention RSS Feed
The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 31,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowship and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. The AACR publishes six major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists. CR provides a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship and advocacy.
Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/05/prweb4063824.htm.
Copyright©2010 Vocus, Inc.
All rights reserved | <urn:uuid:fbb74c13-df4f-45dc-bda7-c5a536381437> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-1/Indoor-Tanning-Beds-Increase-Risk-of-Melanoma-72836-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00015-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925084 | 899 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Updated free guide to invasive plants in southern forestsWritten by Admin
- font size decrease font size increase font size
Gardeners, foresters, landowners and others concerned about nonnative invasive plants in the South can now get free copies of A Field Guide for the Identification of Invasive Plants in Southern Forests by U.S. Forest Service Research Ecologist Jim Miller.
The long-awaited book is an update of the very popular Nonnative Invasive Plants of Southern Forests: A Field Guide for Identification and Control, published in 2003.
“Jim Miller is one of the foremost authorities on invasive plants in the South, so we’re delighted to offer this enhanced field guide at no cost to anyone interested in learning about and identifying invasive plants in the region,” said Forest Service Souther Research Station Director Jim Reaves. “The Forest Service has distributed nearly 160,000 copies of Jim’s first book on invasive plants, and with the spread of exotic species across region, we expect there will be even more demand for this expanded version.”
The book’s appendix contains the most complete list of nonnative invasive plants in the 13 Southern states, providing common and scientific names for 310 other invading species including, for the first time, aquatic plant invaders. Also, the authors updated the “Sources of Identification Information” section to include the latest books, manuals and articles on invasive plants. The ever-expanding website section lists Internet resources that provide useful information on identification and efficient management. | <urn:uuid:0bfeebb4-330c-4e8f-afad-16a5ec7153c3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://smokymountainnews.com/news/item/2222-updated-free-guide-to-invasive-plants-in-southern-forests | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00063-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.882385 | 311 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Today we all have plenty of need but limited resources so most of the time people take loan to fulfill there needs. Once we take loan, the term Loan Repayment comes into picture, loan repayment means paying the money back to the organization from where we took loan. There are different ways to repay loan amount back, Fortnightly and Monthly loan repayment are two of the ways for making loan repayment. Fortnightly means fourteen days, or two weeks whereas monthly means a calendar month.
When we talk about Fortnightly or Monthly loan repayment, these are the most popular ways of making loan repayment. As the name suggest in Fortnightly loan repayment, the repayment schedule is of two week duration whereas in Monthly repayment which is also called as Equal monthly installment (EMI) offers one month duration. This frequency of repayment schedule directly impacts the interest payment and loan terms which imparts both of these terms from each other.
When you borrow money from a bank or a financial institution, they apply interest rate on the borrowed money depending on certain factors like purpose of loan, amount of loan, loan terms and risk factor. Here purpose of loan can be anything, car loan, home loan, personal loan etc. depending on the type of loan other factors varies. Say for an instance, if you borrow home loan from a bank, naturally the amount will be few lakhs rupees for a period of 10 to 20 years. In such a case bank applies reducible interest rate on your borrowing. which means the interest will be calculated on the balance of the loan amount you owe the bank. So if you make your payments fortnightly it will automatically shorten the repayment schedule. This way the the interest you have to pay will reduce and thus at the same rate of repayment you can settle the loan faster than planned or in other way you can reduce the installment amount.
Monthly Loan Repayment
Monthly Loan Repayment is one of the pay to repay your loan amount back to the bank. Lets have small Home Loan example to understand the impact of monthly loan repayment on the interest payment.
Lets say you have taken a Home Loan of 20 Lakhs at a reducible interest rate of 10% per annum for a period of 10 years from a bank. Now under monthly loan repayment scheme you have to pay back the bank by equal monthly installments. Banks have charts or on- line tools to calculate the monthly installments. For the home loan we have taken in this example, the fixed monthly repayments will be roughly Rs 26,430.
With reducible interest, the interest for that month is added to the outstanding balance and then the fixed monthly repayment is deducted. The balance will be taken for the next interest calculation. As the balance reduces, the interest added also reduces and the debt is cleared at a faster rate.
Interest rate = 10% or 0.1 p.a , so monthly interest rate will be 0.1/12
At the end of Ist month,
Outstanding balance = (Principal) 20,00,000 + (Interest) 20,00,000(0.1/12) = 20,16,677
Amount owing to the bank after first month = 20,16,677– 26,430= 19,90,247
At the end of IInd month,
Outstanding balance = 19,90,247 + 19,90,247 (0.1/12) = 20,06,832
Amount owing to the bank after second month = 20,06,832 – 26,430 = 19,80,402
At the end of IIIrd month,
Outstanding balance = 19,80,402 + 19,80,402(0.1/12) = 19,96,905
Amount owing to the bank after third month = 19,96,905– 26,430 = 19,70,475
So if you see here the interest you have to pay is continuously reducing. On every EMI payment, you pay a fixed monthly interest payment and part settlement of the principal. As the interest is reducing, your debt is cleared at a faster rate.
Fortnightly Loan Repayment
As we saw in Monthly repayment schedule, we can make 12 payments per annum. Fortnightly loan repayment is dividing your monthly repayment amount equally to make your monthly repayment in every 2 Weeks. If we choose fortnightly loan repayment schedule it will let you pay 13 payments per annum instead of 12 in case of monthly. The next question must be ‘how could this be possible?’ This is because there are 26 fortnights every year which is equivalent to 13 months. This extra month every year helps reducing loan amount which will directly helps reducing loan interest. This is how fortnightly payments work.
The repayment frequency can help you save a considerable amount of money. Lets have an example to understand this is detail.The fortnightly repayment for the said loan will be roughly Rs 13,215 (26430/2)
Interest rate = 10% or 0.1 p.a , fortnightly interest rate will be 0.1/26 (52 weeks in a year, so 26 fortnights)
At the end of Ist fortnight,
Outstanding balance = 20,00,000 + 20,00,000(0.1/26) = 20,07,692
Amount owing to the bank after a fortnight = 20,07,692– 13,215 = 19,94,477
At the end of IInd fortnight (first month),
Outstanding balance = 19,94,477 + 19,94,477 (0.1/26) = 20,02,148
Amount owing to the bank after first month = 20,02,148 – 13,215 = 19,88,933
As you can compare the loan balance at the end of first month in both the cases. You can simply find the difference of Rs 1314 reduced loan amount in the case of fortnightly loan repayment schedule at the end of first month which will lead to lesser interest payment in the later months/years. If you go ahead with the calculation in case of fortnightly loan repayment schedule you will find a substantial reduction in the loan term which will directly benefit you monetarily. | <urn:uuid:6340fa9f-c4f2-41ff-a10b-343b1a268d07> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fingyan.com/fortnightly-vs-monthly-loan-repayments/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00115-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94939 | 1,285 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Environmental Protection Agency
Kyle Stone | GovCentral Contributing Writer
The EPA Safeguards human health and the nation’s air, water and lands. It administers programs to control and reduce pollution, and works with other governments to conduct environmental research, and set and enforce environmental standards.
EPA employs 17,000 people across the country, including our headquarters offices in Washington, DC, 10 regional offices, and more than a dozen labs. The staff members are highly educated and technically trained; more than half are engineers, scientists, and policy analysts. In addition, a large number of employees are legal, public affairs, financial, information management and computer specialists. EPA is led by the Administrator, who is appointed by the President of the United States.
Number of Employees: 16,430
Future Hiring Projections (FY 2007-09): 1,170
Top Five Occupations:
<a href=“”http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/jobsearch.asp?q=&jbf574=EP*&jbf522=&salmin=&salmax=&paygrademin=&paygrademax=&FedEmp=Y&sort=rv&vw=d&ss=0&brd=3876&FedPub=Y&caller=/agency_search.asp&SUBMIT1.x=73&SUBMIT1.y=14">Click here for a current list of EPA vacancies.
Website: Environmental Protection Agency | <urn:uuid:33a6c383-3c9f-45d6-ba2d-38fa1ffc295a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://govcentral.monster.com/careers/articles/687-environmental-protection-agency | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00186-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.865367 | 316 | 2.828125 | 3 |
- Language & Literature
- Art & Images
- Culture & Knowledge
- Creative Research
- Visits & Workshops
- Learning News & Events
In the early 2000s, world economic growth seemed indestructible. Borrowing money was easy. Resulting debts and loans were combined into CDOs ('collateralised debt obligations'), mysterious packages that banks traded amongst themselves, conjuring new money apparently out of thin air. There was talk of 'boom and bust' being a thing of the past.
But in August 2007, the cost for banks to borrow money abruptly rose. The US property market, built on overambitious cheap 'subprime' loans, collapsed as homeowners could not repay at new higher rates. The global money bubble burst. Stock markets plummeted.
Lehman Brothers - a 150-year-old US bank with 26,000 employees worldwide - was the first major casualty. In September 2008, with its clients deserting and its assets drastically devalued, it declared bankruptcy. Domino-like, chains of banks - and even national economies, such as Iceland's - fell into similar trouble. Panicking governments all over the world scrambled cash to prop up the banking system. Borrowing money for businesses and individuals became almost impossible. Economies across the world slowed down, losing millions of jobs.
Image Copyright: John Frost Newspapers
Shelfmark: British Library Newspaper Archive | <urn:uuid:f649a860-89f7-4ac5-8fc4-57a13de8e193> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item107437.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00072-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938243 | 289 | 3.25 | 3 |
The National Computer Security Center (NCSC) is a U.S. government organization within the National Security Agency (NSA) that evaluates computing equipment for high security applications to ensure that facilities processing classified or other sensitive material are using trusted computer systems and components. NCSC was founded in 1981 as the Department of Defense Computer Security Center and changed to its current name in 1985. The organization works with industry, education, and government agency partners to promote research and standardization efforts for secure information system development. The NCSC also functions in an educational capacity to disseminate information about issues surrounding secure computing, most significantly through its annual National Information Systems Security Conference.
By submitting your email address, you agree to receive emails regarding relevant topic offers from TechTarget and its partners. You can withdraw your consent at any time. Contact TechTarget at 275 Grove Street, Newton, MA.
The NCSC's computer evaluation program is carried out by another NSA organization, the Trusted Product Evaluation Program (TPEP), which tests commercial products against a comprehensive set of security-related criteria. NCSC issued the first Department of Defense (DoD) Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria (TCSEC) in August, 1983. The document, more commonly referred to as the "orange book," was reissued in 1985 as a DoD standard that included the stated goals of providing manufacturers with security-related standards regarding features for inclusion in products, and providing DoD components with information about security metrics for the evaluation of trust levels to be accorded various products used for processing sensitive material. | <urn:uuid:1f570632-e86e-4883-9811-d7ef254b8072> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/National-Computer-Security-Center | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00081-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955999 | 312 | 2.53125 | 3 |
a vehicle generally used for warlike purposes. Sometimes, though but rarely, it is spoken of as used for peaceful purposes.
The first mention of the chariot is when Joseph, as a mark of distinction, was placed in Pharaoh's second state chariot (Gen. 41:43); and the next, when he went out in his own chariot to meet his father Jacob (46:29). Chariots formed part of the funeral procession of Jacob (50:9). When Pharaoh pursued the Israelites he took 600 war-chariots with him (Ex. 14:7). The Canaanites in the valleys of Palestine had chariots of iron (Josh. 17:18; Judg. 1:19). Jabin, the king of Canaan, had 900 chariots (Judg. 4:3); and in Saul's time the Philistines had 30,000. In his wars with the king of Zobah and with the Syrians, David took many chariots among the spoils (2 Sam. 8:4; 10:18). Solomon maintained as part of his army 1,400 chariots (1 Kings 10:26), which were chiefly imported from Egypt (29). From this time forward they formed part of the armies of Israel (1 Kings 22:34; 2 Kings 9:16, 21; 13:7, 14; 18:24; 23:30).
This word is sometimes used figuratively for hosts (Ps. 68:17; 2 Kings 6:17). Elijah, by his prayers and his counsel, was "the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof." The rapid agency of God in the phenomena of nature is also spoken of under the similitude of a chariot (Ps. 104:3; Isa. 66:15; Hab. 3:8).
Chariot of the cherubim (1 Chr. 28:18), the chariot formed by the two cherubs on the mercy-seat on which the Lord rides.
Chariot cities were set apart for storing the war-chariots in time of peace (2 Chr. 1:14).
Chariot horses were such as were peculiarly fitted for service in chariots (2 Kings 7:14).
Chariots of war are described in Ex. 14:7; 1 Sam. 13:5; 2 Sam. 8:4; 1 Chr. 18:4; Josh. 11:4; Judg. 4:3, 13. They were not used by the Israelites till the time of David. Elijah was translated in a "chariot of fire" (2 Kings 2:11). Comp. 2 Kings 6:17. This vision would be to Elisha a source of strength and encouragement, for now he could say, "They that be with us are more than they that be with them." | <urn:uuid:1e5be3e8-f90c-4bfc-b7a5-f8c5340d38ad> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://legacy.biblegateway.com/resources/eastons-bible-dictionary/Chariot | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00084-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967724 | 592 | 3.328125 | 3 |
Step 1: Check for Disease
Fungi that infect plants may consist of microscopic threads; these can grow together to form structures that are visible to the naked eye. The first signs of infection you will notice are usually spots, rots or stem dieback; or you may notice mildew, mold or other evidence of fungal disease.
Typically, airborne fungi produce spores that spread by air currents, rain or watering splash, or, less importantly, on insects or seeds. Spores need moisture to germinate, which is why fungal diseases - mildews and molds, for example - are so much worse in wet weather.
Many fungi also produce resting bodies that survive dry or cold periods. These persist in the soil until better conditions or the presence of a susceptible plant is “detected,” and then release spores that start the disease cycle over again. Fungi also persist in infected plants. Dieback diseases carry over from year to year in infected shoots, and rose black spot will lurk in fallen leaves ready to reinfect roses in spring.
Bacterial infections can cause a range of symptoms. Rots of soft tissue, such as bulbs and rhizomes, with a distinctive evil smell are often caused by bacteria. Canker, such as bacterial canker of cherries, is also widespread. Another common bacterial disease is fireblight, which affects plants in the apple and pear family, including pyracantha and cotoneaster. Symptoms include dieback of branches, and leaves that hang as if scorched by fire. Fireblight may be spread by insects that carry the bacteria from flower to flower; and like other bacterial diseases may be spread by air currents, or by rain or watering splash. Many need help to enter plants, and gain access through insect pest damage, pruning wounds, or even the scars left from leaf drop in the fall.
Viruses spread when insects carry them between plants. Greenflies or aphids are common carriers, but thrips, whiteflies, and certain other insects play their part. Viruses are widespread in weeds and in most mature garden plants, where their effect is usually not noticeable - robust mature plants are able to stand up to their effects
Step 2: Prevent and Treat Diseases
Contact fungicides form a protective layer that prevents spores from getting into the plant, but they will not cure infections. Cover the whole plant before the disease gets a grip on it. Prompt application is especially important for young plants, so inspect them regularly. If you leave it too late, they will often die or else are so slowed up in growth that they never make good plants. Older plants can shrug off disease, or at least come back from a bad attack. Viruses are spread by insects, so controlling the insect will help in controlling the spread of the virus.
Step 3: Use Chemicals
Reading and following the instructions on the label is vital for safe, effective and legal pesticide use. Calculate how much you need. If in doubt, make up less; you can always mix more. If only a few plants need treating, use a ready-diluted spray formulation. Take care to avoid spillages and never allow pesticide to get into storm sewers, ponds, streams or ditches. Set nozzles to give a fairly fine spray that neither drifts nor drenches, and apply the spray evenly over the affected plants. Foliar sprays should not be applied so heavily that dribbles occur, but just enough to evenly wet the target.
0 Comments About this How To
Recognizing the early warning signs of plant disorders is essential for good pest and disease control. | <urn:uuid:0921bcde-811c-4dfb-96d1-ec1e687ecc15> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.hgtvgardens.com/disease/common-plant-diseases-and-prevention | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403502.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00166-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946403 | 748 | 3.90625 | 4 |
Rates of overweight and obese children and youth have risen steadily in recent decades. Today, more than one in four children in Canada is overweight or obese. Acknowledging that childhood obesity can lead to a number of long-term health issues, and recognizing the important role that collaboration plays in promoting healthy weights for children, the federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) Ministers of Health and/or Health Promotion/Healthy Living moved into action. In September 2010, they endorsed Curbing Childhood Obesity: A Federal, Provincial and Territorial Framework for Action to Promote Healthy Weights, which outlines a vision, strategies and priority areas for collaboration to address this issue.
As an important first step, Our Health Our Future – A National Dialogue on Healthy Weights was launched in March 2011 to reach out to and engage children, their parents, and communities. The initiative set out to inform Canadians on the real impact of childhood overweight and obesity, help people understand and recognize the contributing factors to unhealthy weights, start a conversation on moving towards healthy weights, and secure commitment to action from across the country. Through a series of events across the country, and the use of online and social media tools, more than 1,000 Canadians shared their ideas, suggestions and views on how to address childhood obesity. This report summarizes their contributions and key findings, which will be provided to the FPT Ministers of Health to inform their actions on the issue.
To guide and inform the process of speaking to citizens, the FPT Ministers of Health contracted the services of Ascentum, a leading North American public engagement firm, to create and execute an engagement strategy using a combination of in-person, online and social media tools. On March 7, 2011, the Ministers of Health officially launched Our Health Our Future, a broad-reaching engagement process, which set out to:
The initiative had four key objectives.
The initiative will culminate in a National Summit, where stakeholders from across the country will showcase best practices in addressing childhood obesity and determine concrete actions for the future. The key findings from the engagement process will be provided to the FPT Ministers of Health.
Reducing overweight and obesity levels and promoting healthy weights among children are important measures to prevent long-term illness and poor health. An increasing number of children are being affected by health problems that were previously seen only in adults, such as high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes. If action is not taken now to promote healthy weights in children, Canadian youth will be forced to deal with serious health issues later in life.
Many Canadians have heard the message that healthy living means eating well and being active. But the ability to make these healthy choices is influenced by a range of complex and interacting factors —biological, behavioural, social, psychological, technological, environmental, economic and cultural —operating at all levels from the individual to the family to society as a whole. If the causes of overweight and obesity are to be addressed, close attention needs to be paid to Canadians’ everyday environments.
In 2005, all of the FPT Ministers of Health came together to support the Pan-Canadian Healthy Living Strategy (PCHLS). The PCHLS’s vision is “a healthy nation in which all Canadians experience the conditions that support the attainment of good health.” The PCHLS aims to promote good health, prevent chronic diseases, and reduce health inequalities among Canadians by coordinating efforts across the country to address common risk factors, such as physical inactivity and unhealthy eating.
In 2010, the PCHLS was revised to better address these common risk factors and conditions, and to identify new areas for opportunity, including overweight and obesity prevention, mental health promotion and injury prevention. To support the new PCHLS, the FPT Ministers of HealthFootnote endorsed two documents in September 2010:
This report is divided into five chapters. Following an introduction, chapter two provides an overview of the integrated online and in-person engagement approach and chapter three describes the breadth and scope of participation from across the country. The key findings of the engagement process are presented in chapter four, under the four FPT Framework for Action priority areas: (i) Making nutritious food more accessible and available to all; (ii) Reducing the marketing of foods and beverages high in fat, sugar and/or sodium to children; (iii) Making the places where children live, learn and play more supportive of physical activity and healthy eating; and (iv) Developing tools for parents and health practitioners to help identify overweight and obesity and address it early on. The final chapter offers closing remarks and a summary of participant evaluations.
Through its three engagement channels – in-person events, online engagement, and social media – Our Health Our Future gathered significant volumes of data in the form of participant ideas, comments, submissions, messages, and posts. The research team analyzed all of the contributions received during the Our Health Our Future engagement.
Contributions from in-person events, online and social media posts were documented and carefully analyzed to identify key shared themes in what was heard. This qualitative analysis was performed using NVivo, a specialized qualitative software tool for coding data findings. It supports the identification of common ground points and divergent views. A coding “tree” was developed to categorize and group similar themes and findings, then individual “branches” were created.
Analysis and synthesis of the data reveals both common and divergent perspectives associated with the identified themes and ideas associated with the four policy topics. In chapter three, the key findings are accompanied by a table that indicates the number of times a theme or idea was discussed by participants in small groups and/or plenary discussion. Analysis shows the context within which the themes and ideas emerged and where there is convergence and divergence of views. The actual number of references is less important than the content of their conversations. The Nvivo software used to help identify the themes is a qualitative not a quantitative analysis tool.
Figure 1. An illustration of the NVivo coding tree and selected branches for Topic 2:
Our Health Our Future gathered a high volume of qualitative data in the form of online ideas, submissions, social media comments and in-person event worksheets and plenary notes. In total, the engagement project generated 184,117 words, about the length of several standard length novels. The table below provides detail on the word count per engagement channel.
|Data Source||Word count|
|Facebook and Twitter comments||2,606|
|Small group idea worksheets and plenary notes||50,120| | <urn:uuid:343ce127-1596-466f-85b9-087c08948531> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/hp-ps/hl-mvs/ohof-nsna/01-eng.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00086-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93523 | 1,332 | 3.203125 | 3 |
Europe: 1945 to the Present examines the tumultuous history of Europe from the end of World War II through the present. Beginning with the post-war scene, and ending with a discussion of the European Union and its current plans for expansion, the narrative takes students through the past sixty years in a thoughtful, well-organized way. The book covers the Cold War, decolonization, and major developments in the arts and sciences, as well as Europe's reaction to the events of September 11, 2001, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and such episodes of terrorism as the Madrid bombings of 2004. Written in a clear, well-paced style, Europe: 1945 to the Present features primary source text boxes, a chronology, a list of supplemental readings, and numerous illustrations and maps. It is ideal for undergraduate courses on the history of Europe since 1945.
Back to top
Rent Europe, 1945 to the Present 1st edition today, or search our site for other textbooks by Robin W. Winks. Every textbook comes with a 21-day "Any Reason" guarantee. Published by Oxford University Press.
Need help ASAP? We have you covered with 24/7 instant online tutoring. Connect with one of our tutors now. | <urn:uuid:9c63e902-b48a-44c0-a4fa-5462c0e4734b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.chegg.com/textbooks/europe-1945-to-the-present-1st-edition-9780195156928-0195156927?ii=10&trackid=ddf0ad41&omre_ir=0&omre_sp= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404826.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00165-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942662 | 250 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Upfront. A single day, in a single nation doesn’t prove (or disprove) climate change science / The Theory of Global Warming. Got it.
Total Number of Records for September 29, 2010 (out of 5,341 stations with at least 30 years of data)
Highest Max Temperature: 139 new record + 54 tied with existing record = Total: 193
Lowest Max Temperature: New: 1 + Tied: 0 = Total: 1
Highest Minimum Temperature: New: 40 + Tied: 22 = Total: 62
Lowest Minimum Temperature: New: 1 + Tied: 2 = Total: 3
Across the nation, 255 records legitimately associated with warming and 4 associated with cooling. Again, to be clear, one day in one country proves nothing. But we are seeing many days like this. To be clear, neither does a month or a specific year in one town, country, or region. Nor does the fact that, globally, 2010 is on track to be the hottest (or tied for hottest) year in recorded weather history with nation-after-nation breaking their all-time high temperature records.
the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) released information about a study that provides quite conclusive evidence (proof, could we say?) that such cherry-picking about cold weather conditions is absolutely a deceptive practice that distorts what is actually being seen and what is likely to be seen. NCAR scientists analyzed record high temperature and record low temperature data for the United States for the past60 years (using solely weather stations that have been active for the entire period). If the United States climate wasn’t changing in one direction, over time, writ large we should expect two things:
- A rough balance, between highs and lows, with perhaps some ‘see-sawing’ with colder and warmer periods.
- A (slow?) decline in total records as it should, with more years of data, become harder to set either record highs or lows.
Putting aside the fact of human causality, only the most ignorant fool or biased ideologue would argue that the planet is not warming. | <urn:uuid:484ac08f-f1f3-446a-8da5-8200ef858b3e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://getenergysmartnow.com/2010/09/30/a-glance-at-temperature-records/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394937.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00061-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937604 | 440 | 2.84375 | 3 |
crown jewelscrown jewels
- the jewelry and the emblems of office, such as the crown and scepter, that are worn or carried by the sovereign of a country on state occasions
- the best or most valuable part of a whole or member of a group
- (literally) the jewelry that accompany the office of rulership in a monarchy. I.e., crown, scepter, signet ring, etc.
- The crown jewels in the United Kingdom are heavily guarded and anyone trying to steal them will certainly have a hard time.
- A prized possession or asset
- A part of a company sought by another in a hostile takeover
- (idiomatic) The male genitalia
- The whole crowd cringed as he got kicked in his crown jewels. | <urn:uuid:5a54b651-4096-4baa-a779-43e1579f6ad8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.yourdictionary.com/crown-jewels | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00033-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965315 | 162 | 2.515625 | 3 |
How do you read your opponent's shot when playing the net? You have desperately tried to read the racket face and observe your opponent's body position for clues to determine the direction of their passing shot, but nothing seems to work! In your mind you'll never be able to read your opponent's shot. Why? Because everything seems to happen too fast.
Guess what? I agree, everything does happen too fast to read the situation, make a snap decision and go off in the direction of the ball. But you say, net players are supposed to be able to read physical clues and quickly move in the direction of the ball. Guess what? I agree with that too!
Okay let's sort out this conundrum and clarify the different aspects of net play so you too can begin making those snap decisions, and have brilliant success at the net. First and foremost you must rightly divide and analyze these three areas.
1. Levels of play
2. Principles of learning
3. Principles of net play
LEVELS OF PLAY
If you are a 4.5 or higher player reading the racket face and body position of your opponent becomes a natural result of experience.
If you are a 1.0 to 4.0 player then to attempt to read your opponents passing shot by looking for particular signs is often a frustrating exercise in futility. Unless of course you learn to follow the correct principles. The point is, your level of play has much to do with how you learn, and what method you use to learn.
PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING
Much of the confusion and frustration when learning any aspect of tennis can be avoided by understanding what I call the "professional model syndrome." The syndrome works in this fashion: Using scientific studies on the top players to determine what they are doing mentally and physically to make them great players. In the case of reading an opponent's shot, pros are masters at picking up on certain clues to quickly determine where an opponent will hit a shot. Science breaks down the key elements of this feat and then this information becomes a model for teaching. Not a bad idea, used correctly this can be extremely beneficial. Unfortunately there is a down side to this learning model that causes much confusion.
Professional tennis players do not learn by coaches teaching them to watch the racket face and body position. They have learned to read their opponent's shot through a process that took them many, many, many months and years of practice and experience. What science is breaking down is the RESULT of all those months and years of experience and placing it in a 'technique' category. Somehow you are now supposed to take this technique WITHOUT THE PROCESS OF EXPERIENCE and begin reading your opponents passing shots. Sorry, but this is just not going to happen. Not unless you have gone through a process (of experience and repetition) which will prepare you correctly to assimilate and apply that information.
As a result you become frustrated and think to yourself, "I guess I'm just not quick enough, smart enough, or skilled enough to read my opponent's shots." But, this is not true! You can learn to read your opponent's shots by first working on the same core principles that the pros practiced when they were learning. In other words you MUST understand the process.
PRINCIPLES OF NET PLAY
Below is a list of many different clues a pro sees or senses when reading an opponent's shot. A pro does not always move according to what he or she sees, but what he or she senses. Thus the reason why there is not a mechanic or a technique that will allow you to read your opponent's passing shots. You must develop your senses. These different clues are:
1. Racket face
2. Body position
3. Ball position
4. The score
5. The opponent's patterns
Keep in mind this analysis happens quickly and instinctively to send a signal to the pro's mind so that he or she can calculate where he or she thinks the ball will go. Often it is a combination of several different clues.
Now, where do you begin to create the correct mental environment necessary to develop your ability for reading these different clues? You begin by first developing three simple mental skills at the net.
1. A relaxed mindset
2. Impact awareness
3. Shot priority
A RELAXED MINDSET
First, you must learn to relax at the net and alleviate any unwanted anxiety that produces a racing mind. When the mind is galloping you are playing with a more conscious, rigid mindset not allowing the instinctive and spontaneous nature of the subconscious to function properly. To begin the process of reading your opponent's shot and improving your senses you must learn to control mental anxiety. I teach my students to practice shutting their mind off, similar to turning off a radio. Simply stop the internal racing by clicking the mind off and thinking about nothing! With practice this mental technique will teach you to tap into the automatic and instinctive subconscious.
Second, with this relaxed concentration you must next learn to focus on the exact moment your opponent will impact the ball with the racket. At that moment you are in a heightened state of awareness. You are relaxed, but alert! Not an easy combination, but one that is necessary to begin the journey toward anticipation at the net. With this heightened state of awareness your subconscious will go to work and begin taking note of your opponent's position, racket face, etc. In time reading the ball WILL become easier and more automatic. You are beginning the repetition process that will give you the experience to anticipate your opponent's shots.
Third, when you are at the net your mental priority should be that your opponent will drive the ball at you, not hit a lob. Most players have lob in their mind the moment they arrive at the net. As a result they are constantly playing back on their heals and never ready for a volley. There is not much of an opportunity to anticipate where your opponent's driving shots will be hit if your mind is obsessed with a lob! Also your opponent's driving groundstrokes will arrive much faster than a high lob over your head, therefore driving groundstrokes should be the FIRST PRIORITY in your mind if you wish to improve your anticipation at the net.
If you practice these three mental skills consistently, a relaxed mindset, impact awareness, and shot priority, I guarantee you will create the correct mental environment that will influence your senses and teach you to read those crucial clues at the net. It may take some time, but to develop a more automatic, instinctive and spontaneous net game will be well worth the wait! | <urn:uuid:b8f0c09a-83bc-48a4-9677-fdf717566a18> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.tennisserver.com/tennis-warrior/warrior_10_05.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395160.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00163-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952366 | 1,346 | 2.8125 | 3 |
High-frequency migraine headaches, which occur at least 10 days a month, are more common in women during the transition to menopause, according to a new study.
“For years women have been telling me as a headache doctor that their headaches worsen in perimenopause,” but it hadn’t been directly studied, said lead author Dr. Vincent T. Martin of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and co-director of the Headache and Facial Pain Program at the UC Neuroscience Institute.
Symptoms like hot flashes, irritability, insomnia and depression may start during the hormonal changes of perimenopause, when periods become irregular, but menopause does not officially begin until periods have stopped for one year.
“Since the average age of menopause is 51 to 52, and the average transition is five to 10 years, women may see a worsening of their migraines as early as 42 to 47 years old if they are going to have an average-age menopause,” said North American Menopause Society executive director Dr. JoAnn V. Pinkerton. “The variability for normal menopause is 45 to 55, so women could see an intensification before or after that time.”
Changes in brain chemicals may cause blood vessels to swell or dilate, putting pressure on nearby nerves and structures and causing a migraine, Pinkerton told Reuters Health by email.
“Hormonal fluctuations appear to act as triggers for migraines, although the actual mechanism is not known,” said Pinkerton, who was not part of the new study.
Martin and his coauthors used data from a 2006 survey of more than 3,000 women ages 35 to 65 who experienced migraines before and during menopause and who self-reported headache symptoms and details of their menstrual cycles.
About 8 percent of women who were still having regular periods reported high-frequency migraines of more than 10 days per month. That rate rose to more than 12 percent of those in perimenopause and about 12 percent of postmenopausal women whose periods had stopped altogether, as reported in Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain.
Risk of headache was highest during late perimenopause, before periods stopped completely, when estrogen levels are low.
Women who have premenstrual symptoms earlier in life are likely to be hormonally sensitive and have a higher risk for migraines later, Martin told Reuters Health by phone.
“Probably in perimenopausal women it’s strictly hormones, but in menopausal women there was a huge uptake in medications to treat headaches,” Martin said. “If you start using a lot of these pain medications that might cause something called rebound headaches, which may be different.”
Depression rates increase during menopause as well, and women who are depressed may be more likely to report headaches as severe, he said.
During perimenopause, hormones can increase or decrease unexpectedly as the ovaries are “sputtering,” he said.
“Every life event in a woman has the potential for changing migraines, including her first period, pregnancy and perimenopause,” Martin said.
If hormones are triggering headaches, they may be moderated with birth control pills or a hormone estrogen patch, he said.
“Postmenopause, once hormonal fluctuations have diminished and hormone levels are consistently low and stable, the migraines often improve or stop,” Pinkerton said. “Hormone therapy given for hot flashes may worsen or improve migraines.”
“Migraines are one of the most common causes of disability in the workplace of any disease,” Martin said. “If your headaches are occurring more than 15 days per month, if you’re using a lot of medications, or if you’re not getting reasonable relief from the treatments that your primary care physicians prescribe, then seek out a pain specialist.”
source: Reuters Health | <urn:uuid:0f828f95-b7ac-4ba7-a34e-fb0084968b2b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pchrd.dost.gov.ph/index.php/2012-05-23-07-46-36/2012-05-24-00-03-35/5187-july-23-27-2012 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00173-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953163 | 842 | 2.609375 | 3 |
copyright © 1999
PRESBYTERIANISM is a term referring to a system of government in the Church. It is commonly contrasted with Congregationalism and Episcopalianism. Presbyter is a Greek word that is translated as “elder” in our English New Testaments. Thus, Presbyterianism is commonly defined as “rule by elders.”
This is a misleading definition. Be wary of it.
PRESBYTERIANISM can just as well refer to “rule by Presbytery.” Presbytery, in the Presbyterian system, is the most basic unit of Church government. It refers to the assembled presbyters who rule over several congregations. The Church in the New Testament and afterwards viewed the congregations in a metropolitan area as one Church. The Jerusalem Church and the Church at Ephesus were both larger than one congregation, but they were ruled by an assembly of elders. These presbyteries had the power to ordain ministers; as the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy: “Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed upon you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery” (1 Tim 3.14; NASB).
Presbyterianism can thus be contrasted with both (a) Episcopalianism and (b) Congregationalism, in the following way:
Later in church history, to risk vast oversimplification, these Presbyteries came to be ruled by bishops (episkopoi in the Greek; commonly translated as “overseers”). In the New Testament Church under the Apostles, bishops and presbyters were the same people holding one identical office. There were certain men who seem to have had come to prominence among the assembled presbyters, such as James the brother of the Lord in the Jerusalem church and the angel of the church of Ephesus. Remember, in both these cases it is virtually impossible that these churches were single congregations. Rather, they were multiple congregations with multiple pastors. In time, however, after the New Testament was complete and the Apostles were dead, these prominent pastors came to be seen as holding a separate office which would be entered into by a separate ordination. This dogma is what is now known as Episcopalianism; that the each region of congregations should be ruled by a single bishop.
Thus, Presbyterianism does not deal primarily with whether or not a single congregation should be ruled by “elders” but whether a region of congregations should be ruled by a single bishop or an assembly of presbyters. In other words, Presbyterianism means “rule by Presbytery.”
After the Reformation, various splinter groups came up with a new theory of Church government called “Congregationalism.” Congregationalism does not mean that a congregation must be ruled by a democratic vote of all members. Some congregationalist churches may operate in such a fashion, but there are plenty of congregationalist churches who are ruled by “elders” or the pastor. How these congregations govern themselves is not to point at issue, but rather that they govern themselves. The essential point of Congregationalism is that all broader church governments are merely associations which ultimately “advise” only.
Thus, the issue between Presbyterianism and Congregationalism is not an issue of whether or not “elders” rule, but whether the presbytery rules the congregations within a district or each congregation rules itself. The issue is not “Which office?” so much as “Which assembly?”
WHILE THE debate between the different views is not primarily a matter of office, but of assembly, Presbyterianism does necessitate a set doctrine regarding office in the Church. Because the early disagreement was with diocesan (regional) bishops, not congregationalists, a great deal of the early debate was, indeed, set in terms of office.
Quite simply the Presbyterian position is: once the Apostolic office passed away (along with any other supernaturally gifted offices), the Church has been left with one and only one office of Minister, Pastor, Bishop, Presbyter, or Evangelist which is bestowed upon a person by one and the same ordination. While Ministers may have slightly different functions (so that a minister in an established congregation is often called a “pastor,” while one planting a congregation is called an “evangelist.”), they hold the same office.
This is why even defining Presbyterianism as “rule by presbyters,” is inadequate. According to Presbyterian doctrine, all presbyters are also bishops (In Greek: episkopoi. Thus, Presbyterian churches are ruled by bishops. If the issue was only a matter of office, then the terms “Presbyterianism” and “Episcopalianism” would tell us nothing about the respective positions of those who hold to them. They are interchangeable terms as far as Presbyterianism is concerned, if the names deal primarily with office.
PRESBYTERIAN, and indeed all Reformed churches, have also involved rule by laymen who represent the congregations in Presbytery when they are appointed to attend them. The reason for this is that the Reformation opposed “clericalism.” Of course, the name, “clericalism” could mean different things to different people, but in this case it means the monopolistic control of the Church by the clergy. The Reformed churches contended that laymen were originally involved in the government of the Church through representatives. These representatives are commonly called ruling elders. Ruling elders join with a pastor in the governing a congregation. They are also sit in presbyteries and all higher courts.
The difference between ruling elders and ministers at presbytery, is that a ruling elder cannot automatically vote in a presbytery meeting. They must first be appointed by the local congregation of which they are a member. The pastor, on the other hand, is not a member of a local congregation, but a member of the presbytery. He votes at presbytery meetings as a matter of right, even if and when he is without a congregation (though he must find a new work within a certain amount of time to remain a minister of the Gospel in the presbyter).
It is worth pointing out that there is nothing in the name “Presbyterianism” which makes ruling elders, as they are called, the exclusive property of presbyterians. Congregationalists can have ruling elders, and, episcopal denominations could allow laymen to have a say in the government of the church along with the bishop, if they so desired, without thereby ceasing to be Congregationalists or Episcopalians. However, it is the Reformed Tradition which has been the most emphatic in maintaining that laypeople have a say in the government of the Church, through their representatives-ruling elders.
It is very important to realize that, in terms of power, the ruling elders almost invariably outnumber the Pastors at the congregational level. In all broader assemblies, they are usually about equal. Thus, the clergy (ministers) do not have a monopoly of power over the Church, but are joined by laypeople (through their representatives, the ruling elders). The term “ruling elder” comes from lists where the gift of rule is listed separately from the gift of teaching, and from the “elders in the gate” in Israel who governed along with the Levites (ministers of the Word). It should not be thought to derive from the “presbyters” of the New Testament Church who were also bishops and ministers of the Word.
If ruling elders and ministers both occupied one and the same office, then the entire presbyterian system would be overturned. For then the ruling elders would be clergy, and thus the Church would be under the thumb of clericalism. Or else the ministers of the word would be nothing more than laymen who happened to pastor the Church full time. And the entire Reformation Tradition would sink into anabaptism in departure from all historical Christianity.
To summarize then, Presbyterianism means
1. regional churches of several local congregations
2. governed by the assembly of their pastors and other area ministers (i.e. presbytery)
3. who are joined by elected laymen appointed to represent their congregations in the rule of the Church.
Finally, it should be mentioned that the way a presbytery is run is usually also reflected in each congregation’s government. A pastor is joined by ruling elders in the government of the local congregation. Upon being elected by the congregation, the pastor with the ruling elders who are already in office (commonly called the “session”) ordain a person to be an elder. Typically, there are more lay governors (ruling elders) in the session than ministers.
Now as to how much of this can be defended as Biblical is a question outside the scope of this brief paper. My point is simply to warn readers from buying the version of “Presbyterianism” that is popularized on the majority of the web pages which discuss the subject. I would highly recommend looking at the Westminster Assembly’s Form of Church Government as a place where one might discover for oneself what historical Presbyterian polity is.
copyright © 1999 | <urn:uuid:6e39f557-d145-4e36-9a16-6eaccd3c49be> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.hornes.org/theologia/mark-horne/what-is-presbyterianism | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393146.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00147-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976247 | 1,970 | 3.71875 | 4 |
Many people assume that because they don't eat shark fin soup – then they can't possibly be contributing to the demise of the sharks and rays. And while shark fin soup does account for a considerable amount of shark consumption, there are many other culprits. It isn't just something that can be blamed on a single culture or country.
Often, it is surprising to discover what shark is actually used in. And it isn't always the usual, easy to identify products, say with the word shark in the product name, like shark steaks, shark teeth or shark leather. Certain energy drinks, pet supplements, vitamins, lotions, dog chew toys, and even lipsticks – to name but a few – are all known to contain shark products. And often, shark is mislabeled as other, more appealing fish.
So here is an ever-growing list of uses for shark products, some obvious, some surprising.
Shark fins are sold dried or in the form of prepared foods. These products are sold legally throughout the world, and can be found throughout Asia, as well as in most major cities, typically in areas called "Chinatowns". They can be purchased at stores, restaurants, herbalists, and also online from distributors either frozen or dried. Typically shark fins are used for soups; however, there is a plethora of other delicacies that also utilize shark fins. And, given its association with stature, more and more continue to arise – even pet food.
Shark fin soup, a traditional Chinese delicacy associated with prosperity, honor, and good fortune, has been a highlight at important occasions such as corporate banquets, weddings, and New Years celebrations for over 2,000 years. One of the eight treasured foods from the sea symbolizing wealth and fit for an emperor, hosts serve shark fin soup to honor their guests and fear their guests would be insulted and they would be considered "cheap" (or lose face) if shark fin soup is not served. Once reserved for special occasions, shark fin is now commonly consumed in major cities as an indication of stature – with its prevalence highlighted by the fact it is even served at low cost buffets.
Over the last 30 years, the number of people eating shark's fin has risen from a few million in the 1980's to more than 300 million today. Research indicates that each year, the fins of up to 73 million sharks are harvested and sold, mostly for shark fin soup. A large percentage of these fins come from open ocean sharks like the blue shark, shortfin mako, silky, bull hammerhead, and thresher sharks.
Surprisingly, shark fins are flavorless, and the quality of the soup relies upon the broth – which is typically chicken stock. Fins are really only utilized as a thickening agent. Different shark species have different associated value (the more rare, the more prestigious and expensive the soup) and soup containing a full fin (vs. pieces) is far more desirable as well.
Because of their exponential value, sharks are often killed just for their fins. In the detestable practice called "sharkfinning" the sharks are often dragged while alive onto fishing boats where a knife with a hot blade is used to slice off all of the shark's fins. Then, the shark is thrown back into the ocean still alive to bleed to death – or drown.
And as the shark population declines, other rays, including the manta are used to augment the shark fin supply, with their cartilage mixed with low grade shark fin.
Shark cartilage is a very popular dietary supplement and alternative medicine believed to provide benefits to people suffering from a range of ailments from arthritis, asthma, eczema, shingles, rheumatism, hemorrhoids, psoriasis, though one of its best-known uses is as an alternative cure to cancer. It is commonly sold worldwide, despite the lack of clinical evidence that commercial supplements have any beneficial effect. Given the unsubstantiated claims in reference to cancer, it is growing in popularity and availability.
Sold around the world in the form of pills or powders at health food stores, drugstores and anywhere else dietary supplements are sold, these pills are also manufactured worldwide as well. Look for shark cartilage or chondroitin (derived from shark cartilage) on the list of ingredients.
The market for these supplements is unsustainable and, even worse; the cartilage is typically procured from highly threatened species, like the spiny dogfish or blue shark. Continued production and sale of these supplements is certainly contributing to already stressed shark populations globally.
In 1992, the idea that sharks could help fight cancer was popularized by William Lane's bestselling book "Shark's don't get cancer." However, studies have since proven that 1) sharks do get cancer and 2) taking shark cartilage extract has no beneficial effects upon an individual's health whatsoever.
A 2004 study found benign and malignant tumors in 21 shark species with tumors occurring in the skin, blood, nervous, digestive, excretory, reproductive, and endocrine systems, as well as the cartilage itself. Recently, a cancer biologist at John Hopkins University went on the record with the statement, "I don't think there is any benefit to buying shark cartilage and eating it [as an anti-carcinogenic] any more than I think that eating rabbit will make me run faster." An article appearing in the December 2004 issue of "Cancer Research" confirmed that shark cartilage preparations have to date shown absolutely no effect in treating cancer.
Manta and mobula gill rakers, which are the rays' branchial gill plates used to filter plankton from seawater allowing the manta to eat are becoming increasingly popular in eastern alternative medicines. Found in dried and powdered form, the gill rakers are sold in traditional and holistic remedy stores.
Although no scientific evidence exists to support any claims, Chinese practitioners believe the consumption of gill rakers – called peng yu sai – help reduce toxins in the blood by purifying and cooling it, reducing body temperature and aiding blood circulation. Its surge in popularity is making dried and ground gill rakers even more valuable than shark fin. And, as shark fin becomes harder to find, rakers are even being offered as an alternative, increasing demand further.
Squalene/squalane is an oil that is derived from the shark's liver and is used in is used in cosmetic products ranging from anti-aging creams, lotions, deodorants, hair conditioners, eye shadows, lipstick, lip balms, sunscreen, and cleansers. It is also used in vaccines and sold in the form of pills and supplements as it is believed to have medicinal value, and is prevalent in many medicinal creams. Finally, squalene has some limited industrial uses as well, serving as a basis for lubricants and cleaning agents.
Shark-based squalene is commonly used by many consumer product and cosmetic brands you are no doubt familiar with. This year, many have vowed to discontinue their usage of the shark-based squalene, including Ponds, Boots, Dove, Sunsilk, Vaseline, L'Oreal, Lancome, Soft & Dri, Clarins, Sisley and La Mer, which ought to give you a good understanding of how prevalent its use really is. And, there are still plenty of companies that use shark-based squalene, particularly internationally.
In order to alleviate confusion, squalene can come from both animals and plants, though the majority of the time, its origins are shark-based. Often, squalene that is not shark-based is labeled "vegetable", "vegetable based" or from "vegetable origins" due to recent pressures being placed on companies that utilize shark-based squalane or squalene. But, one cannot simply assume that if squalene is contained in a product, it is derived from shark, which is why it is important to do your homework. Most likely it is, but an enquiry to the manufacture when in doubt is your best bet. Or, visit the list of organizations known to utilize shark squalane/squalene in their products. (LINK)
Shark-based squalene has a readily available substitute on the market that comes from a purely vegetable origin – olives – which is actually known to be of better quality than shark-based squalene and less expensive as well. Squalene is also found in amaranth seeds, rice bran, wheat germ, fungi, and date palm.
Not only will you find squalene in the cosmetic and lotion aisles at the pharmacy, you will also find it in the supplement and remedy aisles as well. Shark liver oil is used to promote the healing of wounds, irritations of the respiratory and gastrointestinal tract, and general debility – and is a common ingredient in medicinal creams like Preparation H. Given its supposed impact on white blood cells, it is also becoming increasingly popular as a booster for the immune system and even as a way of preventing cancer, sold in a pill form. And, you will also find it in your doctor's office, as it is added to improve the efficacy of several vaccines, including pandemic flu (yes, even swine flu) and malaria vaccines, by pharmaceutical giants like Novartis.
Squalene is typically derived from the liver of deep-sea sharks, since these sharks have especially large reserves of squalene, as their livers comprise one-third of their entire weight. Consequently, most deep-sea sharks are caught solely for their livers. The excessive targeting of these sharks has caused dramatic population declines of certain species like some of the gulper and dogfish sharks which live over 3000 feet below sea level, greatly impacting their future survival – all for the sake of beauty.
Squalene and squalane can both come from sharks. Squalane is a saturated form of squalene in which the double bonds have been eliminated by hydrogenation. Because squalane is less susceptible to oxidation, it is more commonly used in personal care products than squalene.
Shark and ray meat is consumed all over the world; however, it is not nearly as popular as other fish species, probably due to processing requirements. Until recently, shark meat was considered of lesser quality and was not heavily featured on menus and store shelves.
However, popularity for shark meat in the western world has risen, and it is quite common in the U.S. to find thresher or mako at your local grocery store chain or on a restaurant menu. Both of these sharks are considered vulnerable or nearing extinction. In Europe, the meat of smoothhounds, catsharks, makos, porbeagle, and also skates and rays are in high demand and is sold in many major supermarkets. In Australia, several types of shark are commonly consumed, which is why Australia purchases a large majority of the threatened smoothhound. gully and seven-gill sharks caught in South Africa. And in Iceland, greenland sharks are fished to produce hákarl or fermented shark, which is widely regarded as a national dish.
It is very common to find shark in markets or on the menus of many emerging countries in Africa and the Americas, particularly as other commercially popular fish become less available. And, shark meat, skin and organs have been very popular throughout Asia for years – in countries like Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and China.
In Japan, not only is shark meat eaten, but so are shark skin and other organs; the salmon shark heart is a very popular sashimi treat.
One quite underhanded technique restaurants and stores often employ is masking the use of shark by changing the name. Take for instance, the poor, little spiny dogfish shark. Who would eat this shark? Well, if you live in the UK, maybe you or someone you know. How is that possible? Because these sharks have been re-labeled in the UK to a more, well, appealing term: rock salmon. Indeed, many of the fish & chip shops that so many Brits know and love commonly have rock salmon on the menu. spiny dogfish shark is known as saumonette ("little salmon") in France, and Schillerlocken ("locks of Schiller") and seeaal ("sea eel") in Germany. And, in Australia and New Zealand, whitefish fillets or flake are actually elephant or ghosts shark.
Finally, shark is often used as an ingredient in composite fish products. For instance, it is widely utilized in surimi (otherwise known as artificial crab, lobster or shrimp.) And it is known to find its way into generic aggregate products like smoked fish strips, dried stockfish, and whitefish (which is used to produce fish patties and fish sticks.) With all its uses, being an aware consumer is our best defense, as you could easily be eating shark and not realizing it.
Shark byproducts are also commonly used in fishmeal (which is used to feed livestock amongst other purposes) and also fertilizers – including those you would purchase at your local garden shop.
Since sharkskin is exceptionally durable, it has been used to make leather for decades. However, recently, shark leather has become exceedingly popular, particularly amongst the high-fashion crowd. In fact celebrities such as Will Smith and Gordon Ramsay have been seen wearing it – and the likes of Tory Burch, Jimmy Choo, and even Nike use it for their products. You see, stingrays and sharks are in the same family. So buying stingray leather is indeed supporting the mass extinction of the shark and ray family worldwide.
Shark and stingray products can commonly be found in the U.S., Germany, Thailand, France, China, and Japan. They are used primarily to manufacture luxury items like boots, shoes, handbags, wallets, belts, cell phone cases, notebooks, and even watchstraps. According to the United Nations, tiger, lemon, dusky, nurse, sandbar, porbeagle, shortfin mako, scalloped hammerhead, bull sharks, and scaly whip rays are most often used in the manufacture of these goods.
Untanned skin, called Shagreen, is also used as a highly-coveted sandpaper (particularly in ornamental woodworking.)
Throughout the world, shark teeth, jaws, dried sharks, and even sharks preserved in bottles can be found in trinket and souvenir shops – particularly those in near proximity to the sea. Additionally, the use of shark teeth in high fashion jewelry has also become quite prevalent. You can also find shark teeth and jaws openly on marketplaces such as eBay. Only the trade of the species listed on CITES are illegal – meaning white, whale, and basking sharks are supposedly protected. However, white shark products are still openly available in the market (and a black market industry also exists in which jaws from white sharks can sell for over $10,000 USD).
It is easy to spot a new tooth. They are white, shiny and look as if they were just pulled from a shark's mouth. Fossilized teeth tend to be grey, black, brown, or yellowed and have a significantly aged appearance. Want a shark's tooth? Then buy a fossilized tooth. This is the only way you can ensure a shark wasn't killed specifically for your trinket.
Shark is commonly used in many pet products including supplements (particularly for joint health), dog and cat food, and even chew toys. One online retailer recently offered thresher shark "bully sticks" for sale.
In addition to the inclusion of shark cartilage in pills, energy, and health drinks can contain chondroitin as well – particularly in Japan. World-renowned Suntory has two such products on the market currently. | <urn:uuid:8fe9728d-402f-44ef-bf98-96efd227ae24> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.seashepherd.org/operation-requiem/common-uses-for-shark.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00091-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967336 | 3,294 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Investigate technology, immigration, foreign policy, suffrage,
racism at the turn of the century.
New York Underground
Design local public transport systems and research the contributions
migrant laborers throughout U.S. history.
Discover different types of immigration-related records, notably
passenger lists and naturalization records.
First Measured Century
Writing a Play about Immigrant Life in America around
Learn about the settlement house movement, Hull House Maps
Papers, and also the Israel Zangwill hit play, The Melting
forms the foundation for students' original one-act plays.
The New Americans
Research and evaluate America's historical and contemporary
relationships with Latin American countries.
American Immigration Past And Present
Debate historical and current U.S. immigration policies.
Contributions of Immigrants
Research the contributions different immigrant groups have
American life and culture.
Stories From Around the World: Immigration Presentations
Use creative presentations to help students understand historical
present-day immigration trends.
Using United States Census Data: Immigration and American
Use online census data and spreadsheet/graphing software to
understand immigration patterns in two American centuries.
Coming to America: Voices of Immigrant Authors
Read works of Caribbean authors, identify common themes, and
culture affects literary style. | <urn:uuid:14e425c5-7376-407d-8d98-bb6b4d12219c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/statueofliberty/educators/lessons.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396027.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00037-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.744555 | 272 | 3.671875 | 4 |
Volume 20, Number 10 (October 2010)
About the cover:
Fernandina caldera, Galápagos Islands, seven years after its 1968 collapse, when its floor lowered as much as 350 m. A floor monocline and zone of faults (left) formed during the collapse event, and a preexisting tuff cone (on lake shore) was tilted and lowered 250 m. Galápagos iguanas quickly reestablished habitat on ash on the caldera rim that was deposited by an eruption accompanying the event. Photo copyright and courtesy of Tui De Roy, author-photographer of Galápagos, Islands Lost in Time and Galápagos, Preserving Darwin’s Legacy. See “Caldera collapse: Perspectives from comparing Galápagos volcanoes, nuclear-test sinks, sandbox models, and volcanoes on Mars,” p. 4–10.
© The Geological Society of America, Inc. | <urn:uuid:7d7222db-e1f3-4cd4-a67b-187010aa3fa4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/20/10/cover/1052-5173-20-10.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00082-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926246 | 201 | 3.453125 | 3 |
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It had been a terrible year for the president and it was ending badly. December had brought insurrection in his Cabinet and crushing defeat on the battlefield. Death notices were running into the tens of thousands, his generals were timid or inept, and support for the war was fading with each new disaster.
At mid-month, when news arrived from Fredericksburg of yet another military debacle, Abraham Lincoln was in despair. "If there is a worse place than hell," he said, "I am in it."
Now, a couple of days shy of a new year, Lincoln's hopes were pinned on a Union army in Tennessee drawn up for battle with an army of the Confederacy.
On New Year's Day, 1863, the president was set to sign his Emancipation Proclamation, which, on paper if not yet in fact, would free 3 million slaves in 10 of the secessionist states that had gone to war in 1861 to keep their human property in servitude.
Lincoln needed a victory as North and South squared off at Stones River, near Murfreesboro. To sign the Proclamation in the shadow of yet another defeat would make it seem mere gesture, not the sweeping document Lincoln had crafted it to be.
He had waited months for the date of signing to arrive, months he had spent selling to a doubtful nation a preliminary proclamation he had issued on Sept. 22. For that occasion, too, he had waited months, praying for at least the semblance of a Union victory before making the document public. He barely got that at Antietam, which, with its 23,000 casualties on both sides, proved the bloodiest day of the war.
In marking Tuesday's 150th anniversary of the Emancipation, we thought it appropriate to revisit the four-year timeline of the Civil War sesquicentennial on the eve of New Year's Eve, 1863, when the outcome of the war seemed to the protagonists to hang in the balance. That profound uncertainty would last another six months, before Gettyburg and Vicksburg put it to rest.
Night had fallen on Dec. 30 with the 42,000 men of the Union Army of the Cumberland under Gen. William S. Rosecrans bedded down along Stones Creek.
Camped just a few hundred yards away was the South's slightly smaller Army of Tennessee, commanded by Gen. Braxton Bragg.
With the stage set for battle on the morrow, the bands of the two armies began playing songs most favored by the troops. Lusty renderings of "Yankee Doodle" and "Hail Columbia" began competing across no-man's land with equally spirited versions of "Dixie" and "The Bonnie Blue Flag."
This spontaneous pre-battle battle of the bands finally broke off when one group of musicians launched into the strains of "Home Sweet Home," a favorite both North and South, and soon, as the historian James McPherson noted, "thousands of Yanks and Rebs who tomorrow would kill each other were singing the familiar words together."
Kill each other they did, in vast numbers, with the din of rifle fire and artillery at tines so great that soldiers stuffed their ears with cotton plucked from the field.
At first, and for several hours, the southerners prevailed, and, but for a stubborn stand by troops under Philip Sheridan, the fierce fighting might have ended as Lincoln most feared with the Federals in full rout. But the Union forces recovered and, though the fighting continued at a lesser pitch through New Year's Day and the day after, Bragg, with nearly a third of his army dead, wounded or captured, withdrew from the field.
Rosecrans had won Lincoln his well-timed victory, but at no less a cost in blood as that paid by Bragg's Confederates.
Though Stones River no longer is alive in our collective memory, in proportion to the number of combatants, it was the deadliest battle of the war.
Below are some quotes gleaned from contemporary accounts of Lincoln's gloomy December:
God bless you and all with you, Lincoln wrote to Rosecrans after Stones River. I can never forget, whilst I remember anything, you gave us a hard earned victory, which, had there been a defeat instead, the nation could hardly have lived over.
The character of the war has very much changed within the last year. There is now no possible hope of reconciliation. ... We must conquer the rebels or be conquered by them Union General in Chief Henry Halleck, in a letter to General Ulysses S. Grant describing the immediate impact the Emancipation Proclamation.
It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, in a comment to Gen. James Longstreet on Dec. 13, 1862, as they watched a Union charge repulsed in the Battle of Fredericksburg. | <urn:uuid:b9552037-fb0e-4e36-9c73-b9b5f7d727a2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://archive.sltrib.com/printfriendly.php?id=55538230&itype=cmsid | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398869.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00163-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978314 | 1,054 | 3.09375 | 3 |
If you have a choice to drive or use public transportation, research suggests you should take the train.
Studies show that driving 10 or more miles a day takes a severe toll on your body - mentally and physically. Time spent behind the wheel can cause anxiety, a rise in blood sugar, increased cholesterol, and a decline in life satisfaction.
"The longer people spend commuting in cars, the worse their psychological well-being," reported Adam Martin of the University of East Anglia in the UK after teaming up with the Centre for Diet and Activity (CEDAR) to analyze 18 years of data on nearly 18,000 commuters. "And correspondingly, people feel better when they have a longer walk to work."
Interestingly, in Martin's research, commuters reported feeling happier when traveling by public transportation, compared to driving. Riding the train, bus, or subway was better for their mental health, perhaps because it allows people to be productive in a way that is not possible while driving.
"The most surprising finding was that public transport use improved well-being," Martin told Business Insider. "Although we are not quite sure why this was the case, it could be that people find train or bus journeys more relaxing, with more chance to prepare for the day ahead, catch up with emails, take phone calls, or catch up with friends, for example."
While most of us can't eliminate the daily commute, we can change the way we do it.
If circumstances allow it, ditch the car keys - your body (and wallet) will thank you. | <urn:uuid:506d6d64-7f69-4a43-94c7-536ca371a464> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.businessinsider.com/public-transportation-commuting-health-driving-2015-2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00105-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954375 | 317 | 2.890625 | 3 |
for National Geographic News
A host of weird and wonderful discoveries from across the seven seas has been discovered this year, according to a global census of ocean life.
Heat-resistant volcanic shrimps, bacteria-farming furry crabs, and a giant species of lobster are among the finds made by marine scientists probing some of the world's deepest and remotest seas.
(Related photos: See some of the creatures.)
The discoveries add to the Census of Marine Life, a project that seeks to record all known ocean life, living and extinct, by 2010. The census, now in its sixth year, involves a network of more than 1,700 researchers in at least 70 countries.
One team involved in the census reported the discovery of marine animals thriving in the hottest ocean waters ever recorded.
Heat-resistant species of mussels and shrimps were found living alongside volcanic fissures where temperatures reached 765 degrees Fahrenheit (407 degrees Celsius).
Submersible robots detected the sea creatures 1.8 miles (3 kilometers) beneath the surface of the South Atlantic, some 300 miles (550 kilometers) south of the Equator.
"These animals are living in environments in which temperatures can flicker instantly over a range of about 80 degrees Celsius [176 degrees Fahrenheit]," said survey team member Chris German of the Southampton Oceanography Centre in England.
"They are living as close to the vents as they dare get without getting themselves boiled alive," he added.
"Some of the mussel beds have been buried in lava," German said. "Such are the hazards of living on top of a volcanoit really is a life in the extremes."
(See a National Geographic magazine feature on looking for life near deep-sea vents.)
Biggest, "Hairiest" New Speices
SOURCES AND RELATED WEB SITES | <urn:uuid:5d596fa3-e7c7-4e77-9dae-37ab677d26e7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/12/061211-sea-creatures.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404826.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00137-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935851 | 379 | 3.578125 | 4 |
Bootloader issues: what happens before the operating system itself starts.
Use this tag for issues related to booting the operating system, from power on to loading the kernel. Use startup for issues that come up during the startup of the operating system itself.
Overview of a computer boot sequence
When a computer boots, it first runs firmware stored in persistent memory. On PCs, this firmware is called the BIOS. If you have a problem at this stage, it's off-topic for this site, since Unix is not involved yet, but try asking on Super User.
The firmware then loads a bootloader, typically from disk or from the network. Although bootloaders are not part of the operating system proper, questions about bootloaders typically associated with unix and Linux are welcome on this site.
The bootloader loads the operating system kernel. The kernel initializes itself and some hardware devices, then on typical Unix systems runs the
init program. Init in turn starts system services, including programs that present a login prompt.
- startup for what happens after the kernel is loaded
- boot-loader for bootloaders in general
- dual-boot if you have more than one operating system
- grub (and grub2): a versatile bootloader used by many Linux distributions
- lilo: the traditional bootloader for Linux on PCs
Kernel boot sequence
- initrd, initramfs: on Linux, a virtual RAM disk that is loaded by the kernel before the “real” OS starts. The code in the RAM disk typically loads additional drivers (modules).
Unix boot sequence
- init: process number 1
- init-script: scripts that start and stop services, invoked by init at boot time
- upstart: a replacement for the traditional init program | <urn:uuid:7f91f6c0-4514-4161-9d2d-4e349c48f1f9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://unix.stackexchange.com/tags/boot/info | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00163-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.888265 | 368 | 3.484375 | 3 |
Hyperammonemia – Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment
- What Is Hyperammonemia?
- Hyperammonemia ICD 9 Code
- Hyperammonemia Meaning
- Hyperammonemia Types
- Hyperammonemia Signs and Symptoms
- What Causes Hyperammonemia?
- Hyperammonemia and Liver Failure
- Hyperammonemia Diagnosis
- Hyperammonemia Differential Diagnosis
- Hyperammonemia Treatment
- Hyperammonemia Prognosis
- Hyperammonemia Management
What Is Hyperammonemia?
It is a metabolic disorder which results from a high level of ammonia in the bloodstream. It is a serious condition that may give rise to acute problems, such as Encephalopathy and death.
Hyperammonemia ICD 9 Code
The ICD 9 Code for Hyperammonemia is 270.6.
In healthy individuals, ammonia levels in the bloodstream stay between 10 and 40 µmol/L. as compared with a BUN level of 6-20 mg/dL. In a healthy adult, the total soluble ammonia level is only 150 mcg with 5 L of circulating blood. This is in contrast to the presence of about 1000 mg of urea and nitrogen.
The condition is usually differentiated into two types. These are:
It arises due to various inborn metabolic errors that are marked by decreased activity of any of the enzymes involved in the urea cycle of an individual.
It results from inborn intermediary metabolic defects marked by lowered activity in enzymes which are not involved in the urea cycle such as Propionic academia and Methylmalonic acidemia. It is also caused by the dysfunction of cells that contribute in a major way to metabolism. Hepatic Failure is one such cause.
Hyperammonemia Signs and Symptoms
The specific physical symptoms of Hyperammonemia are very few in number. Certain medical researchers have, however, identified some discomforting symptoms like:
- Rapid respiration
- Decreased muscular strength
Patients of this syndrome are also found to develop fontanelles that are larger than normal. Fontanelles are soft spots on the skull surface of babies where the bone has not had a complete formation as yet.
What Causes Hyperammonemia?
This condition is typically caused by two factors. It may be a result of processes that raise production of ammonia. Hyperammonemia, resulting from decreased ammonia elimination, can occur due to medicinal side effects as well as the onset of conditions like:
- Fulminant hepatic failure
- Portosystemic shunting
Hyperammonemia may also arise due to processes that reduce elimination of ammonia. Some conditions increasing ammonia production are:
It enhances ammonia levels in the bloodstream and may be accompanied by GI hemorrhage, trauma, total parenteral nutrition (TPN), and steroid use.
Some drugs disrupt the urea cycle and give rise to Hyperammonemia. These include Glycine, a medicine that is used at the time of transurethral resection of the prostate. Glycine stimulates production of ammonia in humans.
Certain physiologic stressors cause stress and arouse Hyperammonemia in sufferers of metabolic disorders. These agents include dietary changes, fever, Pneumonia, Pregnancy, infection with urease-splitting organisms, GI bleeding and upper respiratory tract illnesses.
Idiopathic hyperammonemia (IHA)
Idiopathic hyperammonemia (IHA) is a medical condition in which increased levels of ammonia are disproportional to liver dysfunction without the presence of an inherited metabolic disorder.
Other conditions that may elevate ammonia production involve herpes infection, multiple myeloma, urinary diversion or infection with organisms that split urease enzyme.
A person is unlikely to suffer from this condition unless there is some type of defect in the metabolic conversion system. In newborns, the defect often results from genetic defects. In older adults, however, the defect mostly occurs due to a diseased liver. However, onset of genetic disorders of the urea cycle in a growing number of adults is also being seen as a reason.
Hyperammonemia and Liver Failure
In adults, Acute Hyperammonemia is most commonly caused due to Fulminant hepatic failure. Every year, approximately 2,000 cases of this condition are found to result from liver failure. Liver failure can result from diverse factors such as,
- Acetaminophen toxicity
- Drug reactions
- Viral hepatitis (A or B)
- Idiopathic causes
- Viral infections
- Autoimmune diseases
- Vascular diseases
- Pregnancy-related conditions (such as Eclampsia)
- Toxins (such as herbs and mushrooms)
The liver is an important organ that is mainly responsible for the degradation of ammonia. Liver dysfunction leads to improper metabolizing and elimination of ammonia. This results in reduced ammonia removal from the human body.
The diagnosis of Hyperammonemia involves identifying the cause of the condition. Medical examination should include:
- Liver function tests
- Coagulation tests
- Measurement of acetaminophen levels
- Viral serologies
In case of a suspected IEM, patients should undergo medical tests that evaluate the levels of organic acid, amino acids and orotic acid in the urine. A liver biopsy may be considered for confirmation of the diagnosis of the disease. Quantitative plasma and Carnitine evaluation should also be done.
If an acute liver failure is suspected due to drug usage, the social history should be considered and a careful medical treatment has to be carried out. Abdominal CT scanning may help in an accurate diagnosis.
Hyperammonemia Differential Diagnosis
The differential diagnosis of Hyperammonemia should aim at distinguishing the condition from other similar disorders, such as
- Portal vein thrombosis
- Fatty infiltration
Primary cases of the condition should be differentiated from Urea Cycle Defects and Transient Hyperammonemia of the Newborn. Secondary cases should be distinguished from Organic Acidopathies, Fatty Acid Oxidation Defects and Reye’s Syndrome.
The treatment of Hyperammonemia aims at restricting the intake of ammonia as well as increasing its excretion. Physicians make this possible by prescribing pharmacologic agents like Sodium benzoate and Intravenous Sodium Phenylacetate. These are commonly used as adjunctive therapy for curing the condition in patients suffering from deficiency of Urea Cycle Enzyme.
If left untreated, this condition may give rise to an acute brain disorder known as Encephalopathy. The condition involves 100% mortality in the absence of cure. However, the prognosis can be good if the problem is treated properly and in time.
People suffering from chronic disorders are at a life-long risk of suffering from Hyperammonemia episodes. For such patients, management involves long-time follow up and monitoring of the ammonia levels. A multidisciplinary approach, involving Genetic, Dietary, Metabolic, Pediatric and Neurological factors, needs to be followed for this disease. Specific supportive plans need to be used for dealing with acute episodes. Therapies used for this disorder need to focus on controlling the symptoms and avoiding its acute episodes. | <urn:uuid:53fd9500-45d2-4677-a1eb-e7b43487ae6e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.primehealthchannel.com/hyperammonemia-causes-symptoms-diagnosis-and-treatment.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00178-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91693 | 1,507 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Computer Fire Models
by Anthony D. Putorti, Jr.
Fire Safety Engineering Division
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Computer fire models are compilations of mathematical
equations derived from basic physical principles or experimental data. The
computer is used to solve systems of equations that would be difficult or
tedious to solve by hand. The simplest computer models solve single equations,
while more complex models are composed of hundreds or thousands of equations.
A specific type of fire model, the room fire model, is capable of predicting
the development of fire conditions in structures and is a helpful tool for
fire investigators. Fire models are useful for predicting the development
of a fire in a room or structure, for evaluating fire scenarios developed
by an investigator, for comparing fire events to established time lines,
and for conducting what-if analyses.
Due to the wide range of fire models available,
varying levels of expertise are necessary to properly apply the models to
investigations. Users of fire models must have an in-depth knowledge of
the specific assumptions made by the models and the origins of the experimental
correlations and data used as inputs. Each model will have specific limitations
as a result of the assumptions made and the experimental methods used to
derive correlations and input data.
There are two major categories of room fire models
available to fire investigators: zone models and field models.
Zone models split rooms or enclosures up into one
or more zones. The most commonly used models assume a room is made up of
two zones; an upper layer consisting of heated combustion products, and
a lower layer which is composed of cooler air relatively free of combustion
products. In a two zone model, the fire forms the connection between the
upper and lower layers. The layers are assumed to be well mixed, so that
the conditions within each layer are constant. The predicted temperature
within the hot layer, for example, is the same throughout. Many of the models
include provisions for openings to the outside or to other rooms and for
heat losses to the walls and ceiling. Model inputs typically include room
dimensions and building materials, the sizes and locations of room openings,
room furnishings characteristics, and the fire heat release rate. Outputs
typically include prediction of sprinkler or fire alarm activation time,
time to flashover, upper and lower layer temperatures, the height of the
interface between the upper and lower layers, and combustion gas concentrations.
Zone room fire models are available from several sources including the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Field models, also known as computational fluid
dynamics models (CFD), split a room or enclosure up into a large number
of small three dimensional boxes called cells. The enclosure may contain
hundreds of thousands of cells ranging in size from centimeters to meters.
Field models are based on the basic physical principles of energy, mass,
and momentum conservation. The computer calculates the movement of heat
and smoke between the cells over time. At any point in time, it is possible
to find the temperature, velocity, and gas concentrations within each of
the cells. As in the case of the zone models, the properties within each
cell are assumed to be constant. Due to the larger number of cells however,
the conditions in the enclosure can be predicted in much greater detail.
Field models are capable of predicting the conditions in very large and
very small spaces, in spaces with complex shapes, and in complex multiple
room configurations that are not possible with zone models. Due to the complexity
of field models, they require a high level of expertise to operate and are
currently run on expensive computer equipment. General purpose field models
are available commercially from various sources. Advanced field models,
specifically designed for fire safety analysis, are under development at
the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Reprinted with permission from the author. | <urn:uuid:ca379b0b-335e-488c-a8e8-df0f47f89d99> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.interfire.org/res_file/firemod.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402699.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00025-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913983 | 821 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Museum explores Underground Railroad
BURLINGTON — Caroline Quarles, a young slave from St. Louis, Mo., escaped to Canada in 1842 with the help of Burlington abolitionists, who hid her at a stop along the Underground Railroad to evade pursuing bounty hunters.
The railroad that partially snaked through Wisconsin was neither a train nor underground. It was a network of secret routes and safe houses used by slaves prior to their Civil War emancipation to escape bondage.
Read the current edition here: http://www.server-jbmultimedia.net/CSI-WalworthCountySunday
One such lifeline to freedom swung through Prairieville, a settlement on the Fox River later renamed Waukesha. The same route skirted outside of Burlington to the area known as Spring Prairie in Walworth County.
The Waukesha County Museum is commemorating that slice of the area's heritage through the traveling exhibit, “Passage to Freedom, Secrets of the Underground Railroad.” The display runs through June 14 at the museum, 101 W. Main St., Waukesha.
"There were a lot of vocal abolitionist groups around the areas that are now Waukesha and Walworth counties,” said Elisabeth Engel, director of museum collections and exhibitions. “The exhibit displays their lives on the Underground Railroad and what their lives became in Canada.”
Read the complete story HERE. | <urn:uuid:0df57b9f-64d4-4f22-813c-1cd7713508e3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.walworthcountytoday.com/article/20140219/WC/140219674/1153 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00182-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952741 | 295 | 3.21875 | 3 |
Creativity is encouraged, so if you have an idea, feel free to express it. For all the projects, concentrate on the methods used and the interpretations of your collected data rather than on theory. The goal of the project is to perform observational astronomy, not to recant facts from a book. The observatory manager will verify that observations have been performed and will give instruction regarding the use of the Observatory's telescopes. Each student will be required to sign in at the Observatory and practice sighting astronomical objects with one or more of the telescopes. | <urn:uuid:593fee38-46d7-45fd-85b0-888ae7a1bb20> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.niu.edu/physics/observatory/162h_honors_projects.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00050-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925268 | 108 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Peers can influence our behavior in positive and negative ways. A new study finds that female college freshmen who room with heavier women may gain less weight.
The study focused on 144 female college students who were randomly assigned roommates at the start of freshman year. They were asked their height and weight as well as what, if any, weight management activities they were involved with, such as being on a diet, exercising and using weight loss supplements.
Researchers found that study participants who roomed with women who weighed more than average actually gained less weight during their freshman year than women who roomed with more slender gals. The difference was an average half-pound weight gain compared with an average 2.5-pound weight gain.
"It's not really the weight of your roommate that's important, but the behaviors your roommate engages in," said study co-author Kandice Kapinos of the University of Michigan in a news release. "These behaviors are what may really be 'contagious.' " | <urn:uuid:520f29d9-d777-4150-9711-4282b5a3dd6f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/22/news/la-heb-roommates-20100922 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00119-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987035 | 202 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Part of a series on
| Virgin birth · Crucifixion · Resurrection · Easter · Christian views of Jesus|
| Church · New Covenant · Apostles · Kingdom · Gospel · Timeline · Paul · Peter|
| Old Testament · New Testament · |
Books · Canon · Apocrypha
|Salvation · Baptism · Trinity · Father · Son · Holy Spirit · History of theology · Christology · Mariology · Apologetics|
|History and traditions|
|Early · Constantine · Councils · Creeds · Missions · Chrysostom · East-West Schism · Crusades · Reformation · Counter-Reformation|
| Preaching · Prayer · Ecumenism · Relation to other religions · Christian movements · Music · Liturgy · Calendar · Symbols · Art · Criticism|
Since the 19th century, historians have learned much more about the early Christian community. Early texts such as the Didache (in second-millennium copies) and the Gospel of Thomas (in two manuscripts dated as early as about 200 and 340) have been rediscovered in the last 200 years.
At first, the Christian church was centered in Jerusalem, in an "upper room" perhaps where the Cenacle is today, and leaders included James, Peter, and John. The major primary source for the Apostolic Age (c.30-c.100) is the Acts of the Apostles, but its historical accuracy is disputed. Following the Great Commission, the missionary activity of the Apostles, including Paul of Tarsus, spread Christianity to cities throughout the Hellenistic world, such as Alexandria and Antioch, and also to Rome and even beyond the Roman Empire. The term "Christian" was first applied to members of the church at Antioch according to . The New Testament includes letters written by Paul to churches, such as those in Thessalonica and Corinth, during the years 50-62, see also Seven Churches of Asia. Early Christians continued the Jewish practice of reverence for the "Jewish Scriptures", using the Septuagint translation of Hellenistic Judaism that was in general use among Koine Greek-speakers, or the Targums in use among Aramaic-speakers, but added to it their own writings.
In 70 the Second Temple was destroyed, and in c. 135 Jews were expelled from the renamed pagan city after the Bar Kokhba revolt. Among those who left the city were most of the Christian population. Following this time, early Church historian Eusebius of Caesarea records that ethnically Jewish leadership of the church in Jerusalem (literally those "of Hebrew descent" and "of the circumcision") was replaced by Gentile leadership. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia these were Suffragan bishops appointed by the Metropolitan bishops of the capital in Caesarea. Similarly, Claudius had expelled the Jews from Rome in 49, though Nero allowed their return but turned against "Christians" (according to Tacitus) after the Great Fire of Rome of 64, the beginning of persecution by Roman authorities. Historians debate whether or not the Roman government distinguished between Christians and Jews prior to Nerva's modification of the Fiscus Judaicus in 96. From then on, practising Jews paid the tax; Christians did not.
Early Christianity spread from city to city in the Hellenized Roman Empire and beyond. As Christianity spread further during the 2nd century, notable proto-orthodox leaders and writers of this time include Irenaeus of Lyon, Polycarp of Smyrna, Ignatius of Antioch, Clement of Rome, and Justin Martyr. The 2nd century was also the time of several who were later declared to be major heretics, such as Marcion, Valentinius, and Montanus. During the third century, Christianity further increased in numbers (Robin Lane Fox suggests that Christians composed about 2% of the Empire by 250). Teachers of this period, including Origen in Alexandria and Tertullian in North Africa, expressed in their writings doctrines seen as Trinitarian. Anthony the Great and others established Christian monasticism, and Gregory the Illuminator was responsible for Armenia becoming the first officially Christian country. Following the conversion of Constantine the Great (just prior to the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312), the Roman Empire tolerated Christianity with the Edict of Milan in 313, leading later to the adoption of Christianity as the state religion in 380 by Theodosius I (see Edict of Thessalonica) and the rise of Christendom in the Byzantine empire.
What started as a religious movement within first century Judaism therefore became, by the end of this period, the favored religion of the Roman Empire, as well as a significant religion outside the empire. According to Will Durant, the Christian Church prevailed over Paganism because it offered a much more attractive doctrine and because the church leaders addressed human needs better than their rivals. The First Council of Nicaea marks the end of this era and the beginning of the period of the first seven Ecumenical Councils (325 - 787).
From the writings of early Christians, historians have tried to piece together an understanding of various early Christian practices including worship services, customs and observances. Early Christian writers such as Justin Martyr (100 - 165) described these practices.
The following rituals, which would later be defined as sacraments, existed in the early church.
Early Christian beliefs regarding baptism were variable. In the most usual form of early Christian baptism, the candidate stood in water and water was poured over the upper body. In other words, it was immersion, not submersion. Tertullian describes the rite as a triple immersion, preceded by a fast or vigil, a confession of sins, and renouncing the devil, and as followed by anointing, the imposition of hands, and a symbolic meal of milk and honey, the whole of the rite being normally presided over by the bishop, with Easter and Pentecost as the proper seasons for baptism in the early Christian period, though in case of necessity baptism might be administered at any time and by any male Christian. The theology of baptism attained precision in the 3rd and 4th centuries.
While it is clear that infant baptism began to be widely practiced by at least the third century, the origins of the practice are controversial. Some believe that the apostolic church practiced infant baptism, arguing that the mention of the baptism of households in the Acts of the Apostles must have included infants. In the second century, Irenaeus may have referred to it,
The third century evidence is clearer, with both Origen and Cyprian advocating the practice. Tertullian refers to the practice (and that sponsors would speak on behalf of the children), but argues against it, on the grounds that baptism should be postponed until after marriage.
Early Christians, as part of the Lord's supper, consecrated bread and wine which became the Body and Blood of Christ. Where pagans would sacrifice animals for religious reasons, Christians would perform the Eucharist, or unbloody re-presentation of the sacrifice of Christ.
The early church featured two or three levels of clergy, overseers (bishops), elders (presbyters, perhaps interchangeable with bishops), and deacons (assistants). By the year 200, only bishops had the authority to ordain priests.
Imposition of hands
After baptism, the officiating Apostle or priest would lay hands on the subject's head to introduce the Holy Spirit into the believer.
By the third century, a system of public penance served as a "second baptism": the sinner, either voluntarily or under threat of excommunication, would undergo penance for a period whose length depended on the gravity of the sin, and which involved a rigorous course of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, during which the penitent was excluded from the Eucharist.
The first worship services were liturgical gatherings, which followed essentially a "Christianized" synagogue liturgical framework, and met in sections of homes quartered off especially for worship. Christians considered each other to be brothers and sisters, each contributing their respective gifts to the community. Gatherings featured hymns, prescribed prayers, and readings, especially from the scriptures (Old Testament). The first thirty to sixty years would not have known the writings of the "New Covenant" as they had not yet been written, Christ's teachings being transmitted through the liturgy, its hymns and prayers and through oral Tradition. Eventually, once they had become known, Paul's epistles and later the gospels and other texts were read during the initial liturgical services. The Lord's Supper comprised a communal meal with prayers in memory of Jesus. Services were known as agape feasts or love feasts.
Second century sources, such as the Didache, specify that the bread and wine of the Eucharist are for the baptized only. In his First Apology, a letter of defense written to Roman emperor, Antonius Pius, 161-180, Justin described a newly baptized member of the community sharing in the bread and wine of the Eucharist, which was restricted to the baptized.
Despite Ignatius' rejection of Judaizing (see above), Christianity continued many of the patterns of Judaism, adapting to Christian use synagogue liturgical worship, prayer, use of Sacred Scripture, a priesthood, a religious calendar commemorating on certain days each year certain events and/or beliefs, use of music in worship, giving material support to the religious leadership, and practices such as fasting and almsgiving and baptism.
Christians adopted as their Bible the Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures known as the Septuagint and later also canonized the books of the New Testament. There are however many phrases which appear to be quotations and other statements of fact, in the early church fathers, which cannot be found in the Bible as we know it. For example in Clement's First Letter he states that Paul "reached the limits of the West", and also appears to quote a variant form of Ezek 33.
At worship, early Christians greeted each other with a holy kiss. Church leaders restricted the practice to keep the worshipers from taking pleasure in it, such as specifying that the lips be closed.
Many practices which later became characteristic of Christian worship had not yet developed. Singing was generally without instrumentation and was normally in unison. Many Christians had lost their lives rather than offer a mere pinch of incense to the emperor as to a god, and so the use of incense was strongly frowned upon even in Christian worship. These practices and others, such as the use of elaborate vestments and grand buildings, became popular only once the Peace of the Church changed the political situation and the growing prosperity of worshippers made them possible.
Christians proclaimed a God of love who enjoined them to share a higher love with one another. Some interpreted the Old Testament as revealing primarily a God of justice, whereas the New Testament, particularly the letters of Paul and the Gospel of John, revealed a more loving God. Parallels are found in Pharisaic and Rabbinic Judaism. Paul of Tarsus is represented in as equating the Unknown God of the Greeks as revealed in the Christian God. Early Christian communities welcomed everyone, including slaves and women, who were generally shunned in Greco-Roman culture, but there were other exceptions, such as in Epicureanism.
Christian groups were first organized loosely. In Paul's time, there were no precisely delineated functions for bishops, elders, and deacons. A Church hierarchy, however, seems to have developed by the early second century (see Pastoral Epistles, c 90 - 140). These structures were certainly formalized well before the end of the Early Christian period, which concluded with the legalization of Christianity by Constantine's Edict of Milan in 313 and the holding of the First Council of Nicea in 325, when the title of Metropolitan bishop first appears.
Some first-century Christian writings include reference to overseers ("bishops") and deacons, though these may have been informal leadership roles rather than formal positions. The Didache (dated by most scholars to the early second century),) speaks of "appointing for yourself bishops and deacons" and also speaks about teachers and prophets and false prophets. Bishops were defined as spiritual authorities over geographical areas.
By the end of the early Christian period, the church of the Roman Empire had hundreds of bishops, some of them (those of Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, and, it seems, the chief bishops of other provinces) holding some form of jurisdiction over others.
Jerusalem was the first church and an important church center up to 135, for example see the Council of Jerusalem and Early centers of Christianity#Jerusalem, and it became significant again in the post-Nicene era, the Council of Nicaea having confirmed the tradition by which it was given "special honour", though without metropolitan authority. Some believe Rome was recognized as the first city of the church, Alexandria second, and then Antioch, the three Petrine Sees, whose special authority was recognized by the First Council of Nicaea. (See also Papal supremacy.) This belief grew into one of the primary causes of the Great Schism and is still disputed today by the Orthodox and Protestants. When the city of Constantinople was founded (officially in 330), this too became an important Christian centre within the empire, since the emperor resided there and made it his New Rome. Constantinople (Byzantium) is generally associated with the Byzantine Empire (330-1453).
Christian monasticism started in Egypt. The first monks lived in cities and villages, but only received great renown as they left for the wilderness and became hermits (eremetic monks). By the end of the early Christian era, Saint Pachomius was organizing his followers into a community and founding the tradition of monasticism in community (cenobitic monks).
Divinity of Christ
Most Christians identified Jesus as divine from a very early period, although holding a variety of competing views as to what exactly this implied. Early Christian views tended to see Jesus as a unique agent of God; by the Council of Nicaea in 325 he was identified as God in the fullest sense, literally 'of the same substance, essence or being', hence in the further wording of the Creed, "Θεόν αληθινόν εκ Θεού αληθινού" Theón alēthinón ek Theoú alēthinoú 'true God from true God'.
The first and second-century texts that would later be canonized as the New Testament several times imply or directly refer to Jesus' divinity, though there is scholarly debate as to whether or not they call him God Within 20–30 years of the death of Jesus, Paul, who authored the largest early expositions of Christian theology, refers to Jesus as the resurrected "Son of God", the savior who would return from heaven and save his faithful, dead and living, from the imminent destruction of the world. The Synoptic Gospels describe him as the "Son of God", though the phrase "Son of Man" is more frequently used in the Gospel of Mark; born of the Virgin Mary by the agency of the Holy Spirit, and who will return to judge the nations. The Gospel of John identifies Jesus as the human incarnation of the divine Word or "Logos" (see Jesus the Logos) and True Vine. The Book of Revelation depicts Jesus as the "Alpha and Omega, the first and the last" who is to come soon, who died and now lives forever and who holds the keys of death and Hades. The book has many other images, in particular that of a fearsome beast whose worshippers and those who receive its mark "will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb" ( ), an effect not attributed to the Lamb itself. The book speaks of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God as reigning with him for a thousand years before the final defeat of Satan and the Judgement at the Great White Throne. The Epistle to the Hebrews describes Jesus as the mediator of the New Covenant.
The term "Logos" was used in Greek philosophy (see Heraclitus) and in Hellenistic Jewish religious writing (see Philo Judaeus of Alexandria) to mean the ultimate ordering principle of the universe. Those who rejected the identification of Jesus with the Logos, rejecting also the Gospel of John, were called Alogi (see also Monarchianism).
The Trinity is a post-New Testament doctrine. However, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are associated in various New Testament passages. The Great Commission of possibly reflects the baptismal practice at Matthew's time. Baptism has been in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost since the end of the first century. speaks of baptism "in the name of Jesus Christ", which some interpret as another method of baptism, while others do not, since "in the name of" is used elsewhere in Acts to mean not a form of words but "by the authority of", "for the sake of". Aside from this verse, Matthew does not equate Jesus with God nor does he specify inequality either, though he indicates a special relationship between them. One of the elements virtually universal among diverse early Christians was the understanding that Jesus the Son was uniquely united with God the Father.
According to the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the Trinity was revealed to the disciples by revelation and in religious visions called theoria during the Theophany and the Transfiguration of Jesus called the Tabor Light or uncreated light.
The close of the early Christian era is defined as the First Council of Nicea, which gave the trinity its dogmatic form. But the term trinity (coined by Tertullian) and concepts related to the trinity existed earlier in the church. The phrase "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" became common, especially at baptism. Another trinitarian formula, "Glory to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit," was common even before the Arian controversy. However, this earlier formula does not express the co-equality of the three persons.
The Council used the Greek term homoousios (literally "of the same substance, essence or being") to express its view of the relation of the Son to the Father. However, it also appears in the early Christian era as used by Origen, Paul of Samosata, and Alexander of Alexandria though not without controversy, see for example Synods of Antioch. Various Christian writings refer to Jesus as a man and as God, but it was this Council that gave official sanction to the common Trinity formulation using this term.
Many, including Oneness Pentecostals and some Restorationists, styling themselves as restoring early Christian practice, reject the trinitarian concepts of the early church, and generally place no importance in the post-apostolic writings of the Church Fathers on the subject. (See below in the discussion on the Church Fathers.)
Kingdom of God
Among early Christians there was a widely accepted belief that Christ's return would establish not the general resurrection but a thousand-year kingdom, with the general resurrection following (a belief known as chiliasm or premillenialism). Chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation is the main source of this teaching, though it may owe something to the Book of Daniel and to ideas popular in late pre-Christian Jewish apocalyptic literature, especially 2 Esdras and the non-canonical Books of Enoch
Early Christians inherited their belief in a future resurrection of the dead from Judaism, although it was not a universally accepted doctrine among Jews and there was no agreement whether the resurrection included the physical body, only a spiritual body or just the soul. The Christian resurrection belief, however, developed gradually towards an increased emphasis on the resurrection of the flesh, a process that can be witnessed already in the New Testament. Whereas Paul believed in a the resurrection of a spiritual body denying any future for the flesh, Luke had the resurrected Jesus insisting that he was resurrected with flesh and bones. The emphasis on the resurrection on the flesh became even more pronounced in the first two centuries as Christianity succeeded in the mainly Greek eastern Mediterranean world.
Apologists defended the resurrection of the dead against pagan philosophers, who considered the soul worthy of perfection but not the body. Origen, however, who attempted to synthesise Platonism and Christianity, appears to have supported the idea of an ethereal rather than corporeal resurrection.
The ancient Jewish picture was of the sky as a firmament, a dome covering the earth. But the prevailing picture in early Christian times was that of the earth as a sphere with one or more other spheres, containing the stars, rotating around it. They sometimes described the souls of the dead waiting underground for the general resurrection. They described gehenna (roughly, hell) as a subterranean fire, see also Lake of Fire. In some Hellenic traditions, influential in the Alexandrian church, souls escaped the material world of the earth and returned to the spirit realm above.
Prayer for the dead
The Encyclopaedia Britannica states: "The well-attested early Christian practice of prayer for the dead ... was encouraged by the episode (rejected by Protestants as apocryphal) in which Judas Maccabeus (Jewish leader of the revolt against the tyrant Antiochus IV Epiphanes) makes atonement for the idolatry of his fallen soldiers by providing prayers and a monetary sin offering on their behalf ( ); by the Apostle Paul's prayer for Onesiphorus ( ); and by the implication in that there may be forgiveness of sins in the world to come."
That early Christians prayed for the dead, believing that the dead were thereby benefitted, is attested since at least the second-century inscription of Abercius, and celebration of the Eucharist for the dead is attested since at least the third century. Specific examples of belief in the communion of the living with the dead through prayer are found in many of the Church Fathers
The Greek word "Hades", which, like the Hebrew word "sheol", is generally used of the abode where the dead are reckoned to be, appears several times in the New Testament. In the parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus ( ), the dead rich man "in Hades" (16:23), speaks of being "tormented in this flame" (16:24), and is said to be separated by a "great gulf" from Abraham (16:26), in whose bosom Lazarus is said to be placed (16:22). The word "Hades" was used in (as in the Septuagint) to translate the word "sheol" of the Hebrew text of the Psalm there quoted.
Early Church Fathers who wrote in Greek, such as Hippolytus of Rome in his book on Hades, continued to use the term "Hades". Early Christian writers in Latin also used either the Greek word "Hades" itself or employed as its equivalent the Latin word "infernus", the Roman word for the underworld, as Jerome did in his translation of the New Testament.
Angels and Satan
Early Christians understood angels to be active in supporting the church and Satan to be actively opposed to it. Hippolytus, for example, recounts angels physically scourging the first antipope to force him to repent. Christian writers commonly saw Satan (or Beelzebub, see Mark 3) as the author of heresies. In , Satan, rather than Abraham, is named as the father of those Jews who rejected Jesus. See also Rejection of Jesus.
The word "angel" is derived from Greek ἄγγελος, the basic meaning of which is "messenger". Visitations from the "angel of the LORD" in the Old Testament are taken by many to be pre-Incarnation manifestations of Christ. Accordingly, Justin Martyr spoke of Christ as "King, and Priest, and God, and Lord, and angel, and man, and captain, and stone, and a Son born, and first made subject to suffering, then returning to heaven, and again coming with glory, and He is preached as having the everlasting kingdom". He interpreted as Christ the Angel who spoke with Abraham in , and argued for the divinity of Christ.
Orthodoxy and heterodoxy
Traditionally, orthodoxy and heresy have been viewed in relation to the "orthodoxy" as an authentic lineage of tradition. Other forms of Christianity were viewed as deviant streams of thought and therefore "heterodox", or heretical. This view was dominant until the publication of Walter Bauer's Rechtgläubigkeit und Ketzerei im ältesten Christentum ("Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity") in 1934. Bauer endeavored to rethink early Christianity historically, independent from the views of the church. He stated that the second century church was very diverse and included many "heretical" groups that had an equal claim to apostolic tradition. Bauer interpreted the struggle between the orthodox and heterodox to be the "mainstream" Roman church struggling to attain dominance. He presented Edessa and Egypt as places where the "orthodoxy" of Rome had little influence during the second century. As he saw it, the theological thought of the Orient at the time would later be labeled "heresy". The response by modern scholars has been mixed. Some scholars clearly support Bauer's conclusions and others express concerns about his "attacking [of] orthodox sources with inquisitional zeal and exploiting to a nearly absurd extent the argument from silence." However, modern scholars have critiqued and updated Bauer's model. For example, subsequent analysis of Bauer's geographical model have generally fallen against Bauer such as in Egypt.
Perhaps one of the most important discussions among scholars of early Christianity in the past century is to what extent it is appropriate to speak of "orthodoxy" and "heresy". Higher criticism drastically altered the previous perception that heresy was a very rare exception to the orthodoxy. Bauer was particularly influential in the reconsideration of the historical model. During the 1970s, increasing focus on the effect of social, political and economic circumstances on the formation of early Christianity occurred as Bauer's work found a wider audience. Some scholars argue against the increasing focus on heresies. A movement away from presuming the correctness or dominance of the orthodoxy is seen as understandable, in light of modern approaches. However, they feel that instead of an even and neutral approach to historical analysis that the heterodox sects are given an assumption of superiority over the orthodox movement. The current debate is vigorous and broad. While it is difficult to summarize all current views, general statements may be made, remembering that such broad strokes will have exceptions in specific cases.
One conception about Jesus that was found among second and third-century Christians was that which Adolf von Harnack called "Adoption Christology": Jesus was regarded as "the man whom God hath chosen, in whom the Deity or the Spirit of God dwelt, and who, after being tested, was adopted by God and invested with dominion". This stream in early Greek theology regarded Christ as a man gifted with divine powers. First represented by the Ebionites, it was later developed by the Monarchians, such as Theodotus of Byzantium and Paul of Samosata. It conflicted with the claim, as in the Gospel of John, that Jesus is the eternal Logos, hence the term Alogi.
Arianism, declared by the Council of Nicaea to be heresy, denied the full divinity of Jesus Christ, and is so called after its leader Arius. It has been called the most challenging heresy in the history of the Church.
Arius, born probably in Libya between c. 260 and 280, was ordained a priest in Alexandria in 312-313. Under Bishop Alexander (313-326), probably in about 319, he came forward as a champion of subordinationist teaching about the person of Christ.
Arius appears to have held that the "Son of God" was not eternal but created by the Father as an instrument for creating the world and therefore not God by nature, different from other creatures in being the one direct creation of God. The controversy quickly spread, with Arius seeking support from other disciples of his teacher Lucian of Antioch, notably Eusebius of Nicomedia, while a local synod under Alexander excommunicated Arius. Because of the agitation aroused by the dispute, Emperor Constantine I sent Hosius of Córdoba to Alexandria to attempt a settlement; but the mission failed. Accordingly, in 325, Constantine convened the First Council of Nicaea, which, largely through the influence of Athanasius of Alexandria, then a deacon, but destined to be Alexander's successor, defined the coeternity and coequality of the Father and the Son, using the now famous term "homoousios" to express the oneness of their being, while Arius and some bishops who supported him, including Eusebius, were banished.
This council marks the end of the Early Christian period and the beginning of the period of the First seven Ecumenical Councils.
The Ebionites ("poor ones") were a sect of Jewish Christians who flourished in the early centuries of Christianity, especially east of the Jordan. They emphasized the binding character of the Mosaic Law and believed Jesus was the human son of Joseph and Mary. They seem to have been ascetics, and are said to have rejected Paul's epistles and to have used only one Gospel.
Early in the common era, several distinct religious sects, some of them Christian, adhered to an array of beliefs that would later be termed Gnostic. One such sect, that of the Simonians, was said to have been founded by Simon Magus, the Samaritan who is mentioned in the first-century and who figures prominently in several apocryphal and heresiological accounts by Early Christian writers, who regarded him as the source of all heresies.
The most successful Christian Gnostic was the priest Valentinus (c. 100 - c. 160), who founded a Gnostic church in Rome and developed an elaborate cosmology. Gnostics considered the material world to be a prison created by a fallen or evil spirit, the god of the material world (called the demiurge). Gnostics identified the God of the Hebrew Bible as this demiurge. Secret knowledge (gnosis) was said to liberate one's soul to return to the true God in the realm of light. Valentinus and other Christian gnostics identified Jesus as the Savior, a spirit sent from the true God into the material world to liberate the souls trapped there.
While there appear to be Gnostic elements in some early Christian writing, Irenaeus and others condemned Gnosticism as a heresy, rejecting its dualistic cosmology and vilification of the material world and the creator of that world. Gnostics thought the God of the Old Testament was not the true God. It was considered to be the demiurge and either fallen, as taught by Valentinus (c. 100 - c. 160) or evil, as taught by the Sethians and Ophites.
The Gospel of John, according to Stephen L Harris, both includes Gnostic elements and refutes Gnostic beliefs, presenting a dualistic universe of light and dark, spirit and matter, good and evil, much like the Gnostic accounts, but instead of escaping the material world, Jesus bridges the spiritual and physical worlds. Raymond E. Brown wrote that even though gnostics interpreted John to support their doctrines, the author didn't intend that. The Johannine epistles were written (whether by the author of the Gospel or someone in his circle) to argue against gnostic doctrines.
The Gospel of Thomas has some Gnostic elements but lacks the full Gnostic cosmology. The scene in John in which "doubting Thomas" ascertains that the resurrected Jesus is physical refutes the Gnostic idea that Jesus returned to spirit form after death. The written gospel draws on an earlier oral tradition associated with Thomas. Some scholars argue that the Gospel of John was meant to oppose the beliefs of that community.
Some believe that there were at least three distinct divisions within the Christian movement of the 1st century: the Jewish Christians (led by the Apostle James the Just, with Jesus's disciples, and their followers), Pauline Christians (followers of Paul of Tarsus) and Gnostic Christians. Others believe that Gnostic Christianity was a later development, some time around the middle or late second century, around the time of Valentinus. Gnosticism was in turn made up of many smaller groups, some of which did not claim any connection to Jesus Christ. In Mandaeist Gnosticism, Mandaeans maintain that Jesus was a mšiha kdaba or "false messiah" who perverted the teachings entrusted to him by John the Baptist. The word k(a)daba, however, derives from two roots in Mandaic: the first root, meaning "to lie," is the one traditionally ascribed to Jesus; the second, meaning "to write," might provide a second meaning, that of "book;" hence some Mandaeans, motivated perhaps by an ecumenical spirit, maintain that Jesus was not a "lying Messiah" but a "Book Messiah", the "book" in question presumably being the Christian Gospels. This however seems to be a folk etymology without support in the Mandaean texts. A modern view has argued that Marcionism is mistakenly reckoned among the Gnostics, and really represents a fourth interpretation of the significance of Jesus. Gnostics freely exchanged concepts and texts. It is considered likely that Valentinius was influenced by previous concepts such as Sophia, or by Simon Magus, as much as he influenced others.
In 144, the Church in Rome expelled Marcion of Sinope. He thereupon set up his own separate ecclesiastical organization, later called Marcionism. Like the Gnostics, he promoted dualism. Unlike the Gnostics, however, he founded his beliefs not on secret knowledge (gnosis) but on the vast difference between what he saw as the "evil" deity of the Old Testament and the God of love of the New Testament, on which he expounded in his Antithesis. Consequently, Marcionists were vehemently anti-Judaism in their beliefs. They rejected the Jewish-Christian Gospel according to the Hebrews (see also Jewish-Christian Gospels) and all the other Gospels with the single exception of the Gospel of Marcion, which appears to be a redacted version of the Gospel of Luke.
From the perspectives of Tertullian and Epiphanius it appeared that Marcion rejected the non-Lukan gospels, however, in Marcion's time, it may be that the only gospel he was familiar with from Pontus was the gospel of Luke. Although it has been suggested by some that Marcion's gospel pre-dated canonical Luke the dominant scholarly view is that the Marcionite Gospel was a redaction of canonical Luke in order to conform to Marcion's anti-Jewish stance.
Marcion argued that Christianity should be solely based on Christian Love. He went so far as to say that Jesus’ mission was to overthrow Demiurge -- the fickle, cruel, despotic God of the Old Testament—and replace Him with the Supreme God of Love whom Jesus came to reveal. Marcion was labeled a gnostic by Irenaeus. Irenaeus labeled Marcion this because of Marcion expressing this core gnostic belief, that the creator God of the Jews and the Old Testament was the demiurge. This position, he said, was supported by the ten Epistles of Paul that Marcion also accepted. His writing had a profound effect upon the development of Christianity and the canon.
About 156, Montanus launched a ministry of prophecy, criticizing Christians as increasingly worldly and bishops as increasingly autocratic. Traveling in his native Anatolia, he and two women preached a return to primitive Christian simplicity, prophecy, celibacy, and asceticism. Tertullian, "having grown puritanical with age", embraced Montanism as a more outright application of Christ's teaching. Montanus's followers revered him as the Paraclete that Christ had promised, and he led his sect out into a field to meet the New Jerusalem. His sect spread across the Roman Empire, survived persecution, and relished martyrdom. The Church banned them as a heresy[when?], and in the 6th century Justinian ordered the sect's extinction.
Early Christians wrote many religious works, some of which were later canonized as the New Testament of today.
Oral tradition and first written works
Christian testimony was entirely oral for roughly twenty years after Jesus' death. Christians passed along Jesus' teachings, proclaimed his resurrection, and prophesied his imminent return. Apostles established churches and oral traditions in various places, such as Jerusalem, Antioch, Caesarea, and Ephesus. These traditions gradually developed distinct characteristics.
When those who had heard Jesus' actual words began to die, Christians started recording the sayings in writing. The hypothetical Q document, a collection of Jesus' sayings, is perhaps the first such record (c 50).
At about the same time, Paul of Tarsus also began writing (or dictating) letters ("epistles") to various churches that would later be considered scripture. Some scholars think Paul articulated the first Christian theology: namely that all people inherit Adam's guilt (see Original Sin) and can only be saved from death by the atoning death of the Son of God, Jesus' crucifixion.
Gospels and Acts
The Gospel of Mark was written during c. 65-70, possibly motivated by the First Jewish-Roman War. The Gospel of Matthew was written c. 80-85 to convince a Jewish audience that Jesus was the expected Messiah (Christ) and a greater Moses. The Gospel of Luke, together with Acts (see Luke-Acts) was c. 85-90, considered the most literate and artistic of the gospels. Finally, the Gospel of John was written, portraying Jesus as the incarnation of the divine Word, who primarily taught about himself as a savior. All four gospels originally circulated anonymously, and they were attributed to Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John in the 2nd century. Various authors wrote further epistles and the Apocalypse of John.
Epistles by other hands than Paul's circulated in the early church. Many of them, including one written as late as c 150, were eventually included in the New Testament canon. Many later epistles concern issues of church leadership, discipline, and disputes.
Several apocalypses circulated in the early church, and one of them, the Book of Revelation, was later included in the New Testament.
Debates about scripture were underway in the mid-second century, concurrent with a drastic increase of new scriptures, both Jewish and Christian. Debates regarding practice and belief gradually became reliant on the use of scripture. Similarly, in the third century a shift away from direct revelation as a source of authority occurred. "Scripture" still had a broad meaning and usually referred to the Septuagint among Greek speakers. Beyond the Torah (the Law) and some of the earliest prophetic works (the Prophets), there was no universal agreement to a canon, but it was not debated much at first. By the mid-second century, tensions arose with the growing rift between Christianity and Judaism, which some theorize led eventually to the determination of a Jewish canon by the emerging rabbinic movement, though, even as of today, there is no scholarly consensus as to when the Jewish canon was set, see Development of the Jewish Bible canon for details. Some scholars argue that the Jewish canon was fixed by the Hasmonean dynasty (140-37 BCE).
Regardless, throughout the Jewish diaspora newer writings were still collected and the fluid Septuagint collection was the primary source of scripture for Christians. Many works under the names of known apostles, such as the Gospel of Thomas, were accorded scriptural status in at least some Christian circles. Apostolic writings, such as I Clement and the Epistle of Barnabas, were considered scripture even within the orthodoxy through the fifth century. A problem for scholars is that there is a lack of direct evidence on when Christians began accepting their own scriptures alongside the Septuagint. Well into the second century Christians held onto a strong preference for oral tradition as clearly demonstrated by writers of the time, such as Papias.
The acceptance of the Septuagint was generally uncontested (even the Peshitta appears to be influenced). Later Jerome would express his preference for adhering strictly to the Jewish canon, but his view held little currency even in his own day. It was not until the Protestant Reformation that substantial numbers of Christians began to reject those books of the Septuagint which are not found in the Jewish canon, referring to them as biblical apocrypha. In addition, some New Testament books were also disputed, see Antilegomena.
Fathers of the church
From an early date the title "Father" was applied to bishops as witnesses to the Christian tradition. Only later, from the end of the fourth century, was it used in a more restricted sense of a more or less clearly defined group of ecclesiasical authors of the past whose authority on doctrinal matters carried special weight. According to the commonly accepted teaching, the fathers of the church are those ancient writers, whether bishops or not, who were characterized by orthodoxy of doctrine, holiness of life and the approval of the church. Sometimes Tertullian, Origen and a few others of not unimpeachable orthodoxy are now classified as Fathers of the Church.
The earliest Christian writings (other than those collected in the New Testament) are a group of letters credited to the Apostolic Fathers. These include the Epistle of Barnabas, the Shepherd of Hermas and the Epistles of Clement, as well as the Didache. Taken as a whole, the collection is notable for its literary simplicity, religious zeal and lack of Hellenistic philosophy or rhetoric. Fathers such as Ignatius of Antioch (died 98 to 117) advocated the authority of the apostolic episcopacy (bishops).
Post-apostolic Fathers defined and defended Christian doctrine. The Apologists became prominent in the second century. This includes such notable figures as Justin Martyr (d. 165), Tatian (d. c. 185), and Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-211/216). They debated with prevalent philosophers of their day, defending and arguing for Christianity. They focused mainly on monotheism and their harshest words were used for ancient mythologies. Fathers such as Irenaeus advocated the role of the apostolic succession of bishops in preserving apostolic teaching.
The Church Fathers themselves were conscious of being a part of an ongoing tradition, and frequently appealed to earlier writers to defend their opinions. As the centuries passed, the result was a growing body of religious literature which was customarily used for devotional purposes and theological argumentation. It is these Church Fathers who form our most important sources for understanding the development of early Christianity, and their importance to their immediate successors explains their ongoing importance today. At the Protestant Reformation, the reformers frequently appealed to the church fathers in defense of their propositions, though they also showed a willingness to disagree with them. By contrast, the Restorationists later viewed the Church Fathers as entirely suspect, and appealed in support of their views either to supposed new revelations or else to the New Testament directly without reference to later Christianity.
Rules and creeds
The term Rule of Faith is used to describe outline statements of Christian belief that circulated in the second-century Church and were designed to make clear the essential contents of Christian faith, guide the understanding of scripture, and distinguish orthodox belief from heresy. While, unlike the creeds, which were later, they varied in wording, their identical essential content was held to have descended unchanged from the Apostles.
Originally, candidates for baptism accepted a short formula of belief, which varied in detail from one place to another. "By the fourth century these formulas had become more uniform and were everywhere tripartite in structure, following ".
The early Christian era ends with Emperor Constantine convening the Council of Nicaea, where the original version of the Nicene Creed was formulated.
Spread of Christianity
Early Christianity spread from city to city in the Hellenized Roman Empire and beyond. Apostles traveled extensively and establishing communities in major cities and regions throughout the Empire. The first communities, outside of Jerusalem, appeared in Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth, and the political center of Rome. The original church communities were founded by apostles (see Apostolic see) and numerous other Christians soldiers, merchants, and preachers in northern Africa, Asia Minor, Arabia, Greece, and other places. Over 40 were established by the year 100, many in Asia Minor, such as the seven churches of Asia. By the end of the first century, Christianity had already spread to Rome, India, and major cities in Greece, Asia Minor and Syria, serving as foundations for the expansive spread of Christianity throughout the world.
- History of Christianity
- Early centers of Christianity
- List of events in early Christianity
- Constantine I and Christianity
- Constantinian shift
- History of Christian Torah-submission
- Council of Jerusalem
- Ante-Nicene Fathers
- Early Christian art and architecture
- Christianity in the 1st century
- Christianity in the 2nd century
- Christianity in the 3rd century
- ↑ ,
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 E. Glenn Hinson, The church triumphant: a history of Christianity up to 1300, Mercer University Press, 1995.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.
- ↑ Eusebius of Caesarea, Historia Ecclesiae, Book IV, Chapters 5–6.
- ↑ Catholic Encyclopedia: Jerusalem (A.D. 71-1099): "As the rank..."
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Robin Lane Fox, Pagans and Christians: In the Mediterranean World from the Second Century AD to the Conversion of Constantine, London: Viking, 1986, ISBN 978-0670808489.
- ↑ Wylen, Stephen M., The Jews in the Time of Jesus: An Introduction, Paulist Press (1995), ISBN 0809136104, Pp 190-192.; Dunn, James D.G., Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways, A.D. 70 to 135, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing (1999), ISBN 0802844987, Pp 33-34.; Boatwright, Mary Taliaferro & Gargola, Daniel J & Talbert, Richard John Alexander, The Romans: From Village to Empire, Oxford University Press (2004), ISBN 0195118758, p. 426.;
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Durant, Will. Caesar and Christ. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1972
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Bowker, John (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. New York: Oxford University Press. 1997
- ↑ Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, article submersion
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, article Baptism
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, article Infant Baptism
- ↑ Gregg Strawbridge, Ph.D.; John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion; Jordan Bajis; Bryan Chapell; Gregg Strawbridge (response to objections)
- ↑ "He (Jesus) came to save all through means of Himself — all, I say, who through Him are born again to God and children, infants, and boys, and youths, and old men" (Adversus Haereses, ii, 22, 4)
- ↑ Paul King Jewett, Infant Baptism and the Covenant of Grace, (Eerdmans 1978), page 127.
- ↑ Homilies on Leviticus 8.3.11; Commentary on Romans 5.9; and Homily on Luke 14.5
- ↑ "The delay of baptism is preferable; principally, however, in the case of little children. For why is it necessary ... that the sponsors likewise should be thrust into danger? ... For no less cause must the unwedded also be deferred - in whom the ground of temptation is prepared, alike in such as never were wedded by means of their maturity, and in the widowed by means of their freedom - until they either marry, or else be more fully strengthened for continence" (On Baptism 18).
- ↑ Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, article Penance
- ↑ The word "Agape" in the inscription has led some to interpret the scene as that of an Agape feast. However, the phrase within which the word appears is "Agape misce nobis" (Agape, mix for us, i.e. prepare the wine for us), making it more likely that Agape is the name of the woman holding the cup. A very similar fresco and inscription elsewhere in the same catacomb has, in exactly the same position within the fresco, the words "Misce mi Irene" (Mix for me, Irene). A reproduction of this other fresco can be seen at Catacombe dei Ss. Marcellino e Pietro, where it is accompanied by the explanation (in Italian) "One of the most frequently recurring scenes in the paintings is that of the banquet, generally interpreted as a symbolic representation of the joys of the afterlife, but in which it may be possible to discern a realistic presentation of the agapae, the funeral banquets held to commemorate the dead person." Agape, like Irene, may thus be the name of the person buried where the fresco was painted.
- ↑ ...after we have thus washed him who has been convinced (converted to Christianity) and has assented to our teaching, we bring him to the place where those who are called brethren are assembled, in order that we may offer hearty prayers in common for ourselves and for the baptized person, ...so that we may be saved with an everlasting salvation. Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss. There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water; and he taking them, gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and offers thanks at considerable length for our being counted worthy to receive these things at His hands. And when he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all the people present express their assent by saying Amen. ... And when the president has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving was pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion....And this food is called among us Eucharistia or [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. ... we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, "This do ye in remembrance of Me, this is My body;" and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, "This is My blood;" and gave it to them alone. The First Apology of Justin.
- ↑ Bruce Metzger Metzger, Bruce. The canon of the New Testament. 1997
- ↑ Canon VI of the First Council of Nicea, which closes the period under consideration in this article, reads: "Let the ancient customs in Egypt, Libya and Pentapolis prevail, that the Bishop of Alexandria have jurisdiction in all these, since the like is customary for the Bishop of Rome also. Likewise in Antioch and the other provinces, let the Churches retain their privileges. And this is to be universally understood, that if any one be made bishop without the consent of the Metropolitan, the great Synod has declared that such a man ought not to be a bishop ..." As can be seen, the title of "Patriarch", later applied to some of these bishops, was not used by the Council: "Nobody can maintain that the bishops of Antioch and Alexandria were called patriarchs then, or that the jurisdiction they had then was co-extensive with what they had afterward, when they were so called" (ffoulkes, Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, quoted in Volume XIV of Philip Schaff's The Seven Ecumenical Councils).
- ↑ "Since there prevails a custom and ancient tradition to the effect that the bishop of Aelia is to be honoured, let him be granted everything consequent upon this honour, saving the dignity proper to the metropolitan" (Canon 7)
- ↑ Gerard Mannion, Richard Gaillardetz, Jan Kerkhofs, Readings in Church Authority: Gifts and Challenges for Contemporary Catholicism, p. 211
- ↑ Dag Øistein Endsjø Primordial landscapes, incorruptible bodies. Desert asceticism and the Christian appropriation of Greek ideas on geography, bodies, and immortality. New York: Peter Lang 2008.
- ↑ In recent centuries some have posited for parts of the New Testament dates as late as the third century, early Christians attributed it to the Apostles themselves and their contemporaries (such as Mark and Luke).
- ↑ Larry Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity, (Eerdmans, 2005), page 650.
- ↑ Larry Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity, (Eerdmans, 2005), page 204.
- ↑ See Raymond E. Brown's "Does the New Testament call Jesus God?" in Theological Studies, #26, 1965, p. 545-73 for a good summary of the debate.
- ↑ "Alogi or Alogoi", Early Church.org.uk.
- ↑ "Alogi", Francis P. Havey, The Catholic Encyclopedia Volume I, 1907.
- ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica, "Trinity".
- ↑ 3:6, 4:18, 5:40, 9:27-28, 16:18; cf. "The phrase 'baptized in the name of Jesus' is simply Luke's way to distinguish Christian baptism from other baptisms of the period, such as John's baptism (which Luke mentions in Acts 1:5, 22, 10:37, 11:16, 13:24, 18:25, 19:4), Jewish proselyte baptism, and the baptisms of pagan cults (such as Mithraism)" (Trinitarian Baptism); "baptism is differentiated elsewhere in narratives by being described as 'in the name of Jesus,' as opposed to the 'baptism of John' and so forth" (Jesus Name Baptism?). ,
- ↑ The Oxford Companion of the Bible, "Trinity".
- ↑ History of Dogma II.III.2, Adolf von Harnack. 'Jesus Christ, who is the Saviour. . . sent by God "in these last days," and who stands with God himself in a union special and unique.'
- ↑ "The Difference Between Orthodox Spirituality and Other Confessions", Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, OrthodoxFaith.com 2003. "Thus the disciples of Christ acquired the knowledge of the Triune God in theoria (vision of God) and by revelation. It was revealed to them that God is one essence in three hypostases."
- ↑ "The Blessed Trinity", G.H.Joyce, The Catholic Encyclopedia Volume XV, 1912.
- ↑ The first two writers listed are mentioned in Catholic Encyclopedia: Homoousion as applying the word precisely to the relation between Christ and the Father.
- ↑ History of the Christian Church Vol. 2 p.381, Philip Schaff, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, n.d.): "The most striking point in the eschatology of the ante-Nicene age is the prominent chiliasm, or millenarianism, that is the belief of a visible reign of Christ in glory on earth with the risen saints for a thousand years, before the general resurrection and judgement. It was indeed not the doctrine of the church embodied in any creed or form of devotion, but a widely current opinion of distinguished teachers, such as Barnabas, Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Methodius, and Lactantius, while Caius, Origen, Dionysius the Great, Eusebius (as afterwards Jerome and Augustin) opposed it."
- ↑ Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, article Millenarianism
- ↑ Not all Jews believed in resurrection. The Sadducees rejected all scripture but the Torah and denied the resurrection as an innovation. According to Josephus, the Pharisees believed in the immortality of the soul
- ↑ 1 Cor. 1.29, 1 Cor. 15.50, Col. 2.11.
- ↑ Luk. 24.39.
- ↑ Dag Øistein Endsjø. Greek Resurrection Beliefs and the Success of Christianity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2009.
- ↑ Catharine P. Roth, Introduction, On the Soul and the Resurrection: St Gregory of Nyssa, St Vladimir's Seminary Press (1993), page 14.
- ↑ Encyclopaedia Britannica: Purgatory
- ↑ For the text of the inscription see Daily Life of Christians in Ancient Rome, p. 170
- ↑ Gerald O' Collins and Mario Farrugia, Catholicism: the Story of Catholic Christianity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003) p. 36; George Cross, "The Differentiation of the Roman and Greek Catholic Views of the Future Life", in The Biblical World (1912) p. 106; cf. Pastor I, iii. 7, also Ambrose, De Excessu fratris Satyri 80
- ↑ Gerald O'Collins and Edward G. Farrugia, A Concise Dictionary of Theology (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2000) p. 27.
- ↑ Henry Clarence Thiessen, Lectures in Systematic Theology, Eerdmans (1979), page 381.
- ↑ Against Plato, on the Cause of the Universe.
- ↑ For instance, Tertullian in De anima, chapter 7.
- ↑ For instance, the Latin translation of Origen's De Principiis by Rufinus Book IV, chapter I
- ↑ "In Latin, St Jerome translated Hades as infernus, the Roman name for the underworld and thus an exact cognate" (Christian History
- ↑ Church History 5.28.7-12, Eusebius.
- ↑ "Monarchians", John Chapman, The Catholic Encyclopedia Volume X, 1911.
- ↑ "Who is the angel of the Lord?", gotQuestions?.org.
- ↑ "An Angel You Ought to Know", Loren Jacobs, Jews for Jesus.
- ↑ "The Angel of the Lord: Who Is He?", Biblical Artefacts And Studies.
- ↑ Dialogue with Trypho 34, Justin Martyr.
- ↑ For a detailed study of the significance Justin saw in the title of "Angel" given to the Messiah in the Septuagint version of Isaiah 9:6, the then most widely known version of that text, see "Christ As Angel: The Reclamation Of A Primitive Title", Günther Juncker, Trinity Journal 15:2 (Fall 1994): 221–250.
- ↑ Ehrman, Bart (2003). Lost Christianities. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 173.
- ↑ Hunt (2003). Pp 10-11.
- ↑ Roberts, Manuscript, Society and Belief in Early Christian Egypt pp.51-52
- ↑ Esler (2004). Pp 893-894.
- ↑ History of Dogma II.III.3
- ↑ Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, article Adoptianism
- ↑ 73.0 73.1 73.2 73.3 Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3): article Arianism
- ↑ 74.0 74.1 74.2 Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3): article Arius
- ↑ Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, article Ebionites
- ↑ Understanding the Bible, Stephen L Harris. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.
- ↑ The Community of the Beloved Disciple, Raymond E. Brown, Paulist Press. (French translation: La communauté du disciple bien-aimé Les Éditions du Cerf, Paris 1983 ISBN 2-204-02000-1), pp. 117-134
- ↑ Beyond Belief,Elaine Pagels, 2003.
- ↑ No Longer Jews: The Search for Gnostic Origins, Carl B. Smith, Hendrickson Publishers (September 2004). ISBN 978-1565639447
- ↑ Macuch, Rudolf (1965). Handbook of Classical and Modern Mandaic. Berlin: De Gruyter & Co.. pp. 61 fn. 105.
- ↑ "MARCION", Encyclopædia Britannica 1911 ed., Volume VI7, p. 693.
- ↑ John Knox, Marcion and the New Testament: An Essay in the Early History of the Canon (ISBN 0-404-16183-9) was the first to propose that Marcion's Gospel may have preceded Luke's Gospel and Acts
- ↑ Ehrman, Bart (2003). Lost Christianities. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 108.
- ↑ Metzger, Bruce. The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origins, Developments and Significance. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- ↑ "Marcion and Marcionite Gnosticism", Cky J. Carrigan, Ph.D., On Truth, November 1996.
- ↑ Metzger, Bruce. Canon of the NT ISBN 978-0-19-826180-3; The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913 characterized Marcion as "perhaps the most dangerous foe Christianity has ever known."; Harnack's Origin of the New Testament: "Marcion, on the contrary, treats the Catholic Church as one that “follows the Testament of the Creator-God,” and directs the full force of his attack against this Testament and against the falsification of the Gospel and of the Pauline Epistles by the original Apostles and the writers of the Gospels. He would necessarily have dealt with the two Testaments of the Catholic Church if the Church had already possessed a New Testament. His polemic would necessarily have been much less simple if he had been opposed to a Church which, by possessing a New Testament side by side with the Old Testament, had ipso facto placed the latter under the shelter of the former. In fact Marcion’s position towards the Catholic Church is intelligible, in the full force of its simplicity, only under the supposition that the Church had not yet in her hand any “litera scripta Novi Testamenti.”"
- ↑ It may be that he employed an amanuensis, only occasionally writing himself, for example see , , , , , . Joseph Barber Lightfoot in his Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians writes: "At this point [ ] the Apostle takes the pen from his amanuensis, and the concluding paragraph is written with his own hand. From the time when letters began to be forged in his name ( ; 3:17) it seems to have been his practice to close with a few words in his own handwriting, as a precaution against such forgeries… In the present case he writes a whole paragraph, summing up the main lessons of the epistle in terse, eager, disjointed sentences. He writes it, too, in large, bold characters (Gr. pelikois grammasin), that his handwriting may reflect the energy and determination of his soul."
- ↑ Harris (1985). Pp 263-268.
- ↑ 89.0 89.1 White (2004). Pp 446-447.
- ↑ Philip R. Davies in The Canon Debate, page 50: "With many other scholars, I conclude that the fixing of a canonical list was almost certainly the achievement of the Hasmonean dynasty."
- ↑ Swete's Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek, page 112
- ↑ Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, article Fathers of the Church
- ↑ Ephesians 5-6, Magnesians 2, 6-7, 13, Trallians 2-3, Smyrnaeans 8-9
- ↑ Richardson (1953). Pp 16-17.
- ↑ Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, article Rule of Faith
- ↑ Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, article Creed. The verse cited contains the tripartite formula "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit".
- ↑ Franzen 29
- ↑ Vidmar, The Catholic Church Through the Ages (2005), pp. 19–20
- ↑ 99.0 99.1 Hitchcock, Geography of Religion (2004), p. 281, quote: "By the year 100, more than 40 Christian communities existed in cities around the Mediterranean, including two in North Africa, at Alexandria and Cyrene, and several in Italy."
- ↑ 100.0 100.1 Bokenkotter, A Concise History of the Catholic Church (2004), p. 18, quote: "The story of how this tiny community of believers spread to many cities of the Roman Empire within less than a century is indeed a remarkable chapter in the history of humanity."
- Berard, Wayne Daniel. When Christians Were Jews (That Is, Now). Cowley Publications (2006). ISBN 1561012807.
- Boatwright, Mary Taliaferro & Gargola, Daniel J & Talbert, Richard John Alexander. The Romans: From Village to Empire. Oxford University Press (2004). ISBN 0195118758.
- Dauphin, C. "De l'Église de la circoncision à l'Église de la gentilité – sur une nouvelle voie hors de l'impasse". Studium Biblicum Franciscanum. Liber Annuus XLIII (1993).
- Dunn, James D.G. Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways, A.D. 70 to 135. Pp 33–34. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing (1999). ISBN 0802844987.
- Ehrman, Bart D. Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why. HarperCollins (2005). ISBN 0060738170.
- Endsjø, Dag Øistein. Greek Resurrection Beliefs and the Success of Christianity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2009.
- Esler, Phillip F. The Early Christian World. Routledge (2004). ISBN 0415333121.
- Harris, Stephen L. Understanding the Bible. Mayfield (1985). ISBN 087484696X.
- Hunt, Emily Jane. Christianity in the Second Century: The Case of Tatian. Routledge (2003). ISBN 0415304059.
- Keck, Leander E. Paul and His Letters. Fortress Press (1988). ISBN 0800623401.
- Pelikan, Jaroslav Jan. The Christian Tradition: The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600). University of Chicago Press (1975). ISBN 0226653714.
- Pritz, Ray A., Nazarene Jewish Christianity From the End of the New Testament Period Until Its Disappearance in the Fourth Century. Magnes Press - E.J. Brill, Jerusalem - Leiden (1988).
- Richardson, Cyril Charles. Early Christian Fathers. Westminster John Knox Press (1953). ISBN 0664227473.
- Stark, Rodney.The Rise of Christianity. Harper Collins Pbk. Ed edition 1997. ISBN 0060677015
- Stambaugh, John E. & Balch, David L. The New Testament in Its Social Environment. John Knox Press (1986). ISBN 0664250122.
- Tabor, James D. "Ancient Judaism: Nazarenes and Ebionites", The Jewish Roman World of Jesus. Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (1998).
- Taylor, Joan E. Christians and the Holy Places: The Myth of Jewish-Christian Origins. Oxford University Press (1993). ISBN 0198147856.
- Thiede, Carsten Peter. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Jewish Origins of Christianity. Palgrabe Macmillan (2003). ISBN 1403961433.
- Valantasis, Richard. The Making of the Self: Ancient and Modern Asceticism. James Clarke & Co (2008) ISBN 9780227172810.
- White, L. Michael. From Jesus to Christianity. HarperCollins (2004). ISBN 0060526556.
- Wright, N.T. The New Testament and the People of God. Fortress Press (1992). ISBN 0800626818.
- Wylen, Stephen M. The Jews in the Time of Jesus: An Introduction. Paulist Press (1995). ISBN 0809136104.
- Early Christians
- Early Christian Writings
- Christian Classics Ethereal Library
- Early Church Texts
- The Early Christians in Their Own Words (free Ebook - English or Arabic)
- Catholic Encyclopedia: The Fathers of the Church
- PBS Frontline: The First Christians
- "The Old Testament of the Early Church" Revisited, Albert C. Sundberg, Jr.
- The Jewish Roman World of Jesus
- From the Jesus-people to Early Christianity - 30 - 110 AD
- First Christians and Rome
- Cave in Jordan Said to Have Been Used by Early Christians Biblical Archaeology Review
- Ángel F. Sánchez Escobar: A History of the Early Christian Church (for the text, click on links at foot of the page)
- Professor Edwin Judge on the early Christians from the Centre for Public Christianity | <urn:uuid:8bfc9cb7-d88c-4494-a075-db373397679d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://religion.wikia.com/wiki/Early_Christianity | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00037-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943959 | 15,073 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Also known as:
Premature Ovarian Failure
Premature ovarian failure occurs when your ovaries—which store and release eggs—stop working before age 40. You may have no or few eggs. Depending on the cause, premature ovarian failure may develop as early as the teen years, or the problem may have been present from birth.
A woman who has premature ovarian failure is very likely to have irregular or no periods, infertility problems, and menopause-like symptoms. It is difficult, though not impossible, for women who have premature ovarian failure to become pregnant. | <urn:uuid:e591b918-4f54-41f8-8a3c-0af67c633f36> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://oregon.providence.org/health-library/p/premature-menopause/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398216.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00185-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95878 | 116 | 2.671875 | 3 |
+ add to my flashcards
cite this term
Secure attachment is an emotional bond between children and caregivers that a psychologist named Mary Ainsworth observed. Ainsworth observed the behavioral reactions of children who were left alone for a period of time and then reunited with their mothers. Ainsworth reported that the children with secure attachments showed minimal distress when their mother left them alone and sought comfort when their mother returned. She noted that these children appeared to trust their caregivers would meet their needs. Additionally, the caregivers of children with secure attachments responded appropriately and consistently to their children's needs.
In contrast, the children without a secure attachment to their caregivers displayed more fearful, angry, confused, and upset behaviors than the securely attached children. The caregivers of these children did not respond consistently or appropriately to their children.
Interested in a Graduate Psychology Degree?
You can get free information about Adler University's graduate psychology programs just by answering a few short questions.
It only takes a minute. What are you waiting for? Get Free Info | <urn:uuid:ae10a300-a416-4d0e-9c9f-b87bc2eb4b51> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Secure%20Attachment | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00004-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96719 | 209 | 3.203125 | 3 |
VISIONS: A technical term for "divine revelation
mediated through a seer" ('hozeh' = one of the two Heb words for 'seer', has the
same root as that for 'vision,' 'hazon'; 'mar'ah' -- the other word for "vision"
-- in this ch (v 15), also is used in the sense of "vision as a means of divine
revelation" and has the same root as 'ro'eh' the other word for "seer")
We are told of the background of these days that "the word of
the Lord was precious (AV; 'rare': NIV); there was no open vision" (v 1). The
word "yakar" (precious) literally means "heavy", and is used of precious stones
(1Ki 10:2,10,11). It is also used of the most desirable building stones, such as
the "costly stones" of Solomon (1Ki 5:17) and the foundation stone of the Temple
mount -- the "precious corner stone" (Isa 28:16) which typifies Jesus Christ
(1Pe 2:6; Rom 10:11). The word of the Lord was precious or "rare" (RSV, NIV)
because there were "not many visions" (NIV).
The earlier pages of Bible history are filled with references
to open visions. In the beginning communion between God and man was quite
direct: "the Elohim walked in the garden." In the days of Abraham and Jacob,
angels appeared relatively often to men, bringing special messages. Angels
appeared frequently to Moses also, and the Angel of the Lord's presence led the
tribes of Israel in the pillar of fire and cloud. Even in the days of Joshua and
the Judges there are references to angels who brought God's word to men. But
when we come to the later history -- of Samuel and Kings and Chronicles -- such
incidents are few indeed. The times of Samuel are a period of transition.
Indeed, God is continuing to speak to His people, but now more so through
special human messengers -- the prophets, of which the child Samuel was destined
to be one of the greatest.
Is God's word "precious" to us today, who have no open vision
whatsoever? Surely it should be esteemed as, if anything, more precious to us
than it was to those of Samuel's day -- because we can expect no other means of
direct revelation from God than what we may find in the pages of our Bibles. And
again, God's word should be precious to us when we realize that today, in many
parts of the world, the supply of Bibles is severely limited, and some people
desperately seek for even a hand-copied fragment. And all the time our shelves
and tables are loaded down with Bibles in half a dozen different versions, each
one easier to read and understand than the one before -- if we can find the time
to read any of them properly!
Where God's word is rare, so is His presence.
We may learn valuable lessons by contemplating what things are
considered "precious" by the inspired writers, who knew the mind of God. In
addition to His word, the "precious" things of God include: (a) wisdom and
understanding -- "more precious than rubies" (Pro 3:13-18; cp Pro 8:11); (b) the
lips that speak knowledge (Pro 20:15) (for knowledge must not only be possessed;
it must be disseminated!); (c) the thoughts of God (Psa 139:17); (d) the
redemption of our lives (Psa 49:8); and (e) the blood, or the deaths, of God's
saints (Psa 72:14; 116:15). It may be just as instructive also, with this list
in mind, to reflect on the unnamed things -- so many different things! -- that
apparently are not nearly so "precious" in the eyes of God.
ELI, WHOSE EYES WERE BECOMING SO WEAK...: Eli would esp
need young Samuel more and more as he grew more blind. Thus Samuel would expect
that the calls of v 4 would have come from Eli.
THE LAMP OF GOD HAD NOT YET GONE OUT: At night, but
just before dawn, when light might go out. The lampstand should not be allowed
to go out (Lev 24:2).
For the first time, the angel of Yahweh came and STOOD there!
See Lesson, Samuel, and Jesus in temple. Thus so gently was the child prepared to
receive the message from God, as if the reassuring hand of the beloved Eli was
upon his shoulder. So patient was the Father that He called four times, until
finally the answer which He sought was forthcoming, and His servant, young as he
was, stood ready to listen.
Vv 11-14: So fearful was the Divine message that it would
affect the ears of every hearer like a sharp, piercing sound (2Ki 21:12; Jer
19:3). Judgment was about to begin at the house of Eli, for the house of the
high priest was "the house of God" (cp 1Pe 4:17) -- it bore greater
responsibility than all others because of its privileged position. But judgment
would only begin there! Its effects would be felt throughout the nation: vv
17,18. As all the nation, to some degree, had looked the other way when Eli's
sons blasphemed -- so all the nation would now bear the consequences. But Eli's
house would be judged forever -- no sacrifice could purge their sins -- because
his sons had made themselves "contemptible" (NIV): and Eli, though he rebuked
them, had not restrained them. Eli had not done the work of an "elder": he had
not ruled well his own house -- his children had not been trained in subjection
(1Ti 3:4,5; cp Tit 1:6).
Eli makes no attempt to justify himself, either to Samuel or
to God. It has been well said that God can forgive any sin, but He can forgive
no excuse! From Eli there is no excuse: "It is of the Lord." Many an old man in
the same position (and not a few younger ones!) would have behaved much
differently. But in Eli, despite his weaknesses, there was grace sufficient to
humble himself and repent and (so we would expect) find forgiveness. The
judgment of his house, however, was irrevocable.
LET HIM DO WHAT IS GOOD IN HIS EYES: Samuel begins to
discharge the duties of priest, prophet, and judge.
1Sa 3:19--1Sa 4:1a: The Lord was finally beginning to "bring
low" Eli and his sons, and to "lift up" Samuel, even as Hannah had foreseen
years earlier in her vision (1Sa 2:7). Now all Israel, from the far north to the
extreme south, knew that the child Samuel was established to be a prophet, and
that not one of his words would prove ineffective or false. Once again, after a
long silence, the Lord was revealing Himself by His word in Shiloh. He was
placing His seal upon Samuel: 'This is My servant; as he heard Me when I spoke,
so you must hear him when he speaks.'
Thus "all Israel recognized that Samuel was a prophet" (v
Or, less likely but possible, does v 19 mean: "SAMUEL let none
of YAHWEH's words fall to the ground", and this is what made him a true
HE LET NONE OF HIS WORDS FALL TO THE GROUND: "An
allusion either to water that falls to the ground, and becomes useless, or to an
arrow falling out of the bow, and to the ground, before it reaches the mark, and
so unsuccessful; or to any weapon of war, sword or spear, falling out of the
hand of the soldier, whereby he is disarmed and rendered unserviceable"
SAMUEL WAS ATTESTED AS A PROPHET OF THE LORD: How? By
the LORD not letting Samuel's words "fall to the ground" (v 19) -- ie, by seeing
that Samuel's prophetic words would come to pass: this would confirm Samuel's
status (Deu 18:15-22).
Examples of faithfulness in service: Samuel (1Sa 3:20); David
(1Sa 22:14); the temple overseers (2Ki 12:15); the workers (2Ch 34:12); Hananiah
(Neh 7:2); Abraham (Neh 9:8); the treasurers (Neh 13:13); Daniel (Dan 6:4);
Timothy (1Co 4:17); Epaphras (Col 1:7); Tychicus (Col 4:7); Onesimus (Col 4:9);
Paul (1Ti 1:12); Moses (Heb 3:2,5); Gaius (3Jo 1:5); Jesus Christ (Rev 1:5);
Antipas (Rev 2:13). | <urn:uuid:7c84d171-3195-48ea-afd8-a660366d8dbd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.christadelphianbooks.org/agora/comm/09_1sam/isam04.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00050-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949794 | 2,015 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Dalton & the Solid Ball Model
The second person to think about how atoms worked and the first person to actually propose an idea of what the atom looked like was John Dalton. Dalton was an Englishman who started teaching when he was in his early teenage years. A part time scientist, Dalton imagined the atom to be a solid ball that was too small to see. A small pile of any substance, like gold, meant that you had less atoms than a larger pile of the same substance. From his research in the years 1803-1807, Dalton proposed four laws that governed atomic theory:
1. Each element is made of tiny particles called atoms.
2. The atoms of a given element are identical; the atoms of different elements are different in some fundamental way or ways.
3. Chemical compounds are formed when atoms combine with each other. A given compound always has the same relative numbers and types of atoms.
4. Chemical reactions involve reorganization of the atoms-changes in the way they are bound together. The atoms themselves are not changed in a chemical reaction. | <urn:uuid:d2f64541-9764-4018-8c09-8298f3466217> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sussexvt.k12.de.us/science/The%20Atom/Dalton.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393518.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00053-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970736 | 220 | 4.3125 | 4 |
Human stem cells restore hearing
For the first time, scientists have improved hearing in deaf animals by using human embryonic stem cells, an encouraging step for someday treating people with certain hearing disorders.
"It's a dynamite study [and] a significant leap forward," said one expert familiar with the work, Dr. Lawrence Lustig of the University of California, San Francisco.
The experiment involved an uncommon form of deafness, one that affects between 1 percent and 15 percent of hearing-impaired people. And the treatment wouldn't necessarily apply to all cases of that disorder. Scientists hope the approach can be expanded to help with more common forms of deafness. But in any case, it will be years before human patients might benefit.
Results of the work, done in gerbils, were reported online in the journal Nature by a team led by Dr. Marcelo Rivolta of the University of Sheffield in England.
To make the gerbils deaf in one ear, scientists killed nerve cells that transmit information from the ear to the brain. Stem cells were used to make immature nerve cells. Those were then transplanted into the deaf ears of 18 gerbils.
Ten weeks later, the rodents' hearing ability had improved by an average of 46 percent, with recovery ranging from modest to almost complete. How did the researchers know the gerbils could hear in their deafened ears? They measured hearing ability by recording the response of the brain stem to sound.
The gerbils were kept on medication to avoid rejecting the human cells, much like people who get transplants of human organs, Rivolta said.
- Associated Press | <urn:uuid:96e1b8ef-6654-46da-8517-2143d9ec3d54> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120930/OPINION/120939981/1074 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00167-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965162 | 336 | 3.5625 | 4 |
Drilling Into the Menu Control
|Figure 3. Parts of a Menu Control: The figure shows the ASP code that defines a menu, with the various parts labeled.|
The Menu control derives from the System.Web.UI.WebControls.HierarchicalDataBoundControl class. This class acts as a logical container for a Menu control. It's convenient to think of Menu controls as consisting of three parts: control properties
, item style properties
, and items
. Figure 3
shows the ASP code that defines a menu with the three parts labeled.
Looking at Figure 3
, the first section helps you define various properties for the menu control. The second section specifies styles to apply to the various menu item types, and the third section defines the menu items themselves. Note the way the code nests submenu items within the root "Home" menu.
Static and dynamic menus have separate but parallel style properties. Table 1 lists several important Menu control style properties and descriptions.
Table 1. Important Menu Control Properties: The menu lists the name and description of several important Menu control style properties and descriptions.
|Menu item style
||This property controls the appearance of a dynamic menu item when the mouse pointer is positioned over it.
||This property controls the appearance of menu items within a dynamic menu.
||This property controls the appearance of a dynamic menu.
||This property controls the appearance of a dynamic menu item when the user selects it from the menu.
||This property controls the appearance of a static menu item when the mouse pointer is positioned over it.
||This property controls the appearance of the menu items in a static menu.
||This property controls the appearance of a static menu.
||This property controls the appearance of a static menu item when the user selects it from the menu.
Take a closer look at the third section in Figure 3
(Menu Items) section. This section is the core of the Menu control. Each Menu control is made up of a hierarchical tree of menu items, each represented by a MenuItem (corresponding to an
element) object. Menu items at the top level (level 0) are called root menu
items. In Figure 3
, "Home" is the root menu item. A menu item that has a parent menu item is called a child menu
item. For example, "ASP.NET Sites" is a child item in Figure 3
. The Items
collection (the <items>
element) holds all the root menu items. Each root menu has a ChildItems
collection containing the child menu items.
A MenuItem has four important properties: Text, Value, NavigateUrl, and ImageUrl. The Menu control displays the Text property value as the visible name for each menu item. You use the Value property used to store any additional data about the menu item, such as data it should pass to the PostBack event associated with the menu item. When clicked, a menu item can navigate to another Web page indicated by the NavigateUrl property. If you don't set the NavigateUrl property for a menu item, the Menu control simply submits the page to the server for processing when a user clicks that menu item. You're not limited to text menu items, either; using the ImageUrl property, you can optionally display an image in a menu item rather than a simple text string. | <urn:uuid:84b5d4e5-b3d7-4403-a545-352046b2f456> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.devx.com/dotnet/Article/26609/0/page/2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00138-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.772213 | 694 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Over 100 high school students from the Akron City Schools spent a day on the Lorain County Community College campus in early December to be introduced to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) opportunities.
“The goal was to bring students out who have an interest in STEM,” LCCC’s Dean of Engineering Technologies Kelly Zelesnik said. “Not only to expose the possibilities of the future but to give them opportunities to do hands on work in each area to see how they like it.”
The high school students were given the opportunities to work in chemistry, microbiology and welding labs. They listened to entrepreneurial experts at LCCC’s Blackstone Launchpad discuss the idea of starting your own business. They were introduced to digital imaging and digital forensics. They manufactured a product in LCCC’s Fab Lab and designed video games under the direction of our gaming faculty.
Click on the video link to view the experience. | <urn:uuid:66bd4402-05c9-40d7-8125-12dba3326f07> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.lorainccc.edu/eoc/STEM_Showcase.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00027-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964175 | 197 | 2.546875 | 3 |
In the Bible, John 1:3 states that God the Son created everything;
so why do the Creeds
say that God the Father was the Creator?
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were
made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. ...He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world
knew him not.
...And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace
and truth." -John 1:1-3,10,14
God the Father was indeed the Creator.
The Bible teaches that He created all things by Jesus
confirms the presence of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit, at the Creation.
the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. ...And the spirit
of God moved upon the face of the waters." -Genesis
make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the
beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by
Jesus Christ." -Ephesians
John refers to Jesus
Christ in John Chapter 1 as
Word of God" ("And the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among
us...and we beheld his glory...the only begotten of the Father."
"A father begets,
a mother conceives. God
the Son is begotten
of the Father and conceived of the Virgin Mary. The begetting
is an eternal relationship, the conception is an event
in time." -Ken
was involved in Creation as the
- "And God said, Let there be
light," -Genesis 1:3
- "And God said, Let there be an
expanse between the waters to separate water from water."
- "And God said, Let the water under
the sky be gathered to one place,"
- "And God said, Let the land produce
vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear
fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds."
Contrary to the implication of the question, the Creeds
do not say that God the Father is the Creator alone.
The Bible reveals that the Holy Spirit is Lord; that He is God, just as the
Father and the Son are Lord and God:
the Lord is
that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that
you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the
money you received for the land?
Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it
was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think
of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God." -Acts
So the Nicene
Creed , which is a summary
of essential Apostolic
teaching, also clearly states that the Holy Spirit is
Lord (and therefore
worshipped as God) and is the Creator (giver) of life. Both
God the Father and Jesus Christ (God the Son), along with the
Holy Spirit (as God and Lord); were all as co-eternal
persons of the Trinity, involved in the Creation.
Excerpted from the Nicene
"I believe in one God, the Father
Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord
Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father
before all ages; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God,
begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom
all things were made;...
...And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of
life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son
together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets."
In the Apostle's Creed much doctrine
(not just the doctrine of this question) found in the Nicene
is absent, as this creed is a
bare-bones doctrinal summary, historically used as a Baptismal Creed,
and in the liturgy as a confession and remembrance of the commitment to
the basic Apostolic
teaching that was made at our Baptism.
In the Athanasian Creed, there are
specific mentions of Jesus Christ as Creator - but neither is there
of the Father as Creator. This Creed
is more concerned with the
Trinity; and in making clear that Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit, and
the Father are all to be worshipped as God, and are equally God.
Excerpted from the
"...we worship one God in Trinity, and
Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the
substance. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son,
and another of the Holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty
Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the
Holy Spirit. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy
Spirit uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the Son
incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.
eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet they
are not three eternals but one eternal. As also there are not three
uncreated nor three incomprehensible, but one uncreated and one
So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son
almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty. And yet they are not three
almighties, but one almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God,
and the Holy Spirit is God; And yet they are not three Gods, but one
So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit
Lord; And yet they are not three Lords but one Lord. For like as we
are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by
himself to be God and Lord; So are we forbidden by the catholic
religion to say; There are three Gods or three Lords.
The Father is
made of none, neither created nor begotten. The Son is of the Father
alone; not made nor created, but begotten. The Holy Spirit is of the
Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but
So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not
three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. And in this
Trinity none is afore or after another; none is greater or less than
another. But the whole three persons are coeternal, and coequal.
that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity
in Unity is to be worshipped."
The Apostle John knew the Old Testament
well. He did not write anything that contradicted it.
Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John (verses
1:1-14), he revealed and made clear what had been the truth all along:
the part that God the Son played in Creation.
Colossians 1:14-17 indicate that the Savior,
Jesus Christ, is from eternity God
the Son, who created all things for His glory, and
holds them all in control by His will. This perfectly coordinates with
John 1:1-3, where it states that the Word was God.
Verse 14 says:
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us...", thus it
is clearly Jesus Christ. Back in verse 3, it tells us:
were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was
Genesis 1:26 states:
"And God said, Let us make man in our
image, after our likeness...".
The Trinity is shown in the
creation of all things. The name Elohim is the word
translated "God" in Genesis 1:1, and is a plural
form in Hebrew ("im" being in Hebrew a
Jesus Christ was present at
Creation with the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:2) and God the
Father, creating the heaven and the earth and all that is in them.
All comprise the one triune God.
The Trinity is not easy to understand, yet the Scriptures clearly and
consistently demonstrate the existence of the three co-eternal as the one true God.
Our lord Jesus said: "I and the Father are one." and
who has seen me has seen the Father." Isaiah 9:6
states that the
child's name that was to be born, who is obviously Jesus Christ, was
to be called, amongst
other names, "The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father."
rise or fall on their accuracy in representing the truth of the Holy Scriptures.
Creed correctly acknowledges
"God, the Father Almighty" as
the "Maker of all things visible and invisible."
correctly acknowledges the role played in the Creation of the
Jesus Christ...by whom
all things were made..."
"But to us there is but one God, the
Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom are all things, and we by him." -I
- wiki.answers.com: "In the Bible John 1" (First section written by John
Welsh. Addendum section written by "Frank1983".
Edited by Monk Preston, with comments and Scriptures added.)
Collins: "The Nicene Creed"
Copyright © 2009 S.G.P.
All rights reserved.
of Faith of The Prayer Foundation ™ | <urn:uuid:d57ca9dd-8b33-4968-ad9f-ded3130a89c4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.prayerfoundation.org/creator_father_son_holy_spirit.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00005-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94521 | 2,140 | 2.703125 | 3 |
It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
In Afghanistan, some soldiers are said to possess a sixth sense.
These devices exploit what neuroscientists call the P300, a wave of brain activity that signifies an unconscious recognition of a visual object, and is so-named because it occurred about 300 milliseconds after stimulation. The P300 can be thought of as the biological basis of the sixth sense.
The problem is that it may take several seconds for the brain to become conscious of what it’s seen, and in Afghanistan, that brief time can mean the difference between spotting a bomb, and driving over it and setting it off.
But a device known as an electroencephalogram (EEG) can spot that P300 signal. Hooked into a sophisticated computer that can interpret the signal, it can immediately alert a person to a potential threat, taking a short cut through the brain’s normal conscious processing. Combined with advanced optics, it is possible to imagine a Terminator-like vision system that scans an area and immediately identifies and categorises threats.
These goggles represent more than just another gadget: they could well become the first example of military neuro-enhancement using what is called a brain-machine interface
a group of elite scientists who advise the government on national security issues, warned of the “potential for abuses in carrying out such research, as well as serious concerns about where remediation leaves off and changing natural humanity begins.”
Such work, however, is also drawing attention now from scientists concerned that such technology could, for example, allow even more novel use of armed drones. “The ability to control a machine directly with the human brain could, for example, provide the potential to remotely operate robots or unmanned vehicles in hostile territory,” said a recent report by the UK Royal Society.
Jonathan Moreno, a professor of bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of Mind Wars, says what people find troubling is that, like with drones, such technology expands the battlefield, allowing soldiers to fight remotely. “It’s the projection of human intelligence into a device,” says Moreno. “That’s what it’s about.”
Life Imitating Art: Robot avatar body controlled by thought alone
For the first time, a person lying in an fMRI machine has controlled a robot hundreds of kilometers away using thought alone.
.”The ultimate goal is to create a surrogate, like in Avatar, although that’s a long way off yet,” says Abderrahmane Kheddar, director of the joint robotics laboratory at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tsukuba, Japan.
To attempt this feat, researchers with the international Virtual Embodiment and Robotic Re-embodiment project used fMRI to scan the brain of university student Tirosh Shapira as he imagined moving different parts of his body. He attempted to direct a virtual avatar by thinking of moving his left or right hand or his legs.
The scanner works by measuring changes in blood flow to the brain’s primary motor cortex, and using this the team was able to create an algorithm that could distinguish between each thought of movement (see diagram). The commands were then sent via an internet connection to a small robot at the Béziers Technology Institute in France.
The set-up allowed Shapira to control the robot in near real time with his thoughts, while a camera on the robot’s head allowed him to see from the robot’s perspective. When he thought of moving his left or right hand, the robot moved 30 degrees to the left or right. Imagining moving his legs made the robot walk forward.
Well, it is really a pair of special goggles/binoculars - A camera/computer scans a wide range of area and decides on potential threats.. then flashes those pictures infront of the user.. when the computer detects that you have given off the P300 signal, the computer detects that and the user is alerted to focus on that specific image!
Ok, so the preliminary steps into having a thought controlled 'avatar' and the ability to control it in real-time through thought commands! Insane! It is really interesting, however the concerns i have are the safety and the potential for future technology. The combination of these two types of technology sounds like it really won't before we can be even lazier... Reminds me of the move 'Surrogates' with Bruce Willis.. definitely reccomend watching it as it is extremely similar to this.. how superficial our society is and the potential for what this technology could turn us into! Anyone seen this movie?? Thoughts? | <urn:uuid:a48c6dd7-aa22-4765-a79c-7bd3d0683312> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread858086/pg1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00192-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9479 | 1,009 | 2.78125 | 3 |
The Portland, Indiana, Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) had been using six granular-media filter units for tertiary treatment since the 1980s. The plant’s treatment protocol includes fine screens for grit removal, followed by primary clarifiers, trickling filters, aeration basins, secondary clarifiers, the tertiary treatment system, and then chlorine disinfection.
The problem was that the tertiary media filters required too much maintenance and excessive backwashing. According to Robert Brelsford, Superintendent, “Not a day went by that we didn’t have to work on them, particularly on the control valves.” Besides problems with the 30 control valves, the plant had trouble with broken underdrains and with losing media. And perhaps most significantly, “the system required about 10,000 gallons per backwash, says Brelsford. | <urn:uuid:11c3522b-68d4-42b5-ba0b-08e84d8c20f7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wateronline.com/doc/two-aquadisk-cloth-media-filters-replace-six-granular-media-units-0001?atc~c=771%20s=774%20r=001%20l=a | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00154-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953834 | 180 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Learning fiber optics is much easier than learning the laws of electricity. You've probably heard the terms "light tube" and "conduit for light" in reference to an optical fiber. These terms might lead you to think there's some type of hole in the middle of an optical fiber. This is not the case. Looking at a typical optical fiber cross section helps explain its operation.
There are three concentric layers to an optical fiber. Light pulses only through the glass core of the fiber. The cladding (which is a different type of glass) serves as a barrier to keep the light within the core, functioning much like a mirrored surface. The buffer layer (sometimes called the coating) has nothing to do with light transmission and is used only for mechanical strength and protection.
As you can see, light does flow down the center of a fiber like water through a pipe. We could even say that the fiber is a "virtual" tube. Light stays in the center of the fiber, not because there is a physical opening there, but because the cladding glass reflects any escaping light back to the core
These "light tubes" are very thin strands of ultra-pure glass. The dimensions of typical fiber components are:
core: 8 microns to 62.5 microns (a micron is one millionth of a meter)
cladding: 125 microns
coating: 250 microns
The core is one density of glass, the cladding is a second grade of glass, and the coating is a plastic.
To suitably protect our glass fibers, we package them in cabling. It's a misconception that fiber cables are fragile. Many people believe if you drop a fiber cable on a hard surface, it will shatter-after all, it's made of glass! But, this is a myth.
The fiber itself (not the cable, but only the thin fiber) is fairly fragile, although it's surprisingly flexible and will not break easily like sheet glass. (Actually, it's several times as strong as steel, but because it is so thin, it can be broken fairly easily.)
Fiber cables, however, are not fragile at all. In fact they're often more durable than copper communication cables. Optical cables encase the glass fibers in several layers of protection.
The first protective layer is the coating we mentioned earlier. The next layer is a buffer layer, which is typically extruded over the coating to further increase the strength of the single fibers. This buffer can be of either a loose tube or tight tube design. Most datacom cables are made using either one of these two constructions. A third type, the ribbon cable, is frequently used in the telecommunications work and may be used for datacom applications in the future. It uses a modified type of tight buffering.
After the buffer layer, the cable contains a strength member. Most commonly, it's a Kevlar fabric, the material used in bulletproof vests. The strength member protects the fiber and also carries the tensions of pulling the cable. (You should never pull fiber cable by the fibers themselves.)
After the strength member comes the outer jacket of the cable, which is typically some type of polyethylene or PVC. In many cases, however, there will be additional stiffening members, which also increase the cable's strength and durability.
Important field-installed components As with copper cabling, you have field-installed components used to make a working datacom system.
Connectors. Fiber connectors are used to make nonpermanent connections at fiber ends. Because they have such as small diameter, you must hold optical fibers rigidly in place and accurately align them to mate with other fibers, light sources, or light detectors.
Advances in design and technology make connector installation easy today. But, it wasn't always this way.
As the fiber-optic field began to develop, one of the biggest mechanical problems was how to permanently fix the fibers at their ends. The first fiber connectors were difficult to install. They used a variety of glues, ovens, and long, difficult polishing methods. Since then, things have drastically changed.
Although terminating a fiber is not yet as easy as installing a coaxial cable connector, it's far, far easier than before. In fact, you can terminate a fiber in about half the previous required time, and the process continues to get easier as time goes on. Within a few years it should be quite simple.
Splices. You use splices to permanently join the ends of fibers. There are two primary ways this is done: by fusion (the melting of pieces of glass together) and mechanical means. When installing a splice, you must address two critical factors:
The fiber joint must be able to pass light without loss and the joint must be mechanically secure so that it won't be easily broken.
Testing When installing a fiber system (the whole system of optical fibers is often called a cable plant), you must test it to verify its performance. Basically, you're making sure light will pass through the system properly. There are three types of optical testing: Continuity, power, and OTDR testing.
Continuity testing. This is a simple visible light test. Its purpose is to make sure the fibers in your cables are continuous (unbroken). You do this with a modified type of flashlight device and the naked eye. It takes only a few minutes to perform.
Power testing. This accurately measures the quality of optical fiber links. As shown in Fig. 3, a calibrated light source puts infrared light into one end of the fiber and a calibrated meter measures the light arriving at the other end of the fiber. You measure the loss of light in the fiber in decibels.
OTDR testing. This testing uses a piece of equipment properly called an Optical Time Domain Reflectometer, or OTDR. This device uses light backscattering to analyze fibers. Basically, the OTDR takes a snapshot of the fiber's optical characteristics by sending a high powered pulse into the fiber and measuring the light scattered back toward the instrument. You can use an OTDR to locate fiber breaks, splices, and connectors as well as to measure loss. The OTDR method may not give the same value for loss as a source and power meter due to the different methods of measuring loss. However, the OTDR gives a graphic display of the status of the fiber under test. Another advantage is it requires access to only one end of the fiber.
As useful as the OTDR is, it's not necessary in the majority of situations. Also, it's quite expensive. Even when they are necessary, many installers prefer to rent rather than purchase them.
In addition to the things we've covered so far, you must understand several technical concepts.
Attenuation. This performance characteristic is the measure of weakening of an optical signal as it passes through a fiber. In other words, it's a measure of signal loss. Attenuation in an optical fiber is a result of two factors: absorption and scattering.
Absorption is just that: the absorption of light and its conversion to heat by molecules in the glass. Primary absorbers include residual deposits of chemicals used in the manufacturing process to modify the characteristics of the glass. This absorption occurs at definite wavelengths. (Remember, the wavelength of light signifies its color and its place in the electromagnetic spectrum.) It's determined by the elements in the glass and is most pronounced at the wavelengths around 1000 nm, 1400 nm, and above 1600 nm.
Scattering is the largest cause of attenuation. It occurs when light collides with individual atoms in the glass and is knocked off its original course. Fiber optic systems transmit in the "windows" created between the absorption bands at 850 nm, 1300 nm, and 1550 nm wavelengths, for which lasers and detectors can be easily made.
Networks. To communicate between several pieces of equipment (for example, between 20 different computers in an office), you have to connect them together. To do this, you must:
Develop a logical method of connecting them. (Should they all be tied to a central point or connected in a loop?)
Provide a definite protocol for communicating. (If the machines don't "talk" to each other in some type of order, the whole system will collapse in a jumble of signals the machines can neither separate nor interpret.
There are many types of networks, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. In fact, you've probably heard of them: Ethernet, 10base T, FDDI, ATM, and Token Ring. These are simply different methods of connecting computers together.
Bandwidth. This is the range of signal frequencies or bit rate at which a fiber system can operate. Basically, it's a measure of the amount of signal able to be put through a fiber. Higher bandwidth means more data per second; lower bandwidth means less signal. Dispersion. There are two potentially confusing terms you'll come across in your readings: Chromatic dispersion and modal dispersion. In both of these terms, the word "dispersion" refers to the spreading of light pulses until they overlap one another. This distorts and causes the loss of the data signal.
Chromatic refers to color. Modal refers to the light's path. Therefore, chromatic dispersion is signal distortion due to color, and modal dispersion is signal distortion due to path. Dispersion is not a loss of light; it's a distortion of the signal. Thus, dispersion and attenuation are two very different and unrelated problems. Attenuation is a loss of light; dispersion is a distortion of the light signals.
Why use optical fiber, anyway? We use optical fiber to transmit all types of data and communications signals over all distances, short or long. Because the amount of data and communications signals used for business and personal use has grown exponentially in recent years, sending high amounts of signal has become necessary for modern life. In 1987, for example, an average home used about 3000 Hz worth of bandwidth (basically one telephone line). Now, it's not uncommon for the same home to use two 56 KHz modems transferring data; 14,400 baud for fax transmissions, several hundred MHz of cable television, and 3000 Hz of voice, all at the same time. This situation is often more dramatic for businesses.
As you can see, our need for more signal transmission capacity is urgent and increasing. The communications networks built of copper wire simply cannot keep up. Yes, copper is reliable and served us well for decades, but it cannot operate well at high signal transfer rates. For data transfer rates of above 50 million bits per second (Mb/s), you need special systems copper wiring. Above 150 Mb/s, even the best copper wiring is questionable.
Optical fiber, on the other hand, can handle transmission rates many times that high. At the time of this writing, systems operating at 40 billion bits per second (gigabits per second, or Gb/s) over a single fiber are common, and we are not really sure how high our bit rates will be able to go. We are certainly nowhere near the limit yet.
Another advantage to optical fiber is its electrical immunity. Because optical fiber cable is nonmetallic, it cannot emit or pick up electromagnetic interference (EMI) or radio frequency interference (RFI), each of which is a problem with metallic conductors.
Furthermore, cross talk between FO cables does not exist. Additionally, FO cabling has no grounding or shorting problems. This is also an important feature when installing communications wiring in hazardous environments. Finally, optical fiber cabling causes no sparking or excessive heat-even when broken.
The security of optical fiber is also far superior to that of copper wire. Electronic bugging depends on electromagnetic monitoring. Because optical fibers carry light rather than electricity, they are immune to bugging. In order to plant a bug on an optical fiber cable, you have to physically tap the cables. However, this is easily detectable because the signal diminishes and error rates increase.
Currently, the industry uses optical fiber for all long-distance telephone traffic and increasingly for local telephone circuits. Other communications systems, from cable television to computer networks, are changing over to optical fiber right now. Eventually, almost every communication signal will be sent over optical fiber. | <urn:uuid:2926ced0-d81a-4e63-8b59-d792a6b06768> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ecmweb.com/print/cee-news-archive/basics-fiber-optics-part-1?quicktabs_11=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00050-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949454 | 2,535 | 4.125 | 4 |
Rosh Hashanah means "first of the year" and is often referred to as the Jewish New Year's Day. Here is more information about Rosh Hashanah and a great website to share with young patrons.
This New Year's celebration is not an excuse for a party, but an opportunity to reorient oneself to the Creator of the Universe. Rosh Hashanah is not just one day, but a series of days, which are the holiest days of the Jewish calendar.
This holy day's beginning is established in the Bible (Leviticus 23:24-25). It is referred to as Yom Ha-Zikkaron (the day of remembrance) or Yom Teruah (the day of the sounding of the shofar). The ram's horn (shofar) is one of the best known symbols of Rosh Hashanah. The blowing of the ram's horn may have been a call to repentance.
As with many religious holidays, there are foods traditionally associated with Rosh Hashanah. Apples and bread are dipped in honey and eaten. This symbolizes the sweetness of a new year. The sweetness of a new beginning.
There are many great books and resources available. One of my favorite sites, Torah Tots.com has a fun and educational section on Rosh Hashanah. When you click on the All About Rosh Hashanah section even has three types of shofar sounds to hear. There are coloring pages and games for educational fun.
For more information about Rosh Hashanah and Judaism visit the Judaism 101 site. It provides reliable information appropriate for adults and high school students. | <urn:uuid:2aa8c494-5fad-4214-b02c-660502a53149> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bellaonline.com/ArticlesP/art36014.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00102-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950036 | 341 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Many Kenyans see HIV as a punishment for immoral behaviour, which tends to perpetuate stigma against people infected with the virus, according to a report by ActionAid International, an anti-poverty agency, and Women fighting AIDS in Kenya, a local NGO.
The study, Extent and Impact of Stigma and Discrimination on Women and Children Infected and Affected by HIV and AIDS, found that 74 percent of respondents in 430 households in three districts of western Kenya felt people with HIV deserved their positive status as a punishment for morally unacceptable conduct, while 70 percent thought people with HIV were promiscuous.
"When you still have many people who view HIV infection as a punishment for immoral behaviour, it is a clear indication that they would stigmatize those living with the disease," said Ruth Laibon Masha, a national coordinator at ActionAid International's Kenya office. "Further, they have low risk perception because they feel they are not immoral, and would therefore not contract HIV."
Tina Mlambo, who lives in the informal settlement of Kariadudu in the capital, Nairobi, told IRIN/PlusNews: "AIDS came for people who are sleeping with many people. If you are a good person who only sleeps with one person, or don't sleep with anybody, where do you get AIDS?"
Yet according to the latest Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey, HIV is spreading fastest in stable, long-term relationships.
High stigma levels
More than half the survey participants were unwilling to share a meal with an HIV-positive person, or allow them to cook for functions or serve meals to guests. They were even unwilling to allow HIV-positive people to share household utensils.
Mlambo said she would not use the same basin as somebody who had HIV to bathe or wash her clothes. "I just feel ... that they can do something to also make me get it."
ActionAid researchers found that HIV-positive people often travelled far to obtain HIV testing and counselling or life-prolonging antiretroviral drugs. "About 60 percent of people we interviewed in the study say they travel long distances to seek HIV-related services just to conceal their status to the immediate community, for fear of stigma," Masha said.
People living with HIV are described in a variety of disapproving terms: Ochoyo ruoth (disgracing God); Ocham ma ok cham (has eaten the forbidden one); ikhwena yakhomba (licked by the crocodile).
Women bear the brunt of the stigma: about 70 percent of respondents believed that female sex workers spread HIV in the community, while 33 percent of HIV-positive married women interviewed had been abandoned by their husbands after testing positive.
Lillian Muthee, who has been living with HIV for six years, said religious institutions had much to do with creating a link between HIV and immorality, so they should be at the forefront of efforts to change the public perception of people living with HIV. "You simply keep quiet because you do not want to reveal your status and in essence reveal the fact that you were 'immoral'," she said.
Dr Nicholas Muraguri, head of the National AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections Control Programme, said although knowledge of HIV was nearly universal in Kenya, there was a need to raise people's awareness.
"If you know that you are also at risk, then you can't stigmatize another person - we are designing strategies to ensure that people appreciate the fact that they are not immune," he said. "We are determined to increase public education to reduce stigma."
The study suggested that the strategies aimed at reducing stigma be revised, and stressed the need to make people and communities appreciate their own risks and vulnerabilities. It also called on key institutions and opinion-makers to take the lead in reducing stigma.
"Use positive images of people living with HIV to reduce negative imagery," the authors recommended. "This will reduce fear-based assumptions made about people living with HIV, such as the belief that HIV results in immediate death, and that people living with HIV are a danger to society."
From Uruguay, a Model for Making Abortion Safer - Even when abortion was illegal, doctors organized to inform pregnant women of their choices and promise post-abortion treatment.
8 minutes ago | <urn:uuid:ff67d61c-a550-4a8f-8da4-592a5f0988e7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://povertynewsblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/moral-stigma-attached-to-aids.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00153-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974227 | 888 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Results of the survey indicated quite clearly that African American respondents do not believe the verdict would have been the same if Casey had been Black. A full 86.3% of the respondents said that the verdict would have changed to “guilty” had she been African American. Only 4.2% said that the verdict would have been the same, with the remainder saying that they weren’t sure.
When participants were asked “Should Casey Anthony have been allowed to go free?” nearly two-thirds of the respondents (63.5%) said” no,” implying that they believe she is guilty of the crime. Only 14.5% of the respondents said they believe Casey Anthony to be innocent of the charges.
The survey also appears to be reflective of a general distrust of the criminal justice system by members of the African American community. When asked “Do you think the justice system is fair with regard to race?” 94.3% of the respondents said “no.”
While the Casey Anthony trial can’t quite be compared with the racially-charged OJ Simpson case, the results of the survey seem to argue that people of color felt that Anthony’s skin color played a role in her being allowed to go free. One of the points of my first book, “What if George Bush were a Black Man?” was to investigate the idea that people of color don’t tend to get the same breaks and second chances that might be given to them if they were white. It’s hard to imagine a Black woman in the national spotlight for allegedly killing her child being allowed to walk out of the court room and move on with her life. This case, as well as the OJ Simpson trial (to a greater extent) taught us a few things about America. | <urn:uuid:ee421fc9-df9d-41a4-8f56-85d1658886d4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://newsone.com/1367515/dr-boyce-black-people-think-casey-would-be-guilty-if-she-were-black/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393533.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00044-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983136 | 379 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Regularity: Regularly occurring
Life History and Behavior
National NatureServe Conservation Status
Rounded National Status Rank: NNR - Unranked
|This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (March 2013)|
Amaranthus acanthochiton (Greenstripe), is an annual plant species of the genus Amaranthus in the Amaranthaceae family. It is native to the southwestern United States (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah) and northern Mexico (Chihuahua), growing at altitudes of 1000-2000 m where it is uncommon.
It is a dioecious plant growing to 10-80 cm tall. The leaves are slender, 2-8 cm long and 2-12 mm broad. The flowers are pale green, produced in dense terminal spikes. The seeds are brown, 1-1.3 mm diameter, contained in a 2-2.5 mm achene.
It is critically endangered in Utah, and endangered in Arizona (though no status has been set).
The seeds and young leaves were used by the Hopi Indians as a food source. The seeds were cooked as a form of porridge, while the leaves were used as greens.
|This Amaranthaceae article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.|
|This agriculture article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.|
Amaranthus acanthochiton is critically imperiled in Utah and imperiled in Arizona; its Global Heritage Status Rank is G5 as defined by The Nature Conservancy. Seeds and young leaves of A. acanthochiton were used by Native Americans (Hopi) as food: the seeds cooked as a kind of porridge, and the leaves cooked and eaten as greens or with meat (D. E. Moerman 1998).
To request an improvement, please leave a comment on the page. Thank you! | <urn:uuid:dbbed18c-dcf6-4a47-9d2a-5b9e23e0a668> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://eol.org/pages/585580/details | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398869.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00117-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907097 | 410 | 3.40625 | 3 |
Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública
On-line version ISSN 1680-5348
Print version ISSN 1020-4989
Strategies to reduce diabetes morbidity and mortality. Rev Panam Salud Publica [online]. 2001, vol.10, n.5, pp.354-357. ISSN 1680-5348. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1020-49892001001100015.
This piece summarizes a document prepared by the Task Force on Community Preventive Services, an independent working group in the United States of America. The Task Force document presents an analysis of the effectiveness of seven interventions designed to improve diabetes control. Two of the seven are focused on health-care systems (disease and case management), and the five others are directed at persons with diabetes (diabetes self-management education delivered in the home, the workplace, community gathering places, recreational camps, and the school). After reviewing 70 studies on these seven interventions, there was sufficient evidence to recommend four of them: 1) disease management in health-care systems, 2) case management in health-care systems, 3) diabetes self-management education in community gathering places, for adults with type 2 diabetes, and 4) diabetes self-management education in the home, for children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. | <urn:uuid:84ec6594-28fa-45ca-a4b4-26ff090ce8b4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S1020-49892001001100015&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00092-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.877956 | 288 | 3.296875 | 3 |
(EDA , GSR ). Whereas the GSR was traditionally used to teach relaxation it was overlooked as a tool to teach relaxed concentration being dwarfed by the popular and successful neurofeedback.
Measuring electron flow in a circuit the body operates largely by a series of electrical impulses which have been shown to follow certain pathways and measure changes in the electrical resistance or the ability of the tissue to conduct electricity. The GSR activity marker is positive in the majority of ADD clients tested. Once tested, then the GSR biofeedback may be used to improve the stress result with different techniques. A protocol using this valid objective physiological marker has just been published in a video- "Guide for GSR Biofeedback Techniques for the Natural ADHD Practitioner" (Amazon.com).
Using the GSR protocol only takes 10 minutes to perform. The test is valid for children as well as adults and helps parents determine if their ADHD children need intervention. The measure may then be used to match a personal technique protocol to the client depending on what type of technique helps improve the GSR from lability to stability during rest.
The GSR is measured as labile and steadily increases in amplitude when the ADHD child tries to sit quietly for 2 minutes. The GSR is then increasingly more labile during an eyes closed condition. This is in contrast to the GSR in anxiety where there is usually a decrease during a relaxing eyes closed baseline condition. In some instances- the GSR in ADHD is stable - however, will not return to baseline after prompted with a mild stimulus like noise. This shows that a symptom of ADHD when trying to sit quietly and concentrate -is acting like a stress-or for him her. This is not unlike the "disorientation" experienced in dyslexics when trying to read.
Many ADHD clients- upon producing a stable GSR after a biofeedback assisted relaxed concentration technique - will claim when asked-that this is the first time ever they felt what relaxation /concentration is. This may be compared to someone not having ever tasted a tasty food like an orange. You can't describe it to them. However, once they taste it- they know what it feels like. So too, it turns out, with the sense of relaxation, focus in ADHD. When asked to compare this sensation with the sensation of an ADHD medication- the majority of ADHD people will say that the natural biofeedback induced sensation is better than medication- and medication does not "feel well" even though it does help them concentrate. This shows that medication like Ritalin has a different mode of action working to help ADHD than natural and behavioral methods.
The relaxation and relaxed concentration response is natural and seems to be lacking in many people with ADHD. These responses might have been lacking at birth or were compromised with an unbalancing childhood medical problem (Ears nose and throat, asthma,-sleep disorder-medical operation). However, once re-learned or acquired - the ADHD person can re-produce this
"sensation" upon need. Like learning art or music- some are born with it- but all can learn to be artists or musicians with the proper instruction. This objective physiological test is easy to replicate only with the most sensitive /graphic GSR biofeedback equipment(like Thought Stream or Mindlife for example). My hope is that this simple and valid measure will be used as a future screening test in ADHD clinics and schools as well as by biofeedback practitioners helping ADHD.
A bit of the history in how this method was developed. I began treating children with ADD quite unexpectedly in 1991. As a biofeedback practitioner and part of an anxiety clinic in Tel Aviv, Israel, I had absolutely no experience in treating children but was doing quite well with adults suffering from stress disorders and teenagers who had test anxiety and social phobias. The biofeedback clinic had just opened and each type of patient was a new experience.
With medical- technological training in neuro-electrodiagnostics and sleep/wake disorders, I was more into the neurological and psycho- physiological disorders. A child psychologist working with me wanted to try biofeedback on ADD. Then he had said that there was no treatment and no objective test for this poorly understood syndrome. The only remedy at the time was Ritalin although reports about EEG (electroencephalogram) neuro - biofeedback and Joel Lubar's research with Neurofeedback were just coming out (1991) demonstrating that ADHD can respond to a behavioral method. At first I found that EMG (testing muscle tension)was increased in ADHD and there was already a study showing that EMG biofeedback did not help in ADHD.
However, I found that found that GSR ( electrodermal resistance) was better and easier to use in ADHD than EMG. At the time there were no studies of GSR biofeedback for ADD- so I had to go it alone. After starting to treat a handful of children with biofeedback, the psychologist I was working with had to leave the unit and I had to suddenly take over his patients. All I knew then about ADD was from a television program showing a hyperactive child literally jump off the walls and I worried about what this child would do to the biofeedback equipment! I had absolutely no knowledge of learning disorders either. I mention this lack of knowledge for a reason. I had to begin treating ADD without a prior predisposition to what was written in the literature and had to see for myself what worked and fast.
On my very first ADD client I performed a regular biofeedback stress baseline for anxiety.
That is, I hooked the child up to galvanic skin resistance (GSR) sensors, muscle and peripheral temperature monitors, but not EEG. I had to start to treat ADD with what I knew and that is how to treat stress and anxiety. I was lucky. My very first patient's baseline EMG (electromyogram or muscle activity potential) showed that the more she sat quietly the EMG gained in amplitude over time. That is, sitting quietly was tense for her. I tried relaxation training and she improved her baseline in just 6 sessions and began to do better both at home and in school. This was not supposed to happen. Biofeedback in ADD was supposed to be a stubborn neurological problem that takes 40- 60 EEG biofeedback sessions to treat. Wanting to find an effective, alternative method to offer those young people and especially parents who wouldn't, or didn't want to use medication for ADHD. At least these children wouldn't be left untreated.
In my readings at the time, a number of avenues were being pursued in the treatment of ADD. Some of these were nutritional, sensory integration, guided imagery, art therapy, natural meditation, yoga, Bach flower remedies, homeopathy, chiropractic, and the use of aromatic oils. In biofeedback, animated computer games were just being introduced like Mindlife/Ultramind and Thought Stream.
I decided I could use each method and observe its effectiveness. I could try and develop an integrated and holistic approach matching the method to each child individually and determining the results by the GSR.
One of the first things that I found that can cause the GSR to become stable in ADD children and adults is holding a soft or smooth stone in your hand and studying a liquid water timer or sand clock. Other techniques include using the senses to relax like self massage, abdominal breathing, seated yoga, listening to a metronome, listening to a sea shell, guided imagery, smelling aromatic oils, and more.
Later, I found that by integrating accelerated learning techniques and study strategies such as speed reading, associative memory, mind mapping , and time management - children with ADHD and test anxiety began to reach their full potential and receive very high grades in school.
Included in the CD ROM video kit are the book BEING IN CONTROL, and the video BEING IN CONTROL:NATURAL SOLUTIONS FOR ADHD DYSLEXIA AND TEST ANXIETY.
The videos play on Windows Media Player. | <urn:uuid:41a50620-2035-4824-af3f-c57cccb2ca34> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://opednews.com/articles/life_a_jasonmar_060608_new_concept_in_testi.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403508.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00178-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97119 | 1,652 | 3.09375 | 3 |
1. Endometriosis is a noncancerous condition that affects 10 to 15 percent of reproductive-age women who menstruate, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
2. About 5.5 million women in the U.S. and Canada are diagnosed with the disease each year.
3. Endometriosis develops when cells from the endometrium — or uterine lining — grow outside the uterus and adhere to other structures, most commonly the ovaries, bowel, fallopian tubes, or bladder. Endometrial tissue may also migrate outside of the pelvic cavity to distant parts of the body. Researchers aren't sure what causes this condition.
4. Symptoms of endometriosis can range from no symptoms to mild pain to pain that is so severe it completely interferes with a woman's ability to lead a normal life. Other symptoms include heavy menstrual bleeding, cramping, diarrhea and painful bowel movements during menstruation, and painful intercourse.
5. A laparoscope is commonly used to diagnose this condition, and may also be used in the surgical treatment of endometriosis. Laparoscopy allows a surgeon to view abnormalities in the pelvic region by inserting a miniature telescope through the abdominal wall, usually through the navel. While this is the best method of definitive diagnosis available, not seeing endometric tissue doesn't mean it isn't present.
6. Hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy can temporarily halt the painful symptoms of endometriosis. Menstruation stops during pregnancy, so pain and discomfort associated with the menstrual cycle are absent.
7. There is no cure for endometriosis. Treatment options include surgery and medical therapies. Medical therapies include hormonal contraceptives and other hormonal regimens, such as GnRH (gonadotropin releasing hormone) agonists, that control hormonal stimulation of the endometrial tissue.
8. There is some evidence that a family history of endometriosis may contribute to your likelihood of developing this disease. If you have a mother or sister who is battling endometriosis or has been diagnosed with it, there is a seven-fold higher chance that you will develop the disease.
9. Medical research indicates that daughters of women who took the drug diethylstilbestrol (DES) during the years 1938 through 1971 to prevent miscarriage have an increased risk of developing this disease. | <urn:uuid:87e7a696-d1af-487d-a28d-62951b5ff36b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/women/endometriosis/endometriosis-facts-to-know.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00056-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939959 | 489 | 3.703125 | 4 |
Called in France un poisson d'Avril (q.v.), and in Scotland a gowk (cuckoo). In Hindustan similar tricks are played at the Huli Festival (March 31st). So that it cannot refer to the uncertainty of the weather, nor yet to the mockery trial of our Redeemer, the two most popular explanations. A better solution is this: As March 25th used to be New Year's Day, April 1st was its octave, when its festivities culminated and ended.
For the same reason that the “Mockery of Jesus” is rejected as a solution of this custom, the tradition that it arose from Noah sending out the dove on the first month may be set aside. Perhaps it may be a relic of the Roman “Cerealia,” held at the beginning of April. The tale is that Proserpina was sporting in the Elysian meadows, and had just filled her lap with daffodils, when Pluto carried her off to the lower world. Her mother, Ceres, heard the echo of her screams, and went in search of “the voice;” but her search was a fool's errand, it was hunting the gowk, or looking for the “echo of a scream.”
Of course this fable is an allegory of seedtime. | <urn:uuid:cdd0b63d-80f8-40ee-a111-4fdb4c9d765d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.factmonster.com/dictionary/brewers/april-fool.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00134-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972728 | 286 | 2.75 | 3 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.