John Stuart Mill on the Utility of Classical Greece
What was the state of classical Greek studies in early Victorian Britain? The anonymous author of a series of Platonic translations-with-commentaries has this to say in the February 1834 issue of the Monthly Repository: Considering the almost boundless reputation of the writings of Plato, not only among scholars, but (upon their authority) among nearly all who have any tincture of letters, it is a remarkable fact that, of the great writers of antiquity, there is scarcely one who, in this country at least, is not merely so little understood, but so little read. Our two great ‘seats of learning’ of which no real lover of learning can ever speak but in terms of indignant disgust, bestow attention upon the various branches of classical acquirement in exactly the reverse order to that which would be observed by persons who valued the ancient authors for what is valuable in them: … with the exception of the two dialogues edited by Dr. Routh, we are aware of nothing to facilitate the study of the most gifted of Greek writers which has ever emanated from either of the two impostor-universities of England; and of die young men who have obtained university honours during the past ten years, we are much misinformed if there be six who had even looked into his writings. There are, probably, in this kingdom, not so many as a hundred persons who ever have read Plato, and not so many as twenty who ever do.’
The History of British India
Book VI. From the Establishment of the New Constitution for the Government of India, Ao. 1784, to the Termination of the War with the Mahrattas, Ao. 1805: 1. Administration of Mr. Macpherson 2. The trial of Mr. Hastings 3. Arrangement about troops and money with the Nabob of Oude 4. Cornwallis takes the command 5. Lord Cornwallis's financial and judicial reforms 6. Result of Lord Cornwallis's financial and judicial reforms 7. Proceedings in parliament relative to the renewal of the Company's charter in 1793 8. Lord Mornington Governor-General 9. Situation of Oude, as left by Lord Teignmouth, highly satisfactory to the Home Authorities 10. The Nabob of Surat deposed 11. Two sets of princes, connected with the English 12. Objects to which the operations of the army in the north were to be directed 13. Necessity inferred of curbing Holkar Index.
Use of laser scanning confocal microscopy for morphological taxonomy and the potential for digital type specimens (e-types)
The use of laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) for creating taxonomic descriptions of copepods is investigated. A new technique is described, which employs a contour filter to process digital LSCM images, allowing taxonomic information to be quickly and accu- rately distilled into a simple illustration. LSCM allows the imaging of whole specimens, which can be rotated and viewed from any angle—a major benefit over light microscopy. Using this tech- nique, it is suggested that taxonomic descriptions can be rapidly produced in a fraction of the time required to produce similar descriptions using traditional light microscopy and hand drawing techniques. Good staining of specimens is, however, essential to produce accurate descriptions and more research is required in this area. The use of LSCM for morphological taxonomy shows great potential, not only for producing taxonomic descriptions, but also providing a comple - mentary adjunct to traditional type specimens in the form of 3D digital 'e-types' deposited in recognised international databases.