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.’
Autobiography and literary essays
Volume 1 features Mill's Autobiography as well as related essays which together paint a balanced picture of his early life, including his rigorous 'home schooling' at the hands of his father, James Mill, and the emotional crisis of his early adulthood. Such insights are a wonderful primer for later substantive volumes of Mill's work and shed light on the character of nineteenth-century Britain's foremost liberal intellectual. This volume was assembled under the direction of Professor John M Robson of the University of Toronto and includes such rare material as Mill's childhood writings, examples of his early articles published in such journals as "The Westminster Review" and the "London Review", and a youthful critique of his father's philosophical contributions.
Effect of Calcium Glycerophosphate on Demineralization in an in vitro Biofilm Model
The aim was to investigate the anti-caries properties of calcium glycerophosphate (CaGP) using an in vitro bacterial flow cell model. Four flow cells, inoculated from a chemostat containing a seven-organism bacterial consortium, were pulsed with sucrose twice daily, to provide an acidic challenge and pH-cycling conditions. Blocks of enamel and dentine were mounted in each flow cell. In a study on the effect of CaGP concentration, CaGP was pulsed into three of the flow cells, at the same time as the sucrose, to give concentrations of 0.10, 0.25 and 0.50%. Water was pulsed into the fourth flow cell with the sucrose. Microradiography revealed a significant dose response of decreasing demineralization as CaGP concentration increased. Reductions at 0.25 and 0.5% were significant when compared to the control. A second study investigated the effect of timing of CaGP pulsing, relative to sucrose, on enamel and dentine demineralization. CaGP (flow cell concentration 0.2%), was pulsed 1 h before, during or 1 h after the sucrose pulse; a water control was employed. In enamel, pulsing CaGP before the sucrose reduced demineralization significantly compared to concurrent pulsing, which in turn gave a significant reduction compared to pulsing after sucrose, which did not reduce demineralization significantly compared to the water control. In dentine, CaGP reduced demineralization significantly only when pulsed before the sucrose. The findings suggest that in vivo, the anti-caries potential of CaGP may be greater if it is applied before a cariogenic challenge.