Scribal Terror

John Arderne, medieval proctologist

John Arderne was a fourteenth century surgeon with the enviable title, Father of Proctology. Arderne specialized in the surgical treatment of anal fistula (fistula in ano), a "condition where a large, painful lump appears between the base of the spine  and the anus" (Wikipedia), which he was able to excise in a dramatic, dangerous, and surprisingly successful procedure. A manuscript describing Arderne's method   -- with pictures! -- is featured in the Glasgow Special Collections Library

"Medieval" chastity belts never existed

 

According to BBC's h2g2 (and basically all historians of the period):

There are, in fact, no genuine chastity belts dating from medieval times: all known 'medieval' chastity belts have been produced in the first half of the 19th Century. These fake-medieval chastity belts are too heavy and the workmanship is too crude, even for medieval standards. The oldest design for a chastity belt that can be taken seriously dates from the 16th Century - but it's just a design, with no real working models believed to have ever been constructed. The concept of a chastity belt itself is a lot older, but it was usually used in poems in a metaphorical sense. According to Dr Eric John Dingwall, who wrote a deeper study on the subject in 1931, 'the chastity belt probably made its first appearance in ordinary use among the Italians of the period of the Renaissance or perhaps somewhat later.'

Most of the 'medieval' chastity belts on display in museums have been tested to confirm their actual age. As a result, the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg (Nürnberg), the  Musée Cluny (officially known as Musée National du Moyen Âge, or the Middle Age Museum) in Paris and The British Museum in London have all either removed the chastity belts from their medieval displays or corrected the date.

 

Some very complicated locks

Fabulous locking mechanisms from the Republic of Ragusa (also known as the Republic of Dubrovnik) at the Cabinet of Wonders. The republic, located in what is now southern Croatia, was at its height in the 15th-16th centuries.

Big Soft Ginger Cookies

These are really good. I just made some, using butter rather than margarine and a really strong, black molasses  -- not yer wimpy, watery brown stuff --- and rolled them in turbinado sugar. I also baked them on parchment paper (one of the keys to great cookies).

It's her party

Leslie Gore in 1963 -- top of the charts. I thought it was a dopey song back then, but I sing along with it in the grocery aisles now.

Late Gothic sketchbook

 

Glorious illuminations at BibliOdyssey:

Stephen Schreiber's late gothic pattern book was produced in Urach in the (now) state of Baden-Württemberg in South-West Germany in 1494. It was dedicated to Count Eberhard (Eberhard the bearded, later first Duke) of Württemberg.

The parchment manuscript appears to be a manual of templates and/or a practice book containing partially completed sketches, painted and calligraphy initals, stylised floral decorative motifs, plant foliage tendrils, fantastic beast border drolleries, together with some gold and silver illumination work.

The history of "dirge"

From the Free Dictionary:

The history of the word dirge illustrates how a word with neutral connotations, such as direct, can become emotionally charged because of a specialized use. The Latin word dirige is a form of the verb dirigere, "to direct, guide," that is used in uttering commands*. In the Office of the Dead dirige is the first word in the opening of the antiphon for the first nocturn of Matins: "Dirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam," "Direct, O Lord, my God, my way in thy sight." The part of the Office of the Dead that begins with this antiphon was named Dirige in Ecclesiastical Latin. This word with this meaning was borrowed into English as dirige, first recorded in a work possibly written before 1200. Dirige was then extended to refer to the chanting or reading of the Office of the Dead as part of a funeral or memorial service. In Middle English the word was shortened to dirge**, although it was pronounced as two syllables. After the Middle Ages the word took on its more general senses of "a funeral hymn or lament" and "a mournful poem or musical composition," and developed its one-syllable pronunciation.

"Dirige me, Domine" is from the Latin translation of the eighth verse of Psalm 5; the chant is illustrated above in the  selection from the Poissy Antiphonal, dated between 1335 and 1345. For more information on this antiphonal, visit this LaTrobe University site. Psalm 5 also provides the text of the Wesley hymn, "Lead Me, Lord."

*AKA the imperative
**pronounced DEER-juh (whereas the Latin would be DEE-ree-jay)

Smart slime

 

Toshiyuki Nakagaki of the Bio-Mimetic Control Research Center, Nagoya, Japan, and colleagues show that a single-celled organism can negotiate the shortest way out of a maze (Fig. 2). Pieces of the slime mold Physarum polycephalum placed in a 3-centimeter-square maze join up and expand to fill all available space. But when two pieces of food are placed at separate exit points in the labyrinth, the organism withdraws itself from dead ends until its entire 'body' runs between the two nutrients along the shortest possible route. Effectively, it solves the puzzle. 'This remarkable process of cellular computation implies that cellular materials can show a primitive intelligence,' the researchers say. -- From Nature via Dr. Nakagaki's public relations firm

Casu marzu

Casu marzu is a Sardinian cheese -- also known as formaggio marcio or "rotten cheese" -- that is "riddled with live insect larvae."

Derived from Pecorino Sardo, casu marzu goes beyond typical fermentation  to a stage most would consider decomposition, brought about by the digestive action of the larvae of the cheese fly Piophila casei. These larvae are deliberately introduced to the cheese, promoting an advanced level of fermentation and breaking down of the cheese's fats. The texture of the cheese becomes very soft, with some liquid (called lagrima, from the Sardinian for "tears") seeping out. The larvae themselves appear as translucent white worms, about 8 mm (1/3 inch) long. When disturbed, the larvae can jump for distances up to 15 cm (6 inches). Some people clear the larvae from the cheese before consuming; others do not.

It's considered a delicacy, but it's also potentially a health hazard for the following reasons:

• A risk of the decomposition advancing to a toxic state. (Folk wisdom in Sardinia holds that the presence of still-living larvae is an assurance that this has not yet happened.)
• Risk of enteric myiasis: intestinal larval infection. Piophila casei larvae can pass through the stomach alive (human stomach acids do not usually kill them) and take up residency for some period of time in the intestines, where they can cause serious lesions as they attempt to bore through the intestinal walls. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and bloody diarrhea.

I bet it's great on a Ritz. Buono appetito!

More -- and bigger -- midwest earthquakes inevitable

Amr Elnashai, a professor of civil engineering and director of the Mid-America Earthquake Center (MAE), says the recent 5.2 earthquake is neither the last nor the largest the midwest can expect. According to an article in Engineering at Illinois,

In considering future earthquake events, Elnashai noted that there are two seismic mechanisms that affect the Midwest--the Wabash Valley, with a calculated capability of a 7.1 magnitude, which will shake the region about 900 times more violently than the West Salem earthquake in April 2008, and the New Madrid Zone, which is capable of up to magnitude 8, which will shake the region more than 2,700 times more violently.

"Under such earthquakes, the ground in some critical regions will liquefy, as it did in 1811-1812," he added. As with other disaster scenarios, untold indirect consequences also await populations in the region. In winter, power--and heat--will be out for weeks, as well as water and telecommunications. Highways and bridges will be closed along with rail lines and major metropolitan airports in Chicago, St. Louis, and Memphis. High-rise buildings in Chicago will lose windows and other attachments such as TV towers.