Natural history of Victoria. Prodromus of the zoology of Victoria; or, Figures and descriptions of the living species of all classes of the Victorian indigenous animals ...

Issued in 20 parts, 1878-90.

Victorian poets.

Mode of access: Internet.

Studies in early Victorian literature.

"Appeared in the Forum ... and simultaneously in London ... 1894-95."

Victorian Year Book

Mode of access: Internet.

The debate on human automatism in mid-Victorian England

During the 1830s, Marshall Hall carried out innumerable experiments on a great variety of animals to establish the concept of a ‘reflex arc’. In France F.L.Goltz showed that decerebrate frogs were still capable of complex behaviours. Thomas Laycock in England and Ivan Sechenov in Russia sought to apply the reflex idea to the brain. This paper follows the debate in the periodical literature of mid-Victorian England and discusses the contributions of WB Carpenter, Herbert Spencer, TH Huxley, W Clifford and others. The previous outing of this issue in the post-Cartesian seventeenth century had been largely suppressed by ecclesiastical authority. In the nineteenth century ecclesiastical power had waned, at least in England, and the debate could take a more open form. As neurophysiology and behavioural science developed, with the widespread acceptance of Darwinian evolution, it became more and more difficult to deny that brain and mind were part of the natural world and subject to the usual laws of cause and effect. This, of course, had powerful implications for the human self-image and for jurisprudence. These implications are still with us and the work of neurophysiologists such as Benjamin Libet have only reinforced them. Should humans be regarded as ‘automata’ and, if so, what becomes of ‘free will’, ‘responsibility’, and the rule of law? The Victorian debate is still useful and relevant.

Intercultural transfer and artistic innovation:German musicians in Victorian Britain

Throughout the nineteenth century, German classical music production was an aesthetic point of reference for British concert audiences. As a consequence, a sizeable number of German musicians were to be found in Britain as performers, conductors, teachers, musicologists and managers. They acted as agents of intercultural transfer, disseminating performance and organisational practices which had a transformative effect on British musical life. This article moves away from a focus on high-profile visiting artists such as Mendelssohn Bartholdy or Wagner and argues that the extent to which transfer took place can be better assessed by concentrating on the cohort of those artists who remained permanently. Some of these are all but forgotten today, but were household names in Victorian Britain. The case studies have been selected for the range of genres they represent and include Joseph Mainzer (choral singing), Carl Rosa (opera), August Manns, Carl Hallé and Julius Seligmann (orchestral music), and Friedrich Niecks (musicology). On a theoretical level, the concept of ‘intercultural transfer’ is applied in order to determine aspects such as diffusion, adaptation or sustainability of artistic elements within the new cultural context. The approach confirms that ‘national’ cultures do not develop indigenously but always through cross-national interaction. Während des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts war die klassische Musikszene Deutschlands ästhetischer Bezugpunkt für das britische Konzertpublikum. Dies hatte zur Folge, dass vermehrt Deutsche als Musiker, Dirigenten, Lehrer, Musikwissenschaftler und Manager in Großbritannien tätig wurden. Sie fungierten als Vermittler interkulturellen Transfers, indem sie aufführungs- und organisationstechnische Praktiken verbreiteten und damit zu einer Transformation des britischen Musiklebens beitrugen. Vorliegender Artikel konzentriert sich weniger auf bekannte Künstler mit kurzfristigen Engagements (z. B. Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Wagner), und argumentiert vielmehr, dass sich das Ausmaß des Transfers besser über solche Musiker feststellen lässt, die sich längerfristig ansiedelten. Einige davon waren allgemein bekannte Persönlichkeiten im Königreich, sind heute aber vergessen. Die Auswahl der Fallstudien gibt einen Überblick über verschiedene Gattungen und beinhaltet Joseph Mainzer (Chorgesang), Carl Rosa (Oper), August Manns, Carl Hallé und Julius Seligmann (Orchestermusik), sowie Friedrich Niecks (Musikwissenschaft). Auf der Theorieebene wird das Konzept des ‘interkulturellen Transfers’ herangezogen, um Aspekte wie Diffusion, Anpassung oder Nachhaltigkeit künstlerischer Elemente im neuen kulturellen Kontext zu beleuchten. Der Ansatz bestätigt, dass sich ‘nationale’ Kulturen nicht indigen entwickeln sondern immer im Austausch mit anderen Kulturen

Georeferenced standardized apparent wave power along the coastline of Cabrera National Park for analysis of essential habitats of littoral species

Wind- induced exposure is one of the major forces shaping the geomorphology and biota in coastal areas. The effect of wave exposure on littoral biota is well known in marine environments (Ekebon et al., 2003; Burrows et al., 2008). In the Cabrera Archipelago National Park wave exposure has demostrated to have an effect on the spatial distribution of different stages of E.marginatus (Alvarez et al., 2010). Standarized average wave exposures during 2008 along the Cabrera Archipelago National park coast line were calculated to be applied in studies of littoral species distribution within the archipelago. Average wave exposure (or apparent wave power) was calculated for points located 50 m equidistant on the coastline following the EXA methodology (EXposure estimates for fragmented Archipelagos) (Ekebon et al., 2003). The average wave exposures were standardized from 1 to 100 (minimum and maximum in the area), showing coastal areas with different levels of mea wave exposure during the year. Input wind data (direction and intensity) from 2008 was registered at the Cabrera mooring located north of Cabrera Archipelago. Data were provided by IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB, TMMOS http://www.imedea.uib-csic.es/tmoos/boyas/). This cartography has been developed under the framework of the project EPIMHAR, funded by the National Park's Network (Spanish Ministry of Environment, Maritime and Rural Affairs, reference: 012/2007 ). Part of this work has been developed under the research programs funded by "Fons de Garantia Agrària i Pesquera de les Illes Balears (FOGAIBA)".

Coastline evolution rates of Portugal

Regional/global-scale information on coastline rates of change and trends is extremely valuable, but national-scale studies are scarce. A widely accepted standardized methodology for analysing long-term coastline change has been difficult to achieve, but is essential to conduct an integrated and holistic approach to coastline evolution and hence support coastal management actions. Additionally, databases providing knowledge on coastline evolution are of key importance to support both coastal management experts and users. The main objective of this work is to present the first systematic, global and consistent long-term coastline evolution data of Portuguese mainland low-lying sandy. The methodology used quantifies coastline evolution using an unique and robust coastline indicator (the foredune toe), which is independent of short-term changes. The dataset presented comprises: 1) two polyline sets, mapping the 1958 and 2010 sandy beach-dune systems coastline, both optimized for working at 1:50 000 scale or smaller, and 2) one polyline set representing long-term change rates between 1958 and 2010, estimated at each 250 m. Results show beach erosion as the dominant trend, with a mean change rate of -0.24 ± 0.01 m/year for all mainland Portuguese beach-dune systems. Although erosion is dominant, this evolution is variable in signal and magnitude in different coastal sediment cell and also within each cell. The most relevant beach erosion issues were found in the coastal stretches of Espinho - Torreira and Costa Nova - Praia da Mira, both at sub-cell 1b; Cova Gala - Leirosa, at sub-cell 1c and Cova do Vapor - Costa da Caparica, at cell 4. Cells 1 and 4 exhibit a history of major human interventions interfering with the coastal system, many of which originated and maintained a sediment deficit. In contrast, cells 5 and 6 have been less intervened and show stable or moderate accretion behaviour.

Too beautiful for thieves and pickpockets: a history of the Victorian convict prison on Spike Island

Spike Island holds a unique place among the world’s prisons: a welcome necessity for the prison authorities of Ireland, a remote and dangerous posting for its staff, a grand hell for those convicted to stay behind its walls. For almost four decades the Victorian prison on Spike Island was home to Ireland’s most serious and notorious criminals. Established in the midst of one of the worst famines in global history, this huge facility became the largest prison in what was then the United Kingdom, dwarfing institutions like Dartmoor, Pentonville, Mountjoy and Kilmainham. High death rates during its formative years meant that many of its malnourished inmates were laid to rest beneath its sod. Yet Spike Island was to become a beacon of penal reform, influencing modern correctional systems in countries as far apart as the USA and Germany. The story told in this book is one that is, in turn, dramatic, shocking, touching and humorous. The life of the prison was vibrant, peopled by the unfortunate of the society alongside those who committed serious, sometimes gruesome, crimes. This is the story of the establishment and evolution of the prison over 36 years, the often fascinating lives of prisoners and staff and of a time when a renowned Irish fortress of British military power entered the annals of penal infamy.