Poor, hungry and ignorant: Numeracy and the impact of high food prices in industrializing Britain, 1780-1850

This paper uses the ability to recall one s age correctly as an indicator of numeracy.We show that low levels of nutrition impaired numeracy in industrializing England, 1780-1850.Numeracy declined markedly among those born during the war years, especially where wheatwas dear. England s nascent welfare state mitigated the negative effect of high food prices oncognitive skills. Nutrition during early development mattered for labor market outcomes:individuals born in periods or countries with high age heaping were more likely to sort intooccupations with limited intellectual requirements.

Altitudinal variation in haemosporidian parasite distribution in great tit populations.

BACKGROUND: One of the major issues concerning disease ecology and conservation is knowledge of the factors that influence the distribution of parasites and consequently disease outbreaks. This study aimed to investigate avian haemosporidian composition and the distribution of these parasites in three altitudinally separated great tit (Parus major) populations in western Switzerland over a three-year period. The objectives were to determine the lineage diversity of parasites occuring across the study populations and to investigate whether altitudinal gradients govern the distribution of haemosporidian parasites by lineage. METHODS: In this study molecular approaches (PCR and sequencing) were used to detect avian blood parasites (Plasmodium sp., Haemoproteus sp. and Leucocytozoon sp.) in populations of adult great tits caught on their nests during three consecutive breeding seasons. RESULTS: High levels of parasite prevalence (88-96%) were found across all of the study populations with no significant altitude effect. Altitude did, however, govern the distribution of parasites belonging to different genera, with Plasmodium parasites being more prevalent at lower altitudes, Leucocytozoon parasites more at high altitude and Haemoproteus parasite prevalence increasing with altitude. A total of 27 haemosporidian parasite lineages were recorded across all study sites, with diversity showing a positive correlation to altitude. Parasites belonging to lineage SGS1 (P. relictum) and PARUS4 and PARUS19 (Leucocytozoon sp.) dominated lower altitudes. SW2 (P. polare) was the second most prevalent lineage of parasite detected overall and these parasites were responsible for 68% of infections at intermediate altitude, but were only documented at this one study site. CONCLUSIONS: Avian haemosporidian parasites are not homogeneously distributed across host populations, but differ by altitude. This difference is most probably brought about by environmental factors influencing vector prevalence and distribution. The high occurrence of co-infection by different genera of parasites might have pronounced effects on host fitness and should consequently be investigated more rigorously.

Begging food provisioning and nestling competition in great tit broods infested with ectoparasites

Ectoparasites are a ubiquitous environmental component of breeding birds, and it has repeatedly been shown that hematophagous ectoparasites such as fleas and mites reduce the quality and number of offspring of bird hosts, thereby lowering the value of a current brood. Selection acting on the hosts will favor physiological and behavioral responses that will reduce the parasites' impact. However, the results of the few bird studies that addressed the question of whether parasitism leads to a higher rate of food provisioning are equivocal, and the begging response to infestation has rarely been quantified. A change in begging activity and parental rate of food provisioning could be predicted in either direction: parents could reduce their investment in the brood in order to invest more in future broods, or they could increase their investment in order to compensate for the parasites' effect on the current brood. Since the nestlings are weakened by the ectoparasites they may beg less, but on the other hand they may beg more in order to obtain more food. In this study we show experimentally that (1) hen fleas (Ceratophyllus gallinae) reduce the body mass and size of great tit (Parus major) nestlings, (2) nestlings of parasitized broods more than double their begging rate, (3) the male parents increase the frequency of feeding trips by over 50%, (4) the females do not adjust feeding rate to the lowered nutritional state of nestlings, and (5) food competition among siblings of parasitized broods is increased. Ultimately the difference in the parental feeding response may be understood as the result of a sex-related difference in the trade-off of investing in current versus future broods.

Effect of an ectoparasite on reproduction in great tits.

1. The effect of a haematophageous ectoparasite, the hen flea, on quality an number of offspring was experimentally investigated in the great tit. The experiment consisted of a controlled infestation of a random sample of nests with the parasitic flea and of a regular treatment of control nests with Microwaves in order to eliminate the naturally occurring fleas. 2. To assess the effects of fleas on variables related to offspring number, we considered the number of hatchlings and fledglings, the mortality between hatching and fledging, and the hatching and fledging success. For assessment of offspring quality, we measured body mass, tarsus and wing length, and calculated the nutritional condition of, nestlings as the ratio of body mass to tarsus length. A physiological variable, the haematocrit level, was also measured. 3. Hatching success and hatchling numbers did not differ between the two experimental groups. Offspring mortality between hatching and fledging was significantly higher in the infested broods (xBAR = 0.22 chicks dead per day) than in the parasite-free broods (xBAR = 0.07 dead per day). Fledging success was 83% in the parasite-free broods, but only 53% in the infested ones. The number of fledglings in infested broods (xBAR = 3.7 fledglings +/-2.1 SD) was significantly lower than in the parasite-free (xBAR = 4.9 +/- 1.1 SD) broods. 4. Body mass of chicks in the infested broods was significantly smaller than in the parasite-free broods both 14 days and 17 days after hatching. The chicks in the infested broods reached a significantly smaller tarsus length than the ones in the parasite-free broods. Close to fledging, the nutritional condition of chicks was significantly lower in infested broods. Haematocrit levels were significantly lower in the infested broods. 5. Brood size correlated differently with body mass and condition of chicks in infested and parasite-free nests. In parasite-free broods both body mass and condition of chicks at age 17 days, i.e. close to fledging, were significantly higher in small broods than in large ones. However, in the infested broods chicks were of the same body mass and condition in large as in small broods. Therefore, in parasite-free broods fitness can potentially be gained through offspring quality or number or both, whereas in infested broods it can be gained through offspring quantity only. In other words, a trade-off between quality and number of offspring is feasible only in the absence of the parasitic hen flea. 6. These results emphasize the need to study the effects of ectoparasites on ecological, behavioural and evolutionary traits of their bird hosts. A knowledge of these effects is essential for the understanding of population dynamics, behaviour and life-history traits of the hosts.

Avian haemosporidian persistence and co-infection in great tits at the individual level.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have tracked the distribution and persistence of avian haemosporidian communities across space and time at the population level, but few studies have investigated these aspects of infection at the individual level over time. Important aspects of parasite infection at the individual level can be missed if only trends at the population level are studied. This study aimed to determine how persistent Haemosporida are in great tit individuals recaptured over several years, whether parasitaemia differed by parasite lineage (mitochondrial cytochrome b haplotype) and how co-infection (i.e. concurrent infection with multiple genera of parasites) affects parasitaemia and body mass. METHODS: Parasite prevalence was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), quantitative PCR were used to assess parasitaemia and sequencing was employed to determine the identity of the lineages using the MalAvi database. RESULTS: Haemosporidian prevalence was high over sampled years with 98% of 55 recaptured individuals showing infection in at least one year of capture. Eighty-two percent of all positive individuals suffered co-infection, with an overall haemosporidian lineage diversity of seventeen. Plasmodium and Haemoproteus parasites were found to be highly persistent, with lineages from these genera consistently found in individuals across years and with no differences in individual parasitaemia being recorded at subsequent captures. Conversely, Leucocytozoon parasites showed higher turnover with regard to lineage changes or transitions in infection status (infected vs non-infected) across years. Parasitaemia was found to be lineage specific and there was no relationship between Plasmodium parasitaemia or host body condition and the presence of Leucocytozoon parasites. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggest that different genera of haemosporidian parasites interact differently with their host and other co-infecting parasites, influencing parasite persistence most likely through inter-parasite competition or host-parasite immune interactions. Even-though co-infections do not seem to result in increased virulence (higher parasitaemia or poorer host body condition), further investigation into infection potential of these parasites, both individually and as co-infections, is necessary.

An Address of members of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, to their constituents, on the subject of the war with Great Britain. --

Signed by George Sullivan and thirty-three other Federalist members.

Message from the President of the United States, transmitting documents relative to the commencement and progress of any acts or system of retaliation upon prisoners of war, by the Governments of Great Britain and the United States. --

13th Congress, 3d session. House. Doc. no. 13.

Message from the President of the United States, transmitting communications from the plenipotentiaries of the United States charged with negotiating peace with Great Britain : showing the conditions on which alone that government is willing to put an end to the war. --

13th Congress, 3d session. House. Doc. 6.

Message from the President of the United States, transmitting copies of the instructions given to the ministers of the United States appointed to negotiate a peace with Great Britain. --

13th Congress, 3d session. House. Doc. no. 8.

Sermon : the question of war with Great Britain, examined upon moral and Christian principles /

Joseph Dana was also considered as the supposed author.

Message from the President of the United States, transmitting communications from the plenipotentiaries of the United States charged with negotiating peace with Great Britain

Full Title: Message from the President of the United States, transmitting communications from the plenipotentiaries of the United States charged with negotiating peace with Great Britain : showing the conditions on which alone that government is willing to put an end to the war 13th Congress, 3d session. House. Doc. 6. October 10, 1814. Referred to the Committee of Foreign Relations. Printed by Roger C. Weightman

Message from the President of the United States, transmitting copies of the instructions given to the ministers of the United States appointed to negotiate a peace with Great Britain

13th Congress, 3d session. House. Doc. no. 8. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- October 14, 1814. Read and referred to the Committee of Foreign Relations. Printed by Roger C. Weightman