Strontium in 19th century Australian children’s teeth

The enamel of teeth from 57 children, who died in the mid to late 1800s, were analysed to investigate strontium (Sr) concentrations in historic teeth. Teeth were analysed using proton induced X-ray emission at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). Where available, multiple teeth were analysed for each individual including permanent (molars and premolars) and deciduous teeth (molars). Preliminary results show that Sr does not appear to be affected by the postmortem environment. Sr levels in permanent molars strongly correlate with levels in the premolars but not with the deciduous molars. Concerns are raised over the large variation seen in Sr levels and the effect it would have on the interpretation of Sr levels in studies with small sample sizes.

Cultural connections across time and place : Wardell's late 19th century Genazzano FCJ College Kew

The Catholic Church was profoundly affected by the 1872 Victorian Education Act, which made education secular, compulsory and free, and led to the withdrawal of state aid to religious schools. In order for the Church to run its own schools, it had to look overseas for help and invited religious teaching orders, such as the Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJs) to set up schools in Victoria, Australia. In many instances purpose built buildings were designed by architects. William Wardell was well established in private practice in Sydney when he designed the new Convent and School, Kew, Victoria, for the FCJ Sisters, in the late 1880s. Building commenced just before the crash of Marvellous Melbourne. Less than half of the total concept of Wardell’s original plan was built. It opened for business in April 1891. Today this building forms the heart of the contemporary Genazzano FCJ College Kew. Many histories intersect in this commission. The vision for Catholic education in Victoria in the late 19th century is critical. The FCJs charism and their experience of teaching in Europe, in France, England, Ireland, Italy and Switzerland, provides a model for their work in Australia. At this time the importance of architecture to society is made manifest in education and its demands on building: if learning is valued then buildings should reflect this, for public buildings can shape morality. Wardell was trained as a Gothic Revival architect and his building participates in a broader medieval and Gothic tradition. Wardell’s original plan for this late Victorian Gothic style asymmetrical three-storeyed building, was designed to integrate a convent, school, chapel, and dormitories. This paper considers architectural history from diverse perspectives, educational, social, religious, economic and political, recognising the complexity of this project and the people who played a part in its conception and realisation.

Scientific pedagogy at the end of the 19th century: Some readings and writings in the Portuguese debate

Through the text presented we intend to outline the debate that occurred in Portugal in the transition from the 19th to the 20th centuries. At the time, the imperatives of scientific development had reached education as a basis for the national prosperity. It was believed that Portugal had fallen behind in comparison to the other European countries because it was not capable of constructing a civilization directed by scientific criteria, through the expansion and spreading of culture. The debate over the extension of schools to increasingly broader segments of the population acquires a different meaning when the theorist of Education make use of language from several other areas of knowledge in order to create a mosaic of what has become known, since that time, as the Science of Education.

Leituras recomendadas para as Escolas Normais no Brasil e na França (século XIX): transferências culturais e de modelos pedagógicos / Recommended readings for Teacher Training Schools in Brazil and France (19th century): transfers of culture and pedag...

Com o objetivo de contribuir para a democratização da memória escolar no Brasil, em especial, da história da formação de professores primários nas décadas finais do século XIX brasileiro (caso paulista) e francês, apresentam-se, resultados de pesquisas de doutorado, desenvolvidas mediante abordagem histórica centrada na análise da configuração textual de três documentos: 1. lista de livros da caixa nº 1 adquirida por Paulo Bourroul, Diretor da Escola Normal de São Paulo (1882-1884), quando de sua viagem à Paris em 1883; 2. lista de livros contidos no relatório de José Estacio Corrêa de Sá e Benevides, Diretor interino da Escola Normal de São Paulo em 1884; 3. Catalogue des bibliothèques des Écoles Normales (1887), publicados pelo Ministro da Instrução Pública e de Belas Artes da França, Jules Ferry. Constatou-se importantes aspectos da cultura escolar relativos ao “ensinar normalistas a ensinar” leitura e escrita decorrentes das transferências culturais e de modelos pedagógicos na relação/representação Brasil-França.

Party Size and Constituency Representation: Evidence from the 19th-Century U.S. House of Representatives

Research on congressional parties assumes, but has not directly shown, that party size affects individual members' calculations. Drawing on a key case from the nineteenth-century House the secession-driven Republican hegemony of 1861 this article explores the hypothesis that party voting not only declines but also becomes more strongly linked to constituency factors as relative party size increases. The analysis reveals that the jump in party size coincides with (1) a decrease in party voting among individual continuing members, (2) a strengthening association between some constituency factors and party voting, and (3) patterns of decline in individual party voting that are explained in part by constituency measures.

The Position of Russian Provinical Officialdom in the Middle of the 19th Century: Law and Life

The study considered the discrepancy between the official status and real position of Russian provincial officialdom in the middle of the 19th century. The law was not entirely coherent in all aspects of the officials' life and activity, with ordinary deviations from the law being adopted in practice and accepted, albeit not openly, by the public and sometimes even by the authorities. The main law determining the rights and duties of governors was never followed to the letter and in reality governors' activities were determined by the common (unwritten) law existing in the governmental sphere. The volume and nature of the governors' rights depended on a range of factors, with specific regional features and the governor's personal qualities having a particular significance. The standard of living of government clerks was much higher than their official salary would permit and Matkhanova studied the most widespread cases of abuse, identifying those positions in the administration which offered the most opportunities for such abuses. At the start of the period and on the eve of the reforms public opinion towards the bribery of officials underwent a change. From the late 1850s onwards, there appeared among provincial officials a group of young well-educated clerks with liberal ideas and a new system of moral values which did not allow them to accept bribes or infringe the law in any way. There was also a non-official hierarchy side by side with the legally existing one. A significant role in governing the region, and one which has been underestimated by historians, was played by the head of the governor's office, but the reforms of the 1860s contributed to changing this state of affairs.