Biology of Grapsus grapsus (LINNAEUS, 1758) (Brachyura, Grapsidae) in the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago, Equatorial Atlantic Ocean

Eleven expeditions were undertaken to the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago to study the reproductive biology of Grapsus grapsus, providing additional information on limb mutilation and carapace colour. MATURE software was used to estimate morphological maturity, while gonadal analyses were conducted to estimate physiological maturity. The puberty moult took place at larger size in males (51.4 mm of carapace length) than in females (33.8 mm), while physiological maturity occurred at a similar size in males (38.4 mm) and in females (33.4 mm). Above 50 mm, the proportion of red males increased in the population, indicating that functional maturity is also related to colour pattern. Small habitat and high local population density contributed to the high rate of cannibalism. The low diversity of food items, absence of predators of large crabs and high geographic isolation are the determinants of unique behavioural and biological characteristics observed in the G. grapsus population.

From ‘Bad’ to ‘Mad’: Labelling and Behaviour in Peter Shaffer’s Equus

The process of ‘labelling’ (whereby labels are socially imposed on a given behaviour by a given person) is an extensive and recurrent one in our society, as proved by the labelling of behaviours and people even into the literary text. In our analysis, we will try to show how applying one of two most different labels (psychopathic or psychotic) greatly influences our understanding of the existence of ‘evil’ or moral responsibility in the deeds of a person. To such end, we will use Peter Shaffer’s play Equus (1973), which requires both the characters in the play and the spectators to decide whether Alan Strang’s terrible crime is a result of evil or of insane behaviour: whether he is ‘mad’ or simply ‘bad’. We will try to evince the current social and cultural confusion between madness and evil, and how processes of medicalization or criminalization affect our understanding of those around us and those living in the books we read.

Compte rendu: Hervé Adami et Virginie André (dir.) (2015), De l’idéologie monolingue à la doxa plurilingue : regards pluridisciplinaires, Berne, Peter Lang, coll. « Transversales », 299 p. [ISBN : 978-3- 0343-1384-1]

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Raman spectroscopy of the molybdate minerals chillagite (tungsteinian wulfenite-I4), stolzite, scheelite, wolframite and wulfenite

Raman spectra of chillagite, wulfenite, stolzite, scheelite and wolframite were obtained at 298 and 77 K using a Raman microprobe in combination with a thermal stage. Chillagite is a solid solution of wulfenite and stolzite. The spectra of these molybdate minerals are orientation dependent. The band at 695 cm-1 is interpreted as an antisymmetric bridging mode associated with the tungstate chain. The bands at 790 and 881 cm-1 are associated with the antisymmetric and symmetric Ag modes of terminal WO2 whereas the origin of the 806 cm-1 band remains unclear. The 4(Eg) band was absent for scheelite. The bands at 353 and 401 cm-1 are assigned as either deformation modes or as r(Bg) and (Ag) modes of terminal WO2. The band at 462 cm-1 has an equivalent band in the infrared at 455 cm-1 assigned as as(Au) of the (W2O4)n chain. The band at 508 cm-1 is assigned as sym(Bg) of the (W2O4)n chain.