Across the Oceans : Development of Overseas Business Information Transmission, 1815-1875

Earlier studies have shown that the speed of information transmission developed radically during the 19th century. The fast development was mainly due to the change from sailing ships and horse-driven coaches to steamers and railways, as well as the telegraph. Speed of information transmission has normally been measured by calculating the duration between writing and receiving a letter, or between an important event and the time when the news was published elsewhere. As overseas mail was generally carried by ships, the history of communications and maritime history are closely related. This study also brings a postal historical aspect to the academic discussion. Additionally, there is another new aspect included. In business enterprises, information flows generally consisted of multiple transactions. Although fast one-way information was often crucial, e.g. news of a changing market situation, at least equally important was that there was a possibility to react rapidly. To examine the development of business information transmission, the duration of mail transport has been measured by a systematic and commensurable method, using consecutive information circles per year as the principal tool for measurement. The study covers a period of six decades, several of the world's most important trade routes and different mail-carrying systems operated by merchant ships, sailing packets and several nations' steamship services. The main sources have been the sailing data of mail-carrying ships and correspondence of several merchant houses in England. As the world's main trade routes had their specific historical backgrounds with different businesses, interests and needs, the systems for information transmission did not develop similarly or simultaneously. It was a process lasting several decades, initiated by the idea of organizing sailings in a regular line system. The evolution proceeded generally as follows: originally there was a more or less irregular system, then a regular system and finally a more frequent regular system of mail services. The trend was from sail to steam, but both these means of communication improved following the same scheme. Faster sailings alone did not radically improve the number of consecutive information circles per year, if the communication was not frequent enough. Neither did improved frequency advance the information circulation if the trip was very long or if the sailings were overlapping instead of complementing each other. The speed of information transmission could be improved by speeding up the voyage itself (technological improvements, minimizing the waiting time at ports of call, etc.) but especially by organizing sailings so that the recipients had the possibility to reply to arriving mails without unnecessary delay. It took two to three decades before the mail-carrying shipping companies were able to organize their sailings in an optimal way. Strategic shortcuts over isthmuses (e.g. Panama, Suez) together with the cooperation between steamships and railways enabled the most effective improvements in global communications before the introduction of the telegraph.

Apparent digestibility of some nutrient sources by juvenile mud crab, Scylla serrata (Forskal 1775)

As part of preliminary work aimed at the development of a formulated diet for the mud crab, Scylla serrata, an experiment was conducted with juvenile mud crabs (95.65±2.17 g) to determine apparent digestibility coefficients (ADC) for cellulose, fish meal, shrimp meal, blood meal, soybean meal, wheat flour and cod liver oil. Apparent digestibility coefficients for dry matter (ADCdm), energy (ADCenergy) and protein (ADC protein) were in the ranges 70.0-95.7%, 77.4-97.1% and 57.7-97.9% respectively. Soybean meal had the highest ADCdm and wheat flour had the lowest value (P<0.05), while the ADCdm for fish meal, blood meal and shrimp meal were not different (P?0.05). Similarly, soybean meal had the same ADCenergy as that of fish meal, but higher than those of cod liver oil, blood meal and shrimp meal (P<0.05). Moreover, the ADC protein for blood meal or shrimp meal were not significantly different from fish meal (P?0.05); nevertheless, they were lower than that of soybean meal and higher than that of wheat flour (P<0.05). Of significant interest was the ADCdm (78.0%) and ADCenergy (77.4%) for cellulose, which indicates that plant-based nutrient sources may well be a useful component of formulated diets for mud crabs.

Stocking density and artificial habitat influence stock structure and yield from intensive nursery systems for mud crabs Scylla serrata (Forsskål 1775)

Intensive nursery systems are designed to culture mud crab postlarvae through a critical phase in preparation for stocking into growout systems. This study investigated the influence of stocking density and provision of artificial habitat on the yield of a cage culture system. For each of three batches of postlarvae, survival, growth and claw loss were assessed after each of three nursery phases ending at crab instars C1/C2, C4/C5 and C7/C8. Survival through the first phase was highly variable among batches with a maximum survival of 80% from megalops to a mean crab instar of 1.5. Stocking density between 625 and 2300 m-2 did not influence survival or growth in this first phase. Stocking densities tested in phases 2 and 3 were 62.5, 125 and 250 m -2. At the end of phases 2 and 3, there were five instar stages present, representing a more than 20-fold size disparity within the populations. Survival became increasingly density-sensitive following the first phase, with higher densities resulting in significantly lower survival (phase 2: 63% vs. 79%; phase 3: 57% vs. 64%). The addition of artificial habitat in the form of pleated netting significantly improved survival at all densities. The mean instar attained by the end of phase 2 was significantly larger at a lower stocking density and without artificial habitat. No significant effect of density or habitat on harvest size was detected in phase 3. The highest incidence of claw loss was 36% but was reduced by lowering stocking densities and addition of habitat. For intensive commercial production, yield can be significantly increased by addition of a simple net structure but rapidly decreases the longer crablets remain in the nursery.

Convenção addicional ao Tratado de 22 de janeiro de 1815, entre os muito altos, e muito poderosos senhores El-Rei do Reino Unido de Portugal, do Brazil, e Algarves, El-Rei do Reino Unido da Grande Bretanha, e Irlanda : feita em Londres pelos Plenipotenciarios de huma e outra Corte em 28 de julho de 1817, e ratificada por ambas

Define ser lícito o tráfico de escravos nos territórios portugueses ao sul do Equador. Ou seja, em Angola e Moçambique.

Tratado de abolição do traffico de escravos em todos os lugares da Costa da África ao Norte do Equador, entre os muito altos, e muito poderosos senhores o Principe Regente de Portugal, e El-Rei do Reino Unido da Grande Bretanha e Irlanda : feito em Vienna pelos Plenipotenciarios de huma e outra Corte em 22 de janeiro de 1815, e ratificado por ambas

Por este tratado, a Inglaterra abre mão da cobrança do restante do empréstimo de 600 mil libras que fizera a Portugal em 1809, a título de indenização.

Collecção das Leis do Brazil de 1815

Parte 1 - Cartas de Lei, Alvarás, Decretos e Cartas Régias

Annaes historicos do Estado do Maranhão, em que se dá noticia do seu descobrimento, e tudo o mais que nelle tem succedido desde o anno em que foy descuberto até o de 1718offerecidos ao Augustissimo Monarca D. João V, Nosso Senhorescritos por Bernardo Pereira de Berredo

Os reis, tanto portugueses como espanhóis, variaram muito na determinação de impedir o cativeiro dos índios, até que, em 1741, o Papa Benedito XIV expediu uma bula proibindo terminantemente que qualquer pessoa, secular ou eclesiástica, possuísse como escravos os índio, sob pena de excomunhão latae sentiae.

Voyages dans la partie septentrionale du Bresil, depuis 1809 jusqu'en 1815, comprenant les provinces de Pernambuco, Fernambouc, Seara, Paraiba, Maragnan, etc.

Titulo original : travels in brazil : in the years from 1809, to 1815.

Voyage au Brésil, dans les années 1815, 1816 et 1817

Ouvrage enrichi d'un superbe atlas, compose de 41 planches gravées en taille-douce, et de trois carte.

Biology and assessment of the painted sweetlips (Diagramma pictum (Thunberg, 1792)) and the spangled emperor (Lethrinus nebulosus (Forsskål, 1775)) in the southern Arabian Gulf

The population biology and status of the painted sweeplips (Diagramma pictum) and spangled emperor (Lethrinus nebulosus) in the southern Arabian Gulf were established by using a combination of size-frequency, biological, and size-at-age data. Transverse sections of sagittal otoliths were characterized by alternating translucent and opaque bands that were validated as annuli. Comparisons of growth characteristics showed that there were no significant differences (P>0.05) between sexes. There were well defined peaks in the reproductive cycle, spawning occurred from April to May for both species, and the mean size at which females attained sexual maturity was 31.8 cm fork length (LF) for D. pictum and 27.6 cm (LF) for L. nebulosus. The mean sizes at first capture (21.1 cm LF for D. pictum and 26.4 cm LF for L. nebulosus) were smaller than the sizes for both at first sexual maturity and those at which yield per recruit would be maximized. The range of fishing-induced mortality rates for D. pictum (0.37−0.62/yr) was substantially greater than the target (Fopt=0.07/yr) and limit (Flimit=0.09/ yr) estimates. The range of fishing-induced mortality rates for L. nebulosus (0.15/yr to 0.57/yr) was also in excess of biological reference points (Fopt=0.10/yr and Flimit=0.13/yr). In addition to growth overfishing, the stocks were considered to be recruitment overfished because the biomass per recruit was less than 20% of the unexploited levels for both species. The results of the study are important to fisheries management authorities in the region because they indicate that both a reduction in fishing effort and mesh-size regulations are required for the demersal trap fishery.

Occurrence of the physonect siphonophore Apolemia uvaria (Lesueur, 1815) off Plymouth and in south-west England

In September 2007, observations were made of a siphonophore in surface waters and near to the seabed by sea users off south Devon and south-east Cornwall. The same siphonophore was also recorded from regular samples collected offshore of Plymouth. The species is identified as Apolemia uvaria, which had not previously been recorded off Plymouth. It was sampled until March 2008 and re-appeared, in smaller numbers, in autumn 2008 until February 2009 but was not reliably reported in autumn 2009 (to end of October). The occurrence is unlikely to be due to sea warming, but more likely some variation in oceanic currents, possibly influxes of Atlantic water