Essai sur le journalisme depuis 1735 jusqu'a l'an 1800 ...

Mode of access: Internet.

The confessions of Nat Turner, the leader of the late insurrection in Southampton, Va., as fully and voluntarily made to Thomas R. Gray, in the prison where he was confined, and acknowledged by him to be such, when read before the Court of Southampton : with the certificate, under seal of the Court convened at Jerusalem, Nov. 5, 1831, for his trial.

"Also, an authentic account of the whole insurrection, with lists of the Whites who were murdered, and of the Negroes brought before the Court of Southampton, and there sentenced, &c."

Poems. With a biographical and critical introduction by the Rev. Thomas Dale: and 75 illustrations,

Mode of access: Internet.

Phylogeographic reconstruction of a bacterial species with high levels of lateral gene transfer

Background Phylogeographic reconstruction of some bacterial populations is hindered by low diversity coupled with high levels of lateral gene transfer. A comparison of recombination levels and diversity at seven housekeeping genes for eleven bacterial species, most of which are commonly cited as having high levels of lateral gene transfer shows that the relative contributions of homologous recombination versus mutation for Burkholderia pseudomallei is over two times higher than for Streptococcus pneumoniae and is thus the highest value yet reported in bacteria. Despite the potential for homologous recombination to increase diversity, B. pseudomallei exhibits a relative lack of diversity at these loci. In these situations, whole genome genotyping of orthologous shared single nucleotide polymorphism loci, discovered using next generation sequencing technologies, can provide very large data sets capable of estimating core phylogenetic relationships. We compared and searched 43 whole genome sequences of B. pseudomallei and its closest relatives for single nucleotide polymorphisms in orthologous shared regions to use in phylogenetic reconstruction. Results Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of >14,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms yielded completely resolved trees for these 43 strains with high levels of statistical support. These results enable a better understanding of a separate analysis of population differentiation among >1,700 B. pseudomallei isolates as defined by sequence data from seven housekeeping genes. We analyzed this larger data set for population structure and allele sharing that can be attributed to lateral gene transfer. Our results suggest that despite an almost panmictic population, we can detect two distinct populations of B. pseudomallei that conform to biogeographic patterns found in many plant and animal species. That is, separation along Wallace's Line, a biogeographic boundary between Southeast Asia and Australia. Conclusion We describe an Australian origin for B. pseudomallei, characterized by a single introduction event into Southeast Asia during a recent glacial period, and variable levels of lateral gene transfer within populations. These patterns provide insights into mechanisms of genetic diversification in B. pseudomallei and its closest relatives, and provide a framework for integrating the traditionally separate fields of population genetics and phylogenetics for other bacterial species with high levels of lateral gene transfer.

Thomas Young’s contributions to geometrical optics

In addition to his work on physical optics, Thomas Young (1773-1829) made several contributions to geometrical optics, most of which received little recognition in his time or since. We describe and assess some of these contributions: Young’s construction (the basis for much of his geometric work), paraxial refraction equations, oblique astigmatism and field curvature, and gradient-index optics.

Thomas Young’s investigations in gradient-index optics

Purpose: James Clerk Maxwell is usually recognized as being the first, in 1854, to consider using inhomogeneous media in optical systems. However, some fifty years earlier Thomas Young, stimulated by his interest in the optics of the eye and accommodation, had already modeled some applications of gradient-index optics. These applications included using an axial gradient to provide spherical aberration-free optics and a spherical gradient to describe the optics of the atmosphere and the eye lens. We evaluated Young’s contributions. Method: We attempted to derive Young’s equations for axial and spherical refractive index gradients. Raytracing was used to confirm accuracy of formula. Results: We did not confirm Young’s equation for the axial gradient to provide aberration-free optics, but derived a slightly different equation. We confirmed the correctness of his equations for deviation of rays in a spherical gradient index and for the focal length of a lens with a nucleus of fixed index surrounded by a cortex of reducing index towards the edge. Young claimed that the equation for focal length applied to a lens with part of the constant index nucleus of the sphere removed, such that the loss of focal length was a quarter of the thickness removed, but this is not strictly correct. Conclusion: Young’s theoretical work in gradient-index optics received no acknowledgement from either his contemporaries or later authors. While his model of the eye lens is not an accurate physiological description of the human lens, with the index reducing least quickly at the edge, it represented a bold attempt to approximate the characteristics of the lens. Thomas Young’s work deserves wider recognition.

David M. Thomas : a party disguised as work or work disguised as a party

This article discusses David M. Thomas' 2012 exhibition at Boxcopy. Thomas' exhibition conflates the space of the studio with that of the gallery. In doing so, he draws out complex relationships between production and presentation, subjectivity and sociality. This article focuses on these aspects of Thomas' creative exploration of identity and its mutability through art making.

Jean Baptiste Francois Pompallier, Thomas Arnold and Julian Edmund Tenison Woods and their contribution to the formation and development of Catholic schooling in Australasia

Histories of Catholic education have received little attention by Church historians and are usually written by members of the Catholic clergy, with a strong emphasis placed on the spiritual and building accomplishments of the bishops. This thesis examines the provision of Catholic Education in Australasia, with a focus on the contribution of three men, Jean Baptiste Francois Pompallier, Thomas Arnold and Julian Edmund Tenison Woods. These men received support from the female religious orders in the regions where they worked, frequently with little recognition or praise by Catholic Church authorities. The tenets of their faith gave Pompallier and Woods strength and reinforced their determination to succeed. Arnold, however, possessed a strong desire to change society. All three believed in the desirability of providing Catholic schooling for the poor, with the curriculum facilitating the acquisition of socially desirable values and traits, including obedience, honesty, moral respectability and a strong adherence to Catholic religious values. The beneficiaries included society, future employers, the Church, the children and their parents. With the exception of promoting distinctly Catholic religious values, Roman Catholic schools and National schools in Australasia shared identical objectives. Historians have neglected the contributions of these men.

Taxonomy and redescription of the Fawn Antechinus, Antechinus bellus (Thomas) (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae)

We provide a taxonomic redescription of the Fawn Antechinus, Antechinus bellus (Thomas). A. bellus is the only member of its genus to occur in Australia’s Northern Territory, where it can be found in savannah woodlands of the Top End. It is perhaps the most distinctive antechinus, and clearly distinguishable from the other 10 extant species of antechinus found in Australia: externally, A. bellus has pale body fur, white feet and large ears; A. bellus skulls have large auditory bullae and narrow interorbital width, while broadening abruptly at the molar row; mitochondrial and nuclear genes clearly dis-tinguish A. bellus from all congeners, phylogenetically positioning the Fawn Antechinus as sister to Queensland’s A. leo Van Dyck, 1980, with which it shares a curled supratragus of the external ear and a similar tropical latitudinal range.

Taxonomy and redescription of the Atherton Antechinus, Antechinus godmani (Thomas) (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae)

We provide a taxonomic redescription of the dasyurid marsupial Atherton Antechinus, Antechinus godmani (Thomas). A. godmani is only rarely encountered and limited to wet tropical rainforests of north-east Queensland, Australia, between the towns of Cardwell and Cairns (a distribution spanning 135 kilometres from north to south). The distinctive species occurs at altitudes of over 600 meters asl, in all major rainforest types, and can be found with both the northern subspecies of the Yellow-footed Antechinus, A. flavipes rubeculus Van Dyck and the Rusty Antechinus, A. adustus (Thomas). A. god-mani is clearly separated from all congeners on the basis of both morphometrics and genetics. A. godmani can be distin-guished from all extant congeners based on external morphology by a combination of large size, naked-looking tail and reddish fur on the face and head. A. godmani skulls are characteristically large, with a suite of long features: basicranium, palate, upper premolar tooth row, inter-palatal vacuity distance and dentary. Phylogenies generated from mt- and nDNA data position Antechinus godmani as monophyletic with respect to other members of the genus; A. godmani is strongly supported as the sister-group to a clade containing all other antechinus, but excluding the south-east Australian Dusky An-techinus, A. swainsonii (Waterhouse) and Swamp Antechinus, A. minimus (Geoffroy). Antechinus godmani are genetically very divergent compared to all congeners (mtDNA: range 12.9–16.3%).