The Fig Tree in Alimentary Culture, Folk Medicine and Traditions among the Peoples of the Western Balkans [Inzhir v alimentarnoi kul’ture, narodnoi meditsine i traditsiiakh u narodov Zapadnykh Balkan]

The article analyzes the role of the fig tree in various spheres of culture of the Albanians, Croats, Greeks, and other peoples of the Balkan Peninsula, as well as the use of its fruit as food and raw material for the production of alcoholic beverages and medicine. Until the 19th century, the pollination of the plant remained a mystery (not even Carl Linnaeus, the “father of botany” and the creator of the modern classification of wildlife species, was able to solve the complex puzzle of nature), which led to the emergence and proliferation of numerous mythologemes, still recorded to date, that are consistently associated with the fig tree. Currently, notions about the magical properties of the plant and its fruit are being transformed under the influence of the global passion for environmentally friendly bio products. The discussion specifically focuses on the mechanism through which such “new meanings” enter the public discourse.

What’s in a Name?

The modern scientific name of giraffes is Giraffa camelopardalis, given to the species by Mathurin Brisson and Carl Linnaeus in the eighteenth century. At that time a single species was thought to exist, but it soon became apparent that depending on where they lived in Africa giraffes had different skin markings and different “horns.” Thus the idea arose that there were more than one species, or if just one species then there were several different subspecies. Investigation of these two possibilities has depended partly on analysis of external characteristics, but mostly on the study of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA to establish if geographical distribution is associated with distinct genetic differences. These studies have indicated that there may be six separate species or four or three. However, as each of the variants can interbreed, genetic differences thus far have not resulted in reproductive isolation and the overall conclusion must be that there is one species with regional variants/subspecies that can be genetically distinct.

A review of the history of taxonomy and species criteria in the family Felidae

The taxonomic changes in the species composition of Felidae from the beginning of classification by Carl Linnaeus to the present are considered. As is true for the whole class of mammals, the species composition of this family has undergone significant expansion. This happened due to the study of the most remote corners of our planet, and through a rethinking of the species concept. The process of rethinking is still ongoing and a further change in views on the species composition of cats is quite expected. Researchers pay special attention to the genera Leopardus and Felis, within which the validity of species statuses has been confirmed or revoked recently or in the past. An overview of the main criteria for distinguishing species and features of the application of these criteria are given. The problem of species discrimination is as important as the problem of species existence. Anthropogenic pressure leads to a decrease and deterioration of the quality of habitats. Almost all felids lead a solitary lifestyle and have low population density, sometimes occupying fragmented areas. In particular, this facilitates hybridization between some species, which also contributes to the "blurring" of both the species characteristics and the boundaries between separate species.

Lectotypification of the name Agrostis ventricosa Gouan (Poaceae)

Gastridium ventricosum (Poaceae) is the currently accepted name of Gouan’s Agrostis ventricosa, whose previous unclear type designation is briefly discussed and superseded. All relevant sources, specimens, illustrations, and the author’s relevant correspondence are carefully evaluated, the original material and possible type specimens are thoroughly discussed for the purpose to fix the precise taxonomic application of the name. We have chosen as the best admissible lectotype a newly discovered, well-preserved specimen enclosed in a letter sent by Antoine Gouan to Carl Linnaeus in 1761. This letter, Ref. L2998, is preserved in the Linnean Society of London’s collections (LINN) and was drawn up a year before the publication of the species name.

Morbi Artificum

This study presents the first full translation from Latin to English of the Linnaean dissertation Morbi Artificum or Occupational diseases, submitted by Nicholas Skragge in 1765. It consists of an essay that places the dissertation in historical and scientific context and of the translation. Skragge’s thesis has not only significance in the history of occupational medicine but also provides a perspective on Linnaeus’ thinking on dietetics. Skragge’s doctoral thesis is one of the 186 academic dissertations defended by students of Carl Linnaeus. Prior to the present study, only three of these 186 dissertations have been translated from Latin to English in our own times. The first extensive compendium on occupational diseases by Bernardino Ramazzini, with the title De Morbis Artificum Diatriba, served as a blueprint for Skragge’s thesis. The background for Skragge’s thesis was Linnaeus’ general interest in systematizing objects according to certain norms in biology, which methodology he also applied when classifying diseases in medicine. Also, Linnaeus’ life-long emphasis on the importance of dietetics is evident in the thesis. Finally, in the era when Linnaeus lived (Age of Liberty), Sweden focused greatly on improving the country’s economy. Since trade and industry were prioritized by the state, it was reasonable to map the diseases workers were prone to.

“The Truth of the Origination of the World and Mankind”

The Judeo-Christian tradition maintains that humankind derives from the first couple in the Garden of Eden. St. Augustine even included the so-called monstrous races in the overall category of humanity. This consensus started to fragment in the sixteenth century with the work of Paracelsus and later Giordano Bruno, when alternative theories were put forward to account for human diversity. Their work was followed by others, including Julius Caesar Vanini, Isaac La Peyrère, John Atkins, Voltaire, François Bernier, Carl Linnaeus, Georges Cuvier, Edward Long, and Lord Kames. For most of them, the black and the Jew were the great obstacles to the unity of mankind.

Scientists Among Merchants: Linnaeus’s “Apostles” Aboard Vessels of the Swedish East India Company and the Advancement of Scientific Travels

In its 82 years of existence, the Swedish East India Company, neither large nor powerful with regard to its economic significance, made an impact on the pursuit of scientific knowledge that lasted beyond the 18th-century maritime trade world. As the “apostles” of Carl Linnaeus traveled amidst the sailors and merchants aboard the vessels to Asia, these 18th-century naturalists reified the spirit of scientific research in its most primordial form: to collect as much material as quickly as possible, and, ideally, in a manner characterized by discipline, order, and efficiency. This type of systematized scientific travel developed in the 18th-century East Indian trade was carried over into the Swedish intellectual tradition in the 19th-century polar exploration and the early 20th-century geological-turned-archaeological expeditions in Asia, motivated by “curiosity” instead of “utility”. This was not necessarily by their own choice, but at the constraint of the historical reality that Sweden, following the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, lacked both the means and the motivation to harbor any military or colonial aspirations beyond her sovereign territory. Against the greater geopolitical scheme of things since the Age of Enlightenment, while commercial, political, and strategic motives informed the exploration of distant continents by the European powers, Sweden was forced to rely on a more modest, but certainly no less vigorous, motive — science itself.

Priority of Carl Linnaeus as the author of the oldest species of Cladocera (Crustacea: Branchiopoda): Daphnia pulex (Linnaeus, 1758) and Polyphemus pediculus (Linnaeus, 1758)

In taxonomy, it is important to maintain chronological order in taxon naming and understanding. Here, I confirm that according to the rules of Zoological Nomenclature, Carl Linnaeus must be regarded as the author of two common cladoceran taxa, Daphnia pulex (Linnaeus, 1758) and Polyphemus pediculus (Linnaeus, 1758). Both were established in the 10th Edition of “Systema Naturae”, the starting point of Zoological Nomenclature. The history of these taxa is described.

Molecular diversity and evolutionary trends of cysteine-rich peptides from the venom glands of Chinese spider Heteropoda venatoria

Background: The huntsman spider ( Heteropoda venatoria Carl Linnaeus, 1767) in family Sparassidae, is highly valued in tropical and subtropical countries because the species capture and feed on cockroaches and other domestic insect pests. Unlike most other species of Araneomorphae, the huntsman spiders do not use webs to capture prey. Their great speed and strong chelicerae (mouthparts) with toxin glands are used to capture the insects.Results: We identified 154 novel putative cysteine-rich peptide toxin precursors by analyzing expressed sequence tags of the spider H. venatoria venom gland. The sequences of cysteine-rich peptide precursor revealed 24 families based on the phylogenetics analyses of signal peptide and cysteine framework in mature region, including 8 families of classic Inhibitory cystine knot toxins, 2 families of novel 6-cys motifs, 13 families of long cysteine-rich peptides with 8, 10 and 12-cys, and one family of 2-cys peptides. Intriguingly, four kinds of motifs are first described in spider venom. Furthermore, combining the diverse cysteine-rich peptide sequences of H. venatoria with the sequences from represent spiders explored previously, the dynamic evolutionary trends of venom cysteine-rich peptides were investigated based on the analysis of the structures of precursors and the patterns of cysteine scaffolds in the phylogenetic framework.Conclusion: H. venatoria is an appropriate intermediate species for the evolutionary analysis of spider peptide toxins from Mygalomorphae to Araneomorphae with a holistic view. This work revealed the dynamic evolutionary trends of venom cysteine-rich peptides of spider: the mature peptides have been developed longer with more cysteines; and the propeptides between the signal and mature peptides have been diminished and even vanished. With respect to potential insecticidal applications, the work provides promising new templates and gene clones for further exploration.