bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Textual and Linguistic Problems of the Book of Psalms
Authors: Driver G. R.
Published: June 2019

The present article contains notes and discussions designed to discover the sense of or to obtain sense from a number of difficult passages in the Hebrew Psalter.

12.8: אתה־יהןח תשמרם תצךנו. Only the Pesh. agree with the M. T. in its very difficult confusion of persons; the LXX and the Eth. Vs. both have the plural first person and the Targ. has the singular third person. As the first person comes in rather abruptly, the third person may be accepted; moreover, it involves the least alteration of the text, as תשמרם can then be taken as the remnant of an unmodernized תשמרמו ‘thou wilt keep him,’ since this suffix often has a singular sense. The antecedent is of course the man described as יפיח לו ‘him at whom one puffs' in v. 6, and the obscurity of this expression may be responsible for the half-hearted attempt to change the suffix from the third to the first person.
Select Mortality Tables
Authors: Anderson R. D.
Published: June 2019

On various occasions when mortality tables have been prepared in select form difficulty has been experienced in running the select rates into those of an aggregate or ultimate table. The difficulty has been ascribed to various special circumstances, such as further elimination of duplicates at the end of the select period; class selection; and heterogeneity of the data due to the length of the period covered. It seems always to have been taken for granted that, at the end of some period of years, the select rates ought to run into those of an ultimate table.
Dividing Friendly Societies
Authors: Moore J. M.
Published: June 2019

Section 28 of the Friendly Societies Act 1896 provides for the assets and liabilities of every registered friendly society to be valued at least once in every five years but gives the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies the power to grant exemption from valuation in suitable cases. Until 1933 this power to grant exemption from valuation was normally exercised in the case of a dividing friendly society or of the dividing section of a society with more than one section. The Chief Registrar, in his Report for the year 1933, indicated his intention of giving individual consideration, as each certificate of exemption expired, to the alternative of requiring the society to be valued. Since then many dividing societies have been refused exemption from valuation and what was formerly little more than a theoretical problem, namely, whether or not the liabilities of a dividing friendly society are susceptible to actuarial valuation, has become a practical problem to which has been added the difficulty of giving suitable advice and of explaining a technical subject in a manner which will assist the members to understand the true financial condition of the society.
Notes on bonus and solvency vauations
Authors: Hagstroem Karl-Gustav
Published: June 2019

My intention is to give some simple illustrations of the difficulties which arise when the market rate of interest has sunk below the limit of solvency for parts of a company's stock of life contracts. In fact, the “partial liquidation” which at such a contingency would appear most natural to the unbiased mind of an actuary, does not seem to be seriously contemplated in insurance legislation. As regards Sweden, this mathematically correct reduction of the liabilities of some of the contracts could perhaps be realized within the legal frame in Mutual Offices. But it is impossible for other companies. It seems therefore necessary to attack the problem from the purely actuarial point of view. If we can find a technically satisfactory solution, it might then be possible to go farther with the question of giving the procedure legal shape.
The Indian Insurance Act 1938
Authors: Sturgeon R. W.
Published: June 2019

It appears from the Journal Index that as regards Indian insurance, contributions to the Journal have been almost entirely concerned with various aspects of mortality in India. Apart from matters relating to mortality, the latest reference in the Journal was in 1912 when the Indian Life Assurance Companies Act, then lately passed, was printed with prefatory notes by Mr A. T. Winter. It seems appropriate that we should give some consideration to the new Act repealing the Act of 1912.
An analysis of a pension fund
Authors: Marples W. F.
Published: June 2019

1. The methods of analysis leading to the usual formulae for the value of the benefits provided by a pension fund are contained in the historic papers of H. W. Manly, J.I.A. Vol. XXXVII, p. 193 and G. King, J.I.A. Vol. XXXIX, p. 129. The purpose of this paper is to set forth certain developments of the formulae of G. King from which the balance of forces within the fund may be investigated. It is emphasized that the formulae themselves are but algebraic shorthand for processes of calculation, and the deductions do not arise from the formulae but from the numerical results obtained. These results will vary from fund to fund according to the relative financial importance of the various portions of the benefits granted. Within the limits of this paper it is not possible to deal either with the financial situation of an existing fund or with the varying contributions and benefits met in current practice, and in order to produce results for discussion, calculations have been made on the basis of the benefits and contributions of a standard type of fund.
Some observations on inverse probability including a new indifference rule
Authors: Perks Wilfred
Published: June 2019

‘If the first button is buttoned wrongly, the whole vest sits askew’

The main object of this paper is to propound and discuss a new indifference rule for the prior probabilities in the theory of inverse probability. Being invariant in form on transformation, this new rule avoids the mathematical inconsistencies associated with the classical rule of ‘uniform distribution of ignorance’ and yields results which, particularly in certain critical extreme cases, do not appear to be unreasonable. Such a rule is, of course, a postulate and is not susceptible of proof; its object is to enable inverse probability to operate as a unified principle upon which methods may be devised of allowing a set of statistics to tell their complete and unbiased story about the parameters of the distribution law of the population from which they have been drawn, without the introduction of any knowledge beyond and extraneous to the statistics themselves. The forms appropriate for the prior probabilities in certain other circumstances are also discussed, including the important case where the unknown parameter is a probability, or proportion, for which it is desired to allow for prior bias. Before proceeding to the main purpose of the paper, however, it is convenient to provide some background to the subject. Reference is first made to certain modern writers to indicate how the problem with which inverse probability is concerned occupies a central place in the foundations of scientific method and in modern philosophy. In quoting from these writers I am not to be taken as suggesting that they necessarily support the inverse probability approach to the problem. The next section of the paper contains some brief comments on the direct statistical methods which have been devised in recent times to side-step induction and inverse probability, and this is followed by a few remarks on the various definitions of probability.
The Distribution of Sickness
Authors: Coward L. E.
Published: June 2019

‘The fact that many applications of probability are based on belief or faith should not discourage us; for it is better to do something, though it may not be quite reliable, than nothing.’

J. V. Uspensky

This paper is concerned with the application of probability theory to sickness. An attempt is made to explore the form, and in particular the standard deviation, of the distribution of the sickness experienced by a body of lives. It appears that, in the past, none but empirical investigations have been made in this field, the theoretical foundation being entirely lacking. The only exceptions are Sir George Hardy's paper in J.I.A. Vol. XXVII, and the paper in J.S.S. Vol. VII by R. E. Beard on The standard deviation of the distribution of sickness. This statistic, as Beard points out, appears to have been practically ignored by British actuaries hitherto.
The Valuation of a dividing society by a net premium method
Authors: Lancashire E. J.
Published: June 2019

These notes are a description of a method of valuation which is believed to be new in its application to dividing societies, but they are not intended to deal with the general problems with which actuaries are faced in valuing dividing societies. A method of reorganization of a dividing society which results in a fluctuating dividend is also suggested.
The taxation of annuity funds
Authors: Bayley G. V.
Published: June 2019

With these words Sir George Maddex, in his Presidential Address, directed our attention to the present system of taxation of annuity funds. M. E. Ogborn, on 27 October 1947, touched on the subject of uneven incidence of tax upon differing funds, and some uneasiness about the consequences was manifest in the discussion on that paper.

‘Income tax is another subject on which it is difficult for me to speak freely, but I cannot refrain from noting that the general taxation position, as it now affects life assurance and pensions business, has given rise to serious anomalies: ...one has only to consider... that the terms quoted by offices for the purchase of life annuities vary to a quite remarkable extent, depending on the distribution of the company's business between various funds, as it exists at the moment, and the consequential incidence of tax;...’
Some Considerations Affecting the Transaction of Overseas Life Business
Authors: Gardner W. F.
Published: June 2019

Many papers have been submitted to the Institute upon the subject of the mortality experienced by assured lives in various parts of the world, and descriptions have also been given of the way in which life assurance business is transacted in other countries. There are, however, problems which are peculiar to the transaction of life assurance in a country other than that in which the office was established, and which have not as yet been discussed.
Notes on Death Duties (With Special Reference to Reversions) and on the Valuation of Reversions for Estate Duty Purposes, Etc.
Authors: Thurston O. I'A.
Published: June 2019

The law relating to death duties has changed considerably since 1906 when my predecessor, the late Mr J. C. Denmead, presented a paper to the Faculty of Actuaries entitled “Some Notes on the Death Duties from an Actuarial Point of View”. I have been asked, in view of the changes and lapse of time, to give some more modern notes on the death duties, treating the matter simply and briefly. Simplicity and brevity preclude a complete account of the death duties and these notes must be taken as dealing only in a broad way with such matters as seem of special interest to the actuary. The statements made and the opinions expressed have no official authority.
Binary Calculation
Authors: Phillips E. William
Published: June 2019

1. The development of this paper involves the consideration of certain arithmetical, mechanical, and photo-electrical technicalities, but the ultimate aim is a very simple one and it may therefore be advisable to state it at once. The ultimate aim is to persuade the whole civilized world to abandon decimal numeration and to use octonal numeration in its place; to discontinue counting in tens and to count in eights instead.
Income Tax as Affecting Life Assurance Offices
Authors: Shrewsbury A. H.
Published: June 2019

‘If there be one point free from obscurity in the Act of 1842 it is this, that the Legislature intended all traders, whether in groceries, annuities or other articles of commerce, to be assessed upon the same footing.’ Lord Watson in The Gresham Life Assurance Society υ. Styles.

The main object is to discuss principles and therefore many points of detail will be omitted, however intrinsically interesting they may be. Satisfactory consideration of principles entails reference to all classes of business which involve an actuarial valuation (viz. life assurance and annuity business, sinking fund business and permanent sickness insurance business). Reference will be made to the National Defence Contribution and the Excess Profits Tax, which are based upon income-tax legislation. The subject in mind is the relation of such taxation to insurance business and funds of the classes mentioned, as distinct from other aspects of income tax which an insurance office encounters, and it will be considered solely from the point of view of an office established in the United Kingdom which transacts business only in the United Kingdom. In view of the paper by Messrs S. J. Rowland and F. H. Wales on ‘The Taxation of the Annuity Fund’ (March 1937, J.I.A. Vol. LXVIII), only brief reference will be made to annuity business, and it will be assumed that it is unnecessary, in describing taxation processes, to include explanations or qualifying phrases on account of annuity business.
The treatment of appreciation or depreciation in the assets of a life assurance fund
Authors: Suttie T. R.
Published: June 2019

I have limited this paper to the consideration of appreciation or depreciation in fixed interest-bearing securities resulting from a fall or rise in the general level of interest rates and not from any alteration in the intrinsic value of the securities, i.e. there is assumed to be no change in the probabilities that the terms of the contracts will be fulfilled. My object is to discuss how this appreciation or depreciation should be treated in order to obtain the maximum practicable degree of equity between the different generations of policyholders in an office which distributes its surplus by means of a uniform reversionary bonus.

The problem can be most easily discussed by showing the effect on a model office of adopting various methods of treating this appreciation or depreciation. I propose to limit the discussion in the first place to the question of depreciation in an office employing a bonus reserve valuation.
Two-variable developments of the n-ages method
Authors: Perks Wilfred
Published: June 2019

This paper is devoted mainly to the extension of the ‘n-ages method’ of approximation for product-sums to summations in respect of two variables; some uses in valuation work of the formulae developed are indicated and illustrated arithmetically. Hitherto, apart from a special formula devised for the particular purpose of illustrating the possibilities of valuing whole-life assurances by limited payments grouped by years of entry (J.I.A. Vol. LXIV, p. 325), the n-ages method has been confined to one variable.
The financial investigation of charitable funds
Authors: Isaac S. F. , Fowler R. W. A.
Published: June 2019

There are in existence numerous charitable funds which provide financial assistance to members or their dependants in the form of either grants or annuities and of which the principal characteristics are usually:

(1) that the benefits are neither legally claimable nor clearly defined,

(2) that membership is voluntary,

(3) that the members' contributions are usually inadequate to support the benefits, and

(4) that donations, voluntary subscriptions and legacies frequently form a large part of the income.
Group life and pension schemes
Authors: Simons A. G.
Published: June 2019

There are many references to pensions in the pages of the Journal, most of them to the provision of pensions by means of private funds. I am proposing, however, to deal with the provision of pensions and life assurance by means of what are known as group schemes—a comparatively modern innovation. Pensions themselves are not new—in fact, references can be found in history to old retainers and the families of dead retainers living on the charity of the barons. More recently, however, pensions have come to be looked upon not as charity, but as something due as a moral right by virtue of long service. On the other hand, there is still a tendency to consider as charity the provision for dependents of deceased employees.
The Government and the Church of Ireland under William III and Anne
Authors: Beckett J. C.
Published: June 2019

The difficulties and problems which the revolution of 1688 presented to people of tender conscience were, in England, smoothed over and covered by circumstances. The king’s flight left the tories free to frame, at least for their own consumption, a theory which secured to them the benefits of revolution without the sin of rebellion. The anglican church itself, than which no institution had more openly maintained the doctrine of non-resistance, found that the accomplished fact could be accepted with a face-saving show of consistency; even the moral and intellectual eminence of the non-jurors failed to secure more than a handful of followers for their schism.
Psychology of the Totalitarian Movement
Authors: de Greef Etienne
Published: June 2019

For a long, long time I had a picture of Mussolini in my office. I was not a Fascist, not even an Italophile, but for me as for many other Europeans, Mussolini represented a very characteristic type in the evolution of mankind: a beneficent adventurer beginning in anarchy and becoming die saviour of spiritual values. At least I so fancied. The picture was a reproduction of a drawing by Toorop, the Javanese-Dutch artist, who had painted the Italian Dictator without ever seeing him, just as he had painted the face of an apostle or a visionary.
Drawings of Ancient Paintings in English Collections
Authors: Ashby Thomas
Published: June 2019

The subject of the present article is not altogether a new one. In 1895 Professor Lanciani published in the Bullettino Comunale (165–192) an article (cited as L.) under the title of Picturae Antiquae Cryptarum Romanarum, in which he dealt with the results of his examination of the collections at Windsor and Eton and of the Corsini MS. (158, i. 5 : Inv. 130102 sqq.) in Rome.

In 1909 the late Prof. R. Engelmann published his Antike Bilder aus römischen Handschriften (cited as Eng.), with a full description of the contents of the Corsini MS. (cited as Cors.), of two codices in the Vatican (Capp. 284, 285) of a codex in the possession of Mr. St. Clair Baddeley (cited as Badd.) and of Caylus' Recueil de Peintures (edition of 1757); a large number of photographic reproductions are added.
VI.—Inscriptions of Kuklia and Amargetti
Authors: Gardner E. A. , Hogarth D. G. , James M. R.
Published: June 2019

The following inscriptions were found this season in the Temple of the Paphian Aphrodite; in the village of Kuklia; and on an ancient site north of the village of Amargetti. They are here published with scarcely any explanatory notes, and with no attempt at chronological order, this imperfect publication having been rendered necessary by the general wish that they should appear in this volume of the Journal.
The Empiricism of Locke and Newton
Authors: Rogers G. A. J.
Published: June 2019

The relationship between John Locke and Isaac Newton, his co-founder of, in the apt phrase of one recent writer, ‘the Moderate Enlightenment’ of the eighteenth century, has many dimensions. There is their friendship, which began only after each had written his major work, and which had its stormy interlude. There is the difficult question of their mutual impact. In what ways did each draw intellectually on the other? That there was some debt of each to the other is almost certain, but its exact extent is problematic. Questions may be asked over a whole range of intellectual issues, but not always answered. Thus their theology, which was in many respects close, and which forms the bulk of their surviving correspondence, may yet reveal mutual influence. There is the question of their political views, where both were firmly Whig. But it is upon their philosophy, and certain aspects of their philosophy in particular, that this paper will concentrate. My main theme is the nature of their empiricism, and my main contention is that between them they produced a powerful and comprehensive philosophy.
Hume, Newton and ‘the Hill called Difficulty’
Authors: Battersby Christine
Published: June 2019

In a celebrated passage in ‘Of the Standard of Taste’, Hume tells us that those readers who prefer Bunyan's writings to Addison's are merely ‘pretended critics’ whose judgment is ‘absurd and ridiculous’; this is ‘no less an extravagance, than if he had maintained a mole-hill to be as high as TENERIFFE, or a pond as extensive as the ocean’ (GG, iii, p. 269). Hume shows a decisiveness and vehemence in his judgment against Bunyan that has greater significance than that of being a mere reflection of his aesthetic principles. Hume does, after all, wish to make ‘durable admiration’ the foundation of his standard of taste, and both the number of eighteenth-century reprints of The Pilgrim's Progress and Johnson's comment that this work has as ‘the best evidence of its merit, the general and continued approbation of mankind’ testify to the lasting popularity of Bunyan's work (GG, iii, p. 27i). Hume's critical judgment on Bunyan is not merely a consequence of a mechanical application of his standard of taste, but is rather a reflection of what I will term Hume's ‘epistemology of ease’.
The ‘Principle’ of Natural Order: or What the Enlightened Sceptics did not doubt
Authors: Brown Stuart
Published: June 2019

My title advertizes a paradox. The characteristic complaint of the sceptic is that others make assumptions they are not entitled to make. A philosophical sceptic is committed to a systematic refusal to accept such assumptions in the absence of the kind of justification they think is required. A sceptic who, none the less, helps himself to such an assumption, seems to be caught in a paradoxical position. This is the kind of situation in which, it seems, certain eighteenth-century sceptical philosophers were placed in relation to the ‘principle’ of natural order. They did not doubt that there is such a principle, that there is a source or ultimate cause of the order to be found in the universe. And yet, on their own terms, is not the existence of such a principle something we should expect them to have doubted? What I shall try to do in this lecture is to bring out why they did not doubt the existence of such a principle and how serious their failure to do so is for their sceptical position.
Hume and the Scottish Enlightenment
Authors: Forbes Duncan
Published: June 2019

The term ‘Scottish Enlightenment’ annoys some Scottish historians, because to them it seems to suggest that a state of unenlightenment prevailed in Scotland before the mideighteenth century, but ‘enlightenment’ when used by the historian of ideas is simply a technical term to describe certain aspects of eighteenth-century thought. The trouble is in defining precisely what aspects of eighteenth-century thought it is meant to describe. Different people study the eighteenth century Scottish thinkers for different reasons; for Professor Pocock, for example, they belong to the tradition of ‘civic humanism’ and constitute one of his Machiavellian moments. But they are more widely known nowadays for the modernity and sophistication of their social theory.
Butler's Theory of Moral Judgment
Authors: Shiner Roger A.
Published: June 2019

It is something of a commonplace of Butlerian interpretation that the main interest and achievements of Butler's moral philosophy are in normative ethics, and not metaethics. He wishes to bring moral enlightenment to citizens and not, to philosophers, epistemological enlightenment. Nonetheless for that he makes a number of remarks which, if we were collecting for some bizarre purpose metaethical forms of words, we would note down and include in our collection. Thus he makes some progress towards the development of a moral epistemology, a theory of moral judgment. My purpose here is to assess those steps, and to see how far the structure which results can be called a theory. I have the impression that much of the reluctance among scholars to allow that Butler does have a theory of moral judgment is caused by the metaethical blinkers that they themselves wear; what is in fact the beginnings of an unfashionable and unconventional theory is seen as unsophisticated confusion. But I shall not overdo praise of Butler. I shall suggest that Aristotle does a somewhat better job of developing this type of theory.
Kant and the Sincere Fanatic
Authors: Harrison Bernard
Published: June 2019

‘I see well enough what poor Kant would be at’ said James Mill on first looking into the Kritik der reinen Vernunft. No one would wish to say that the reception of Kant in England has remained at this level: abundance of sound scholarship, innumerable Kant seminars and the swell of interest in transcendental argument which has developed since the Second World War all exist to prove the contrary. But in spite of all that, Mill's response still touches a chord in English breasts. We are prone to think Kant a conjurer. If we are to accept, or even to work seriously with, any version of Kantianism it must be a demythologized, logically aseptic version. Strawson's Kant, for instance, is a Kant freed from the ‘strained analogy’ between the study of the conditions of sense, or intelligibility, and the study of the human cognitive system. And in moral philosophy too, the English Kantianism chiefly represented by the work of Professor R. M. Hare has scrupulously avoided those parts of Kant's ethics which have a suspiciously speculative flavour: the notion of an unqualified good, for example, or that of treating moral agents as Ends-in-Themselves; and more generally the whole notion, which permeates Kant's moral philosophy, that morality can only ultimately be understood in terms of a set of ideal relationships that entirely transcend all considerations of common-sense mutual accommodation or rational self-interest: transcend all such considerations so radically, in fact, as to point mutely towards the possibility of a life after death.
A Study on the Coccidia of Indian Birds
Authors: Chakravarty Mukundamurari , Kar Amiya Bhuson , Greenwood A. W.
Published: June 2019

Thepresent paper is the third of a series of studies on the coccidia of Indian birds, and contains the description of six new species of these parasites, four of which belong to the genusIsospora, and one each to the generaDorisiellaandEimeria, All the parasites described here belong to the Order Coccidiida, Family Eimeriidae. New avian hosts for some already known species are recorded here. The life-history ofEimeria barbetaKar (1944) is described in detail. We also add here an amended description ofIsospora ginginianaChakravarty and Kar (1944b), and a new variety of the latter.

The majority of the birds were purchased from local dealers, while some were collected from Gaya, Bihar. Of twenty-eight different species of birds examined, eighteen were parasitized. The table at the end of this paper will indicate the number of birds parasitized (21) out of the total number examined (48), together with the locality of the hosts. Some of the birds were also infected with other protozoan parasites (haemosporidians and flagellates), descriptions of which are being published elsewhere.

The methods adopted here are the same as previously employed by the authors (Chakravarty and Kar, 1944aandb).

Two species of birds, viz. the large Indian paroquetPsittacula eupatria nipalensis(Hodgs.) and the red-whiskered or Chinese bulbulElathea jocosa emeria(Linn.), harboured a newIsospora, which does not resemble any known species of this genus. It is therefore proposed to call itIsospora psittaculaen. sp. after one of its hosts.
The Identity ofGalago murinusMurray
Authors: Hill W. C. Osman
Published: June 2019

In1859 Andrew Murray, an Edinburgh naturalist, described, under the name ofGalago murinus, what he believed to be a new species. His account was based upon material from Old Calabar sent to him by a missionary, Rev. W. C. Thomson, who had kept the animal some time in captivity. Murray was, at first, undecided whether to allocate his specimen to one or other of the two previously known smaller Galagidæ, namelyG. senegalensisorG. demidovii, and sought the advice of Gray, who thought it probably a juvenile Senegal Galago. (The more usual renderingdemidoffiwas shown by Schwarz (1931) to be incorrect, the first usage as a Latin name beingdemidovii(G. Fischer, 1808).) Murray did not accept this opinion, for he considered his specimen an adult, though not old, because its fontanelles were closed. He specified the distinctions fromsenegalensisas follows:—

(a) Small size, it being only half the size of the larger species, declared by the missionaries (Thomson and Robb) to inhabit the same locality.

(b) Difference in colour—mouse-coloured instead of the “orange-tawny-yellow” ofsenegalensis.

(c) The nakedness of the ears.

(d) The long fourth digit of the hand (according to Audebert's (1801) figure ofsenegalensis, the third was supposed to be longest in that species).

(e) The slenderer, less bushy tail.

All the above are perfectly good reasons for separatingmurinusfromsenegalensisand its allies, but, unfortunately, Murray gave no reasons against its being identified asdemidovii, previously known from Senegal, but erroneously believed by Murray to come from Madagascar and hence, probably, regarded as a justification for distinguishing it frommurinus.
IX.—Oak Galls in the Historia Plantarum of Theophrastus
Authors: Senn Gustav , Basel
Published: June 2019

Introduction. The following study of the oak galls mentioned by Theophrastus was undertaken at Sir D'Arey Thompson's suggestion some four years ago. The old Greek gives no full description of any of these galls, but he characterises them so clearly in a few words that it is possible to identify all, or well-nigh all, with certainty. Böhner tried to identify them in his History of Cecidiology, but he used a poor translation and overlooked now and then the small but essential details given by Theophrastus. A fresh attempt may lead to better results.
X.—The Arborescent Senecios of Kilimanjaro: A Study in Ecological Anatomy
Authors: Hare C. Leighton
Published: June 2019

The highly specialised features of the Compositæ leave little room for doubt that the family is an advanced one, and it is not without significance that the vast majority of its species should be herbaceous plants; shrubby species are infrequent, while trees are of the rarest occurrence. The markedly herbaceous habit is further emphasised if attention is confined to the large and widespread genus Senecio, comprising over 2000 species, for, although they include plants of very diverse habit, few attain to tree dimensions, or possess a welldeveloped, perennial, woody trunk. Herbs or shrubs account for 99 per cent, of the species, the former greatly predominating. The remainder comprises a small group of about 20 species, which have assumed the arborescent habit.
XI.—On a World Correlation of the Pleistocene
Authors: Paterson T. T.
Published: June 2019

Forty-six years ago James Geikie published the third edition of his book,The Great Ice Age, where he expressed the view that there were five main cold periods, separated by four warmer, within the Pleistocene. Despite the enormous research by glaciologists undertaken since Geikie's time no one has yet disproved this fundamental concept; indeed, research, though perhaps casting out some of the evidence used by Geikie, has only supported his hypothesis. Yet the works of this great geologist are neglected and apparently scorned, for the terminology which he set up in plain English to indicate his five glacial periods, determined by a very wide survey, has been discarded in favour of a Continental nomenclature having only a local significance. In this work I follow Geikie in naming glacial periods, first, second, third, etc., for this has a world-wide application. It is from the writings of this master, and also those of Professor J. E. Marr of Cambridge, that I gathered the general ideas expressed here in Part I, (a), (b), and (c).
XIII.—Hormonal Analysis of the Cyclic Variations in the Vascular Architecture of the Uterus of the Guinea-Pig
Authors: Bacsich P. , Wyburn G. M.
Published: June 2019

In a recent publication on the cyclic variations of the vascular architecture of the uterus of the guinea-pig (1940) we recorded that antimesometric hyperæmia is a regular and essential characteristic of the uterine changes which occur during heat, and commented on its significance as a factor influencing antimesometric implantation in this animal.
XIV.—Chironomid Larvæ of the Millport Shore Pools
Authors: Stuart T. A.
Published: June 2019

Chironomid larvæ for a long time have been known to inhabit the brackish pools around the coast, but there are few published records of their life-histories and habits, and in many cases they cannot be correlated with their imagines. This applies equally to the fresh-water types.

The greater part of the systematic work on the Chironomidæ deals with the imagines, and much confusion exists regarding the nomenclature of species, which most authorities admit cannot be rectified until the early stages have been recorded.
XVIII.—The Conducting System of the Marsupial Heart
Authors: Blair D. M. , Davies Francis , Francis E. T. B.
Published: June 2019

Elsewhere two of the present authors (Davies and Francis, 1941) have expressed theopinion that a specialised cardiac conducting system, consisting of nodal and Purkinje fibres, is a newly evolved one in birds and mammals. The general morphology and topography of this system in the heart of the bird (Davies, 1930a, 1930b) is similar to that in the heart of the eutherian mammal, and we have postulated (Davies and Francis, 1941) that the system has undergone parallel evolution in these two classes of homoiothermal vertebrates in response to functional requirements, and that in particular its presence can be correlated with the rapidity of the heart-rate in proportion to its size. On the other hand, Keith and Flack (1907), Keith and Mackenzie (1910), and Mackenzie (1913) maintain that the sinu-atrial node, atrio-ventricular node, and atrio-ventricular bundle of the mammalian heart are remnants of more extensive tissues of similar structure in the hearts of lower vertebrates. They trace the evolution of the conducting system of the mammalian heart from a simpler and more definite form which they described in the fish, and state that as one ascends the animal scale the concentration and reduction of nodal tissue becomes more marked.
Gene insertion into the avian germline
Authors: Salter D. W. , Crittenden L. B.
Published: June 2019

Gene insertion into the avian germ line is reviewed. Useful pathogen-derived and animal-derived resistance genes that could be inserted into the avian germ line to convey resistance to pathogens are discussed. Methods of germ line insertion that have been successful in mice are summarized and their possible application in future avian germ line research are described. The successful transfer of retroviral genes into the chicken germ line using replication-competent recombinant retroviruses is summarized and several potentially useful transgenic chicken lines are described. The attempts to use one-round replication-defective retroviral vectors have been complicated by the detection of replication-competent retrovirus in chicks from injected eggs.
An assessment of progress with different stocks and methods of selection in egg layers
Authors: Flock D. K.
Published: June 2019

Data from 10 years of German random sample tests (1978-87) were analyzed to document recent changes in 5 white-egg and 5 brown-egg strains which had participated fairly regularly in the tests. In the absence of a control population, it is only possible to compare rates of changes between strains and the overall trends of white-egg vs. brown-egg strains. The data show that improvement continues at average levels of performance which must have seemed utopian 20 years ago, when it was popular to question whether any genetic progress was being made.

The methods used by different breeders to achieve the apparent improvements are generally not disclosed, but it seems reasonable to assume that all programs more or less follow the same pattern: combined pure-line and cross-line testing, approximations to classical index selection using individual and family information, with emphasis on different traits depending on economic importance and pressures to keep pace with competitor stocks.

The five brown-egg strains on average have made more progress than the five white-egg strains, but there are also obvious differences in rate of change among strains with the same shell colour. In some instances, the changes may involve the replacement of one or more lines making up the strain cross, which is not reflected by a change in product name.
1.3 Computer Hardware: Principles and Potential
Authors: Dorey A. P.
Published: June 2019

The achievement of the microelectronics industry in integrating the components of a computer on to a few, or even a single, increasingly complex silicon chip has resulted in a reduction in price of the basic elements of a computer system by more than one hundred times. This technology has brought the cheap calculator which can now provide quite sophisticated programming functions that could only have been obtained with a computer occupying an equipment rack some few yean ago. The microprocessor is the most complex of the family of integrated circuits but its operation is not fundamentally different from that of its much larger predecessors, being a feat of technology rather than a new departure in computer design. It is the dramatic change in price and physical size, coupled with other associated technical advances such as low power consumption and reliability, that has made it possible for the use of computers to be considered in situations which could not reasonably be contemplated previously.

Although computers include those that operate or continuous, or analogue, variables, the predominanl interest is in digital systems. These operate on discrete values of electrical signals that represent, in coded forms, data or the operations to be performed. These operations can be arithmetical or logical and may be combined into a sequence that constitutes a program. The notion of stored program control, where such a sequence is held in the memory of the machine, provides the essential feature of computer operation.
2.3 Farm Management Information Services
Authors: Warren M E.
Published: June 2019

Farm management is the meeting-point of science, economics, man-management, marketing, planning and decision-making on the farm. From such a diverse background and because of the variable nature of farming itself, the supply of management information to the farmer is a subject which merits considerable attention.

To identify the importance of management, it is worth considering the range in performance between farms, as measured by dairy herd gross margin per hectare. The average for 1979/80 of Farm Management Services (FMS) fully costed herds (MMB, 1980) was £546/ha, while the result for the ‘top 25%” was £809/ha, a difference of £263/ha. It is exceedingly difficult to define precisely the part which management plays in this difference. However, through its effect on feeding, breeding, grassland management, fertility and health, it is probably the dominant factor. If the range in FMS results were to be taken as the normal distribution for the national herd, one could postulate that bringing up the national average gross margin to that of the “top 25%” would add a further £127m to the national dairy herd gross margin. This would be equivalent to slightly in excess of £4 000 in the average 60 cow herd. Whilst admitting that not every farmer nor every farm can achieve the level of performance of the “top 25%”, such calculations do indicate the extent over which management has an influence.
2.5 Animal Production Response Prediction
Authors: Whittemore C. T.
Published: June 2019

Computers appropriate for small-to-medium sized businesses (such as large farms, agri-businesses, and management and production consultants) can be broadly classified into three groups: pocket sized programmable calculators (£50-£500); micro-computers (£500-£5000); mini-computers (£5000-£50000). There are also the main-frame computers which take up considerably more resources of both money and space. Main-frame computers are likely to be restricted for use in specialist functions such as the handling of very large programs, complex statistical packages and so on.

Of these, the simplest type to operate allows specific programs to be written onto magnetic cards which are fed in as required. Such programs may calculate: nutrient requirements for given levels of production; nutritional quality of a combination of ingredients in a farm mix; average herd performances to date; a register of input and output for the unit; and the like. The capacity of these machines is limited, both as to the extent and complexity of the calculations allowed and to the volume of data which can be stored and executed. The alphabetic printing and layout capability is rather poor and the user must be familiar with the input format and with the configuration for the output.
3.3 A model of the Growth and Feed Intake of Ad Libitum Fed Animals, Particularly Poultry
Authors: Emmans G. C.
Published: June 2019

Whittemore and Fawcett (1976) and Whittemore (1976) showed how ideas and data from different disciplines could be brought together to simulate, using a computer program, the growth of the pig on controlled feeding. Controlled feeding, as shown in Figure 3.3.1, is one of three types of feeding system (Emmans, 1981). Parks (1970) dealt with systems of the second type, in which animals are given free access to single feed. In such a system, the composition of the diet, but not its amount, is known in advance. Parks (1970) suggested that the rate of feed intake in growing animals increased at a diminishing rate with age towards an asymptotic value; Figure 3.3.2. This function has two parameters — the asymptote and a time constant. The values of these were seen as functions of feed composition, genotype and environment. He went on to predict growth as a function of feed intake and a conversion efficiency. While a description of how ad libitum feed intake changes with age is useful, it is not as powerful as an understanding of what governs feed intake would be. While there are many theories about the mechanisms that animals use to control their feed intake at a given level, there is none that can be used to predict what this level will be. One is proposed in this paper.
3.5 Statistical Approaches to Model Building
Authors: McDonald I.
Published: June 2019

There is a belief among research workers that their experiments have two possible outcomes, either they are successful or else the results will have to be taken to a statistician. Although the belief is not universal, it does account for a certain amount of brooding by statisticians on their place in scientific research. This may be why I have made the title I was given, the excuse for examining some of my own activities and attitudes in bringing agricultural research data into juxtaposition with mathematical models. I apologize in advance for the egocentricity.

Statisticians in agricultural research find considerable employment in enabling their customers to adorn papers with a sufficiency of standard errors and significance tests for the satisfaction of editorial boards. Underlying this apparently cosmetic activity is the important function of testing the logic of experimental conclusions and preventing their too easy or too general acceptance. The statistical approach to model building is therefore that of a strength tester. Theoretical assumptions may be vital for the construction of the model but statistical appraisal must be empirical, testing the correspondence between the model and these aspects of experience which it is intended to describe. On the basis of these tests, some parts or some uses of the model may be rejected as unsound and other parts or uses may be accepted, with varying degrees of confidence, as being reliable. Warning notices against undue dependence may be posted on these parts which cannot be tested for lack of data.
4.1 Computers in the Farm Office
Authors: Butterworth K.
Published: June 2019

This paper concerns a look at the future use of computers in the farm office, particularly in relation to animal production. It would perhaps be appropriate to start by examining the current position and look briefly at the types of farms involved, the possible computer applications and the computer systems currently available. On the basis of what is known about future developments in hardware and software, a view of the future use of computers in animal production in the farm office will be attempted.

The information largely comes from the ADAS On Farm Computing Team, which was set up in April 1979 to examine the implications of microcomputers in the farm office. The team has made contact with a large cross section of the industry. It has been in touch with farmers who own microcomputers, firms actively selling machines and programs, manufacturers, software houses, bureaux, consultants, accountants, secretarial agencies and others offering alternative services. The team has also had several machines and programs under evaluation.

Our aim has been to brief the ADAS field advisers on the new technology, the possible applications, advantages, disadvantages and the criteria to be considered when a farmer is faced with the decision of whether or not to buy a microcomputer.
The use of animal excreta as feeds for livestock
Authors: Wilkinson J. M.
Published: June 2019

The recycling of nutrients from animal excreta has occurred naturally for a very long time. For centuries scavenging pigs and poultry consumed undigested grain from cattle manure. More recently, however, interest in large-scale recycling of animal manures has arisen from a need to reduce the problems of pollution associated with large, intensive livestock units. To date the development of the use of animal excreta as feeds for livestock has been largely confined to those countries in which many thousands of livestock are kept on relatively small areas of land, for example the beef feedlots of the USA.

The trend towards increased size of livestock unit is universal. In England and Wales the number of large livestock holdings increased three-fold in the period 1967 to 1977 (Table 1). There is little doubt that this trend will continue, as farmers strive towards achieving greater economies of scale. In consequence, there is increasing need to develop methods to utilize the manure produced from large livestock units in ways which do not give rise to environmental pollution.