Gallagher investigates Catholic responses to the war effort during global conflict, doing so through a thorough analysis of home front in Ireland. In this first ever-published social history Ireland and Great War, she argues that supported British Allied effort, therefore questioning anti-war picture often projected onto challenging view War was not Ireland’s war. this, distances herself from C...

What is a scuttle fly? The scuttle fly, Megaselia scalaris, is a Dipteran fly in the family Phoridae named for the short, rapid bursts of running motion characteristic of adults. The species is alternatively referred to as the ‘humpbacked fly’ because of its hump-backed appearance (Figure 1), or the ‘coffin fly’ because of its ability to dig deep into the ground to reach buried carrion and pene...

For many, death and its aftermath is a distasteful subject; a subject to be ignored or avoided until suddenly it demands attention. Those who lose a close relative or friend are often left in a state of shock and grief, They are illprepared to handle arrangements for a funeral or burial or cremation—yet they often nzu~t attend to the myriad social and financial details. My own mother’s death la...

But this is understandable; it is from mummified remains that the best preserved evidence has been obtained. Like the written record and the art form (paintings, sculpture and the like), preserved remains are no less difficult to interpret, or are open to misinterpretation. As Wells states, 'It no longer seems extraordinary that palaeopathologists occasionally make a wrong diagnosis. The wonder...

Of aU the animals domesticated by humans the cat is one of the most unique. By nature a nocturnal animalmost other domesticates are diurnal-and socially solitary, cats appear to have been domesticated more for some metaphysical reason than for any practical advantage. But the feline's ability to catch and kill rodents made them a valuable assetlO medieval farmers whose distinction between adequ...

Despite being garrulous and outgoing, I have known people for weeks or months without them being aware that I traveled to Eldoret, Kenya, in high school. I often hesitate to share my experience, because despite the trip having immeasurable effects on me, my primary concern is that it will be minimized to be just a “cool story” to others. Like a stone dropped in a pond, the ripples from that tri...

A recent straw poll among nine-year-olds revealed that they were just as aware of the Vlctorian fear of being buried alive as they were of Alfred and the cakes or the Battle of Hastings. They knew all about bells attached to the surface of the grave and interred corpses trying to escape. This suggests that the "most primal fear" is still with us. So, if people dare to read it, this book should ...

eah, right! But that is the central thesis of 3 books published within the past 2 years on the care of the dying. It is also the main idea in a major work by Buddhist teacher Sogyal Rinpoche and in the most recent book by Scott Peck. Is it wishful thinking, an overdose of the warm fuzzies, blatant denial? Or is there something here that we have all been missing? To take the Buddhist point of vi...