Revue étrangère et française de législation, de jurisprudence et d'économie politique, par un réunion de jurisconsultes et publicistes ...

Edited by J. J. Foelix (with J. B. Durergier and Auguste Valette, 1840-43).Mode of access: Internet

Revue de droit français et étranger.

Includes section "Bulletin bibliographique".Edited by J. J. G. Foelix, J. B. Duvergier, Auguste Valette (with Jules Bergson, L. F. J. Laferrière, E. L. J. Bonnier, 1847-50).Includes section "Bulletin bibliographique".Mode of access: Internet

The origin of ascophoran bryozoans was historically contingent but likely

The degree to which evolutionary outcomes are historically contingent remains unresolved, with studies at different levels of the biological hierarchy reaching different conclusions. Here we examine historical contingency in the origin of two evolutionary novelties in bryozoans, a phylum of colonial animals whose fossil record is as complete as that of any major group. In cheilostomes, the dominant living bryozoans, key innovations were the costal shield and ascus, which first appeared in the Cretaceous 85–95 Myr ago. We establish the parallel origin of these structures less than 12 Myr ago in an extant bryozoan genus, Cauloramphus, with transitional stages remarkably similar to those inferred for a Cretaceous clade. By one measure, long lag times in the first origins of costal shield and ascus suggest a high degree of historical contingency. This, however, does not equate with dependence on a narrow set of initial conditions or a low probability of evolution. More than one set of initial conditions may lead to an evolutionary outcome, and alternative sets are not entirely independent. We argue that, although historically contingent, the origin of ascus and costal shield was highly likely with sufficient possibilities afforded by time

Lalande's geographical conception of Africa : European exploration and the scientific call of the Continent's 'Inner Regions' on the verge of the Revolutionary Era

This paper discusses the Mémoire sur l'intérieur de l'Afrique, written by the French scholar Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande. It analyses Lalande's aims, arguments and claims regarding his subject of study - the "inner parts" of Africa - against the background of scientific, commercial, political and military tensions between France and Britain. It situates Lalande's discourse within the broader context of the competing "science policies" of both states in the second half of the eighteenth century. It is an investigation of the sudden re-emergence of Africa as an object of knowledge in the relationship between power and science. The paper focuses on the continuous interaction between France and Britain in African affairs, and highlights the shift from a mere "Enlightened" exploration from the 1720s to Lalande's revolutionary time, when Africa became the object of a "Banksian" takeover, enhancing British interest in the "unknown" interior of the African continent by setting up large-scale, interrelated research missions with practical goals. This provoked reactions from the French side, reflected in Lalande's dissertation