The beginnings of geography teaching and research in the University of Glasgow: the impact of J.W. Gregory

J.W. Gregory arrived in Glasgow from Melbourne in 1904 to take up the post of foundation Professor of Geology in the University of Glasgow. Soon after his arrival in Glasgow he began to push for the setting up of teaching in Geography in Glasgow, which came to pass in 1909 with the appointment of a Lecturer in Geography. This lecturer was based in the Department of Geology in the University's East Quad. Gregory's active promotion of Geography in the University was matched by his extensive writing in the area, in textbooks, journal articles and popular books. His prodigious output across a wide range of subject areas is variably accepted today, with much of his geomorphological work being judged as misguided to varying degrees. His 'social science' publications - in the areas of race, migration, colonisation and economic development of Africa and Australia - espouse a viewpoint that is unacceptable in the twenty-first century. Nonetheless, that viewpoint sits squarely within the social and economic traditions of Gregory's era, and he was clearly a key 'Establishment' figure in natural and social sciences research in the first half of the twentieth century. The establishment of Geography in the University of Glasgow remains enduring testimony of J.W. Gregory's energy, dedication and foresight

Toward a Comprehensive Approach to the Collection and Analysis of Pica Substances, with Emphasis on Geophagic Materials

Pica, the craving and subsequent consumption of non-food substances such as earth, charcoal, and raw starch, has been an enigma for more than 2000 years. Currently, there are little available data for testing major hypotheses about pica because of methodological limitations and lack of attention to the problem.In this paper we critically review procedures and guidelines for interviews and sample collection that are appropriate for a wide variety of pica substances. In addition, we outline methodologies for the physical, mineralogical, and chemical characterization of these substances, with particular focus on geophagic soils and clays. Many of these methods are standard procedures in anthropological, soil, or nutritional sciences, but have rarely or never been applied to the study of pica.Physical properties of geophagic materials including color, particle size distribution, consistency and dispersion/flocculation (coagulation) should be assessed by appropriate methods. Quantitative mineralogical analyses by X-ray diffraction should be made on bulk material as well as on separated clay fractions, and the various clay minerals should be characterized by a variety of supplementary tests. Concentrations of minerals should be determined using X-ray fluorescence for non-food substances and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy for food-like substances. pH, salt content, cation exchange capacity, organic carbon content and labile forms of iron oxide should also be determined. Finally, analyses relating to biological interactions are recommended, including determination of the bioavailability of nutrients and other bioactive components from pica substances, as well as their detoxification capacities and parasitological profiles.This is the first review of appropriate methodologies for the study of human pica. The comprehensive and multi-disciplinary approach to the collection and analysis of pica substances detailed here is a necessary preliminary step to understanding the nutritional enigma of non-food consumption

Regional metasomatism and the geochemistry ofthe Dalradian measediments of Connemara, Western Ireland.

Based on 225 analyses of quartzites, siliceous granoblastites, calc silicate rocks, calcite and dolomite marbles, including 120 analyses of pelites and semipelites, sedimentary trends of chemical variation are identified in staurolite and sillimanite grade rocks. The correlation of original clay mineral content with Ti, Fe, K, Rb, Y, Nb, Ca, Ni, Ga, Zn and probably Ba and Mn is shown. A similar clay mineral (whose composition is calculated) was added to all the sediments except the quartz-rich sandstones, now quartzites. This pattern appears to be general for most sediments, based on crustal averages. The form of the original addition of Sr in the sediments might be identified as either carbonate or feldspar by a Ca vs. Sr plot. The southern pelites in a 2–4 km peripheral zone to the Connemara orthogneisses and migmatites have been metasomatized. The crude order of elemental enrichment from the elements increased the most to those increased the least relative to the same stratigraphical horizons in the north is: Mn, Ba, Th, Cu, Ca, Sr, Y, Pb, Zn, Pr, Ge, Nd, La, Mg, S, Ce, Rb, Sm, Ti, Na, K and Ga while Si, Al, Cr, Ni, Co, Fe and P are unchanged or removed. The source of the material added is postulated to be the water-rich residual fraction of the migmatitic quartz diorite gneiss, the transport being by movement of a water-rich fluid out of the migmatites, the fixation being mainly in biotite and new, more calcic, plagioclase porphyroblasts, there being a positive correlation between element enrichment and ionic radius