Michael Davitt’s wartime visit to South Africa (March–May 1900) and its consequences

In view of renewed interest in the radical Irish nationalist leader and land reform agitator Michael Davitt and his ideas, this article reconsiders his much publicised fact-finding visit to the war-torn Boer republics in South Africa and its context. Davitt resigned as an Irish nationalist member of parliament (MP) from the British House of Commons over the Anglo-Boer War, rather than any Irish issue. He was in South Africa from late March to early May 1900, where he met the leaders of the republics and senior generals. On his return to Ireland, Davitt wrote a 600-page partisan book on the Anglo-Boer War. The South African experience remained special to him. After his return to Europe, Davitt became closely associated with the Kruger-exile coterie, drifting away from mainline Irish nationalism. This article traces Davitt’s visit and discusses the effect it had on him, on Irish nationalism and on the Boer republics he visited.Keywords: Michael Davitt, Ireland, South Africa, Anglo-Boer Wa

John Ardagh (1840-1907): The Irish Intelligence scapegoat for Britain’s Anglo-Boer War debacles.

This paper looks at the fate of an Anglo-Irish officer in the British army during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). Having noted the extent to which the Irish were represented in the British army, the paper tracks the career of Major-General Sir John Ardagh, director of British Military Intelligence during the greatest of Britain’s imperial wars. The paper examines the way in which the British establishment used Ardagh as a scapegoat for the early reverses in the war, and how the later disclosure of evidence vindicated Ardagh, but effectively ended his career.Cet article interroge le sort d’un officier anglo-irlandais dans l’armée britannique lors de la guerre anglo-boer (1899-1902). Après avoir fait état de la présence des Irlandais dans l’armée britannique, l’article rend compte de la carrière du Général Sir John Ardagh, chef des Services de Renseignements militaires pendant la plus importante des guerres impériales britanniques. L’article étudie la façon dont le Royaume-Uni a utilisé Ardagh comme bouc émissaire après les premières défaites de la guerre, et comment les témoignages révélés ultérieurement disculpaient Ardagh, tout en mettant fin à sa carrière

Understanding Durban University of Technology Students’ Perceptions of Biodiversity Loss

Biodiversity loss has been recognised as a global and local problem of increasing magnitude. As future leaders, university students may play an influential role in alleviating this serious and multifaceted problem. This particular research focuses on a relatively new area of study not yet covered in the literature, that of South African university students’ perceptions and understandings of biodiversity. This paper seeks to describe the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of students at Durban University of Technology towards biodiversity and to consider some of the socio-cultural causal factors. Student opinions were sampled using an appropriate survey modelled after European biodiversity surveys and adapted to meet the unique challenges of South African conditions and rich biodiversity found in Durban’s urban green spaces. The quantitative data were then merged with qualitative data drawn from four focus groups sampled across selected faculties at the institution. The focus groups involved guided discussion on the relevance of biodiversity, viewing of video clips and local field visits to Pigeon Valley Nature Reserve and the Durban Botanic Gardens. The results indicated high levels of concern for biodiversity loss and strong cultural connections with traditional African medicinal plants

Leslie McCracken and Charles Bethune Horsbrugh: collecting birds’ eggs in Northern Ireland in the 1920s and early 1930s.

This paper is a case-study of a school-boy’s egg collection in Northern Ireland in the 1920s and early 1930s. The collection and Leslie McCracken’s friendship with Charles Bethune Horsbrugh, an established naturalist, not only expanded McCracken’s consciousness far beyond the boundaries of his rural existence but also reveal, through the specimens given to McCracken by Captain Horsbrugh, the considerable extent of amateur egg-collecting and the interchange of eggs both within Ireland and Great Britain, and further afield, then and in previous generations. A socio-historic sketch is provided, together with an account of the more interesting bird’s eggs, their collectors, and the location of collection

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Robert Plant (1818- 1858): A Victorian plant hunter in Natal, Zululand, Mauritius and the Seychelles

In the 1850s Robert William Plant collected plants and other natural specimens in what is now KwaZulu-Natal. This one-time Englishman compiled a dictionary for gardeners before emigrating to Natal in 1850. There he worked as the agent for Samuel Stevens, the London dealer in 'curiosities of natural history'. Though Plant collected mainly plants, he also sent consignments of beetles, butterflies, bird skins and shells back to Britain. He published the first scientific paper on Zululand and was requested by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew to write the first Flora natalensis. It was while collecting for this never-to-be-completed treatise that Plant contracted malaria in Maputaland. He died in St Lucia in 1858 and in doing so became South Africa's martyr to botany. What emerges from this study is a picture of the difficulties faced by plant hunters in mid-19th-century South Africa, the sort of plants they collected and the necessity for them sometimes to diversify into other natural history products to survive

The Irish Literary Movement, Irish Doggerel and the Boer War

The Boer War (1899-1902) had a considerable impact on Ireland : pro-Boer demonstrations and rioting revived Irish nationalism and set it on the road to independence. For intellectuals like Yeats, George Moore, Lady Gregory and Sean O'Casey, the war provided excitement, yet no great Irish literary work emerged from the conflict. What the war did produce was a rich havest of street ballads and doggerel. The ephemeral song sheets and poems and songs in daily newspapers were soon discarded and forgotten — but for a period of 32 months these were the songs of the Irish people.La guerre contre les Boers (1899-1902 eut de grandes conséquences en Irlande : manifestations et émeutes en faveur des Boers resuscitèrent le nationalisme irlandais et le mirent en marche vers l'indépendance. Pour les intellectuels, tels que Yeats, George Moore, Lady Gregory et Sean O'Casey, le conflit était une passion, mais une passion qui ne se traduisit pas en grande littérature. Toutefois la guerre rendit une riche moisson de ballades des rues et de vers burlesques. Éphémères, les feuilles de ballades, ainsi que les poèmes et chansons publiées dans les quotidiens, furent bientôt mises de côté et oubliées - mais pendant une période de 32 mois celles-ci avaient été les chansons du peuple irlandais.McCracken Donal. The Irish Literary Movement, Irish Doggerel and the Boer War. In: Études irlandaises, n°20-2, 1995. pp. 97-115

From Paris to Paris via Pretoria : Arthur Lynch at War

Irish-Australian Arthur Lynch was working as a journalist in Paris when the Anglo-Boer war (1899-1902) broke out. This paper traces his journey to the Transvaal Republic, his brief but dramatic experience leading an Irish commando and his later arrest in England and trial for treason with many fresh insights garnered from recently discovered commando papers and Lynch 's own little known French reminiscences.L'Irlandais-Australien Arthur Lynch travaillait comme journaliste à Paris lorsqu'éclata la guerre des Boers (1899-1902). Cet article retrace son voyage à la République du Transvaal, sa brève mais néanmoins dramatique expérience comme chef d'un commando irlandais, son arrestation ultérieure en Angleterre et son procès pour haute trahison. L'article apporte de nombreuses précisions récoltées dans des archives des commandos récemment découvertes ainsi que dans les souvenirs français de Lynch peu connus.McCracken Donal. From Paris to Paris via Pretoria : Arthur Lynch at War. In: Études irlandaises, n°28 n°1, 2003. pp. 125-142

Kirstenbosch: the final victory of botanical nationalism.

• Opsomming: Alhoewel die Nasionale Botaniese Tuine by Kirstenbosch eers in 1913 tot stand gekom het, was Botaniese tuine reeds vir 60 jaar ʼn kenmerk van die Kaapse stedelike gemeenskap. Die ou tuine van die Duits-Oos Indiese Kompanjie in Kaapstad het by verskeie geleenthede botaniese elemente gehad. Hierdie tuine het daartoe bygedra om belangstelling in die Kaapse flora in beide Europa en die Kaap te bevorder. Die vestiging van Kirstenbosch het die belofte vir die oorwinning van Suid-Afrikaanse botaniese nasionalisme ingehou. Laasgenoemde is egter vir 76 jaar vertraag weens die kloof tussen die Kaapse en Pretoriase botaniese ondernemings.• Summary: Though the National Botanic Garden at Kirstenbosch was established in 1913, botanic gardens had been a feature of Cape urban society for over 60 years, before which the old Dutch East India Company garden in Cape Town had at various times a botanical aspect. These gardens helped foster an interest in the Cape's flora both in Europe and at the Cape. The foundation of Kirstenbosch brought with it the promise of the victory of South African botanical nationalism but this was delayed 76 years due to the division of botanical enterprise between Cape Town and Pretoria