Anglo-Dutch translations of medical and scientific texts

In the seventeenth century the use of vernacular languages became more and more accepted in scientific publications and communications, and began to supplement the traditional language in this field, namely: Latin. The increase in the number of languages used in science and medicine was accompanied by a heightened need for translators. The close relationship between England and the Low Countries in the seventeenth century has led to a focus in the existing research on political and religious issues, and this has been reflected in the study of translations between English and Dutch. Yet one also finds in the fields of medicine and science an exchange of ideas through translation. The language skills of both Dutch and English men and women were often not sufficient to understand each other's language, which means that translations were vital. By considering the examples of how Thomas Browne's Religio medici was translated into Dutch, and how letters by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek and a publication by Jan Baptista van Helmont were translated into English, this essay examines the exchange of scientific and medical ideas across the Channel.Part of this article was written during a visiting fellowship in the Summer of 2016 at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, and I would like to thank the MPIWG and the Global Knowledge Society Project for hosting me, as well as the Making Visible Project (Arts and Humanities Research Council, grant number AH/M001928/1) for providing me with support and the time to write

Early research on anatomy and mating of land slugs and snails: Francesco Redi's (1684) Osservazioni

In 1684 the Italian scientist Francesco Redi published one of the first detailed studies on land gastropods. It included the mating and functional anatomy of limacid slugs, functional anatomy of helicid snails and morpho-anatomical comparisons of land and marine slugs and snails. His research was based on a few marine species (an unidentified gastropod, the neogastropod Hexaplex trunculus and aplysiid opisthobranchs), several land snails (including the large helicid Helix lucorum) and some limacid slugs (probably different species of the Limax corsicus group and perhaps Limacus flavus). Redi's investigations are generally accurate and his description of slug mating is much more detailed than the earlier account by Martin Lister. However, his survey also contains minor oversights and mistakes: he did not identify major organs of mollusc anatomy (radula, salivary glands and certain genital structures), his illustration of mating slugs is unrealistic and he overlooked important anatomical differences between marine and land slugs. His most remarkable oversight is hermaphroditism: although he observed slug mating, knew that no differences existed between partners, and was probably aware of earlier literature on the androgynous nature of land snails, he failed to conclude that they are hermaphrodite

Characterization of a HoxEFUYH type of [NiFe] hydrogenase from Allochromatium vinosum and some EPR and IR properties of the hydrogenase module

A soluble hydrogenase from Allochromatium vinosum was purified. It consisted of a large (M-r = 52 kDa) and a small (M-r = 23 kDa) subunit. The genes encoding for both subunits were identified. They belong to an open reading frame where they are preceded by three more genes. A DNA fragment containing all five genes was cloned and sequenced. The deduced amino acid sequences of the products characterized the complex as a member of the HoxEFUYH type of [NiFe] hydrogenases. Detailed sequence analyses revealed binding sites for eight Fe-S clusters, three [2Fe-2S] clusters and five [4Fe-4S] clusters, six of which are also present in homologous subunits of [FeFe] hydrogenases and NADH:ubiquione oxidoreductases (complex I). This makes the HoxEFUYH type of hydrogenases the one that is evolutionary closest to complex I. The relative positions of six of the potential Fe-S clusters are predicted on the basis of the X-ray structures of the Clostridium pasteurianum [FeFe] hydrogenase I and the hydrophilic domain of complex I from Thermus thermophilus. Although the HoxF subunit contains binding sites for flavin mononucleotide and NAD(H), cell-free extracts of A. vinosum did not catalyse a H-2-dependent reduction of NAD(+). Only the hydrogenase module (HoxYH) could be purified. Its electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and IR spectral properties showed the presence of a Ni-Fe active site and a [4Fe-4S] cluster. Its activity was sensitive to carbon monoxide. No EPR signals from a light-sensitive Ni-a-C* state could be observed. This study presents the first IR spectroscopic data on the HoxYH module of a HoxEFUYH type of [NiFe] hydrogenase