The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7221 p624
26 October 2002

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Neanderthal infancy [more]
Ecology and big business [more]
Science showman [more]

Neanderthal infancy

Much information is available about adult Neanderthal fossil remains, but specimens of juveniles and infants are rare. Great interest continues about the exact relationship between modern man and his Neanderthal cousin, particularly since it is known that some degree of interlapping occurred between the two species of Homo.

According to a communication from a French anthropologist published in Nature for 5 September, the recent rediscovery of the skeleton of a neonatal Neanderthaler only known as “Le Moustier 2” may well throw some light upon genetic differences between the extinct race and the modern human race. The well-preserved skeleton had been overlooked in a museum drawer for some 90 years since it was originally found in 1914 at the site of Le Moustier in south-west France, by the archaeologist Denis Peyrony. Its burial pit in the rock shelter was classified as of the Mousterian culture, dated by thermoluminescence tests to 40,300±2,600 years before present. At the time of discovery the specimen was not investigated further and was lost sight of somewhere in Paris.

During a survey of collections in 1996 the neonatal skeleton was found among other Le Moustier specimens. Some of the bones were isolated but others were still embedded in sediment blocks. During cleaning and restoration of the specimen, an investigation of the embedding rocks and flint flakes and animal bones showed that they corresponded with those known to occur in the Le Moustier rock shelter it was established that the specimen was indeed that of Le Moustier 2. From measurements of the long bones it was calculated that the child was not older than four months at the time of death.

Missing bones included the scapulae and pubis, but the right femur and right humerus, previously thought to be missing, were found with another skeleton known as La Ferrassie, associated with muscovite, which does not occur at La Ferrassie, but does at La Moustier. There were great differences from the corresponding bones in living neonates of today.

Further examination by atomic mass spectroscopic carbon dating is expected to confirm the extensive genetic variation known to exist between Neanderthalers and extant humans, and possibly throw some light on interactions between the two co-existing races of Homo sapiens.

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Ecology and big business

Perhaps there is no limit to the social and ecological damage which the advertising activities of international corporations perpetrate in the mad rush to gain competitive advantage. A flagrant example which all who believe in civilised values and moderation will deplore is the recent painting of rock-faces in the Himalayan foothills by the soft-drinks giants Coca Cola and Pepsi, described in Nature for 22 August.

Advertisements for the drinks have been painted on a lavish scale along the Manali-Rohtang pass in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, which is a region of great geological interest. Geologists have been infuriated by the onslaught on the local rock formations, and have asserted that the pass so affected has been rendered useless for research purposes for a long time to come. The local strata have been assessed as promising to yield valuable information concerning tectonic activity in the Himalayan region, and also on the underlying mineral deposits.

The lavish application of gaudy paints, say the geologists, has prevented the instruction of students for years to come, since to scrape away the layers is virtually impossible, and irreparable damage has been done to plants and animals which colonise the surfaces. Although it is true that the advertisements will become eroded eventually by natural processes this is likely to take some 15 to 20 years.

Naturally, legal proceedings are under way in an attempt to punish the culprits, but the damage, unfortunately, has been done. The incident affords further evidence of the adverse influence of economic globalisation on our sorely maltreated planet.

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Science showman

In the 6 September issue of Science, J. A. Secord of the University of Cambridge presents some curious facts concerning the life of John Henry Pepper, a populariser of science in Victorian times.

Pepper was born in Westminster in 1821, son of an engineer and educated at King’s College School. He was an ardent amateur student of chemistry, and in 1840 was appointed assistant lecturer in chemistry at an independent medical school. In 1847 he started to lecture at the Royal Polytechnic Institute in Regent Street, where in the following year he was appointed analytical chemist as well as lecturer, later becoming its director.

Pepper delighted juvenile audiences with his demonstrations of illusions and his lantern displays. He made an induction coil that produced sparks nearly a metre long. He provided stage plays with startling optical effects, including the phenomenon which perpetuated his name, “Pepper’s ghost”. This depends on the fact that a highly illuminated object placed before a plate glass screen inclined at 45 degrees appears to merge with other objects behind the screen which are less brilliantly lit. The phenomenon had already been described by Henry Dircks, a Liverpool engineer, at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1858, and when it become a theatrical device and grew popular the two men had serious differences of opinion over financial rights that arose. However, pepper was successful in that the the ghost effect was instrumental in reviving the fortunes of the polytechnic when they flagged in 1862.

The virtuosity of Pepper’s demonstrations, not only in chemistry but also in physics, aroused public interest in the subjects of alchemy and magic. He encouraged youngsters to carry our scientific experiments using materials they could find in the domestic environment. And he wrote and published a number of books to guide them in their efforts. However, he fell into dispute with the authorities at the polytechnic and transferred his demonstrations to the rival Egyptian Hall in Picadilly, where he lost much money. To restore his fortunes he started on a tour of the English-speaking world, and even became a consulting chemist in Brisbane, but returned to England in 1889. He died in Leytonstone in 1900, with the reputation of having “outlived his ghost”.

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