The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7224 p726
16 November 2002

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Out of the stone [more]
Those polygraphs again [more]
Last resort [more]

Out of the stone

Any discussion regarding the folklore and rickety facts surrounding that legendary (or historical, if you prefer it) figure King Arthur of Britain will provoke fierce controversy over his existence or otherwise. The Arthurian literature is a rich source of stories and hypotheses. The latest aspect of the lore concerns the celebrated sword Excalibur, and the origins of that name have been examined critically in the spring 2002 issue of Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries.

We are told that after the poisoning of Uther Pendragon, King of Britain, by the Saxons, the country was left without a head. The enchanter Merlin organised an assembly of men-at-arms in London to pray for a miracle to show who should be rightful king. Towards the end of the first mass celebrated, a great stone was seen in the churchyard, embedding an anvil with a marvellous sword. An inscription explained that whoever pulled the sword from its setting was rightful king. For months knights tried to remove the token, until Arthur achieved the feat on the feast of Pentecost.

The French romancers called the weapon Caliburn, or alternatively Escalibor. The chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth called it Caliburnus, deriving the name from the Latin chalybs, the word for steel. He wrote of "Caliburn, best of swords that was forged by Merlin within the Isle of Avalon". The Welsh referred to Caledvwlch. The element "burn" is supposed to refer to the final polish given to the sharpened weapon.

It always seems to me that Excalibur made a rather pathetic exit from the scene after the final battle, when Bedivere was ordered to cast it into the mere. On his third attempt, an arm draped in white samite emerged from the lake and received it. My impression of Dozmary Pool, the reputed mere, on Bodmin Moor, is of a dreary waste. Moreover, it is reported to be only some 2m deep at the most. It does not fit in with legends of derring-do and, as the final resting place of Excalibur, seems singularly unworthy.

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Those polygraphs again

Some two years ago the United States Department of Energy, worried over the prospect that some of its nuclear secrets were being leaked through unreliable employees, asked the US National Academy of Science to carry out an evaluation of the value of the notorious polygraph "lie detector" in situations where national security was in question. According to Daniel Greenberg, writing in The Lancet for 26 October, a 300-page response resulted. To the chagrin of some of the authorities, the scientific assessment ranked polygraph screening with the cult of voodoo, condemning it as scientifically unsubstantiated, easily foiled by those wishing to cheat, and of no proven efficacy for detecting or deterring lapses of security.

According to the report, polygraphs are effective in detecting such events as theft, unless the subject concerned has been trained in simple countermeasures, but quite worthless in screening for national security risks. Relying on them may even produce false confidence and therefore slackness. Moreover, much advice on beating the polygraph is widely available for those interested. Dependence on the technique is liable to snare the innocent and miss the guilty. Yet it seems that some government agencies falsify their findings and dissuade researchers who question their validity. Most polygraph research is funded by a few agencies that depend upon the method for their counter-intelligence activities.

Despite these considerations, the US government continues to expand the scope of polygraph screening, even in the face of a 1988 act passed by Congress banning it for pre-employment screening for non-government jobs. Most courts of law hold that its results are not admissible as evidence. Yet official intelligence agencies still employ it for crime detection and law enforcement.

The academy comments: "There is a mystique surrounding the polygraph that may account for much of its usefulness: that is, a culturally shared belief that the polygraph device is nearly infallible." The only thing it does, apparently, is to scare some individuals, but not those who know the secret of cheating it.

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Last resort

We are increasingly experiencing the difficulty of coming to grips with violence, which seems to thrive in every walk of life, even the home, the school, the workplace and the street. Some locations are traditionally exposed to violent behaviour, particularly those concerned with the transfer of money, the drinking of alcohol and the maintenance of law and order. Especially in situations when crowds are gathered and disputes arise between individuals and groups holding strong and fanatical opinions, violence is highly likely to erupt.

Today, the distribution of violence has become frightening. The doctor in the surgery, the nurse at the bedside, the teacher in the school, the priest in his vestry and, to bring the point home, the pharmacist in his dispensary, all face the potential threat of the violent attacker, against whom precautionary measures are becoming more and more necessary.

According to the World Health Organization recently, violence may be defined as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation". There we have a remarkably detailed definition with a fine legal ring about it. Violence, comments WHO, is often predictable and preventable, and countries should create, implement and monitor their own plans calculated at prevention. Some degree of political commitment to the task is essential, and countries where government is weak and corruption is prevalent have practically no chance of controlling violence in their midst.

Primary prevention is important, involving measures to reduce child abuse and neglect by improving natal and perinatal care for mothers and training for good parenting. Irregularities in the family structure are a fertile source of violent tendencies, but these have been with us since the start of civilisation and will not be eradicated in the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, measures to reduce violence among adults and teenagers should include improvements to the urban infrastructure, better control of weapons and campaigns to change attitudes and social norms.

It stands to reason that so long as warfare and civil strife continue to be accepted as unavoidable facets of civilised culture, there can be no end to violence between individuals and groups, no matter what sort of case can be argued for them. And, as we know well, the prevalent drug culture, with psychoactive substances being accepted in many quarters as part of the pattern of leisure, contributes enormously to the problem of violence in so-called civilised countries and communities. And, as the novelist Mary McCarthy wrote in 1961: "In violence we forget who we are." It is a degrading and depersonalising situation.

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