The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 275 No 7372 p528
22 October 2005

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Ravens: the birds of doom and deluge more
Watching the box and success with schoolwork may be incompatible more
Chemical and bacteriological complications of a natural disaster more

Ravens: the birds of doom and deluge

During the past few weeks I have encountered a surprisingly high number of ravens in my travels. For the most part, they have been cruising at a considerable height between the sea cliffs, where they may later establish their nests and rear their young, and the high moors where they seem to go prospecting, probably on the lookout for carrion on which they rely for sustenance.

Usually, ravens fly in pairs, talking to one another in that familiar “cronk, cronk” which, to me at least, is one of their great attractions. At the same time they may be seen executing the characteristic half-rolls in which they turn abruptly on their backs and then level out again.

Ravens make a wide variety of sounds, and indeed are known to learn new expressions from some of their fellow-creatures. This makes their communications more mysterious than they might otherwise be and adds to the many attributes which humans have awarded them. Ravens have throughout history been regarded as friendly or menacing, according to the situation and the folklore background of the people who hear them conversing.

In the northern hemisphere there has long been a belief that ravens are responsible for communications between the old divinities and mankind. In Scandinavian mythology, Odin, the god of wisdom, poetry, war and agriculture, had two ravens, called Hugin and Munin, who flew abroad every day to gather news from the wide world, returned to perch on Odin’s shoulders and whispered all the information they had gathered.

These creatures were also busy foretelling storms, particularly thunderstorms. This habit, together with the fact that they were observed devouring carrion and pecking out the eyes of sheep and other domesticated animals, made it inevitable that they should earn a sinister reputation, making their croaking ominous. On the other hand, it was remembered in Christian times that ravens had fed Elijah in the wilderness.

And the celebrated tame ravens of the Tower of London, now eight in number, are protected by a legend that if their number drops below six the tower and the monarchy would fall. (The legend is taken so seriously that plans are already being made to protect the birds from possible exposure to avian flu.)

In the Scottish highlands, where the raven was called the corbie, it was considered lucky to see one at a time, unfortunate to see two, and catastrophic to see three. In Somerset to hear a triple cronk was an evil omen, calling for the crossing of the fingers to ward off the spell.

Ravens have little part in traditional folk medicine, although their eggs were supposed to strengthen the ailing stomach and their ashes were consumed to guard against epilepsy and gout. Raven droppings, hung round the neck of a child, were supposed to ease the discomfort of teething.

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Watching the box and success with schoolwork may be incompatible

An item in Science for 22 July makes the point that children are less likely to make their way successfully through college if they overdo their television watching. Research carried out at Otago University in Dunedin, New Zealand, involved nearly 1,000 youngsters aged five years who were studied to the age of 26. It indicated that those who completed their academic course had spent on average 50 minutes less time watching television per weekday between the ages of 5 and 15 than those who dropped out before completion. Details of their habits were gleaned from their parents and their personal accounts of how they spent their time.

Research over several decades has produced conflicting results in estimates of the impact of screen watching during childhood on educational performance. The new data do not prove any simple causality. Nevertheless, an association between viewing and lower academic achievement remained after allowance had been made for the children’s intelligence quotients, their behavioural problems and their socio-economic status.

Critics in universities in Cardiff and London have commented on the possible connections between habits and studies. Even if the mechanisms are not well understood from the angle of the psychiatrist, it has been argued, the nature of the television programmes which a child watches may be harmful to certain individuals, and it would be sensible to set a limit on the viewing habits of schoolchildren.

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Chemical and bacteriological complications of a natural disaster

We are made increasingly aware of the enormous destruction brought about by Hurricane Katrina along the US Gulf Coast. A commentary in Nature for 15 September underlines some of the chemical and bacteriological complications that tend to be overlooked.

Samples of the flood waters that swept the residential areas of New Orleans have revealed dangerous levels of lead compounds and coliform bacteria, and a detailed examination of the problem is promised by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Apart from the expected sewage contamination, the New Orleans waters contain a wide range of noxious chemicals, since some 15,000 submerged motor vehicles may have leaked petrol, oil and antifreeze, while hundreds of thousands of homes have contributed asbestos from insulation, lead from paint, household pesticides, cleaners and solvents. And chemical may be leaching through the liners of flooded agricultural landfill sites.

So far the agency has tested the flood waters for more than 100 chemicals, including volatile organic compounds, pesticides, herbicides and polychlorinated biphenyls. In one residential area there were dangerous concentrations of lead.

Of a dozen samples of flood water taken over three days, 10 exceeeded the maximum detection level of 2,400 colonies of Escherichia coli. The recommended limit is 126 colonies per sample. A thousand drinking water systems and a hundred waste water systems have been rendered unsafe. Moreover, many old wooden homes in New Orleans may have soaked up toxic compounds from the contaminated mud and will have to be destroyed.

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