Loss Of Innocence Essays (800 words) - English-language Films

Loss Of Innocence The Loss of Innocence Certain childhood experiences are missed out by some people because of mishaps early on in life. Any unfortunate event could cause the loss of innocence and make a child mature before his or her time. This event or experience would cause them to sacrifice their innocence. Many pieces of literature contain the loss of innocence as a theme. Examples of these would be The Scarlet Letter, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and The Catcher in the Rye. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a novel that shows the theme of the loss of innocence. Although it is not a major theme, it can be used to describe Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne. Hester treated Pearl like the sin she committed, adultery, so she grew up like it. Hester pleaded to keep Pearl because ?all that she had was the scarlet letter and her child. She is the living evidence of Hester's crime and she is a part of her mother's shame. The scarlet letter printed on Hester's chest is there to remind everyone of Hester's guilt, which is something Pearl did as well. When Hester and Pearl went to see Governor Bellingham, Hester told them how she felt about her daughter. Sadly, she felt almost the same thing the Puritans did. However she also declared her love for Pearl. ?She is my happiness - she is my torture, none the less. Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too!?. The Puritans thought that this little girl was influenced by the devil. She was a little like the bearer of the truth. None of the other children were allowed around Pearl so she had no friends. She had a lot to handle as a child so this compromised her innocence. Pearl was being punished for her mother's sins and she wasn't accepted as a normal child her age would be. She had too much to bear at a young age. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which was written by Mark Twain, Huck matures quickly because he has to help Jim escape the ill fortune of slavery. He is torn between the values of society and his young, innocent conscience. He is tormented by the thought of turning Jim in and doing what everyone else thinks is right or staying loyal to his new-found companion. He also has to use his intelligence to get down the river and bring Jim to safety. By making these decisions he is no longer a child. He loses innocence and becomes an adult because he doesn't have to make the decisions a child his age normally has to. Their were numerous occasions in The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, where loss of innocence was used as a theme. The first, was when Holden broke the window when Allie died. Losing his brother was a hard time for him. For him, Allie was the definition of innocence. This was because Allie was a child when he died. He didn't grow to be an adult and become corrupted. Another major time is when he is talking about the children in the Rye field. Them falling off of the edge is their fall from innocence. Holden wanted to save them from losing their innocence, so he wanted to catch them before they fell. He wanted to catch them before they became greedy and careless. In this novel, one is repeatedly reminded of what Holden thinks of everyone but himself. He hated society so much that he would leave school because of it. When asked why he left his previous school he replied, ?One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies. They were coming in through the goddam window.? Holden's parents can also be a factor in his obsession with keeping innocence. They tried to confine him to be like them in their world. That was something he didn't want. To him all adults, including his parents, were corrupted. They were phonies. This was the reason he wanted his sister to say the way she was and the same age she was. Along with his younger brother, Holden's younger sister was the one person

Free Essays on Yes

Anxiety Disorders By: Zebra Anxiety is a normal reaction to a threatening situation and results from an increase in the amount of adrenaline from the sympathetic nervous system. This increased adrenaline speeds the heart and respiration rate, raises blood pressure, and diverts blood flow to the muscles. These physical reactions are appropriate for escaping from danger but when they cause anxiety in many situations throughout the day, they may be detrimental to a normal lifestyle. An anxiety disorder is a disorder where feelings of fear, apprehension, or anxiety are disruptive or cause distortions in behavior, (Coon, 526); they are psychiatric illnesses that are not useful for normal functioning. At times, an underlying illness or disease can cause persistent anxiety. Treatment of the illness or disease will stop the anxiety. Anxiety illnesses affect more than 23 million Americans with about 10 million Americans suffering from the most common, general anxiety disorder . (Harvard, 1). Common anxiety disorders are panic attacks (panic disorder), phobias, and general anxiety disorder (GAD). Panic attacks Panic attacks can begin with a feeling of intense terror followed by physical symptoms of anxiety. A panic attack is characterized by unpredictable attacks of severe anxiety with symptoms not related to any particular situation. (Hale, 1886). The person experiencing the attack may not be aware of the cause. Symptoms include four or more of the following: pounding heart, difficulty breathing, dizziness, chest pain, shaking, sweating, choking, nausea, depersonalization, numbness, fear of dying, flushes, fear of going crazy. Heredity, metabolic factors, hyperventilation, and psychological factors may contribute to anxiety causing panic attacks. (Hale, 1886) Panic disorder tends to run in families with first degree relatives of patients having four to seven times greater risk than the general population. Metabolically, the levels of three... Free Essays on Yes Free Essays on Yes Anxiety Disorders By: Zebra Anxiety is a normal reaction to a threatening situation and results from an increase in the amount of adrenaline from the sympathetic nervous system. This increased adrenaline speeds the heart and respiration rate, raises blood pressure, and diverts blood flow to the muscles. These physical reactions are appropriate for escaping from danger but when they cause anxiety in many situations throughout the day, they may be detrimental to a normal lifestyle. An anxiety disorder is a disorder where feelings of fear, apprehension, or anxiety are disruptive or cause distortions in behavior, (Coon, 526); they are psychiatric illnesses that are not useful for normal functioning. At times, an underlying illness or disease can cause persistent anxiety. Treatment of the illness or disease will stop the anxiety. Anxiety illnesses affect more than 23 million Americans with about 10 million Americans suffering from the most common, general anxiety disorder . (Harvard, 1). Common anxiety disorders are panic attacks (panic disorder), phobias, and general anxiety disorder (GAD). Panic attacks Panic attacks can begin with a feeling of intense terror followed by physical symptoms of anxiety. A panic attack is characterized by unpredictable attacks of severe anxiety with symptoms not related to any particular situation. (Hale, 1886). The person experiencing the attack may not be aware of the cause. Symptoms include four or more of the following: pounding heart, difficulty breathing, dizziness, chest pain, shaking, sweating, choking, nausea, depersonalization, numbness, fear of dying, flushes, fear of going crazy. Heredity, metabolic factors, hyperventilation, and psychological factors may contribute to anxiety causing panic attacks. (Hale, 1886) Panic disorder tends to run in families with first degree relatives of patients having four to seven times greater risk than the general population. Metabolically, the levels of three...

Ticks, Suborder Ixodida

Ticks, Suborder Ixodida The parasitic arachnids we call ticks all belong to the suborder Ixodida. The name Ixodida derives from the Greek word ixÃ… dÄ“s, meaning sticky. All feed on blood, and many are vectors of diseases. Description: Most adult ticks are quite small, the largest reaching about 3mm in length at maturity. But when engorged with blood, an adult tick can easily expand to 10 times its normal size. As adults and nymphs, ticks have four pairs of legs, like all arachnids. Tick larvae have only three pairs of legs. The tick life cycle has four stages: egg, larva, nymph, and adult. The female lays her eggs where the emerging larva is likely to encounter a host for its first blood meal. Once fed, it molts into the nymph stage. The nymph also requires a blood meal, and may go through several instars before reaching adulthood. The adult must feed on blood a final time before producing eggs. Most ticks have a three-host life cycle, with each stage (larva, nymph, and adult) finding and feeding on a different host animal. Some ticks, however, remain on a single host animal for their entire life cycle, feeding repeatedly, and others require two hosts. Classification: Kingdom – Animalia Phylum – ArthropodaClass – ArachnidaOrder – AcariGroup - ParasitiformesSuborder - Ixodida Habitat and Distribution: Worldwide, there are nearly 900 species of ticks known and described. The vast majority (about 700) of these are hard ticks in the family Ixodidae. Approximately 90 species occur in the continental U.S. and Canada. Major Families in the Order: Ixodidae – hard ticks Argasidae – soft ticks Genera and Species of Interest: Both the blacklegged or deer tick (Ixodes scapularis) and the western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus) can transmit the bacterium that causes Lyme disease.Proteins in the saliva of the Rocky Mountain wood tick, Dermacentor andersoni, can cause paralysis in its hosts, which include cattle, horses, dogs, sheep, and humans. Boophilus ticks are parasites of large hoofed mammals, and complete their life cycle on a single host. Amblyomma nuttali holds the record for the largest clutch of eggs produced by a single tick – over 22,000! Sources: Borror and DeLongs Introduction to the Study of Insects, 7th edition, by Charles A. Triplehorn and Norman F. Johnson.Synopsis Of The Described Arachnida Of The World, Texas AM University Entomology Dept. Accessed online December 31, 2013.The Encyclopedia of Entomology, 2nd edition, edited by John L. Capinera.The Distribution of Ticks, Centers for Disease Control. Accessed online December 31, 2013.Order Ixodida – Ticks, Bugguide.net. Accessed online December 31, 2013.Tick Biology, the Tick App, Texas AM University Entomology Dept. Accessed online December 31, 2013.

Acute pancreatitis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Acute pancreatitis - Essay Example The very first assessment involved collecting the patient’s blood sample for testing and the results indicated that she had increased levels of digestive enzymes known as serum amylase. When these enzymes leak out of a malfunctioning pancreas, some is taken up into the blood, where high levels may be detected. As with other inflammatory condition, C-reactive protein (CRP) was also reported to be high. Higher levels of CRP indicate other serious diseases with a poor prognosis. Together with such signs and symptoms as sudden bloated stomach, abdominal pain, and ultrasound, the above increases attested to the presence of gall stones. In addition, a swollen pancreas was an indication that Mrs A was suffering from acute pancreatitis. This essay will define acute pancreatitis; explains its aetiology; its associated pathophysiology; as well as its pertinent epidemiology. It also looks at two interventions (examination of the levels of blood glucose and intravenous paracetamol adminis tration) that were applied in the management of the patient’s condition and gives an appraisal of the care applied towards meeting her needs. Although pancreatitis may be acute or chronic (Smith & Fawcett, 2006), the focus of this paper is on acute pancreatitis. As Smith & Fawcett explain, the pancreas is an elongated, slender organ located at the left upper side of the abdomen. Acute pancreatitis refers to a kind of inflammation that occurs rapidly causing an elevated level of pancreatic enzymes in the blood as well as upper abdominal pain (Zara, 2010). Acute pancreatitis occurs in two types namely necrotizing acute pancreatitis and interstitial pancreatitis, which accounts for eighty percent of all cases of acute pancreatitis (Zara, 2010). Research by the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) (2005) indicates that in the United Kingdom, the frequency of acute pancreatitis is getting higher – it ranges from 150-420 cases for every million populations. Acute pancre atitis may result from surgery, drugs, or trauma (Burruss & Holz, 2005). However, alcohol and gallstones bring lead to about eighty per cent of this condition (BSG, 2005). Nevertheless, Sargent (2006) explains that ten percent of acute pancreatitis could be idiopathic, meaning that a diagnostic cause has not been recognized. Ultra sound results on Mrs A confirmed that she had gallstones. Finding out her condition’s underlying root could consequently greatly enhance her condition’s management and it may as well assist in the prevention of more attacks. Even though it is generally agreed that this condition entails an intricate flow of incidents that begin in the acinar cell of the pancreas, it is not clear the way in which the particular method through which acute pancreatitis arises (Madhav et al., 2005). According to Parker (2004), one generally acceptable and common presumption is the fact this condition results from pancreatic acini’s disruption or injury, wh ich allows the seepage of such enzymes from the pancreas as elastase, chymotrypsin as well as trypsin into pancreatic tissue. The seeped enzymes are activated in this tissue, thereby instigating auto digestion as well as acute pancreatitis, as Parker explains (2004). Elastase, trypsin, and lipase activation breaks the cell membranes as well as the tissue down, leading to vascular destruction, haemorrhage, necrosis, as well as oedema (Madhav, et al., 2005). Once this takes place, it leads to an abrupt incisive pain in the upper abdominal region further (Holcomb, 2007). In most cases, the ache spreads out s to the backside and in most cases, it is linked to vomiting along with nausea. The

Persuasive letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Persuasive letter - Essay Example As well, our budget does not allow for the kind of production that you have presented and so we have therefore decided to go with a different option. Please feel free to resubmit with us again for next year’s event. We found your ideas interesting and if you provide a stronger application with more research prior to the presentation, we would love to consider using your ideas. As well as the research considering city codes and policies, we would like to see more thoroughly organized plans for building the production so that we are reassured that you can provide the production that you are promising. While we loved the illustrations and the ideas, we were unclear as to how the construction was going to be accomplished. While budget is our main concern, we were also concerned that the process that would give us the production had not been fully considered. We would love to see a similar presentation that has been modified to fit within our budget and that has been completed with engineered plans and potential problems with the city researched. Once again, while this year we have chosen to use another company, we were impressed with your presentation and look forward to seeing you participate next year. We were very interested in your ideas. While we have gone a different way, we find that the production you have offered can provide a potential benefit for our marketing purposes should you be able to provide a more thoroughly researched project that satisfies the issues that can arise from such an undertaking. I want to thank you for the meeting we had on Thursday. The presentation that you gave was creative and offered many wonderful ideas. Unfortunately, we will be unable to use your company at this time. The ideas that you presented were innovative and creative, however we are unsure that the city will allow for balloons of that size to occupy the space of the street. As you were unable to provide us with information on the policies of the

The Domestication Of Wild Animals History Essay

The Domestication Of Wild Animals History Essay The Fertile Crescent has been called the Cradle of Civilization for many years. The Cradle of Civilization is the key to understanding when the human population began to thrive and create villages, cities, and ultimately states. Without the domestication and cultivation of the land there would have never been enough food to support such a dense population of people. Hunting and collecting entirely from the wild could not possibly support even a tiny fraction of the worlds current population (Bellwood, 1). There were seven core domesticates in the Fertile Crescent, they include sheep, goats, pigs, cattle, emmer wheat, einkorn wheat and barley. All of these species were domesticated and had an important role in the Fertile Crescent throughout the two millennia emergence of agrarian societies between 10000 and 8000 B.P. We can best understand the events of this period by first focusing on the developmental history of the individual species of animals and plants that were brought under d omestication, and then combining those individual histories into the more complex overall story in the emergence of the agriculture in the region (Smith, 51). However due to the confines of this paper we will take an in depth look at the animals domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. The story of the Fertile Crescent starts before the emergence of the hunter- gatherers, who were ravaging the forests and grass lands. By 10000 B.P. the beginning of the 2000 year period that would witness the development of agriculture, human societies had taken advantage of the post-Pleistocene proliferation of plant and animal resources, and the Fertile Crescent was inhabited by a diverse array of hunter-gatherer societies (Smith, 51). The Pleistocene era had ended with a much warmer climate that also brought a much moister climate to the area. This climate change was one that favored the wild annual cereal grasses (Sagan, 249). Also it allowed the sparse movement of hunter-gatherer groups to move in to the area. It was there that they discovered that a more sedentary lifestyle produced more of a surplus of food and then that of foraging. The Fertile Crescents environmental zones are keys to understanding the development of the domestications of the animals (and plants). There are three main environmental zones involved in the origin of cultivation in the Fertile Crescent. The eastern section of which comprises the foothills and margins of the Zagros Mountains (Maisels 133). The central or the north is mostly made up of the broad rolling grasslands. And lastly, the western section whose central axis is the important Levantine corridor and Jordan Valley (Smith, 51). There were many changes that occurred due to the domestication of animals (and plants). These changes were many times become genetic due to the consistent selection of the more adequately produced products. In wild grains, the axis or rachis is brittle, which allows the grain to reseed itself easily. Selection of the grains was at first an accidental by-product of harvesting, and later intentionally, the people selected grains in which the axis was tougher, allowing less grain to fall to the ground, thus raising yields (Sagan 247). They also selected plants that were more easily husked. The people used the same natural selection process when choosing livestock. They selected woolly animals from among wild sheep, which are not normally woolly, thus acquiring sheep better suited to lowland heat and from which to obtain wool. Fossil remains indicate that the domestication of the sheep and goat was accompanied by a decrease in the size of the animal. The animals domesticated in the Fertile Crescent were a key to the development of the humans in the area. The readily available source of meat aided in the functions of the brain, which led to the ability to think more complexly and creatively. The brain is fueled by protein therefore with more protein in the diet the mind began to develop more completely. Thus the importance of the domestication of the animals to the human race, without having to hunt for the meat they were getting a more readily available source of protein (Wilkinson 139). The Persian wild goat has been recognized as the ancestor to the first domesticated goat. The Persian wild goat tends to be found in the more rugged terrain. It is in the eastern section of the Fertile Crescent that we find the most evidence of goats being hunted for their meat. Specifically at the site of Ganj Dareh, which was excavated in 1970s, which found at the lowest level, which dates back to 9000 B.P. contained approximately 5000 identifiable goat bones (Old Goats). Brian Hesse of the University of Alabama at Birmingham studied these bones. He used a new analytical technique to try to piece together evidence of the domestication of goats. Hesse theorized that a domesticated herd should have two clear distinguishing characteristics: (1) a large percentage of animals slaughtered for meat late in their immaturity, when they had attained much of their adult size; (2) an adult breeding population in which females far outnumbered males (Smith, 60). Through complex measurements of t he bones discovered at Ganj Dareh, Hesse discovered that the males were being killed before they reached adult hood and the females overwhelmingly stood for most of the population. This stunning breakthrough specifies that an age and sex profile that closely agrees with that of a herd of domesticated goats managed to provide meat (Old Goats). Clear demographic evidence appears to indicate that goats were domesticated at Ganj Dareh as early as 9000 years ago. The increase of the proportions of goat bones among the animal remains is an indicator to the shift to goat herding. Wild Sheep were the second animal to be domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. The wild ancestor of domesticated sheep ranged throughout much of the Fertile Crescent. A large amount of evidence of wild sheep can be found in the central region (Sagon, 245). There is much data to indicate that the wild sheep was not an important prey in the areas of Levant. There is, however, evidence showing that the sheep were a prey in Jericho that date wild sheep back to 10000 to 9500 years ago (Wilkinson 149). The degree to which the hunter-gatherer societies in different parts of the Fertile Crescent relied on wild sheep for food parallels the animals abundance in their local environments 10000 to 8000 years ago. The wild sheep were most were most abundantly discovered in the central region. This is probably why around 8500 B.P. sheep were first domesticated in the central area of the Fertile Crescent. There, the land is better suited to the wild sheep thus they were a more common target for hunte rs in that area, leading to the domestication of the sheep. With the change from being wild to being domesticated, the sheep, according to the fossil record, got smaller due to the selection process of the humans tending to the animals. It is in the apex of the Fertile Crescent that sheep herding first became an important component of agricultural economies (Smith, 57). The pig was, as far as we know the third animal to be domesticated. Wild pigs were greatly hunted in the northern part of the central region. Facts have lead archeologist to date the bones of the wild pigs to 9000 B.P. The pigs continued to be a substantial part of the diet of the people in this northern area of the Fertile Crescent, even after the shift to the herding of sheep and goats (Sagan, 243). The site of Cayà ¶nà ¼ tends to be the marker for the earliest domesticated pig, in the vicinity of 8500 years ago. There have been some tentative theories that approximate the domestication of pigs to be closer to the date of 10000 B.P. (Smith, 67). It is Richard Redding who proposed this theory, which the bones of the pigs at Hallan Cemi, strongly represent the ages of bones of a possible herding community of pigs. However since we know nothing about the ages of the pigs that the hunters targeted we have no basis for making the claim that the pigs at Hallan Cemi were indeed domestic ated and herded. For now it remains unverified but the alluring prospect that pigs were domesticated much before the evidence now shows. Cattle were probably the last and least important of the four main animals that were domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. The ancestors of domesticate cattle were probably considered to be a dangerous pay due to the size of the animal. However, it was also a significantly large package of meat. The area in the Levant and Jordan Valley has dated wild cattle bones to approximately 9000 to 8000 years ago. Like the pigs the cattle had an exceptionally large geographical range and extended far beyond the Fertile Crescent. There has been clear documentation of a pattern that shows the reduction of size in the cattle between 8000 and 7000 B.P. While cattle may show to be of little importance to the region between 10000 and 8000 B.P. it later became the dominant species of the market (Smith, 56). Now that we have looked at the individual histories of the animals of four of the seven core domesticates of the Fertile Crescent we see many patterns are emerging. The four species share common lines of evidence that include; geographical range, increase in abundance, reduction in size and change in age/sex profiles (Smith, 67). This evidence has led to the indication that these histories were distinct and still follows the same indication of domestication. The goats were domesticated in the earliest portion of the period, at around 9000 B.P. Then the sheep, pigs and cattle soon followed after approximately 300 years after the domestication of the goats. After the domestication of animals (and plants) the small villages began becoming states, they were becoming more and more like a modern day civilization. The early stages of food production in the Middle East were marked by gradual transition from foraging to producing economies. Many changes were caused by the production and cultivation of food. Such changes include population increase, which caused the resulting migration and forced other areas to respond and begin their own cultivation of their resources. Also, there had been a gradual population increase; this was based on the native richness of the environment, which helped spur the spread of food production (Maisels, 140). On the other hand, in the Tigris-Euphrates alluvial plain, cultivation required irrigation, which began around 7000 B.P. and changed the world of farming. Irrigation allowed farming to spread away from the normal areas that were close to the riverbanks, by bringing the water away from the riverbanks the cult ivation began to strive. By 6000 B.P., irrigation systems had become far larger and more complex, and were associated with a new political system. This new establishment was based on central government, extreme contrasts of wealth, and social classes, the beginnings of the state (Wilkinson, 141). The written and archaeological record indicates that the early Mesopotamian states were city states (Sumer and Elam), ruled by a literate theocracy that managed virtually all major aspects of the economy, which was overwhelmingly agrarian. The theocracy was replaced by 4,500 B.P.; it was replaced by a secular, military monarchy, based upon an elaborate class system (Sagon, 300). Thus ended the revolution of modern humans in the world of cultivation we now knew use the animals (and plants) to our advantage. As time continues to slip by we find more and more ways to maximize the products we get from the domestication of animals (and cultivation of plants) (Sagan, 248). To sum everything up Southwest Asia was inhabited by small groups of hunter-gatherers. These groups, due to the climatic change, became more and more sedentary and begin to develop a source of food production. This production of food came from the domestication and cultivation of plants and animals. The herded animals provided a constant source of protein in their diet and allowed for the hunters to expend their energy in other areas of life. The cultivation of the plants allows for a reliable supply of grains in their diet. This made the people of this time able to support larger families, which turned into villages, cities, and ultimately states.

History of Spice Notes

History Of Spice Egyptians used a lot of spices for cooking and stuffed mummies Burned cinnamon to hide stench First recorded spice Traded spice with India Spice trade silk road All roads go to fertile crescent Arabs created a monopoly on the spice trade moving toward Europe Arabs Kept Europeans in the dark about the source of spices brought from India Created secrets and Myths Might boil seeds so Europeans couldn’t grow it Crusaders brought back new spices when they returned from battle which increased demand in Europe and had also developed a taste for spice increasing demand Spice Obsessions Only attainable by ruling classEmblems of power, gifts of state, heirlooms, currency Pepper: worth its weight in gold, used as currency Plagued by counterfeiting Dried juniper berries (added to extend pepper) Spice Obsession Theories Theory 1: Used spice as preservative (pepper) Not much evidence (salt works fine, local spices, afford fresh meat) Theory 2: Medicine Theory 3: Medieval pa late was dull Theory 4: Trade Route Inflation Middle man increase prices along silk road End of Obsession (17th century) Figure out you could grow spice Markets were saturated Moderate use of spice New groups of flavoring: chili’s coffee tea sugar, chocolate Pepper- Piper nigrumMost important spice economically America is the worlds largest importer Woody, perennial (3 seasons or more), tropical climbing vine No synchrony Monsoon tropical forests of Malabar coats, SW India Heat: Alkaloid irritants: piperine Inner core Aroma: From essential oil Pericarp, outershell Green pepper: comes from unripe berries (least hot) Black pepper: fully grown and dried White pepper: removed skin (hottest) Cinnamon: Cinnamomum verum Small evergreen tree in laurel family (true Cinnamon Ceylon) Native to Sri Lanka light flavor, fine texture, little Coumarin 2 yr old branches cut and fermented for 24 hrs nner bark peeled and dried to form quills Cassia (fake) evergreen native to India, Indonesia an d Vietnam Closely related, mostly US Thicker bark, whole tree used Heavy flavor, coarse texture, high coumarin Coumarin: appetite suppressing Medical/ research: antioxidant, antimicrobial, type II diabetes Saffron: Crocus sativus Iran major exporter, very expensive Perennial bulb, 2 flowers per bulb, completely domesticated 3 stigmas, manual harvest Egypt: Cleopatra, healers Disappeared with Roman Empire but came back as plague remedy Afghanistan: poppy vs. Saffron Flowers Pollination: the transfer of pollen from anther to stigmaCross pollination: Chance (pollen in air or water), or animals Mutualism, coevolution (trick or reward animals to pollenate) Egyptians thought divine power, blue lotus Ancient Greece: floral wreaths Ancient Rome: Floralia festival Christian: flowers where â€Å"pure† no sex Theophrastus: date palms pollinated by hand, proved reproduction Fall of roman empire, fall of flower, (great suspicion) Gained popularity Europe 600 AD Posies thought to ward off plague Saint Thomas: plants have reproductive virtues Linnaeus: taxonomic system based on flowers Botanophilia Victorian Age: women grew flowersSexual repression, low tolerance of crime, and strong social ethic Grew orchids (â€Å"a massive man-made extinction event†) Epiphytic plant: plant grow on another plant (non-parasitic) Orchidmania Biggest flowering plant family, highly evolved (very guarded against self-pollination), native species on every continent Grow slowly (7 yrs to mature and flower), long lived Catasetum orchid inspired Darwins early book Ghost orchid Tulipmania Extreme heterozygote First cultivated around turkey then moved to Holland Tulip breaking potyvirus (suppressed anthocyanin) (weakened plant) Spread by peach/potato aphidMutability, novelty, favored by royalty, bubonic plague era, scarcity/ demand 1635 shift, traded in future promissory notes â€Å"Greater Fool Theory† (1637 crash) Smell 1 0f 50 human genes in the human genome are devoted to sme ll Olfaction: sense of smell, chemical molecules Olfactory tract transmits signals to limbic system To smell must have Volatile: must easily evaporate Water soluble Lipid soluble Essential oils is what makes plants smell (2nd ary plant metabolite) Isolation of Essential Oils: heat effects the smell Expression: simplest, squeezed out, citrusDistillation: most used, boil, collect steam, condense to oil Solvent extraction: delicate flowers, grind up, steep in chemicals, then evaporate Effleurage: oldest method, plant material in fat, dissolve out fat Synthetic molecule Scent and Memory Proustian Effect: smell linked to memories, takes you back Scent marketing Billboard smell: makes bold statement (popcorn) Thematic smell: compliments decor (Christmas smell) Ambient smell: cover foul odor Signature smell Sugar (refers to many groups of carbohydrates) Monosaccharides: simple sugars, cant be broken down Glucose: basic source of energy (produced photosynthesis)Disaccharides: 2 monosacc. Ar e joined together and H2O removed Glucose: can from starch (storage in plants) or glycogen (storage in animals) Honey was the first sweetener used by humans Sugarcane Native to S/SE Asia, cultivated in India Large tropical grass, stores sucrose in internodes Stems crushed, boil sap, separate sugar crystals US 150 lbs/ yr consumed Arab traders brought to Mediterranean, sugar reached Europe after crusades, Columbus to Dominican Republic Labor first from indigenous people and forced labor from Europe Solve labor shortage imported slave British dominant traders in slaves and sugarSeen as unskilled and replaceable Malnutrition and starvation Triangle trade Sugar, rum to Europe; guns, salt, iron to Africa; slaves to Caribbean Sugar, molasses to America; rum to Africa, slaves to Car. Why so brutal? Very profitable, high demand, triangle trade Occurred in isolation â€Å"unskilled labor† abolitionists end in 1834 Chocolate Cacao tree Theobroma cacao, native tropical S America, Grows tall, hot climate, lots of rain, understory tree (shaded, damp) Cauliflory: flowers from trunk or large branches Each flower potential fruit, insect that pollinates only in understory Olmec, Mayan, AztecProcess Fermentation: pulp liquefied, seeds briefly germinate (choc. Flavor) Drying: lose weight, outer shell loosens Roasting: refines flavor Winnowing: removes outer shell Cravings Caffeine and theobromine (humans not very sensitive to ) Cannabinoid mimics Phenethylamines: chemicals associated with love Serotonin Coffee Coffea, understory tree, tropical evergreen, produc berries 3 yrs old Coffee fruit (drupe) contains 2 coffee â€Å"bean†s Center of origin Ethiopia highlands Coffea Arabica: 1st cultivated, wimpy (lower caffeine and yield) Coffea canephora (robusta): 2x caffeine, greater yieldShade Grown (traditional) coffee Originally understory trees Diverse habitat Minimal need for pesticides and fertilizers Sun Grown Coffee Monoculture system produced by clear cutting for est Increased fertilizers; herbicides and insecticides Increased soil erosion Coffee berry borer, natural predator ants Tea Popularity: tea, coffee, beer Camellia sinensis, evergreen tree/shrub China tea, 1st discovered and cultivated, cool climate, lower yield, lighter flavor Assam Tea, tree, less resistant to cold, high yields, brisk flavor Center or origin: chinaOxidation=fermentation Startch to sugar, tannins released Polyphenols: Antioxidant properties Catechines: 25% Concentrated in fresh, unbroken, unfermented Tannins 50%: break leaves tannins released Types Tulsi tea: related to mint, not china tea Medical/religious, India Hinduism Black: withered, full fermentation, crushed, dries (usually assam tea) brick Oolong: btw withered, short fermentation, rolled or ball form Green Tea: little withering, dried, high polyphenols (china tea) White tea: young leaves, no oxidation, higher catechins, healthyiest *