Insight

         For most folks, head lice and ticks were not a frequent topic of conversations during one's social gatherings. That is, unless you taught clinical parasitology! Many, many times such issues were discussed during my 20 plus years of educating individuals in various settings. Let's see now, medical schools (2nd year microbiology), residency programs, hospitals, emergency rooms, graduate schools and, oh yes ... back yard barbeques, neighborhood picnics, church parking lots, etc. you get the picture. Anyhow, here is a scan from my teaching collections.

         It is a scan from a woodcut (artist and engraver unknown), first printed Andrew Boorde [1548?] titled no less, The fyrst boke of the introduction of knowledge! What a deal. It is intending to show an Irishwomen picking lice from the head of a kern. All this to give the insight from another long ago.

            "You see a louse on someone else, but not a tick on yourself."   Petronius [d. 66 A.D.]

P.S. Woodcut from my RN # 23. Quote from my Jenney's FIRST YEAR LATIN, p. 229. [pub. 1959]

       Caius Petronius (d. 66 A.D.) described Elegantiae Arbiter ! Committed suicide by order Nero.

It's Constitutional

          Hardly a day expires among the many platforms of our American communication system, then one does not hear the following opinion [view, judgment, appraisal, conviction, sentiment or belief] ... 

                                                                "It's NOT Constitutional."

         Hum ... my mentalis mastication [see post of October 3rd, 2025] process finally responds ... well,

                                                                "What IS Constitutional?"

         There must be some interesting stories around this Constitutional thing declared to be in effect July 2, 1788! Wow, lots of stories here. My reference (scan of cover is shown) 

        On pages 38 -42 are the accounts from 1786 - 1788. Then on pages 430 -437 the articles are written (as written) of "THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES". Certainly, lots to read here! Anyway, with the 250th year about upon us, thought it would be appropriate to share some from the 200 Years of America [The Bicentennial Almanac]. 

         So here goes ... as time and my fingers typing permit ... my goal would be to give some information regarding what is Constitutional! Using the comment sections which follows, the "Articles" and "Sections" of at least the beginning of each article will be identified.

         Well, enough for this day. Here is the first statement.

               "We The People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common  defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION for the United States of America."

P.S. Please note that this is actually how "defence" is spelled in 1788!

We Are

        How do you contemplate such a title? Hum, ... let's see.

                  Homo sapiens sapiens ... yes ...,

                  One of 8 billion or so other folks out there ... not much help,

                  Just trying to survive on most days ... for many a reality ... well,

                  to the basics of my medical education (got to blame something) ...

                  We are the results of a genetic blueprint (genotype) initiated at the union of two unique cells called gametes. A single cell each from two different, individual agents! How about that. Simple enough ... yes?  Well, some assembly required along the way.

A Foundational Concept

        A favorite author (now-a-days) writes some 1/2 century ago, in his text (2nd edition, 1970) what could be considered a foundational basis to our existence. He writes, italics all mine:

        "We now know" ... [ written on page 14 of his 2nd chapter titled A mathematical description of the universe - imagine that! ] ... "that any object, however complex" ... [ object defined p. 784 Webster = something that is or capable of being seen, touched, or otherwise sensed ] ... "can be visualized as a sufficiently complicated structure" ... (whew) ... "built out of atoms," ... "and that the atom itself is a structure composed" ... (almost there) ... "of three fundamental particles, electrons, protons, and neutrons."

        What a deal! Written some 57 years ago. What do we now know?

Atkins, K.R., Physics Second Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., N.Y., 1970.

        A visual aid to those like me, a visual learner ... scanned from a text a few years before.

         The image is to show a carbon atom with 6 protons and 6 neutrons. The electrons circle about the nucleus suggesting their probable pattern of movement. Anyone for a spin?

Dull, C.E., Metcalfe, H.C., Williams, J.E., Modern Physics, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, N.Y. 1964.

Scan taken from page 158. This text first published 1955. My high school physics book.

Power

        Had to stop my reading for the day, caught by this quote it was. A question of mastery it was between two fellows from history. One named Hannibal and, the other fellow named Scipio. Both had the ambition of conquerors and, their contests were called The First Punic Wars (264 - 241 B.C.). Interesting reading you might say for the end of the week. But hey, conquerors one day, merchants the next, you know that commercial mentality! Anyway, here is the quote taken from Williams, The Historians' History Of The World -

                "It is notorious that the love of power grows with its acquisition." 

        From chapter X, volume 5, page 215. Not sure the names of the writers of this chapter, which was a group process written around 1904.

        Roman Arms and Standard seem appropriate here. Scanned from same text, volume 5, page 139. 

The Letters Day

        Simultaneously, two Uncles (my Jones side) and my Dad, assisted the many letters along their ways during my growing up years at Winchester, KY. During some of these years, the following patch was worn on the upper sleave as the symbol of Postal Service employment.

        Starting 1948 as a parcel post carrier, Dad moved to service four different city routes for around 25 years. In 1973 he transferred to his favorite letter delivery activity as a rural carrier of Routes 3, 6, and 2. The following picture taken one of these rural carrier days was one of his favorites. A "bird in the box" it was called. [For this story see post of December 12, 2016!]

   

         Anyhow, some years along these hallways of time a second patch was issued. Here it is.

        Don't ever remember Dad wearing this symbol on his sleave but, you need to compare this image to the much older. That poor horse rider was heading the opposite direction? Back to front ... front to back ... letters going or coming? Maybe ask the bird in the box above. A better comparison view would help this analysis.

        At least for these "Letter Days" [1948 - 1987] they arrived from my Dad, whichever way the horse rider was headed.
          

SNOW!

        Stay warm ... stay safe ... all you guys out there.