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Vataireopsis amroba. A plant for treating skin diseases

The wood of the tropical tree Vataireopsis araroba produces an exudate containing anthranoids (Goa powder, chrysarobin) which was used for topical treatment of psoriasis and other skin diseases. However, today it is larger obsolete and has been replaced by the synthetically… Read More

Through the. specific anatomy of their lungs enclosed in the shell, the rhythtmic system of turtles is less autonomous than in other reptiles, higher animals or the human being. This correlates with an openness to the influences of annual rhythms in the environment. Such openness is at its most extreme in the North American Freshwater turtles,… Read More

Continuous movement - ocean currents between sun and earth

Ocean currents develop in the energy fields between sun and earth‚ between the heat that comes from the sun and the salt that comes from the earth. They serve to balance out the heat of the climatic zones and transport gases and nutrients. The biggest ocean current, the… Read More

The upright position in the evolution: ‘Why is the fluke of the Whale shaped horizontally?’

Dolphins and whales are water-based mammals and differ in various characteristics from fish, the predominant water species. A comparison of those two animal groups provides helpful insights into basic concepts of evolution. Evolutionary research… Read More

Periphery and centre — indicators for inversions in plant growth

Goethe said 'that nature has no secrets that she does not somewhere present naked to the eyes of the attentive observer' (Annals of 1790). A secret in two senses, i.e. not only for our inspection but also for our understamling, is the changing shape of the organ in the… Read More

Goethe's and Schiller's Xenien on 'The Philosophers'

The Xenien is a series of satirical epigrams that Johnnn Wolfgang von Goethe und Friedrich Schiller first published in 1797 in Schiller's Musenalmanach. The name Xenien was coined by the Roman poet Martial (1st century AD) who thus named the 13th book of his Martial Epigrams which… Read More

Archetypal experiments for conceptualising both the polarisation of light and the optical activity of a substance while staying close to the phenomena

In the 17"‘ century, C. Huygens described the 'phénornéne merveilleux', a 'wonderful' optical experiment with two calcite (Iceland spar) crystals. ln connection with this, a series of… Read More

Greater spearwort (Ranunculus lingua L.)

Ranunculus lingua L. is a member of the buttercup family. It has petioleless, lanceolate leaves and grows in water close to the bank and reaches a height of 1.5 m. Göbel (unpublished) and SUCHANTKE (2009) have shown that in the genus Ranunculus, with its multitude of leaf forms, the respective… Read More

Sketch of an organismic systems biology

Biology has been dominated for a long time by two contrasting explanations and research approaches: reductionism and holism. This article shows that both views are one-sided and that a new synthesis can be developed. We develop a fundamental concept of the organism starting from the earlier… Read More

Metamorphosis in the biography of an artist Philippe Lambercy, ceramist (1919-2006)

Philippe Lambercy was one of the pioneers of modern ceramics. He left behind a wide range of works including pottery, ceramic sculptures, installations and architectonic works, especially reliefs on public und private buildings. He also left drawings,… Read More