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1949_31 | A goods customer subsequently spoke of the M&C consequently using "their old station outside the city" but all M&CR passenger services were now obliged to run to London Road:
The station belonging to the Maryport and Carlisle Railway, situate in Crown Street, Carlisle, having suddenly been Removed by the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway on Saturday last, the Market Day, Notice is hereby given that, until further notice, the Maryport and Carlisle trains will run to and from the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway's station, London Road. The Public having been put to very great inconvenience by the sudden Removal of the above-named Station, and expressed great dissatisfaction thereon, it is only right to state that the directors of the Maryport and Carlisle Railway were not cognisant of, and consequently in no way to blame in this affair. |
1949_32 | After Hudson's lease was terminated,the M&CR continued to use London Road as its Carlisle terminus, paying the Newcastle Company £250 a year for the accommodation, until (1 June 1851) Citadel station became the M&CR's Carlisle terminus, with trains backing in from the Canal line as they had done in the days of Crown Street. M&CR goods business was then (January 1852) transferred from London Road to 'the Bog Station of the company'. |
1949_33 | On 8 August 1852, a direct M&CR line into the Citadel station was opened, crossing the Canal line on the level, and joining the Lancaster line at the south end of the station. A few weeks later, the Company opened its own goods station west of the new line. This was on Crown Street, but not on the site of the old M&CR station. Although commonly known as Carlisle Crown Street,local papers also referred to it as the Bog Station (although it was not on the site of the original station at Bogfield) to distinguish it from the L&NWR goods depot subsequently built also on Crown Street (and on the site of the old M&CR terminus); in 1924 (after grouping, when company names could no longer be used to distinguish between the depots) the ex-M&CR depot was renamed Carlisle (Bog). |
1949_34 | Reform and recovery
"It would appear that a worse state of things never was brought to light than this report has revealed to the public" said Herepath's Railway Journal of the 1850 committee's report, but much of the detail was challenged. |
1949_35 | A former company solicitor had helped the investigating committee, and there was charge and counter-charge as to the solicitor's role in the company's difficulties and hence whether the report was accurate or an exercise in score-settling, mud-slinging and rewriting of history aimed to exonerate him. Nonetheless, a way forward was agreed. Three of the committee were elected directors and sat (with the chairman and three old directors) on a managing committee, which a year later (with a change of chairman) became the company board. Loans were retired by the issue of two tranches of preference shares (which would receive the dividend on ordinary shares, should that be higher): (4% preference (up to the company's authorised share capital), 4.5% preference (when authorised capital was increased by the Act for the direct connection into Citadel) |
1949_36 | Passenger traffic was increased by the innovations of season tickets, cheap return tickets and faster trains, although the M&C avoided any timings that might interfere with its profitable goods traffic. Poor performance, poor facilities, and uncompetitive pricing by the M&CR had led to much of the coal raised in the northern coalfield going to Maryport by road, rather than rail; the shortcomings were addressed and the traffic won back. In 1857 (when of the 644,000 tons of coal shipped from West Cumberland 340,000 were shipped through Maryport) a larger dock (the Elizabeth Dock, covering 1.4 hectares) opened at Maryport, served by a short branch of the M&CR, built under an Act of 26 June 1855. Doubling the track became essential to accommodate the volume of mineral traffic and to facilitate reliable passenger services. This already been done from Maryport to Arkleby by 1847; it was extended to Wigton in 1858 (only after the widening of embankments). Doubling was then undertaken from |
1949_37 | the Carlisle end, the line being doubled throughout in November 1860 and passed for use by goods and passenger traffic 15 February 1861, double line operation throughout starting the next day. More coal waggons were purchased, and siding capacity increased. Coal exports from Maryport reached 466,000 tons/year by 1866; about 300,000 tons/year of this coming over the M&CR |
1949_38 | All expenditure now came under much closer scrutiny - "the advantages of careful auditing are strikingly exemplified in the progress of this company" said the Railway Times in 1853 when the dividend was 4%- but the M&C was not afraid to spend money to save money. To reduce maintenance costs, the original track (56 lb/yd rails laid on stone blocks) was re-laid (with 84 lb/yd rails, fish-jointed and laid on sleepers) as funds permitted over the late 1850s; cast iron wheels on the rolling stock were replaced with (more robust) malleable iron ones. The M&CR was one of the first railways to fuel their locomotives with coal, rather than the more expensive coke (1859); fuel costs for the first half of 1860 were estimated to have been reduced by over £900. In 1864 locomotives were reported to be 'greatly improved' by the fitting of steel axles and wheel tyres: the M&CR is thought to have been the first UK company to do this. |
1949_39 | By 1860 the dividend was 6.5% a year, and M&C shares were selling above par; by 1864 the dividend was 10% a year.
Expansion
The M&CR undertook two extensions to their network, both essentially defensive:
The Bolton loop |
1949_40 | In 1861 the Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway, wished to expand into the coalfield around Mealsgate and promoted a line from their Abbey station. Nothing came of the scheme, but the Maryport and Carlisle Railway was spurred to provide a connection from its own main line. It formed a loop (through the parish of Boltons) from Aspatria through Mealsgate back to the main line at Aikbank Junction. Mealsgate was reached over sustained gradients of 1 in 70 from Aspatria, 1 in 60 from Aikbank. The line opened to goods and mineral traffic on 2 April 1866, but the collieries did not develop as rapidly as had been expected, and the Aikbank end of the loop quickly became disused; track was removed in September 1869. Eventually the coal production picked up and on 1 October 1877 the Aikbank end of the line was reinstated and re-opened. Passenger traffic from Aspatria to Mealsgate began 26 December 1866; the intermediate station of Baggrow led to the name the Baggra Bus being given to the branch |
1949_41 | passenger train. On the reopening of the Aikbank end of the loop, a single daily mixed train ran on that also. |
1949_42 | The Derwent branch |
1949_43 | By the 1860s West Cumberland was producing huge quantities of coal, and (south of the area through which the M&CR ran) of good quality haematite iron ore, free of phosphorus and hence of a composition particularly suitable for the Bessemer process of steel making. An M&C shareholders' meeting in 1864 was told that 660,000 tons of ore had been mined in 1863, about a quarter of this going to Scotland by rail or by sea. Ironworks set up to smelt the ore locally found West Cumberland coal unsuitable, and better quality coal (or coke) had to be imported. The profits of the incumbent railways were correspondingly excellent; the M&CR over which much of the export of haematite to Scotland took place was paying dividends of 13% in 1873. Larger railway networks from outside the area started to take an interest and to defend its interests the M&CR promoted a Parliamentary Bill in 1865 to amalgamate with or lease five local companies. That found no support from the other companies and did not |
1949_44 | proceed, but to protect its territory the M&CR had also promoted the Derwent branch of six miles in the same session, and that was authorised on 19 June 1865. It was to run from a junction at Bullgill to Brigham on the Cockermouth and Workington Railway and usefully shorten the route between the West Cumberland orefield and the Solway Viaduct. |
1949_45 | While the line was being built, the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) acquired the Whitehaven Junction Railway and the Cockermouth and Workington Railway: exactly the outcome the M&CR had hoped to fend off. In self-defence the M&CR deposited a Bill for running powers over those lines that had been friendly before the takeover, but the LNWR negotiated terms on 2 April 1866: the M&CR got running powers east from Brigham to Cockermouth and west to the triangular Marron Junction; and four passenger services were to be operated daily by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR, successor to the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway) from Maryport to Whitehaven in connection with Carlisle trains there. The M&CR also secured a traffic sharing agreement for mineral traffic destined for Scotland: one half of such traffic arising from the ore field would run via Marron Junction, from where the M&CR would convey it northwards; the other half would travel via Whitehaven. The line opened to goods |
1949_46 | and mineral traffic on 12 April 1867 (about 50,000 tons of iron ore passing over it in the first half of 1868), and to passengers on 1 June 1867 (a through passenger service ran from Maryport to Cockermouth, reversing at Bullgill and again at Brigham). |
1949_47 | The Cleator and Workington Junction Railway obtained an Act in 1883 to build a line from Calva Junction, immediately north of Workington, to Brayton, where the Solway Junction Railway made a junction with the M&CR, with a view to getting direct access to Scotland via the Solway Viaduct. This was intended to lessen the dependence of the C&WJR on the L&NWR; in the event the Cleator and Workington came to an agreement with the M&CR, and the new line ran from Calva Junction only to Linefoot, on the M&CR Derwent branch, the M&CR granted running powers between there and Brayton. The line was 6½ miles long and very steeply graded; it opened to mineral traffic on 24 March 1887. A passenger service operated at the southern end, as far as Seaton, but except for a brief (September–November 1908) attempt at a Workington-Linefoot service only excursions and special passenger trains operated throughout, |
1949_48 | Boom and bust for iron
In the 1880s the iron industry continued to expand considerably, and if the focus of the processing of iron was at Workington, the principal port for export was Maryport. In 1884 Senhouse Dock there further expanded its facilities.
The boom was slowed somewhat by improvements in steel making (particularly the introduction of the Gilchrist Thomas 'basic' process, which by using a reactive lining allowed Bessemer converters to use ores with higher phosphorus content) and by the availability of cheap iron ore from Spain. However World War I increased demand and impeded overseas supply, so the local industry revived for a time. |
1949_49 | After 1918 a steep decline set in, with changes in the structure of the industry and increasing difficulty in mining haematite. One consequence of this was the closure of the Solway Viaduct by the Caledonian Railway which had taken over the Solway Junction Railway; from May 1922 the Maryport and Carlisle Railway worked trains (Abbey Junction to Brayton) on the Caledonian line south of the Solway which was now isolated from the rest of the Caledonian system . |
1949_50 | After Grouping (1923 - )
The Railways Act 1921 caused the "grouping" of the main line railways of Great Britain; this took effect at the beginning of 1923 and all the railways in the area became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) which at the end of February 1924 shut the Maryport carriage waggon and locomotive shops 'one of the industrial mainstays of the town'. This coincided with the steepest decline of the local mining and ironworks industries, and unemployment in Maryport reached 77% in 1931. The local railways were dependent on the prosperity of those industries, and many of the marginal routes became unsustainable. The Mealsgate to Aikbank Junction section closed on 1 August 1921, and the remaining Mealsgate to Aspatria section closed to passengers on 22 September 1930; it closed completely on 1 December 1952. The Derwent branch closed completely on 29 April 1935. |
1949_51 | Heavy industry in West Cumbria declined post-war, steel-making ceasing in the 1970s, deep-mining of coal in the 1980s, and whilst the main line between Carlisle and Maryport remains in use today the dominant traffic is the passenger service from Carlisle to Whitehaven and (less frequently) Barrow in Furness along the coast. |
1949_52 | Staff, rolling stock and stations
Locomotive superintendents
John Bulman fl.1846
Mr George Scott, ? - 1848
George Tosh, c1850-1870 : he pioneered the use of steel (instead of iron) in the construction of the company's locomotives, notably the boiler/firebox and wheels. This was the first such use in Britain.
Hugh Smellie, 1870-1878
J. Campbell, 1878-?
William Coulthard, 1898-1904
John Behrens Adamson, 1904-1922
Locomotives
The first locomotive was a 2-2-2 was built by the local firm Tulk and Ley of Lowca and delivered to Maryport by sea on a raft. Christened the Ellen, she had two cylinders (diameter 12", stroke 18") driving her 5-foot driving wheels, and weighed over 12 tons. A second locomotive, the Brayton "of immense power" (an 0-6-0 with 4 ft 6in wheels) was delivered in July 1841 to assist with the coal traffic;. |
1949_53 | In the following fourteen years five more engines were acquired from Lowca; a 2-2-2 named Harrison arrived in 1843, followed by two 0-4-2s: Lowca and Harris in 1845. A similar engine, named Cocker arrived in 1847. The final engine from Tulk and Ley was a 4-2-0 Crampton locomotive, in 1854. This was works no.17 and M&CR no.12. Seven locomotives were purchased from other suppliers, chiefly from R and W Hawthorn.
Statistics
An 1857 audit of the rolling stock reported it to consist of: "4 first class, 8 second class, 12 third class, and 1 composite carriages, 7 luggage and break vans, 3 horse boxes; 4 carriage trucks; 19 cattle trucks; 113 goods and other trucks ; 20 coke trucks ; 482 coal waggons ; and 13 locomotive engines"
The 1912 statistics of the line included the following information:
rolling stock: 28 locomotives, 56 coaching vehicles and 1667 goods vehicles of various kinds
colours: locomotives - green; carriages - cream with green bodies; wagons - lead colour. |
1949_54 | Location list
Note: the date of opening of the first portion of the railway to Arkleby, and of the passenger stations on it, are uncertain. A special directors' train ran on 15 July 1840 but Quick says that the safest date for public opening to passengers is Autumn 1840. |
1949_55 | (Docks);
Maryport; see note above;
Dearham Bridge; see note above; referred to in M&C documents both as 'Dearham Bridge'(1842) & (1853) and as 'Dearham' (1864) but 'Dearham' to local papers until a station of that name opened on the Derwent Valley line; closed 5 June 1950;
Bull Gill; see note above; later Bullgill; closed 7 March 1960; later convergence of Derwent Valley line, see below;
Arkleby; see note above; closed 1 January 1852;
Aspatria; opened 12 April 1841; divergence of Mealsgate branch, see below;
Brayton; originally a private station; possibly 10 February 1845; opened to public 1 March 1848; closed 5 June 1950;
Low Row; opened 2 December 1844; it was a temporary terminus, and it closed either on 10 January 1845 when the line was extended to Brookfield or when Leegate opened
Leegate; opened 2 February 1848; closed 5 June 1950;
Aikbank Junction; convergence of line from Mealsgate; |
1949_56 | Brookfield; temporary terminus opened 2 December 1844; closed 10 February 1845 when the line was extended to Low Row;
Wigton; opened 10 May 1843;
Crofton; private station opened about 1856; closed 1954 but already out of use;
Curthwaite; opened 10 May 1843; closed 12 June 1950;
Dalston; opened 10 May 1843;
Cummersdale; opened October 1858; Saturdays only until May 1879 (Saturday was Carlisle market day); closed 18 June 1951 but occasional later use;
Carlisle Water Lane; also known as Bogfield; opened 10 May 1843; replaced by Carlisle Crown Street;
Bog Junction;
Carlisle Crown Street; opened 30 December 1844; some trains were diverted to London Road 1848; closed 17 March 1849. |
1949_57 | Derwent line
Brigham; opened 28 April 1847; closed 18 April 1966; junction station on Cockermouth and Workington line;
Papcastle; opened 1 June 1867; closed 1 July 1921; some later unadvertised use;
Dovenby Lodge; opened as private station, see below, possibly 1 June 1867; made public 1896; closed 29 April 1935;
Linefoot; opened 1 September 1908; closed after November 1908; junction station for Cleator and Workington Junction Railway;
Dearham; opened 1 June 1867; closed 29 April 1935;
Bullgill; above.
Bolton loop
Aspatria; above;
Baggrow; opened 26 December 1866; closed 22 September 1930;
Allhallows Colliery : opened 1922; closed 1928: Unadvertised halt for colliery workmen;
Mealsgate; opened 26 December 1866; closed 22 September 1930;
High Blaithwaite; opened 1 October 1878; closed 1 August 1921;
Aikbank Junction; above.
Private stations
There were two private stations on the line, at Dovenby and at Crofton; |
1949_58 | A private railway station owned by a lady is a novelty even amongst such novelties... About 3 miles north of Cockermouth, in the parish of Bridekirk, lies the beautiful Dovenby Hall. This charming residence and the adjoining estate are the property of Mrs. Ballantyne Dykes, and that lady has had built for her own use and enjoyment a small railway station on her estate. The station is, therefore, absolutely a private one. It is no toy station, either, but a real practical one, and its several rooms and platform are just as well fitted up, and just as properly used, as those of more pretentious stations. There is a booking-office which issues tickets when required, though certainly the "booking-clerk" is not overtaxed, nor has he ever any of the rush familiar to his confrères at Liverpool Street or Waterloo. There is a miniature waiting-room that is often used by the family in residence at the Hall, or by their guests. The small private station of "Dovenby" is on the system of the |
1949_59 | Maryport and Carlisle Railway, whose whole extent of railway lines does not amount to 50 miles. The private station we are speaking of lies upon what is known as the Derwent branch of the line, and lies between the two more important stations of Papcastle and Dearham. In the summer time Dovenby station is quite a delightful spot, and much more attractive to the traveller than most larger stations. |
1949_60 | There is another private railway station on the little line that connects Carlisle and Maryport, beside the one already mentioned existing at Dovenby. This second one is at the village of Crofton, near Wigton. Crofton Hall lies about three miles from the latter town, and its owner is Sir Musgrave Brisco Bart., who enjoys the rights and privileges pertaining to the ownership of a private railway station on his estate. His station is in all respects a private one, not being open to the public at all. When you travel along the line from Carlisle to Curthwaite and get out at the latter station, you are then only a mile away from the pretty private station at Crofton, which is called after the owner's place. It is a very nice spot to possess, both the residence and the station. But it would not be true to say that Crofton, despite all its charm and beauty, is actually the prettiest of the private stations dealt with in this article. |
1949_61 | Preservation
Only one piece of original Maryport & Carlisle rolling stock survives; No. 11 6w Full Third, built in 1875 is preserved on the Chasewater Railway amongst other significant vintage stock. Unlike most vintage 1800s carriages, this one has been preserved with its original underframe because it was sold to a colliery in the 1930s. It is currently awaiting restoration to start with most of the body being intact.
See also
Carlisle railway history
Cumbrian Coast Line (history)
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
The Maryport and Carlisle Railway
Solway Plain past and present M&CR (archived copy)
Cumbrian Railways Association
Early British railway companies
Pre-grouping British railway companies
London, Midland and Scottish Railway constituents
History of Cumbria
Railway companies established in 1837
Railway lines opened in 1845
British companies established in 1837 |
1950_0 | The text of Domesday Book, the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086 executed for William I of England, was first edited by Abraham Farley in the 1770s. The first facsimile edition of the manuscripts was made in a project led by the cartographer Henry James in the 1860s. An English translation of the Latin text for most counties was published by Victoria County History (VCH) during much of the 20th century.
A new English translation of the entire text was prepared for the Phillimore Edition, published 1975–1992 for Phillimore & Co under the general editorship of John Morris. The Phillimore Edition is synoptic, placing its translation alongside a facsimile of Farley's edition, and is published in a separate volume for each county. The Phillimore translation did not, however supersede the VCH one as the most authoritative. |
1950_1 | The Alecto Editions are a series of high-quality bibliophile facsimiles published 1985–1992, with a new English translation in two separate volumes. The Alecto editorial board produced a corrected and standardized translation based on the VCH text. Penguin Books reprinted the Alecto Editions translation in a single volume published in hardback in 2002 and in paperback in 2003.
A digital edition of manuscript facsimile images alongside the text of the Phillimore translation was published as the "Domesday Explorer" on CD-ROM in 2000, publicly accessible as an online database since 2008. |
1950_2 | Abraham Farley's edition (1773–1783)
Domesday Book was an item of great interest to the antiquarian movement of the 18th century. This was the age of the county history, with many accounts of the English shires being published at this time, and Domesday Book, as a property record of early date that happened to be arranged by county, was a major source for the medieval history of all the counties encompassed by the survey.
The reconstituted Society of Antiquaries of London, founded in 1717 by Humfrey Wanley, John Bagford and John Talman, made it part of its mission to work towards the publication of a wide variety of ancient records, including Domesday. The Society struggled to achieve its aims, however, being afflicted by its members' limited resources and sheer lack of enthusiasm. |
1950_3 | Nevertheless, after the purchase of a Royal Charter in 1751, the possibility of publishing Domesday became more realistic. In 1756 Philip Carteret Webb read a paper to the Society emphasising the great value of Domesday Book, and by implication the urgent need for a published edition: this paper was printed by the printing press of William Bowyer. The following year, in response to Webb's request, members reported back to the Society regarding existing printed and MS transcripts from Domesday Book, with the intention of compiling material that might be of assistance in the task of compiling an edition. This effort did not bear fruit.
In 1767, however, for reasons that may be connected to this renewal of interest in Domesday Book, plans were set in motion for the publication of a complete, scholarly edition of Domesday: this coincided with a programme of publication of other public records, including the Parliament Rolls. |
1950_4 | In March 1767 Charles Morton (1716–1799), a librarian at the British Museum, was put in charge of the scheme; a fact which caused resentment towards him from Abraham Farley, a deputy chamberlain of the Exchequer who for many years had controlled access to Domesday Book in its repository at the Chapter House, Westminster, and furthermore had been involved in the recent Parliament Rolls printing operation. In 1768 Farley complained to the Treasury that he, not Morton, should be in charge of the project, while Morton, for his part, complained that he was being obstructed in his work by the staff at the Chapter House. |
1950_5 | The government, meanwhile, had become concerned at the spiralling cost estimates – Morton indicated in 1770 that to continue would cost £4,525 on top of the £2,810 he had already spent. At this point, Farley was remembered, and he became co-editor of the work. Farley and Morton's rivalry precluded an enduring, constructive relationship, and after 1774 Farley was effectively in sole charge.
Farley pursued the task with a single-minded devotion born of long involvement with the public records, and Domesday Book in particular. One of his closest associates during the project was the printer John Nichols, inheritor of William Bowyer's London printing press, who in 1773 had developed the special "record type" typeface that was used in the published edition to represent as closely as possible the script in Domesday Book itself. Ultimately, Farley's edition of Domesday was completed by 15 March 1783. |
1950_6 | Although of a high standard, Farley's work lacked supplementary material and indices. In 1800, therefore, the Record Commission ordered the printing of indexes to Farley's work. These were compiled under the direction of Sir Henry Ellis and published in 1816, together with an edition of four "satellite surveys" – the Exon Domesday, the Liber Winton, the Inquisitio Eliensis and the Boldon Book.
The photozincographic edition (1861–1863)
The circulation of Farley's edition was so limited that it could not be truly accounted a work that significantly increased public access to Domesday Book. That was to take place only in 1861, with the production of the first photozincographic facsimile edition of Domesday. |
1950_7 | The driving force behind the project was Colonel Henry James, the Director General at the Ordnance Survey. The process involved the transferring of a photograph onto zinc or stone, which could then be used directly for printing or, alternatively, onto the waxed surface of a copper plate where the image formed a guide for engraving. It was a system that enabled facsimile reproduction en masse and thus, following a meeting with William Ewart Gladstone in 1859, in which James was allegedly asked by the then-Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he "knew of any process by which some of our ancient manuscripts in the Record Office could be copied", James emphasised the superiority of this process over other reproductions, such as lithography, which used heavy and brittle stone blocks and claimed that the process would be ideal for making cheap facsimile copies of Domesday Book. |
1950_8 | In a letter to the assistant Secretary to the Treasury, George Hamilton in October 1860, James outlined the cost of a complete reproduction of Domesday Book as an estimated £1575 for 500 copies or, alternatively, £3. 3s. per copy. James further outlined the cost of a single county to demonstrate the affordability of the process, using Cornwall as an example of one of the shorter entries in the volumes (eleven folio pages) and estimating the cost of 500 copies to be £11. 2s. 4d. On 14 January 1861, James was granted permission to photo-zincograph the Cornwall fragment of Domesday Book as a Treasury-funded experiment to determine the success of the process and, consequently, by 1863 the Ordnance Survey had photozincographed Domesday Book in its entirety, publishing it in 32 county volumes. Two colours (red and black) were used, replicating those used in the original manuscript. |
1950_9 | The general public were excited about the invention of photozincography. Newspapers such as the Photographic News reported on the events surrounding the invention and even supplied their readers with an example of a document which had undergone the process.
English translations
Victoria County History (1900–1969)
The Victoria County History (VCH) was founded in 1899 as a project to publish an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of England to a uniform plan. From the outset, it was intended that this plan should include English translations of the relevant county sections of the Domesday Book, with a scholarly introduction and a map. |
1950_10 | J. H. Round was appointed editor for the Domesday sections. He translated the texts and wrote the introductions for Hampshire (published 1900), Worcestershire (1901), Northamptonshire (1902), and Essex (1903); wrote the introductions for Hertfordshire (1902), Surrey (1902), Bedfordshire (1904), Warwickshire (1904), Buckinghamshire (1905), Somerset (1906), Berkshire (1907), and Herefordshire (1908), though the translations were by others; and he oversaw work on Cumberland (by J. Wilson, published 1901), Derbyshire (by Frank Stenton, published 1905), Sussex (by L. F. Salzman, published 1905), Devon (by O. J. Reichel, published 1906), Lancashire (by William Farrer, published 1906), Norfolk (by Charles Johnson, published 1906), Nottinghamshire (by Frank Stenton, published 1906), Leicestershire (by Frank Stenton, published 1907), Rutland (by Frank Stenton, published 1908), and Shropshire (translation by C. H. Drinkwater, introduction by James Tait, published 1908). Round also began a |
1950_11 | translation of Domesday for Lincolnshire, but this remained unfinished. |
1950_12 | Round retired from the project in 1908, but the VCH subsequently published translations of Domesday for Suffolk (translation anonymous, introduction by B. A. Lees, published 1911); Yorkshire (by William Farrer, published 1912); Cornwall (translation by T. Taylor, introduction by L. F. Salzman, published 1924); Huntingdonshire (by Frank Stenton, published 1926); Kent (translation by F. W. Ragg, introduction by N. Neilson, published 1932); Cambridgeshire (translation by J. Otway-Ruthven, introduction by L. F. Salzman, published 1938); Oxfordshire (by Frank Stenton, published 1939); Wiltshire (by R. R. Darlington, published 1955); Staffordshire (by C. F. Slade, published 1958); Dorset (translation by A. Williams, introduction by Ralph Pugh, published 1968); and Middlesex (by T. G. Pinder, published 1969). |
1950_13 | Independently of the VCH, translations were published for Cheshire by James Tait for the Chetham Society in 1916; for Lincolnshire by C. W. Foster and T. Longley for the Lincoln Record Society in 1924 (reprinted 1976); for the East Riding of Yorkshire by A. B. Wilson-Barkworth in 1925; and for Staffordshire by H. M. Fraser in 1936. This left only Gloucestershire without a published 20th-century translation.
The Phillimore Edition (1975–1992)
The Phillimore Edition is a parallel-text Latin and English edition of Great Domesday Book, published by the local-history specialist publishers Phillimore & Co under the general editorship of John Morris. Each county occupies a separate volume. The first volumes to appear were those for Middlesex, Surrey and Huntingdonshire, all in 1975; and the last those for Lincolnshire, Yorkshire (both counties occupying 2 volumes each), Shropshire, and Suffolk, all of which were published in 1986. |
1950_14 | The Latin text, printed on the left-hand pages, is a facsimile of Farley's edition; the translation, on the right-hand pages, was prepared by a team of volunteers, who (to ensure uniformity) worked within standardised guidelines for syntax, punctuation and the rendering of proper names and technical terms. Each volume includes notes, tables of tenants' names and place-names, and a map.
Uniform with the edition, a one-volume Guide to Domesday Book by Rex Welldon Finn was published in 1973. A 3-volume set of indexes was published in 1992.
Although the Phillimore edition rapidly became the most readily accessible and widely used version of Domesday Book, scholars criticised the translation for over-simplifying complex historical concepts: David Bates, for example, described it as "unconvincingly and unhelpfully 'modern'".
The Alecto Editions (1985–1992) |
1950_15 | Published between 1985 and 1992, the Alecto Edition is the most complete facsimile of Domesday Book to date. There are three types of Alecto edition, the "Penny Edition", the Millennium Edition and the Domesday Book Studies edition. It has been called an "indecently exact facsimile" by Professor Geoffrey Martin, then Keeper of Public Records and custodian of the original Domesday.
This edition was accompanied by a volume of indices, a two-volume English translation and a box set of Ordnance Survey Maps with the Domesday sites overlaid on the modern maps.
Facsimile
In order to produce this extremely high quality reproduction, the original Domesday Book was unbound to allow each page to be photographed. The camera used for this process was the same size as a Ford Fiesta, and for security reasons was only operated in a sealed cage. |
1950_16 | The Penny Edition was printed on a specialist paper made from cotton from the American Deep South to give something of the same weight and feel as the parchment of the original. These pages were then bound between sheets of 15th-century oak set with a silver penny of William I and another 1986 Elizabeth II penny minted specially for the occasion. Because of the vast expense involved each copy of the Penny Edition cost £5750 and only 250 were produced. The later Millennium Edition used the same high quality images and paper was bound into two volumes of calfskin in the style of the 12th-century binding. This edition was limited to 450 copies at a cost of £6750 for Greater Domesday and £5750 for Little Domesday.
The Library Version of Domesday used the same paper as the Penny and Millennium versions but was bound in a linen cover and boxed to provide durability. This edition came with indices, translations and maps.
Translation |
1950_17 | The Alecto Historical Editions translation, published in two companion volumes to the facsimile, was intended to supersede the VCH translation, which, although of high quality, suffers from inconsistencies due to its publication history being spread out over more than 80 years. The editorial board, consisting of Ann Williams (editor-in-chief), G. H. Martin (general editor), J. C. Holt, Henry R. Loyn, Elizabeth Hallam-Smith (Assistant Keeper of Public Records), and Sarah Tyacke (Keeper of Public Records, the National Archives) produced a rigorously standardized and corrected translation based on the VCH text.
Penguin Books reproduced the Alecto translation in a single volume, published in 2002 in hardback and in 2003 in paperback, with an introduction by G. H. Martin. It is the first edition to omit the Latin text entirely, and the first single-volume edition of the translated text. The paperback was originally priced at £25.
Digital editions
The Domesday Explorer |
1950_18 | The Domesday Explorer was developed by John Palmer of University of Hull and his son Matthew Palmer as a private project beginning 1986 and using Microsoft Access, later turned into a publicly funded project, receiving a grant of £250,000 from the British Arts and Humanities Research Council. It was published on CD-ROM in 2000, and eventually made publicly accessible online
by the University of Essex in 2008.
The database includes high-resolution manuscript images, the text of the Phillimore translation (ed. John Morris), geographic information for interactive mapping of searches, stock charts of all reported livestock and statistics reports on each county of the survey. These were produced by Palmer using the work of previous Domesday experts such as Ellis, Maitland and Finn. |
1950_19 | Commercial copies
There are two main suppliers of commercial copies of Domesday,
The National Archives in London (nationalarchives.gov.uk), providing a PDF file of any page of Domesday Book for a fee.
Domesdayextracts.co.uk, offering six-page extracts of the book for any town or village named.]
References
Further reading
: contains full details of all editions and translations published up to that date.
Domesday Book
Publishing |
1951_0 | The pineal gland, conarium, or epiphysis cerebri, is a small endocrine gland in the brain of most vertebrates. The pineal gland produces melatonin, a serotonin-derived hormone which modulates sleep patterns in both circadian and seasonal cycles. The shape of the gland resembles a pine cone, which gives it its name. The pineal gland is located in the epithalamus, near the center of the brain, between the two hemispheres, tucked in a groove where the two halves of the thalamus join. The pineal gland is one of the neuroendocrine secretory circumventricular organs in which capillaries are mostly permeable to solutes in the blood. |
1951_1 | Nearly all vertebrate species possess a pineal gland. The most important exception is a primitive vertebrate, the hagfish. Even in the hagfish, however, there may be a "pineal equivalent" structure in the dorsal diencephalon. The lancelet Branchiostoma lanceolatum, the nearest existing relative to vertebrates, also lacks a recognizable pineal gland. The lamprey (another primitive vertebrate), however, does possess one. A few more complex vertebrates have lost pineal glands over the course of their evolution. |
1951_2 | The results of various scientific research in evolutionary biology, comparative neuroanatomy and neurophysiology have explained the evolutionary history (phylogeny) of the pineal gland in different vertebrate species. From the point of view of biological evolution, the pineal gland is a kind of atrophied photoreceptor. In the epithalamus of some species of amphibians and reptiles, it is linked to a light-sensing organ, known as the parietal eye, which is also called the pineal eye or third eye.
René Descartes believed the human pineal gland to be the "principal seat of the soul." Academic philosophy among his contemporaries considered the pineal gland as a neuroanatomical structure without special metaphysical qualities; science studied it as one endocrine gland among many.
Etymology
The word pineal, from Latin pinea (pine-cone), was first used in the late 17th century to refer to the cone shape of the brain gland. |
1951_3 | Structure
The pineal gland is a midline brain structure that is unpaired. It takes its name from its pine-cone shape. The gland is reddish-gray and about the size of a grain of rice (5–8 mm) in humans. The pineal gland, also called the pineal body, is part of the epithalamus, and lies between the laterally positioned thalamic bodies and behind the habenular commissure. It is located in the quadrigeminal cistern near to the corpora quadrigemina. It is also located behind the third ventricle and is bathed in cerebrospinal fluid supplied through a small pineal recess of the third ventricle which projects into the stalk of the gland.
Blood supply
Unlike most of the mammalian brain, the pineal gland is not isolated from the body by the blood–brain barrier system; it has profuse blood flow, second only to the kidney, supplied from the choroidal branches of the posterior cerebral artery. |
1951_4 | Nerve supply
The pineal gland receives a sympathetic innervation from the superior cervical ganglion. A parasympathetic innervation from the pterygopalatine and otic ganglia is also present. Further, some nerve fibers penetrate into the pineal gland via the pineal stalk (central innervation). Also, neurons in the trigeminal ganglion innervate the gland with nerve fibers containing the neuropeptide PACAP.
Microanatomy
The pineal body in humans consists of a lobular parenchyma of pinealocytes surrounded by connective tissue spaces. The gland's surface is covered by a pial capsule.
The pineal gland consists mainly of pinealocytes, but four other cell types have been identified. As it is quite cellular (in relation to the cortex and white matter), it may be mistaken for a neoplasm. |
1951_5 | Development
The human pineal gland grows in size until about 1–2 years of age, remaining stable thereafter, although its weight increases gradually from puberty onwards. The abundant melatonin levels in children are believed to inhibit sexual development, and pineal tumors have been linked with precocious puberty. When puberty arrives, melatonin production is reduced.
Symmetry
In the zebrafish the pineal gland does not straddle the midline, but shows a left-sided bias. In humans, functional cerebral dominance is accompanied by subtle anatomical asymmetry. |
1951_6 | Function
One function of the pineal gland is to produce melatonin. Melatonin has various functions in the central nervous system, the most important of which is to help modulate sleep patterns. Melatonin production is stimulated by darkness and inhibited by light. Light sensitive nerve cells in the retina detect light and send this signal to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), synchronizing the SCN to the day-night cycle. Nerve fibers then relay the daylight information from the SCN to the paraventricular nuclei (PVN), then to the spinal cord and via the sympathetic system to superior cervical ganglia (SCG), and from there into the pineal gland.
The compound pinoline is also claimed to be produced in the pineal gland; it is one of the beta-carbolines. This claim is subject to some controversy. |
1951_7 | Regulation of the pituitary gland
Studies on rodents suggest that the pineal gland influences the pituitary gland's secretion of the sex hormones, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH). Pinealectomy performed on rodents produced no change in pituitary weight, but caused an increase in the concentration of FSH and LH within the gland. Administration of melatonin did not return the concentrations of FSH to normal levels, suggesting that the pineal gland influences pituitary gland secretion of FSH and LH through an undescribed transmitting molecule.
The pineal gland contains receptors for the regulatory neuropeptide, endothelin-1, which, when injected in picomolar quantities into the lateral cerebral ventricle, causes a calcium-mediated increase in pineal glucose metabolism. |
1951_8 | Regulation of bone metabolism
Studies in mice suggest that the pineal-derived melatonin regulates new bone deposition. Pineal-derived melatonin mediates its action on the bone cells through MT2 receptors. This pathway could be a potential new target for osteoporosis treatment as the study shows the curative effect of oral melatonin treatment in a postmenopausal osteoporosis mouse model.
Clinical significance
Calcification
Calcification of the pineal gland is typical in young adults, and has been observed in children as young as two years of age. The internal secretions of the pineal gland are known to inhibit the development of the reproductive glands because when it is severely damaged in children, development of the sexual organs and the skeleton are accelerated. Pineal gland calcification is detrimental to its ability to synthesize melatonin and scientific literature presents inconclusive findings on whether it causes sleep problems. |
1951_9 | The calcified gland is often seen in skull x-rays. Calcification rates vary widely by country and correlate with an increase in age, with calcification occurring in an estimated 40% of Americans by age seventeen. Calcification of the pineal gland is associated with corpora arenacea, also known as "brain sand".
Tumors
Tumors of the pineal gland are called pinealomas. These tumors are rare and 50% to 70% are germinomas that arise from sequestered embryonic germ cells. Histologically they are similar to testicular seminomas and ovarian dysgerminomas.
A pineal tumor can compress the superior colliculi and pretectal area of the dorsal midbrain, producing Parinaud's syndrome. Pineal tumors also can cause compression of the cerebral aqueduct, resulting in a noncommunicating hydrocephalus. Other manifestations are the consequence of their pressure effects and consist of visual disturbances, headache, mental deterioration, and sometimes dementia-like behaviour. |
1951_10 | These neoplasms are divided into three categories: pineoblastomas, pineocytomas, and mixed tumors, based on their level of differentiation, which, in turn, correlates with their neoplastic aggressiveness. The clinical course of patients with pineocytomas is prolonged, averaging up to several years. The position of these tumors makes them difficult to remove surgically.
Other conditions
The morphology of the pineal gland differs markedly in different pathological conditions. For instance, it is known that its volume is reduced both in obese patients as well as patients with primary insomnia. |
1951_11 | Other animals
Most living vertebrates have pineal glands. It is likely that the common ancestor of all vertebrates had a pair of photosensory organs on the top of its head, similar to the arrangement in modern lampreys. Some extinct Devonian fishes have two parietal foramina in their skulls, suggesting an ancestral bilaterality of parietal eyes. The parietal eye and the pineal gland of living tetrapods are probably the descendants of the left and right parts of this organ, respectively.
During embryonic development, the parietal eye and the pineal organ of modern lizards and tuataras form together from a pocket formed in the brain ectoderm. The loss of parietal eyes in many living tetrapods is supported by developmental formation of a paired structure that subsequently fuses into a single pineal gland in developing embryos of turtles, snakes, birds, and mammals. |
1951_12 | The pineal organs of mammals fall into one of three categories based on shape. Rodents have more structurally complex pineal glands than other mammals.
Crocodilians and some tropical lineages of mammals (some xenarthrans (sloths), pangolins, sirenians (manatees and dugongs), and some marsupials (sugar gliders)) have lost both their parietal eye and their pineal organ. Polar mammals, such as walruses and some seals, possess unusually large pineal glands.
All amphibians have a pineal organ, but some frogs and toads also have what is called a "frontal organ", which is essentially a parietal eye.
Pinealocytes in many non-mammalian vertebrates have a strong resemblance to the photoreceptor cells of the eye. Evidence from morphology and developmental biology suggests that pineal cells possess a common evolutionary ancestor with retinal cells. |
1951_13 | Pineal cytostructure seems to have evolutionary similarities to the retinal cells of the lateral eyes. Modern birds and reptiles express the phototransducing pigment melanopsin in the pineal gland. Avian pineal glands are thought to act like the suprachiasmatic nucleus in mammals. The structure of the pineal eye in modern lizards and tuatara is analogous to the cornea, lens, and retina of the lateral eyes of vertebrates.
In most vertebrates, exposure to light sets off a chain reaction of enzymatic events within the pineal gland that regulates circadian rhythms. In humans and other mammals, the light signals necessary to set circadian rhythms are sent from the eye through the retinohypothalamic system to the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) and the pineal gland. |
1951_14 | The fossilized skulls of many extinct vertebrates have a pineal foramen (opening), which in some cases is larger than that of any living vertebrate. Although fossils seldom preserve deep-brain soft anatomy, the brain of the Russian fossil bird Cerebavis cenomanica from Melovatka, about 90 million years old, shows a relatively large parietal eye and pineal gland.
Rick Strassman, an author and Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, has theorised that the human pineal gland is capable of producing the hallucinogen N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) under certain circumstances. In 2013 he and other researchers first reported DMT in the pineal gland microdialysate of rodents.
Society and culture |
1951_15 | Seventeenth-century philosopher and scientist René Descartes was highly interested in anatomy and physiology. He discussed the pineal gland both in his first book, the Treatise of Man (written before 1637, but only published posthumously 1662/1664), and in his last book, The Passions of the Soul (1649) and he regarded it as "the principal seat of the soul and the place in which all our thoughts are formed." In the Treatise of Man, Descartes described conceptual models of man, namely creatures created by God, which consist of two ingredients, a body and a soul. In the Passions, Descartes split man up into a body and a soul and emphasized that the soul is joined to the whole body by "a certain very small gland situated in the middle of the brain's substance and suspended above the passage through which the spirits in the brain's anterior cavities communicate with those in its posterior cavities". Descartes attached significance to the gland because he believed it to be the only section |
1951_16 | of the brain to exist as a single part rather than one-half of a pair. Some of Descartes's basic anatomical and physiological assumptions were totally mistaken, not only by modern standards, but also in light of what was already known in his time. |
1951_17 | The notion of a "pineal-eye" is central to the philosophy of the French writer Georges Bataille, which is analyzed at length by literary scholar Denis Hollier in his study Against Architecture. In this work Hollier discusses how Bataille uses the concept of a "pineal-eye" as a reference to a blind-spot in Western rationality, and an organ of excess and delirium. This conceptual device is explicit in his surrealist texts, The Jesuve and The Pineal Eye.
In the late 19th century Madame Blavatsky (who founded theosophy) identified the pineal gland with the Hindu concept of the third eye, or the Ajna chakra. This association is still popular today. |
1951_18 | In the short story "From Beyond" by H. P. Lovecraft, a scientist creates an electronic device that emits a resonance wave, which stimulates an affected person's pineal gland, thereby allowing them to perceive planes of existence outside the scope of accepted reality, a translucent, alien environment that overlaps our own recognized reality. It was adapted as a film of the same name in 1986. The 2013 horror film Banshee Chapter is heavily influenced by this short story.
History
The secretory activity of the pineal gland is only partially understood. Its location deep in the brain suggested to philosophers throughout history that it possesses particular importance. This combination led to its being regarded as a "mystery" gland with mystical, metaphysical, and occult theories surrounding its perceived functions. |
1951_19 | The pineal gland was originally believed to be a "vestigial remnant" of a larger organ. In 1917, it was known that extract of cow pineals lightened frog skin. Dermatology professor Aaron B. Lerner and colleagues at Yale University, hoping that a substance from the pineal might be useful in treating skin diseases, isolated and named the hormone melatonin in 1958. The substance did not prove to be helpful as intended, but its discovery helped solve several mysteries such as why removing the rat's pineal accelerated ovary growth, why keeping rats in constant light decreased the weight of their pineals, and why pinealectomy and constant light affect ovary growth to an equal extent; this knowledge gave a boost to the then new field of chronobiology. Of the endocrine organs, the function of the pineal gland was the last discovered.
Additional images
The pineal body is labeled in these images.
See also
Pineal gland cyst
References
External links |
1951_20 | Circadian rhythm
Endocrine system
Epithalamus
Glands
Human head and neck
Sleep physiology |
1952_0 | The 90th Troop Carrier Squadron (Medium) is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 438th Troop Carrier Group, based at Offut Air Force Base, Nebraska. It was inactivated on 16 Nov 1957
The squadron was first activated in June 1943. After training in the United States, it served in the European Theater of Operations, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation for its action on D-Day during Operation Overlord. After VE Day. the unit returned to the United States, where it was inactivated.
The squadron was activated in the Air Force Reserve in June 1949. It trained in troop carrier operations at Offutt Air Force Base until March 1951, when it was called to active duty and its personnel used as fillers for other units.
History
World War II |
1952_1 | Activated in June 1943 under I Troop Carrier Command and equipped with C-47 Skytrains. Trained in various parts of the eastern United States until the end of 1943. Deployed to England and assigned to IX Troop Carrier Command, Ninth Air Force.
Prepared for the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. On 5 June 1944, the squadron took off for assigned drop zones in Occupied France, commencing at 23:48 hours. Despite radio black-out, overloaded aircraft, low cloud cover and lack of marked drop zones, they carried parachute infantry of the 101st Airborne Division's 502d Parachute Infantry Regiment, who were dropped soon after midnight in the area northwest of Carentan. Glider-borne reinforcement missions followed, carrying weapons, ammunition, rations, and other supplies
On 20 July departed for Canino airbase in Italy in preparation for the August invasion of Southern France, Operation Dragoon. In the invasion, dropped paratroops and towed gliders that carried reinforcements. |
1952_2 | During Operation Market Garden in September 1944, the group released gliders carrying troops and equipment for the airborne attack in the occupied Netherlands. Re-supply missions were flown on 20 September and on the 21st to Overasselt and on the 21st to Son.
During the Battle of the Bulge (December 1944 – January 1945), flew air supply missions to battle areas, including the first two flights into beleaguered Bastogne, re-supplying the 101st Airborne Division
After moving to France in February 1945, flying combat operations from rough Resupply and Evacuation airfields carrying supplies and ammunition to front line forces, evacuating wounded personnel to rear-zone hospitals. The unit released gliders in support of an American crossing of the Rhine River called Operation Varsity in March 1945. |
1952_3 | After V-E Day, the unit evacuated prisoners of war and displaced persons to relocation centers. Returned to the United States in August 1945, until demobilizing. Inactivated as an administrative unit in September 1945.
Air Force Reserve
In 1949 Continental Air Command reorganized its reserve units under the wing base organization, which placed support units under the same headquarters as the combat group they supported. As part of this reorganization, the 438th Troop Carrier Wing was activated at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. The 90th Squadron was activated along with the wing. The squadron's manning, however, was limited to 25% of active duty organization authorizations. The squadron trained under the 2473d Air Force Reserve Training Center for troop carrier operations with the C-46, but also flew the North American T-6 Texan trainer. |
1952_4 | All combat units of the Air Force Reserve were ordered to active service for the Korean War. The 90th was called up in the second wave of mobilizations on 10 March 1951. Its personnel were used to man other organizations, primarily those of Strategic Air Command, and it was inactivated on 14 March 1951. Its aircraft were distributed to other organizations as well.
Lineage
Constituted as the 90th Troop Carrier Squadron on 14 May 1943
Activated on 1 June 1943
Inactivated on 22 September 1945
Redesignated 90th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 10 May 1949
Activated in the reserve on 27 June 1949
Ordered to active service on 10 March 1951
Inactivated on 14 March 1951
Assignments
438th Troop Carrier Group, 1 June 1943 - 22 September 1945
438th Troop Carrier Group, 27 June 1949 - 14 March 1951
Stations |
1952_5 | Baer Field, Indiana, 1 June 1943
Sedalia Army Air Field, Missouri, 11 June 1943
Laurinburg-Maxton Army Air Base, North Carolina, 30 October 1943
Baer Field, Indiana, c. 15 - c. 28 January 1944
RAF Langar (AAF-490), England, February 1944
RAF Greenham Common (AAF-486), England, March 1944
Operated from Montalto Di Castro Airfield, Italy, 20 July - 23 August 1944
Prosnes Airfield (A-79), France, February 1945
Amiens Glisy Airfield (B-48), France, May - August 1945
Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts, 21–22 September 1945
Offutt AFB, Nebraska, 27 June 1949 - 14 March 1951
Aircraft
Douglas C-47 Skytrain, 1943-1945
Curtiss C-46 Commando, 1945, 1949–1951
Awards and campaigns
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Freeman, Roger A. (1994) UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now 1994. After the Battle
Military units and formations established in 1942
090
090 |
1953_0 | The giant squid (Architeuthis dux) is a species of deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae. It can grow to a tremendous size, offering an example of deep-sea gigantism: recent estimates put the maximum size at around for females and for males, from the posterior fins to the tip of the two long tentacles (longer than the colossal squid at an estimated , but substantially lighter, due to the tentacles making up most of the length). The mantle of the giant squid is about long (more for females, less for males), and the length of the squid excluding its tentacles (but including head and arms) rarely exceeds . Claims of specimens measuring or more have not been scientifically documented.
The number of different giant squid species has been debated, but recent genetic research suggests that only one species exists.
The first images of the animal in its natural habitat were taken in 2004 by a Japanese team. |
1953_1 | Range and habitat
The giant squid is widespread, occurring in all of the world's oceans. It is usually found near continental and island slopes from the North Atlantic Ocean, especially Newfoundland, Norway, the northern British Isles, Spain and the oceanic islands of the Azores and Madeira, to the South Atlantic around southern Africa, the North Pacific around Japan, and the southwestern Pacific around New Zealand and Australia. Specimens are rare in tropical and polar latitudes.
The vertical distribution of giant squid is incompletely known, but data from trawled specimens and sperm whale diving behavior suggest it spans a large range of depths, possibly .
Morphology and anatomy |
1953_2 | Like all squid, a giant squid has a mantle (torso), eight arms, and two longer tentacles (the longest known tentacles of any cephalopod). The arms and tentacles account for much of the squid's great length, making it much lighter than its chief predator, the sperm whale. Scientifically documented specimens have masses of hundreds, rather than thousands, of kilograms.
The inside surfaces of the arms and tentacles are lined with hundreds of subspherical suction cups, in diameter, each mounted on a stalk. The circumference of these suckers is lined with sharp, finely serrated rings of chitin. The perforation of these teeth and the suction of the cups serve to attach the squid to its prey. It is common to find circular scars from the suckers on or close to the head of sperm whales that have attacked giant squid. |
1953_3 | Each tentacular club is divided into three regions—the carpus ("wrist"), manus ("hand") and dactylus ("finger"). The carpus has a dense cluster of cups, in six or seven irregular, transverse rows. The manus is broader, closer to the end of the club, and has enlarged suckers in two medial rows. The dactylus is the tip. The bases of all the arms and tentacles are arranged in a circle surrounding the animal's single, parrot-like beak, as in other cephalopods. |
1953_4 | Giant squid have small fins at the rear of their mantles used for locomotion. Like other cephalopods, they are propelled by jet—by pulling water into the mantle cavity, and pushing it through the siphon, in gentle, rhythmic pulses. They can also move quickly by expanding the cavity to fill it with water, then contracting muscles to jet water through the siphon. Giant squid breathe using two large gills inside the mantle cavity. The circulatory system is closed, which is a distinct characteristic of cephalopods. Like other squid, they contain dark ink used to deter predators. |
1953_5 | The giant squid has a sophisticated nervous system and complex brain, attracting great interest from scientists. It also has the largest eyes of any living creature except perhaps the colossal squid—up to at least in diameter, with a pupil (only the extinct ichthyosaurs are known to have had larger eyes). Large eyes can better detect light (including bioluminescent light), which is scarce in deep water. The giant squid probably cannot see colour, but it can probably discern small differences in tone, which is important in the low-light conditions of the deep ocean.
Giant squid and some other large squid species maintain neutral buoyancy in seawater through an ammonium chloride solution which is found throughout their bodies and is lighter than seawater. This differs from the method of flotation used by most fish, which involves a gas-filled swim bladder. The solution tastes somewhat like salty liquorice/salmiak and makes giant squid unattractive for general human consumption. |
1953_6 | Like all cephalopods, giant squid use organs called statocysts to sense their orientation and motion in water. The age of a giant squid can be determined by "growth rings" in the statocyst's statolith, similar to determining the age of a tree by counting its rings. Much of what is known about giant squid age is based on estimates of the growth rings and from undigested beaks found in the stomachs of sperm whales.
Size
The giant squid is the second-largest mollusc and one of the largest of all extant invertebrates. It is only exceeded by the colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, which may have a mantle nearly twice as long. Several extinct cephalopods, such as the Cretaceous vampyromorphid Tusoteuthis, the Cretaceous coleoid Yezoteuthis, and the Ordovician nautiloid Cameroceras may have grown even larger. |
1953_7 | Giant squid size, particularly total length, has often been exaggerated. Reports of specimens reaching and even exceeding are widespread, but no specimens approaching this size have been scientifically documented. According to giant squid expert Steve O'Shea, such lengths were likely achieved by greatly stretching the two tentacles like elastic bands.
Based on the examination of 130 specimens and of beaks found inside sperm whales, giant squids' mantles are not known to exceed . Including the head and arms, but excluding the tentacles, the length very rarely exceeds . Maximum total length, when measured relaxed post mortem, is estimated at or for females and for males from the posterior fins to the tip of the two long tentacles.
Giant squid exhibit sexual dimorphism. Maximum weight is estimated at for females and for males. |
1953_8 | Reproductive cycle
Little is known about the reproductive cycle of giant squid. They are thought to reach sexual maturity at about three years old; males reach sexual maturity at a smaller size than females. Females produce large quantities of eggs, sometimes more than , that average long and wide. Females have a single median ovary in the rear end of the mantle cavity and paired, convoluted oviducts, where mature eggs pass exiting through the oviducal glands, then through the nidamental glands. As in other squid, these glands produce a gelatinous material used to keep the eggs together once they are laid.
In males, as with most other cephalopods, the single, posterior testis produces sperm that move into a complex system of glands that manufacture the spermatophores. These are stored in the elongate sac, or Needham's sac, that terminates in the penis from which they are expelled during mating. The penis is prehensile, over long, and extends from inside the mantle. |
1953_9 | How the sperm is transferred to the egg mass is much debated, as giant squid lack the hectocotylus used for reproduction in many other cephalopods. It may be transferred in sacs of spermatophores, called spermatangia, which the male injects into the female's arms. This is suggested by a female specimen recently found in Tasmania, having a small subsidiary tendril attached to the base of each arm.
Post-larval juveniles have been discovered in surface waters off New Zealand, with plans to capture more and maintain them in an aquarium to learn more about the creature. Young giant squid specimens were found off the coast of southern Japan in 2013 and confirmed through genetic analysis. |
1953_10 | Another juvenile, approximately 3.7 metres long, was encountered and filmed alive in the harbour in the Japanese city of Toyama on 24 December 2015; after being filmed and viewed by a large number of spectators, including a diver who entered the water to film the squid up close, it was guided out of the harbour into the Sea of Japan by the diver.
Genetics
Analysis of the mitochondrial DNA of giant squid individuals from all over the world has found that there is little variation between individuals across the globe (just 181 differing genetic base pairs out of 20,331). This suggests that there is but a single species of giant squid in the world. Squid larvae may be dispersed by ocean currents across vast distances.
Ecology
Feeding |
1953_11 | Recent studies have shown giant squid feed on deep-sea fish and other squid species. They catch prey using the two tentacles, gripping it with serrated sucker rings on the ends. Then they bring it toward the powerful beak, and shred it with the radula (tongue with small, file-like teeth) before it reaches the esophagus. They are believed to be solitary hunters, as only individual giant squid have been caught in fishing nets. Although the majority of giant squid caught by trawl in New Zealand waters have been associated with the local hoki (Macruronus novaezelandiae) fishery, hoki do not feature in the squid's diet. This suggests giant squid and hoki prey on the same animals. |
1953_12 | Predators and potential cannibalism |
1953_13 | The known predators of adult giant squid include sperm whales, pilot whales, southern sleeper sharks, and in some regions killer whales. Juveniles may fall prey to other large deep sea predators. Because sperm whales are skilled at locating giant squid, scientists have tried to observe them to study the squid. Giant squid have also been recently discovered to presumably steal food from each other; in mid-to-late October 2016, a giant squid washed ashore in Galicia, Spain. The squid had been photographed alive shortly before its death by a tourist named Javier Ondicol, and examination of its corpse by the Coordinators for the Study and Protection of Marine Species (CEPESMA) indicates that the squid was attacked and mortally wounded by another giant squid, losing parts of its fins, and receiving damage to its mantle, one of its gills and losing an eye. The intact nature of the specimen indicates that the giant squid managed to escape its rival by slowly retreating to shallow water, |
1953_14 | where it died of its wounds. The incident is the second to be documented among Architeuthis recorded in Spain, with the other occurring in Villaviciosa. Evidence in the form of giant squid stomach contents containing beak fragments from other giant squid in Tasmania also supports the theory that the species is at least occasionally cannibalistic. Alternatively, such squid-on-squid attacks may be a result of competition for prey. These traits are seen in the Humboldt squid as well, indicating that cannibalism in large squid may be more common than originally thought. |
1953_15 | Species
The taxonomy of the giant squid, as with many cephalopod genera, has long been debated. Lumpers and splitters may propose as many as seventeen species or as few as one. The broadest list is:
Architeuthis dux, Atlantic giant squid
Architeuthis (Loligo) hartingii
Architeuthis japonica
Architeuthis kirkii
Architeuthis (Megateuthis) martensii, North Pacific giant squid
Architeuthis physeteris
Architeuthis sanctipauli, southern giant squid
Architeuthis (Steenstrupia) stockii
Architeuthis (Loligo) bouyeri
Architeuthis clarkei
Architeuthis (Plectoteuthis) grandis
Architeuthis (Megaloteuthis) harveyi
Architeuthis longimanus
Architeuthis monachus?
Architeuthis nawaji
Architeuthis princeps
Architeuthis (Dubioteuthis) physeteris
Architeuthis titan
Architeuthis verrilli
It is unclear if these are distinct species, as no genetic or physical basis for distinguishing between them has yet been proposed. |
1953_16 | In the 1984 FAO Species Catalogue of the Cephalopods of the World, Roper, et al. wrote:
In Cephalopods: A World Guide (2000), Mark Norman writes:
In March 2013, researchers at the University of Copenhagen suggested that, based on DNA research, there is only one species:
Timeline
Aristotle, who lived in the fourth century BC, described a large squid, which he called teuthus, distinguishing it from the smaller squid, the teuthis. He mentions, "of the calamaries, the so-called teuthus is much bigger than the teuthis; for teuthi [plural of teuthus] have been found as much as five ells long".
Pliny the Elder, living in the first century AD, also described a gigantic squid in his Natural History, with the head "as big as a cask", arms long, and carcass weighing . |
1953_17 | Tales of giant squid have been common among mariners since ancient times, and may have led to the Norse legend of the kraken, a tentacled sea monster as large as an island capable of engulfing and sinking any ship. Japetus Steenstrup, the describer of Architeuthis, suggested a giant squid was the species described as a sea monk to the Danish king Christian III circa 1550. The Lusca of the Caribbean and Scylla in Greek mythology may also derive from giant squid sightings. Eyewitness accounts of other sea monsters like the sea serpent are also thought to be mistaken interpretations of giant squid. |
1953_18 | Steenstrup wrote a number of papers on giant squid in the 1850s. He first used the term "Architeuthus" (this was the spelling he chose) in a paper in 1857. A portion of a giant squid was secured by the French corvette Alecton in 1861, leading to wider recognition of the genus in the scientific community. From 1870 to 1880, many squid were stranded on the shores of Newfoundland. For example, a specimen washed ashore in Thimble Tickle Bay, Newfoundland, on 2 November 1878; its mantle was reported to be long, with one tentacle long, and it was estimated as weighing . In 1873, a squid "attacked" a minister and a young boy in a dory near Bell Island, Newfoundland. Many strandings also occurred in New Zealand during the late 19th century. |
1953_19 | Although strandings continue to occur sporadically throughout the world, none have been as frequent as those at Newfoundland and New Zealand in the 19th century. It is not known why giant squid become stranded on shore, but it may be because the distribution of deep, cold water where squid live is temporarily altered. Many scientists who have studied squid mass strandings believe they are cyclical and predictable. The length of time between strandings is not known, but was proposed to be 90 years by Architeuthis specialist Frederick Aldrich. Aldrich used this value to correctly predict a relatively small stranding that occurred between 1961 and 1968. |
1953_20 | In 2004, another giant squid, later named "Archie", was caught off the coast of the Falkland Islands by a fishing trawler. It was long and was sent to the Natural History Museum in London to be studied and preserved. It was put on display on 1 March 2006 at the Darwin Centre. The find of such a large, complete specimen is very rare, as most specimens are in a poor condition, having washed up dead on beaches or been retrieved from the stomachs of dead sperm whales. |
1953_21 | Researchers undertook a painstaking process to preserve the body. It was transported to England on ice aboard the trawler; then it was defrosted, which took about four days. The major difficulty was that thawing the thick mantle took much longer than the tentacles. To prevent the tentacles from rotting, scientists covered them in ice packs, and bathed the mantle in water. Then they injected the squid with a formol-saline solution to prevent rotting. The creature is now on show in a glass tank at the Darwin Centre of the Natural History Museum.
In December 2005, the Melbourne Aquarium in Australia paid A$100,000 for the intact body of a giant squid, preserved in a giant block of ice, which had been caught by fishermen off the coast of New Zealand's South Island that year. |
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