Deuterogamy & Putative

Deuterogamy (pronounced doo-tuh-rog-uh-mee or dyoo- tuh-rog-uh-mee)

A second marriage, (as distinct from bigamy, as defined in law and canon law), historically after the death of the first husband or wife but now applied also in other circumstances.

1650–1660: From the Ancient Greek deuterogamía (a second marriage), the construct being deuteron, from the Ancient Greek δεύτερος (deúteros) (second (of two)) +‎ -gamy (the suffix from the Ancient Greek γάμος (gámos) used to form nouns describing forms of marriage (and in biology to form nouns describing forms of fertilization).  The related forms are deuterocanonical, deuteromycete, deuteromycetes, deuteron, deuterogamist, deuteronomic and deuteronomis.

The permitted second marriage

Deuterogamy is a lesser-known companion word of bigamy and polygamy.  Bigamy is the act of marrying one person while in a stare of marriage with another; it can be committed unknowingly (in rare cases even by both parties) but it committed knowingly is a criminal offence in most jurisdictions.  Polygamy is the generic term for multiple marriages and encompasses bigamy, the word used mostly by anthropologists to describe both polygyny (having several wives) and polyandry (the predictably less common practice of enjoying several husbands).  There’s also the synonym digamy but it’s so easily confused with the almost homophonic bigamy it should be avoided and rendered obsolete (which it may already be).

Etymologically, deuterogamy describes merely the act of a second marriage but in canon law it was the definitional term for a permissible second marriage, one celebrated after the death of a first wife or husband.  Under canon law, marrying another when one’s original partner remained alive, even if a divorce had been granted by a civil court, was bigamy.  The only circumstances in which the church would countenance a deuteronomis marriage when the previous partner remained alive was if a bishop was prepared to issue a certificate of annulment which created not the legal fiction that the marriage never existed but that it was ab initio (void at its inception) because the essential sacramental component was always missing

As an example, noted Roman Catholic, father of six and amateur moral theologian Barnaby Joyce (b 1967; deputy prime-minister of Australia thrice variously since 2016):

(1) Is an adulterer because he enjoyed intimacy with a woman while married to another.  He’s guilty merely of single-adultery because the other woman with whom he cavorted was unmarried; had his mistress been married, double adultery would have been the offence.  Surely worse.

(2) Cannot, under canon law, undertake a deuteronomis marriage unless he can find grounds on which a bishop might be persuaded to annul his first marriage. 

All things considered, one might have thought this difficult but in 2015, Pope Francis (b 1936; pope since 2013) issued two possibly revolutionary motu proprio (literally “on his own impulse”; essentially the law-making mechanism available to absolute monarchs as the royal decree): Mitis iudex dominus Iesus (Reform to the Canons of the Code of Canon that pertain to the marriage nullity cases) and Mitis et misericors Iesus (Reform of the canons of the Code of Canons of Eastern Churches pertaining to cases regarding the nullity of marriage) which changed canon law, simplifying the annulment process.  It was a demonstration of what’s possible in an absolute theocracy and must have induced a little envy in people like prime-ministers dealing with bolshie cross-benchers or recalcitrant senators.

Better to help sinners consider their position, Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio (b 1938; then president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts), issued a clarification, noting the Church “…does not decree the annulment of a legally valid marriage, but rather declares the nullity of a legally invalid marriage”.  While a piece of sophistry a bit different from what usually crosses the National Party mind and not obviously a great deal of help, it might have been enough to give Mr Joyce hope.

"A second marriage is a triumph of hope over experience."  Samuel Johnson (1709–1784).

On Monday 17 January, it was announced Mr Joyce had proposed to his new partner and that she'd accepted.  In a nice touch, he presented his fiancée a parti sapphire engagement ring.  Parti sapphires are unique in the extraordinary way their several distinct colors simultaneously display in any light, unlike other polychromic stones which need light to fall in different ways for the range to show.  The other distinction of the parti is that their value lies not in perfection but in their flaws; it's the inclusions in the parti which create the dazzling iridescence.  Like Mr Joyce, the parti sapphire is loved and venerated for its flaws.

Redemption does seem much on Mr Joyce's mind.  After the National Party caucus, having decided to allow hope to triumph over experience and (for the third time) elect him leader (and thus deputy prime-minister), he was gracious in victory, saying  “I acknowledge my faults and I resigned as I should have and I did. I’ve spent three years on the backbench and, you know, I hope I come back a better person.”  The self-identification as the prodigal son seems to draw a long theological bow and is anyway not relevant to the matters a bishop is compelled to consider when reviewing an application to annul a marriage.  The reforms imposed by Francis are really about time and money, reducing how long it takes and how much it costs to secure an annulment; the legal basis on which one may be granted remains unchanged, Church teaching being not that the marriage in question failed, but that the sacramental component was always missing.  Still, a wind of change is blowing through the Vatican and Mitis iudex dominus Iesus, like other recent reforms, did make clear these were matters for the local bishop, the man closest to his flock.

Putative (pronounced pyoo-tuh-tiv)

Commonly believed or deemed to be the case; reputed; accepted by supposition rather than as a result of proof.

1432: From the late Middle English, from the Middle French putatif, from the Late Latin putātīvus (reputed) the construct being putāt(us), past participle of putāre (to think, consider, reckon (originally “to clean, prune”)) + -īvus (-ive).  The ultimate root was the primitive Indo-European pau- (to cut, strike, stamp), the most familiar Latin variants being putātus (thought) and putō (I think, I consider, I reckon).  The -īvus  suffix was from the primitive Indo-European -ihwós, an extended form of –wós; it was cognate with the Ancient Greek -εῖος (-eîos) (from which Latin picked up also -ēus) and was added to the perfect passive participial stem of verbs, forming a deverbal adjective meaning “doing” or “related to doing”.  Putative is an adjective, putatively an adverb.

Early use of the word was almost exclusively in Church Latin as putative marriage, one which, though legally invalid due to an impediment, was contracted in good faith by at least one party.  Putative is almost always used in front of a noun, the modified noun being that which is assumed or supposed to be. The putative cause of a disease is whatever is generally thought to be the cause, even if unproven.  As a point of usage, it’s not correct to say "the cause was putative."

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s marriage to Roman Catholic Carrie Symonds, mother of the two youngest of his seven children, was celebrated in London's Westminster Cathedral on 29 June 2021, the edifice briefly closed for the occasion.  Unannounced, as Mr Johnson’s third putative marriage, it attracted particular interest because it was a Roman Catholic ceremony.  Although probably most of the British public years ago lost any interest in theology, still widely known is the church’s doctrinal insistence that marriage is a permanent, lifelong union between a man and a woman, those who divorce unable to enter a second marriage recognized by the Church.

The prime-minister’s union is however within church rules.  A baptized Catholic, what he described as his school-boy conversion to Anglicanism was not something recognized by canon law, Mr Johnson joining the Church of England by a process the Vatican would view as not much more than him deciding one day he was Anglican.  Not good enough.  For any soul to depart the faith, what canon law requires is a “defection from the Catholic Church by a formal act”, a specifically defined legal process, undertaken in dialogue with the Church hierarchy and nothing like that was ever done.  Conversion cannot be effected simply by conduct or press-release and, although what was done might have made Mr Johnson an Anglican in the eyes of Lambeth, to the Holy See he was and remained one of them.

Marriage has a long history, the idea of a lifelong partnership between one man and one woman drawn from of natural law and something recognized and acknowledged by the Church by virtue of the conduct and acquiescence of the parties even before the medieval church regularized the practice in the Code of Canon Law.  The code contains also ecclesiastical laws governing how and when Catholics can enter marriage, among which is the requirements to conform with “canonical form” including the ceremony being performed in the parish church of the parties, the permission of their bishop to marry outside of the Church and the need to seek special dispensation, sometimes from Rome, to marry non-Christians.

The construction of the framework really began at the fourth Lateran Council (1215) which banned informal or secret marriages, beginning the codification of the forms and processes of formal marriage with rules ensuring marriages would be widely known within the community so (1) any impediment might be raised prior to or before the conclusion of the ceremony and (2), once done, neither party could deny the union.  This really was social engineering, addressing the not uncommon event of a man inducing consent from a woman or girl with assurance he regarded them as betrothed, only later, usually when he learned she was with child, to renounce the “marriage”.  All of this had a good scriptural basis, the notion of “what therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” appearing both in Mark 10:9 and Matthew 19:6.  Further to strengthen the framework, after the Council of Trent (Concilium Tridentinum, 1545-1563, nineteenth ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, Trent (Trento), Italy), the marriage sacrament came under jurisdiction of the Church, ceremonies performed and records maintained by priests.  Unless a marriage conformed to canonical form, it couldn’t be a valid marriage and, in the eyes of canon lawyers, never happened.  That was the legal abstraction.  On the ground, parish priests and presumptive fathers-in-law, knowing what had happened, dealt with miscreant “husbands”.  

Thus the prime minister is a baptized Catholic subject to the demands of canonical form and one whose previous marriages lacked canonical form.  Any Church tribunal would be compelled to hold the two unions invalid; they didn’t exist so he could marry Ms Symonds in a Catholic ceremony in a Catholic Church as his first valid marriage.  Helpfully, nor are sins of the father visited upon the children, the law recognizing the children born of putative marriages later declared null or invalid to be as legitimate as those born of valid marriages.  The origin of this lies in the Medieval habit of kings seeking (and gaining, sometimes on grounds more tenuous than those applying to Mr Johnson) an annulment.  Then it was the delicate business of handling the sunder without messing with long-settled issues of succession.

There are other quirks in Canon law.  While the Church does hold only a marriage between two baptized Christians can be a sacrament, it also recognizes that any marriage which conforms to its essential properties is valid, regardless of whether it involves those of other faiths or indeed atheists.  The exception is Catholics, on whom is imposed the more onerous demands of canonical form.

Herringbone

Herringbone (pronounced her-ing-bohn)

(1) A pattern, the weave resembling the skeleton of a herring fish, consisting of adjoining vertical rows of slanting lines, any two contiguous lines forming either a V or an inverted V, used in masonry, textiles, embroidery etc and .  Also called chevron, chevron weave, herringbone weave; a type of twill weave having this pattern.

(2) A fabric constructed with this weave.

(3) A garment made from such a fabric, applied especially to jackets and coats.

(4) In skiing, a method of going up a slope in which a skier sets the skis in a form resembling a V, and, placing weight on the inside edges, advances the skis by turns using the poles from behind for push and support.

(5) A type of cirrocumulus cloud.

1645–1655: The construct was herring + bone.  Herring was from the Middle English hering, from the Old English hǣring, from the Proto-West Germanic hāring (herring) of unknown origin but it may be related to the Proto-Germanic hērą (hair) due to the similarity of the fish’s fine bones to hair. It was cognate with the Scots hering & haring, the Saterland Frisian Hiering & Häiring, the West Frisian hjerring, the Dutch haring, the German and Low German Hereng & Hering, the French hareng, the Norman ĥéren and the Latin haringus; all borrowings from the Germanic.  Bone is from the Middle English bon, from the Old English bān (bone, tusk; bone of a limb), from the Proto-Germanic bainą (bone), from bainaz (straight), from the primitive Indo-European bheyhz (to hit, strike, beat).  It was cognate with the Scots bane, been, bean, bein & bain (bone), the North Frisian bien (bone), the West Frisian bien (bone), the Dutch been (bone; leg), the Low German Been & Bein (bone), the German Bein (leg), the German Gebein (bones), the Swedish ben (bone; leg), the Norwegian and Icelandic bein (bone), the Breton benañ (to cut, hew), the Latin perfinēs (break through, break into pieces, shatter) and the Avestan byente (they fight, hit). It was related also to the Old Norse beinn (straight, right, favorable, advantageous, convenient, friendly, fair, keen) (from which Middle English gained bain, bayne, bayn & beyn (direct, prompt), the Scots bein & bien (in good condition, pleasant, well-to-do, cozy, well-stocked, pleasant, keen), the Icelandic beinn (straight, direct, hospitable) and the Norwegian bein (straight, direct, easy to deal with).  The use to describe a type of cirrocumulus cloud dates from 1903.  The alternative form is herring-bone (not herring bone which would be a bone of a herring).

The herringbone shape (left) and a herring's bones (right).

The herringbone pattern picked up its rather fanciful name because of a resemblance to the fine bones of the fish.  First used in masonry, the motif has for centuries been used in wallpaper, mosaics, upholstery, fabrics, clothing and jewellery.  In engineering, the pattern is found also in the shape cut for some gears but this functionally deterministic.

Roman herringbone brickwork, Villa Rustica, Mehring, Trier-Saarburg, Rhineland, Germany.

The original herringbone design was a type of masonry construction (called opus spicatum, literally "spiked work”) used first in Ancient Rome, widely adopting during medieval times and especially associated with Gothic Revival architecture; it’s commonly seen today.  It's defined by bricks, tiles or cut stone laid in a herringbone pattern and is a happy coincidence of style and structural integrity.  Although most associated with decorative use, in many cases the layout was an engineering necessity because if tiles or bricks are laid in straight lines, the structure is inherently weak whereas if built using oblique angles, under compression, loads are more evenly distributed.  One of the reasons so much has survived from antiquity is the longevity of the famously sticky Roman concrete, the durability thought in part due to chemical reactions with an unusual Roman ingredient: volcanic ash.

1973 Holden Monaro GTS (253) with Herringbone cloth inserts (left) and replica fabric now available from Global Trim (right).  In 1973, Holden replaced the previous houndstooth cloth insert option with one in a herringbone pattern (Ranier, option code 30Y), the most popular combination early in the availability being 1854-30Y (black vinyl + herringbone cloth inserts); the factory code for an all vinyl interior in black was 1854-30X.  At the time, option 30Y listed at Aus$75.00 (4 seats) and Global Trim's replica fabric is Aus$330 per metre (the bolts 1.5m wide); to re-trim an interior demands 2m. 

Lindsay Lohan in herringbone flat-cap.

Of gears

Although the term “herringbone cut gears” is more poetic, to engineers they’re known as double helical gears.  In both their manufacturing and operation they do present challenges, the tooling needed in their production demanding unusually fine tolerances and in use a higher degree of alignment must be guaranteed during installation.  Additionally, depending on use, there is sometimes the need periodically to make adjustments for backlash (although in certain (usually lower-speed) applications they can be designed to minimize this).  However, because of the advantages the herringbone structure offers over straight cut, spur or helical gears, the drawbacks can be considered an acceptable trade-off, the principle benefits being:

(1) Smoothness of operation and inherently lower vibration:  The herringbone shape inherently balances the load on the teeth, reducing vibration and generated noise.

(2) A high specific load capacity: The symmetrical design of herringbone gears offers a high surface area and an even distribution of load, meaning larger and more robust teeth may be used, making the design idea for transmitting high torque or power.

(3) A reduction in axial thrust: Probably the reasons engineers so favour the herringbone is that axial thrust can be reduced (in certain cases to the point of effective elimination).  With helical gears, the axial force imposed inherently acts to force gears apart whereas the herringbone gears have two helical sections facing each other, the interaction cancelling the axial thrust, vastly improving mechanical stability.

(4) Self-regulating tolerance for misalignment. Herringbone handle small variations in alignment better than spur gears or single helical gears, the opposing helix angles assisting in compensating for any axial misalignment, contributing to smoother gear meshing and extending the life of components.

(5) Heat dissipation qualities: The symmetrical structure assists heat dissipation because the opposing helices create a distribution of heat through a process called mutual heat-soak, reducing the risk of localized overheating, something which improves thermal efficiency by making the heat distribution pattern more uniform.

Gears: helical (left), herringbone (or double helical) (centre) and straight-cut (right).  Although road cars long ago abandoned them, straight-cut gears are still used in motorsport where drivers put up with their inherent whine and learn the techniques needed to handle the shifting.

Monsoon

Monsoon (pronounced mon-soon)

(1) The seasonal wind of the Indian Ocean and southern Asia, blowing from the southwest in summer (associated with heavy rain) and from the northeast in winter.

(2) On the Indian sub-continent and in nearby countries, the season during which the southwest monsoon blows, commonly marked by heavy rains; the rainy season (known as the Asiatic monsoon).

(3) Any wind that changes directions with the seasons (rare) or any persistent wind established between water and adjoining land.

(4) In colloquial use, sudden, hard rain.

(5) Entire meteorological systems with such characteristics.

1547: From the Raj-era English monsoon (alternating trade wind of the Indian Ocean), from the now obsolete Dutch monssoen, from the Portuguese monção, from the earlier moução, from the Arabic موسم (mawsim) (time of year, appropriate season (for a voyage, pilgrimage etc.)), from وَسَمَ‎ (wasama) (to mark, to brand; he marked).  Monsoon has a specific technical meaning in meteorology but in casual use it’s sometimes used as a synonym for (especially sudden) hard rain as an alternative to terms like deluge, rainstorm, storm & squall.  Monsoon is a noun and monsoonal & monsoonish are adjectives; the noun plural is monsoons.

Lindsay Lohan caught in a monsoon in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004).

The Arabic word came into use among Portuguese sailors crewing ships which plied the Indian Ocean trade routes.  In the Arabic, mawsim could be used to describe anything recurrent, especially annual events such as festivals and, confusingly to the Portuguese, it could reference difference seasons (spring, summer etc) because each could be associated with the appropriate time for some activity (a pilgrimage, a harvest et al).  Under the Raj, in the sub-continent and adjacent lands, it came to be applied specifically to the seasonal (April through October) south-westerly winds which both brought the rains and were best suited to the sailing ships making voyages to the East Indies (modern-day Indonesia).  Technically, the winter’s north-easterly winds were also a monsoon but because the summer monsoon generated much heavier rain, it came emphatically to be spoken of as "the monsoon".  Because of the similarity of the conditions, use of the word (as a technical term) has extended from the original (Asian-Australian) to describe the rain patterns in West Africa and the Americas associated with seasonal changes in the direction of prevailing winds but, because the change is not as dramatic (especially in North & South America), some meteorologists prefer other terms.

To a meteorologist a monsoon is not just the summer rains but a system of winds which influences the climate of a large area which stretches as far south as northern Australia, the prevailing direction reversing with the change in seasons.  Although affected by ocean temperatures, monsoons were long thought primarily caused by the much greater annual variation in temperature over large land masses but the influence of oceanic temperatures is now becoming clear.  This variation induces higher atmospheric pressure over the continents in the winter and much lower levels in summer, the disparity causing the strong winds to blow between the ocean and the land, accounting for the heavy seasonal rainfall.

Monsoon storm event over Tuscon, Arizona.

That climate change is caused by the increased levels of atmospheric CO₂ is now accepted by just about everybody except some right-wing fanatics and those who get their medical and scientific advice from their hairdressers or personal trainer.  In the last decade, enough data has been accumulated to build models which predict the changes the Asian-Australian monsoon is expected to undergo and although there are variations between them, all seem to suggest a net increase in monsoon rainfall on a seasonal mean, area-average basis, the causes essentially two-fold: The rise in the land-sea thermal contrast and, of greater significance, warming over the Indian Ocean which means the monsoon winds will carry more moisture to the sub-continent.  There are variations in estimates but typically most models suggest the increase in total rainfall over India will be around 5-10%.  That figure is often misunderstood because it refers to a long-term average number and given that in some years rainfall will actually be below average, in some years it will be much above and climate simulations also show different patterns of geographic distribution which means it’s difficult to predict specific outcomes except to say the trend-lines are upward.  The effect on the Asian-Australian monsoon of anthropogenic climate change is thus certain in direction (and to a degree in extent) but unpredictable at the margins.  The mechanism is well known:  A warming climate allows more moisture to be held in the atmosphere which means rainfall when it does occur will be heavier.  Carbon is a form of energy so more of it in the atmosphere means a more energetic atmosphere and thus climate events, when they occur, will probably tend to the extreme in frequency and severity.

Solvent

Solvent (pronounced sol-vuhnt)

(1) Able to pay all just debts; meet all financial obligations (ie not insolvent).

(2) Something with the power of dissolving.

(3) A usually liquid substance that dissolves another to form a solution.

(4) Something that solves or explains (archaic).

1620–1630:  From the Middle English solvent, from the French, from the earlier form solver.  Latin root was solventem, accusative singular of solvēns (releasing), present participle of solvō, derived from the construct se (away) +‎ luō (to untie, set free, separate), most usually as solvere (to loosen, to free).  The meaning as applied to financial debts, originally a French form, dates from the 1650s.  As a substance able to dissolve other compounds, use emerged in the 1670s.  Unfortunately, the Czech noun solvence (solvency) was never picked up by English; its adoption would have made the odd clumsy phrase more elegent.  Solvent & insolvent are nouns & adjectives and solvency & insolvency are nouns; the noun plural is solvents.

Solvents and exfoliants.

Although the end result of use should (helpfully) be similar, technically, solvents and exfoliants differ both  in composition and application.  A solvent is a substance capable of dissolving other substances, typically for the purpose of removing them from the surface to which they've become adhered although in science and industry, they're used also for dilution or extraction and in all but some specialized products, they tend to be liquids, whether used in cleaning, manufacturing or chemical processing.  The concoctions are many but the best known solvents include water, alcohol and the acetone familiar to users of nail-polish removers.  Exfoliants are best-known as the commercially packaged substances used to remove dead skin cells on the face, the hope being an improvement in the texture of the skin and thus a more glowing, youthful appearance.  Unlike solvents which dissolve stuff, exfoliants work by the mechanical-chemical process of physically scrubbing or sloughing off the outermost layer of dead skin cells and are packaged variously as scrubs with abrasive particles, brushes, loofahs, or chemical mixes such as alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) or beta hydroxy acids (BHAs).

In praise of Orange Solv.

Orange Solv is a water-soluble solvent marketed as an alternative to the petroleum, chlorinated or glycol-ether mixtures used in heavy duty cleaning and de-greasing.  Applications include grease and tar removal from engines and parts, paint removal from solvent-resistant hard surfaces and it’s widely used commercially to remove chewing gum and stains from industrial carpets.  It’s been adopted by local governments as an additive to high-pressure water systems in the removal of graffiti and one vlogger (influenced presumably by practical experience) endorsed Orange Solve as the preferred solvent to remove the CHEATER signs spray-painted onto cars by vengeful WAGs.  Orange Solve is made from D-Limonene, an extract from the peel of oranges and lemons.  Low in toxicity, it’s pleasant to use, has minimal skin impact and is biodegradable.  Produced using the waste from the citrus industry, it's classified as non-flammable and when diluted with equal parts water, pH is a mildly alkaline 9. After use, there remains a citrus fragrance wafting about which some enjoy and others find intrusive.

Vantablack

Vantablack (pronounced van-tah-blak)

(1) A black material which absorbs 99.965% of light reaching its surface.

(2) A shade of black of extraordinary blackness.

(3) Used loosely, of or pertaining to something very black.   

2014: A coining in Modern English, the construct being Vanta (the acronym for Vertically Aligned NanoTube Arrays) + black.  Black (in the sense of the color (absorbing all light and reflecting none; dark and hueless)) was from the Middle English blak, black & blake, from the Old English blæc (black, dark (also “ink”), from the Proto-West Germanic blak, from the Proto-Germanic blakaz (burnt).  Related were the Dutch blaken (to burn), the Low German blak & black (blackness, black paint (black) ink) and the Old High German blah (black), possibly from the primitive Indo-European bhleg- (to burn, shine).

Vantablack is built from clusters of vertical nanotubes on a substrate using a modified chemical vapour deposition process (CVD).  When light strikes Vantablack, instead of reflecting back and thus being visible, it becomes trapped, bouncing among the tubes until absorbed, dissipating into heat.  The densities are impressive for physical stuff; each square centimetre contains about a billion nanotubes.  Industrially, it’s an improvement over previous products because it can be created at 750°f (400°c) whereas an earlier substance, developed by NASA, demanded a 1380°f (750°c) environment.  However, in manufacturing, this is expensive and, Vantablack can be grown only on materials capable of enduring this temperature, further limiting commercial application.  Despite this Vantablack is a functional improvement which also offers better thermal stability and a greater resistance to mechanical vibration.  First developed in the UK’s National Physical Laboratory, trademark is held by Surrey NanoSystems.  The blackest known material ever in earthly existence, Vantablack is used to improve the performance of both ground and space-based cameras, improve heat-absorption in solar arrays and prevent stray light entering telescopes.  The military apply it to thermal camouflage because if used to coat 3D objects, they appear visually flat “black holes” without any shape or depth.

Potential LVBD customer.  Lindsay Lohan and the quest for the perfect LBD.

Surrey Nanosystems in 2016 granted Sir Anish Kapoor (an Indian-born UK British sculptor), the sole licence exclusively to use Vantablack for all “artistic purposes”, meaning no other artist could produce work using the material.  The exclusivity clause attracted much criticism from other artists who claimed it was absurd to suggest an individual could enjoy sole rights to a color.  While that might have been the consequence, what Surry did was licence the use of a commercial product for certain limited purposes, something hardly unusual in industry.  What triggered the controversy was that it involved restricted artists producing their product for some commercial gain; there is nothing to prevent anyone creating an artwork using Vantablack; it just can’t be exhibited or sold and must exist only for personal enjoyment.  Some artists actually responded by producing and trade-making certain products and making them freely available to any artist except Sir Anish; he was banned.  Legal commentators and philosophers have about the written about what is clearly a restraint of trade and the consensus seems to be Surrey is on sound legal ground but there should be a debate about whether intellectual property in the matter of the use of materials should be extended to art.

Narthex

Narthex (pronounced nahr-theks)

(1) In church architecture, a portico (enclosed passage) at the west end of a basilica or church, usually at right angles to the nave and located between the main entrance and the nave.

(2) In botany, a taxonomic genus within the family Apiaceae (umbelliferous plants), now included in Ferula, Narthex asafoetida and thus obsolete.

1665-1675: From the Medieval Latin narthex, from the Medieval Greek narthex (enclosed porch, enclosure (the earlier meaning was “box”), from the Ancient Greek νάρθηξ (narthēx) (giant fennel, scourge (and later “casket” (the Modern Greek νάρθηκας (nárthikas)), and, on the basis of the suffix, probably a pre-Greek word.  The connection between the giant fennel plant and boxes is that the fibre from the stems of the plant was used to make boxes.  In Greek, the word was linked also to νάρδος (nárdos) (nard plant, spikenard, nardin, muskroot).  The Modern Greek νάρθηκας (narthekas) long ago relinquished the early senses and now means either the feature in church architecture or the brace of a sprained wrist or sling of a broken arm.  The plant was well known in Greek mythology.  In the Θεογονία (circa 730–700 BC) (Theogonía (the genealogy or birth of the gods)), known in the West as The Theogony, an epic poem of a thousand-odd lines by the (8^th-7^th century BC) poet Hesod, it was in hollow fennel stalks that Prometheus conveyed fire from Heaven to Earth.  In Armenia the name for a narthex is gavit.  The adjectival form was narthecal and the plural either narthexes or narthices, the English form preferable for most purposes.

Narthexs were part of many early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches, located traditionally to the west of the nave and functioned (1) as a lobby area and (2) as the place where penitents were required to remain.  Although the archaeological record suggests there may have been some early churches with annexes or even small separate structures located nearby which fulfilled the latter function, narthexes seem quickly to have been integrated.  That means that structurally and architecturally, a narthex was part of the building but theologically was not, its purpose being to permit those not entitled to admission as part of the congregation (mostly catechumens and penitents) nevertheless to hear the service and (hopefully) be encouraged to pursue communion.

For ceremonies other than services, the narthex was otherwise a functional space, the church’s baptismal font often mounted there and in some traditions (both Eastern & Western) worshipers would sometimes anoint themselves and their children with a daub of holy water before stepping foot in the nave and some branches of the Orthodox Church use the narthex for funeral ceremonies.  There were also architectural variations in the early churches which persisted in larger building and cathedrals, the narthex divided in two, (1) an esonarthex (inner narthex) between the west wall and the body of the church proper, separated from the nave and aisles by a wall, trellis or some other means and (2) an external closed space, the exonarthex (outer narthex), a court in front of the church façade with a perimeter defined by on all sides by colonnades.

In the Western Church, reforms removed the requirement to exclude from services those who were not full members of the congregation which of course meant the narthex was rendered technically redundant.  However, the shape churches had assumed with a narthex included had become part of the tradition of the Church so architects continued to include the space, both as part of the nave structure and something semi-separated.  They attracted a number of names, borrowed mostly from secular buildings including vestibule, porch, foyer, hallway, antechamber, anteroom, entrance, entry, entryway, gateway, hall, lobby, portal & portico, the choice dictated sometimes by local tradition, sometimes by the nature of construction and sometimes, it seems to have been entirely arbitrary.  In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the esonarthex and exonarthex retained distinct liturgical functions, some rituals terminating in the exonarthex while services still exclusively penitential services are usually chanted in the esonarthex.  In dialectal northern English, the casual term for the penitents forced to remain in the narthex was “the narts”.

The NART Ferrari spiders

1966 Ferrari 275 GTS

Although Ferrari produced the 275 GTB (berlinetta (coupé)) (1964-1968) and 275 GTS (spider (roadster)) (1964-1966) in unison with substantially the same mechanical specification, the two had completely different coachwork, sharing not one external panel.  Styled by Pininfarina, the 275 GTS, elegant and well-proportioned, recalled the earlier 250 Cabriolets and buyers appreciated the sophistication of the improved specification but Luigi Chinetti (1901-1994), Ferrari's North American distributer, remembering the sensuous lines of the 250 California Spider (1957-1960), asked the factory for a run of spiders (roadsters) based on the 275 GTB.

1960 Ferrari 250 California Spider

Ferrari commissioned its traditional coachbuilder, Carrozzeria Scaglietti, to produce the series and in 1967, the first tranche of ten of a planned twenty-five was completed and delivered to the United States.  The spiders were based on the newly-released 275 GTB/4 which included a number of refinements to the original series, most notably the twin-cam heads, the factory rating the 3.3 Litre (201 cubic inch) V12 at 300 horsepower, a lift of 20 over the earlier single-cam engines.  Because Chinetti’s competition department was called the North American Racing Team (NART), the ten roadsters have always been referred to as the “NART Spiders” and although the factory never adopted the designation, Chinetti added to the tail of each a small cloisonné badge with the team's logo.  Interestingly, the factory also continued to list the cars as 275 GTB/4s, even though the usual naming convention would have been to designate them as 275 GTS/4s, a hint perhaps from Ferrari that it really wasn’t their idea.

1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4

The addition of the badge, an unusual addition to anything from Scaglietti workshops, was not unreasonable given the spiders were very much a co-production, Chinetti receiving technical assistance and the precious benefit of official status from the factory but it was made clear that financial responsibility for the project lay exclusively with the US operation which would be required to pay for each prior to delivery.  On that basis things proceeded but, modified from production 275 GTB/4’s with (then typically Italian) labour-intensive coach-building techniques, the spiders were expensive and sales were slow, American buyers more seduced by Ferrari's new and more luxuriously trimmed and cheaper 330 GTS; even then air-conditioning was a persuasive inducement and the more spartan NARTs languished for some months in Chinetti’s showroom waiting for someone with a longing for the ways things used to be done.  As a consequence, it was only that first run of ten which was built but they’ve since become highly prized by collectors, NART #10709 in August 2013 selling at auction for US$27.5 million (including commission) at RM Sotheby's in Monterey, California.

1969 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spider

Daytona 24 Hours, 1967: First-Ferrari 330 P3/4 (#23; Chris Amon & Lorenzo Bandini), Second-Ferrari 330 P4 (#24; Mike Parkes & Ludovico Scarfiotti and Third-Ferrari 412 P (#26; Pedro Rodriguez & Jean Guichet.

However, despite the modest demand for the NART spiders, Ferrari must have been convinced the concept was viable with full factory backing and when, in 1968, the 275 GTB/4 was replaced with the 365 GTB/4 (1968-1973), a companion spider was listed as an official model, again built by Carrozzeria Scaglietti.  This model came to be known as the Daytona in recognition of Ferrari’s 1-2-3 finish in the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona even though the cars which contested the race were different models, the connection being some photographs from the race which were used in promotional material when the 365 GTB/4 was released.  It was the first new model since the 1-2-3 finish and the name stuck, an attachment about which Ferrari seemed never much enthused although views seem to have softened over the years and "Daytona" appears now even on the corporate website.  The V12 was now 4.4 litres (268 cubic inches) and generating some 340-355 horsepower (depending on market) although the figure on which many fixated was the claimed top speed of 174 mph (280 km/h), the need to out-pace the mark of 171 mph (275 km/h) set by the Lamborghini Miura P400 in 1966 said to be one of the design objectives.  Quite a few verified Ferrari’s claim; few attempted it in the somewhat trickier to handle Miura although contemporary reports confirmed the factory's number.  The Ferrari might actually have gone faster, given enough road.  Luigi Chinetti (1901–1994), who drove the competition version of the Daytona in the 1971 Le Mans 24 hour classic (the last year before the 3.7 mile (6 km) Mulsanne straight was spoiled by the chicanes the FIA imposed) reported than on Mulsanne it never actually stopped accelerating.  Remarkably, the Daytona finished fifth, even winning the mysterious Index of Thermal Efficiency.  Whatever it was, Ferrari must have been content with the thing's terminal velocity but Lamborghini wanted bragging rights and the more powerful Miura P400 S debuted in 1969 with a claim of 180 mph (290 km/h) which Autosport magazine in 1970 almost matched, clocking 288.6 km/h (179.3 mph).  That turned out to be the decade's high-water mark, the succeeding P400 SV more powerful still but a little slower because the aerodynamics were slightly compromised by the need to add a little width to accommodate some needed improvements and the use of fatter tyres which absorbed a surprising amount of energy.  It would be many years before a production car went faster than the P400 S.    

1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 (Daytona)

What was however learned from 275 NART experience was that the customers had become sybarites who wanted cars which looked like the austere roadsters of old but fitted with the accruements of modernity, air conditioning, power steering and electric windows.  On that basis the Daytona entered production and in what was by then a much more competitive market, the approach was vindicated, the Daytona close to doubling the sales of its predecessor, including 122 spiders.  Intriguingly, within a few years of the end of Daytona production ending, the realization hit that there wouldn’t again be something like the 365 GTS/4, the days of the big, front-engined V12s thought over and even if one returned, the feeling in the 1970s was that government regulations would be there would be no more roadsters and interest in Daytona spiders began to spike.  With only 122 produced, the math of the supply-demand curve was predictable and prices of spiders soared above the berlinetta, the factory having made more than ten times as many of them.

1971 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 (Daytona)

Thus stimulated was the roofectomy business which had long been part of the coach-building trade but few conversions were potentially as lucrative as a Daytona.  Done properly, the results could be satisfactory but, beyond the roof, there were a number of differences between the two and not all were done properly.  However it’s done, a genuine Scaglietti spider is going to be worth some multiple of a conversion in similar condition, which may now attract little premium over a berlinetta, originality now more of a fetish than it was in the 1970s and 1980s.  In 2013, the New York Times reported Ferrari, unhappy about what they regarded as fakes being traded, were going to try to pressure the high-end auction houses not to host such sales but the industry persists and there are a number of replica 275 NARTs although, not all were based on a twin-cam original, industry sources suggesting a premium above a berlinetta of 20% at most.  Other popular candidates for conversion include the Mercedes-Benz 280 SE 3.5 Coupés (1968-1971; on which an exact conversion is also very challenging), Maserati Ghiblis (1967-1973) and the early Jaguar E-Types, technically a simpler job especially in years gone by when suitable cars were both cheaper and more numerous.

1976 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 NART by Michelotti 

In a footnote to the Daytona’s history, either not discouraged by his experience with the 275 NART or impressed by the prices the ten were commanding, Luigi Chinetti commissioned the construction of five 365 GTB/4 Daytona NART Spiders, the design turned over to Giovanni Michelotti (1921–1980).  In the spirit of 1950s minimalism, Michelotti’s first design, shown at the 1974 Turin Motor Show featured cut-down doors and a removable targa top but the second, built for the 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans, was more a conventional race-car, its lines attuned to aerodynamic enhancement although it never made the event because of a dispute with the notoriously difficult stewards.  Still interested in the concept however, in 1976 Chinetti ordered three more NART Daytonas from Michelotti, configured this time as road-cars with air conditioning and electric windows, the target market the US.  Unlike the 275 NARTs, the three NART Daytonas really were used cars, production of the originals having ceased in 1973.  One of them has been a fixture on the show and auction scene for a while, Michelotti using it as a display piece and it spent two years as an exhibit at the Le Mans Museum before bouncing around the premium auction circuit where it’s exchanged between collectors at increasingly higher prices.  The wedge shape certainly marks the design as a product of the age but so did the detailing: instead of a delicate cloisonné on the tail, NART was printed in big, bold, upper-case letters.