Hermaphrodite

Hermaphrodite (pronounced hur-maf-ruh-dahyt)

(1) In human physiology, an individual in which both male and female reproductive organs (and sometimes also all or some of the secondary sex characteristics) are present, or in which the chromosomal patterns do not fall under typical definitions of male and female.  It’s no longer used to describe people, except in the technical language of medicine or pathology and is now considered offensive, intersex the preferred term).

(2) In zoology, an organism (such as the earthworm) having both the male and female organs of reproduction.

(3) Of, relating to, or characteristic of a hermaphrodite.

(4) In botany, having stamens and pistils in the same flower; the alternative term is monoclinous.

(5) In figurative use, a person or thing in which two opposite forces or qualities are combined.

(6) In historic admiralty use as hermaphrodite brig, a vessel square-masted fore and schooner-rigged aft (obsolete).

1350–1400: From the Middle English hermofrodite, from the Latin hermaphrodītus, from the Greek hermaphródītos (person partaking of the attributes of both sexes).  The French, dating from the 1750s, was hermaphrodisme.  The word was derived from the proper name Hermaphroditus (or Hermaphroditos), a figure in Greek mythology, son of Hermes and Aphrodite, who, in Ovid, who the nymph Salmacis loved so ardently that she prayed for complete union with him,  The gods granted her wish and they were united bodily, combining male and female characteristics.  Hermaphrodite, hermaphroditism & hermaphrodeity are nouns, hermaphroditic & hermaphroditical are adjectives and hermaphroditically is an adverb;the noun plural is hermaphrodites.

It was used figuratively in Middle English to describe "one who improperly occupies two offices" and as a name for the medical condition, Middle English also had the late fourteenth century form hermofrodito and in the early fifteenth, hermofrodisia.  It was an adjective from circa 1600, first as hermaphroditical which must have been too difficult because by the 1620s, that had be replaced by ermaphroditic and about the same time, it came to be applied generally to things possessing two natures although this fell from favor and Janus-faced prevailed.  Although a rare condition, it must have fascinated many because an array of words followed in the wake of the tangle of variations in Middle English.  The Victorians liked to blame medieval writers making a mess of translating from Greek and Latin but the wholly wrong noun morphodite was a colloquial mangling from 1839, based on morpho- (from the Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ) (form)) though they could blame the early Georgians, an earlier mangling being mophrodite, noted in 1706.

The slang “dyke”, was used to describe a lesbian (or, more correctly, usually a subset of lesbians) and is now considered a gay slur, unless self-applied or used (with mutual or common consent) within the LGBTQQIAAOP community.  It was applied, usually pejoratively, to lesbians thought “tough, mannish, or aggressive”, unlike the "lipstick lesbians" preferred by the pornography industry and was a creation of American English although the origin is disputed.  Some claim it to be from 1931 as a truncation of morphadike (the dialectal garbling of hermaphrodite) but bulldyker (one known to engage in lesbionic activities) is attested from 1921.  One dictionary of American slang cites an 1896 source where dyke is slang for "the vulva" while another says that at least since 1893, as "hedge on the dyke", it referred to “female pubic hair".  Several texts confirm the long forms, bulldiker & bulldyking, were first part of oral use by African-Americans in the 1920s yet no African antecedents have been found, the assumption by etymologists that these are adaptations of backcountry, barnyard slang, perhaps either influenced by or an actual combination of the sounds of the words “bull” & “dick”.

The noun androgyne was picked up in the mid-twelfth century from the Medieval Latin androgyne (feminine), from the Greek androgynos (a hermaphrodite, a woman-man).  The modern-sounding adjective ambisexual began not with the psychiatrists but was used by clothing manufacturers to describe garments which could (within size-ranges) be worn by men or women without modification.  Bisexual, although it didn’t enter the jargon of psychology until 1912, had been used in its modern sense since appearing in Charles Chaddock's (1861–1936) 1892 translation of an 1886 text of psychiatric illnesses; prior to that volume, bisexual had been used only in botany to refer to hermaphroditic plants or as descriptions of institutions such as (what are now called co-educational) schools.  Bisexous (1838) and bisexuous (1856) were other coinings suggested for use in the sense of hermaphrodite; for a topic often taboo, linguistically, it was becoming a crowded field.  Ambosexual (1935) again sounds modern but ambosexous as another synonym for hermaphrodite was used as early as the 1650s.  Ambisextrous (1929) was a humorous coinage based on ambidextrous and, predictably, came from the fertile imaginations of either schoolboys or undergraduates, depending on the source cited.  The synonym gynandrous was first recorded circa 1765, and was from the Greek gunandros (of uncertain sex; of doubtful sex), the construct being gunē (woman) + anēr (man) + the suffix –ous (used to form adjectives from nouns).  The term pseudohermaphroditism was created in 1876 by German-Swiss microbiologist Edwin Klebs (1834–1913) and that described a a condition in which an individual has a matching chromosomal and gonadal tissue (ovary or testis) sex, but mismatching external genitalia and the nouns hermaphrodeity (circa 1610s) hermaphroditism (1807) are still used in the jargon of medicine and pathology.

Because of the taboo nature of hermaphrodite in some societies, it also attracted the creation of euphemisms.  One used in Old English was skratte (and there were variations) from the Old Norse skratte (goblin, wizard).  The original sense was probably “a monster" and the similar sounding “Old Scratch” (the Devil), from the earlier scrat was known from the 1740s; all hint at negative associations and it’s assumed most were generally aimed at women who didn't conform with the conventional standards of what men thought "attractive".  The familiar adjective androgynous was used from the 1620s in the sense of “a womanish man” and by the 1650s, "having two sexes, being both male and female".  It was from the Latin androgynus, from the Greek androgynos (hermaphrodite, male and female in one; womanish man) and (this time neutrally) as an adjective to describe public baths "common to men and women".  Semi was applied from the 1300s (mostly to men) to convey the sense of “only half masculine”, sem- a word-forming element (half, part, partly; partial, imperfect) from the Latin semi- (half) from the primitive Indo-European semi- (half), source also of the Sanskrit sami (half), the Greek hēmi- (half), the Old English sam- and the Gothic sami- (half).

To convey the sense of disapprobation associated with hermaphroditism, especially as it manifested in effeminate men, probably the best example is “bad”.  It was rare before 1400 and evil remained more frequently used until circa 1700 but the meanings "inadequate, unsatisfactory, worthless; unfortunate" & "wicked, evil, vicious; counterfeit" were universal by the late 1300s.  Unusually for English, it appears to have no relatives in other languages, the conclusion of many etymologists being it’s likely from the Old English derogatory term bæddel and its diminutive bædling (effeminate man, hermaphrodite, pederast), both of which are probably related to bædan (to defile).  The term hermaphrodite was once commonly applied to people, neutrally in medicine and variously otherwise but the latter is thought now offensive, "intersex" the preferred term. It can refer to a person born with both male and female reproductive organs or with a chromosomal pattern that does not align with typical male or female patterns, for instance, an individual with a mix of XX and XY chromosomes or with androgen insensitivity syndrome.

Salmacis and Hermaphroditus

Greek mythology has twists and turns, forks and dead ends.  Sometimes the tales vary in detail, sometimes they’re contradictory and often the myths can in themselves be mythological, the work even of medieval writers rather than anything from antiquity.  That’s never stopped some of the later texts entering the popular imagination becoming part of the mythological canon.  Roman lyric poets were known to pen the myths too.  Although Hermaphroditus is mentioned in Greek literature hundreds of years earlier as a figure of some sexual ambiguity and with no mention of Salmacis, nor with any reference to being the child of Hermes and Aphrodite, the best known rendition of the legend of Salmacis and Hermaphroditus is that written by the Roman poet Ovid (Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (43 BC–circa 17)).

Ovid relates that Hermaphroditus had been raised in the caves on the slopes of Mount Ida, a sacred mountain in Phrygia.  It was a happy, tranquil youth but in adolescence, he grew restive in the wilderness and like many young men he was drawn to the "corrupting coast" and the "corrosive city" and set off to travel to the large settlement Caria.  He actually took a bit of a risk in his wandering because the naiads (female water spirits who lived near fountains, springs and streams of fresh water who raised and cared for him) could be dangerous, known to be jealous types, but Ovid doesn’t dwell on this, despite rarely having much diffidence in commenting on dangerous women. 

Salmacis and Hermaphroditus (1856), oil on canvas by Giovanni Carnovali (1804–1873).

It was in a forest on the outskirts of Caria, near Halicarnassus that Hermaphroditus and the nymph Salmacis met.  She was bathing in her pool as the beautiful boy walked past and the moment she cast her eyes upon him, she fell in love.  In her lust she fell upon him, begging him to take her but young and unsure, he pushed her away, refusing her every advance.  Tearfully she ran away and hid.  Hot and tired from his long journey, Hermaphroditus, thinking she was gone, undressed and plunged into the cool, clear waters of the pool.  At this, Salmacis sprang from her shelter into the water, wrapping her arms around the struggling youth, her voice begging the gods that they would never part.  The lascivious waif’s wish was granted, their bodies blended into one to become “a creature of both sexes".  The last act of Hermaphroditus as he was transformed was his prayer to his parents Hermes and Aphrodite that all who swam in these waters would be similarly transformed.  They answered his prayer.

Lindsay Lohan as Aphrodite, emerging from the depths.

The archeological record does indicate the idea of some form of sexual dualism is ancient, statutes and surviving art predating any of the known myths of antiquity so depictions of the quality of hermaphroditism as a part of the human condition is certainly ancient.  There are some relicts from the seventh century BC, including a statue of Aphroditos (a figure explicitly both male and female) which scholars speculate may have been either a figure of worship for a cult or a symbol of fertility.  The statue was cast at least three-hundred years before the first known reference to Hermaphroditus in any Greek text and while there are many variations of the story, Ovid’s is the best remembered, certainly because it’s the most complete but probably also because it’s the best.

Propinquity

Propinquity (pronounced proh-ping-kwi-tee)

(1) Nearness in place; proximity.

(2) Nearness of relation; kinship.

(3) Affinity of nature; similarity.

(4) Nearness in time (technical use only).

1350-1400: From the Old French propinquité (nearness in relation, kinship (and emerging in the early 1400s) nearness in place, physical nearness), from the Latin propinquitatem (nominative propinquitas) (nearness, vicinity; relationship, affinity) ," from propinquus (near, neighboring), from prope (near), the loss of the second -r- by dissimilation, from the primitive Indo-European propro (on and on, ever further), source also of the Sanskrit pra-pra (on and on), the Ancient Greek pro-pro (before, on and on), from the root per- (forward), hence "in front of, toward, near".  The signification of the suffix -inquus remains mysterious and the old synonym appropinquity is thankfully obsolete.  Propinquity is a noun and propinquitous & propinquitous are adjectives; the noun plural is propinquties.

In social psychology, propinquity is considered one of the main factors leading to interpersonal attraction.   Propinquity can mean physical proximity, a kinship between people, or a similarity in nature between things.  Two people working in the same office should tend to have a higher propinquity than those working further apart, just as two people with similar political beliefs should possess a higher propinquity than those whose beliefs differ.  The propinquity effect is the tendency for people to form friendships or romantic relationships with those whom they encounter most often.  The emergence of virtual social environments on the Internet has not necessarily reduced the effects of propinquity where it exists but online interactions have facilitated instant and close interactions with people despite a lack of material presence.  The changes in physical proximity people have begun widely to experience during the COVID-19 pandemic are thus one part of the many science experiments currently conducting themselves, affording researchers possibilities on a scale never seen before.

The Ball Rule: Nothing propinks like propinquity

George Ball with Lyndon Johnson (LBJ, 1908–1973; US president 1963-1969), The White House, 1964.

It was the author Ian Fleming (1908-1964) who coined the phrase “nothing propinks like propinquity”, using it as a chapter title in Diamonds are Forever (1956) but it was George Ball (1909–1994), an undersecretary of state in the Kennedy (1961-1963) and Johnson (1963-1969) administrations who translated it to power-politics as the “Ball Rule” which states that “the more direct access one has to the source of power, the greater one’s power, no matter what ones title may actually be”.

Nixon and Kissinger, The White House.

Dr Henry Kissinger (b 1923; US national security advisor (NSA) 1969-1975 & secretary of state 1937-1977) was a fine student of history and a fast learner of the low skullduggery needed to succeed in Washington DC.  Although among the most influential of the national security advisors, he resented the independent advice coming from the State Department which he regarded as ill-informed, ineffectual and wrong-headed.  Although foreign policy under Richard Nixon (1913-1994; US president 1969-1974) was during his first administration (1969-1973) something of a "battle of the memoranda" as Kissinger and William Rogers (1913–2001; US secretary of state 1969-1973) struggled for supremacy, what proved ultimately most effective for Kissinger was that he was able to ensure the secretary's access to the president became  limited while his proximity remained constant.  In 1973 Kissinger replaced Rogers as secretary while continuing to serve as NSA; he had no interest in there being competition because he knew what could happen.

As some have found, propinquity to power can come at a cost: Lindsay Lohan with Harvey Weinstein (b 1952), Porto-Cervo, Italy.

Pre-dating Ball and even Fleming, an understanding of the relationship between someone’s proximity to the table of power and their gathering of its crumbs was useful in understanding the exercise of power in many systems and especially helpful to historians of the Third Reich in understanding the fluidity of actual authority in the Nazi state which transcended the constitutional structure.  Indeed, in some cases it wasn’t for some years after the end of the war that some of the implications of the ever-shifting power relationships came to be understood, tracked not only in terms of the influence exercised by Adolf Hitler's (1889-1945; Führer (leader) and German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945) paladins but as a measure of the decline in the Führer’s authority as the fortunes of war turned against him.  There are many examples from the strange world of Hitler and his government which illustrate the operation of Ball’s rule.  While the accretion of power was not mono-casual and influenced by the personalities, their circumstances and ambitions, it was almost always the closeness to Hitler, real or merely perceived, which most dictated one's position in the ever-shifting power structure, something usually more important than actual titles or appointments.

Hitler with Keitel in Berlin.

Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel (1882–1946; Head of OKW (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the armed forces high command)) enjoyed (sic) close proximity to Hitler for the entire war yet such was his character and subservience to the Fuhrer that his standing in the military was progressively diminished, his authority never seen as anything but the conduit through which Hitler’s order’s passed.  Although on paper a power figure in the military and the state his power was illusory, it’s exercise dependent entirely on his closeness to the leader.  He was a cypher but Hitler, who after the devious machinations (typical of the Nazi state) which had removed other prospective candidates, had appointed himself commander-in-chief of the army and would have tolerated no other attitude.

Hitler with Göring at the Berghof.

Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring (1893–1946; leading Nazi, Hitler's designated successor 1939-1945) was never under any illusion that all that he was in the Nazi State was due to his relationship with Hitler but it was enough for him that it be known; unlike many he never attempted to become part of the social entourage, the Fuhrer’s inner circle, apart for all else he found the food served "much too rotten for my taste" and the so many of the regulars "too dull".  His His authority declined as his failings in his many roles became obvious and he came to avoid being in Hitler’s presence to avoid recriminations.  As his distance from the leader became obvious, his powers, real and perceived, diminished and while he retained may impressive-sounding titles, even by the mid-point of the war, his actual authority to influence much was minimal.

Hitler with Bormann at the Berghof.

Martin Bormann (1900–1945; Nazi Party functionary 1927-1945, Secretary to Führer or Deputy Fuhrer 1933-1945) is the classic example of Ball’s Rule.  Along with Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler (1900–1945, head of the Schutzstaffel (SS) 1929-1945), Bormann was feared even by the most loyal Nazis, simply because his closeness to Hitler was notorious.  For most of the war, he was the one most often in Hitler’s presence and he controlled the access of others, few had the opportunity to increase their propinquity without his approval.  In the post-war years Bormann has often been depicted as "the secretary who manipulated Hitler" and while that contains some elements of truth, Hitler was not unaware of what was going on and there's little to suggest he was ever nudged in a direction he was reluctant to travel and the degree of isolation Bormann imposed he found most convivial because those excluded were those he had little wish to hear from.  

Hitler with Speer in the architect's "Bechstein house" on the Obersalzberg.

Albert Speer (1905–1981; Reich Minister of Armaments 1942-1945) became close to Hitler while court architect in the pre-war years.  He claimed, quite believably, that he was as close as Hitler ever came to having a friend and in his memoirs, actually documented the effect of Ball’s Rule, noting the waning of his authority as his relationship with the leader became increasingly distant.  His tale of the way others reacted to the way he and Hitler played out their strange association during and after Speer’s prolonged illness in 1944 is the definitive case study of the dynamic force the perceptions of an individual's degree of propinquity to the source of power can exert.  A number of historians have alluded to a particular tinge they found in the relationship between Speer and Hitler: what they called the "homoerotic".  There is something in this but it was certainly nothing sexual, just an understanding that to the very end (indeed for Speer, even after) the need for each of these emotionally stunted characters to feel the affection of the other was uniquely important for both.

Dynamometer

Dynamometer (pronounced dahy-nuh-mom-i-ter)

(1) A device for measuring mechanical force or muscular power (ergometer).

(2) A device for measuring mechanical power, especially one that measures the output or driving torque of a rotating machine.

1800–1810: A compound word, the construct being dynamo + meter.  Dynamo was ultimately from the Ancient Greek δύναμις (dúnamis; dynamis) (power) and meter has always been an expression of measure in some form and in English was borrowed from the French mètre, from the Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron) (measure).  What meter (also metre) originally measured was the structure of poetry (poetic measure) which in the Old English was meter (measure of versification) from the Latin metrum, from the Ancient Greek metron (meter, a verse; that by which anything is measured; measure, length, size, limit, proportion) ultimately from the primitive Indo-European root me- (measure).  Although the evidence is sketchy, it appears to have been re-borrowed in the early fourteenth century (after a three hundred-year lapse in recorded use) from the Old French mètre, with the specific sense of "metrical scheme in verse”, again from the Latin metrum.  Metre (and metre) was later adopted as the baseline unit of the metric system.  Dynamometer is a noun; the noun plural is dynamometers.

The modern meaning of dynamometer (measuring the power of engines) dates from 1882 and is short for dynamo-machine, from the German dynamoelektrischemaschine (dynamo-electric machine), coined in 1867 by its inventor, the German electrical engineer Werner Siemans (1816-1892). Dynamometers, almost universally referred to as dynos, are machines which simultaneously measure the torque and rotational speed (RPM) of an engine or other rotating prime-mover so specific power outs may be calculated.  On modern dynamometers, measures are displayed either as kilowatts (kW) or brake-horsepower (bhp).

Evolution of the Turbo-Panzer

Porsche 917 Flat 12 being run on factory dynamometer, Stuttgart, 1969.

During the last hundred years odd, the rules of motor sport have been written by an alphabet soup of regulatory bodies including the AIACR, the CSI, the FISA and the FIA and these bureaucrats have made many bad decisions, tending often to make things worse but every now and then, as an unintended consequence of their dopiness, something really good emerges.  The large displacement cars of the mid-1960s contested sports car racing in one of the classic eras in motorsport.  Everyone enjoyed the competition except the rule-making body (the CSI, the Commission Sportive Internationale) which, on flimsy pretexts which at the time fooled nobody, changed the rules for the International Championship of Makes for the racing seasons 1968-1971, restricting the production cars (of which 50 identical units had to have been made) to 5.0 litre (305 cubic inch) engines with a 3.0 litre limit (183 cubic inch) for prototypes (which could be one-offs).  Bizarrely, the CSI even claimed this good idea would be attractive for manufacturers already building three litre engine for Formula One because they would be able to sell them (with a few adaptations), for use in endurance racing.  There’s no evidence the CSI ever asked the engine producers whether their highly-strung, bespoke Formula One power-plants, designed for 200 mile sprints, could be modified for endurance racing lasting sometimes 24 hours.  Soon aware there were unlikely to be many entries to support their latest bright idea, the CSI relented somewhat and allowed the participation of 5.0 litre sports cars as long as the homologation threshold of 50 units had been reached.  A production run of 50 made sense in the parallel universe of the CSI but made no economic sense to the manufacturers and, by 1968, entries were sparse and interest waning so the CSI grudgingly again relented, announcing the homologation number for the 5.0 litre cars would be reduced to 25.

The famous photograph of the 25 917s assembled for the CSI’s inspection outside the Porsche factory, Stuttgart, 1969.

This attracted Porsche, a long-time contestant in small-displacement racing which, funded by profits from their increasingly successful road-cars, sought to contest for outright victories in major events rather than just class trophies.  Porsche believed they had the basis for a five litre car in their three litre 908 which, although still in the early stages of development, had shown promise.  In a remarkable ten months, the parts for twenty-five cars were produced, three of which were assembled and presented to the CSI’s homologation inspectors.  Pettifogging though they were, the inspectors had a point when refusing certification, having before been tricked into believing Ferrari’s assurance of intent actually to build cars which never appeared.  They demanded to see twenty-five assembled, functional vehicles and Porsche did exactly that, in April 1969 parking the twenty-five in the factory forecourt, even offering the inspectors the chance to drive however many they wish.  The offer was declined and, honour apparently satisfied on both sides, the CSI granted homologation.  Thus, almost accidently, began the career of the Porsche 917, a machine which would come to dominate whatever series it contested and set records which would stand for decades, it’s retirement induced not by un-competitiveness but, predictably, by rule changes which rendered it illegal.  

917LH (Langheck (long tail)), Le Mans, 1969.

The ten month gestation was impressive but there were teething problems.  The fundamentals, the 908-based space-frame and the 4.5 (275 cubic inch) litre air-cooled flat-12 engine, essentially, two of Porsche’s 2.25 (137 cubic inch) litre flat-sixes joined together, were robust and reliable from the start but, the sudden jump in horsepower (HP) meant much higher speeds and it took some time to tame the problems of the car’s behaviour at high-speed.  Aerodynamics was then still an inexact science and the maximum speed the 917 was able to attain on Porsche’s test track was around 180 mph (290 km/h) but when unleashed on the circuits with long straights where over 210 mph (338 km/h) was possible the early cars could be lethally unstable.  The first breakthrough in aerodynamic dynamic was serendipitous.  After one high speed run during which the driver had noted (with alarm) the tendency of the rear end of the car to “wander from side to side”, it was noticed that while the front and central sections of the bodywork were plastered with squashed bugs, the fibreglass of the rear sections was a pristine white, the obvious conclusion drawn that while the airflow was inducing the desired degree of down-force on the front wheels, it was passing over the rear of body, thus the lift which induced the wandering.  Some improvisation with pieces of aluminium and much duct tape to create an ad-hoc, shorter, upswept tail transformed the behaviour and was the basis for what emerged from more extensive wind-tunnel testing by the factory as the 917K for Kurzheck (short-tail).

Porsche 917Ks, the original (rear) and the updated version with twin tail-fins, Le Mans, 1971.

The 917K proved a great success but the work in the wind tunnel continued, in 1971 producing a variant with a less upswept tail and vertical fins which bore some resemblance to those used by General Motors and Chrysler a decade earlier.  Then, the critics had derided the fins as “typical American excess” and “pointlessly decorative” but perhaps Detroit was onto something because Porsche found the 917’s fins optimized things by “cleaning” the air-flow over the tail section, the reduction in “buffeting” meaning the severity of the angles on the deck could be lessened, reducing the drag while maintaining down-force, allowing most of the top-speed earlier sacrificed in the quest for stability to be regained.

The Can-Am: A red Porsche 917/10 ahead of an orange McLaren M8F Chevrolet, Laguna Seca, 17 October 1971.  Two years to the day after this shot was taken, the first oil shock hit, dooming the series.

The engine however had been more-or-less right from day one and enlarged first to 4.9 litres (300 cubic inch) before eventually reaching the 5.0 limit at which point power was rated at 632 HP, a useful increase from the original 520.  Thus configured, the 917 dominated sports car racing until banned by regulators.  However, the factory had an alternative development path to pursue, one mercifully almost untouched by the pettifoggers and that was the Canadian-American Challenge Cup (the Can-Am), run on North American circuits under Group 7 rules for unlimited displacement sports cars.  Actually, Group 7 rules consisted of little more than demanding four wheels, enveloping bodywork and two seats, the last of these rules interpreted liberally.  Not for nothing did the Can-Am come to be known as the “horsepower challenge cup” and had for years been dominated by the McLarens, running big-block Chevrolet V8s of increasing displacement and decreasing mass as aluminium replaced cast iron for the heaviest components.

The abortive Porsche flat-16.

In 1969, the Porsche factory dynamometer could handle an output of around 750 bhp, then thought ample but even 635 bhp wouldn’t be enough to take on the big V8s.  For technical reasons it wasn't feasible further to enlarge the flat-12 so Porsche built a flat-16 which worked well enough to exceed the capacity of the factory's dynamometer beyond its limit; the new engine was allocated a notional rating rated of 750 because that was the point at which the machine's graduations ended.  Such a thing had happened before, resulting in an anomaly which wasn’t for some years explained.  In 1959 Daimler released their outstanding 4.5 litre (278 cubic inch) V8 but their dynamometer was more antiquated still, a pre-war device unable to produce a reading beyond 220 bhp so that was the rating used, causing much surprise to those testing the only production model in which it was installed, the rather dowdy Majestic Major (DQ450 saloon & DR450 limousine, 1959-1968).  In either form the Majestic Major was quite hefty and reckoned to enjoy the aerodynamic properties of a small cottage yet it delivered performance which 220 bhp should not have been able to provide, something confirmed when one was fitted to a Jaguar Mark X (1961-1970 and badged 420G from 1967) for evaluation after Jaguar absorbed Daimler.  The V8 Mark X effortlessly out-performed the six cylinder version (rated at a perhaps optimistic 265 bhp.  Unfortunately, Jaguar choose not to use the Daimler V8 in the Mark X, instead enlarging the XK-six, dooming the car in the US market where a V8 version would likely have proved a great success.

The Can-Am: Porsche 917/10, Riverside, 1972.

Estimates at the time suggested the Porsche flat-16 delivered something like 785 bhp which in the Can-Am would have been competitive but the bulk rendered it unsuitable, the longer wheelbase necessitated for installation in a modified 917 chassis having such an adverse effect on the balance Porsche instead resorted to forced aspiration, the turbocharged 917s becoming known as the turbopanzers.  Porsche bought a new dynamometer which revealed they generated around 1100 bhp in racing trim and 1580 when tuned for a qualifying sprint.  Thus, even when detuned for racing, the Can-Am 917s typically took to the tracks generating about the same HP as the early Spitfires, Hurricanes and Messerschmitt which in 1940 fought the Battle of Britain.  Unsurprisingly, the 917 won the Cam-Am title in 1972 and 1973, the reward for which was the same as that earlier delivered in Europe: a rule change effectively banning the thing.  Still, when interviewed, one Porsche engineer admitted the new dynamometer "cost a boatload of money" but he was reported as seeming "pleased with the purchase." so there was that.

The widow-maker: 1975 Porsche 930 with the surprisingly desirable (for some) “sunroof delete” option.

The experience gained in developing turbocharging was however put to good use, the 911 Turbo (930 the internal designation) introduced in 1975 originally as a homologation exercise (al la the earlier 911 RS Carrera) but so popular did it prove it was added to the list as a regular production model and one has been a permanent part of the catalogue almost continuously since.  The additional power and its sometimes sudden arrival meant the times early versions were famously twitchy at the limit (and such was the power those limits were easily found), gaining the machine the nickname “widow-maker”.  There was plenty of advice available for drivers, the most useful probably the instruction not to use the same technique when cornering as one might in a front-engined car and a caution that even if one had had a Volkswagen Beetle while a student, that experience might not be enough to prepare one for a Porsche Turbo.  When stresses are extreme, the physics mean the location of small amounts of weight become subject to a multiplier-effect and the advice was those wishing to explore a 930's limits of adhesion should get one with the rare “sunroof delete” option, the lack of the additional weight up there slightly lowering the centre of gravity.  However, even that precaution may only have delayed the delaying the inevitable and possibly made the consequences worse, one travelling a little faster before the tail-heavy beast misbehaved.

In what may have been a consequence of the instability induced by a higher centre of gravity, in 2012 Lindsay Lohan crashed a sunroof-equipped Porsche 911 Carrera S on the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica, Los Angeles.

The interaction of the weight of a 911’s roof (and thus the centre of gravity) and the rearward bias of the weight distribution was not a thing of urban myth or computer simulations.  In the February 1972 edition of the US magazine Car and Driver, a comparison test was run of the three flavours of the revised 911 with a 2.3 litre (143 cubic inch) (911T, 911E & 911S) engine and the three were supplied with each of the available bodies: coupé, targa & sunroof coupé, the latter two with addition weight in the roof.  What the testers noted in the targa & sunroof-equipped 911s was a greater tendency to twitchiness in corners, something no doubt exacerbated in the latter because the sliding panel’s electric motor was installed in the engine bay.  Car and Driver’s conclusion was: “If handling is your goal, it's best to stick with the plain coupe.”  She anyway had some bad luck when driving black German cars but clearly Ms Lohan should avoid Porsches with sunroofs.

Antichrist

Antichrist (pronounced an-ti-krahyst)

(1) In Christian theology, a particular personage or power, variously identified or explained, who is conceived of as appearing in the world as the principal antagonist of Christ.

(2) An opponent of Christ; a person or power antagonistic to Christ (sometimes lowercase).

(3) A disbeliever in Christ (often initial lowercase)

(4) A false Christ (often initial lowercase).

1400s: From the Middle English, from the (pre 1150) Late Old English antecrist (an opponent of Christ, an opponent of the Church, especially the last and greatest persecutor of the faith at the end of the world), from the Late Latin Antichrīstus, from the Late Greek ἀντίχριστος (antíkhristos & antíchrīstos (I John ii.18)), the construct being aντί- (anti-) (against) + khristos (Christ); the Greek Χριστός meaning "anointed one".   This was the earliest appearance of anti- in English and one of the few before circa 1600.  In contemporary English, it’s often (but not always) preceded by the definite article: the Antichrist.  Antichrist is a noun, antichristian is a noun & adjective, antichristianism is a proper noun, antichristianly is an adverb and antichristic is an adjective; the noun plural is antichrists.

The Antichrist and the End of Days

The Antichrist is mentioned in three passages in The New Testament, all in the First and Second Epistles of John (I John 2.18-27, I John 4.1-6, 2 John 7).  Common to all is the theme of Christian eschatology, that the Antichrist is the one prophesied by the Bible who will substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming.  Biblical scholars note also the term pseudokhristos (false Christ) in the books of Matthew (chapter 24) and Mark (chapter 13), Jesus warning the disciples not to be deceived by false prophets claiming to be Christ and offering "great signs and wonders".  Other imagery which can be associated with an Antichrist is mentioned in the Apostle Paul's Second Epistle to the Thessalonians and, of course, the Beast in the Book of Revelation.  The scriptural language is redolent with drama, the Antichrist spoken of or alluded to as the “abomination of desolation”, “the son of perdition”, “the man of lawlessness” or “the beast” (from earth or sea).

For most of the Middle Ages, it was the scriptural construct of the Antichrist as an individual which dominated Christian thought; the Antichrist born of Satan but yet an earthly tyrant and trickster, perfectly evil in all he was and did because he was the diametric opposite of Jesus Christ, perfect in his goodness and deeds.  Jesus Christ, the son of God, was born of a virgin into earthly existence and the Antichrist, the son of Satan would be born of the antivirgin, a whore who, like her evil offspring, would claim purity.  More than a fine theological point, it’s also quite deliberately a hurdle for Christ to cross in his Second Coming.  Where Christ was God in the flesh, the Antichrist was Satan in the flesh and point was to beware of imitations.  This was the framework of the medieval narrative, well understood and hardly remarkable but writers fleshed it out to create essentially two threads.  For centuries there was the idea of the single Antichrist who would accrue his disciples, have his followers accept him as the Messiah and put to the sword those who did not.  He would then rule for seven years before until his defeat and destruction by (depending on the author) the archangel Gabriel or Christ the true and his divine armies, all before the resurrection of the dead and the day of Final Judgement.

For two-thousand-odd years, there has been speculation about the identity of the Antichrist. 

By the late Middle Ages, another narrative thread evolved, this one with a modern, structuralist flavor and one more able to be harnessed to a political agenda.  Now the Antichrist was presented not as a force of evil outside the Church but the evil force within, the deceiver perhaps the Pope, the institution of the papacy or the very structure of the Church.  This was a marvellously adaptable theory, well suited to those seeking to attack the institutional church for it rendered the Antichrist as whatever the construct needed to be: the flesh incarnate of a pope, the sins and corruption of a dozen popes and his cardinals or the very wealth and power of the institution, with all that implied for its relationships with the secular world.  That was the position of the more uncompromising of those who fermented the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century.  The monk Martin Luther (1483-1546) saw about him venality, depravity and corruption and knew the end of days and the Final Judgement was close, the pope the true “end times Antichrist who has raised himself over and set himself against Christ”.  Unlike the long tradition of antipopes, this was true eschatology in action.  There have been many Antipopes (from the Middle French antipape, from the Medieval Latin antipāpa) although just how many isn't clear and they came and went often as part of the cut and thrust of the Church’s ever-shifting alliances and low skulduggery.  While some of the disputes were over theological or doctrinal differences, sometimes they were about little more than whose turn it was.

The Reverend Dr Ian Paisley, European Parliament, Strasbourg, France, 11 October 1988.

For centuries, Antichrist was a label often used, Nero, Caligula and the prophet Muhammad all victims, sometimes with some frequency and the epithet was often exchanged in the squabbles between Rome and Constantinople.  In the modern, mostly secular West, while the Antichrist has vanished from the consciousness of even most Christians, in the pockets of religiosity which the general godlessness has probably afforced, Antichrists appear to have multiplied.  Like “fascist” in political discourse, “Antichrist” has become a trigger word, a general category where disapprobation is not enough and there’s the need to demonise though even the hunter can be captured by the game.  In October 1988, Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyła 1920–2005; pope 1978-2005), who had often warned of the Antichrist waving his antigospel, was interrupted during a speech to the European Parliament by the Reverend Dr Ian Paisley (1926–2014; leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) 1971-2008 & First Minister of Northern Ireland 2007-2008), who loudly denounced him as ''the Antichrist.''  Standing and holding a large red placard displaying his message, Dr Paisley shouted out ''I renounce you as the Antichrist!''.  He was soon ejected, his holiness seemingly unperturbed.  The late Reverend had a long history of antipathy to popery in general and the “Bachelor bishop of Rome” in particular and, when later interviewed, told the press ''I don't believe he is infallible. He doesn't have the power to turn wine into the blood of Christ.''

Coming usually from the evangelical right, south of the Mason-Dixon Line, it seems to play well and it’s been aimed at the usual suspects including Barack Obama, Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Bill Gates, George Soros, at least two ayatollahs and, perhaps most plausibly, crooked Hillary Clinton.  Interestingly, although never denying practicing witchcraft or voodoo, crooked Hillary Clinton did feel the need to deny being the Antichrist.  In What Happened (Simon & Schuster, 2017, 512 pp ISBN: 978-1-5011-7556-5), a work of a few dozen pages somehow padded out to over five-hundred using the “how to write an Amazon best-seller” template, a recounting of the denial is there and the exchange does have a rare ring of truth.  It’s a shame that didn’t extend to the rest of the book; claimed to be a review of the 2016 presidential election, it might have been an interesting apologia rather than a two-inch thick wad of blame-shifting.

Never despair.  In the Christian tradition, the Antichrist will finally be defeated by the armies of God under the leadership of Christ with the Kingdom of God on earth or in heaven to follow.  Good finally will prevail over evil.

Phlebotomy

Phlebotomy (pronounced fluh-bot-uh-mee)

(1) The act or practice of opening a vein for letting or drawing blood as a therapeutic or diagnostic measure; the letting of blood and known in historic medicine as "a bleeding".

(2) Any surgical incision into a vein (also known as venipuncture & (less commonly) venesection).  It shouldn’t be confused with a phlebectomy (the surgical removal of a vein).

1350–1400: From the earlier flebotomye & phlebothomy, from the Middle French flebotomie, from the thirteenth century Old French flebothomie, (phlébotomie the Modern French) from the Late & Medieval Latin phlebotomia, from the Ancient Greek φλεβοτόμος (phlebotómos) (a lancet used to open a vein), the construct being φλέψ (phléps) (genitive phlebos) (vein), of uncertain origin + tomē (a cutting), from the primitive Indo-European root tem- (to cut).  The form replaced the Middle English fleobotomie.  The noun phlebotomist (one who practices phlebotomy, a blood-letter) is documented only as late as the 1650s but may have been in use earlier and operated in conjunction with the verb phlebotomize.  The earlier noun and verb in English (in use by the early fifteenth century) were fleobotomier & fleobotomien.  The Latin noun phlebotomus (genitive phlebotomī) (a lancet or fleam (the instruments used for blood-letting)) was from the Ancient Greek φλεβότομος (phlebótomos) (opening veins), the construct being φλέψ (phléps) (blood vessel) +‎ τέμνω (témnō) (to cut) +‎ -ος (-os) (the adjectival suffix).  The alternative spelling was flebotomus.  The noun fleam (sharp instrument for opening veins in bloodletting (and this in the pre-anesthetic age)) was from the late Old English, from Old French flieme (flamme in Modern French), from the Medieval Latin fletoma, from the Late Latin flebotomus, from Greek φλεβοτόμος (phlebotómos) (a lancet used to open a vein).  The doublet was phlebotome and in barracks slang, a fleam was a sword or dagger.  Phlebotomy & Phlebotomist are nouns, phlebotomize is a verb and phlebotomic & phlebotomical are adjectives; the noun plural is phlebotomies.

Phlebotomy describes the process of making a puncture in a vein cannula for the purpose of drawing blood.  In modern medicine the preferred term is venipuncture (used also for therapy) although the title phlebotomist continues to be used for those who specialize in the task.  One of the most frequently performed procedures in clinical practice, it’s commonly undertaken also by doctors, nurses and other medical staff.  Although the origins of phlebotomy lie in the ancient tradition of blood letting, it’s now most associated with (1) the taking of blood samples for testing by pathologists and (2) those carried out as “therapeutic phlebotomies” as part of the treatment regimen for certain disorders of the blood.  The inner elbow is the most often used site but in therapeutic medicine or in cases where the veins in the arms are not suitable, other locations can be used.

Bleeding the foot (circa 1840), oil on canvas following Honoré Daumier (1808-1879).

It’s an urban myth the Hippocratic Oath includes the clause: “First, do no harm” but by any reading that is a theme of the document and while the Greek physician Hippocrates of Kos (circa 460-circa 375 BC) wouldn’t have been the first in his field to regard illness as something to be treated as a natural phenomenon rather than something supernatural, he’s remembered because of his document.  His doctrine was one which took a long time to prevail (indeed there are pockets where still it does not), holding that treatment of ailments needed to be based on science (“evidence-based” the current phrase) rather than devotion or appeals to the gods.  His influence thus endures but one of his most famous theories which persisted for decades resulted in much lost blood for no known benefit and an unknown number of deaths.  Drawing from the notion of earlier philosophers that the basis of the universe was air, earth, water & fire, the theory was that there were four “humors” which had to be maintained in perfect balance to ensure health in body & mind, the four being flegmat (phlegm), sanguin (blood), coleric (yellow bile) & melanc (black bile) which were the source of the four personality types, the phlegmatic, the sanguine, the choleric & the melancholic.  Had Hippocrates and his successors left the humors in the realm of the speculative, it would now be thought some amusing fragment from Antiquity but unfortunately surgical intervention was designed to ensure balance was maintained and the mechanism of choice was bloodletting to “remove excess liquids”.

George Washington in his last illness, attended by Doctors Craik and Brown (circa 1800) engraving by unknown artist, Collection of The New-York Historical Society.

Apparently, bloodletting was practiced by the ancient Egyptians some 3000 years ago and it’s not impossible it was among the medical (or even religious) practices of older cultures and From there it’s known to have spread to the Middle East, Rome, Greece and West & South Asia, physicians and others spilling blood in the quest to heal and the evidence suggests it was advocated for just about any symptom.  The very idea probably sounds medieval but in the West that really was the nature of so much medicine until the nineteenth century and even well into the twentieth, there were still some reasonably orthodox physicians advocating its efficacy.  Still, in fairness to Hippocrates, he was a pioneer in what would now be called “holistic health management” which involved taking exercise, eating a balanced diet and involving the mind in art & literature.  He was an influencer in his time.  All the humors were of course good but only in balance so there could be too much of a good thing.  When there was too much, what was in excess had to go and apart from bloodletting, there was purging, catharsis & diuresis, none of which sound like fun.  Bloodletting however was the one which really caught on and was for centuries a fixture in the surgeon’s bag.

Blood self-letting: Lindsay Lohan as Carrie from the eponymous film, Halloween party, Foxwoods Resort & Casino, Connecticut, October 2013.

Actually, as the profession evolved, the surgeons emerged from the barber shops where they would pull teeth too.  The formal discipline of the physician did evolve but they restricted themselves to providing the diagnosis and writing scripts from which the apothecary would mix his potions and pills, some of which proved more lethal than bloodletting.  The bloodletting technique involved draining blood from a large vein or artery (the most productive soon found to be the median cubital at the elbow) but if a certain part of the body was identified as being out-of-balance, there would be the cut.  The mechanisms to induce blood loss included cupping, leeching & scarification and with the leeches, they were actually onto something, the thirsty creatures still used today in aspects of wound repair and infection control, able often to achieve better results more quickly than any other method.  Leeches have demonstrated extraordinary success in handing the restoration of blood flow after microsurgery and reimplantation and works because the little parasites generate substances like fibrinase, vasodilators, anticoagulants & hyaluronidase, releasing them into the would area where they assist the healing process by providing an unrestricted blood flow.  Of course the leeches don't always effect a cure.  When in 1953 doctors were summoned to examine a barely conscious comrade Stalin (1878-1953; Soviet leader 1924-1953), after their tests they diagnosed a haemorrhagic stroke involving the left middle cerebral artery.  In an attempt to lower his blood pressure, two separate applications of eight leeches each were applied over 48 hours but it was to no avail.  Had he lived he might have had both leeches and physicians shot but all survived to be of further service.

A Surgeon Letting Blood from a Woman's Arm, and a Physician Examining a Urine-flask (in some descriptions named Barber-Surgeon Bleeding a Patient), eighteenth century oil on canvas, attributed to school of Jan Josef Horemans (Flemish; 1682-1752); Previously attributed to Flemish School, artist Richard Brakenburg (Dutch; 1650-1702).

Scarification was a scraping of the skin and if the circumstances demanded more, leeches could be added.  Cupping used dome-shaped cups placed on the skin to create blisters through suction and once in place, suction was achieved through the application of heat.  However it was done it could be a messy, bloody business and in the twelfth century the Church banned the practice, calling it “abhorrent” and that had the effect of depriving priests and monks of a nice, regular source of income which wasn’t popular.  However, especially in remote villages far from the bishop’s gaze, the friars continued to wield their blades and harvest their leeches, the business of bloodletting now underground.  In the big towns and cities though the barbers added bloodletting to their business model and it’s tempting to wonder whether package deals were offered, bundling a blooding with a tooth pulling or a haircut & shave.  From here it was a short step to getting into the amputations, a not uncommon feature of life before there were antibiotics and to advertise their services, the barber-surgeons would hang out white rags smeared in places with blood, the origin of the red and white striped poles some barbers still display.  To this day the distinctions between surgeons and physicians remains and in England the Royal College of Physicians (the RCP, a kind of trade union) was founded by royal charter in 1518.  By the fourteenth century there were already demarcation disputes between the barber surgeons and the increasingly gentrified surgeons and a number of competing guilds and colleges were created, sometimes merging, sometimes breaking into factions until 1800 when the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) was brought into existence.  It's said there was a time when fellows of the RCP & RCS, when speaking of each-other, would only ever make reference to "the other college", the name of the institution never passing their lips. 

Bloodletting tools: Late eighteenth century brass and iron “5-fingered” fleam.

Unfortunately, while doubtlessly lobbying to ensure the fees of their members remained high, the colleges did little to advance science and the byword among the population remained: “One thing's for sure: if illness didn't kill you, doctors would”.  It was the researchers of the nineteenth century, who first suggested and then proved germ theory, who sounded the death knell for most bloodletting, what was visible through their microscopes rendering the paradigm of the four humors obsolete.  By the twentieth century it was but a superstition.