Temporality, sequential iconography and linearity in figures: the impact of the discovery of division in infusoria.

The paper analyses the impact of the discovery of the division of infusoria on eighteenth century microscopical iconography. In Autumn 1765, when reproducing the antispontaneist experiments of Lazzaro Spallanzani, Horace-Bénédict de Saussure (1740-1799) discovered a new method of generation of the animalcules of the infusions, namely their division. Drawing a dividing animalcule raised particular problems, notably the question of how to depict the time sequence of a microscopical creature. Although Saussure's journal of microscopical experiments remained unpublished, the discovery was soon diffused and acknowledged by the European naturalists who began to repeat the observations and quickly faced iconographic problems similar to those experienced by Saussure. Indeed, linearity, used to picture time, is a construction, and, notably for public images, scholars had to contend with the conventions of drawers and engravers. The analysis of microscopical iconographic material of the period 1740-1786 shows that during this period, certain naturalists invented new solutions for depicting time, but diffusion of their innovations was not immediate. Nevertheless, in regards to the illustration of microscopical creatures, it is between 1765 and 1776 that the use of linearity was established as a solution enabling an audience to read an iconographic time process as a text.

[The concept of intensity in Charles Bonnet's psychology]. / Le concept d'intensité dans la psychologie de Charles Bonnet.

The concepts of intensity and vivacity are studied in the psychological texts of Charles Bonnet (1720-1793). In 1854, intensity measured physical movements of the nerves, and vivacity pertained to psychical order. In 1760, however, the two scales were confused. This development, based on an imaginary of measure justified by methodological considerations, led to a research field whose apparent goal was to measure the soul's faculties. Moreover, intensity--which had been quantified in Bouguer's work at that time (1760)--was abandoned and was transferred to the notion of energy, not yet quantified. Consequently, Bonnet's apparent dualism seems, in fact, to have been grounded on a monistic foundation, assuring an unmeasurable place to the soul, corresponding to freedom.

[Seeker, observer and world savant in the 18th century: scientific research in the imagination of Charles Bonnet (1720-1793)]. / Chercheur, observateur et monde savant au XVIIIe siècle: la recherche scientifique dans l'imaginaire de Charles Bonnet (1720-1793).

This article analyses the history of the term "chercheur" from the seventeenth century until the beginning of the twentieth century, focusing, in particular, on the work of the naturalist and philosopher Charles Bonnet (1720-1793) and on research traditions related to the life sciences. Although the term was initially used in a pejorative sense, to describe an English Puritanical sect, it came to assume its modern meaning through a series of transformations.

Use of Emergency Outpatient Services in a Small Rural Hospital: A look at a rural hospital in Alberta.

Use of emergency outpatient services is described for a 34-bed rural hospital in Alberta. One in 10 outpatients was classified as having serious and extreme emergencies. Less than 3% were transferred to a higher level of care; 10% were admitted to the local hospital. Recommendations are made for staffing, training, inventory, and funding of small rural hospital emergency departments.