Search results for "SNAKES"
showing 6 items of 16 documents
El «apareamiento oral» (oris coitus) de las serpientes y su simbología en la literatura emblemática neolatina
2009
Este artículo trata del denominado «apareamiento por la boca» (oriscoitus) de las serpientes y su simbología en los libros de emblemas latinos de los siglos XVI y XVII, revisando las diferentes interpretaciones que los autores ofrecen de este ancestral argumento e identificando las fuentes (literarias y gráficas) clásicas, medievales y renacentistas. Asimismo, se establecen las curiosas imbricaciones que presenta tal metáfora con arquetipos míticos. This paper is about the so called «oral mating» (oris coitus) of the serpents and its symbolism in the books of Latin emblems of the XVIth and XVIIth century, revising the different interpretations that the authors offer of this ancient argument…
Il tarantismo in Sicilia
2017
Il testo prende in esame il complesso di materiali editi e inediti (fonti storiche e archivistiche, documenti musicali, testimonianze etnografiche) che attestano la presenza del tarantismo in Sicilia dalla metà del Seicento alla fine dell’Ottocento. Il caso siciliano viene quindi inquadrato nell’ambito dell’ampia letteratura che ruota intorno al fenomeno, a partire dal classico studio di Ernesto De Martino fino al dibattito sull’interpretazione del fenomeno fra i poli dell’esorcismo e della possessione, dovuto soprattutto all’etnomusicologo francese Gilber Rouget. L’analisi viene quindi estesa alla tradizione dei guaritori dei morsi di serpenti (i ciaràuli), che con il tarantismo condividon…
The "olfactostriatum" of snakes: a basal ganglia vomeronasal structure in tetrapods.
2005
The olfactostriatum is a portion of the basal ganglia of snakes situated ventromedially to the nucleus accumbens proper. It receives a major vomeronasal input from the nucleus sphericus, the primary target of accessory olfactory bulb efferents. Recently, the ophidian olfactostriatum has been characterized on the basis of chemoarchitecture (distribution of serotonin, neuropeptide Y and tyrosine hydroxylase) and hodology (afferent and efferent connections). In contrast to the nucleus accumbens proper, the olfactostriatum is densely immunoreactive for serotonin and neuropeptide Y and sparsely immunoreactive for tyrosine hydroxylase. The nucleus accumbens proper and the olfactostriatum share mo…
Formation and function of a complement-activating enzyme generated from factors of guinea pig serum and cobra venom
1971
An enzymatic complex can be formed by factors from guinea pig serum and cobra venom, which is able to activate C3 bypassing C1, C4 and C2. Formation and action of the enzyme are described. The action on C3 results in an activation of the terminal complement components and in membrane destruction provided suitable membrane receptors are available.
Protective coloration of European vipers throughout the predation sequence
2020
Antipredator adaptations in the form of animal coloration are common and often multifunctional. European vipers (genus Vipera) have a characteristic dorsal zigzag pattern, which has been shown to serve as a warning signal to potential predators. At the same time, it has been suggested to decrease detection risk, and to cause a motion dazzle or flicker-fusion effect during movement. We tested these hypotheses by asking whether (1) the zigzag pattern decreases detection risk and (2) the detection is dependent on the base coloration (grey or brown) or the snake's posture (coiled, basking form or S-shaped, active form). Additionally, (3) we measured the fleeing speed of adders, Vipera berus, an…
Names of Snakes in Latvian Texts of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
2020
Names of Snakes in Latvian Texts of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries This article analyses the naming of snakes in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Latvian texts which are taken from the Corpus of Early Written Latvian Texts, containing the first Latvian dictionaries, religious texts, and some secular texts. The objective of the paper is to try to determine how precisely the translators of religious texts rendered names of snakes, and to ascertain whether any semantic changes have taken place, or whether religious texts show specific use. The study also aims to find out if taboo of dangerous animals, snakes in particular, and related euphemisation is reflected in early Latvian text…