In law, battery is the intentional or reckless application of physical force to someone without his consent.
Battery is a form of trespass to the person and is a summary offence (punishable with a fine of up to 2000 pounds and/or six months' imprisonment) as well as a tort, even if no actual harm results. If actual harm does result, however, the consent of the victim may not prevent the act from being criminal, except when the injury is inflicted in the course of properly conducted sports or games (e.g. rugby or boxing) or as a result of reasonable surgical intervention, for example in the 'Spanner Case' a group of consenting adults were convicted for indulging in sado-masochistic sex acts. Research Battery
Obedience is the carrying out instructions or commands; submitting to authority.
Obedience became an important topic in social psychology in the 1960s and 1970s as a result of extensive research by American psychologist Stanley Milgram which showed that a high proportion of ordinary individuals would obey instructions that involved inflicting severe pain on, and even the murder of others. Milgram had sought to show that German guards working at concentration camps during the Second World War were responsible for their actions, and that they couldn't use the argument that they were simply following orders. However, his research showed the opposite in a dramatic way. Obeying orders when disobedience results in punishment is understandable (even if not always morally justifiable), but Milgram claimed that many people would willingly obey orders, even if not threatened with punishment.
The subjects in his experiments were required to act as ' teachers' for a 'learner' who, unknown to them, was a confederate of the experimenter. Using a simulated shock generator, they were told to administer electric shocks, of increasing strengths, every time the 'learner' made a mistake. In some experiments as many as 60% of the subjects, when the experimenter told them to continue, administered shocks that they believed would seriously harm or kill the 'learner'. Although distressed by their actions, the subjects felt the experimenter was responsible. Milgram's work has not been accepted uncritically, most of the criticisms being levelled at the ethics of the experiment which led people to believe they had in fact killed an innocent man, although after the experiment they were reassured, but it has generated much discussion and stimulated further research. Research Obedience
Balantidium is a Phylum Protozoa, a member of the order of Heterotricha.
Balantidium coli occurs in the cecum of swine, where it does no harm. However, on being transmitted to primates it can cause acute and even hemorrhagic diarrhoea and ulceration of the gut wall. Research Balantidium
The horse (Equus caballus) is a hoofed, odd toed grass eating mammal of the family Equidae subdivision Perissodactyla (odd-toed); characterized by an undivided hoof formed by the third toe and its enlarged horny nail, a simple stomach, a mane on the neck, and by six incisor teeth in each jaw, seven molars on either side of both jaws, and by two small canine teeth in the upper jaw of the male, rarely in the female.
There are a number of varieties of horse, popularly known as breeds. The adult male horse is called a stallion, the adult female a mare. A stallion used for breeding is known as a stud. A castrated stallion is popularly called a gelding. A young horse is called a foal, with a male foal being called a colt and a female foal being called a filly.
Horses are among the best adapted of the 'flight' mammals. They have very large eyes capable of seeing in two directions at once, ears which can rotate through 180 degrees and judge distance to a perceived sound, and can reach a speed of 30 mph from a standing still position in less than one second. The horse has a very large heart and enormous lungs powering very large rear leg muscles which allow it to run very fast to escape danger. The horse's long head allows it to graze and see over the top of the grass at the same time, keeping watch for approaching danger. The horse's tail is used as a rudder to help with stearing when running fast, and also as a fly-whisk to whip away flies and other irritations.
When bored or agitated, horses' paw the ground with their rear leags. Stallions fight with their front legs and also bite, trying to ham string their opponent. When a horse wants to harm an opponent, or person, they use their front legs. The rear legs may be used to brush away irritations, and while powerful and dangerous are not used with the intention of causing real harm. War horses, used by mounted soldiers in the Mediaeval period, were trained to attack the enemy and would bite the face off foot soldiers who got close. Research Horse
In Norse mythology, Balder or Baldur was the son of Odin and Freya and husband of Nanna, and the best, wisest, and most loved of all the gods. His mother took an oath from every creature, and even from every inanimate object, that they would not harm Balder, but omitted the mistletoe. Balder was therefore deemed invulnerable, and the other gods in sport flung stones and shot arrows at him without harming him. But the evil god Loki fashioned an arrow from the mistletoe and got Balder's blind brother Hoder to shoot it, himself guiding his aim. Balder fell dead, pierced to the heart, to the deep grief of all the gods. He is believed to be a personification of the brightness and beneficence of the sun. Research Balder
In Greek mythology, the Litai were sweet-natured goddesses, whose special duty was to recompense the persons whom Ate had reduced to distress and ruin. Their name signifies ' prayers of the penitent,' and the allegory in this case is not far to seek. Prayers atone and make amends for what a man does to the harm of others in thoughtlessness or from infatuation, without wicked thought or design. In the Homeric poems they are described as lame, wrinkled, and squinting - those deformities being caused by the trouble they had in making good the harm done by Ate. Penitent prayers were at best but sorry aid in making good the evil done from infatuation or carelessness. The Litai were supposed to be daughters of Zeus, and to place before him the prayers of those who invoked his assistance. Research Litai
In Kwakiutl and Bella Coola mythology (north-west Canada) Sisiutl was a water-snake with three heads: snake, human and snake. Its skin was so tough that no knife could pierce it and only a holly-leaf had sufficient magic.
Sisiutl lived in a pool behind the home of the sky-goddess Qamaits, and could be seduced from it down to earth by magic rituals - to help or to harm people depending upon the kind of magic. Research Sisiutl
Hypothermia is a condition in which the body's temperature falls drastically as a result of exposure to cold. It may occur, for example, in hikers caught in a sudden cold front without sufficient clothing. The elderly can die from hypothermia at temperatures that would not harm younger persons. The condition involves a paradoxical response to sudden cold: the shutting off of blood flow to the body's surface. First aid may involve wrapping the victim in blankets. Research Hypothermia
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Battery
