Peasant Practices Research Articles

English

This study aimed to identify fertilization options for improving cassava productivity and profitability in two contrasting regions of the Central African Republic. The Pissa (guinea forest) and Damara (savannah). The study adopted a randomized complete block design with four treatments replicated four times in a plot size of 7 m by 7 m. The treatments were; T1 (Control), T2 (Peasant practice), T3 (sole NPK), and T4 (Cow manure+NPK). We performed the analysis of variance (ANOVA) using R statistical software version 3.1.2. The yield attributes and growth parameters significantly varied (p=0.05) with application of NPK and NPK plus manure. The use of 3 t ha-1 of cow manure and 90N-30P-180 Kg ha-1 of mineral fertilizer gave the highest yield of  50 and 37 t ha-1 in Pissa and Damara respectively compared to their local controls (no input); This combination also resulted in high profitability with high value-to-cost ratios (RVC = 2 in Pissa and 1.3 in Damara). The variability study (48.11%) showed a correlation between growth and production parameters; the effects of fertilizers were much more expressed in the plant’s circumference and the number of leaves. The use of organo-mineral fertilizer can give good productivity and profitability. Thus, T4 is a technology that resource-poor households can easily use, although the purchasing power of the peasant farmers in the study area is low. Key words: Cassava, agro-climatic, fertilizers, yields, Central African Republic.

Witchcraft in Russia and Ukraine 1000–1900: A Sourcebook ed. by Valerie A. Kivelson and Christine D. Worobec

Reviewed by: Witchcraft in Russia and Ukraine 1000–1900: A Sourcebook ed. by Valerie A. Kivelson and Christine D. Worobec Robert Collis Kivelson, Valerie A. and Worobec, Christine D. (eds). Witchcraft in Russia and Ukraine 1000–1900: A Sourcebook. NIU Series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. Northern Illinois University Press, an imprint of Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY and London, 2020. xxx + 506 pp. Maps. Illustrations. Timeline. Notes. Index. $125.00; $32.95; $21.99 (e-book). In 2004, Brian P. Levack published The Witchcraft Sourcebook (New York and London, 2004). This edited volume of primary source material featured an impressively broad collection of material from antiquity to the eighteenth century. It is an immensely valuable sourcebook that can be utilized extensively for university courses that tackle aspects related to the impact of witchcraft in history. Yet even a cursory glance at the Table of Contents of this work reveals that it is overwhelmingly a sourcebook of witchcraft in Western Europe. Besides two entries from 1692 from the American colonies (Cotton Mather on the apocalypse and witchcraft and the Salem Witchcraft trials), the only entry on witchcraft in Eastern Europe relates to ‘A Russian Witch-Trial at Lukh, 1657’. This entry owed much to the scholarship of Valerie Kivelson, who edited and translated the document for inclusion in Levack’s sourcebook. Sixteen years after the publication of Levack’s collection, Kivelson and Christine Worobec have succeeded in editing a similarly impressive broad [End Page 375] collection of documents that spans nine centuries related to witchcraft in Russia and Ukraine. Indeed, their collection runs to 506 pages (some 150 pages longer than Levack’s sourcebook) and includes a wealth of archival material that has never been published in any language. Inspired by Levack’s template, Kivelson and Worobec have put together a truly astounding piece of scholarship that will be of great service to scholars and students throughout the world wishing to know more about the prevalence and special characteristics of witchcraft in the Eastern Slavic realms of Russia and Ukraine. The collaboration between Kivelson and Worobec brings together the combined knowledge and expertise of the foremost scholars of our generation on witchcraft in the East Slavic lands. Russell Zguta opened the door to this field of study in the 1970s, with a series of excellent articles on the topic of witchcraft in the East Slavic world. But with the publication of this sourcebook Kivelson and Worobec lead us into a permanent exhibition space for us to appreciate the richness of the subject matter. The editors have been ably assisted in their formidable undertaking by the generous contributions of leading Russian and Ukrainian scholars in the field, whose efforts are acknowledged throughout the book. The initial impetus for this collaborative effort came in 2010, when Aleksandr Lavrov, a Russian scholar based in Paris, convened a seminar in the French capital. Besides Kivelson and Worobec, the seminar was also attended by the Russian scholar Elena B. Smilianskaia and the Ukrainian scholar Katernya Dysa. In the intervening decade both Lavrov and Smilianskaia made available unpublished Russian archival sources to the editors, which help to considerably widen our knowledge on the nuanced role of witchcraft within Russian society — from peasant practices to the nobility. Moreover, Dysa, who recently published Ukrainian Witchcraft Trials (Budapest, 2020), supplied a series of fascinating unpublished archival documents related to the Hetmanate and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (as well as translating the sources from Polish into English). The inclusion of a plethora of previously unpublished sources from what is now Ukraine allows readers to compare and contrast the differences in how witchcraft was practised and prosecuted in this region and in Muscovy/Russia. The editors’ introduction to the sourcebook immediately makes clear that the publication is intended to fill a notable lacuna in the study of non-Western practices (and reactions to) witchcraft. The sheer amount of source material contained in Witchcraft in Russia and Ukraine could have potentially been overwhelming, particularly for a non-expert reader, without careful editorial oversight. Here Kivelson and Worobec again succeed with aplomb. The work is divided into two parts: the first focuses on the historical evolution, law and the prosecution...

Autonomy as a politico‐economic concept: Peasant practices and nested markets

AbstractThis paper discusses autonomy as a set of practices that result in the production and reproduction of resources that allow for self‐organization. We define autonomy as a social construct that refers to the self‐organizing capacity of people, communities, and movements. Such capacity assumes both resources and agency. In that vein, our conceptualisation implies that autonomy is a relational concept: It can only emerge when and where struggles that aim at going beyond dependency (i.e., nonautonomy) concretely exist. Autonomy is three‐pronged, involving a set of goal‐oriented activities, a distantiation from capital, and the agency of social actors. Intertwined with these levels are peasant movements that have the capacity to develop and implement a political agenda that is not overshadowed and/or dictated by external influences. The paper illustrates this intertwining with the case of the Circuito (O Circuito), a Brazilian peasant movement that has constructed and operates an extended farmers' market and which simultaneously transforms farming practices. The Circuit is the outcome of collective action and shows the potential of multilevel performance of several actors engaged in concerted actions. In the conclusion, we suggest that the Circuit represents autonomy based on commonly pooled resources as well representing a countermovement to the destructive dynamics of food empires.

Silvopastoralism, local ecological knowledge and woodland trajectories in a category V- type management area

Preserving landscape heritage elements and indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) is an increasingly popular approach in conservation. We focus on a globally very contentious practice, silvopastoral livestock raising, which along with other peasant practices, is slated for elimination according to projected Chilean conservation policy. We used ecological surveys to ask how central Chilean semi-arid woodlands in the locality of Alhué have responded to past human livelihoods practices, including silvopastoralism. Using interviews, we examined local ecological knowledge and uses of forest plants. We also conducted surveys on current agricultural practices. Many residents maintain a diversified, smallholder subsistence agricultural strategy. Residents identified 113 plants with 73 uses. They also demonstrated a good knowledge of woodland regulations. We found that woodlands recover well from historical disturbances over 50–100 year time scales. In fact, the presence of cattle year-round in the woodlands was associated with greater tree regeneration. We find that despite the conservation discourse, there is no evidence of a degradation problem, and we hypothesize based on our findings that eradicating peasants’ silvopastoralism and other practices could increase degradation. We recommend that the Conservation Landscape programme be used to save key traditional practices, which should be studied further to determine optimal management. We show how conflicts and misalignments within and between ILK, data, and environmental discourse can signal complex socio-ecological issues where a closer look at how the evidence fits together is necessary.

“We Cannot Please Everyone”: Contentions over Adjustment in EPRDF Ethiopia (1991–2018)

AbstractThis article looks at how rural inhabitants navigated state power under a regime led by a former socialist party that negotiated its conversion to a market economy while keeping tight control on the whole society. In that regard, it addresses adjustment in a very specific context, by analysing a distinctive chronology, raising the ruling party's ability to negotiate with the international financial institutions, and considering popular reactions from a rural point of view. The regime led by the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) managed to delay measures of structural adjustment during the 1990s and 2000s while deepening structures of state control it partly inherited from the former military junta. Brutal structural adjustment plans were refused, while international financial institutions were kept away from the Ethiopian government's policy mix, by way of elaborate ideological and institutional arrangements. The EPRDF coined its own version of the “developmental state” and renewed state control of the economy while deepening its articulation to global markets. Under the EPRDF, all sectors of society and especially peasantries were closely monitored and mobilized in the name of development. But although the open expression of dissent remained rare, peasants resorted to many strategies to cope with political control and to some extent divert it. By taking agricultural policies as a case study, the article describes peasant practices and questions differences between resistance, false compliance, and diversion, underlining how blurred such labels can actually be.

Subsistence Hunting During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of the White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Rural Communities of Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico

Subsistence hunting for obtaining wild meat is a common practice in rural neotropical communities. Like other peasant practices disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, subsistence hunting could exacerbate pressure on wild mammals whose greater size contributes to feeding the hunter and his family. Thus, in the context of the pandemic, we assessed the subsistence hunting of the white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus), one of the main traditional game species in the Calakmul region, Campeche, Mexico, and compared this activity with its pre-pandemic levels of such vertebrate species. Based on ethnographic information and hunting records from three rural communities, we found that in one trimester (July-September 2020) of the rainy season, a total of 26 white-tailed deer (923 kg of game biomass) were obtained by local peasant-hunters carrying out hunting mostly alone. Most peasant-hunters interviewed (36 of 51) stated that they hunted daily, and only a few hunted once a week or once a month (8 and 3%, respectively). This hunting activity and modalities were carried out at night (68%) versus day, stalking (21%) and opportunist (11%) near their community. The game biomass and hunting frequency in the studied communities were twice as high during the pandemic, compared to similar pre-pandemic periods in the region. Our survey highlights the need to expand monitoring and evaluation (during and after the pandemic) of subsistence hunting on key species, such as white-tailed deer, in order to ensure conservation and sustainable use of wildlife in this important Mesoamerican region.

Knowledge of pesticides and health risk associated with their use against pests of vegetable crops in the Tahoua region in Niger

The present study consists in evaluating the peasant practices of using pesticides on vegetable crops. To do this, an interview guide is developed and administered to market gardeners. This guide made it possible to collect the necessary data on pesticides and the practices of their use by producers. Analysis of the results obtained made it possible to identify 17 pesticides used by producers represented by seven (7) chemical families, of which only 11.76% are approved by the Sahelian Pesticides Council (CSP). Insecticides and herbicides dominate with eight (8) products each and one insecticide-acaricide. The interval between treatments varies from 5 to 14 days depending on the operator. The producers observe a delay of less than 24 hours before returning to the plots after a treatment. When spraying 60 to 70% carry out the treatment without any personal protection means and 28.60% use unsuitable means of protection such as (turbans, scarves and sachets). The results of the survey show that 73, 80% of producers are unaware of the risks of using chemical inputs. Most of the producers are victims of poisoning cases, including 30% colds, 21% headaches, 5% dizziness and 2% vomiting. These results are a good indicator from a perspective of preserving producers, consumers and the environment against the harmful effects of pesticides.

Reproducción social indí­gena, solidaridad económica y reciprocidad en la comunidad Qom de Pampa del Indio, Chaco

En este artí­culo analizamos las experiencias de producción agrí­cola y hortí­cola de los pueblos originarios Qom que conforman el movimiento social Federación Nacional Campesina (FNC) de la localidad de Pampa del Indio (provincia de Chaco). En un contexto de dobleexclusión que impuso el desarrollo del capital en estos territorios, el objetivo es analizar la manera en que estas poblaciones se apropiaron de los programas de asistencia estatal e implementaron diversas estrategias para realizar prácticas campesinas que permitieron la reproducción social en sus territorios. Consideramos que el análisis de estas actividades permite comprender que el objetivo de estas comunidades es la reproducción social de la vida, la cual no se halla anclada a las nociones de rentabilidad, competencia en el mercado o acumulación de capital. El enfoque de abordaje es la etnografí­a y se han realizado entrevistas en profundidad a hombres y mujeres que integran la FNC y observación participante en diversas visitas a las chacras. Además, se utilizan fuentes secundarias para profundizar el análisis sobre las condiciones estructurales y de vida de estas poblaciones.

Diferencias fisicoquímicas de suelo suplementado con pilas eléctricas

Existen prácticas de campesinos en el departamento del Caquetá y testimonios de personas en la ciudad de Florencia que involucran el uso de pilas eléctricas como base del abono orgánico para plantas. Frente a la hipótesis que las pilas eléctricas pueden contribuir al desarrollo saludable de una planta, se planteó como objetivo del presente estudio, evaluar la incidencia de las pilas eléctricas en las propiedades físicas y químicas de una muestra de suelo destinado a la siembra de fríjol. El experimento consistió en un diseño completamente al azar (DCA) con arreglo factorial 1 x 4, donde el factor A corresponde fríjol y el factor B a la variedad de pilas eléctricas (genéricas y alcalinas) con tres repeticiones. En cada tratamiento se determinó: pH, acidez intercambiable (A.I.), carbono orgánico (C.O), cenizas, color y conductividad. El estudio permitió evidenciar que la adición de pilas eléctricas al suelo favorece la absorción de la energía solar, haciendo que la temperatura media del suelo tienda a ser más elevada lo que tendería a promover una germinación rápida en las semillas, aspecto positivo en la etapa germinativa de estas. No obstante, puede incidir en la baja liberación de nitrógeno al suelo, en sus fases posteriores al crecimiento.

Крестьянство и государственная политика в сфере продажи алкоголя в России начала XX века

The article is devoted to the problem of finding optimal mechanisms for the struggle for national sobriety in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Various aspects of government policy in relation to the distribution of alcohol (public sale of drinks), legislative measures discussed in the State Duma and the State Council, and peasant practice of controlling the circulation of alcoholic beverages are examined. The main attention is paid to the struggle of the Russian peasantry for the right to control the work of the drinking establishment in the village, prohibiting or allowing its work by the decision of the rural society. It is concluded that the power in Russia followed paternalistic guidelines in the field of alcohol sales at the beginning of the 20th century, not trusting the possibilities of rural self-government to regulate this process in the direction of the development of a sober culture. The study is based on diverse sources, such as archival data, published information - statistics, legislative acts, verbatim records of meetings of the State Duma and the State Council, periodicals. The article uses the problem-chronological method and the comparative analysis method. The novelty of the study is a comparison of state temperance measures and peasant practices in this area.

Effect of plant diversification on pest abundance and tomato yields in two cropping systems in Burkina Faso: farmer practices and integrated pest management

In Burkina Faso, pests are the main constraint to tomato production because they can cause a complete loss of yields. To protect their crops, producers use extensively chemical pesticides. However, this method can be ineffective and creates collateral effects on public health and on environment. To mitigate this problem, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) trials based on tomato crop in association with basil, garlic or onion were compared with the usual practices of producers in field trials in 2017. The tomato-onion association provided both the best protection of the fruits and the highest yield (3 kg / m²) compared with peasant and other IPM practices. No pesticide residue was detected in samples (tomatoes and soils) from IPM practices. However, several active substances (profenofos, lambda-cyhalothrin and chlorpyrifos-ethyl) were detected in samples from farmers' practices. Only chlorpyrifos-ethyl showed a residue level above its Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) in tomatoes (360% of MRL), without acute intoxication risk for consumers according to the calculations of the Predictable Short Term Intake (PSTI). Awareness-raising and producer training on the better agricultural and phytosanitary practices are necessary to protect public health and environment against adverse effects of pesticides in Burkina Faso. Keywords : Tomato, peasant practices, IPM, cultural association, Burkina Faso.

Estrategia de vida en el medio rural del altiplano central mexicano: el huerto familiar.

<p align="LEFT"> </p><p><strong><span style="color: #221e1f; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-size: xx-small;">En tres municipios ubicados en la zona de transición ecológica del Estado de México se investigó la práctica tradicional campesina del huerto familiar como estrategia que contribuye a la seguridad alimentaria. La agricultura campesina forma parte de las estrategias de vida familiar del medio rural y coadyuva a enfrentar eventos climáticos extremos a nivel regional. Mediante observación en campo y entrevistas semiestructuradas con 180 poseedores de huerto se indagaron los beneficios ambientales, sociales y económicos que ellos perciben, así como la utilización que hacen de los productos de origen vegetal y animal, su aprovechamiento en la alimentación y generación de ingresos. Se identificaron 134 especies arbóreas o arbustivas; 54 de herbáceas u hortalizas y 13 de animales. Las especies son usadas por las familias para su alimentación y como condimento o en usos medicinal o ritual. Los principales productos que se obtienen del huerto son frutos, hojas, flores, carne, leche y huevo; su destino principal es para el autoconsumo; los excedentes se destinan a la venta e intercambio, como una alternativa para complementar la dieta. Estos agroecosistemas contribuyen a conservar la biodiversidad regional, favorecen la seguridad alimentaria familiar y proporcionan servicios ambientales y beneficios sociales.</span></span></strong></p>

The Peasant World in the Discourse of Generational Sorrow

This article spells out the methodological considerations and various procedural and methodological subtleties developed over the author's quarter century of sociological field studies of Russia's peasant worlds. Particular attention is paid to “voices from below”—peasant discursive formats that capture, in natural and undiluted form, the evolution of peasant practices constituting the core of everyday life. In particular, the phenomenon of generational sorrow and a special chronological nostalgia that functions as a “social gyroscope” is identified and discursively captured. This phenomenon is noteworthy and useful for its ability to retain a record of the productively longed for past in a rural community's collective memory and thereby influence new peasant worlds taking shape today.

Prácticas campesinas en un contexto feudalizado: las relaciones de benefactoría (siglos XI y XII)

Las relaciones de benefactoría del siglo XI expresan prácticas sociales derivadas del modo de producción campesino. Estas prácticas (dotación de tierras, padrinazgo, mediación en disputas interfamiliares, elección de jefe, hospitalidad) se desarrollan en los intersticios de un espacio feudalizado, por lo cual tienden a modificar sus contenidos. La transmutación de la práctica campesina es el mecanismo por el cual la relación de explotación feudal y sus formas políticas conquistan espacios libres. Este proceso concluye, en el área castellano-leonesa, hacia mediados del XII, momento en que se verifi ca la incorporación plena de estas formas sociales al modo de producción feudal.

Divorce Law Practices and the Origins, Myths, and Realities of Judicial “Mediation” in China

Using archival records of 216 court cases, this article argues that divorce law practices lie at the core of the tradition of “Maoist justice” that remains profoundly influential in the present-day Chinese civil justice system. These practices were born of a distinctive set of historical circumstances: the need to steer a middle course between an early radical promise of divorce on demand and the reality of peasant opposition, and the merging of peasant practices with Communist Party methods and doctrines. They must be understood in terms not of an either/or binary—modernity and tradition, party and peasant—but rather of the interaction between them. They involve on-site investigations by judges and aggressive efforts at “mediation,” as well as the formulation of ganqing ( emotional relationship) as the basis for marriage and divorce. They have in fact been centrally important in shaping the civil justice system as a whole.

History, Infanticide, and Imperiled Newborns

History, Infanticide, and Imperiled Newborns One of the most prominent dilemmas in neonatal intensive care is whether, once the decision not to prolong life has been made, active killing of newborns should be permitted. Medical ethicists have sharply disagreed in their responses to this question. [1] Yet those commentators who contend that active killing of neonates is morally acceptable have presented a one-sided and reductionist view of the history of infanticide to support their position. This over-simplification of the historical record has resulted in unwarranted moral extrapolations and conclusions. Cultural and Moral Relativism Helga Kuhse and Peter Singer recognize that their proposal to "allow active as well as passive euthanasia to be carried out before acceptance of the child into the community" is, at least with respect to active euthanasia, controversial. They attribute resistance to their view to "the Western attitude to human life," particularly the doctrine of sanctity of life, which affirms that "the life of a new-born baby is as much deserving of protection as the life of any adult." Kuhse and Singer intend to challenge the belief that sanctity of life, and its related protection of neonatal life, is intrinsic to civilized society, and draw heavily on cultural anthropology, which provides "a broader, less culturally-bound perspective on these problems." [2] Their attention turns to societies that permit the active killing of infants. For example, the Netsiliks, an Eskimo society that placed importance on having enough sons as hunters to ensure food for its members, practiced female infanticide because suckling a female infant for several years would prevent the mother from having a son. The !Kung of the Kalahari were a highly nomadic group that practiced infanticide because of the difficulty of providing food for children. Kuhse and Singer also discuss the Tikopia of Polynesia, a group in which the father could decide to kill a newborn at birth, a decision "typically motivated by a comparison between potential food supplies and family size." [3] To forestall criticism that the Netsilik, 'Kung, and Tikopia are "primitive uncivilized people, whose experiences are of no relevance to our own," Kuhse and Singer also examine practices in eighteenth and nineteenth century Japan, surely a "civilized" society by any measure. The Japanese practiced infanticide as the commonly accepted method of "thinning" (mabiki--a term taken from the peasant practice of thinning rice seedling) family size well into the nineteenth century. [4] Based on this evidence, the authors conclude that our Western conviction concerning the moral status of infants is "a deviant tradition." We differ from the majority of human societies in rejecting infanticide for purposes of sex selection, population control, and even ridding society of the burdens imposed by the handicapped. Several commentators follow Kuhse and Singer in relying on cultural anthropological data to support a permissive attitude to infanticide. Earl E. Shelp, for instance, observes that while infanticide "tends to be viewed with horror by people in so-called civilized societies," it has in fact been practiced widely. Shelp concedes that cultural anthropological data does not "help us to reach a moral judgment regarding [infanticide] in the past or proposals to accept some form of it in the present," but his own assessment is most lenient. [5] In fact, despite his concession, it is evident Shelp uses such data for precisely such a purpose. We are admonished that cultural and historical data can be studied to "discern what moral sensibilities exist within it," and that contemporary efforts to confer "absolute value" on newborn life appear to be "aberrations within the human and moral record." In addition, Shelp provides economic, physical, and sociocultural reasons for infanticide to mitigate moral disapproval. …

Water storage, water use and maize yield for tillage systems on a tropical alfisol in Nigeria

Water storage, water use, and maize yields were studied on a tropical alfisol derived from basement complex rocks in Western Nigeria. The objective was to determine the effects of tillage practices on these factors over a long period since a short term yield record may not be a good basis to evaluate the performance of tillage systems. The study, which lasted for five years (1976–1980) with two growing seasons per year, involved four tillage practices, namely: zero-tillage with mulch; conventional tillage (ploughing and harrowing); plough only and “manual” system which was an imitation of the local peasant practice. The experimental design was randomised complete block with four replications. Results show that in the early seasons the cultivated treatments, namely conventional and ploughing, out-yielded the zero-tillage in the first two years of the study (1976 and 1977). Yields ranged from 2639 kg ha −1 in the zero-tillage to 5240 kg ha −1 in the conventional tillage. However from 1978, the zero-tillage yields were significantly higher ( P < 0.05) than yields from the cultivated treatments with the figures ranging from 4998 kg ha −1 to 5949 kg ha −1 in the cultivated plots and zero-tillage, respectively. The late season yields were also significantly higher in the zero-tillage throughout the study period. The late season is usually a period of low rainfall and the plants go through periods of stress, especially during the critical tasseling and silking period. Water use was similar for plants under the different tillage practices but water use efficiency (WUE), which for the early season ranged between 76.34 kg ha −1 cm −1 in 1980 to 118.65 kg ha −1 cm −1 in 1978, was significantly higher in the zero-tillage most of the time. The leaf stomatal resistances averaged over the measuring periods were 9.2, 9.5, 9.7 and 10.6 s per cm for plants under the zero-tillage, conventional, manual, and plough respectively. These figures were, however, not significant at five percent. There was also no significant difference ( P < 0.05) in the flag leaf water potentials. The average values were −1.39, −1.42, −1.49 and −1.80 MPa for conventional, plough, zero-tillage and manual techniques, respectively.

SANTIAGO RAMÓN Y CAJAL 1852-1934

Santiago Ramon y Cajal was born on May 1, 1852, in Petilla, an isolated village in the Pyrenees. Both parents were sturdy native Aragonese. The father was a man of unusual ambition and ability who was not to be satisfied with his hard-earned status of surgeon of the second class. Accordingly, he soon left Petilla and his peasant practice, completed a course in medicine and moved his family to Zaragoza, where he finally became professor of anatomy in the university. Such capacity and such an example were the heritage of Cajal. His own grim experience with poverty and obscurity, as well as his natural disposition, made the elder Ramon very ambitious for his son, for whom he early prescribed a classical education and a career in medicine. But young Cajal had interests of his own. He loved to draw, and he wanted more than anything else to become an artist.