Tulip Mania
A Centuries before anyone ever heard of high-tech stocks such as Qualcomm, CMGI, or Cisco Systems, a tulip in 17th century Holland caused quite the stir. The Semper Augustus was a tulip of extraordinary grandeur, with midnight blue petals topped by a pure white band and highlighted with crimson flares. For the Dutch, there were few things more valuable than the Semper Augustus tulips.
B Around 1624, there were only a dozen specimens of the Semper Augustus. A man from Amsterdam owned all of the specimens. The man was offered 3,000 guilders in Dutch currency for just one bulb of the specimen. At the time, that was an absurd amount. The well-known Dutch painter Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn received only about half of that amount a few years later for his The Night Watch painting. Despite the apparently exorbitant offer for just one of his tulip bulbs, the Dutch man, whose name has been lost in history, declined the offer.
C At that time, people wondered who was wackier, the man who refused to sell a tulip bulb for a fortune or the man who had offered to pay a fortune for just one bulb. This question was explored extensively by British journalist Mike Dash in his book, The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower and the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused. In his account of tulip mania, Dash details the history behind the buzzword and, in doing so, he presents a cautionary tale for modern-day investors, who are often inclined to load up on unproven and yet-to-be-profitable stocks, similar to the tulip mania that raged in Holland in the 17th century.
D It should be pointed out that the Dutch were not the first people to go bonkers over tulips. Long before the first tulips ever bloomed in Europe, the Persians had already fallen in love with the beauty of the flower, and the rulers of the Ottoman Empire held it in the highest regard, dating back to a time around 1559. However, when the tulip finally arrived in Holland, the flower seemed to find an even more fertile ground, and not just from a horticultural standpoint.
E In the early 17th century, Holland was entering its Golden Age. Time, energy, and financial resources that had previously been used in fighting for Holland's independence from Spain were now available to be used for commerce. The city of Amsterdam was the hub of lucrative trade with the East Indies and a single voyage to the East Indies could result in substantial profits for the merchants involved in those activities. Those merchants often flaunted their success by building great estates, many landscaped with magnificent flower gardens.
F Then along came the tulip. "It is impossible to comprehend the tulip mania without understanding just how different tulips were from every other flower known to horticulturists in the 17th century. The colours they exhibited were brighter than those of ordinary plants," Dash explains. Although the rarer tulips sometimes commanded higher prices, the bulbs for most ordinary tulips were sold by the pound for a modest price. Then, around 1630, a different type of tulip fancier appeared on the scene. Motivated by thoughts of great profits, these "florists" or professional tulip traders set out to find flower enthusiasts and speculators alike. But even as the number of tulip buyers grew quickly, the supply of tulip bulbs remained stagnant. It seems that the tulip became a foil in the supply squeeze: there was no quick fix to increase the quantity of available bulbs, as it takes seven years for a tulip to grow from a seed. Even though bulbs can produce two or three offshoots annually, the mother bulb lasts only a few years.
G Tulip bulb prices continued to soar throughout the 1630s, as more speculators wedged into the market. Even people in other occupations wanted in on the tulip trading business. Weavers and farmers mortgaged their assets in order to get into the tulip market. In 1633, a farmhouse in Hoorn was sold in exchange for three rare bulbs. By 1636, the tulip trading business was flourishing so much that even "garbage" bulbs were being sold for hundreds of guilders. Eventually, a futures market for bulbs was even established. Tulip mania reached its zenith during the winter of 1636-1637, when some bulbs were known to be bought and sold up to ten times a day. Exemplifying this mania is the story of an auction that was held to benefit seven orphans whose only asset was 70 fine tulips left by their father. One of those bulbs, a rare Violetten Admirael van Enkhuizen bulb, sold for 5,200 guilders, an all-time record. All told, the 70 flowers from that auction brought in nearly 53,000 guilders.
H There is a saying that goes, "All good things must come to an end." That was certainly the case with the tulip market, which crashed quickly and spectacularly. It wasn't long after the above-mentioned orphan auction, when buyers refused to pay high asking prices at a routine bulb auction in Haarlem. In just a matter of days, the word of this auction spread all over the country, creating widespread panic among tulip traders and speculators. And, sure enough, the market for tulips crashed quickly thereafter. Tulips that had sold for 5,000 guilders only a few weeks before now fetched only 50 guilders.
I In comparing the tulip mania of the 17th century with the recent dot-com craze, there is one major difference: even at its height, the Amsterdam Stock Exchange never touched tulips. "The speculation in tulip bulbs always existed at the margins of Dutch economic life," Dash points out. As tulip trading was at the periphery of the Dutch economy, the fallout had little effect on the Dutch economy. Will we be able to say the same when Wall Street's current obsession with the dot-com craze finally runs its course?
Pantomime
A A pantomime performance is a unique blend of eccentricity and absurdity, a wild mixture of songs, jokes, outrageous costumes and slapstick physical humour. For many British children, their first family trip to see a pantomime in the Christmas holiday season is their introduction to the magic of the theatre. But what has become a quintessentially British form of entertainment is more than just simple fun. As an art form, pantomime presents a tale of good and evil, where hope finally triumphs after danger and virtual despair.
B The story of pantomime begins with the commedia dell'arte tradition in 16th-century Italy. These improvised shows took place in streets and marketplaces in Italy and eventually throughout Europe. Distinctive masks enabled audiences to recognise the people in these stories immediately; they also allowed actors to be rude or disrespectful without fear of being recognised. The key roles in the cast were invariably rich old men, usually portrayed as cowardly and disreputable; young lovers whose parents refuse to let them marry; and ingenious and quick-witted servants. Many commedia plots show the latter, whose lives are a constant struggle to find food and money, outwitting the old men or overthrowing their masters. This theme of the victory of the underdog is still an essential feature of pantomime today.
C By the mid-18th century, many thousands of people were going to theatres across Britain every night. Among the most popular performances were harlequinades, a new kind of entertainment which interwove Ovid's first-century Latin poem Metamorphoses with aspects of the Italian commedia. Created by actor John Rich, these early pantomimes cleverly mixed spectacle, music, ballet and myth, and were tremendously enjoyable to watch. Amazing transformations happened at the touch of a magic wand, with mechanical serpents and flying vehicles. They also showed that even early pantomime was fascinated by the crossing of boundaries: the ambiguity of men dressed as women, and the fun of animal characters played by human beings.
D Despite their popularity, Rich's spectacular performances attracted huge controversy. Critics bitterly attacked pantomimes, complaining that they would bring about the downfall of Shakespeare and the death of serious theatre. David Garrick, the great 18th-century actor-manager, was quick to join these criticisms, while also realising the commercial opportunities of this new art form. But how could Garrick take advantage of the craze and still maintain his position as the defender of 'legitimate' theatre? His tactic was to set about changing pantomime's cultural identity, partly by confining shows to his theatre's Christmas season. Pantomimes became associated with the frivolity of the holiday season rather than being denounced as a threat. In doing so, Garrick created a convention which has survived to this day.
E At the end of the 18th century, popular theatre saw the arrival of the white-faced Clown, in the form of actor Joseph Grimaldi. By the early 19th century, Britain was at war with France; there was intense civil unrest and violent confrontations between the government and the people. Grimaldi's hilarious antics embodied the freedom and liberty of British culture by contrast with the country's supposedly dull, humourless enemies. His anarchic activities included chasing and imprisoning policemen and stealing gigantic quantities of sausages. But the Clown was never caught or sent to jail. Audiences were thrilled by his mischief and his endless eating precisely because he created on stage the fantasy of a different world: a world without hunger, a world of comic revenge against a highly repressive government. Grimaldi became one of the great satirists of his age, a character who offered ludicrous commentaries on everything from the ruling classes to fashion, technology and new forms of transport.
F By the late 19th century, photography had arrived, the telegraph had been invented and the first motor cars were starting to appear on British streets. Meanwhile, the spotlight on the comic stage shifted away from the Clown and towards an unexpected star, the pantomime 'Dame': a tired housewife – always played by a man – struggling to cope in an unfriendly world. Dan Leno was the celebrated performer who created and played this talkative and eccentric working-class woman, a mother facing the difficulties of poverty, which he and his audiences knew all too well. In the Dame, Leno developed a persona whose theatrical power comes from the locking together of compassion and laughter. At the same time, artists such as Leno began to infuse pantomime with the plots and dilemmas of working people's culture.
G Pantomimes are as popular today as they have ever been. Our delight in this form comes from a complex mixture of emotions and relationships. Pantomime offers us the anarchic excitements of a topsy-turvy world only to give us the assurance of harmony restored. The engaging character of the Dame exemplifies pantomime's self-proclaimed absurdity. Her comical conversations with the audience cut across the boundaries between performers and spectators, drawing us into her chaotic world. While she presides over the anarchy which Grimaldi once visited on policemen, the Dame also embodies the collective ties which bind us together as families, as neighbours, and as members of society.
Termite Mounds
A Could the vast towers of mud constructed by insects in sub-Saharan Africa hold the key to our energy-efficient buildings of the future? To most of us, termites are destructive insects which can cause damage on a devastating scale. But according to Dr Rupert Soar of Loughborough University's School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, these pests may serve a useful purpose for us after all. His multi-disciplinary team of British and American engineers and biologists have set out to investigate the giant mounds built by termites in Namibia, in sub-Saharan Africa, as part of the most extensive study of these structures ever undertaken.
B Termite mounds are impressive for their size alone; typically they are three metres high, and some as tall as eight metres have been found. They also reach far into the earth, where the insects 'mine' their building materials, carefully selecting each grain of sand they use. The termites' nest is contained in the central cavity of the mound, safely protected from the harsh environment outside. The mound itself is formed of an intricate lattice of tunnels, which split into smaller and smaller tunnels, much like a person's blood vessels.
C This complex system of tunnels draws in air from the outside, capturing wind energy to drive it through the mound. It also serves to expel spent respiratory gases from the nest to prevent the termites from suffocating, so ensuring them a continuous provision of fresh, breathable air. So detailed is the design that the nest stays within three degrees of a constant temperature, despite variations on the outside of up to 50 ℃, from blistering heat in the daytime to below freezing on the coldest nights. The mound also automatically regulates moisture in the air, by means of both its underground 'cellar', and evaporation from the top of the mound. Some colonies even have 'chimneys' at a height of 20m to control moisture loss in the hottest regions of sub-Saharan Africa.
D Furthermore, the termites have evolved in such a way as to outsource some of their biological functions. Part of their digestive process is carried out by a fungus, which they 'farm' inside the mound. This fungus, which is found nowhere else on earth, thrives in the constant and optimum environment of the mound. The termites feed the fungus with slightly chewed wood pulp, which the fungus then breaks down into a digestible sugary food to provide the insects with energy, and cellulose which they use for building. And, although the termites must generate waste, none ever leaves the structure, indicating that there is also some kind of internal waste-recycling system.
E Scientists are so excited by the mounds that they have labelled them a 'super organism' because, in Soar's words, 'They dance on the edge of what we would perceive as what's living and what's not. If you get too hot you need to perspire to cool down, or if you're too cold you need to shiver: that's called homeostasis. What the termites have done is to move that homeostatic function away from their body, into the structure in which they live.' As more information comes to light about the unique features of termite mounds, we may ultimately need to redefine our understanding of what constitutes a 'living' organism.
F To reveal the structure of the mounds, Soar's team begins by filling and covering them with plaster of Paris, a chalky white paste based on the mineral gypsum, which becomes rock-solid when dry. The researchers then carve the plaster of Paris into half-millimetre-thick slices, and photograph them sequentially. Once the pictures are digitally scanned, computer technology is able to recreate complex three-dimensional images of the mounds. These models have enabled the team to map termite architecture at a level of detail never before attained.
G Soar hopes that the models will explain how termite mounds create a self-regulating living environment which manages to respond to changing internal and external conditions without drawing on any outside source of power. If they do, the findings could be invaluable in informing future architectural design, and could inspire buildings that are self-sufficient, environmentally friendly, and cheap to run. 'As we approach a world of climate change, we need buildings that are more responsive to our environment,' says Soar. If the average temperatures rise, he explains, there will not be enough fuel to drive air conditioners around the world. 'It is hoped,' says Soar, 'that the findings will provide clues that aid the ultimate development of new kinds of human habitats, suitable for a variety of arid, hostile environments not only on the earth but maybe one day on the moon and beyond.'
