Vaccine/Inoculate
Edward Jenner (1749-1823) developed the smallpox vaccination after noticing that milkmaids who had caught cowpox were immune to the more serious smallpox. Vaccine is from the Latin vacca, cow. Inoculate is from the Latin oculus (eye or bud). Until the early 1700s inoculate referred to the grafting of plants. Modern inoculation, dating from the early 1700s, puts a bud of a substance into the patient’s body.
Syringe is from the Greek surigx meaning pipe or channel. A related English word, syrinx has meant both pan-pipes and a narrow gallery in an Egyptian tomb. In the Egyptian galleries of a museum you may come across Canopic jars, named after Canopus, a town in ancient Egypt, and used to store organs from an embalmed body. Mummies get their name from mumiya an Arabic word meaning pissasphalt or embalmed body, and/or from the Persian mum (wax). And if you are wondering about pissasphalt, pissa is Greek for bitumen, asphalt or pitch, with which mummies were coated.
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Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
- Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
- Vinayan from India on agriculture
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