Monday, June 30, 2008

Spats

From Wikipedia:

Spats are a type of shoe accessory worn in the late 19th and early 20th Century.

A left felt spat.

Spats as items of uniform

Spats are still used as a traditional accessory in many marching band uniforms in the United States.

French infantry wore white spats for parade and off duty wear until 1903. Italian soldiers wore a light tan version until 1910 and the Japanese Army wore long white spats or gaiters during the Russo-Japanese War of 1905.

Spats continue as a distinctive feature of the Scottish dress of Highland pipe bands, whether civilian or military. The modern Royal Regiment of Scotland, into which all Scottish line infantry regiments were amalgamated in 2006, retain white spats as part of their uniform. Prior to that date most Scottish infantry units in the British Army wore spats. For Highland regiments in kilts spats reached halfway up the calf. For Lowland regiments in trews spats were visible only over the boots.

Most regiments of the modern Indian and Pakistani Armies wear long white spats into which trousers are tucked, as part of their parade dress. Other full dress uniforms which still include spats are those of the Finnish Army, Portuguese Republican National Guard, the Carabiniers of Monaco and the Italian Military Academy of Modena. In the Finnish Navy, spats are part of the winter uniform. They are colloquially known as Scrooge McDucks. The U.S. Navy Honor Guard and Rifle Guard still wear them while performing ceremonies. .

[edit] Spats for safety

Spats are still used today in certain industries for safety reasons. In foundries molten metal pourers often wear leather spats to keep splashes of molten metal from burning their feet. Even a small splash that lodges in a shoe or between the shoe and ankle could cause a severe burn. Many welders also wear leather spats for protection from sparks and metal splash. Some chainsaw operators wear protective leather spats to prevent injury from accidental chainsaw contact with the foot or ankle.

The Family That Couldn't Sleep: A Medical Mystery

by William Grimes

For more than two centuries, a strange, incurable disease has haunted a family in the Veneto region of Italy. It signals its appearance when the victim, an otherwise healthy adult, begins holding his head stiffly and sweating profusely. His pupils contract to pinpoint size, his pulse races and his blood pressure shoots up. Sleep becomes an impossibility. After about 15 months, the victim slips into a comalike state and dies.

Until quite recently, doctors and medical researchers were simply baffled by this disorder, which affects about 40 families worldwide.

Today, fatal familial insomnia, as it was named in 1986, is believed by many researchers to belong to the same class of disorders as mad cow disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and chronic wasting disease, and its peculiarities may well shed light on neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

"The Family That Couldn't Sleep," D.T. Max's gracefully written medical detective story, explores the mysteries of fatal familial insomnia, their eventual decoding and the strange history of one family...

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/09/05/features/bookmer.php