Sandusky drawing Much-needed Attention to Personality Disorder...

(This post is continuing to evolve.  Please feel free to add comments and discussion...  Note that Dr. J (not a medical doctor, so see your medical doctor if needed)
One good arising out of the public horror at the Sandusky trial is attention to personality disorders (See, for example, http://thedailyreview.com/news/sandusky-evaluated-for-personality-disorder-1.1331252 (Accessed July 3, 2012).  In my opinion, there is a great need to do more research on personality disorder.  Many people are hurt by people with personality disorders.  These victims often get blamed instead of the abusers...Why didn't they see the, "red flags."  Only a small percentage of populations have personality disorders.  The set of personality disorders is difficult to diagnose and cures are not certain.  So, few researchers work in this tiny field.  Those that do may themselves be sucked into the drama of the person with "personality disorder.  They, too, in addition to other victims, are conned.  Yet, people with personality disorders are able to hurt streams of people as they gratify themselves.  Still, they often see themselves as perfect and not as having any mental illness.

One of the better-known personality disorders is, "narcissistic personality disorder (NPD)."  Let's take a look at "NPD.".

People with narcissistic personality disorder show, a "persistent pattern of grandiosity, hypersensitivity to the evaluation of others, and lack of empathy that begins early in adulthood and is present in a variety of contexts," and they exhibit a variety of symptoms:

•        react to criticism with feelings or rage, shame or humiliation
•        take advantage of others to achieve own goals
•        have a grandiose sense of self-important

•        hold a belief that his/her problems are unique and can only be understood       .      by other special people

•       have a preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, beauty,   intelligence, or ideal love 

•       have unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment

•       require constant attention and admiration
•       be unable to recognize and experience how others feel
•       be preoccupied with feelings of envy

Yet, "The cause of Narcissistic Personality Disorder is unknown at this time," (Source: 

http://nyp.org/health/psychiatry-narciperso.html.   Accessed July 3, 2012). 

Let's look at that again, the, "cause of Narcissistic Personality Disorder is unknown at this time," (Source:  http://nyp.org/health/psychiatry-narciperso.html.   Accessed July 3, 2012).  Eek!  Doesn't that make you feel sorry for the victims and also for the perpetrators...  No help for them in sight.  A video about this disorder is found at http://evl.vcsd.k12.ny.us/safevideos/Video.aspx?id=FFgoGtt7wu4, and it states that people with this disorder often fail to go get help because they think they are so special and wonderful already.  In actuality, they tend to hurt a lot of people, have a hard time forming relationships, and, they also have a fragile sense of self (Source:  http://evl.vcsd.k12.ny.us/safevideos/ Video.aspx?id=FFgoGtt7wu4. Accessed 1 Oct 2012).

How about other personality disorders?  Consider, "...there are very few empirical data about histrionic character disorder but a vast literature on antisocial personality disorder,"  (Source:  Davison, Gerald, C. and John M. Neale, 2001.  Abnormal Psychology.  "Personality Disorders."  P. 359).   Sure, there are a few that work with people with personality disorders, like NPD, antisocial personality disorder, histrionic character disorder, or other personality disorders, but, not many.  Much of what has been available on the internet is either anecdotal evidence, people's own stories, or earlier studies, such as those of Karen Horney.  Although the terminology  and groupings of what is now called, "personality disorder," have changed since Karen Horney's book, I believe she truly understood the disorders and that her classic book on human growth is well worth reading.  You may have to read each page several times, but, there is a treasure trove of information on each page.

The state of the knowledge base on personality disorders (previously called, "character disorders") indicates a need for research that is not always linked to immediate profit.  It also indicates a need for health insurances to better handle mental disorders, for longer periods of time.  Would your insurance cover more than five sessions, for example, if you needed them?  Someone with Borderline Personality Disorder or Narcissism might not even reveal his or her problems during that time (Source:  Davison, Gerald, C. and John M. Neale, 2001.  Abnormal Psychology.  "Personality Disorders."   Pp. 357-379 ).   Can we find out if levels of divorce and crimes are related to personality disorders?  Can we prevent tragedies like Sandusky's and of the many victims who knew him if we study more of these disorders?

So what are other personality disorders and how do we go about studying them?  Do we see people with personality disorders in the technical literature?  Do we see them in the literature of language arts? 

How about other personality disorders?                

There are different categories or clusters of personality disorders:

• Odd/Eccentric, 
• Dramatic/Erratic, and,
• Anxious/Fearful  (Source:  Davison, Gerald, C. and John M. Neale, 2001.  Abnormal Psychology.  "Personality Disorders."  Pp. 357-379).

Let us look briefly at each of these clusters in turn.  These are not complete lists, so, use them as starting points for further research into personality disorders.

Odd/Eccentric

• Paranoid Personality Disorder
• suspicious of others
• unjustified doubts about trustworthiness of others
• Schizoid Personality Disorder
• do not appear to enjoy  nor desire relationships with others
• experience few pleasurable activities
• indifferent to praise, criticism and sentiments of others
• appear aloof
• are loners
• Schizotypal Personality Disorder
• may have odd beliefs or magical thinking
• may believe they are clairvoyant or telepathic
• may have unclear use of words
• suspicious
• may be paranoid
• may have illusions
• may occur with other personality disorders (narcissistic, avoidant, borderline, paranoid)

Dramatic/Erratic

• Borderline Personality Disorder
• impulsivity and instability in relationships, mood, and self image
• emotions are erratic and can shift abruptly
• very hard to live with
• unpredictable
• cannot bear to be alone
• have fears of abandonment
• demand attention
• undeveloped sense of self  
• remain unclear about their values, loyalties, and choices
• transient psychotic symptoms
• may have relatives with schizophrenia or schizotypal personality disorder
• likely to also have an  Axis I mood disorder
• comorbidity with other personality disorders is likely (For example, with narcissism)
• addictive (sex, or drugs,or alcohol, or other addictive behaviors) 
• often depressed with feelings of emptiness 
• living from one emotional disaster to the next
• crave intimacy but repel it when they find it
• perhaps had inconsistent love and attention during childhood or other adverse childhood experiences (parents may be high in neuroticism).
• dysregulation and invalidation, diathesis for emotional dysregulation (child abuse (sexual and non-sexual), wants and feelings are discounted and disrespected.
• fragile egos
• frontal lobes do not metabolize glucose well (research shows increasing serotonin helps)
• split their world into all good, all bad dichotomies failing to integrate positive and negative aspects 
• has intolerable anxiety and fear
• About 50% of people with this disorder can get well...They have to want to get well.
• Histrionic Personality Disorder
• overly dramatic and attention seeking
• draw attention to themselves with clothes, make-up, or other external features
• may be unable to give supporting details to back up ideas
• emotionality and seductiveness may have been encouraged by parental seductiveness
• parents may have thought sex was dirty yet to be desired and conveyed this to the child
• exxagerated displays of emotion
• need to be the center of attention
• pre-occupation with sex

• Narcissistic Personality Disorder
• have a grandiose view of their own uniqueness and abilities
• self-centered (an understatement)
• expect others to do special favors for them without giving back a fair shake
• have extreme reactions to criticism
• lack of empathy
• Antisocial Personality Disorder and Psychopathy
• conduct disorder
• continued antisocial behavior in childhood
• 
  

Anxious/Fearful

• Avoidance Personality Disorder
• 
  
• Dependent Personality Disorder
• 
  
• Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder  
• 
  

(Source:  Davison, Gerald, C. and John M. Neale, 2001.  Abnormal Psychology.  "Personality Disorders."  Pp. 357-379 ). 


Our way of dealing with life's challenges...  our style of relating to other people...  Fluctuations in personality  occur, however, when these patterns of personality are long-standing, pervasive, dysfunctional, and concerned with bolstering the ego, rather than being honest and deep patterns of interacting with others,  then, a personality disorder might be determined to exist (Source:  Davison, Gerald, C. and John M. Neale, 2001.  Abnormal Psychology.  "Personality Disorders."  P. 358).

Ability to diagnose personality disorders is improving as diagnostic criteria are refined and structured interviews are developed (P. 359).  Since people with personality disorders are often experts at lying and conning people, including therapists and counselors and doctors, friends and family, they are hard to diagnose in the time frames allowed by courts and by insurance companies.  Many slip through the cracks and go on to hurt more and more people.  Symptoms of some personality disorders are not stable over time.  For example,  person with borderline personality disorder adapts his cunning nature as situations change (Pp. 359 and 362).

Here are links some with borderline personality disordered individuals in their lives, either self or other loved ones,  might find beneficial:  

• http://www.toddlertime.com/dx/borderline/when.htm
• http://theborderlineexperience.com/tag/authentic-self/
• A video is found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AWI_MlwO5WM.

Personality Disorders and Literature

In literature, characters may share traits with individuals with personality disorders. Shallowness, failure to bond, lying often, betrayal, trail of victims...  Here are some examples with links to the books.

Narcissus (Νάρκισσος)  ...  Greek Myth


Sources:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/bramapp/131945049/.  Accessed July 3, 2012;

Source:  http://en.wikipedia.
org/wik/Narcissus_
(mythology).  Accessed July 3, 2012 

.

Narcisism is found in many examples in the literature.  Here are some examples modified from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissus_ (mythology)#Narcissus_in_literature, Accessed July 3, 2012).  If you go to that site, you can also find references to examples from film and music.  (Note:  In addition, advertisements to these books, and other related works, are included, purchases from which support the development and continuation of this blog on science literacy.  Using the overlap of science and literature can  increase the love of science among more people.)

• In Stendhal's novel Le Rouge et le Noir (1830), find a classic narcissist in the character of Mathilde, "She looks at herself instead of looking at you, and so doesn't know you. During the two or three little outbursts of passion she has allowed herself in your favor, she has, by a great effort of imagination, seen in you the hero of her dreams, and not yourself as you really are," (Page 401, 1953 Penguin Edition, trans. Margaret R.B. Shaw, as cited by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissus_(mythology)#Narcissus_in_literature, Accessed July 3, 2012).
• André Gide's study of the myth, Le traite du Narcisse by Rejean Robidoux
 ('The Treatise of the Narcissus', 1891, Le traite du Narcisse) 

• Novel by Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray   is the classic "selling of the soul" story, but, remind students that originally the mental illnesses were often understood from a religious context as there was not the science known to understand them otherwise.  As knowledge is revealed, we understand more, thus the change of name of the disorder from , "character," to , "personality," disorder.
• Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist starts with a story about Narcissus.   The Alchemist
• Rainer Maria Rilke visits the character and symbolism of Narcissus in several of his poems.
• Seamus Heaney references Narcissus in his poem "Personal Helicon"in "Death of a Naturalist":
• Harry Potter character Narcissa Malfoy, the mother of Draco Malfoy, was named after Narcissus, and was described as being incredibly vain and arrogant.
• William Faulkner's character "Narcissa" in "Sanctuary (novel)", sister of Horace Benbow, was also named after Narcissus. 
• Hermann Hesse's character "Narcissus" in "Narcissus and Goldmund" shares several of mythical narcissus' traits, based on his intellect rather than  physical beauty.
• A. E. Housman refers to the 'Greek Lad', Narcissus, in his poem Look not in my Eyes from
• A Shropshire Lad "...variety of daffodil, Narcissus Jonquilla, which like Narcissus looks sadly down into the water"   

Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissus_(mythology)#Narcissus_in_literature, Accessed 3 July 2012.  

Another book is The Mask of Sanity by Cleckley which has featured a person with psychopathy (Source:  Davison, Gerald, C. and John M. Neale, 2001.  Abnormal Psychology.  "Personality Disorders."  P. 366).

Another resource on narcissism is by Alice Miller: The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self.  "This book could also have been named The Trauma of the Gifted Child. This sort of home environment often produces people with Borderline Personality Disorder."  Source: http://bachdevelopment.com/bach22.html, Accessed 14 Sept 2012.  

Karen Horney mentions additional examples in literature of other character disorders which we now classify as personality disorders, removing the religious concept of selling one's soul to the devil, from the name of the disorders where, often, the people with these disorders lie, even to themselves, and without full consciousness.

   

Personality Disorders in the 
Technical Literature

Let's look now for the technical literature on personality disorders.  Here are some names and dates to get you started:

• Kohut 1971; 1977
• Gunderson, Golb, and Austin 1981
• Herman et al. 1989
• Modell 1984 “survivor guilt”
• Beck and Freeman 1990
• Millon and Davis 1996
• Jellema 2000
• Akhtar and Thomson 1982
• Hollander et al. 1993
• Dimaggio et al.  2002
• Kernberg 1975
• Key et al. 1968
• Ross et al. 1998
• Spitzer, Endicott and Gibbon 1979
• Wagner, Linehan, & Wassan 1989
• Zarnarini et al.  1998

Giancarlo Dimaggio has advanced the studies on personality disorder.  He has many journal articles and books.  Here are some of his books:

 

Here are some abnormal psychology books including Davison, Gerald, C. and John M. Neale, 2001.  Abnormal Psychology.  "Personality Disorders," referenced above :

Link on Reddit is http://redd.it/117uo5

(c)2012  J S. Shipman .  All rights reserved.  All blog posts on this blog are copyrighted.

This post is dedicated to mcbmbrebjbgb and to any individuals with personality disorder(s).

msisak@citizensvoice.com

Journal of Practical Education in Biology No.27 to No.48

"You are able to read the journal of practical
education in biology No.27 to No.48 [on] the following
webpages.
http://www004.upp.so-net.ne.jp/jissen/ejissen27.htm"

The Science of Groundhogs...

Groundhog day is celebrated in the United States on February 2nd each year. The myth that goes with it is that if the groundhog comes out and sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. "In the United States the tradition derives from a Scottish poem:

As the light grows longer

The cold grows stronger

If Candlemas be fair and bright

Winter will have another flight

If Candlemas be cloud and snow

Winter will be gone and not come again

A farmer should on Candlemas day

Have half his corn and half his hay

On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop

You can be sure of a good pea crop"

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_day#Historical_Origins. Accessed February 2, 2008)

But what about the science of groundhogs? Here's a link from the Universityof Michigan Museum of Zoology. You can learn about classification, Marmots, see pictures and learn other names for ground hogs. One starts with, "W." One starts with, "M." You can learn about diet and distribution of groudhogs and about their habits. If you go outside, you might see a groundhog today. You can observe it and make your own prediction about winter.

Do groundhogs have importance? You bet they do! http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/mammals/woodchuck/ is another site about groundhogs and offers a different perspective and some drawings. You might try doing some of your own drawings from your own observations. Or, in todays digital age, you might take some digital pictures. If you are in the United States, you might share your findings with a pen-pal (pen-friend) or e-mail pal overseas.

A third link on groundhogs is from the Smithsonian Institution, http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=146 gives another name for a groundhog: "whistle pig." Can you whistle like a groundhog? What happens if a groundhog whistles and you whistle back?

Did you know a groundhog is a vegetarian? Perhaps you can eat a vegetarian meal today as part of your traditions of groundhog day. You can discuss vegetarian diets and also talk about groundhogs. Enjoy the day. It may snow tomorrow! (Of course, you can enjoy snow, too, but, it is nice to think about spring!)

(c)2008 J. S. Shipman.

Diamonds and science?

The Diamond Necklace is a story that brings to mind an important action we can take: Understanding invasive species.

While speaking of the legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted, one of the founders (Together with his partner, Vaux) of landscape architecture designed an emerald necklace.

Read the story and find out about these jewels.

A Rose by any Other Name...

A rose by any other name is still a rose...

From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, 1594:

JULIET:
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.

Source: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/305250.html
Accessed December 28, 2007

...but, a weed by any other name, some may call noxious, invasive, or, still others may call it medicine...

Many so-called weeds are medicinal plants. Still, noxious weeds are a major problem...http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/bmnri/weeds.htm
It becomes an ethical problem to balance the different needs together with the use/abuse of weed-killers. Did you know many "weed-killers" also kill trees?

If you are interested in weed science, you might want to check out the following link:
http://www.wsweedscience.org/

Other resources:

http://www.fws.gov/invasives/volunteersTrainingModule/outreach/players.html

Traditional medicines
Contact information:

Dr Xiaorui Zhang
Traditional Medicine, Essential Drugs and Medicines Policy (EDM)
WHO/Geneva
Fax: +41 22 791 4730
E-mail: trm@who.int

Clayton College of Natural Health

Some books you might enjoy:

• National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers : Eastern Region
• Complete Guide to Medicinal Herbs by Penelope Ody
• The Herbal Handbook : A User's Guide to Medical Herbalism by David Hoffman
• Principles of Medicine in Africa by Eldryd Parry (Editor), Richard Godfrey (Editor), David Mabey (Editor), Geoffrey Gill (Editor)
• Planetary Herbology (Paperback)by Michael Tierra (Author) "Healing herbs are everywhere..."

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/052180616X/ref=s9_asin_title_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=02XDZTVW11PQW7M0ZZEC&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=320448701&pf_rd_i=507846

,

THE CROW AND THE SEA GULL

Dr-J'S FABLES

THE CROW AND THE SEA GULL

by Dr-J

In the nearly empty lot of a McDonald's not far from the coast one stormy summer's day a Sea Gull was trying to open his lunch sack. It had been conveniently left there by the previous guest, Mr. Litterbug. A Crow passed by, then alighted on the nearby macadem, pausing to say, "Hello," to Sea Gull and then watching him.

The Sea Gull picked up his lunch bag and flew up in the air. When he was high enough, he dropped the bag. Then, quickly flew down to look at it. Again and again Sea Gull flew up in the air, dropped his lunch sack and flew down again. Ever so patiently Sea Gull tried again and again. Finally he gave up, said Goodbye," to Crow and decided to fly farther in-land since the clouds over the sea looked ominous.

"Do you want help with your lunch," asked the Crow before the Sea Gull left?

"No, I'm going to find something else to eat," and the Sea Gull flew away.

"Why bother to look elsewhere?" said the Crow; "We have plenty of food right here." But the Sea Gull was already too far away to hear. The Crow walked over to the lunch sack and using the long toes as a hand, gently unfolded the top of the bag and then tipped the bag over and ate the lunch. Then the Crow knew:

It is better to wait patiently than to give up before reaching your goal.

THE END

This is a true story, except for the anthropomorphism at the end (And of course, the talking.) The actual incident, which the author watched, took place around 1999. Of course there are many other morals that could be drawn by the reader, such as...

• "Then the reader knew:
  • 'Littering is frustrating to wildlife and drastically alters their diet," or,
  • "Sea Gulls eat shell fish that they drop from the air, smash on the rocks and then, nibble on the pieces, while Crows use there feet and their minds to help them get their food," or,
  • "Old technologies need to be updated as situations change, or,
  • "Science education helps us preserve our environment, save our wildlife and sustain the Earth."
• Related articles
  • Smashing clams on rocks and Theseus...
  • Sea Gulls being fed our food and now...
  • Seagull plays golf...
  • Here's another story about a Crow watching a Seagull that I found after writing my story independently. My story is based on my own observations of an actual incident
  • Seagulls become flying "fatties"...
  • The Crow Society
  • One more Gull in a World of Gulls
  • More on crows and songbirds, too...
    

(c)2007 J S Shipman
used by Read-about-it.blogspot.com TIBU with the permission of the author.

What can you learn from one plant?

Pick one plant, say potatoes, or chicory, or a tulip...or, any plant you like. What can you learn from that plant? Many subjects overlap with botany.

The selected plant: _______________________________________________________

Writing: Can you write an essay or a paper about your plant. Be sure to cite sources. Can you write a poem about your plant?

Art: Can you draw your plant? What colors are found in your plant? Is paper made from your plant?

History: Did the plant have an effect on human history? Does the plant have its own story?

Math? What is the growth rate of the plant? How big are the seeds? How big are the leaves? What is the range of sizes for leaves?

Classification and organization? How would you classify this plant? What characteristics would you use? How do other scientists classify it?

Geography: Where is the plant found in nature?

Biology: What lights affect the plant? Reds? Greens? Blues? White? Does day length affect the plant? What is the life cycle of the plant?

Chemistry: What chemicals are found in the plant? Does pH affect the plants growth? Does salt?

Music: Is the plant used to make musical instruments? Can you write a song or a symphony about your plant? Can you do a spring concert based on songs your class wrote about flowers?

(c) 2007 J S Shipman.

Be Good or the Plants will get You

From Lindbergh to CSI
What's botany got to do with it?
Dr-J

On a cold Jersey day, January, 1935,
Many a soul is still alive
Who remembers that famous day and year
That botany saved the day, it's clear.

My mother is one such New Jerseyite
That knows the trial was quite a sight,
That knows the tale that we behold
That knows what got newspapers sold.

That cold day, Arthur Koehler, dealt with the structure of wood,
An expert on its anatomy and identification: Did the best he could
And, found the courthouse amid the crowds of Flemington,
There at the courthouse trial, "'bout the kidnappun."

He was there to testify,
Regarding Bruno Hauptmann. Why?
Kidnapping a son, a très young lad
Charles and Anne Lindbergh's son. So sad.

One of the most important trials of the century:
Wooden evidence, had little precidents.
Would it even be allowed?
Would they get it? Who? The crowd.

Scientific expert witnesses were not the rule.
Botanical evidence wasn't, "cool."
Not like fingerprinting or ballistics
Probably not enough statistics.

A scientist! Why, different indeed!
What is it the jurors need?
The judge responded, “I [...deem...] this witness [...] qualified...”
Then, in awe, they likely sighed.

An historical moment for forensic plant science that was,
In fact it created quite the buzz:
Koehler demonstrated how the wood,
Beyond any doubt, showed Hauptmann could

Do that crime.
The ladder was a unique design:
Homemade, and in 3 parts.
Hauptmann had to do the time.

Koehler identified the wood used,
Physical marks left on the wood by tools
And, compared of the wood structure.
Got the picture?

Four kinds of wood in the ladder:
Ponderosa and Yellow Pine, Douglas fir
And, birch for the connecting dowels...
Time Hauptman threw in the towel(s).

Characteristic presence in pine of very thin epithelial cells
Lining the resin canals. In douglas fir:characteristic thick-walled cells
Lining the canals and faint spiral markings along the length of the tracheids
What was it that mouthful said?

The wood of the top left rail had clearly been used before.
Sawn away from a bigger piece. And, nail holes sure,
From old-fashioned square-head nails,
Now found there place in 20th century tales.

Koehler: "Look for a missing board in any place
Connected with a future suspect's face."
Planer markings let Koehler trace the pine
Back to its mill source in McCormick, South Caroline.

Then forward to the National Lumber and Millwork Co. in the Bronx
Only blocks from Hauptmann’s home....home in, "da Bronx"

Prior to arrest for passing a bill from the ransom money
Botany had found this criminal honey.
What Koehler showed the jury
Got them in a fury:

One of the floor boards in Hauptmann’s attic was missing
An exact match of annual rings , like it was kissing
The attic board and the ladder rail
Had once been a single board which made the jury wail.

Annual rings are so unique that no other random board
Would have exactly that same cord

Like with fingerprints or DNA, the criminals won't get their way
If the botanists have their say.
Anatomical evidence from the wood
Was so unshakably good.
Pieces of evidence that led to Hauptmann’s conviction
And eventual electrocution for the kidnappin' (Graham, S. 1997).

"Forensic botany," became the term
For using plant remains to catch the worm
That commits a crime. If you see the pollen or the seed
Drop a dime. Do a good deed.

Those plant parts or DNA
Won't let criminals have their way.
Since that famous day and year,
Arthur Koehler made it clear:

Botany gives valid scientific evidence to the courts.
Even TV watchers of sorts
Who watch crime shows like CSI, Law and Order,
Cold Case, and many "other,"

Real life detective work proceeds,
Using plant "stuff" like seeds.
Botany is playing an increasing role
But these shows aren't always droll:

A TV episode of “Bones”, has a bitten-off ear with ear wax
In which pollen was embedded, just the (fictional) facts...
Was ID'd from the grass Eragrostis.
Say there what's this?

Eragrostis grass pollen in ear wax of that story
Lacks a spectacular pollen morphology,
Since it’s like a tiny ping-pong ball,
We cant tell it’s the Eragrostis at all.

So, with plant DNA we find
We can tell the grasses kind
And the location where abouts
That causes juries cries and shouts.

A species which grows only in South Africa. Who's just been there?
A suspect has one more bit of evidence now bare.
Plants or parts of plants can provide the clue...
Significant supporting evidence that can catch you.

Plant remains ubiquitous,
Sources of evidence for us,
Macroscopic, and microscopic as pieces
Wood, seeds, fruits, leaves, twigs, pollen spores, and algae

Sometimes we don’t think plants are exciting
But their morphological diversity is inviting
And can provide identification, season and location
Even if the crime took place while we’re on vacation.

Also, somehow plants can tell us
That a body has been moved or buried. Let us
See how long it’s buried,
And whether a suspect was crime-scene present even if away s/he hurried.

Pollen and spore exines: ideas for nomenclature…
Pollen and spores, widespread in nature,
Breathed into our lungs, up through our nose
And even, we find, stick to our clothes.

Amazingly diverse, even to the species
Even as the temperature increases
Seasonal and geographical restrictions point
To a crime committed in this or that joint

Slow to decay pollen is
Microscopic, silent witnesses
Unlike fingerprints, they’re hard to smear.
Criminals can’t make them disappear.

New Zealand pollen solves a crime
A woman raped along an Artemisia line.
Mediterranean species not New Zealander
That rare pollen at the suspect’s home did not occur.

Assailant described but no DNA
He only, “stopped to ask … if she was OK.”
Dirt-stains on his clothes placed him where?
I wasn’t at the crime scene yet pollen placed him there.

Non-native Artemisia dominant on his coat
Wormwood near the suspect’s home, missed the boat
Statistical chances of finding large amounts there were too slim
So, pollen evidence, presented at the trial, convicted him.

Comparative pollen evidence yielded conviction in Australia
(Milne 2005), but each case’s not the same.
Pollen is also seen negating a plane crash claim (Graham, A. 1997).

Seeds, with special features, like hooks, barbs, wings, and, fruit or berry
Two children found in the a local cemetery
Stepfather became a suspect.
Some seeds proved him a society reject.

Claimed seeds came from his small farmyard,
But neither seed occurred in his weedy yard,
Nor would they have been expected there.

Both species were found at the gravesite.
The seed evidence linked the suspect to a wooded area like the gravesite

Seed evidence introduced at the trial
Convicted Kevin Neal
Two murders and two life sentences
Ohio and Kevin Neal not on the fences…

Seed evidence from crime scenes
Is all they need to spill the beans.
Botanical trace evidence from plant cells,
For the jury, rings the bells.

Cellulose-and-lignin-walled specialized cells,
And crime confusion seems to quell,
When plant parts are found in the belly.
Unless they dissolve in an acidic jelly.

Such materials digest little or none
Stomach contents or feces have some
Able to be identified
To determine victim’s last meal when s/he died.

To the forensic botanist this is swell
Because setting or timing of death we can tell.

In a particularly tragic London case,
2001. It seems, the base:
Partially digested plants gave clues
Of the victim’s homeland and to what death was due.

Torso, minus limbs and head,
of a young boy now dead,
Was found in the Thames River–
A human sacrifice to make you shiver.

A palynologist and a plant anatomist looked to see whatever evidence there might be
To give them a lead in the case.

DNA suggested the child was West African
The digestive tract revealed alder pollen.
The Alnus tree native to northern Europe, so days before this child died
The sights of Europe he had spied.

An assortment of clay pellets embedded with gold
And the remains of some type of bean seed, I’m told


And seeds of beans and mustards and the tomatoes
Or, perhaps of potatoes…
Matched by a plant anatomist from Kew
To a poisonous legume, West African, too.

Calabar beans mixed into a potion
Nigerian witchcraft of olden days, not a lotion
The boy had been had been a sacrifice.
Something today we don’t think thrice…

That it could even happen, still,
But let’s hope it never again will.
Further tests: boy and bean both from Benin vicinity,
Where sacrifice is or was part of their divinity

Thus far, no one has been blamed for that murder
Maybe Mum prayed and someone heard her
‘Cause child-trafficking from Africa to Great Britain and Germany has been arrested,
And “Witchcraft Murder is so detested.

Now the fastest botanical knowledge is growth molecular.
This plant trace evidence is naught but spectacular.
Plant DNA became admissible evidence in 1992,
Arizona versus Bogan, where DNA was the clue.

A young woman was murdered
and dumped, and deserted
In the desert no less, boo-hoo,
Yet, we now know by "who."

Hero, Charles Norton, at the scene of the crime,
Must have made the killer whine,
Seed pods he gathered from palo verde trees (Parkinsonia microphylla Torr.)
The same kind of pods were later found in the suspect’s truck bed floor.

Norton, knowing that DNA could identify human individuals, made a giant leap
Speculated that the pods could be linked by their DNA to the tree of the creep
Who created the crime scene.
That was using his bean.

His friend, Tim Helentjaris,
Using RAPDs, yes,
Was able to match the seed pod DNA
From the crime-scene tree to the truck that drove away.

Jurors agreed with Helentjaris’s botany:
Found Bogan guilty- murder in the first degree.
Now, plant research botanists (Ward et al. 2004) of theAustralian National University
In Canberra, Australia, can ID grasses via molecular taxonomic key.

Grass pollen not so helpful in forensics,
But, abundant grass seeds and stem bits
Provide DNA and mitochondrial genome
That help to bring the case home.

Botanical trace evidence integrated into
Crime scene analyses, as they often do
Help solve the crimes.
(We’re almost through.)

Pollen, a forensic tool: Only 1/15, for a total of two
(Bryant and Mildenhall 1990), they knew.
So, what do plants and their study, botany,
Have to do with Lindbergh and CSI?

Beat the drum, A rum, tum, tum.
This question is well-answered with excerpts from
Shirley Graham's Plant Talking Point
Read it and then split the joint...

Looking for seeds or pollen grains
Takes some study and some brains.
If you find some, you might have the clue
You might make criminals pretty blue.

I hope you like this poem, you see,
And, want to study botany
So here we go, we'll switch to prose
Because Shirley Graham her botany knows:

"...Failure to incorporate botanical evidence in investigations is due to lack of knowledge about plants by personnel who study crime scenes and so fail to collect it. The FBI’s 2003 Handbook of Forensic Services (www.fbi.gov) mentions the usefulness of wood and cotton fibers and explains how these should be submitted for examination, but refers to no other kind of supporting plant evidence...
Assessment of plant evidence requires well-trained specialists and frequently also access to extensive reference collections. Today, specialists in plant systematics, plant anatomy and morphology, and palynology are relatively few in number, and aging, and younger replacements are increasingly rare... Justice can now only be more fully served when law enforcement agencies and other relevant groups recognize and take full advantage of its utility and open employment opportunities for botanically trained investigators."

The morals of the story:

1. Be good or the plants will get you.
2. We need more botanists.

Sources:

BSA (Click on "Read more.")
(Click on "Read more.")
Trenchard 1935 as cited by Shirley Graham (Click on "Read more.").

Read more: "Plant Talking Point" supplied by Dr. Shirley Graham, Missouri Botanical Garden, and is BSA APPROVED (Includes an additional list of reading materials on topicslisted below).

* Plant Food Cells in Gastric Contents for Use in Forensic Investigations
* Palynological analyses of Australian surface soils and their potential in forensic science
* Forensic palynology: current status of a rarely used technique in the United States of America
* Forensic palynology in the United States of America
* Forensic palynology and the Ruidoso, New Mexico plane crash – the pollen evidence
* Palynology and tribal classification in the Caesalpinioideae
* Anatomy of the Lindbergh kidnapping
* Use of animal-dispersed seeds and fruits in forensic botany
* Just a few specks of dust and you are caught.
* A Grain of Truth: How Pollen Brought a Murderer to Justice
* Jail for torso case people smuggler
* Pollen morphology and the relationship of the Plumbaginaceae, Polygonaceae, and Primulaceae to the order Centrospermae
* Pollen characters in relation to the delimitation of Myrtales.
* State of New Jersey vs. Bruno Richard Hauptmann
* Pollen analysis reveals murder season..
* State of New Jersey vs. Bruno Richard Hauptmann, Trial transcript
* A molecular identification system for grasses: a novel technology for forensic botany
* Botanical witness for the prosecution

©2007 JSS. Used by Read-about-it and by TIBU with the permission of the author.