Anthony Good

Classical semi-empirical rate equation for third order ion-molecule association reactions

A rate expression has been derived for kf, the third order forward rate constant in ion-molecule clustering reactions, by means of an energy transfer mechanism. The rate expression has been tested against all the available data concerning the temperature dependence of such reactions and the predictions as to the effect of cluster size and nature of third body upon the magnitude of kf have been considered. The rate equation appears to provide a useful method for the estimation of kf values to within an order of magnitude.

Law, legitimacy, and the hereditary rights of Tamil temple priests

This paper examines the arguments whereby the Brahman priests of a Hindu temple in the town of Kalugumalai, South India, claim exclusive rights to perform worship in that shrine. For comparison, it also deals briefly with the priests of a much larger temple in the nearby city of Madurai, whose arguments partly contradict those used in Kalugumalai. This discrepancy will be explained by treating both sets of arguments as strategic statements, which legitimize the self-interests of their respective protagonists.

Cogealing divinity: time, worship and kinship in South Indian Hinduism

Daily worship in Hindu temples is characterized by regular repetition. This article juxtaposes iconography and mythology; field data on worship in a Murukan temple in Kalugumalai, South India; and analytic concepts from western and Indian metaphysics, to examine what Gell termed the ‘ritual manipulation of time’. In Hindu cosmology, the materialization of divinity – a prerequisite for worship – is inseparably linked not only to the emergence of time but also to the devolution of divinity into gendered forms. Because gender differences play a central role in iconography, mythology and worship, Hinduism provides a rich cultural resource for debating the morality and practice of human kinship, sexuality and procreation. Not only are there significant homologies between human and divine kinship behaviour, but human marriage patterns in South India display the same blend of repetitive yet changing oscillation as do daily and annual temple liturgies.

Folk models and the law

This article considers the relationships between the disciplines of law and anthropology, as portrayed in the work and embodied in the life of Franz von Benda-Beckmann. Starting with an assessment of the Bohannan–Gluckman debate over the relevance of Western legal categories for understanding non-Western (‘folk’) legal systems, it shows how the work of von Benda-Beckmann transcends this dispute by concerning itself with the relations between such different legal systems, that is, with legal pluralism as that notion was gradually refined through the work of Franz himself and others. ‘Western’ legal systems and their distinctive modes of reasoning and understanding, too, are proper objects for anthropological analysis and concern, not only the ‘folk’ systems on which anthropologists initially focused. And as von Benda-Beckmann argued, the approaches in both contexts should be the same; above all, legal anthropologists must avoid the ‘expertise-trap’ of deferring to academic lawyers when it comes to understanding how formal state law works.

Mamul and modernity in a South Indian temple

In the first week of January 1951, the Raja of Ettaiyapuram was combating the forces of modernity on three fronts. In Madras High Court, he was filing a writ petition questioning the legality of the Madras Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act of 1948, which came into force on 3 January and authorized the government to take over his zamindari estate. Zamindar of Ettayapuram v. The State of Madras , Civil Miscellaneous Petition no. 13388 of 1950. Simultaneously, Tirunelveli District Court was hearing a case brought in his capacity as hereditary Trustee of Kalugumalai Devastanam, seeking to prevent the Madras Hindu Religious Endowments (HRE) Board from assuming administrative control of the temple and appointing one of its employees as Executive Officer. Zamindar of Ettayaparum vs. Madras Hindu Religious Endowments Board , Original Suit 22 of 1949, later Appeal Suit No. 462 of 1951 in Madras High Court. The ‘Devastanam’ is the administrative organization of the temple. Meanwhile, he had two further law-suits pending in Kovilpatti Munsifs Court, questioning the authority of the newly-formed Kalugumalai Panchayat Board on the grounds that the entire town was temple property. O.S. No. 252 and O.S. 253 of 1950.

Multiple meanings in South Indian temple worship

The survival of the cosmos is said to depend upon proper performance of the complex daily liturgy in large Hindu temples. This paper describes such daily worship in the Murukan temple at Kalugumalai, South India. After considering the significance of the principal stages—unction, decoration, food‐offering, and lamp‐showing—in the pūja rite which forms the basis of worship in Saivite temples, it seeks to understand this liturgy with reference to Hindu metaphysics, iconography and mythology, and notions of divine sovereignty. It is argued that such multi‐thematic analyses, which combine ethnographic and indological approaches, are essential for understanding contemporary Hindu practice.

Relative bond strengths in ion-molecule clustering reactions

Abstract A semi-empirical rate expression has been used to calculate the bond dissociation energies of ion—molecule clusters from their experimentally observed third order rate constants. The agreement between theory and experiment is sufficiently good to enable the estimation of unknown bond dissociation energies by this method, with some reservations in the case of negative ions.