The article that rememorates the seventieth anniversary of death of the founder of the journal „Český lid“, Čeněk Zíbrt, reviews the earlyphase of the career of this ethnographer and historian of culture. The period in which Zíbrt entered the Czech science had been marked by the conflicts between the Czechs and the Germans living on the territory of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. In the year 1891 started the preparation of the Czech-Slavic Ethnographic Exhibition that took place in the year 1895. This period represented the climax of the „ethnographic movement“ that absorbed in itself the national emancipation movement with certain aspects of political resistance against the government of Austria-Hungary. Zíbrt joined this movement only in its early phase. Together with several Czech ethnographers that were engaged around the National Museum in Prague he kept aloof of the preparations for the Czech-Slavic Ethnographic Exhibition. The reasons were not political, the most important was the question of a professional prestige. The group of ethnographers and historians of culture from around the National Museum felt double-crossed by the politicized exhortations around the ethnographic exhibition, since they had organized an ethnographic section, the so called Czech House, that formed part of the Land Jubilee Exhibition in the year 1891 and then continued their work within the frame of the National Museum. The exhortations to organize a new exhibition they perceived as alienation of thier own ideas and as a neglect of their credit. The article is based on one letter of the archaeologist and, at the time, redactor of the journal „Český lid“, Lubor Niederle, adressed to Čeněk Zíbrt. By using the facts mentioned in the letter, the author of the article tries to elucidate the broader political and social circumstances of the time and explains the divergence in opinion of the two redactors that at the end led to their break with one another.
The characterization of ultra-soft soil behavior is one of the most difficult challenges since the water content in such soils is very high. Hence, nondestructive or special measurement is required. Therefore, the behavior of untreated and treated ultra-soft soil was characterized using both miniature penetrometer and electrical methods. The ultra-soft soil was prepared with 2% to 10% bentonite. The soil with 10% bentonite was treated with 2% to 10% lime and with 1% to 10% polymer separately. The pH, CIGMAT miniature penetrometer, and electrical resistivity combined with the measured shear strength from the modified vane shear device were used to characterize the ultra-soft soils. The CIGMAT miniature penetrometer penetration varied linearly with the shear strength of the untreated and treated soft soils with 10% bentonite. Relative electrical resistivity decreased by 246% when the bentonite content was increased from 2% to 10% in the ultra-soft soil. The addition of 10% of the lime to the ultra-soft soil with 10% of bentonite content decreased the relative electrical resistivity by 171%. The addition of 10% of the polymer to the ultra-soft soil with 10% of bentonite content reduced the relative electrical resistivity by 545%. Power law, linear and hyperbolic models were used to predict the shear strength- electrical resistivity relationship for the untreated, lime-treated and polymer-treated ultra-soft soils respectively. The CIGMAT miniature penetrometer was modeled using 3-D axisymmetric finite element method, which predicted the penetration of CIGMAT penetrometer that agreed well with the experimental results of the ultra-soft soils.
Using the example of several royal dowry towns, this article examines the transformation in the practices of town offices in 18th century Bohemia – an important milestone in the field of study under consideration. In earlier times, the sophistication of some town offices – the quality and extent of their official agenda; the number and expertise of their staff – was, as a provisional study of the sources indicates, a reflection of the cultural and economic development as well as the population of the city in question. Each town office had its own individual character, the study of which can provide important insights into the history of our towns. Research into town offices is still in its early stages, as numerous case studies must be undertaken before any solid conclusions can be reached. Yet it is already clear that at the beginning of the 18th century town offices, which can be seen as an extension of city administrations, started implementing changes aimed at unification, especially in the areas of official competences and organizational structure., The process reached its peak as part of a wider conception of judicial reform, which in our towns manifested itself in the so-called regulation of municipalities. In the case of Hradec Králové it is clear these changes must have taken place with a certain continuity of personnel, and that this regional centre had difficulty filling some posts. The task remains for researchers of 18th century history to establish whether and to what extent Bohemian towns were able to fulfil the demands of the reform. The limits imposed on the number of county courts in the 1750s and 1760s is itself an indication that a number of towns were unable to meet all the requirements of the new dispensation. The transformation of the town offices certainly did not occur without external intervention. But pre-existing mechanisms were also at play in the process, as even after such interventions the offices’ performance depended on the quality of the individuals who worked there., and They accrued their life and work experience within a particular environment that modified their personalities in multiple ways. We may therefore assume that future research will also discover sympathisers who lent their support to the incoming reforms. Working conditions were another important factor, with officials complaining of overwork in the years following the introduction of the regulation of municipalities. This too might over time have affected the quality of their work. On the other hand it should be said that even before the reforms, towns had in times of need taken on new staff (e.g. temporary teaching assistants in schools), with the main aim of serving the town’s long-term interests. State interventions and ballooning agendas, however, began to upset this (approximate) balance, until a new division of towns was decreed, this time into three categories based on size and wealth. The result was an acrossthe- board unification, especially in the areas of official competences and organizational structure. Here too there is plenty of room for further research to fill out our knowledge of the 18th century town environment.