In 1520, during the midst of the conquest of Mexico, Spanish conquistadors and their Native allies embarked on a massive naval project—the construction of 13 brigantines and a canal—needed to help conquer the aquatic city of Tenochtitlan. In the dominant historical literature on the war, the Spanish tend to receive most, if not all, of the credit for the success of the nautical program. The contributions of their Native allies by contrast are little-known and oft-overlooked in the historiography. Drawing on Spanish and Indigenous sources, this article highlights the vital roles that Native peoples played in the naval episode, whether it be felling timbers, carving wood, transporting logs, or excavating the canal. In addition to labor services, it also considers the importance of Indigenous ecological and hydrological expertise, and demonstrates how such knowledge played a pivotal role in the overall success of the enterprise. I argue, ultimately, that these contributions made the Native peoples, and not the Spanish, the true masters of the amphibious operation. Along the way, this essay seeks to contribute to several important strands of scholarship, chiefly the New Conquest History, environmental histories of New Spain, and the burgeoning literature on Indigenous knowledge production in Spanish America.

A major aortopulmonary collateral artery is a rare and easily missed diagnosis that is usually associated with Tetralogy of Fallot or pulmonary atresia. We present two cases of major aortopulmonary collaterals associated with trisomy 21 and atrioventricular septal defect with balanced ventricles in which the diagnosis went undetected until after initial cardiac repair.

Studies were conducted in 1977 and 1978 to evaluate the impact of surface irrigation water on the dissemination of weed seed in the North Platte River Project from May through September each year. Seventy-seven different plant species were found in irrigation water, with germination averaging 26%. Two to five times more weed seed were found in two irrigation canals than in the North Platte River. As water moved through the canals, the weed seed content of the water increased dramatically. The majority of seed collected was found floating on the water surface. Amounts of seed collected varied with time with the largest amounts being collected in June and July and gradually declining in August and September. Samples also were taken to determine the amount of seed entering the field with irrigation water during the growing season. During the 1978 growing season irrigation water disseminated 48,400 seed per ha in the sampled fields.

This article uses primarily British colonial documents and Singapore sources to examine the history of proposals for the construction of a shipping canal through Thailand's Kra Isthmus from the 1850s. It provides historical background for continuing interest in constructing a Kra canal with the most recent speculative discussions involving Chinese interests. Since the 1850s the idea of a canal was revived on numerous occasions with several detailed surveys conducted over this time to assess the feasibility of a shipping canal via the Kra Isthmus. This research examines how speculation and actual proposals were handled by the British colonial authorities and how this related to the British policy of using Siam/Thailand as a buffer state separating their colonies and those of their European rival France. In colonial Singapore canal proposals created great angst and to some extent this has continued to be the case to the present day. The article suggests that while British colonial policy was always against, or at least not in favour of, the construction of a canal, other factors are equally important for explaining why canal proposals never proceeded beyond planning and surveys.