M.Tech. (Homeopathy) / The aim of this study was to evaluate the growth rate of germinating Zea mays seeds treated with homeopathically prepared Argentum nitricum in the potencies 3CH. 6CH and 9CH. The purpose was to prove that homeopathy does not work according to the "placebo effect" as suggested by some researchers. This was done by showing that homeopathic remedies have therapeutic effects on living plant matter, thereby giving credibility to homeopathy as a science. Another aspect of the study was to determine whether there is specificity in relation to selected remedy and dose. Six hundred Zea mays seeds were selected and planted in germination paper rolls. In each of the three test groups as well as the control group, there were ISO seeds each. The control group was treated with distilled water only, while the test groups were treated with varied potencies ofArgentum nitricum, which were prepared indistilled water. The germination rolls were incubated at 2SoC for a total of J3S hours. After 39 hours the germinating seeds were replanted onto fresh germination rolls. The process was repeated after a further 48 hours and thus at 87 hours the first measurement was taken and recorded. The final measurement was taken and recorded at J3S hours. Measurements comprised of the lengths of the mesocoleoptile and coleoptile ofthe Zea mays shoots. At 87 hours there was no significant difference between any of the groups. At J3S hours there were significant differences between the Argentum nitrlcum 3eH and the control, Argentum nitricum 3CH and Argentum nitricum 6CH, Argentum nitricum 3CH and Argentum nitricum 9CH. This study therefore showed that homeopathic Argentum nitricum had significant influence on the growth of germinating Zea mays seeds. The theory that homeopathy is merely due to "placebo effect" was disproved, and it was shown that there is definitely specificity with respect to homeopathic potencies.

The first centuries BC and AD encompassed the first great period of Roman silverware production. Wall-paintings, surviving pieces, and textual references all testify to the importance of silverware, in particular the silver vessels and implements used in the preparation, service, and drinking of wine, during this period. Besides the functional aspects, possession of silverware served also as an indicator of one's wealth and status. In a number of wall-paintings with banqueting or related themes, primarily from Campania but also from Rome, silverware plays a prominent role. The painted vessels are often viewed, by modern scholars, as representative of the kinds of vessels then current in the Roman world, as if the painters were using actual pieces for models. This provides the point of departure for this dissertation, a detailed study of drinking silver in Romano-Campanian wall-painting. Such a study reveals more than just whether or not the painters were closely copying actual vessels; it is, in fact, argued here that such copying was not part of their usual procedure. The paintings also reveal what kinds of vessels were considered relevant in a banqueting context, and at times, how these vessels were used. Other areas onto which the paintings cast light include the working methods in general of the painters, the question of prototypes and their possible contents, and the role of the patron. The paintings studied in this dissertation cannot be divorced from Roman wall-paintings as a whole. The conclusions drawn here, therefore, have relevance for all Roman wall-paintings and, to some degree, for Roman art in general. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)