- Is there a question to which you want to know the answer?
- Write to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Daily Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email charles.legge@dailymail.co.uk
QUESTION: What is the story of the disputed Republic of Abkhazia which borders Georgia?
Abkhazia is in the South Caucasus, along the eastern coast of the Black Sea. It borders Georgia to the southeast and Russia to the northwest. The ethnic Abkhaz people are indigenous to the region.
Historically, Abkhazia was part of various kingdoms and empires, including the Kingdom of Colchis, the Roman and the Byzantine Empire. During the medieval period, it gained prominence as part of the Kingdom of Abkhazia (8th-10th centuries), which later merged with the Kingdom of Georgia.
In the 19th century, Abkhazia fell under Russian control during the Caucasian Wars. The subsequent incorporation into the Russian Empire led to significant upheaval, including the expulsion of many Abkhaz. This drastically altered the region’s demographics, with ethnic Georgians and other groups increasing in number.
The Soviet era saw Abkhazia initially granted autonomous status within Soviet Georgia in 1931.
Tensions between ethnic Abkhaz and Georgians simmered during this period, fuelled by cultural suppression.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, these tensions erupted into violent conflict as Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia, leading to a brutal war (1992-1993). Thousands died, and a large portion of the ethnic Georgian population was displaced.
Although a ceasefire was brokered, Abkhazia’s status remains unresolved. It declared itself an independent republic, recognised by a handful of countries, including Russia, after the Russo-Georgian War in 2008. However, the international community largely views it as part of Georgia. Today, Abkhazia functions as a de facto independent state with Russian military and economic support.
A. S. Kaya, London E14
Abkhaz Muhajirs who moved to the Ottoman Empire. Engraving from the 1870s
QUESTION: What was the phlogiston theory of combustion that was popular before the 18th century?
An early theory about combustion was devised by Georg Ernst Stahl (1659-1734). He postulated that flammable substances contained a fiery matter called phlogiston, which was released when substances burned. Substances such as carbon contained lots of phlogiston, while non-flammable substances such as sand didn’t contain any.
It was known that air was required for combustion to occur, and this was explained by assuming that the air was needed to absorb the phlogiston.
This theory explained some of the facts about burning, but when the chemical balance was invented
it was noted that some substances became heavier when they burned. This did not make sense if phlogiston was being released.
Then in 1774, Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) discovered a gas which supported combustion and called it dephlogisticated air.
Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) realised the importance of Priestley’s discovery and in a famous experiment carried out in 1774, he showed that Priestley’s dephlogisticated air was in fact a new element, which he called oxygen.
Combustion was in fact the chemical combination of oxygen with the substance being burned. By 1800 the phlogiston theory had been abandoned.
Denis Sharp, Littlehampton, West Sussex
QUESTION: How did the flowering poinsettia become associated with Christmas?
The poinsettia comes originally from Mexico, where it grows as a wild shrub up to 15ft high. The Aztecs called it Cuetlaxochitl, (kwet-la-sho-she) and used it to make red and purple dyes for clothing and textiles. Its milky sap was used as a medicine to reduce fever.
The poinsettia comes originally from Mexico, where it grows as a wild shrub up to 15ft high
On Christmas Day 1825, Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico, visited the Taxco Church of Santa Prisca, where the Franciscans had adorned the Nativity scene with these exotic flowers. Enamoured by the flor de nochebuena, he shipped them back home to Charleston, South Carolina
After appearing in a procession of Franciscan monks in the 17th century, it was given the name ‘Flor de Nochebuena’ (Holy Night Flower).
On Christmas Day 1825, Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico, visited the Taxco Church of Santa Prisca, where the Franciscans had adorned the Nativity scene with these exotic flowers.
Enamoured by the flor de nochebuena, he shipped them back home to Charleston, South Carolina.
Poinsett was recalled to Washington in 1829. He began cultivating the flower and gifting it during the festive period. The poinsettia was subsequently named in his honour.
The global success of the poinsettia as a Christmas plant began at the start of the 20th century. Albert Ecke, a German-born emigrant and horticulturalist, began growing large numbers of poinsettias on his California farm, shipping them to New York, Chicago and St Louis.
Joanne Williams, Cheltenham, Gloucs