The most famous architectural wonder The Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal is the most famous architectural wonder of India. Taj Mahal means Crown Palace. According to the English Poet Sir EdwinArnold,” Taj is not pieces of architecture, as other buildings are, but Proud Passions of an Emperor’s love wrought in living stones’. Simply saying, “Having been designed by giants and finished by jewelers”. In other words, “Elegy in Marbles”.

The dome is made of white marble set against the plain across the river. It sparkles in the moon lights when the precious stones inlaid into the white marble in the main mausoleum catch the glow of moon. It is of pink color in the morning, milky white in the evening and golden color in the moon light.

It was build by Shah Jahan the fifth Mughal Emperor in memory of his second wife Mumtaz Mahal, a Muslim Persian Princess. Construction began in 1631 and was completed in 12 years. It stands on a square platform of 186×186 feet forming an unequal octagon. The architectural design uses the interlocking arabesque concept, in which each element stands on its own and perfectly integrates with the main structure. It uses the principles of self-replicating geometry and symmetry of architectural elements. The basement of Taj is of high red sand stones and the terrace is made up of huge white marbles on which four tapering minarets. In side the dome lays the jewel in laid Cenotaph of the Queen. The dome is made of white marble set against the plain across the river.

Here the contradictions begins, yes the other versions about Taj Mahal: The Moghul rulers used their captured temples and mansions as a burial place for their royal courtiers. So many examples are there Humayn, Akbar and Safdarjung are all are buried in such way only.

Researchers like P.N.Oak say that Taj Mahal, the tomb of Queen Mutaz was an ancient temple of Lord Shiva known as Tejo Mahalaya belongs to Maharaja of Jaipur. It was usurped by Shajahan from Jain sing Maharaja of Jaipur. It was recorded in Bahdhusha Nama court records of the Emperor.

The samples from the river side door way of the Taj were subjected to carbon dating tests and it revealed that the door was 300 hundred years older than the Shah Jahan’s rule. With reference to Peter Mundy, John Albert Mandelslo the Taj was a famous one well before Shah Jahan.

Even now many rooms of the Taj Mahal have remained sealed, and are not assessable to any common public give raise to the doubt. Still many Historians believe that Hindu gods’ statues are there in side the sealed rooms.

What ever may be the truth, what ever may be the mystery behind the Taj Mahal,

IT IS THE ELEGY IN MARBLE

It is a quite accepted fact by all.

The Brain, Store house of Memory Part V

Complicated switching mechanisms of Brain:

Research has found that a central role in long term memory is played by an area called the Hippocampus, which is located in the temporal lobe. All new information must pass through the hippocampus, and it retains these impressions for up to several weeks before passing them on to areas in the cortex were they permanently recorded. In these cortical areas, memories are connected with specific emotions.

The hippocampus is closely linked to the brain limbic system one of the keys to our emotion world. The front temporal lobe contains areas that are responsible for short term memory. The so called reticular formation, situated between the brain and the spinal cord, contributes to wakefulness and attention, which are vital for both active and passive learning, as well as the active recall of memories. The cerebellum situated in the rear cranial cavity, harbors those memories that are necessary for conditioned or acquired reflexes. It also plays a role in maintaining the body’s equilibrium.

At present, we posses only fragmentary knowledge about how the mechanisms of memory retention and recall actually work. It is clear that our nerve cells name thousands of connection which are known as synapses. These are specifically re formed or re activated when mental processes occur. Together with the arrangement of special groups of nerve cells, the synapses create a neuron network for storing information. But the actual formation of memories is still poorly understood, and remains a subject for future study.

The Brain, Store house of Memory Part IV

Data stored and retrived from the senses:

The explanation for this lies in the huge variety of messages received by the memory. Every second of the day, we are busy probing our environment though our five senses. From the outer ear to the retina, the tip of the tongue, the mucous membrane inside the nose or the surface of our skin, special sensory perceptions is then linked to a large number of previous experiences. The brain has several ‘libraries’ where impressions from the senses are ordered and stored and it is these that determine our memories. There is a library for images, for taste impressions, colors, words, music, shapes and smells.

Many of our capacities – such as vision touch or smell- are processed in specialized regions of the brain. There are also extended areas of the brain know as areas of association, whose task is to evaluate and associate sensory perceptions. Even if we cannot directly remember our first taste of milk or the first time we saw a dog or cat, new stimulation through similar events is usually enough t refresh our memory. They associative pathways reactivate the formerly activated areas of the brain and enable us ot recall the past.

Advances in medial imaging technology have provided a much more detailed picture of how the brain functions. These advances now permit scientists to connect retain areas of the brain to certain memory tasks, an ability that is especially useful for patients suffering from loss of memory, epilepsy or memory impairments.

(Cont.)

The Brain, Store house of Memory Part III

Scrects of Super brains of the Genious!

Along with the constant processing and discarding of information, there are many thousands of pieces of knowledge and memories that we will retain for ever. These pieces of data have been consigned to our long term memory, a data bank that examines and stores selected information for long term recording. The long term memory ensures that these pieces of information will always be there for us.

The long term memory works by first checking the new elements for their significance, them admitting them in proportions to how often they are repeated. This is why so called swatting, or memorization- the apparently endless repletion of what ever has to be learned- is not a torture invented by cruel teachers, but is one of the basic principles of memory retention. In many cases of extraordinary memory, the secret is simply well trained abilities. But we do need certain inherited talents if we wish to compete with the likes of Bhandata Vicitsara or Hideaki Tomoyori.

After a period of three years most people only retain abut a tenth of several hundred pieces of stored information. The remainder usually stays in their memory until the end of their lives. But to understand this process better, we need to examine where these messages are placed while they are waiting to be recalled.

The physical layout of the human memory is complicated, since our memory is not localized in one single area of the brain. This can be seen in patients who suffer from memory disturbances but not complete memory loss. Many people forget what they did the previous evening or a few hours ago- in extreme cases, even a few minutes ago. Other people cannot recall entire periods of their lives. All memory malfunctions indicate that events affection us activate several areas of the brain.

(Cont.)

The Brain, Store house of Memory Part II

Saving data in the Brain:
Whether it is learning to read, remembering our first love, recognizing an aroma or noting a telephone number, not a single moment in our lives escapes our memory; even dreams can be partially recalled from sleep. From the moment of birth- and even before then- our memory is constantly registering, sorting and ordering the tiniest pieces of information that it considers worth saving. Thanks to this valuable ability, we are able to take note of our experiences and remember them.

Information can be held in the memory simply forgotten or fade away with time. The key is our consciously increased capacity for retention- in other words, how much attention we devote to it without this capacity we data passing the nerve endings in the brain would simply rush by and be erased within a few tenths of a second.

This is fortunate, since forgetting is a very useful tool when it comes to ordering our thoughts and filtering useless information. If our brain cells could retain every crap of conversation that we hear in the course of the day, we would soon so no longer know what was happening in our heads. So our memory is constantly busy selection and ordering information is to us at present or will be for the future. A lot depends on the emotions that we associate with the information, as well as the relationship it has to our personality and experiences. Some messages are only stored for about ten seconds- the time needed, for example, to remember a telephone number and dial it – and discarded immediately. We seldom succeed in recalling such fleeting information.

(Cont.)

The Brain, Store house of Memory Part I

Memory is one of the vital building blocks of intelligence. Without memory there would be no learning, no recall no communication. Every second of the, day your memory is busy processing images from the world around you and storing them in the appropriate portion of your brain’s data banks. The way this process works is still only partially understood.

The capacity to remember is one of the miracles of the mind. We remember all kinds of things- telephone numbers, dates, prices, titles of books. Each person has his or her own capacity for memory, and some people can remember truly stupendous amount of information: Bhandata Vicisara, from Burma, can recite 16,000 pages of Buddhist scripture by heart; Hideaki Tomoyori from Japan, can reel off the first 40,000 decimals places of the value of Pi and French woman Dany Sirejean can name the day of the week for any random date of the 20^th century.

But in spite of intense investigations into the workings of our memory, scientists are only slowly beginning to understand the functioning of the giant data bank in our brains. Hidden there is a complex archiving centre based on he co ordinations of billions of nerve cells. Our memory is so sensitive that some times just glancing at a rough outline or hearing a few words is enough to reconstruct an entire picture in our minds.

(Cont.)

Will the earth be female? Panic in the gene Pool Part II

If a man has less than 20 million sperm cells per milli litre, then his chances of becoming a father are dramatically reduced. Fortunately, this not yet the situation in the industrial nations; where the male sterility rate currently hovers around 8 to 11% of the population. But the trend is alarming, and the scientists are conduction more research into the causes.

The fall in the sperm counts around the world needs considerable research. Some scientists believe that the stress of the modern work environment has a strong retarding effect on the production of sperm cells. But scientist’s opinion increasingly focuses on so called environmental toxins as the main culprits.

Among the other things, it has been established that farm laborers working on the banana plantations and cotton fields of Central America who had been exposed to pesticides had a high diminished level of fertility.

Subsequent studies show that the similar phenomenon has occurred among the wild mammals of the great lake region of US an area which is heavily polluted by industrial effluents. All these cases concerned chemicals whose effects are similar to those of Estrogen, the female sex hormone. So far it has had been possible to identify 50 such substances, which are primarily through the industrial manufacturer of chemicals, and occur as additional or auxiliary substances- also called plasticizers- in many synthetic materials such as laundry power.

Research is currently being conducted to find out whether the continuous contact with these pseudo –estrogens is responsible for the reduction in human sperm production.

Will the earth be female? Panic in the gene Pool Part.I

Scientific research shows that male sperm production in Industrial nations has diminished considerably over the past 50 years. Do men no longer have what it takes? There is a heated discussion about the role of stress and environmental toxins in the phenomenon. However, if we don’t find out any of the cause of declining male fertility the future of the human species could be severely affected.

In 1992, The Danish scientist Niels E Skakkebaek of Copenhagen university clinic published the results of some startling research. Skakkeback and his colleagues had conducted the research over the preceding 50 years, and had analyzed and evaluated 61 studies from 20 countries. They found overall sperm count had decreased by nearly half- from 113 to 66 million per milli litre of seminal fluid- and the average ejaculation volume of man has fallen from 3.4 to 2.7 ml. A study by French scientists, based on sperm donations given by men in France between 1972 and 1993, yielded a similar result. Here too, the concentration of sperm has decreased continuously by about 2%.

If we take this result seriously then the implications for the coming years are quite disturbing. While woman produce just one ovum per month, men are continuously producing sperm cells. Their large number ensures a high probability of fertilization for most sperm cells die before they reach the female ovum after intercourse.

(Cont.)

What is the origin of Columbus?

In 1492 Christopher Columbus’s voyage across the Atlantic to the Caribbean for ever altered our picture of the world. And yet the fearless seafarer was remarkably vague about himself. Then there are hundreds of books on Columbus, but even 500 years after the discovery of America, there is no end insight to the controversy surrounding this enigmatic character.

Christopher Columbus is probably the most famous adventurer of all time – in his auto biographical writings, he always omitted certain aspects of his past. On the other hand, both friends and enemies were only too happy to spread stories and rumors about him. This had made it very difficult for historians to sort out the facts from a mass of hypothesis and speculation. Who was the man who talked Queen Isabella in to sending him forth on the great journey?

For a long time even his exact birth date was unclear; but it is now generally agreed that Columbus was born near the Italian port of Genoa, in 1451 and that he came from a family of weavers. In some documents he appears as Christofero Colombo, while others use the Spanish form Cristobal Colon. Biographers have shown that they mention the same person.

Columbus began his adventurous life at the age of 10, when he went to the sea. At 15, he is supposed to have served on a privateer launched by Rene of Anjou in his fight against King Alfonsov of Aragon and Sicily for the throne of the kingdom of Naples. The young Columbus was probably involved in the seizure of Spanish ships, which might explain why he later concealed this phase of his youth.

As a young man Columbus made his way to Portugal. From there he went to the court of Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon- their marriage in 1469 had united the two kingdoms – to present his proposal to sail westward. He had contacts with scholars of the time, men who knew the earth was not a flat disc, as was widely believed during the Middle Ages and who advised him to travel towards the west.

In August 1492 he was allowed to sail, and reached Bahamas, Cuba and Haiti. It was not until his third voyage that he set foot on the American continent near the Island of Trinidad.

But certain things about this remarkable man are unclear. Shortly after Columbus death both Spanish and Italian sources claim him self one of their own citizens. In this context some researchers mention an interesting point that Columbus almost never spoke or wrote Italian but choose to use Castilian- the dialects of Castile: now accepted as the standard form of Spanish. In his biography of the explorer; the Spanish historian Salvador De Madaraga claimed that Columbus family was Jewish and had left Spain towards the end of the 14^th century because of the prosecution of their religion but with in their family the continued speaking their mother tongue.

Any way, still Columbus origin is a confusing one.

The multi talented Hero of Alexandria

The multi talented Hero of Alexandria was a mechanic, mathematician and scientist and whose inventions inspired every one from Leonardo de Veinci. 19^th century scientists were astonished to find that his mysterious inventor from classical antiquity had even built a working steam engine,

He is said to have invented screw lathe – a machine for cutting screws as well as the fly press, the fire extinguisher pump and the water clock. He is also said to have constructed a position sensor that corresponds to our modern odometer. When construction his pain staking designed instruments, this craftsman made use of all mechanical aids at his disposal- for example pistons and cam shafts. Despite these impressive achievements, hero of Alexandria, one of the most important inventors of classical antiquity, remains virtually unknown today.

For centuries it was even unclear when he had actually lived. Now days, how ever, Historians are almost certain Hero was lived in the first Century AD. For many years he was dismissed as little more than a dabbler of humble origins, and it was speculated that he might even have earned his living as a shoe maker. But the discovery, during the 19^th century one of his manuscripts, The Metrica, completely transformed Hero’s image. He became recognized as an out standing mathematician and a physicist of the highest caliber, as competent in the field of hydraulics as he was in astronomy. It is possible that he taught natural science in one of the most significant school of classical world, the muse ion of Alexandria in Egypt.

Fortunately for historians, Hero wrote down his work and ideas and a large part of these writings have survived intact. His seven dissertations which represent the high point of ancient Greek technology, enjoyed extraordinary degree of popularity: for example, his dissertation on pneumatics was handed down from one culture to another; in their enthusiasm for science, that was superior to their own. The Byzantines, Armaeans, Persians and Arabs copied his work. Hero’s dissertations were read diligently during the middle ages and some scientists believe that one of them may have provided inspirations for the famed Renaissance Painter, inventor and thinker Le onardo davinci.

Hero’s greatest invention was his famous steam machine, which the Greeks called Aiolpyle. On the basis of the descriptions provided by Hero, the English classicist John Landels reconstructed the device several years ago. The main features of the Aiolipyle are a rotation water filled ball fitted with two small pipes facing one another. When the water is heated steam forms and escapes through the pipes, the resulting forces cause the ball to spin on its axis attaining a speed of 1500rpm.

By the standards of modern technology, Hero’s celebrated steam engine is very inefficient, due to its excessive friction and loss of heat. In order for the machine to give the same performance as the muscle power of man, Landels calculated that it would have to burn several hundred kilograms of wood for several hours without coal, without cast iron and with out gaskets and valves the Greeks had no chance of mastering the force of steam. Hero’s ball was probably little more than a toy; but the Alexandrian inventers brilliant gifts deserve our admiration even today

Is there another mysterious Planet in Our Solar System?

In the infinite depths of space, all matter is in motion. As if moved by gears, all the planets of solar system orbit the sun, moving in their predictable elliptical paths. But something seems to be affecting the orbital path of Uranus. The seventh planet from the Sun. Some astronomers are convinced that there could be another celestial body near by. Is it possible that our solar system could have another planet?

In our solar system there are four like planets whose surfaces are solid Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The four giant planets with fluid or gaseous surface (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune). Out of these Uranus the seventh planet from the sun, behaves in a strangest way. Uranus takes 84 years to orbit the sun; because of the 98’ degree tilt of its axis, twenty four years of day alternate with 24 years of Night and the poles receives more heat than its equator. Uranus orbital path is so irregular that it has been rich source of information for astronomers. Its striking deviation led to the discovery of Neptune in 1846 and Pluto in 1930.

But the unusual orbital path of Uranus can not simply be attributed to the influence of Neptune and Pluto and about 2% of its deviation cannot be explained. It seems Uranus is being attracted by and unknown celestial body of about the same mass as the planet itself- which is 14 times greater than the mass of the earth. In other words there may be another planet in addition to the known planets.

If a mysterious celestial body exists how do we explain the fact that the most powerful telescopes have not yet detected it? The answer is simple. If there is another planet we would have to look for it at the furthest reaches of our solar system at least four thousand million kilometers beyond Pluto. This distance makes the observation difficult. The only certain thing about it is, it is not a giant planet. If it is comparable to Saturn or Uranus; Astronomers would have found that.

Since research has produced no evidence; scientists are working on other hypotheses. Photo graphs mad in stellar observatory on the island of Hawaii between 1992 and 1994 indicates at least six celestial bodies at a distance of several thousand million kilometers. If their existence is conformed these stars may prove that another Planet could never have formed beyond Neptune and Pluto because there is too little matter at that distance, and its concentration is too low; But for some astronomers, such as Clyde Tom Bough- who discovered Pluto in 1930- there is a reason enough to believe in the existence of a Mysterious planet.

The mystery in the Lost World of Movile Cave

The inhabitants of Movile caves are blind virtually colorless and live in an almost un breathable atmosphere. The accidental discovery of this subterranean “Island of life”

Cut off from the rest of the world for hundreds of thousands of years, affords biologists an unprecedented opportunity to study how animals adopt to hostile living condition.

In1986 Rumanian Speleologist Christian Lascu was probing a cave system in the Dohruja region of eastern Rumania, wearing a protective suit; he plunged into a pool of sulphurous water and worked his way along a passage in the lime stone rock, When he surfaced in a muddy cavity, he could hardly believe his eyes; in an atmosphere heavy with sulphur and containing almost no oxygen, he found an extraordinary animal world .Luscu saw spiders, isopods, other crustaceans, millipedes and worms. Each of a kind not found any where else on the earth. The cave explorer had discovered Movile Cave an oasis of life cutoff from the rest of the world for thousands of years.

As news if Lascu’s discovery spread biologists from all over the world began to assemble to the site. Tests determined that subterranean cavity, situated beneath a layer of about 25m of lime stone was lined with a thick layer of clay which had cut it off from the surface for at least 5, 00,000. The cave dwellers had been isolated since primeval times, forming a closed system of life.

The main question was how the animals got there. According to geological evidence, the cave was created when a crest region-easily eroded lime stone layers- collapsed during an earth quake about five million years ago. It is possible that the inhabitants of Movile were trapped in the cave by the sudden geological event. By that time the climate was very different and Europe was covered with tropical forests. The human species had not yet developed bur that was already a rich and varied animal world. It is quite possible that the creatures of Movile cave included some of these archaic organisms. Other organisms were able to enter the cave until around 500000 years ago at which time Movile was sealed off by a thick layer of clay. Today about sixty species exists there, about half of which ere previously unknown to science.

Over Million of years, the community had to adapt to the difficult conditions in the cave. Most of the animals are white or very pale in color, for their skins have lost ability to produce pigments. Deprived of the space to fly so the insects lost their wings. While in the complete darkness beetles and spiders went blind.

One of the most astonishing things about this unique, micro world is the animal’s diet, because there is no plant to eat, so called sulphur Bactria has become the basic food. The bacteria form a jelly like film on the surface of the water and serve as a breeding ground for fungi. The fungi are consumed by insects that would normally live on worms and plants. They are in turn become the prey of carnivores animals, and so the food chain is closed again.

So far it is unclear how the animals successfully adopted to the sulphurous atmosphere which contains almost no oxygen. Special metabolic adaptations must have evolved but the processes involved require more study.

Little known facts about brain II

Despite growing knowledge about our body still do not under stand, how the brain assign different tasks to its two halves. Research has focused on linking specific areas of brain to certain function. But now the Broca’s method has been replaced by the study of living brain.

The PET technique involves the injection of harmless radio active glucose onto the blood stream. A brain area where the glucose is observed in greater amount indicates an increased activity.

The Doctors are now able to examine impaired brain functions in living patients for example a man who has vision in one eye, though both eyes were healthy can diagnosed with a localized affliction of the right half of the brain. It was also possible to identify the damaged brain area of a man who could not recognize the members of the family.

New technology allows scientists to identify the brain’s main sensory regions, the control area of our movements and other areas that are responsible for vision and speech. Research suggests that each activity correspond not just one zone but to a series of specialized zones, which came in to play when these activities performed.

It has been possible to identify the distinct vision zones that are independently analyze the form color and dimensions of an object and construct a coherent image of it. If any one of the decoding element malfunctions then our perception of an object will be faulty.

As our knowledge grows the mapping of brain is becoming more and more detailed. The fact remains though that each person’s brain is unique. Along side the differences between individuals, there are also differences of sex age etc.

Last but least, women make use of both halves of the brain more often than men, who tend to rely on the left half. Nevertheless, the more we discover about the brain the more we came to appreciate the miracle of human thought. The Planum temporale a small zone associated with language, which is found in both halves of the brain is more develop in the left side in 90% of right hander, but 70% of left hander have an equal development in both sides.

Little known facts about brain-I

In1861 the Doctor named Paul Broca in France conducted an autopsy of a body. There was some thing special about the man who died. That man was Leborgne lived in Paris, simply known as Tan Tan. As the two syllables tan tan were the words he could say, but he could understand exactly what was told to him. Apart from that he read newspapers, played chess etc as a normal man. So Borca wanted to find out whether Tan Tan really was insane.

Here I wish to tell few words about Dr. Paul Broca(1824-1880). He was the first to recognize that mental capacity is linked with specific areas of the brain.

In 1860, another case that was decisive importance in understanding human thought process was that of an epileptic person named Kevin. Doctors served his corpus callosum the slab of nerve fibers that connect the two halves of the brain. But instead of cure, new complication arouse, Kevin could only laugh when he was instructed to do so by speaking in his right ear. His left ear was functionally intact. Further more, he no longer recognized familiar faces when they appear in his right field of vision. This is an unfortunate personal impairment was a boon to the scientists. This impairment provided vital clues about how the two hemispheres of our brain interact to perform their tasks

Every muscle in left or right half of our body is controlled by nerve cells in the opposite half of your brain. The reason for this is that each part is responsible for specific task. The analysis of shapes in space, recognition of faces, the memory of sound and music awareness, are all assigned to the right hemisphere. The left is responsible for the task such as smiling, doing calculation and logical problem solving. This hemi sphere of the brain also governs the learning of language as well as written and spoken language.

Even though each half of the brain has its specific functions both halves work in co ordination to control the tiniest nuances of our behavior. The necessary connection is made through the corpus callosum, the slab of nerves discussed earlier. Why Kevin could not recognize a person sitting on his right is that the left half his brain which receives visual information could not communicate with the right half of the brain which is responsible for recognizing faces.

If one half of the brain is injured the opposite side can be replace it to a certain extent particularly in young people. Research indicates that there are large numbers of cerebral areas which do not have a specific functions are activated by nerve cells. It seems that non functional areas serve as reserve tissue.

Terror Justice in Medieval Europe: The Vemgerichts

If any one is summoned to appear before a court in a democratic world today they can be fairly sure that the court procedure will be quite clean but this was not the case in the Medieval Europe. During the Middle Ages Jurisdiction was divided between many individual. Judgment was pronounced according to a variety of laws, and crimes of the some were unpunished. As a result the nobles were took charge of protection their own rights and the bloody feuds were the order of the day.

In 13^th century, In Europe there was no strong imperial power which increased the in severity in matters of law. By that time a form of Jurisdiction developed in WestPhalia, in West Germany, Which gained more influence for the next 200 years. The Veme meaning either cooperative or punishment coupled with the word Gericht or law, a new court was born.

The vemgerichts are the local court6 administered by the noble men. The “Jurisdiction of Blood” – the authority to sit in judgment over life and death- had been granted to these men by the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne. In 13^th century courts came under the control of a Bishop or a Prince. He authorized the noble man to occupy the bench and to pass judgments with the help of several lay judges. Normally there may be seven judges and if the criminal was caught red handed then three lay judges was sufficient. The lay judges must be of good reputation and they had to born in West Phalia.

Most of the cases investigated by the Vemgerichts were murder and robbery not only denying recourse to legal action, the judgments of Vemgerichts could only be acquittal or death. The deliberation took place according to the rules only known to the judges. The public was excluded. The execution of death sentence was carried out on spot, using a rope strung up on the tree next to them.

The secrecy behind the proceedings gave rise rumors. The lay judges were secret group of masked hench men and they were making their judgments and they were making their judgment in remote places mostly under lime tree. It was commonly known that many of the accused were tortured during the trials. Even though these courts became very popular and the criminals of far off places brought to the Vemgerichts for trials. If the accused did not appear, they become vervemt and these out laws could be executed as soon as the lay judges caught them. Because of their power the courts grew strong and many Vemgerichts became corrupt characters.

But by the 15^th century the legal agreement between the cities and the princes reduced their powers and reputation so that the vemgericht lost their fame and importance.