chefter, whofe fecret confifts only in the peculiar mode of application. Our Readers will judge, from the above fhort quotation, that this writer is in little danger of becoming obfcure by aiming at brevity. In fome cafes, as particularly in the directions for meafuring heights by the barometer (built on Sir George Shuckburgh's experiments in the Philof. Tranfact.), prolixity and tautology have rendered the operation apparently more intricate than it really is. The language is in general animated, but not free from affectation, nor always correct; nor will the fingularity of writing conftantly woud, coud, boud, throu', floguifton, floguifticated, make any great addition to his literary character. In the two laft mentioned words, the u is probably inferted to fhew that the g is to be pronounced hard, as in guilt; but we apprehend the mere English reader will be more likely to give fome found or other to the u itself. He had perhaps fome fimilar reafon for writing aironaut, airoftat, airopaidia (the title of the book) with an i inftead of an e; a mode of fpelling and pronouncing which we could not have expected from one who quotes Greek. But thefe are only ftraws floating on the furface of the ftream; and we fhould not perhaps have noticed them if they did not appear to have been defignedly fcattered there, and injudiciously meant as embellishments. Ch ** ART. XII. The Triumph of Benevolence; occafioned by the national Defign of erecting a Monument to John Howard, Efq. 4to. is. 6d. Dodley, &c. 1786. WE E have frequently, when fpeaking of Dr. Howard's benevolent and useful publications*, embraced the occafion of paying our tribute of fincere applaufe to the merit of his tranfcendant philanthropy; but no writer hath more happily expreffed the peculiar character of his patriotic virtue, and labours of love for the benefit of the diftreffed part of his fellow-creatures, than hath Mr. Burke, in one of his eloquent addreffes + to the Public:-"To dive into the depths of dungeons; to plunge into "the infection of hofpitals; to furvey the manfions of forrow and "pain; to remember the forgotten, to attend to the neglected, "to vifit the forfaken, and to compare and collate the diftreffes "of all men in all countries;"-thefe have been the objects of this excellent man's refearches, in his vifits of fingular and un * State of Prifons in England and Wales, Rev. Vol. LVII. p. 8. Account of Prifons in Germany, Italy, &c. Rev. Vol. LXIII. p. 530. Hiftorical Anecdotes of the Baftile, Rev. Vol. LXIV. p. 95. Appendix to the State of Prifons, &c. Rev. Vol. LXXII. p. 41. And, we behieve, fome other tracts, which we do not at present recollect. + Speech at the Guildhall, Bristol, 1780. ** supposed to be written by Mr Pratt. precedented precedented charity, to almost every country in Europe! And which he is now extending to the inhospitable regions of Turkey, in the laudable hope, that the means which he has difcovered to check the influence of the jail infection, will be efficacious, likewife, against the plague.'-May his generous enterprize be crowned with fuccefs! The Poem now before us, is written in praife of this excelJent FRIEND OF MAN! and the perufal of it hath afforded us great pleafure. With the wreath which the Poet, with animated hafte,' has woven to deck the fhrine of Howard,' he hath twined no mean chaplet for his own brow: as the reader will perceive, from the following fhort extract: 6 From Public Gratitude the notes arife, To honour virtuous HowARD yet on earth; A thousand virtues kindle at his name. This, this the moment, Britons, ye fhould chufe, Where spotted Deaths load every tainted breeze: His focial heart no poor diftinction knows. To all the human! all the brutal too; Bird, beat, and infect, blefs his gentle power, From the worn fteed repofing in his view, To the tame red-breaft warbling in his bower.' By a note added to one of the Letters annexed to the Poem, we learn, that Mr. Howard allots to his horfes, grown old, or infirm, a rich pafture to range in, for their lives:-this is, indeed, girding the creation in one warm embrace!' The charity of Howard is uniform throughout; it extends to all animated beings; and may be juftly compared to the dew of heaven, which defcends alike on all-the juft and the unjuft! What an admirable contrait to the conduct [the boafted fern virtue !] of thofe re nowned nowned heroes of old Rome, who turned out their aged and exbaufted laves, and left them to ftarve! The poem from which the foregoing extract is taken, is followed by a pretty Sonnet, written by W. Upton, and addreffed to Dr. Lettfom, a zealous and munificent promoter of the defign of erecting a ftatue in honour of Mr. Howard, in his life-time; a defign which, perhaps, few befide the modeft Howard himself will difapprove. We have, alfo, in this publication, copies of letters from various friends and contributors to the above-mentioned undertaking; fome offering their advice, for the improvement of the plan, and an extension of it, to prifon charities and reforms; and pointing out what the writers conceive to be the most proper fituation for the intended column.-There is also a lift of Subfcribers, who are numerous; and we have the pleasure to fee that the fum fubfcribed is already very confiderable. *Chiefly, if not wholly, felected from that valuable mifcellany, the Gentleman's Magazine. G. MONTHLY CATALOGUE, For SEPTEMBER, 1786. 1 MEDICA L. Art. 13. The remarkable Effects of Fixed Air in Mortifications of the Extremities; to which is added the Hiftory of fome Worm Cafes. By John Harrifon, Surgeon, of Epfom, Surry. 8vo. IS. Baker and Galabin. 1785. TH HE two cafes, here related, of mortifications, feem to be inftances of the Gangrena Senilis; for which poultices of flour, yeaft, and honey, were applied in the act of fermentation. In the firft cafe (that of Mrs. Budworth, aged 90) it was applied on the 20th of February; but though the fore had contracted a fifth part, and had no appearance which threatened a return of mortification, Mrs. B. died on the 8th of March following. The fecond cafe [that of Buckle, aged 70] is more in point, and bears more favourable teftimony to the operation of the poultice. Is it right in this cafe to ascribe the good effect produced to the fixed air? Is not the heat, generated by the fermentation, of use? Warmth and moisture are very beneficial in checking the progrefs of the Gangræna Senilis. Warm water fim ply has been known of fervice in fuch cafes. The hiftories of some worm cases cured by an unknown medicine (to use the Author's expreffion) are fubjoined. These we shall not examine. We do not, however, agree with the President of the College, in the play, in maintaining that it does not become us to enquire; though, like Dr. Laft, Mr. Harrison would ftop us at once, and fay, as he does in his book, "the means are a fecret." Such con-i cealments are generally fufpicious, and are always unworthy of proREV. Sept. 1786. Q fefional feffional men. close.. They who practise them have feldom much to dif n Art. 14. An Account of the late epidemic Ague, particularly as it appeared in the Neighbourhood of Bridgnorth, in Shropshire, in 1784, with a fuccefsful Method of treating it. To which are added, fome Obfervations on a Dyfentery that prevailed at the fame Time. By William Cooley, Surgeon in Bridgnorth. 8vo. Is. Murray, &c. 1785. Mr. Cooley appears to be a great admirer of Dr. Cullen, and applies, in this book, the Profeffor's theories to explain the appearances of the epidemic ague which occurred, as above, in Shropshire. M Art. 15. Dr. Milman's Animadverfions on the Nature and on the Cure of the Dropy. Tranflated from the Latin, into English, by F. Swediaur, M. D. 8vo. 3s. Dodfley, &c. 1786. When we noticed the Animadverfiones, &c. (of which the book before us is a tranflation), it appeared to us, that the learned Author had fuggested a confiderable improvement in the treatment of an obftinate and dangerous diforder. Subfequent experience has confirmed the opinion we then expreffed of the methods of cure recommended by Dr. Milman. In the Preface to this publication, Dr. Swediaur adds his teftimony to the advantage of them; and we think the Public much indebted to him for giving these useful obfervations an English dress, as they will, doubtless, be thereby rendered more extenfively beneficial. n Art. 16. Remarks on morbid Retentions of Urine. By Charles Brandon Trye, Member of the Corporation of Surgeons in London, and Surgeon to the general Infirmary in Glocefter. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Murray. 1785. Mr. Trye refers preternatural retentions of urine to the following causes: ft. A want of tone in the mufcular fibres of the body of the bladder; by which it will be deprived of the power to contract. 2dly, To a paralytic affection of the bladder; in which case it will not receive (feel we fuppofe is meant) a difpofition to contract. 3dly, An inflammation or fpafm of the mufcular fafciculi, which furround the opening of the bladder into the urethra. 4thly, The canal of the urethra being rendered incapable of dilatation by inflammation, fpafm, ftricture, or preffure. 5thly, An extraneous body, as a ftone lying upon the opening of the bladder, or lodged in the urethra. 6thly, The retention of the urine in the body may arise from a bursting or laceration of the coats of the bladder. The remedies for thefe affections are confidered. In the cafe of the urine's not coming away from a paralytic bladder, after the introduction of the catheter, Mr. Trye propofes to draw it off by means of an air-pump, a glafs receiver, and a flexible tube terminating in a conical metallic pipe; an engraving of which iaftruments accompanies this book, and deferves the confideration and attention of the profeffional reader. M Art. 17. An Efay on the Jaundice, in which the Propriety of ufing the Bath Waters in that Disease, and alfo in fome particular Affections of the Liver, is confidered. By William Corp, M. D. *See Rev. vol. LXII. Numb. for Jan. 1780. Member Member of the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh, and Phyfician to the Pauper Charity of Bath. 8vo. 1s. 6d. Dilly. 1785. This Effay, though in a compendious form, bears many marks of good fenfe and judgment. The Author is accurate in his defcriptions, and right in his difcriminations. We recommend his book as likely to afford the fame fatisfaction to others that we have experienced from the perusal of it. n. Art. 18. Medical Cautions, for the Confideration of Invalids, those especially who refort to Bath; containing Effays on fashionable Diseases; dangerous Effects of hot and crowded Rooms; Regimen of Diet, &c. an Enquiry into the Ufe of Medicine during a Course of mineral Waters; an Effay on Quacks, Quack Medicines, and Lady Doctors; and an Appendix, containing a Table of the relative Digeftibility of Foods, with explanatory Obfervations. Published for the Benefit of the General Hofpital at Bath. By James Mackitrick Adair, M. D. Member of the Royal Medical Society, and Fellow of the College of Phyficians, Edinburgh. 8vo. 3s. 6d. Boards. Dodfley. 1786. Dr. M-k Adair having given the heads of the feveral chapters of his book in the title-page, has faved us the trouble of extracting them. The fashionable topics here mentioned are plaufibly, though not profoundly treated: and as he profeffes to defign this book for the toilette, fo the contents of it feem to be fuited to that clafs of readers. We hope it will do fome good; and that it will thereby anfwer another end which the Author wishes it to ferve,-that of making fome compenfation for the manifold professional errors he thinks he muft neceffarily have committed in the courfe of almost forty years extenfive practice. M. Art. 19. An Effay on the Theory of the Production of Animal Heat, and on its Application in the Treatment of cutaneous Eruptions, Inflammations, and fome other Diseases. By Edward Rigby, Member of the Corporation of Surgeons in London. 8vo. 4s. fewed. Johnfon. 1785. Mr. Rigby fuppofes that the various kinds of food, when admitted into the ftomach, and affifted by the heat, moisture, and peculiar action of that organ, undergo the moft perfect decompofition, and that the matter of heat, which probably forms a very confiderable part of them, is there feparated, and rendered capable of diffufing itself through every part of the body, for the fupport of life. The heat, however, produced by the firft decompofition of the food. in the ftomach, is not, according to Mr. R. all that it brings with. it into the animal; he fuppofes that as the production of heat must anfwer a vital purpofe more than cold would do, it is no improbable conjecture to imagine that every fuch change, every new arrangement of the particles of the food in its progrefs through the different parts of the body, may occafion heat. Thefe principles are applied to the explanation of the general theory of cutaneous eruptions, of the fmall pox, the miliary eruption, the measles, the fcarlatina, the eryfipelas, and twenty-two different difeafes, including even the gout and the fcurvy. How difficult is it for a man to quit a favourite hobby-horfe, when once he has mounted it! Q 2 M. Art. |