MONTHLY

CATALOGUE,

For JULY, 1802.

EDUCATION.

Art. 15. Elements of English Grammar; or, a new System of Grammatical Instruction. By John Dalton, Teacher of Mathematics, &c. Manchester. 8vo. 2s. 6d. bound. Richardsons.

NOTWITHSTANDING the labors of so many learned men on the sub

ject of grammar, much has remained to be done by modern grammarians, from the want of philosophical accuracy in those who preceded them, and from their general neglect in tracing the meaning of words to their proper source and origin. Simplicity was not with them an object of sufficient importance: they made useless distinctions in grammar; they employed parts of speech which were not wanted; and they thus accumulated rule upon rule.-The celebrated author of the "Diversions of Purley," to whom the treatise before us is dedicated, has a disciple in Mr. Dalton by no means unworthy a master of so much genius and erudition. We have perused his compendious treatise with much satisfaction; and we recommend it to all who are engaged in the education of youth of either sex, as a very useful manual in the branch of science of which it treats. Art. 16. Conjugata Latina; or, a Collection of the purest and most usual Latin Words, distinguished into Classes according to the Times of their Occurrence, and arranged according to their Derivations, &c. &c. By Thomas Haigh, A. M. Master of the Grammar School, Tottenham, Small 8vo. 38. Boards. Sy

monds, &c.

We do not see that any advantage is likely to accrue to a learner from this collection of Latin words, marked according to their quan tities. A good grammar will furnish a beginner with a sufficient knowlege of words; and the easiest and surest mode of increasing that knowlege is, not by committing a string of words to memory, but by gradual reading, and translating into Latin. An attention to the rules of prosody, applied syllabatim to Latin poetry, and reduced to practise by writing verses, is the only effectual method of impressing on the mind an accurate remembrance of the respective quantities of words.

Art. 17.

Adamina.

NOVELS.

By a Lady. 12mo. 2 Vols. 75. sewed.
Vernor and Hood.

Where faults and beauties are blended together, the critic can find occasion to exercise his skill; and the pain, which it costs him to censure, is relieved by the satisfaction of having it afterward in his power to commend:-but, where neither faults nor beauties can be found, where an insipid blamelessness reigns throughout, where nothing interesting or nothing strikingly offensive occurs; what can he venture to say? He can say nothing.

Art.

Art. 18.

She lives in Hopes; or, Caroline.

A Narration founded

upon Facts. By Miss Hatfield, of Manchester. 9s. sewed. Parsons, &c.

At the

A few words will explain the life which this lady lives. beginning of the first volume, Miss Caroline Harman falls in love with Mr. George Severs, and Mr. Severs with Miss Harman: but many casualties in life, not worth enumerating, intervene; and their happiA month before ness is deferred to the end of the second volume.

the time appointed for their nuptials, Mr. Severs contrives to shew his intended bride and a party of friends the improvements in the parish church. Here is a good opportunity for a wedding: a priest is at hand: the ring is produced; and Mrs. Severs attains the summit of her hopes.'-Need we add that farther remarks on this every-day-story are unnecessary?

Art. 19. Justina; or, the History of a Young Lady. By Harriet Ventum. 12mo. 4 Vols. 18s. sewed. Badcock.

A correspondence is here begun and continued through four volumes between Justina Trecothick and Matilda Nesbitt, with some occasional letters from others. These two virtuous young ladies, who, from early acquaintance, are much attached to each other, are destined to a variety of trials and misfortunes, till at last they are happily rewarded with the objects of their respective choice.

Matilda, left an orphan from her infancy, is adopted by her aunt, a weak woman, who is afterward persuaded to discard her by the artifices of Lady Cicely, a favorite friend. Thus banished, Matilda is kindly received by an old servant of the family; becomes known to her uncle, the Earl of Locheil; is adopted by him; and is married at last to her favorite Fitzorton.

Justina, in the mean time, from the unhappy marriage of her mother with Brymer, (a servant in the family,) is persecuted in various ways, and conveyed into Italy by his contrivance in order to effect a marriage between her and Sir Evan Morgan. Here, however, she gets rid of her suiter; Brymer dies by poison; her mother takes refuge in a convent; and her lover Lord Osmond appears, and makes Justina his bride.

Some of the incidents, though not new, will here be found to amuse: but the common-place moral and sentimental remarks will disgust by their repetition. The style and language will be often condemned,-except by those readers who can set with patience, and when weary lay down.

4

1802.

Art. 20. Phatime et Zoroé, Conte Arabe. Par M. Alciator, de Mar. seille, 12mo. Vols. 128. Boards. Dulau and Co. This romance, it appears from the preface, was principally intended for the instruction and amusement of an élève of the author: but it is well calculated for young persons in general, and is intitled to considerable praise for the perspicuity of its style, the pleasing simplicity of its fable, the noble sentiments which it inspires, its pure morality, and its animated piety. The history of the aged hermit is interesting and affecting. The general reflections on men and manpers, on the order and government of the world, on history, on the

rise and success of Mahomet, &c. &c. are judicious, and furnish much useful information for young people. The struggles of Zoroé and Phatime under their various trials, their captivity, and sufferings, convey a noble lesson of virtue; and the discovery of their aged sire Abdolahid, who had been captured and separated from them, in the person of Menophir pleading their cause before the Ethiopian Prince, like the discovery of Joseph at the court of Pharaoh, is full of natu ral pathos. The virtues of Zoroé and Phatime are at last rewarded; and Abdolahid, their father, like some mariner wearied with the troubles of the ocean, arrives at the destined port, and peacefully enters" the haven where he would be."

Art. 21.

Belmour. 12mo. 3 Vols. 10s. 6d. Boards. Johnson.

1801.

Considerable talents are here displayed in the support and delineation of characters; accompanied by many just reflections, and a knowlege of the world. We must except, however, the libertine behaviour of Lord Belmour, in violating the rights of honor and. hospitality by his criminal intimacy with Lady Roseberg ;—a conduct which cannot easily be reconciled with the openness and generosity of his disposition. That man can have little soundness of principle or true benevolence, who is guilty of such a flagrant act of villainy in the house of his unsuspecting friend.-Nor can we commend in a virtuous wife, as Emily Courtenay is described to be, her expressions of tenderness towards her former admirer, and still giving him hopes of their future union.-We cannot deem that author's moral sentiments quite correct, who holds up such characters as worthy of our perfect approbation and esteem.

From the general accuracy of style in this novel, we were surprized at the expressions solicitatious', and complacence of feel.' The recurrence, also, of the word uncommonly' is tiresome, and the use of the participles sitten, gotten, is unpleasing to the ear, though grammati cally proper.

The narrative would have been better conducted, if the early life of Miss Melville had not been introduced so late, as an episode.

Art. 22.

MEDICAL, &c.

The Clinical Guide; or, a Concise View of the leading Facts on the History, Nature, and Treatment, of the State and Diseases of Infancy and Childhood; &c. &c. By William Nisbet, M. D. 12mo. 5s. Boards. Johnson. 1800.

This volume constitutes the fourth part of Dr. Nisbet's Clinical Guide; of the former parts, we have already given an account; and we have little more to observe of the present, than that it seems to be a cheap and useful abstract of the best publications on this subject. Dr. N. has added a practical Pharmacopeia, which he has unluckily termed, in the general title, an infantile Pharmacopæia. This equivoque reminds us of a worthy gentleman who some years ago published a book on insanity, which he termed Maniacal Observations but the title of neither of these works can be applied in the opprobrious sense to their contents.

A table

A table of the proportions of active ingredients in some principal formulæ next occurs, in which we observe an important error: the mercurial pills, or pilula hydrargyri, contain, we are told, (p. 210.) in each dram, (properly, drachm,) four grains of Mercury! We find no table of errata; yet we can impute this blunder only to the printer. It is capable, however, of misleading beginners, and ought to have been corrected.

The volume concludes with a sketch of nosology, founded on Dr. Cullen's system, but occasionally varied. Practitioners in the country will find this book an useful addition to their libraries; though it will by no means supersede the necessity of consulting other and more elaborate publications.

Art. 23. Observations on Mr. Home's Treatment of Strictures in the Urethra; with an improved Method of treating certain Cases of those Diseases. By Thomas Whately. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Johnson.

1801.

We meet with many sensible and important observations in this pamphlet; from which we should select several passages, if we could spare room, and if the nature of the subject were more adapted to our work. After having stated, in a forcible manner, his objections to Mr. Home's method of applying caustic to strictures, Mr. Whately proceeds to describe his own. The quantity of caustic to be inserted, in the first instance, ought never to exceed one twelfth of a grain; and from the author's experiments, it appears that this portion, applied to the inside of the mouth or lips, produces a slough equal in size to a seven-shilling-piece. For Mr. W.'s directions respecting the renewal of the application, and other circumstances, we must refer the reader to the pamphlet itself; which will afford much useful information on the mode of treating this obstinate and distressing complaint.

Art. 24. A Compendium of the Anatomy of the Human Body; Illus trated by upwards of 160 Tables, containing nearly 700 Figures, copied from the most celebrated Authors, and from Nature. By Andrew Fyfe. 4to. 3 Vols. 51. 5s. half-bound. Printed at Edinburgh, and sold in London by Longman, &c.

This large work, which consists entirely of figures and explanations, is conducted on a plan which is well-calculated to facilitate the study of anatomy. The first volume consists of three parts; the osteology, in which the bones are minutely and accurately represented; the myology, where the successive layers of muscles are delineated, as they appear on dissection; and a description of the burse mucosa, ligaments, and other parts of the joints.-Volume 11. contains the viscera, and organs of the senses. In this part, we meet with several views of the brain, particularly adapted to initiate the student in the intricate structure of that organ. Vol. 111. relates to the absorbent system; in which is included a whole-length figure, as large as life, shewing the general distribution of the absorbent vessels, the blood. vessels, and the nerves.

A work of this nature does not admit of quotations. After having cxpressed our approbation of the plan, therefore, we have only to

add

add our regret that it has not been completed with more success. A few, and but a few, of the plates are well executed; and the great majority are so coarsely managed, as to have a discreditable appearance. They have indeed greatly disappointed those expectations which we had formed from the well-known talents and ingenuity of the author.

Art. 25. A Treatise on the Cow-Pox; containing the History of Vaccine Inoculation, and an Account of the various Publications which have appeared on that Subject, in Great Britain, and other Parts of the World. By John Ring. Part I. 8vo. PP. 500. 8s. Boards. Carpenter, &c. 1801.

This work is an ample compilement of every important publication that has appeared on the subject of vaccine inoculation. The author is a zealous advocate for the practice: but, as the public opinion is now decided in its favour, some of his arguments and much of his declamation may appear superfluous. Mr. Aikin's smaller and more readable tract will supply nearly every thing useful on the subject. The language of Mr. Ring's book is, in trath, occasionally so in flated, that it is ill adapted to scientific purposes; and, though much valuable information is brought together in his volume, it rather oppresses than enlightens the reader, from a total want of arrange. ment and discrimination. The substance of many of these papers might have been compressed into a compilation of moderate bulk, without in any degree weakening the evidence, or diminishing the actual quantity of knowlege, which they contain.

Fortunately for the public, this great problem is now settled in favour of Dr. Jenner's discovery; the doubts which had arisen, from the use of improper matter in some cases, and which we at one time could not help expressing, are now completely removed; and the practice is only better understood, and more firmly established, in consequence of the discussion. Seldom, indeed, has a medical ques tion of importance been so speedily determined: to this decision, the modesty and candour of Dr. Jenner have eminently contributed; and in these respects we may propose him as a model to all who may have occasion to engage in medical controversy.

Art. 26. An Essay on the Yellow Fever of Jamaica. By David Grant, M.D. 8vo. pp. 65. 38. Robinsons. 1801.

Nearly one half of this production is employed in a defence of the slave-trade, on which we shall not now offer any observations. At p. 27, Dr. Grant begins his account of the yellow fever; which, he informs us, was the remittent endemic fever of the island, and not contagious. His description of the symptoms agrees with that of most other writers. In the method of cure, he strongly advisees bleeding; which, he says, affords great relief from the head-ach; and after this, mercurial purgatives are recommended. Vomiting, Dr. Grant thinks, is injurious. After evacuations, he pro poses a large dose of Peruvian bark.

Small as this pamphlet is, and particularly with reference to its price, the quantity of real information contained in it is in very little proportion to its bulk. It is also necessary to observe that the

language