fome Degree of Permanency," is of a different kind, and relates to the phofphorefence of different bodies, particularly putrefcent ones. Putrefaction deftroys, but a certain degree of it feparates the light, which appears to be a component part of different bodies. Dr. Woolafton's article "on Double Images caufed by Refraction," is highly ingenious, and the various appearances are well explained from the varying denfity of the different strata of air. One other optical phænomenon has been illuftrated by the publications of the prefent year, viz. what is called the Mirage, in the Collection of Memoirs published by the Philofophers who followed Bonaparte to Egypt. The author is M. Monge, whofe account is neither very clear nor fcientific. Mr. Anftruther, in a feparate pamphlet, has offered his ideas refpecting the connection of electricity, heat and light, a work which does not greatly add to the ftock offcience. They are crude conjectures, rather than accurate philofophical inductions. Count Rum ford's Effays, particularly thofe publifhed fince our laft annual review, relate to the phænomena of heat, and its management. This very ingenious philofopher has greatly illuftrated the fubject of the communication of heat, particularly of thawing and raifing water to the boiling point; but the principal economical advantages derived from them, are in the faving fuel. M. Volta's paper, in the Tranfactions," on "Electricity excited by the mere Contact of conducting Subftances of different Kinds," is in reality an inquiry into the new fcience entitled Galvanifim, the influence of a fluid connected with electricity, whofe phenomena are highly curious and interefting. We regret that no feparate work has yet ap

"

peared to connect in a scientific form the appearances hitherto ob ferved. Dr. Young's "Outlines of Experiments and Enquiries respecting Sound and Light" are published in the "Tranfactions," and are equally ingenious and fcientific. On the fubject of found we may notice in the fame volume of the Tranfactions, Mr. Home's Croonean Lecture on the Structure and Ufe of the Membrana Tympani. One of the ufes is fuppofed to be giving that nicety of perception of tones, which is ftyled a mufical ear; but the fyftem is not well fupported, and from a cafe, adduced by Mr. Cooper, in a fubfequent article, it appears untenable. The more mifcellaneous contents of the volume of the Philofophical Tranfactions for the prefent year, are the ufual Meteorological Journal, to which we may add, Mr. Bent's annual publication on the fame fubject, and the Trigonometrical Survey. It gives us great pleasure to see the fuccessful progrefs of this great national work, and we fhall, at no great distance of time, have, we truft, fome equally elegant and accurate maps of the different counties of England. France, notwithstanding the war, continues thefe purfuits, in connection with the attempts in Britain, fo that fcientific geography appears to advance with no flow pace. A propofal lately made by one of the moit refpectable journals of this country, the Critical Review, will greatly affift the progrefs, viz. that of giving an account of the best maps publified in England and on the continent. We highly approve the plan, and with it fuccefs; though, as a novel attempt, difficulties muft, of course, at first occur.

While we thus improve our knowledge of the furface. Mr. Kirwan, in his Geological Effays, has purfued

purfued the ftructure of this globe in its deeper ftrata. We mentioned this work in our laft volume; but we again introduce it, as we omitted fpeaking of his Effays on the compofition and difintegration of ftones, on mountains, and volcanic mountains, ftrata of coal, and beds of common falt. Thefe fubjects he has illuftrated by his ufual acuteness, and his very extensive refearches. Though fomewhat beyond our limits, yet the mention of mountains leads us to fpeak of Beaumont's "Travels through the Lepontine Alps," as containing fome remarks on their formation, though we cannot praise the fcientific accuracy of the investigation, or the probability of the conclufions. Dr. Garnet's "Tour through Scotland," contains fome mineralogical remarks, fuggefted by his obfervations in that alpine region; but they are not diftinguifhed by any particular novelty or precifion. In the Egyptian Memoirs is a valuable paper on the Valley which affords the Natron, and the lakes from which it cryftallizes, by General Andreoffy; and we may, on this occafion, mention fome fimilar inveftigations in the fame volume, which would not otherwise merit a peculiar diftinction, viz. the investigation of the nature of the mud of the Nile, and fome topographical illuftrations of the geography of that once celebrated country. If we af. cend from the furface to its productions, our respect for the Linnean Society will lead us firft to fpeak of the work of its prefident, the Flora Britannica. It is fufficient to fay, that nothing hitherto published approaches it in that minute botanical acumen, which, without aiming at fplendour, attains that accurate finish which will attract the real botanist. Two volumes only have yet appear

ed, and we may again mention the fubject when completed. Dr. Hull's British Flora is a work of great utility, and, fo far as we have beenable to examine it, of general accuracy; we fay "general accuracy," in comparison of Dr. Smith's fyftem, which is neceffarily laboured with more peculiar care, and not meaning to convey any disrespect. On the contrary, we have been highly pleafed with the introduction, and the general views of the fcience. Dr. Mavor's Botanical Pocket-book is a more humble attempt to aflift the collector, and on the whole merits his gratitude. The monographifts are indeed few within this period, and our lift affords only the defcription of a new fpecies of Nymphæa, by M. Savigny, in the Egyptian Memoirs. The phyfiology of plants has been greatly illuftrated by one of their moft zealous amateurs, Dr. Darwin, who, in his "Phytologià," has been equally anxious to explain their phyfiology, their pathology, their moft nutritious diet, and their enemies. As he has before treated of their "Loves," we must not be surprised if he now fpeaks of their perceptivity and their feelings, following the fyftem in their propagation, &c. not very different from the phyfio. logy of animals. Indeed he ftrains the analogy to its utmoft bearingperhaps beyond it. In the animal fyftem, we muft notice with refpect, and we truft our annual vo-, lume will not fail to recognize the progrefs of fo excellent a work, the fecond volume of Dr. Shaw's Syftem of Natural Hiftory. He has now concluded the Zoology, and we need not, we cannot, fay more than that he has not difgraced his fpecimen. It was in Dr. Shaw's work that we first faw an account of the Platypus, the aquatic animal

with the duck's bill, which he introduced with fome hesitation, and fome marks of fufpicion. Mr. Home, in the volume of " Philofophical Tranfactions," has introduced fome obfervations on the head of the Ornithorynchus Paradoxus, the fame animal, and there is no longer reafon to fufpect a deception. The organ of fmell is extenfive, and apparently acute, and the Platypus really poffeffes an auditory organ, which was at first doubted. Dr. Mavor's "Natural History for the Ufe of Schools" is a work of great utility, and of great general accuracy; and Mr. Geoffroy's Obfervations on the Wing of an Oftrich, in the Ægyptian Memoirs, fingularly illuftrate the peculiar contrivance in an animal that fo ftrikingly unites the birds and beafts. A fimilar wife provifion of Providence is confpicuous in the diftribution of the arteries, fent to the limbs of flowmoving animals, defcribed in the Philofophical Tranfactions by Mr. Carlisle, feemingly to prevent an injurious ftagnation of the circulating fluids in their comparatively torpid ftate. The few works on Anatomy in this period induce us to mention, as a part of the natural history of man, Mr. Bell's "Syftem of Diffections," and, more ftrictly within the limits of natural hiftory, Herder's "Philofophy of the Hifto`ry of Man," a work now first translated, and which contains many judicious remarks on the human race, their form, their ftructure, and their mutual connections.

Though relating, in the fubject, to animals, Mr. Hatchett's Chemical Experiments on Zoophytes are rather of a chemical kind, and the analysis of thefe intermediate links, between vegetables and animals, fills thofe lacunæ which, in the explanation of the ftructure of

the feries of created beings, we greatly lamented. They now con nect vegetables with the hells of fish and the parts of animals which approach nearest them in structure, the bones. We have no other inftance, in this period, of fuccessful analyfis. Mr. Henry's Experiments, undertaken" with a View of decompofing the Muriatic Acid,” did not fucceed; and the fhort imperfect account of the fuccefs of a foreign chemift, in the fame inveftigation, will not, we fufpect, be found more fatisfactory in the detail. Mr. Kirwan, in his Effays repeatedly mentioned, has informed us that the muriatic is the original acid, and we fufpect that we fee it daily forming under our eyes, probably by the union of gafes not yet explained. M. Scherer's "Introduction to the Knowledge of Gafeous Bodies" is an elementary performance of fome utility. Dr. Pearfon's fecond edition of histranflation of the Effays on the New Nomenclature is not confined to merely converting the dress from French to English, but contains numerous obfervations of peculiar value. Mr. Parkinson's "Chemical Pocket-book," of which we have juft received a fecond edition, is alfo a valuable affistant for students, and an ufeful collection of references for more experienced inquirers. M. Jacquin's Elements of Chemiítry," as well as Briffon's " Elements of Natural History and Chemical Analyfes of Mineral Subftances," may rank among the introductory works of peculiar utility. The firft, though neceffarily not containing the later difcoveries, from the time of its publication, wili yet be found to merit confiderable praife, as containing the first rudiments of the fcience, in a form highly comprehenfive and confpi

cuous.

cuous. Dr. Babington's "New Syftem of Minerals, in the Form of a Catalogue," is an ufeful repofitory alfo of elementary facts: and Mr. Howard, in his account of a "New fulminating Mercury," in the Philofophical Tranfactions, adds to the lift of these fingular fubftances, without however elucidating the principle by which their furprising effects are produced. Dr. Harrington will not excufe us if we neglect mentioning his "New Obfervations on Heat;" but, as he allows no merit to his predeceffors, they will not of courfe think highly of him. Perhaps he may lefs excufe our mentioning him fo flightly.

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The progrefs of the arts, immediately connected with chemistry, has not been greatly promoted in the prefent period; but, as we have before said, the influence is, from interested motives, carefully concealed. We can only mention, from the Egyptian Memoirs, the Eaftern method of dyeing cotton and flax by means of carthamus; and the dyeing properties of the henné. As an affiftant to medicine, its utility appears of more value. Mr. Kirwan's very excellent Effay on the Analysis of Mineral Waters," teaches the most fuccefsful methods of afcertaining their ingredients; and Dr. Saunders, in his treatise on the fame fubject, has added to our more particular knowledge of their contents. Dr. Gibbes has published a "Treatife on the Bath Waters;" and as he is feemingly unable to detect any new ingredient, he speaks largely of the effects of the attenuation of the flint and steel, which he has difcovered. The controverfy refpecting the ufe of different gaffes, and of oxygenated remedies, continues in nearly its ufual state, though their merit seems in the fear, the yellow leaf." Mr. Blair has again advanced to the 1800.

charge, and has lefs exceptionably oppofed these remedies in the lues venerea. Mr. Pearfon, in his "Obfervations of the Effects of various Articles of the Materia Medica," in the lues, has equally combated them, and given, with refpect to many other boafted remedies, the decifions of experience and judg-ment. Of other controverfies we cannot give a very pleafing account. The Manchefter difpute refpecting the Cæfarean Section, begun and continued in a manner difgraceful to fome of the parties, is not terminated; and Mr. Perkins has repeatedly returned to the charge in defence of his Tractors. The controversy refpecting the Cow-Pox, conducted in a manner highly liberal and proper, approaches to a termination: the weight of evidence has counterbalanced oppofition, and the tracts of Mr. Dunning, Dr. Woodville, Mr. Aikin, &c. on this fubject, feem to have clofed the rear of pub. lications for the prefent. We believe we forgot to mention, in our laft volume, a lively, but fevere, perhaps an illiberal, attack on Mr. Bell's Anatomy of the Heart and Arteries, which has been followed by an equally fmart reply. The "fraterna acies alternaque regna "ought not in this short sketch to detain us; and Dr. Gregory's Memorial, refpecting the attendance of the Surgeons in the Royal Infirmary, with the different pamphlets by the Surgeons in reply, (birds of a fimilar, if not the fame feather,) must be difmiffed with as little ceremony. The bulky memorial on a flight fubject, eked out by idle tales, is calculated to defile the neft, which from reafon and prudence fhould have been preferved without contamination.-To return, however, to the works on medicines and remedies. As a prefervative from the S malignant

malignant fevers, Dr. C. Smyth, fome years fince, propofed the fumi gation by nitrous gas. This method has been lately oppofed, particularly by Dr. Trotter, in his Medicina Nautica, fupported by Dr. Mitchill's theory of the feptic acid. Whatever may be the merit of the theory, the question fhould be decided by facts alone; and we fufpect that, if the fumigation with gas fuperfedes the ventilation of fresh air, a certain preventive will be forced to yield to one whofe powers are at leaft doubtful. Among the difputed circumftances, we muft mention the fubject of the " Phlegmatia Dolens," or rather the caufe of the difeafe. Dr. Hull, in an extenfive treatife, comprehending what ever his predecesors have advanced, differs from Dr. Ferriar and Dr. White. The latter, in an edition of his former work publifhed fince the prefent æra, bas defended his doctrines; but this very obfcure difeafe feems not yet fairly explained. Neither are practitioners yet agreed in the fource, or in the treatment of the Yellow Fever. Dr. Chisholm has published a fhort treatise" on the malignant Yellow Fever imported from Bulam," which he has fince expanded into two large octavos. He confiders one kind of it as at least an imported difeafe; and the remedy, he depends on, is calomel. Dr. Fowle, in his "Practical Treatife on the different Fevers of the West Indies," advifes bleeding in the beginning only. Dr. Ruth, who has repeatedly defcribed the fever which has been the frequent fcourge of the citizens of Philadelphia, has, in the fourth volume of his "Medical Enquiries," returned alfo to the defence of his favourite remedy, the lancet: yet he has weakened his caufe by refting his arguments ou a theoretical

foundation. Dr. Lempriere's "Prac tical Obfervations on the Diseases of the Army in Jamaica" contain fome excellent remarks on this fubject. He confiders this fatal fever as the endemic of this island, and is cautious in his bleedings, except when the fever is forming, or in the early ftages; he afterwards trufts more to mercurials. It feems in general agreed that the yellow fever is not highly contagious, and on the whole probable, that neither in Jamaica nor the American continent it is an imported difeafe. Dr. Jackfon, in his "Outline of the Hiftory and Cure of Fever," in which he fully fupports the promife he gave of future fagacity and judgment, by his former publication on the fevers of Jamaica, endeavours to defend both these pofitions. In his practice he recommends Dr. Rudi's favourite remedy, which he adapts to the different periods, with a fingularly judicious difcrimination. With refpect to the caufe, he is fupported by a Mr. Webfler, who, in his " Brief History of Epidemic and Peftilential Difeafes," confiders all epidemics as owing to comets, or the natural convulfions of the globe, volcanos, and earthquakes. Coincidences he adduces in abundance; but that they are caufes is highly doubtful, from the irregular periods after which the epidemics are obferved to follow, and the diftance of the events from the circumstances supposed to occafion them. Dr. Trotter has, we think, fhown that the cause of fever may be fixed in the extremities, and form what he calls the malignant ulcer; and, without being indebted to America, "the malignant and infectious Fever at Uxbridge," defcribed by a Medical Practitioner," is truly a formidable difcafe: in this fever, yeaft was

fund