ed for making these poor people happy were really successful."

Among the other advantages reaped by Bavaria from the Count's residence there, that of the cultivation and actual use of potatoes as an edible, will appear not a little extraordinary. It is, however, not the less true, that it was he who first overcame the prejudices of the people of that country against this root; that he enriched their agriculture, and enlarged their stock of provisions by its introduction. Invariably directing his attention to objects of general utility to his fellow-creatures, the Count also undertook a variety of experiments, with a view to the economy of food and fuel, the result of which were the soups and improved fire-places so well known by his name.

After paying a visit to England in 1795 and 1796, the Count finally quitted Bavaria, and returned to this country in 1799. He was some years incessantly engaged in prosecuting his experiments on the construction of chimneys and the means of increasing the quantity of heat, which is tantamount to decreasing the consumption of fuel. After his improvements on fire-places had been adopted in the mansions of many distinguished individuals, he turned his attention towards the public establishments, and he had in a short time the satisfaction to know that there was scarcely a gentleman's house in England which was not better and more confortably warmed by his new method. Scotland and Ireland soon followed the example, and the Count repaired to the capitals of both these portions of the empire, with a view to give effect to his beneficial schemes.

To his hints also the country was indebted for the establishment of numerous soup societies; which, during periods of scarcity, have contributed materially to alleviate the wants of the poor, not only in the metropolis, but throughout the whole kingdom.

If, however, the attention of Count Rumford was chiefly directed to the bodily comforts of his fellow-creatures, he was

by no means unmindful of literature and the sciences. On the 12th of July, 1796, he transferred to the Royal Society of London, of which he was vice-president, and to whose Transactions he was upwards of 25 years a distinguished contributor, 1,000% stock in the 3 per cent consols, with a view that the interest be applied every two years as a premium to the author of the most important discovery or useful improvement which shall be made known to the public in any part of Europe, during the preceding two years, on heat or light; the preference to be alwavs given to such discoveries as shall in the opinion of the president and council tend most to the benefit of mankind. To his active exertions also must be chiefly ascribed the foundation of the Royal Institution, the model and parent of several other establishments of a similar nature, though on a less extensive scale, subsequently formed in the British metropolis.

The latter years of the life of this useful man and disinterested philanthropist were spent in France, in the cultivation of his favourite sciences, till death put a period to his labours, on Sunday, Aug. 21, 1814, at his country-seat at Auteuil, near Paris.

The literary productions of Count Rumford have obtained a wide circulation, having been translated into various languages, and are consequently well known. His papers in the Philosophical Transactions, chiefly on matters connected with the object of his beneficent investigations, were rather distinguished for the useful application of which they were susceptible, than for their number. His only distinct publication was a series of detached essays which appeared at different times since the year 1796, and now amount to eighteen, forming four octavo volumes. Such of our readers as may not possess this work, which comprises a vast mass of practical information, will not be displeased to find a sketch of its contents subjoined:

Essay 1. Account of an establishment for the Poor at Münich, together with a Detail of various Public Measures con

nected with that institution, which have been adopted and carried into effect, for putting an end to Mendicity, and introducing Order and useful Industry among the more indigent of the Inhabitants of Bavaria.

2. Of the Fundamental Principles on which General Establishments for the Relief of the Poor may be formed in all Countries.

3. Of Food, and particularly of Feeding the Poor.

4. Of Chimney Fire-places, with Proposals for improving them to save Fuel; to render Dwelling-houses more comfortable and salubrious; and effectually to prevent Chimneys from smoking.

5. A Short Account of several Public Institutions lately formed in Bavaria.

6. On the Management of Fire, and the Economy of Fuel. 7. Of the Propagation of Heat in Fluids.

8. Of the Propagation of Heat in Various Substances, being an Account of a number of New Experiments made with a View to the Investigation of the Causes of the Warmth of Natural and Artificial Clothing. (First published in the Phil. Transactions.)

9. An Experimental Inquiry concerning the Source of the Heat which is excited by Friction.

10. On the Construction of Kitchen Fire-places, and Kitchen Utensils, together with Remarks and Observations relating to the various Processes of Cookery, and Proposals for improving that most useful Art.

11. Supplementary Observations concerning Chimney Fireplaces.

12. Observations concerning the Salubrity of Warm Rooms in Cold Weather.

13. Observations concerning the Salubrity of Warm Bathing, and the Principles on which Warm Baths should be constructed.

14. Supplementary Observations relating to the Management of Fires in Closed Fire-places.

15. Of the Use of Steam as a Vehicle for Transporting Heat from one Place to another.

16. Of the Management of Light in Illuminations; together with an Account of a new Portable Lamp.

17. An Inquiry concerning the Source of the Light which is manifested in the Combustion of Inflammable Bodies.

18. Of the Excellent Qualities of Coffee, and the Art of making it in perfection.

The title-page to these Essays describes the author as Knight of the Orders of the White Eagle and St. Stanislaus, Chamberlain, Privy Counsellor of State, and Lieutenant-General in the Service of his Most Serene Highness the Elector Palatine, Reigning Duke of Bavaria; Colonel of his Regiment of Artillery, and Commander-in-Chief of the General Staff of his Army; F. R. S. Acad. R. Hiber. Berol. Elec. Boic. Palat. et Amer. Soc.

The Count lost his wife before he quitted America. He has left one daughter, the issue of that union.

A French paper, the Journal des Debats, in announcing his death, paid the following just tribute to his merits:-" The natural philosophers of every country must admire his ingenious experiments on heat, light, combustion, steam, and numberless other subjects, respecting which he has greatly extended the limits of our knowledge. But what will shed superior lustre on his name, and render it dear to all the friends of humanity, are his investigations on the subject of the poor, mendicity, and political economy. The soups named after him will ever be a benefit to the indigent classes. How many persons have been relieved by them from the horrors of want? Who is ignorant of his numerous improvements in fire-places, boilers, and heating by steam? Who has not heard of his houses of industry, workhouses, and of the Royal Institution of London? Few men have ever had so just a claim to the regret of the learned bodies who did honour to themselves by numbering him among their members; of the poor, whose condition he ameliorated; in a word, of all classes of society, who will derive benefit from his useful labours."

Biographical Sketch of Dr. Boylston.

[From the Analectic Magazine, for July, 1815.]

It is a legitimate ground of national exultation, that, while in other countries those new inventions and improvements which add to the comforts, or mitigate the ills, of life, commonly make their way slowly against the opposition of prejudice and individual interest; here they are scarcely known before they become universal. Among hundreds of instances of various kinds which might be given, we need only to mention steam navigation, the practice of vaccination, the improvements of the criminal code, the penitentiary system, and the modern practice in cases of insanity. It is remarkable that this has always been, in some degree, a national characteristic; and one of the most curious facts of our colonial history is, that the practice of inoculation, for the small pox, was introduced into common use in this country from the east, at a time when in Europe, and especially in England, it was confined to very narrow limits, and generally viewed with suspicious dislike. Though the history of this invention is familiar to the antiquarians of Massachusetts, yet, as it is much less generally known elsewhere than it deserves to be, I have drawn up from various sources* a sketch of the life of Zabdiel Boylston, that liberal and enlightened physician, to whose zeal and courage in the cause of humanity, our country is chiefly indebted for this early introduction of the practice of small pox inoculation.

Zabdiel Boylston was born at Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1684. He never enjoyed the advantages of a learned education; but, after acquiring a considerable stock of miscellaneous knowledge from private instruction, studied medicine under

*Mass. Historical Collections, Holmes' Annals, Elliott's Dict. Allen's Biograph. Dict.