over them; for let any one confider the nature of it, and he will find it the ftrongest mark and badge of fubferviency and dependence.

• Let then the mutual, which is the real intereft of Great Britain and her colonies, be promoted, by conftantly purfuing the true object for which the latter were established, and let us not cut down the tree to get at the fruit. Let us firoke and not ftab the cow, for her milk, and not her blood, can give us real nourishment and firength; and for this purpofe, let the Spirit of the act of navigation (for found policy has long fince varied from the letter) be strictly adhered to; and then, however flourishing the commerce of America may become, either by its own efforts, or by the judicious encouragements and bounties given by this country, the whole advantage thereof muft ultimately center here, and that without difcontent and difturbances, to the honour and fatisfaction of his Majefty, and promotion of the public good.'

Art. 22. Some Strictures on the late Occurrences in North-America. 8vo. 6d. Owen.

These ftrictures are very weak and trivial. The Author infifts on the parliament's right of taxation, whether the Americans are exempted by their charters, or not; and as for thefe, he intimates that they ought to be revoked! In fhort, this appears to be, by far, the most inconfiderable pamphlet that hath yet appeared in the courfe of this controversy.

Art. 23. The Juftice and Neceffity of taxing the American Colonies, demonftrated. Together with a Vindication of the Authority of Parliament. 8vo. I S. Almon.

If this Writer is not more ignorant than the last mentioned Anti-American, he is ten times more furious. He fets out with the profeffion of madeftly offering his fentiments, that by the confrontation of different opinions, we may ftrike out truth, as we do fire, by the collifion of flints. Is this our Author's method? other people do it by the collifion of flint and feel. But this is, in truth, a moft fiery politician, and his pamphlet is a mere firebrand. Behold how he fires away at the Ame

ricans :

• You [the inhabitants of the colonies] tell us you are very sober and temperate, that you fear the influence of a standing army will corrupt you, and introduce profligacy and debauchery.

⚫ I take your word for it, and believe you are as fober, temperate, upright, humane and virtuous, as the pofterity of independents and anabaptifts, prefbyterians and quakers, convicts and felons, favages and negro-whipper, can be; that you are as loyal fubjects, as obedient to the laws, as zealous for the maintenance of order and good government, as your late actions evince you to be; and I affirm that you have much. need of the gentlemen of the blade to polish and refine your manners, to infpire you with an honest franknefs and openness of behaviour, to rub off the ruft of puritanism, &c. &c.'

Is not this a very modeft, fober, temperate, upright, humane and candid writer!

Art. 24. An Anfwer to a very extraordinary North-Briton; publifhed on Monday last, in the Publick Advertiser.

A flimfy attack on the Ins.

MEDICA L.

Art. 25. The Midwife's Pocket-companion: or a Practical Treatife on Midwifery: on a new Plan: containing full and plain Diredlions for the Management and Delivery of Child-bearing Women in the different Cafes, and the Cure of the feveral Difeafes incident to them and new-born Children, in the fafeft Manner, and according to the beft Improvements. Adapted to the Ufe of the Female as well as the Male Practitioner in that Art. In Three Parts. By John Memis, M. D. of Marishal-college, Aberdeen. 12mo. 2s. 6d. Dilly..

.

This work is offered to the public, as a cheap abridgement of the modern improvements in the art of midwifery; and is defigned at once to answer the purpose of a text-book, and the midwife's vade mecum. As a text-book, it might have been more fimple, more concentrated; and as an abridgement, it is in fome places very diffufe and unweildy. A quotation from the work itself, when compared with the original as it ftands in Dr. Smellie, will convince our Readers of the truth of this obfervation. Dr. Smellie, to whom our Author is chiefly indebted for his materials, thus fpeaks of the evacuations neceffary at the end of the month after delivery: Those who have had a fufficient discharge of the Jochia, plenty of milk, and fuckle their own children, commonly recover with eafe; and as the fuperfluous fluids of the body are drained off at the nipples, feldom require evacuations at the end of the month: but, if there are any complaints from fullnefs, fuch as pains and ftitches, after the twentieth day, fome blood ought to be taken from the arm, and the belly gently opened by frequent glyfters, or repeated doses of laxative medicines.

If the patient has tolerably recovered, the milk having been at first fucked or difcharged from the nipples, and afterwards difcuffed; no evacuations are neceffary before the third or fourth week; and fometimes not till after the first flowing of the menfes, which commonly happens about the fifth week: if they do not appear within that time, gentle evacuations must be prefcribed to carry off the plethora, and bring down. the cutamenia.' This the original:-here follows our Author's correct, concife, and judicious abridgement.

6

Laftly, p. 84, in order to the woman's complete recovery, we fometimes prefcribe a few purges, as that of fena-leaves taken by way of tea, half a drachm of powder of jalap and salt petre, mixed and taken in a draught of weak ale or water-gruel warm† ; or a purging draught made up of half an ounce of tamarinds, a quarter of an ounce of fena,

* Vide Smellie's Treatife on the Theory and Practice of Midwifery,· B. iv. Ch. i. Sect. 2.

Our Author, furely, if he writes from experience, must have practifed upon very robuft females.

and

and half a quarter of an ounce of cream of tartar, boiled in four ounces or a gill of water to two, and diffolving a quarter of an ounce of manna, and as much glauber falts when strained and warm, making it stronger or weaker as the patient requires, and giving them once or twice a week accordingly, in the morning fafting, to purge any fuperfluous humours out of the body that may remain at the end of the month after her delivery.

Those women, who have their cleanfings in fufficient quantity, and of long enough standing, and have plenty of milk, and fuckle their own children, commonly recover well without any purgatives or other medicines, the humours being drained off that way, especially at the nipples. Yet, if there fhould be any complaints after the twentieth day, it will be neceffary to give fome of the purges above-mentioned, after taking first away a little blood with the lancet.

If a woman has pretty well recovered, the milk having been fucked or discharged from the nipples, and afterwards difcuffed, (fee Part ii. Chap ii. Article 4.) no purging of any kind is needful before the third or fourth week; fometimes not till after the first flowing of her courses, which is commonly about the fifth week, when, if they do not come down of themselves, we bleed her in the arm or ancle, and give her fome of the above purges, or twenty grains of jalap powder, with eight grains of fweet mercury, the fame way every now and then to promote that difcharge, &c.'. -So much for our Author's work as a text-book, and abridgment.

With regard to the merits of this performance, as particularly fitted to be the Midwife's Pocket-companion, we apprehend our Author has fome formidable rivals.- Among others, we may mention Eucharius Rhodion, who practifed phyfic at Frankfort on the Maine, and publifhed a book on the fubject of midwifery, in High Dutch; this work, about the year 1530, was tranflated into Latin, French, Spanish, and other languages, and was very well received as the woman's book all over Europe. -Of a much later date, and inferior character, are the labours of Salmon and Culpepper to the first of these has been attributed a piece called Ariftotle's Midwifery; and the latter published a book intitled, A Directory for Midwives, by Nicholas Culpepper, Gentleman, Student in Phyfick and Aftronomy.Thefe curious performances were for many years in great vogue with the midwives, are ftill read by the lower fort of practitioners, and have contributed to keep up the belief of the marvellous effects of various medicines, and the more marvellous effects of various spells and charms.With rivals of fuch different degrees of merit, we pretend not to determine how far our Author is likely to fucceed as the woman's man; as we are not fufficiently acquainted with the tafte, genius, and philofophy of those refpectable dames, who make up the feveral claffes of female practitioners in thefe days.

Our Author feems to expect fome fingular advantages, from having introduced English names and English terms, instead of thofe which have long been in ufe from the dead languages. We have, fays he, changed the terms of art ufed in medical books for others of the fame im port, but more familiar to midwives; and, frequently, the more uncommon words, which occur in all kinds of books, for more plain and intelligible expreffions.'- -But English terms will not be underfood, except the correfponding parts be pointed out upon the fubject;

-and

and with this affiftance, the old terms, or indeed any terms, are easily understood, though not perhaps so easily remembered: the remembrance of terms, however, is chiefly for the ufes of writing or converfation; the remembrance of things is the matter of principal importance and there is one inconvenience to which our Author's followers will be subject'; he has not pointed out the old terms which answer to his English names, confequently they will in their reading be limited to The Midwife's Pocket companion.

Upon the whole, we think this work but an indifferent abridgment of what has been more fully and clearly delivered by Smellie, Levret, and others. As to the language, it is frequently very pompous, very uncouth. We use the widening force of our hand :—our hand outwardly and artfully applied:-our thumbs to the bind-head ::-our other hand-we fhift hands:

our fore and middle fingers to each fide of the neck :—we thruft our fingers: we fcratch it with our nails :—the nails of our fingers :—ave pinch it with the nails of our thumb and fingers.- -What a buftle have we here, with our thrufting, our widening, our fcratching, our pinching! and what an importance, with our arms, our hands, our fingers, our thumbs, our nails!-Nature certainly has been particularly kind to our Author, and bestowed upon him more arms, and hands, and fingers, and thumbs, and nails, than his neighbours !-Who would have thought, that, with all this fuperabundant dignity, our Author could have been any thing less than an M. D.!-Who would not have thought, that he had been doubly dubbed!

An Advertisement appeared in the London Chronicle for the 9th of May laft, fignifying, That John Memis has no degree of medicine from the Marishal-college, Aberdeen; and that, when he lately made. application for a degree, it was abfolutely and unanimoufly refufed by the univerfity.' We could not but be furprized at fuch an attempt to impofe upon the public; efpecially as the real, intrinfic merit of this performance was precifely the fame, whether written by John Memis, Surgeon, and Man-midwife :-or by John Memis, M. D. of the Marifchal-college, Aberdeen.'

D.

Art. 26. A New Effay on the Venereal Difeafe, and Methods of Cure; accounting for the Nature, Caufe, and Symptoms of that Malady. By J. Becket, M. D. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Williams.

It hath been objected to the reviewers in general, that they often criticize without mercy; that they are not fufficiently tender of the reputation of the Authors under their lash; and that their pens fometimes feem guided rather by their paffions than their judgment. We acknowledge a philofophical equanimity to be a proper ingredient in the character of a Reviewer; but thofe who have cenfured us for the want of this virtue, would do well to confider a moment, whether they believe it poffible for any man to read all the trash which is obtruded upon the public without being now and then a little provoked, and put out of humour? When we meet with a performance, every page of which difcovers its author to be, not only ignorant of his fubject, but illiterate, and deficient even in point of grammar; when we find the hand-bill of a C-p Doctor coarsely ipun into a half crown book, with the two re

spectable

fpectable letters M. D. in the title-page; when this is the cafe, we are firmly of opinion that Job himself, if he had been a reviewer, would fometimes have given way to a little honest resentment: exclaiming, as he did to his officious friends, Ye are forgers of lies, ye are phyficians of no value! Chap. xiii. v. 4. B-t.

Art. 27. Medicina Politica: Or, Reflections on the Art of Phyfic, as infeparably connected with the Profperity of a State. By Charles Collignon, M. D. Profeffor of Anatomy at Cambridge. 8vo. 15. Beecroft, &c.

This pamphlet, we are informed by the Author in his introduction, is intended as a fupplement to his late Enquiry into the Structure of the Human Body, relative to its fuppofed Influence on the Morals of Mankind, in which it was allowed, that there are certain indifpofitions of the body which tend to generate irregular affections of the mind. On this foundation, fays the Author, generally have bad actions been excused; but this excufe will be deprived of its palliating power, if any thing can be found capable of removing thofe indifpofitions.' This, Dr. Colignon is of opinion, may be obtained by a proper application of the medical art, the intention of which is to preferve and restore the health of the body. Unfortunately, however, for this doctrine, there are few individuals who could not, from experience, inform our Author, that the body when in perfect health is most inclined to be vicious. But, if we were even to admit, that intemperance, ambition, pride, cruelty, &c. are the effects of a morbid crafts or motion of the blood, the remedy becomes an idle fpeculation, unless physicians were invested with full power to bleed, purge, blifter, &c. whomfoever they please; for we apprehend that those who are afflicted with pride, cruelty, &c. will feldom, of their own accord, call in a phyfician to cure them of these disorders.

We muft, however, in juftice to the Author, obferve, that his language is generally pleafing, and that his conclufion is fpirited and important. The following paffage will be fufficient to give an idea of the Author's manner: If health then may be deemed a bleffing of fo diffufive a nature as to affect the manners, as well as the profperity of a people, can we help lamenting that injudicious books, miftaken zeal, and pernicious patents, fhould join their formidable forces to destroy so great a good?' By injudicious books he means Practices of Phyfic, Difpenfatores, &c. in the vulgar tongue; by mistaken zeal, he alludes to the pious oppofers of inoculation; as to pernicious patents, it requires no explanation. B-t.

* See Review, Vol. XXXI. p. 335.

Art. 28. A Letter to J. K, M. D. with an Account of the Cafe of Mr. Tn, of the City of Od. -n, of the City of Od. To which are fubjoined fome Obfervations on the Ulcered Sore Throat. By J. S. M.D. Oxford. 8vo. Is. Rivington.

When doctors of Divinity, or doctors of phyfic, fuffer their private animofities to burst forth into print, we cannot help accufing them, in general, of having facrificed to refentment that dignity, honour and in