of inoculation; and of the plan of cure. The chief merit of a work like this must consist in the proper selection of its materials, and in the judgment which the author displays in abstracting the opinions of others. As a specimen of its merits in this respect, we shall quote the description of the symptoms of the plague, when it exists in its most acute form, or what has been styled by nosologists pestis gravis

sima.

In this form of the plague the infected are suddenly attacked with a violent shivering, which lasts a long time, and is not followed by much heat or thirst. The pulse is irregular, quick, weak, and scarcely perceptible. In some there is tinnitus aurium and deafness; with vertigo, confusion of the head resembling intoxication, and vomiting of green, black, blood-like matter (saburra); hoarseness, sneezing, pain of the heart and chest, tremours, stammering, drowsi ness, and stupefaction; partial sweats about the head and breast, the extremities being at the same time cold; hiccup; cough, with laborious respiration, sometimes quick and short, at other times slow and deep, accompanied with sighs; the tongue often dry, black, and furred; bloody stools; petechia, hæmorrhages, vibices, small yellow or livid pustules (pustula); fœtid breath and perspiration, the last often extremely profuse; unquenchable thirst; violent inward heat (as stated by the patients), without a corresponding heat of the skin. Of the patients thus affected, some die in a state of phrensy, but more in a comatose state; others are destroyed by pneumonic affection, or some other internal inflammation; others sink under vertigo, syncope, headach, and debility, without any confusion of the mind; while in others the fatal termination is preceded by convulsions.

The greater part of those who are seized with this form of the plague, die between the first and fourth day; some on the fifth and sixth day. It is very rarely that the disorder is protracted beyond the seventh and eleventh day.

In this form of the plague, death often takes place before the eruptions have time to shew themselves; but on inspection of the bodies after death, the beginnings of buboes (rudimenta bubonum) are seen, or a livid colour in those parts where such eruptions should have appeared.'

With respect to the contagion of the plague, Dr. Pearson adopts the opinion that it is of a specific nature; that it particularly affects the nervous and glandular systems; and that it is not communicated by the atmosphere, but only by the contact of infected persons or things. On this principle, the whole system of quarantine is founded, and its efficacy must depend.

The prevention of so dreadful a disease becomes a subject of infinite importance; and we ought to regard with candour any proposal that is made for this purpose, which may afford even the least hope of being successful. We must not, therefore, too hastily condemn the suggestions that are offered by Dr. P. in the fourth section; although we acknowlege that we are not disposed to place much confidence in them. As it has been observed that cold is one of the most powerful agents in destroying contagion, or rendering it inert, he strongly recommends sea-bathing; and, when this cannot be obtained, he pro

P 2

poses,

poses, as a convenient substitute, that the shirt be dipped every morning in a saturated solution of common salt in cold water, and that, after having been gently wrung out, it is to be put on wet and cold.' This method of applying cold can operate only on individuals, but he has a farther plan for cooling the whole atmosphere of a town or neighbourhood:

It will also conduce to the same end, if the temperature of the particular spot where the plague is raging be reduced by artificial means. This may be done by scattering water profusely over the streets, and against the sides of the houses, by means of fire engines. The evaporation of the water will be followed by a considerable diminution of the temperature of the immediately surrounding atmosphere; and if the aspersion, or rather profusion, of water be repeated twice in the day, and each time in sufficient quantity, the evaporation will be kept up for hours, and the consequent local refrigeration will not be momentary, but continued.

These two original suggestions will probably not tend to give our scientific readers a very high idea of the author's judgment: but we can assure them that his tract is not without merit, when we regard it in the light of a collection of the opinions and practices of others.

Art. 20.

Some Account of an uncommon Appearance in the Flesh of a Sheep; with Reflections on the Nutrition of Sheep, &c. By Walter Vaughan, M.D. &c. 8vo. 2s. Harding. 1813.

The only important matter contained in this pamphlet is the relation of a fact which, when divested of a considerable degree of quaintness with which it is narrated, is simply as follows. A piece of mutton came into the possession of Dr. Vaughan, in which the muscular fibres had undergone a very remarkable change; which we shall describe in his own words:

The chop taken from the loins (for the writer had another from the neck) is in no place like flesh, which is fibrous, soft, flaccid, and red, from blood partly in combination with the proper matter of muscle, and partly free, but contained in arteries and veins; that it nowhere exhibits striae, which can be conceived to be the remains of blood vessels; and, in short, that where the muscular structure is to be looked for, there is a substance resembling in colour, in texture, and in consistence, the fat usually found about the kidneys.'

The description of this peculiar substance is followed by some experiments on it, but they are unfortunately very imperfect, and even in some degree contradictory to each other; so that little knowlege of the real nature of the substance can be gained from them. The fatty substance is said not to have melted when plunged into boiling water, yet to have been liquified by the direct application of a heat of 107; it is also said to have been combustible. We cannot but regret that a fact so singular, as the absolute conversion of muscular fibre into fat, has not been confirmed in a more unexceptionable

manner.

Dr. V. divides his work under three heads; observations and experiments, inquiries, and reflections. The first head we have already examined. The second section informs us that the sheep in question

was

6

was a wether of two years old, had fed on Romney Marsh, and was killed because it was so weak, especially in its hind quarters, as frequently to fall down.' With respect to the third section, intitled Reflections on the phænomenon in the sheep; on the nutrition of sheep, and on different subjects arising one from another,' we shall not enter much into detail. It consists of a number of crude conjectures on physiology and pathology, thrown together without any method, and rendered still more obscure by the aukwardness of the style.

POETRY AND THE DRAMA.

Art. 21. Arminius: or the Deliverance of Germany. A Tragedy. By Charles Knight. Crown 8vo. 4s. Boards. Sherwood and Co. 1814.

The proudest and most successful conqueror will ultimately be foiled by a people bravely unanimous in the cause of freedom and national independance. Mr. Knight perceived, in the circumstances of the complete defeat of the Roman army of the proconsul Quint. Varus, by the revolted Germans under Arminius, son of the King of the Charusci, materials that might be worked up into a drama which would pourtray the deliverance of Germany in this present annus mirabilis; and into which might be introduced those noble sentiments, which harmonize with the feelings of nations who, by their bravery, have broken their chains. When he informs us that this play was written during the short period between the great battle of Leipsic, and the passage of the Rhine by the allied armies,' it was scarcely necessary to tell us that many of the incidents, which then elevated every heart with hope, found a parallel in the history of Arminius. As a drama calculated to express popular sentiments, and to excite indignation against invaders, this tragedy has some merit; and, though it is not busy enough for the stage, it may please in the closet. The plot is well managed, the characters are ably supported, and the dialogue is often spirited. — We cannot undertake to analyse the scheme of the play: but, as a specimen of the language, we transcribe from the opening of the last act the speech of Arminius to his soldiers, previously to their attack of the Roman camp.

-

Arm. Command a halt.

(The warriors halt, and range themselves in front.)
Soldiers and friends! we soon shall reach the ground
Where your poor country waits the sacrifice,
The holiest offering of her children's blood!
Here have we come, not for the lust of conquest,
Not for the booty of the lawless plunderer;
No, friends, we come to tell our proud invaders
That we will use our strength to purchase freedom
Freedom, prime blessing of this fleeting life,
Is there a man that hears thy sacred name
And thrills not to the sound with loftiest hope,
With proud disdain of tyrant whips and chains!
Much injured friends, your slavish hours are past!

P 3

Conquest

Conquest is ours! not that your German swords
Have keener edges than the Roman faulchion,—
Not that your shields are stouter, nor your armour
Impervious to the swift and deadly lance,-
Not that your ranks are thicker than the Roman ;
No, no, they will out-number you, my soldiers;
But that your cause is good! they are poor slaves
Who fight for hire and plunder,-pamper'd ruffians
Who have no souls for glory; ye are Germans
Who here are bound by oaths indissoluble
To keep your glorious birth-rights or to die!
This is a field where beardless boys might fight,
And looking on the angel Liberty,

Might put such mettle in their baby-arms

That veteran chiefs would ill ward off their blows.
I say no more, my dear and trusty friends!
Your glorious rallying cry has music in it

To rouse the sleepiest spirit from his trance,

For Freedom and Germania !'

Of the dramatis persona, the only individual who dies is the Roman General Varus; who, seeing the legions flying before the Germans, stabs himself.

Art. 22. Armida; or the Enchanted Island. 8vo. IS. Baldwin.

1814.

The beautiful episode of Armida and Rinaldo, in Tasso's Jerusalem, is the ground work of this little dramatic poem; in which the versification is easy, and the characters are well sustained. Perhaps, however, it is too amatory for every parlour-table.

Art. 23 Long Ashton, a Poem, in Two Parts; descriptive of the Local Scenery of that Village and its Environs, including St. Vincent's Rocks, Bristol, &c. By William Morgan, of Bower Ashton, late of Bristol. 8vo. pp. 53. Printed at Bristol.

A poet can no more give the exact representation of a landscape, than a painter can delineate the progress of an action. Landscapes in verse, therefore, are in general very unsatisfactory; and a considerable display of genius is necessary to attract towards them any notice. Mr. Morgan will forgive us if we tell him that he has undertaken a task for which he was not equal, and that Long Ashton will obtain no celebrity from such tame sketches as his poetic pencil has here produced. Of the bold energetic muse, he has no conception : he seems satisfied if he can produce a rhyme; and, rather than fail of this purpose, he snaps his fingers at grammar. That we may not be thought to bear too hard on Mr. Morgan, let us introduce him to speak for himself:

Beneath the eye, opes Ashton-Vale,
Like some gay scene of fairy tale,
With all the verdant hills around
Aspiring to th' ethereal bound, —
Where Dundry rears his tower on high,
With turrets pointed to the sky,

Hail'd by the mariner afar
Amid the elemental war,
When by the tempest's fury driven
The vessel proudly mounts to heaven,
And all the rolling billows blue,
Tumultous spread beneath his view.'-
How beauteous is the day of rest,
The healthful rustics simply drest,
In groups, pass o'er the churchyard green
With sober pace, and cheerful mien,
Now ent'ring with a silent prayer,
Their minds for heavenly thoughts prepare
Now on the sacred book intent,

Or low with humble rev'rence bent,
The pastor paints, with glowing voice,
The endless bliss, where saints rejoice,
And vice to swift repentance warns,
'Ere yet too late, the sinner mourns.

-

We have either too much or too little taste to have our love of nature or of religion increased by such versification.

POLITICS.

Art. 24. A Letter to Lord Liverpool, on the Political and Commercial Importance of Africa to Great Britain, stating the Fact of a Trade in Christian Slaves being carried on in that Country; and the Propriety and Efficacy of our Interference, for putting at Stop to the same. 8vo. pp. 38. Is. 6d. Asperne. 1814. Much has been written on the political and commercial importance of Africa, and many strong appeals have been made to our feelings in behalf of its degraded and ill-treated inhabitants: but in general our attention has been directed to that extended line of coast which stretches from the Gut of Gibraltar to the Cape of Good Hope, and which is washed by the vast Atlantic ocean. The present writer places the scene of his speculations on no part of the western shores, but takes us into the Red Sea, and urges the noble lord whom he addresses to espouse the cause of the Abyssinians; who, he says, though Christians, are sold as slaves to the Mohammedans; and he points out the port of Massowah, on the African side of the Red Sea, as situated more favourably than any other for the most direct and unrestrained communication with the interior and populous nations of Africa. It is recommended to take the nation of Abyssinia under our fostering care to purchase the island of Valentia, from the Nayb or Prince of Massowah, with the view of erecting a commercial station properly defended from any force that could be brought against it in those seas; and to occupy this island not only from motives of trade, but for the purpose of securing the safety of the Christian kingdom of Abyssinia, which is now threatened to be overturned by the numerous hordes of surrounding savages. We conclude, however, that Lord L. will regard this scheme as equally crude and romantic, and therefore as not very likely to recruit our national resources.

P 4

EDUCATION.