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Improvement, &c. 12mo. Pp. 215. 2s. 6d. Darton and Cb. A pleasing collection of conferences supposed to have passed be tween a mother and her children. They are conveyed in an easy, familiar, and agreeable manner; cannot fail of engaging the attention of youth, for whose service they are intended; and must contribute to their instruction and improvement.

RELIGIOUS.

Art. 18. A Letter to the Hebrew Nation. By Charles Crawford, Esq. crown 8vo. 2s. Boards. Becket.

It is easier to lament the strong prejudices of the Jews against Christianity, than to suggest effectual measures for their removal; and we scarcely know in what way to address them in order to be certain of gaining their attention. Mr. Crawford, if he does not convert, at least cannot offend them, since he expostulates with mildness, and exhorts them "by the meekness and gentleness of Christ" to consider the contents of his letter: which places before them the prophecies relative to the Messiah, and urges their complete accom plishment in the author and finisher of the Christain Faith. He assures them that the period of their conversion and restoration to their own land is near; though there are no signs of instant restoration. It cannot happen, he thinks, before the conclusion of the present century.-An evil heart of unbelief is said to keep them from their country. Will the Hebrew Nation take this hint in good part?

Art. 19.

The Battle of Armageddon; or final Triumph of the
Protestant Cause. 12mo. IS. Hatchard.

This wild rhapsody is introduced by an Address to the Messiah; who, we are told, will soon come, and on the blood stained field of Armageddon give to the fowls of heaven their destined prey.' The author adopts the idea of Mr. Faber, without displaying any of his learning and ability, and positively asserts that in the year 1848, or according to the fullest calculation in the year 1866, universal dominion shall be established at Jerusalem, and the saints actually risen from their graves shall rule in great peace and tranquillity.' Gredat qui Tult.

Art. 20. A Charge delivered to the Clergy of the Diocese of Exeter, at the primary Visitation of John Lord Bishop of Exeter, 1804 and 1905. 4to. Is. 6d. Becket.

It is impossible not to applaud the great humility and liberality of mind, with which Dr. Fisher enters on his sacred function. After having maintained the divine origin of our religion, he adverts to the circumstances under which it exists in this country; and without wishing to destroy liberty of conscience, or to invade the principles of toleration as they at present exist, he protests against the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, and the emancipation of the Catholics. He exhorts his Clergy to oppose the peculiar doctrines of Calvinism, as inconsistent with the tenets of the Established Church, and to enforce their preaching by truly exemplary conduct.

NOVELS.

NOVELS.

Art. 21. Flim-Flams! or the Life and Errors of my Uncle and his Friends! with 'llustrations and Obscurities, by Messrs. Tag, Rag, and Bobtail. A Literary Romance. 2d Edition. Crown 8vo. 3 Vols. 11. 18. Boards. Murray.

We have derived considerable entertainment from a perusal of these volumes; in which the author exposes to deserved ridicule much of that nonsensical jargon, which has of late years been solemnly promulgated as philosophical truth. His points of attack are indeed numerous, but they are generally in quarters which ought to be assailed; and should they occasionally be ill directed, true genius will have little to apprehend from their effect. "The Satire," it has been remarked," which brought Theobald and Moore into contempt, dropped impotent from Bentley, like the Javelin of Priam." The Secret. By Isabella Kelly. 12mo. 4 Vols. 123.

Art. 22.

Longman and Co.

Those who delight in useless mysteries and unnecessary horrors may perhaps be gratined by reading these volumes: but, in our judgment, the contemplation of such stories is attended with worse consequences than the mere waste of time. It tends to produce a sickly and irritable state of mind, gives a temporary shock even to intellects that are sound and healthy, but enervates and permanently diseases those which are weak.

Art. 23. The Pilgrim of the Cross or the Chronicles of Christabelle de Mowbray. An ancient Legend. By Elizabeth Helme. 12mo. 4 Vols. 18. sewed. Ostell, &c.

This story is possessed of some interest, but it is too much protracted and spun out. The reader anticipates the conclusion of the tale long before he has proceeded half through it; and, easily penetrating into the real character of the disguised agents, he grows tired of the folly of those who are misled by so obvious a deceit.

LAW.

Art. 24. The Trial by Impeachment, of Henry Lord Viscount Melville, for High Crimes and Misdemeanors, before the House of Peers, in Westminster Hall, between the 29th of April and the 17th of May, 1806. To which is prefixed, a Sketch of the Life and Political Character of his Lordship, and a complete Account of the Proceedings in Parliament relative to the Charges on which the Impeachment was founded. 8vo. PP. 3 5. 10s. 6d. Boards. Longman and Co. 18c6.

Art. 25. A Compendious Report of the Trial of Henry Viscount Mel ville, upon the Impeachment of the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assembled, for High Crimes and Misdemeanors. 8vo. PP 237. 38. 6d. sewed. Asperne. 18:6.

Since much of the evidence given at the trial is left out, many of the arguments are omitted, and the speeches are abridged, in each of these publications, we shall reserve such remarks as may be suggested to us by a consideration of the charges, the proofs, and the judgment,

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as well as by the frame of the proceedings and the conduct of the trial, till the account of it which is to be published by authority falls into our hands.

Thus had we written previously to the recent proceeding in chancery, when the liberal and enlightened chief of that Court interdicted the sale of the former works; an event which we deem to be scarcely of less importance than the trial which gave oc. casion to it. The decision, if we can trust our information, did not proceed from the judgment of the present Chancellor, but was grounded on a precedent in the time of the Lord Chancellor Bathurst. This matter excites a multitude of very grave and important reflections, which it is not within our province to state, and of which our limits would not admit. So seriously do we regard it in its principle and consequences, that we hope it will not rest where it is. Let the right stand as it may, we are fully satisfied that the inconveniences, which may attend it, are such as would induce the august body claiming it to waive the exercise of it in all ordinary cases. Art. 26. The Reading upon the Statute of Uses, of Francis Bacon, afterwards Baron of Verulam and Viscount of St. Alban, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain 1 -a new Edition, with very. full Notes and Explanations, and a copious Table of the Contents, by William Henry Rowe, Esq. 8vo. pp. 262. Clarke, &c.

Lord Bacon's Treatise on the Statute of Uses, though evidently left in an imperfect state by its great author, has always been highly esteemed by the profession, and exhibits undoubted proofs of that lu minous and comprehensive mind which he possessed in so eminent a degree. Some obscurities, arising partly from the carelessness of its first editors, and partly from the abstruse nature of the subject, have long required the aid of a judicious annotator; and we think that Mr. Rowe has rendered an acceptable service to the profession, (par ticularly the younger part of it,) by the pains which he has bestowed on this undertaking. Perhaps, in some of the notes, he has been more industrious to display himself than to illustrate or explain his author, and has thus been often led to an unnecessary length of discussion. He will excuse us if we confess that we are unable to discern the uti. lity of the attack which he has chosen to make on the prevailing mode of conveyance by Lease and Release, the observations on which tend only to unsettle established opinions and practice without any solid advantage. Other parts of the work, however, are useful and judicious, and contain many successful alterations of the text of former editions which were involved in deep obscurity.We shall be glad to see another impression required, in which we hope the notes will be more compressed; and we suggest to Mr. Rowe's consideration whether it would not be more convenient to have them placed at the bottom of the page, or in the form of a marginal commentary, than to refer them to the end of the treatise in one collective body.

This title page contains an anachronism, in styling Lord Bacon Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain: he was Lord High Chancellor of England: but we believe that Lord Cowper was the first Chancellor of Great Britain; being so nominated immediately after the Union.

MEDICAL,

MEDICAL, &c.

Art. 27. Medical Collections on the Effects of Cold, as a Remedy in certain Diseases. With an Appendix, containing an Account of some Experiments made with a View to ascertain the Effects of cold Water on the Pulse. By John Edmonds Stock, M.D. &c. Physician in Bristol. 8vo. 6s. Boards. Longman and Co. Although the author of this volume does not profess to offer much that is new or original, yet his object is important, and his work is of considerable value. Notwithstanding the high encomiums that have been passed on the employment of cold in certain diseases, still it must be confessed that we are often in doubt to what particular affections it is most applicable; and we frequently use it rather as an empirical remedy, than as one which we prescribe on scientific principles.

Dr. Stock properly begins by inquiring into the general effects of cold on the human system; a point on which totally opposite opinions have been maintained, each supported with some appearance of argument, and much positive confidence. One party has endeavoured to prove that the operation of cold is always sedative, and the other that it is stimulant; while Dr. Cullen, with a degree of indecision which is perhaps more honorable to his candor than to his discernment, has in his directions for the treatment of fever enjoined the application of cold under two different heads, as under different circumstances fulfilling both these indications. The opinion of Dr. Stock is that cold is in all cases a direct sedative; and he thus briefly states his reasons for adopting such an idea:

They are derived, 1st, from the paleness and contraction of the skin, which succeed the application of cold; 2dly, from its diminishing or weakening the action of the heart and arteries; 3dly, from the debility and inactivity observable in the inhabitants of cold countries; 4thly, from the gradual diminution of the vital powers, which commences with its first application, and which, if its operation be long continued, terminates in their entire extinction, either in particular parts or in the whole body; and lastly, from the accumulated excitability which it induces to the stimulus of heat.'

The general truth of these propositions may perhaps be admitted: but we apprehend that there are many exceptions to their uniform application. A sufficient degree of cold, long enough employed, no doubt diminishes the action of the heart, and finally produces death: but a moderate degree applied for a length of time,-or a greater degree, if applied only for a short time, seems as certainly to increase the energy of the circulation, and to give tone to the system. As to the effects of climate, if we admit with Dr. Stock that the inhabitants of the frigid zone are rendered as it were torpid by extreme cold, it must at the same time be remembered that the excessive heat of the tropical regions appears scarcely less unfavourable to exertion.

After some remarks upon the history of the medical application of cold and its effects,' the author considers its operation in particular diseases. Here he follows the arrangement of Dr. Cullen, and, in as many successive chapters, treats concerning the application of cold REV. OCT. 1806.

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in the five orders which constitute the class of pyrexia. It is in these diseases that this remedy has generally been considered as the most applicable; and in many of them, it is both safe and effectual. The propriety of applying it to the phlegmasiæ must still be regarded as doubtful; and although Dr. Stock appears evidently desirous to extend it to these diseases, the authorities which he adduces are not sufficiently powerful to satisfy our minds respecting a practice which has been so much controverted.-We have next an account of the use of cold in the comata, the spasma, and the vesanie of Cullen; particular cases of each of these have occasionally derived the most striking benefit from its application: but it does not promise to be attended with that uniform success which we experience in the febrile diseases.

Respecting the operation of cold in general, and its medical application, one circumstance appears to us of the first importance, and yet it has been entirely overlooked by the author. He seems to consider the living body as consisting of only one set of powers, viz. that of the heart and arteries; and he seldom even incidentally notices the not less important system of the nerves. These two parts of the animal frame, though intimately connected together, are in many respects distinct and independent of each other; they are governed by different laws of action, and are differently influenced by external agents. It is, we apprehend, on this principle that we are to reconcile the seeming contradictions which have been manifested on the subject of cold; perhaps it may diminish the irritability of the sanguiferous system, while it excites the energy of the nerves; and thus in proportion as the one or the other of these effects becomes the most apparent, will it exhibit a sedative or a stimulating action, and be classed accordingly.

Dr. Stock has exercised considerable diligence in collecting materials for his work; which are well arranged, and the references are carefully quoted at the foot of the page. We regret, however, that he has not been more nice in his appreciation of his authorities; Brown is quoted as affording evidence in a point of practical experience, and Dr. Kinglake's crude speculations respecting gout are adopted with

out reserve.

Art. 28. An Essay on the Effects of Carbonate of Iron upon Cancer, with an Inquiry into the Nature of that Disease. By Rich. Carmichael, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and Surgeon of St. George's Hospital and Dispensary. 8vo. pp. 116. 48. Printed at Dublin and sold in London by Murray. As its title implies, this tract contains a proposal for the employ. ment of a new remedy in cancer, the carbonate of iron. Mr. Carmichael was first induced to try this substance in consequence of the hypothesis of Dr. Adams, that cancer, like hydatids, is a parasitical animal possessed of an independent vitality.

This (he says) obviously led me to the consideration, that if the lives of those supposed animals were extinguished, they would be expelled from the body by suppuration,-and as Iron has been found to be very effectual in destroying intestinal worms, I was induced to hope, that it would be equally destructive to other animals of a parasitical

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