or during the dissection of a morbid body. The generous ardour of medical men on these occasions produces hazards, which require that this easy antidote should constantly be borne in mind; since fire or the knife may instantly be applied to prevent a mortifying wound or putrid fever, &c. each of which may occasion speedy death. In consequence of the want of due information, the publick does not render sufficient justice to medical practitioners for their zeal on this and many other occasions. The havock made among this useful body of men by the yellow fever of Philadelphia, the spotted fever (improperly so called) of New England, and the plague at Marseilles and other places, and the frequent deaths from infections caught by wounds at dissections, with very many other examples, prove that there are occasionally moments, when war is scarcely more dangerous to the combatant, than the healing profession itself is to the spirited practitioner. The fault however will be his own in the case of dissections and of certain operations, if the practitioner should hereafter reject the simple and apparently efficacious precaution here suggested.

As cases which are recent are apt to make most impression, the following articles taken from a newspaper called the Globe, printed in London in June last, may prove interesting; and they will seem the more remarkable, as they are all taken from the same number; following one another, with the interruption of only three lines, under the usual head of deaths.

"Died, on Tuesday last, Mr. James Ridgway, surgeon, the son of the late Tristram Ridgway, surgeon, of Ashton-underLine, of a mortification in the arm, in consequence of opening the body of a man who died of the same complaint. He was a young man universally respected; and in knowledge of the science of anatomy and surgery, few were his rivals.

"On Monday last, Mr. Charles Cave, surgeon, of Petersfield; the circumstances of whose death must excite respect for his memory, much sympathy for his loss, as well as caution to the profession.-On the Saturday se'nnight previous to his death, a seafaring man, who had been ill for a few days preceding, was attacked, whilst at Petersfield, with a violent inflammation on the lungs; and after being attended several times during the day by Messrs. Cave and Whicher, he died the next morning. The surgeons being of various opinions as to the real cause of his death, agreed to open the body;

which they did on Monday morning, and found the lungs in a complete state of putrefaction. They afterwards sewed up the body, in doing which they pricked their fingers; and, in the evening, both of them were seized with violent pains in the arm, which soon extended to nearly the whole of the body. Mr. Cave, after enduring the most excruciating pains, died on the following Monday.-Mr. Whicher is still alive, though suffering extreme pain : but his hand and arm have been opened by several of the most skilful surgeons of the neighbourhood, and from the metropolis, and a discharge being obtained from the wounds, it is hoped his life will be saved. The death of Mr. Cave is the cause of universal regret; for he was not more respected for his abilities and general demeanour, than he was for his humanity."-Globe, June, 1810.

ORIGINAL POETRY.

ANACREON IMITATED.

Επί μυρσίναις τερέναις, &c.
In that snug mansion, where I dwell,
At Whitcomb's or Exchange hotel,
On wholesome viands let me dine,
And stimulate with generous wine;
Swift as the rapid chariot's way,
We haste to mingle with our clay.
What can I care, when dead and gone,
For coffin gilt, or costly stone,
Standing at head and feet erect,
With prose and poetry bedeck'd?
Rather on me, while yet I live,
Bestow, if aught you wish to give,
Employment good, and handsome pay,
With which to pass my time away,
Children enrich with education,
And fit them for a decent station.

This while I've life-and when without it,
Bury-and make no fuss about it.

EPISTLES ON WOMEN.

The following passage is extracted from EPISTLES ON WOMEN, by Lucy Aikin, now in the press of T. B. Wait and Co. In this extract is described Adam before the formation of Eve, and their first meeting.

"SEE where the world's new master roams along,
Vainly intelligent and idly strong;

Mark his long listless step and torpid air,

His brow of densest gloom and fixt infantile stare!
Those sullen lips no mother's lips have prest,
Nor drawn, sweet labour ! at her kindly breast;
No mother's voice has touched that slumbering ear,
Nor glistening eye beguiled him of a tear;
Love nursed not him with sweet endearing wiles,
Nor woman taught the sympathy of smiles;
Vacant and sad his rayless glances roll,
Nor hope nor joy illumes his darkling soul;
Ah! hapless world that such a wretch obeys!

Ah! joyless Adam, though a world he sways!

"But see!...they meet,...they gaze,...the new-born pair ;......
Mark now the wakening youth, the wondering fair :
Sure a new soul that moping ideot warms,
Dilates his stature, and his mien informs!
A brighter crimson tints his glowing cheek;
His broad eye kindles, and his glances speak.
So roll the clouds from some vast mountain's head,
Melt into mist, and down the valleys spread;
His crags and caves the bursting sunbeams light,
And burn and blaze upon his topmost height;
Broad in full day he lifts his towering crest,
And fire celestial sparkles from his breast.
Eve too, how changed !...No more with baby grace
The smile runs dimpling o'er her trackless face,
As painted meads invite her roving glance,
Or birds with liquid trill her ear intrance :

With downcast look she stands, abasht and meek,
Now pale, now rosy red, her varying cheek;
Now first her fluttering bosom heaves a sigh,
Now first a tear stands trembling in her eye;
For hark! the youth, as love and nature teach,
Breathes his full bosom, and breaks forth in speech:
His quivering lips the winged accents part,
And pierce,how swift! to Eve's unguarded heart!"

THE

BOSTON REVIEW,

FOR

SEPTEMBER, 1810.

Librum tuum legi, et quam diligentissime potui annotavi quae commutanda, quae eximenda arbitrarer. Nam ego dicere verum assuevi. Neque ulli patientius reprehenduntur, quam qui maxime laudari merentur.

Plin.

ARTICLE 6.

A Digest of the Law of Evidence in civil and criminal Cases: and a Treatise on Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes. By Zephaniah Swift, one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut. Hartford; Oliver D. Cooke. 1810. pp. 408. Price $4 50 calf.

F this book the subject of Evidence occupies 174 pages, and that of bills of exchange, &c. 108. The residue is made up of cases literally transcribed from books of reports in common use, two or three original cases, ruled at nisi prius in Connecticut, prefaces, indexes, &c.

In examining every work, the first object of attention is the plan. This is not merely because the whole superstructure rests upon it, but because it is supposed to afford the surest test of the author's powers. In the work under consideration, our author has evidently aimed at a simple distribution of parts. His first division of the subject of Evidence is the usual one of written and unwritten. Written evidence he distributes into three sections: 1. Of records : 2. Of publick writings: 3. Of private writings. He then begins with records, and proposes to consider them under the following heads: 1. Of the records of the legislature and courts in this [the author's] state: 2. Of the records of the legislature and courts of the United States, and of the several states in the union 3. Of the records of foreign states: 4. Of the effect of judgments: 5. Of the effect of verdicts. The three first of these divisions are distinct classes of the general subject of

records; but the two last are not; they are rather subordinate parts of each of the others. It is worthy of remark also, that the title of the last head is an imperfect description of the subject of which the author was treating. There was another point to be discussed of equal importance, viz. In what cases verdicts are admissible as evidence.

The title of the second section is, "Of publick writings." Here the fault is the opposite of the one just suggested, viz. that it is too broad, comprehending part of the first section. "Records" are surely "publick writings." This division has however been adopted by former writers, but more definitely marked.

The subject of the third section the author considers under the following heads: 1. Of proving writings in the possession of the party 2. Of proving writings lost, or destroyed by time or accident: 3. Of proving writings which are in existence, but not in possession of the party: 4. When writings may be given in evidence, without proof of their execution : 5. Of the effect of written instruments when produced: 6. Of the proof of writing in criminal cases. Under the first of these heads is introduced the subject of hand-writing.

The subject of parole evidence is treated of under the following heads: 1. Of persons incompetent to testify for want of understanding: 2. Of persons incompetent for want of religious principles: 3. Of persons incompetent on account of infamy for crimes: 4. Of persons incompetent by reason of interest: 5. Of persons admitted to testify, though interested in the suit 6. Of persons admitted to testify against their interest 7. Of persons admitted to testify in their own cases 8. Of persons disqualified to testify by relationship to the parties 9. Of persons privileged from testifying: 10. Of persons not competent to impeach their own contracts: 11. Of compelling the appearance of witnesses: 12. Of the examination of witnesses: 13. Of depositions: 14. Of evidence in courts of equity.

After having considered the kinds of evidence, the author proceeds to lay down the general rules. These are distributed under the following heads: 1. Of hearsay evidence: 2. Of giving in evidence the confession of the parties: 3. Of presumptive evidence: 4. Of the evidence admissible respecting character: 5. Of the number of witnesses: 6. Of the impeachment of witnesses: 7. Of weighing testimony: . On