bacco, and the empyreumatic oil of tobacco, were applied to the tongue or alimentary canal of the animals which were made the subjects of experiment. The operation of these poisons, with the exception of the infusion of tobacco, was precisely similar; and was extremely analogous, in all essential circumstances, to the effects produced by concussion or pressure of the brain. The action of the voluntary muscles was at first violent and convulsive, and then became unsteady and irregular; the respiration became laborious and stertorous, and was gradually performed at longer intervals, until it ceased entirely; the pupils of the eye were dilated; the animal soon became insensible and motionless; and when recovery did not take place, apparent death came on, at a longer or shorter period, according to the activity of the poison or the quantity applied. If the thorax was opened after death had apparently supervened, the heart was found acting with moderate force and frequency, and circulating dark coloured blood; and this action was easily kept up by means of artificial respiration. These were the effects produced by all the poisons, except the infusion of tobacco; and this produced in one instance only a tremulous motion of the voluntary muscles, and in all a disposition to syncope and a total cessation of the action of the heart, which, from its left side being filled with florid blood, must have taken place quite as early as that of the lungs,-Mr. B. thought in one instance even earlier. The heart too was greatly distended with blood. Mr. B. supposes this poison, therefore, to produce a direct action upon the heart. It appears, however, to have been employed in a larger proportion, when compared with the size and strength of the animals, than any of the others. This inference is, perhaps, liable to some degree of uncertainty, and there is no doubt that it destroys equally with the other, the functions of the brain. There is no reason to suppose that any of these poisons act by being absorbed into the blood. Their effect is indeed, too instantaneous: for Mr. B. found, that a drop of the essential oil of almonds applied to his tongue, from the blunt end of a probe, produced immediately a very remarkable and unpleasant sensation' in the epigastric region, and a weakness of the limbs as if he had not the command of his muscles, and was about to fall and chewing a small quantity of aconite induced a remarkable numbness of the lips and gums which continued some hours. The dissection of the animals after death did not exhibit any morbid appearances, except a high degree of inflammation of the stomach from the alcohol.

In the second series of experiments, the poisons were apVOL. VII.

4 S

plied to wounded surfaces; the essential oil of bitter almonds, the juice of aconite, the Woorara, a poison used by the Indiáns of Guiana, and the Upas Antiar, a production of the island of Java, being the substances employed. Their effects applied in this way were precisely similar to the former, but not quite so immediate, probably from the surface of the tongue and alimentary canal being more abundantly supplied with nerves than the surface of wounds. The operation of the Upas Antiar was, however, similar to that of infusion of tobacco; causing the entire cessation of the action of the heart, even before respiration was completely suspended. The left side of the heart was consequently filled with florid arterial blood, and the whole of that organ was very much distended. The appearance of the wound, after death, in these experiments, did not differ in any respect from that of a common wound.-Some experiments were made to determine whether poisons applied in this way operated through the medium of the nerves or of the circulation. The complete division of the nerves in the axilla did not prevent the poison from acting when applied to a wound in the upper extremity, nor did the passing a ligature round the thoracic duct: but when the blood vessels of the limb were tied so as to stop the circulation entirely, the poison (the Woorara) did not affect the animal at all, though the nerve was free; and the activity of the limb was restored the following day. This poison, therefore, evidently produced its effect by passing into the circulation through the divided veins.

As these facts lead to the conclusion that the poisons employed in these experiments, with the exception of the infusion of tobacco and the Upas Antiar, occasion death by destroying the functions of the brain, Mr. Brodie made the following experiment, with a view to its complete establishment. He applied the Woorara to two incisions made in the side of a rabbit. In fifteen minutes respiration had ceased, and the animal was apparently dead: the heart, however, was still beating. Artificial respiration was then employed; and the contractions of the heart rose during the first hour, from 100 to 140 in a minute: but at the end of l'hour and 23 minutes, having fallen to 100, the experimentwas discontinued. At the close of the experiment, a thermometer in the rectum had fallen from 100° to 884-the temperature of the room being 58°. A similar experiment was made, in which the animal was kept in a temperature of 90° the artificial respiration was kept up sixteen minutes and then dicontinued: the animal then breathed freely and regularly, and began to move his head and extremities, and in two hours was perfectly recovered. From this fact, Mr. B. suggests the inflation of the lungs in attempting the recovery

of persons labouring under the influence of opium or other poisons acting primarily upon the brain.

From the whole of his experiments Mr. Brodie draws the following conclusions.

1. Alcohol, the essential oil of almonds, the juice of the aconite, the empyreumatic oil of tobacco, and the woorara, act as poisons by simply destroying the functions of the brain; universal death taking place, because respiration is under the influence of the brain and ceases when its functions are destroyed.

2. The infusion of tobacco when injected into the intestine, and the Upas Antiar when applied to a wound, have the power of rendering the heart insensible to the stimulus of the blood, thus stopping the circulation; in other words they occasion syncope.

3. There is reason to believe that the poisons, which in these experiments were applied internally, produce their effects through the medium of the nerves, without being absorbed into the circulation.

4. When the woorara is applied to a wound, it produces its effects on the brain, by entering the circulation through the divided blood vessels, and from analogy, we may conclude that other poisons, when applied to wounds, operate in a similar manner.

5. When an animal is apparently dead from the influence of a poison which acts by simply destroying the functions of the brain, it may, in some instances, at least be made to recover, if respiration is artificially produced, and continued for a certain length of time.'

These inferences are fairly deducible from the experiments; but they certainly do not possess any very high degree of novelty or importance. The independence of the action of the heart upon the function of the brain, on which Mr. B lays so much stress in this as well as in his former paper, can only be considered as an expression of the fact, that after the death or removal of the brain, the heart retains its power of acting longer than the voluntary muscles, a fact which has been long admitted by physiologists to obtain with respect to all organs supplied with nerves from ganglia, as the heart is. The exceptions, therefore, in the action of infusion of tobacco and the Upas Antiar may probably be only confirmations of the general rule, since it is not improbable that they may destroy all the subordinate sources of nervous energy as instantaneously as that of the brain, thus producing universal death.

The half volume concludes as usual with the meteorological journal for 1810, kept at the apartments of the Royal So ciety;-respecting which we have only once more to notice the neglect of the variation of the compass.

Art. IV. The History of Spain, from the earliest Period to the Close of the Year 1809. By John Bigland. 2 vols. 8vo. pp. 486, 525. Price 11. 4s. Longman and Co. 1810.

THAT obliging class of authors who undertake, at a cheap rate, to conduct their readers quickly along a short and easy path to the temple of knowledge, will be found, for the most part, we fear, to be very blind and incompetent guides. Historical abridgen euts and compilations, in particular, are too often rendered worse than useless by the anachronisms and errors of every kind with which they abound. We believe, however, that this censure cannot with any degree of justice be applied to the volume before us. Of the labours of Mr. Bigland, who is known to the public by several works which have attained considerable popularity, we have frequently made respectful mention. As to the present performance, it is not, from its nature, calculated very materially to advance his credit as an author. The work is respectable nevertheless, and will be found to contain a concise, well- written, and authentic narrative of the principal occurrences which compose the annals of Spain.-In his preface, the author bespeaks the attention of his readers to the subject in the following manner.

The history of Spain, although very imperfectly known to the generality of English readers, constitutes an important part of the history of the world. There scarcely exists a nation of which the transactions have had a greater influence on the destinies of Europe, or of which the annals afford lessons of greater importance. Neither ancient nor modern history furnishes any instance of an empire in which so great natural advantages, and so many fortunate incidents, have been so completely counteracted by political mismanagement. These considerations render a historical view of the Spanish monarchy an object which must, at all times, command the attention of the statesman and the moral philosopher. At this momentous crisis it is peculiarly important. The tremendous events which have lately occurred, and the lively interest which the British nation has taken in all that relates to the destinies of Spain, indicate the propriety of looking back to that chain of causes which, by various revolutions, conducted her to that high degree of elevation in which she once stood, and has sunk her into her present state of depression.'

The work commences with a cursory view of the early history of Spain. In the opening chapter we have a brief account of the resistance of the natives to the arms of the Carthaginians; the final success of the invaders; the commotions of the country during the struggle between Carthage and Rome; and the repeated revolts by which the Spaniards strove to regain their independence, till, in the reign of Augustus, they were effectually subdued by the mistress of the world. The names of Saguntum and Numantia having recently been often

mentioned in connection with some late instances of Spanish heroism, our readers may not be displeased at our presenting them with the following account of the siege of the latter city by the Romans.

⚫ Numantia long stood the glory of Spain and the disgrace of the Roman arms. That celebrated city was about three miles in circumference, and seated on a lofty hill; but, according to the confession of the Roman historians, the number of its citizens able to bear arms, did not exceed ten thousand. Their minds, however, were fortified by the love of liberty and the contempt of death; and, during the space of fourteen years, this small but enthusiastic body of warriors defied the power of Rome. The reduction of Numantia was reserved for the genius and fortune of a second Scipio Africanus, who had immortalized his name by the capture and destruction of Carthage. But this experienced commander, though at the head of sixty thousand men, did not venture hastily to approach those inauspicious walls, before which so many Roman generals had suffered discomfiture and disgrace, and employed a whole year in confirming the discipline of his army before he judged it expedient to advance to the city. The citizens of Numantia offered to acknowledge the sovereignty of Rome on honourable terms; but the senate required the surrender of themselves and their city at discretion. These indignant warriors, therefore, preferring a glorious death to a life of servitude, sallied from the city, and offered battle to the numerous host of their enemies. But the prudence of Scipio declined to expose his soldiers to the desperate valour of men determined to die; and resolving to reduce the devoted city by famine, he cautiously restrained the Romans within their trenches. The Numantians, at last, being left without hope, and exposed to the horrors of famine, resolved to sell their lives at the dearest rate. They made a desperate sally, and, attacking the Roman lines, exerted the last efforts of their valour in a horrible carnage of their enemies. Their strength was at length exhausted by the unequal conflict; but their spirits were still unsubdued. Disdaining to follow the triumphal car of the conquerors, or to enrich them with their spoils, those who did not fall by the sword, being driven into the city, set fire to their houses, and consumed themselves, their families, and their effects in the general conflagration. Numantia, so famous in Roman history, was thus reduced to a heap of ashes and ruins; and of all the inhabitants only fifty could be snatched from the flames to adorn the triumph of the victor.'-Vol. I. p. 12-14.

When "host impelling host," the northern barbarians overran "the prostrate South," Spain passed successively under the dominion of the Franks, the Vandals, and the Visigoths. The different revolutions of that country from the irruption of the Franks to the establishment of the Gothic monarchy, and the succession of Gothic kings from Adolphus to Roderic, the last of his race, are comprised in the second and third chapters of the present work. We then come to the invasion of the Saracens or Moors, their ready conquest of the greatest part of the country, and the establishment of the caliphate of Cordova. And here, honourable mention is, of course, made