nated, that they might be found in any warm country on the globe. The prototype of the New Hollanders hut was undoubtedly a booth in an English fair. We are more furprifed at this, as the editor feems to have spared no trouble or expence in adorning and rendering the work complete. On the whole, it contains many circumftances of curiofity; fome, perhaps, of utility; and may undoubtedly afford the rudiments of many important difcoveries: what may we not expect from the interior parts of this vast island?

FOREIGN

ARTICLE.

Hiftoire & Memoires de la Societé Royale de Medecine, Années 1784 & 1785, avec les Memoires de Medecine & de Phyfique Medicale, pour les mémes Années. 4to. l'aris.

HIS volume does not contain fo great a variety as the Taft, but, while we regret this deficiency of entertain

ment, we trust that no deficiency of inftruction will be found; and our task will be more conveniently finished in a lefs compafs.

The programma, or the hiftory of the fociety's questions, and the names of the candidates on whom the prizes were beitowed, we have long fince apologized for omitting, as it would furnish very little inttruction. The eloges too we have usually omitted; and their number, as well as their extent, in this volume, fufficiently confirms the propriety of our conduct. The first is on M. Watelet, not a phyfician, but a person who greatly affifted the organization' of this fociety. Some facts relating to the lives of M. M. Bonami, Hecquet, and Marignes, follow. An excellent eloge on M. Lobstein, profeffor of anatomy and furgery at Stratburg; another on M. Serras, firft phyfician to the king of Naples; on M. Scheele, with a very judicious abftract of his works, in the form of notes; an eloge on M. Moret, fecretary of the Dijon academy; with fome account of the lives of M. M. Blein, de Joubert, Mollin, and Compte d'Angerville, follow; and this part of the work is concluded by a life of M. de la Mure, phyfician at Montpelier. A lift of the works of the members of the fociety, or which were fent to them fince 1783, is fubjoined; and a fummary account of the treatment of the venereal difeafe in the country, by M. M. Laffonne and Dehorne, we are informed, has been circulated pretty generally by the fociety.

The meteorological obfervations are, as ufual, given at length; but we must confine ourselves to the general results. The years 1784 and 1785 were each remarkable for large quantities of fnow, and exceffive cold at fome periods, while at others the cold was very tolerable; for great dryness in the fpring, which injured the crops of hay; for exceffes of heat

and

and cold, drynefs and moisture through the fummer; for early unfeasonable colds in autumn; and, in general, for a very va riable temperature during the whole year. Thefe variations were preceded, in the year 1783, by the earthquakes in Calabria, the dry fog, and other meteorological fingularities. In 1784, the greatest heat occurred the fourth day after the new moon; and the leaft, the fourth day after the full moon, refults oppofite to thofe of the year before. The greatest heights of the barometer answered to the northern luniftice; the leat to the southern luniftice; a refult equally opposite to that of 1783. In 1785, the greatest heat coinceded with the fir quarter of the moon, and the leaft with the last quarter: the greatest height of the barometer anfwers to the full moon, and the leaft to the apogee. It appears, therefore, that, in thefe climates, the weight and heat of the air are influenced by other circumftances belides the moon, though, in the torrid zone, the lunar periods more invariably affect the weather. All that we can fufpect on this fubject is, that the lunar period of nineteen years may probably bring on fimilar weather, in the future routine.

M. Andry's researches on the hardening of the cellular membrane of children newly born, are of great practical importance. We formerly led our readers' attention to it, in our review of the first edition of Mr. Underwood's Treatife on the Difeafes of Children (Crit. Rev. vol. LVIII. p. 425.) We are forry to obferve, that this author, in his fecond edition, has only confounded the fubject, by uniting with it a disease of a very different nature: he cannot fay now, that it has not been noticed in a feparate form.' The disease we have described in the extract just referred to; and it appears owing to a laxity of the veffels, which fuffers the gluten to escape with the ferofity: the difeafe foon degenerates to a putrid one, another mark of weakness; and is almoft wholly confined to hofpitals. The blood is found black; the bile very brown, and the conglobate glands full of a gelatinous fluid. The remedy is bark, aromatic baths of a decoction of fage, &c.: above all, blifters to the legs.

The next article contains anfwers to different questions propofed by the marine minifter to the fociety, relating to the diet The authors M. M. Poiffoof feamen in the fhips of war. nier, Geoffroy, Macquer, Defperneres, Pouletier de la Salle, Lavoifier, De Horne, Viq. d'Azyr, de la Porte, de Foureroy, and Thouret, examine the management of different naval powers on this fubject. They think the Dutch lefs fubject to fcurvy than the English; and that the difeafe with them appears lefs putrid. The French are fuppofed to be still more free from fcurvy, because they eat lefs meat. Our authors advife a more equal proportion of falted provisions and farinaceous feeds; at the fame time they claim the merit of having fift advifed the plan, which captain Cooke fo fuccessfully car

ried

ried into execution; hinting that the health of his crew was not very extraordinary, confidering his having been fo frequently in port. Our authors, then offer fome remarks on the different kinds of food, which it is impoffible to abridge. They prefer, in general, beef and pork falted; condemning falt fish: of the legumens, they prefer peafe, French beans, and lentils: they recommend meal, with a fmall proportion of bran, and with much acid, leaven. The next object is the additions which may be made to the ufual-rations of diet; and, under this head, they fpeak highly of ice, potatoes, malt, and grots. Each substance is, however, examined with candour, and its merit appreciated on the authority of the best informed and most experienced navigators. The laft queftion relates to naval hospitals, and the regulation of the diet of the fick and convalefcents. This whole memoir we could wish to fee tranflated, for it contains many facts which deferve to be generally known.

The obfervations on the odorous and volatile parts of medicines, whether vegetable or animal, are extracted from an unfinished memoir of M. Lorry, by M. Halle. The first class of odours is the camphorated; and it is extended over a large proportion of the vegetable kingdom: the labiate, compofitæ, the laurels, myrtles, turpentines, &c. are decidedly of this clafs. It is very volatile, but it is unchangeable, for in all the variations of form it remains the fame; and, after all the efforts of art by folution, precipitation, evaporation, &c. it may be still recovered: the driest inodorous mass of this kind, moistened by spirit of wine, refumes the camphorated odour. Ignition makes it more pungent, as is evident from inflaming the atmosphere of the fraxinella; and it is remarkable that a fubftance, chiefly foluble in fpirit of wine, is, by ignition, fo minutely divided as to unite with water. The fecond clafs is the narcotic odours. It is evident in the poppy and folanums; difguifed a little, but foon diftinguishable when the combination of the parts is weakened, in the burrages; and combined with the odour of garlick in the affa foetida. It is permanent, and fixes as well as difguifes all the more volatile odours, except the camphorated, which nothing can reprefs while fluidity remains. Of this kind is the odour of rofes, lilies, particularly the jafmine, &c. tor, though they may at firft feem to belong to the camphorated plants, yet when collected in quantities, their peculiar nature is foon confpicuous, and the fame remedy, an acid, is adapted to all, for the fymptoms are the fame, viz. fyncope, or its approaches. In the animal kingdom this principle abounds, 2nd particularly in muk and calor. It is lefs volatile than the camphorated odour; but, if we probably except the tur pentines, more adherent: nothing but time can destroy it, though many proceffes can modify it. By repeated drying and folutions, opium gives a very evident fmell of annife-feed: fermented with beer, it affords an anodyne fpirit, with the

fmell of radishes. Difilled with vitriolic acid, it affumes the fmell of a bug; with spirit of falt, a very fingular ætherial odour. Thefe alterations of odour, though fo diftant, occur alfo in the coriander and fome drops of the oil of anife-feed, left on linen, will give it the fmell of a bug.

The third clafs is the etherial odours, fo called because, in their volatility and piquancy, they refemble æther. The etherial odour is agreeably animating, but volat le and transitory: it can only be retained in the unperfpirable barks of certain fruits, and never is found in the flowers. Some kinds of pears, melons, pine-apples, &c. even in our own country, apples, and fruits, which begin to foften and to mould, throw out a fimilar atmosphere. It easily unites with the other odours: it is joined with the mufky fmell in melons and cucumbers; and unripe melons contain it, united with the virofe odour.. The fourth is the volatile acid odour, evident in many fruits, but combined with the aromatic oil of their rinds. Mineral acids fcarcely affect thein, but alkalis, fulphur, and putrefaction foon de roy or diffipate them.

The volatile alkaline odour is equally diftinguishable, but more extenfive. It contains all thofe odorous particles, which are remarkable for a peculiar pungent acrimony, affecting the eyes and bringing tears. All the antifcorbutic plants, onions and garlick, are of this kind. Though this pungent principle has been attributed to an acid, yet every circumftance leads us to fuppofe that this pretended acid is peculiarly modified, for vinegar will reprefs the fmell of muftard, and even the inodorous oil of vitriol at once check the activity of the cochlearia, which it regains on faturating the acid with an alkali. It seems fixed by an addition of mucilage, fo, as in fome inftances, particularly in garlick, to be very durable. With other odours, it feems to augment their volatility, and to lofe its own; especially in its union with the narcotics, when it produces the most foetid fmells; in this it refembles the volatile alkali, which, with opium, other virofe plants, and animal oils, are infupportable. Thefe are nearly the principal topics of M. Lorry's memoir, which we have enlarged on with a melancholy pleasure, as death interrupted him in the purfuit. It forms the outline of a matterly and comprehenfive fyftem.

The first memoir is an account of the conftitution of the years 1784 and 1785, with a detail of the diseases which reigned in Paris during this period, by M. Geoffroy; but this account it is impoffible to abridge. We perceive one inftance or a patrid peripneumony, which was not, however, highly acute; yet, in this and a few other instances, we find no reason to praise the activity and difcernment of the practice.

The two next memoirs, by M. Peter Camper, and M. Barailon, of Moulines, were rewarded by the divided prize. The question refpected the nature, caufes, and remedies of the various kinds of droplies. We fhall give fome account of each ef

fay,

Ly, without prefuming to judge a caufe already decided. M. Camper's memoir is full of medical erudition, and contains a more complete account of the different facts than any work which we have hitherto had occafion to examine. We can only follow him at a distance, and extract a few paffages. The first chapter is on the dropfy of the head and of the spinal marrow. I remember,' fays our author, 'twenty-two years fince, opening the head of a man, who died fuddenly at an inn, where a large quantity of very limpid water (for I had taken out the whole brain and cerebellum at once) flowed from the infundibulum. To this fudden depofition of ferum we had no doubt but that the death was owing, for the body was in other refpects found. The man was perfectly in his fenfes alfo when he entered the inn, and fell down as if ftruck by lightning.' The hydroce phalus internus, our author thinks, is certainly fatal; but mentions a fact, where a child, born with a fpina bifida, liv. ed twenty-eight years: he was, however, weak, and stooped much. The water was once evacuated by a trocar, for the tumor was almost transparent; but it filled again, and the only effect of the evacuation was a temporary debility. About his twentieth year, when affected with another disease, he lay on the tumour: an inflammation and gangrene came on, and he feemed almost dying when the fluid was abforbed, the membrane fhrivelled like a fchirrous mamma, and the patient lived in a weak state eight years longer. Loes not this cafe feem to fhow, that if a child with a fpina bifida furvives infancy, a moderate continued preffure on the tumour would be useful?

The dropfy of the eye follows, but it affords little that is interefting. M. Camper's account of the dropfy of the breast and pericardium is not equally valuable: in the first he seems to recommend the operation; but, though it may be occafion. ally admitted in emphysema and empyema, where the part affected is more evident, we fluould be much afraid of it in the hydrops pectoris from an internal caufe. Even in the dropfy of the pericardium, he seems to think that a puncture may be made near the apex of the heart with fafety, and gives par ticular directions for the operation. This, however, we confider as ftill more daring and imprudent. The fymptoms of the hydrops pectoris are well defcribed, and the pathognomonics properly pointed out.

In the differtation on the dropfy of the abdomen, M. Camper engages in fome difcuffions refpecting the lymphatics, from which he feems to be principally a difciple of Haller. He then proceeds to the hydatids, and, in compliance with the modern fyftem, confiders them as fpecies of tænia. He afterwards goes on to diftinguish the fpecies, the caufes, and the cure of this kind of dropfy, which, he obferves, fometimes occurs in the fœtus, and adduces a fingular and dreadful inftance of it. With refpect to diuretics, he obferves, that there are no fpecific medicines of this clafs, and, with every experienced phyfician, Vol. LXIX. Jan. 1789.

H

feems