ance, asked him what he meant by di- My curiofity was awakened by the recting my attention to it. He aniwer- very extraordinary commencement of Ied me in the following manner, which, his narrative; and I determined, if from the fingularity of the narrative, and poffible, to hear it out: 'fo, affuring him his strange mode of telling it, I think that I meant nothing either of flight or it would injure to take out of his own wickednefs by my laughter; that i had words: I will, therefore, endeavour, as too serious ideas of fuch things to treat well as I can, to give you a literal tranf- them with levity and, what was more lation of it; and, indeed, the impref- convincing logic with him, promifing to fion it made on my memory was fuch, reward him for it, he proceeded with that, I apprehend, I shall not material- his ftory as follows: ly differ from his words: "You must know, fir, (for every one in the world knows it) that all thefe mountains around us, are the abodes of good and evil spirits, or Genii; the latter of whom are continually doing every malicious thing they can devife, to injure the people of the country, fuch, as leading them aftray, fmothering them in the fnow, killing the cattle by throwing them down precipices; nay, when they can do no worfe, drying up the milk in the udders of the goats, and fometimes putting between young men and their sweethearts, and stopping their marriage. Ten thoufand curfes light upon them! I should have been married two years ago, and had two children to-day, but for their schemes. In fhort, fir, if it were not for the others the good ones who are always em ployed (and the bleffed Virgin knows they have enough on their hands) in preventing the mischiefs of those devils, the whole place would be deftroyed, and the country left without a living thing, man or goat!" "Well, fir, you fay you were not fporting with thofe fpirits-and fortunate it is for you: at all events, St. John of God be our guide, and bring us fafe to Innfpruck. Juft to the great Maximilian was wont to laugh at them; and you fhall hear how he was punished for it—and that was the ftory I was about to tell you. The Emperor Maximilian, that glory of the world, (he is now in the lap of the bleffed Virgin of Paradife) once on a time, before he was Emperor, that is to fay, when he was Archduke, was always laughing at the country people's fears of thofe fpicitsand an old father of the church forewarned him to beware left he should fuffer for his rafhnefs: fo one day he went out a-hunting, and at the foot of that mountain a moft beautiful chamois ftarted before him; he shot at it, and miffed it (the first fhot he had missed for many years, which you know was warning enough to him) however, he followed, fhooting at and miffing it, the animal standing every now and then till he came up within fhor of it: thus he continued till near night, when the goat difappeared of a fudden, and he found himself buried, as it were, in the bowels of the mountain: he endeavoured to find his way out, but in vain; every step he took led him more aftray, and he was for two days wandering about Here I could not, for the life of me, retain my gravity any longer, but burft, i fpite of me, into an immoderate fit of laughter, which fo difconcerted and offended him, that he fullenly refused to proceed with the story any farther, but continued marking his forehead (his hat off) with a thoufand croffes, utter Chrift fave us !-in the frightful holing pious ejaculations, looking at me with a mixture of terror, diftruft, and admiration, and every now and then glancing his eye afkance toward the hills, as if fearful of a defcent from the trii fpirits. lows of thofe mountains, living all the time on wild berries: on the fecond night he bethought himfulf of his want of faith, and of the faying of old father Jerome; and he fell on his knees, and wept and prayed all night; and the Vir heard him, he being a good man, and, above all, an emperor-God bless you and me! we fhould have perifhed. In the morning, a beautiful young man, dreffed in a peafant's habit, came up to hiv, gave him victuals and wine, and defired him to follow him, which he did, you may be fure, joyfully; but, oh, blefid virgin! think what his urprife muft have been, when, geting a gain into the plain out of the mountain, the young man difappeared and vanifh ed all of a fudden, juft at the foot of that fleep rock which I fhewed you, and which ever fince goes by the name of the Emperor's Rock.-You fee what a dangerous place it is, and what dangerous fpirits they muft be that would not spare even the holy Roman Emperor. In my mind, the belt way is to fay nothing against thofe things, as fome faith lefs people do, and to worship the Virgin and keep a good conf ience, and then one will have the lefs to fear." By the time he had ended his narrative, we were in fight of Innfpruck, when I annoyed and terrified him afresh, by laughing immoderately at the end of his flory; but atoned in fome meafure for it, by giving him half a florin. On inquiring at Innfpruck, I found that Maximilian had actually loft his way in the mountain, and had been conducted out of it by a peafant, who` left him fuddenly; the reft was an exaggerated traditionary tale, arifing from the fuperftitious fears of the country people. From Campbell's Journey over land to India. OF SOME OF THE EFFECTS OF RESPIRATION UPON THE ANIMAL BODY. IT is not here intended, to defcribe the manner in which an animal performs refpiration; nor what mufcles are concerned in performing it: thefe being fully done in the different books on a natomy. If we confider the heart of an animal as the great moving power, propelling the blood through all parts of the body, we fhall find too circles defcribed from it, the one through the lungs, and the other through all the other parts of the body; and in moft animals the heart is double, one half being alloted to each circle, only, that the blood driven out of the one fide, returns to the other fe, inflead of faying that the blood def cribes two circles, we ought to fay that ir defcribes the figure of 8, the heart being in the middle. As both fides of the heart contain neatly the fame quantity of blood, and both act at the fame inftant, it is evident that as much blood paffes through the Jungs, as through all other parts of the Ledy in any given time; although there is not nearly fo much blood contained in them, which may readily be fuppofed, as in the reft of the body. The knowledge of this, leads us to fuppofe, that fome important change is made upon the blood in the lungs, more cfpecially, when we alfo know, that the blood in the pulmonary veins is much more flacid than that in the pulmonary arteries. All animals are nourished by vegetables, either directly or indirectly, by the medium of other animals they may prey upon; and it is well known, that vegetables are compofed of the basis of hydrogone gas, (inflammable air) as they can be raised from the feed to maturity by diftilled water alone; during which time, they difengage oxygen gas, (vital air) the other component part of water. This vegetable, or vegito-animal matter, is abforbed by the lacteals, from the aliment in the intestines; after it has undergone various changes, and received various additions, in the inteftines, befides the gaftric and other juices in the flomach. It is poured from the thoracic duct, into the left fubclavean vein, where it joins the internal jugular vein; from thence it falls into the right fide of the heart with the blood in the It is now All the chyle, however, does not undergo this change, as part of It is depofited in form of fat, in the cellular membrane, and of marrow, in the cavities of the bones: the chief ufe of which, the former efpecially, is to ferve as a store against the attack of difeafes, when the ftomach is not able to receive or digest the proper quantity of food. It is then abforbed by the lymphatics, and is mixed with the blood, and treated as above the defcending vena cava. thrown into the lungs by the pulmonary arteries, from the right fide of the heart, and by the great velocity, and friction of the blood in them, affifted by the free accefs of oxygen, it undergoes a fimilar change to combuftion, that is, it gives out its more volatile and inflammable parts; but, as the blood, and confequently the chyle, with which it is now mixed, does not remain long enough in the lungs to undergo this change, the defcribed and it is probable, that there above matter is carried along with the blood, which, as well as the chyle, has abforbed, fome oxygen, to the left fide of the heart, which throws it into the aorta; as from thence it is distributed to every part of the body, where, by the friction it undergoes, it abforbs more of the oxygen from the furrounding blood, and gives out hydrogen and azotic gafes; thefe, uniting, form volatile alkali, which is found in fuch abundance in the animal body. It is now brought back to the right fide of the heart by the two venæ cave, from thence it is again thrown into the lungs, in form of charcoal, where it is completely oxygenated; giving out carbonic and azotic gafes, which are found fo abundant in the air we exfpire. It may be objected, that there is no air found in the blood-vessels of animals; true there is not, but, we have many cafes very fimilar indeed, as in every cafe of electric attraction; where the acid is disengaged from one alkali, and joins the other, in an ærial form; yet that ærial acid does not appear, if the alkali is able to take it up, except by is a continual abforption and new de- It is well known that oxygen is a powerful ftimulant to the mufcular fibre, and the heart being a hollow mufcle, the blood lodged in it, may be a more powerful ftimulant to the heart,, than it otherwife would be. The great friction of the animal fluids. in circulation, would, if not counteracted, foon prove fatal by the degree of heat which they would produce; this however is effectually done by the evaporation from them, both in the lungs, by refpiration, and in other parts of the body, by infenfible perfpiration: both of which are encreafed, by the encreafed action of the heart and arteries: Then the fympathy betwen the pulfe, skin, and breathing is formed, which for the most part is fo evident. even if the blood do grow turbid, and Edinr. March 23d } is it to be observed? CURSORY REMARKS ON DEDICATIONS. WITH the revival of letters, and the invention of printing, were revived many of the customs of writing, peculiar to the ancients. Among thefe may be reckoned the practice of dedicating books to fome perfon of rank or diftinc VOL. LVIII. A STUDENT, tion, which is of very diftant origin. It is almoft needlefs, however, to remark that the word dedicate is here underftood in a very different fenfe from that act of folenin appropriation which it originally implied. But it has, like X x many many other words, undergone different purpofely compofed for his entertain-meanings at different periods. To de- ment, he fuffered himself publicly, and dicate a church to a particular faint, all in his prefence, to be ftyled the greatest that was neceffary, was to place the image king ever the earth produced? Thefe it of that faint in the most diftinguished is true are ftrong facts; but luckily they part of it, and to call the church by his, do not prove the fenfe of propriety to be or her name. To dedicate a church in artificial; they only prove, that the another fenfe, is to appropriate or fet it fenfe of propriety is at all times overapart for the ufe of public worship, and powered by pride and vanity; which is that act by which it acquires a kind of no fingular cafe, for that sometimes is protecting fanctity is called confecration. the fate even of the sense of justice. It is not, however, neceffary to follow the word dedication in all its meanings; let it fuffice that it is now chiefly ufed to fignify a prefatory addrefs to fome great perfonage, or esteemed friend; and its object is, either to procure patronage and emolument, or to exprefs fincere regard, or gratitude. It has been deemed the highest compliment an author can pay, and corfequently the higheft a patron can expect from men of that defcription. In our language, as well as in most others, both of the dead and living languages, we have abundance of fpecimens of the dedicating art, but the majority, it must be confeffed, are merely different modes of flattery conveyed in the way fuppofed to be most pleafing to the object. It would be, perhaps, not very difficult to excufe Lewis XIV, for listening to this fulfome panegyric, without fuppofing, as Lord Kaimes feems to do, that he was devoid of a fenfe of propriety; for it might appear to that monarch, very confiftent with propriety, that his fubjects fhould be on every opportu nity told, and made to believe that he was the greatest king in the world. But this would lead us into a digreffion, and the purpofe of this paper might be diverted too far. Flattery certainly, whether agreeable or not to the object, has been more or less the foundation of all dedicatory addreffes, and must continue to be fo, as long as the practice of dedication remains. Nor is the vanity altogether on the From many things, fays Lord Kaimes, fide of the party thus addreffed. Many that paffed current in the world with- authors come in for an ample fhare, out being generally conden ned, one at when they fancy that they are beftowfirst view would imagine, that the fenfe ing immortality on their patrons. A of congruity or propriety has fcarce any thousand examples of this might be taken foundation in nature; and that it is ra- from modern times. Let us take one ther an artificial refinement of thofe, from more diftant ages, Apion, a gramwho affect to diftinguish themselves from marian of fome celebrity in his day, others. The fulfome panegyrics be- which was in the reign of Tiberius, deftowed upon the great and opulent, in dicated all his writings to different perepiftles dedicatory, and other fuch com fons, upon whom he imagined he conpofitions, would incline us to think fo. ferréd immortality; but his works were Did there prevail in the world, it will unfortunately not able to furvive the be faid, or did nature fuggeft, a taste of wreck of time, and he himself is only what is fuitable, decent, or proper, known to have exifted, by being menwould any good writer deal in fuch com- tioned, and that not very refpectfully, by pofitions, or any man of fenfe receive Aulus Gellius, and a few other authors. them without difguft? Can it be fuppof- The learned Ifaac Caufabon was a ed that Lewis XIV. of France, was writer of a very different mould. He endued by nature with any fenfe of pro had a great talent at dedications and priety, when, in a dramatic performance prefaces. In his dedications, he praifes without without any low fervility, and in a manner which appears very remote from flattery; and in his prefaces, he shows the defign of his work and its advantages without oftentation, and with an air of modefty. His dedication of Polybius, to Henry IV, is esteemed a masterpiece of the kind. Farnaby, the critic, wrote many dedications, but he observes that they were not in much repute in his time. As it happened, fays he, to the ancients, who used to undertake nothing without confulting the flight of birds, that though this custom went out of fashion at weddings, yet, according to Valerius Maximus, they invited the aufpices to their weddings, keeping up, at least in name, fome remains of the ancient cuftom; fo it is with us, who labour under this incurable itch of writing; though the authority and generofity of patrons be out of date, yet we are ambitious to put our works, which will foon perish, under the patronage of fome noble perfon. There is a whimfical ftory of one Rangouze, a French author in the reign of Lewis XIV, who was a noted dedicator, and gained fixteen hundred piftoles within eight months by that trade. He made a collection of letters, which he printed without numbering or paging them. The bookbinder, by this means, put that which the author thought proper firft, and by this manœuvre, all the perfons to whom the author prefented his book, feeing their names at the head, thought themfelves highly honoured. Mademoiselle de Scuderi, obferves on this ftory, that Rangouze must have been as fond of dedicating, as a certain Italian phyfician was, who having written upon Hippocrates' Aphorifms, dedicated each book of his Commentaries to one of his friends, and the Index to another. Rangouze's letters were brief elogiums of the perfons to whom they were addreffed; fpecifying their most valuable qualities and memorable ac tions, and a profufion of compliments, which he varied with confiderable art. But to come nearer home, in giving fpecimens of oddities. Wodrow, a voluminous historian, who wrote the Hiftory of the Church of Scotland from the Restoration to the Revolution, a period of great calamity there, in his dedication to George I, ufes these words: "We know not which moft to admire, your extenfive and paternal goodness to your fubjects, or your mildnefs to your enemies, which, to their lasting fhame, is not able to reclaim them but my mean pen is, at beft, every way below this noble fubject, and of late is fo blunted with the melancholy matter of the following hiftory, and our miferies under preceding reigns, that it is perfectly unfit to enter upon the bleffings of your Majesty's government." This is certainly meant for a compliment; but to what clafs of compliments it belongs, is not easy to ascertain. It is with regret we obferve the exceffive adulation of the greater part of dedications, in the end of the last and beginning of the prefent century, and that in works, which in every other refpect are entitled to the greatest respect. The dedications to the feveral volumes of the Spectators are models of coarse flattery, and yet one, at leaft, of the authors of that excellent work, had a proper idea of the value of this fpecies of writing, as appears by No 188, to which the reader is referred. Dramatic writers were, of all others, most abfurdly addicted to the groffest and most fulfome flattery. One regrets to confider Dryden as an abominable offender în this way. To a nobleman, whom he never faw, he says: "I could not anfwer it to the world, nor to my confcience, if I gave not your Lordship my teftimony of your being the best husband now living. You, my Lord, though it is not my happiness to know you, may stand afide with the small remainders of the English Nobility, truly fuch," &c. &c. It might have been thought that Dryden's confcience would have been fomewhat more fcrupulous in determining upon a point, on X X 2 which |