imagined. He was the first man that brought fhips to contemn caftles on fhore; which had ever been thought very formidable, but were discovered by him to make a noife only, and to fright those who could rarely be hurt by them. He was the first that infused that proportion of courage into feamen, by making them fee, by experience, what mighty things they could do if they were refolved, and taught them to fight in fire as well as upon the water; and though he has been very well imitated and followed, was the first that gave the example of that kind of naval courage, and bold and refolute atchieve ments." .. To this atteftation of his military excellence, it may be proper to fubjoin an account of his moral character from the author of lives English and foreign. "He was jealous," fays that writer, "of the liberty of the fubject, and the glory of his nation; and as he made ufe of no mean artifices to raife himself to the highest command at fea, fo he need ed no intereft but his merit to fupport him in it. He fcorned nothing more than money, which as fast as it came in, was laid out by him in the fervice of the state, and to fhew that he was animated by that brave public fpirit, which has fince been reckoned rather romantic than heroic. And he was fo difinterested, that though no man had more opportunities to enrich himself than he, who had taken fo many millions from the enemies of England, yet he threw it all into the public treasury, and did not die 500 1. richer than his father left him; which the author avers from his perfonal knowledge of his family and their circumftances, having been bred up in it, and often heard his brother give this account of him. He was religious according to the pretended purity of those times, but would frequently allow himself to be merry with his officers; and by his tenderness and generofity to the feamen, had fo endeared himself to them, that when he died, they lamented his lofs as that of a common father." Inftead of more teftimonies, his cha- racter may be properly concluded with one incident of his life, by which it appears how much the spirit of Blake was fuperior to all private views. His bro ther, in the last action with the Spaniards, having not done his duty, was, at Blake's defire, difcarded, and the fhip was given to another. Yet was he not lefs regardful of him as a brother; for when he died, he left him his estate; knowing him well qualified to adorn or enjoy a private fortune, though he had found him unfit to serve his country in a public character, and had therefore not fuffered him to rob it. Gent. Mag. Some account of a book lately published, in titled, Medical observations and inquiries, by a fociety of physicians in London, vol. 1. Taken mostly from the Gentleman's Magazine, and corrected by the book. A Few years ago fome physicians in London agreed to meet together for their mutual improvement. It was propofed that their topics of converfation fhould be, the reigning difeafes of the season, and the methods of cure that experience had fhewn to be most effectual, and fuch new discoveries in phyfic as fhould happen to be made either by themselves or others. The members of this fociety either had the care of hofpitals, or were of fome eminence in their profeffion; and when a difficult cafe occurred to any of them, the rest were con fulted, the method of cure that was thought moft likely to fucceed was tried, and the event communicated. When these meetings had continued a confiderable time, the members became defirous of communicating the obfervations and discoveries that should be made by fuch an affociation to the public; and therefore, together with other phyficians, formed themselves into a fociety for collecting and publishing medical obfer. vations and inquiries. The first volume of this work is now before us. It is executed in the Hippocratic method, recommended by Lord Bacon, containing narratives of particular cafes, in which the nature of the 3 X difeafe, disease, the manner of treating it, and the confequences are fpecified, There is great reafon to hope that the art of healing will be much improved by this undertaking; and as the work will be useful in proportion as it is known, we shall from time to time give an account of fome of the articles of which it confifts, with fuch an epitome of each as will fhew the principle it is intended to establish, either in theory or practice; and rather raise than extinguish curiofity to fee the particular circumftances from which it is deduced. fit up, pulled her back upon the pillow: fhe was kept continually waking by the pain, and her fight, hearing, and memory were impaired. On the third day fhe was ordered twenty drops of the tinaura thebaica every fix hours, in a julep. On the fourth day the symptoms were at a ftand, the dofe was increased ta thirty drops. On the fifth day the was better, and the dofe was increased to forty drops. On the fixth she slept half an hour at three different times, and the fpafms, though not lefs violent, were lefs frequent; upon which three grains of the extract were ordered three times Article I. An account of the cure of a lock-a-day. On the feventh day he was fur ed jaw, occafioned by the laceration of prisingly better, and the quantity of o the tendon of a finger. By Dr J. Syl- pium was leffened from three grains to vefter, F. R. S. two. Buts on the eighth day she had THE patient was a flout woman, a- got no ground; the dofe was then inbout twenty-three years of age. creafed again to eight grains in a day, The first joint of the fourth finger of her two in the morning, two in the afterright hand was fo broken and lacerated noon, and four at night. On the tenth by a fall as to render it ufelefs, and pro- day the evening-dofe was increased to fix duced extreme pain; it was therefore grains; and on the thirteenth day, as the taken off at the London hofpital the fpafms appeared to be rather kept under fame night, and the patient grew more ea- than cured, the whole finger was taken fy. But the fecond joint being alfo laid off. The first night was worse than any bare and lacerated by the fall, the pain in the last week; but the next day the foon returned, and increased every day; began to mend, and her convulsions and the skin andflesh, inftead of covering gradually left her; the dofes of opium the joint, were drawn farther and farther were gradually leffened at the rate of back; the whole hand fwelled, and fe- one grain a-day, and about a month af veral abfceffes were formed in the palm, ter the laft amputation, fhe was dischar fo that having been an outpatient fix. ged perfectly cured. teen days, he was then received into the house. The day on which fhe was received she was blooded, and the fame evening was feized with a convulfive contraction of the mufcles that raised the lower jaw. The next morning the could take no nourishment but what was poured down with a tea-fpoon; and this would have been impoffible without breaking her teeth, if her under jaw had not naturally projected beyond the up per. For this fymptom the was bliftered on her back, round her throat, and behind each ear, and fome alexipharmic and volatile medicines were frequently administered in large dofes during two days. But the patient grew worfe. She had violent and frequent fpafms along the fpine, which, when the attempted to This difeafe all authors, with Hippocrates, have pronounced to be mortal. Art. V. An account of a fingular recove ry from a fever. By Gosen Knight, M.B. F.R.S. The patient was Dr Knight's fifter, about thirty; who catching cold after recovering from a fever by which the had been much weakened, fuffered so much from the ftrangury, and wind in her fto. mach and bowels, that he got no sleep. When thefe complaints were removed, fhe flept but little, and her fhort fleeps were not refreshing. About the fifth day a fubfultus tendinum came on, and fhe was fo weak as to faint when raised in bed: her pulfe was fmall and quick, and the could not be kept up without Магда warm cardiac medicines frequently repeated, >On the eighth day he had all the appearances of a perfon in the laft extremity: the blifters, which had the night before been laid above her ancles, had not rifen at all, nor given her any pain; the fubfultus tendinum was conftant, and fometimes fo violent that fhe ap peared to be quite convulfed; her countenance was pale and funk; fhe had a rifus cynicus, and a livid ftroke on each fide of her nose; and her fweats had that earthy smell which is frequently perceived when death is near. On the evening of this day fhe awaked from a fhort fleep, in fach agonies that the faid The fhould not be able to farvive if they fhould be repeated, and therefore requefted the Doctor to watch her the reft of the night, and prevent her going to fleep. He accordingly placed himfelf by her, with an intention to comply with her request; and while he was in this fituation, he could not help reafoning upon the nature and caufe of this fymptom. He thought it probable, that in great debility the muscles which ferve to refpiration, by an involuntary motion, might be too weak to perform their of fice without the affiftance of those that move the thorax, at the command of the will; for, in the laft agony, when the vis vite is quite exhaufted, the heaving of the breaft becomes quite voluntary: he therefore concluded, that the voluntary muscles not acting during fleep, and the involuntary mufcles being too weak to carry on refpiration alone, a perfon under fuch circumftances would cease to breathe, and confequently be in a state of fuffocation, the pain of which would foon awake him, ftruggling for breath, and almost spent. It then came into his thoughts, that he might venture to let his fifter go to fleep, provided he should all the while attend diligently to her breath, and her pulfe, and if they failed, awake her before fhe could fuffer much by the fuffocation that would fellow. He propofed the experiment to the lady, and the confented that it should be made. Accordingly, he kept his hand conftantly upon her pulfe, and it was not long before he perceived her to be asleep. In about half a minute her pulse stopped, and she could not be heard to breathe. The Doctor immediately awaked her; and was agreeably furpri fed to hear her fay, that he had had a refreshing fleep, and to find she was not fenfible how fhort it had been. He ad vifed her, as foon as she had recovered her breath, to compofe herself again; which he did. Her fecond fleep was about twice as long as her first. When her breath and pulfe failed, fhe was again waked, and again expreffed the fame fatisfaction. This practice being continued, her fleeps became every time longer, her pulfe grew fenfibly stronger and fuller, and her fubfultus tendinum less frequent. It was about midnight when fhe began to fleep; and between two and three in the morning the complained that her blifters were very painful. Between four and five her ftrength was fo much increased that she could fleep without danger; which he could not do fome time after the experiment had been begun for the Doctor happening himself to drop afleep, fuffered her to fleep too long before he awaked her; and she was fo fenfible of the neglect from what fhe felt, that the intreated him to be more attentive. The next day her blifters had rifen well, her fever left her, and the recovered her health and ftrength in lefs time than could have been expected. the Art. VI. An uncommon crifis of gout By Dr Samuel Pye. The patient, Mr Rook, a furgeon and apothecary in Shadwell, was a temperate man, of about forty-five, fubject to no difeafe but the gout. After a fevere fit in June 1752, Dr Pye told him he knew a gentleman who by a total abftinence from all food, except cow's milk, even without bread, had cured himself of the gout, having had no fit during thirteen years, and ftill perfifting in his diet. Mr Rook, encouraged by this account, entered upon a vegetable diet, and continued it very strictly for eleven weeks; but being then attacked by a flight fit, which lafted forty-eight hours, 3 X a he In April 1755 another fit came on, and after about a month went off with he returned to animal food. In March 1753, he had a fevere fit in both feet, the pains in his heels and ancles gradual-out the critical difcharges by vomiting, urine, or fweat, but left three fingers on one hand, and two on the other, loaded with chalk-stones. ly increased twelve days, till it became more violent than he had ever felt, and almost drove him mad. In the height of this excruciating torment, he felt the pain in his heels and ancles rife in an initant to the calves of his legs; in half a minute it rofe from thence to his thighs; in about one minute more from his thighs to the abdomen; and after giving the patient one severe twitch in the bowels, they afcended to the ftomach; upon which he inftantly threw up about a pint and a half of a green aqueous liquor, fo corrofive that he compared it to the ftrongest mineral acid; and here the pain and the fit ended. During the time it lafted, a profufe fweat came on every morning, which together with his breath was fo foetid, that neither himself, nor any of those about him, had ever smelt the like. His linen was tinged as with faffron, and his urine was almoft as high-coloured as claret; but upon the discharge from his ftomach, thefe fymptoms, with the reft, totally disappeared. In February 1754 the next fit feized him. It was less violent than the formmer, but continued about fix weeks; during which time he had three increafed paroxyfms, which held him about two hours each; and in the last he had the fame critical difcharge, by vomiting. the fame corrofive matter, preceded by the fame uncommon fymptoms, as in 1753: but mending every hour, he was able next day to go about his business. He was feized Dec. 9. 1755 with a third fit, which went off in the fame manner with the other two, though the quantity of corrofive matter which he difcharged was not more than might have been contained in a tea.fpoon. During the first fit in 1752, a hard tumour had appeared on the fide of the metatarfus, near the middle of the right foot, which continued till the third cris tical vomiting in 1755; and then a vifcid matter, like the white of an egg, with a few fmall chalk-ftones, were difcharged from the end of the middle toe of the fame foot, on which the tumour dappeared. Soon after this fit a large quantity of chalk-ftones was extracted from the bottom of the left foot, at different times during four months. On Jan. 19. 1756, he was feized with a fever, which on the third day went off with the fame critical discharge, by fweat and urine, that had attended the critical vomitings in the gout. On the fourth day a fit of the gout came on in both feet, and continued a week, with ofrequent retchings, but without bringing up more than the common contents of the stomach. At this time an uncommon itching in the bottom of the foot whence the chalkftones had been extracted, tormented him for about fix hours; and upon preffing the part, about a tea cup full of a liquid chalky matter was discharged; and the next morning having made a large opening with an impofthume-knife, about half a pint of a bloody ferous matter, full of chalk-ftones, was discharged; which proved as truly critical as the vomitings; for the wound foon healed kindly, and the patient has continued ever fince in perfect health. [To be continued.]. Some account of a pamphlet, intitled, A full anfaver to an infamous libel, intitled, A letter to the Rt Hon. Ld By. T HE fubftance of the charge contained in the letterto Ld Blakeney, we have already laid before the public in diftinct articles; we fhall therefore follow the fame order in the defence; and, to avoid repetition, refer our read. ers to the charge in our Mag. for June, p. 299. Answer to Article I.] Ld Blakeney did not keep himself, but up in his own house giving directions about things which he never went to fee. He chose the castle for his refidence, and went frequently to the top of it; from whence, as from the centre of the place, he could best and almoft inftantaneously view all the qworks E works and pofts under his command, and the operations, batteries, movements, and approaches of the enemy, fo that no alteration could escape the obfervation of his orion eye. Upon this place there were several batteries, both of cannon and mortars, in the employment of which, as well as of all other batteries, he gave directions to the officers of the artillery himself; and in this place he was much exposed to the fire of the enemy's cannon and mortars, their shot and fhells being in a particular manner levelled against the body of the caftle, and feveral fhells fell on the top of it. His Lordship went cross part of the fquare to all councils of war, which were frequent for though he might with great propriety have held thofe councils in his own house, yet he chose to hold them at Lt-Col. Jefferys's; because he thought it more private, and better accommodated for the purpose. He alfo exercifed the ferjeants and foldiers himfelf on the public parade, in the manner of defending fortifications and fubterraneans againft an attack, till the fhot and fhells of the enemy made it improper to expose the men there any longer. So that, unless croffing the fquare to Col. Jefferys's, furveying the works from the top of the caftle, and exercifing the men on the public parade, was fhutting himself up in his own houfe, he did not fhut himself up. To this let it be added, that, during the whole fiege of feventy days, he never went into a bed, or undreffed himself; that every one had access to him at all hours of the day and night; and when the parade became too much exposed to exercise the men, he still exercifed them himself in his own apartment, attended by many officers. there was not one colonel to take the chief command if an accident had happened to the governor, nor any officer between him and a lieutenant-colonel; there were befides one and forty captains and fubaltern officers belonging to these four regiments abfent. The circumference of the works is about a mile, and they were invested on every fide by fea and land; fo that if the governor had been in one part of the fortifications`while another remote part of them was fuddenly attacked, or had met with an accident, the confequence would probably have been fatal. It was therefore fit for Ld Blakeney to be near the centre, where his own obfervations from the caftle might be corroborated by proper intelligence. He knew every part of the fortifications minutely well, and he kept two lieutenantcolonels and an aid-de-camp constantly going the rounds; and that they might perform this fervice with greater diligence and exactness, they were excused all other duty. A report was also made to Ld Blakeney every morning, by the field-officer of the day, of every particular incident within his twenty-four hours of duty, with an account of the fhot and fhells fired during that time, defcribing their particular directions. Befides, the captains at every post had orders to inform the governor, by a fubaltern officer, immediately, of every proceeding or accident that happened under their respective commands; and the fort-major and fort-adjutant attended as often as they could, befides the governor's own aid-de-camp, to carry his orders when and where they were required. Such intelligence was received from others, and fuch intelligence it was proper to receive from others, for Thus did Ld Blakeney, at the age of the reafons here alledged. And thus eighty-two, perform himself every thing the declaration which Ld Blakeney made that could not effectually be performed with a view to his own particular case, by others; and all that could be per- that it is the duty of a governor to remain. formed by others, he took care to have in one fixed place to receive intelligence, is effectually performed: he expofed him- true; though it does not imply that it felf whenever it was neceffary; and to was his duty to remain inactive, much have expofed himfelfunneceffarily, would lefs to fhut himself up in his own house. have been betraying the fervice. His As to the examples that are brought garrifon confifted of four regiments: to condemn the conduct and opinion of Ld |