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7. Thirty drops of fpirit of vitriol were mixed with a fpoonful of water, to which five grains were put, which foon after abforbed the acidity of the vitriol. In the two laft experiments, no noxious blackith fumes arofe, but a small white foak or vapour, without air- bubbles or dirty circles on the furface; no floating muddy clouds or opake yellow fufpenfions, nor tawney hue in the fpirit."

Many of our Readers, as well as ourselves, may be at a lofs to know what our Author means by a hollow cubic inch, as distinguished from a folid cubic inch.

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N. B. MR. D. INGRAM, Profeffor of Anatomy and Surgery, and Surgeon to Chrift's Hospital, informs the Public, that the Epfom Waters and Magnefia, are fold by DoCTOR INGRAM in Arundel-ftreet. O rare Mr. Doctor! D Art. 48. A Review of the Venereal Difeafe, and its Remedies: By William Fordyce, Surgeon. 8vo. 2s. Cadell,

Mr. Fordyce begins his review of the veneteal difeafe with fome judicious remarks on the practice of Sydenham, Boerhaave, and Aftruc. He then proceeds to particularife the feveral ftages of the difeafe, and to point out the method of cure.-He thinks that ftrong purges frequently repeated in the gonorrhea are very prejudicial. i mult confefs I

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know of no fuch fore method, either in delicate, or irritable habits, to keep up the cordee, to bring on frangury and fever, or to produce fwelled teflicles, as drattic and daily purging.'-After laying down a more gentle procefs, he adds, if instead of fuch a courfe you purge daily, what is the confequence? You keep up a continual irritation on the bladder, by the tenefmus attending frequent purging, and an inclination to make water, or a ftimulus all along the urethra, where the difeafe first lodges; than which nothing is more likely to prolong the inflammation, or to provoke a gleet. Now all this is prevented by 'gentle phyfic, taken every fecond or third day only."

During the whole courfe, he fays, of a virulent gonorrhoea, there is danger of its being carried into the habit, by every thing that flops the difcharge before the infection is removed. The difcharge will be topt by harried walks, or violent exercife of any kind, especially on horseback, or by strong and draftic purges, whether common or merCurial, or by catching cold, or a fever fit, while under a purging

courfe.'

He condemns' univerfally the application of mercury to the diseased part, Rubbing the mercurial ointment on the bubo itself, ferves only to repel the difeale into the habit, let the quantity rubbed on be ever fo proper. Ulcers in the throat, or foul bones, are often the immediate confequence. And here, once for all, I declare loudly against every mercurial application to the difeafed or ulcerated part, in every venereal -Cafe; till the general habit is thoroughly rectified by a proper course.'

Another general rule is, not to legin the mercurial courfe, till the inflammatory stage is either over or confiderably abated.With respect to this we must obferve from our own experience, that there feems to be fomething specific in venereal inflammations: there are cafes in which the inflammation will not yield to the ftricteft antiphlogistic regimen, without the affiftance of mercury.

Our Author's further obfervations are briefly thefe.-That the best preparation of mercury is the ointment; that this fhould be made of

equal

equal parts of lard and quickfilver; that from two to fix ounces fhould be ufed, according to the different appearances in different cases; that where there is a little foreness and heat in the gums, a more fpeedy cure is to be expected, than where there is either none at all, or where there is a more copious falivation.-That in the confirmed lues, the quality of the conftitution, the quantity of mercury requifite, and the proper regimen are to be particularly attended to,-That in fcorbutic, fcrophulous or cancerous habits, the blood must be restored to its natural balfamic ftate, before mercury can effect a cure: that this end is to be ob tained by fresh air, fuller diet, abftinence from mercurials, ftrong decoctions of farfaparilla, the bark, and hemlock, applied both externally and internally. That obftinate schirrofities, of two or three years ftanding, even when ulcerated, and where the schirrus had begun to be affected with pricking and lancing pains, had been cured by the use of hemlock, after a proper mercurial course had been ineffectual. The laft fection is,

On the Prefent State of the Luss.

It is a queftion that has been much agitated, whether the difeafe of which we have been treating, is on the decline or not. I would anfwer it by asking another queftion, Is the paffion for pleasure on the decline? In fact, I believe that the difeafe is growing much more general, while the treatment of it is flill fhamefully unequal.

There has been an era in its history, when it became milder. I allude to the first appearance of the gonorrhoea. But too many furgeons daily fhut up that avenue to relief, by a variety of injections mercurial, balfamic, and aftringent. I leave their patients to bear witness with what woful effects; amongst others, fwelled tefticles, unhappy wives, and a puny pofterity.

Another principal fource of the increase of this evil is the general ignorance with regard to the quantity of mercury requifite, and to the manner of applying it, which changes totally the face and quality of the complaint.

A third moft material circumstance to be reckoned here is that of the grafts from Africa, and both the Indies; where, the treatment being ftill lefs understood, the disease has been fuffered to lay deeper hold, and to produce more stubborn symptoms.

The laft caufe that I fhall mention, but not the leaft, is the conflitution of modern livers; where love of ease, love of pleasure, continual watching, and anxious gaming, have miferably enervated the pofterity of those heroes who fought at Agincourt and Creffy.'

Upon the whole, this Review contains many fenfible and useful obfervations. The language however is often pompous, though the subject itfelf is not the most dignified. Dr Sydenham, fays he, has july acquired the highest rank in the profeffion of phyfic; and to his capacity, equalled only by his candour, I bow with respect. But that great man, it is very certain, has advanced pofitions on this point, which do not well agree with our prefent knowlege of it. According to him, the cure of a clap,' &c.-An admirable affemblage!-Dr. Sydenham fet out in all his dignity; Mr. William Fordyce, furgeon, bowing with reSpect; and the clap introduced, quite a propos, to make up the TR10. D. Art. 49.

Art. 49. Praxis Medica et Chirurgica Nofocomiorum Civitatis Londini. Cui additur Index Morborum et Remediorum. 12mo. 3s. Crowder, &c.

Whatever advantage S. Crowder and Co. may derive from publishing the Praxis Medica, &c. the apothecaries of the refpective hofpitals, we apprehend, will not be much obliged by the work.

* The supplying the hospital pupils with a MS. copy of the Pharma copoeia is a perquilite to the apothecary.

D.

RELIGIOUS and CONTROVERSIAL. Art. 50. A diflinet and compleat View of the Revelation of St. John the Divine, evidencing in the clearest Manner, among other interefting Particulars, the Rife and Progress of Papal Tyranny, Superftition, and Wickedness, together with the certain, total, and not far diftant Deftruction, Rome and its whole Antichriftian Syftem are, by irreversible Decrees, doomed to undergo, to the full and univerfal Establishment of reformed and unsullied Chriflianity. By Theodore Delafaye, A. M. Rector of the united Parishes of St. Mildred's and All-Saints, in the City of Canterbury. 4to. 2 s. Bladon.

We are greatly mistasten if it may not be justly said of all fuch wonderful productions as the above, that they are more likely to amaze than improve the reader.

Art. 51. The Dignity of the Chriflian Priesthood, or the Doctrine of the Church of England vindicated, and proved to be a true Part of the holy Catholic Church, and the Objections of the Roman Ghurch to the Church of England anfwered, and her Errors refuted and corrected, concluding with an Exhortation to Piety and a godly Life. By J. Bland, M. D. 8vo. 2. S. Printed for the Author, at No. 6. Charter-Houfe.

...

Dr. Bland, after speaking a great deal in his dedication concerning the divine attributes of the Archbishop of Canterbury, fights moft ingloriously through more than one hundred empty pages for the dignity of the Chriftian priesthood.

Art. 52. An Expofition of the Church Catechism in a new Method, adapted both to the young Perfon and the Adult; with Variety of original Notes: to which are added Four Sermons on Confirmation, Education, the Choice of a Wife and a Friend, with Morning and Evening Prayers. By the Rev. James Penn, Vicar of Clavering cum Langley, in the County of Effex. 12mo. 3s. Printed for the Author, at No. 129. Foreftreet, and fold by Wilkie, &c.

The church catechifm may more properly be faid to be exposed than expounded by what is here called a new method, but what is really nothing more than a trite, loose, empty paraphrafe. The original notes are no lefs trifling than the original text: thus one of them begins, Atheism is a fin fo infamous, that it is matter of doubt whether an atheift ever exifted.' This is perfectly abfurd. The fermons annexed to this foolish rhapsody are mere school boys exercises. น. Art. 53.

Art. 53. Five Letters on feveral Subjects, religious and historical. In which the injurious Complaints and Mifreprefentations of the popish Writers (in a Book entitled, A free Examination of the common Methods employed to prevent the Growth of Popery) are occafionally confidered. 8vo. Is. 6d. Bathurst.

The fubjects of thefe Letters are, the popular rumour, that has gained fuch general credit, of the extraordinary growth of popery in this kingdom;-antichrift ;-the gun-powder plot;-the Irish matiacre; and religious intolerance. In an appendix, we have a copy of a remarkable breve, fent by Clement XI. to the Emperor Charles the Sixth, during the congrefs at Utrecht. This breve is published from the original impreffion (printed at Rome in 1724) in the library at Lambeth, by permiffion of his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury. This breve fhews clearly, what the Roman catholics now deny, that the doctrine of keeping no faith with heretics is ftill a doctrine of the church of Rome, in the eighteenth century: fhe exprefsly fays, and confirms it by the mouth of her infallible oracle, the pope, that no ftipulations in any wife detrimental to the authority of the Romish church, or that can be fuppofed or understood to be of the leaft prejudice thereto, are from the beginning of any validity.

As to the Letters, they are fenfible, fpirited, and manly; the Author (Mr. Pye) is entitled to the thanks of every good proteftant for them. We cannot help obferving, however, that the preface to them contains fome very illiberal ftri&tures on the author of the Confeffional.

May it not be poffible, fays he, that this angry reclufe, who hath written a fatire against established characters, and established principles, from the dark corner of his library, which he hath brooded over for more than ten years paft, may be fomewhat miftaken in his opinion of men, and of times; and not have fallen at lalt upon the fitteft feafon of communicating it to the world?'

This only thews that Mr. Pye is angry with the author of the Confeffional, though he does not chufe to attack him fairly and openly.

R.

CORRESPONDENCE.

WE have snitivede fome on a

E have received a letter from Salisbury, figned R. B. and containing animadverfions on a pamphlet, entitled, Thoughts on the Causes, and Confequences of the prefent high Price of Provifions; fee Review for December, 1767, p. 470. As our correfpondent deems this pamphlet a work of pernicious tendency, and as he fuppofes we have contributed to extend its circulation, by the notice taken of it in our Review, he thinks it incumbent on us to be particuJarly attentive to what may be offered in oppofition to the fentiments of that author. It is not, however, our province nor our defire, to enter into any controverfy on this topic; and therefore we shall hold ourfelves excufed from printing R. B.'s very long letter'; but as the fubject is of the utmost importance to the public, we fhall briefly mention the principal points on which our correfpondent argues.

Supposed to have been written by Se J

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He fets out with several arguments to fhew that Mr. Js is cotally mistaken in fuppofing the prefent diftreffes of our poor are owing to the increase of money, the increafe of the national debt, and the increase of luxury in confequence of both. In'oppofition to the author's reafoning on thefe heads, our correfpondent endeavours to fhew, that the causes here affigned do not, naturally and neceffarily, nor in part, produce the effects attributed to them by the writer of the pamphlet. What R. B. fays, in particular, of luxury, is as follows:

• Luxury, fays he, confill's either in drefs and magnificence, of in the graufication of our appetites.' We omit what he Jays of the former Species; if the latter he obferves, that the orject of the luxurious man is to procure the choiceft and moft delicate provifions for himself and his friends. Fifh, fowl, venifen, and game of all kinds, make part of his daily food; and to obtain fuch delicacies, he will fpare neither coft nor pains.--If the number of wealthy perfons of this luxurious turn, is of late greatly increafed, it must unavoidably raife the price of fuch fashionable viands; bet then thefe articles make no part of the poor man's diet, nor does the want of them in the least affect his happiness. If he has a fufficiency of beef and cabbage, or pork and peafe,-thefe amply fupply his wants, and are to him a feaft. But the luxurious man feldom floops to fuch ordinary fare; and, confequently, the little confumption he makes of fuch articles cannot much tend to advance their price. As to wheat, in particular, it makes no part of the epicure's bill of fare. The more he indulges in delicacies, the lefs bread he confumes; and therefore his luxury tends rather to fink than to raife the price of wheat. In fhort, theory and fact concur to demonftrate that luxury does not occafion the high price of wheat, and that is the ca pital object under confideration.

What our correfpondent has faid of the increase of our money, taxes and national debt, is very fenfible; but we have not room for particulars; nor for what he has advanced to fhew that the price of labour, or the wages of the poor, are nearly the fame that they were 30, 40, or even 50 years ago. It is of lefs confequence to fhew what are not, than what are, the real operating caufes of the late enormous advance ia the price of provifions: and thefe, he contends, are as follow:

1. The great exportation of corn in 1765.

2. The icanty crops of wheat fince the time of the above-mentioned exportation. Hence, fays he, the high price of wheat, which has kept up that of all other grain; and this has fuper-induced another caufe, viz.

3. The preventing the breeding and fattening of hogs, of which there used to be fo general a confumption among the poor; and the failure of which has unavoidably contributed to raise the price of all other forts of flesh meat.

4. The late increafe of the breed of horses for exportation, and to fupply the confumption by poft-chaifes and other carriages; which, together with the general difufe of oxen * among the fariners, mint lessen

Our correfpondent farther obferves on this head,.that as the cultom of ufing horfes, instead of oxen, for the fervice of hufbandry, has gradually increased for 30 or 40 years pait, and the quantity of ox fcfh has thereby gradually leffened,-fo the price of Hefh-meat, in general, has gradually rilen ever fincer that period; through at the fame time grain, on an average, has been at a lower rate.'

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