lifhed his obfervations during a fhort period; but we think, that they are strong proofs how much might have been at-, tained by more frequent attention to this point. In a work of this kind, it is not eafy to guard againft general conclufions, from particular inftances; and even our author is not exempt from this imperfection. He obferves, for inftance," that wet weather with moderate warmth is not fo injurious asfevere cold. If he means cold and dry weather, the obfervation fhould be greatly limited; if, with wet, it is imper fe&t. Indeed the whole is extremely uncertain, from the indefinite meaning of the word warmth. Again, his reprehenfion of blisters in fummer, becaufe of a ftrangury following them, and his difapprobation of early bliflering, as it exhaufts the efforts with which we muft combat the fubfequent difeafe, are rules too generally deduced from particular circumstances. His cautions, refpecting indifcriminate bleeding in apoplexies and palfies, feem to have been early and deeply impreffed: they appear in many parts of this early work; and his advice refpecting bleeding in the beginning of fevers, is extremely candid and judicious. We fhall felect the following circumftance, because we think it is not commonly known: we are fare it is not often attended to; and it will be a fpecimen of the manner of our author, and of a caution, that we have in many parts of our Review endeavoured to inculcate.

The fmall-pox continue to be moftly benign, often of the coherent kind, efpecially in adults, and a few have the confluent. In thefe the fpitting is commonly very copious, and fo fatiguing as to prevent the patient from enjoying any rest or quiet; occafioning an early tendency to a delirium, and hindering the fwelling of the face. Under thefe circumstances, fmall dofes of fome warm anodyne, fuch as theriac. And. &: conf. Damocrat. from gr. 15 to 3 j. or 3 ís. at a dofe, once in 6 hours, have afforded great relief, and rendered larger doses of a paregoric at night lefs neceffary for fome days; the fpitting becomes lefs troublefome, the face fwells, the pulfe grows full, yet foft, and the oppreffion, of which under this circumftance they often complain, is relieved. In the prefent conftitution at leaft, it will perhaps be found true, from the most impartial and accurate obfervations, (and fuch only ought to be admitted into medical records) that the danger will be in proportion to the fpitting, and that it is expedient to reftrain this difcharge, and to divert the flow of it to the skin, by small doses of opiates. It should be remembered, that this remark relates to the present conftitution; and that it may not always hold good, that we fhould endeavour by warm anodynes to fuppreils a difcharge, which has heretofore been confidered as a peculiar advantage. It should only put us upon obferving the juvantia & lædentia, with

with the utmost attention, and to act as reafon and experience direct.'

Remarks on the Neutral Salts of Plants, and the Terra Foliata Tartari, contain nothing that is now interesting. The chemical facts are at prefent commonly known.

An Effay on the Origin of Amber, and on the Perfian Manna, were read in the Royal Society, and published in their Tranfactions. The former only inculcates the common opinion, that amber is the refin of the pine, coagulated by vitriolic acid. The latter proves, that the Persian manna was procured from the alkagi, the heydifarum alkagi of Linnæus. Sp. Pl. 1051 the thorns and feeds of this plant are for inftance often found in it. We now procure it from a fpecies

of afh.

:

The Obfervations, on a Cafe in the Medical Effays, of recovering a Man, dead in Appearance, were published only to make the cafe more generally known. The Letter to Dr. Mead, on the ruptured Diaphragm; and the different Situation of fome of the Vifcera, contains a defcription of a diffection which we cannot enter on. The Obfervations and Experiments on the Cold of Siberia, are extracted from profeffor Gmelin's elaborate work. Dr. Knight's magnetical machine, which is here described, is now generally known. All these tracts were inferted in the Philofophical Transactions.

The Obfervations on the Ulcerous Sore Throat, are the refult of an attentive enquiry, and careful examination. It 'conferred, at that time, the highest credit on the author; fince it ftemmed the torrent of prejudice, and contributed to check the ravages of a very formidable difeafe. But its excellencies and defects are now fufficiently known.

In the fecond volume are thofe papers, in the Medical Obfervations,' written by Dr. Fothergill, and fome of the more important ones, communicated by him, from the year 1756 to 1775. A letter on the fubject of coffee, written by Dr. Fothergill, and inferted in an hiftorical account of this fubftance, by Mr. Ellis, follows it, together with fome extracts from the work itfelf. The Lives of Dr. Ruffel, and Mr. Colinfon, written with great candour and judgment, but already public, are next re-printed; and the volume concludes with Confiderations relating to the North American Colonies.

The third volume contains the Life of Dr. Fothergill, his Effays printed in the laft volume of the Medical Obfervations, and the Defcription of the Plants in the Upton Garden; these have been already confidered in our Journal. Public curiofity

has

has indeed been amply anticipated, with respect to every thing valuable in this edition. The letter, relative to the intended school at Ackworth, we do not remember to have feen. It was written in 1779, and we have been informed, was published about that time. The English Freeholder's Address to his Countrymen, was published in the year 1780; and the Letter on the Employment of Convicts, in the Gazetteer, in 1776.

The chief novelty in this volume is an account of the difeafe of which Dr. Fothergill died. The original complaint was an inflammation in the bladder; and the final scene was clofed in confequence of an obftinate fuppreflion of urine: this was occafioned by a tumor in the bladder, about its neck, the effect probably of repeated inflammation. To the description are fubjoined fome remarks on the different inflammations of the bladder, by the editor, which fcarcely deserve particular notice. The correfpondence of Dr. Fothergill, of a man whofe opinion was fought with earnestnefs, and received with refpect, fcarcely fills more than eighty pages; fo little could all the diligence of the editor, who was eager to lofe no drop of this illuftrious man,' at this time, fo little distant from his death, recover. Melancholy reflection! that even partial friendship, or recent obligations, fhould have no better effect.

We have thus given a curfory account of the contents of thefe volumes. The tracts already published ought not to have detained us; and the very few which now first appear, are fufficiently characterised from the sketch of Dr. Fothergill, which we have endeavoured to delineate. We can only add, that we know of no work published by him, not included in this edition.

An Effay on the Investigation of the First Principles of Nature: together with the Application thereof to folve the Phenomena of the Phyfical Syftem. Part I. Containing a new Philofophical Theory. By Felix O'Gallagher. 8vo. 5s. in Boards. Murray.

PRofeffus grandia turget.'-That this would be no impro

per motto for our author, his own promises will fufficiently prove. This first part, he observes in the title-page, contains a new Philofophical Theory, by means of which,

firft Principles, with their material Subftances and Effences, are traced and exhibited; the Limits of Inertnefs affigned; the Caufes of Elafticity and Transparency discovered; the real Mode of Light's Propagation determined.' But whether we are peculiarly dull, for we have not been inattentive, of the

author

1

author unusually obfcure, we shall not determine; yet we must confefs, that in no one inftance has he fulfilled his promises, or produced any thing equivalent to a boaft fo extenfive. If we were to guess at the author, and his fituation, we should fuppofe him to be a man of judgment and of experience in fome parts of fcience, particularly in mathematics. With thefe tools in his hand, he has prefumed that he might penetrate into the clofeft receffes of nature, and detect her in her most minute and fecret operations, with little previous acquaintance with her works. His preface indeed deceived us it is clear and accurate; his rules of philofophifing, his definitions, axioms and propofitions are exprcffed with exactnefs, and feem, to be adapted with judgment. He tells us, and in this he does not mislead, that their influence is extenfive, and that it pervades every part of his work. So far we read with pleafure, and we returned to our task with eagerness, expecting also instruction; but we foon found that the author ftumbled in the threshold. Unacquainted himself with the nature of bodies, he confounds what fhould be distinct, and attributes to the compound, properties which belong only to the ingredients. Even the best cause he has injured, by the method which he has adopted to fupport it. That Newton's rules of philofophifing are too general, and that they have fometimes fettered genius, and fet bounds to the mind's eye, with a fine phrenzy rolling,' is certainly true; but it is equally certain that, in our author's plan, the extravagant and erring fpirit will lofe itfelf in a wildernefs of its own formation. We fhall felect fome of his opinions on this fubject.

The whole spirit and tendency of his propofitions, he obferves, is to form accurate diftinctions, which is in a great measure the bufinefs of philofophy: for it is only by furveying nature with a vigilant eye, by ranging her beings and operations in their proper claffes, and by remarking their agreements and diftinctions, that we can hope to investigate her fprings or firft principles. The fpirit of Newton's rules, on the other hand, is to fimplify, and, if poffible, to deduce all effects from the fame caufe: which method, however juft, was dangerous in its application, as it induced his followers not to fearch after, nor admit more principles than one, although more manifeftly difplay themfelves in nature. Two examples. will fhew the different tendencies of both methods.

Conformably to the fpirit of the Newtonian rules, it is faid in the general conclufion, (cited p. 33,) that all bodies confift of one and the fame kind of matter, and that all their varieties proceed from various modifications of the fame particles. It is alfo concluded in the explanation of the third rule, that gravity, vis inertiæ, &c. are the properties of all bodies. But

our rules not only render us more circumfpect in adopting fuch conclufions, but even induce us to reject them. For as to the first, we know that the immediate and phyfical causes of all material effects are themfelves material; that therefore, the caufe of heat, light, and expanfion, or the fubftance producing thofe effects, is material. Again, as by our first propofition, one phyfical agent, or material cause, cannot produce two contrary effects; therefore attraction, which draws together, and expanfion, which feparates, cannot proceed from the fame caufe. Confequently, as thefe two operations are feen to obtain in material nature, they have two distinct material causes, whose effences and propenfities are oppofite; we therefore difallow the general conclufion above cited, and pronounce that experience exhibts, at least, two kinds of matter in nature: for oppofite propenfities must arife from different effences, i. e. different fubftances, confequently different principles.'

Whatever may be expedient in laying the corner-stone of philofophy, fhould certainly not be indulged in fo great an extent. But, in these examples, we firft began to obferve the deviations of our philofopher, who has built his system in the clofet, without enquiring into the operations of nature. We need not be diffuse on this fubject: it will be at once clear, that Newton speaks of matter in the abstract, and our author in the aggregate.

Some portion of this work is employed in oppofing the opinion of Newton, on the vis inertia of matter. This fubject has been again and again canvaffed; till at laft the difputants have found, that they have been contending for little more than words. The vis inertia does not only comprehend refiftance, but also a paffivenefs, in the condition in which the body is placed. So far as relates to that part of the property connected with resistance, the inertnefs is well founded; but, in every other part it must be materially limited. Since the theory of chemistry has been cultivated with more attention' and fuccefs, the fmalle particles of matter are difcovered to be very active, and our author's arguments, from the elasticity of bodies, are well founded; but they have been very often - repeated by the different opponents of Newton.

The next lecture is on elasticity, which is confounded with many other properties in animal bodies, with the expansive power of the halitus under the skin, which, though elastic, is not fo as a portion of animal matter, but only as steam of every kind; with repulfion in phænomena, where there had been no previous compreffion, and even with the inflammation of inflammable bodies. Again, copper is evidently elaftic; but the effects of a drop of water on copper in fufion, arise from the expanfive power of the water, or rather of fteam, not from the ela

fticity