no occafion to provide another path for it, and one for which there is no feeming foundation from experience.

Dr. Walter thinks that his experiments will explain many difeafes. If, for inftance, the fecreting branches of the vena portæ are obftructed, the anaftomofing ones will carry bilious blood to the general mafs, and produce jaundice, bilious fevers, putrid fevers, &c. We can only obferve, that there is no inftance of jaundice, but from obftructed excretion; of bilious fevers, but from increafed fecretion; of putrid fevers from either caufe. A difeafed liver produces a cachectic ftate, from imperfect affimilation, in confequence of a want of bile; and when our author calls those branches of the vena portæ fecretory ones, it virtually implies that the blood is changed into bile in them. From the obftruction of the vena portæ he derives also hæmorrhoids; but the blood from the rectum is not carried into the liver: it is the only exception in the alimentary canal. We shall not enlarge on this fubject, because we think the nature of the hæmorrhoidal humours is very obfcure: it seems pretty clear that they are not varicous veins.

Dr. Walter derives inflammation from an acrimony in the blood of the hepatic artery, and calculi or teatoms from the blood's being loaded with thefe peculiar fubftances. This is merely hypothetical: it is of more confequence, when he obferves, that inflammations, ulcers, tumors, and calculi, are from affections of the hepatic artery, and rarely affect the secretion. On the contrary, the cause of infarcted livers appears, from injection, to be fituated in the vena porta.

The Annotationes are intended to be embellished with feveral plates the copy we have received has one only; but this is well executed, and a little attention will fupply the place of the rest. The language, as our readers will perceive from the extract, is neat and perfpicuous: the arrangement is also so clear as fcarcely ever to leave the reader in doubt of the author's defign.

We have, on the whole, received confiderable information. from this work: we have freely mentioned its faults, because it deserved our attention, and that of the world: nor can we think that any man of candor and ability will fuppose himself to be fuperior to error, or difpleafed with the careful examina

tion of his labours.

حم

MONTHLY CATALOGUE.

POETRY.

Poems, chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. By Robert Burns. Printed

WE

at Kilmarnock.

E have had occafion to examine a number of poetical productions, written by perfons in the lower rank of life, and who had hardly received any education; but we do not recollect

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to have ever met with a more fignal inftance of true and unculti vated genius, than in the author of thefe Poems. His occupation is that of a common ploughman; and his life has hitherto been spent in ftruggling with poverty. But all the rigours of fortune have not been able to reprefs the frequent efforts of his lively and vigorous imagination. Some of these poems are of a ferious caft; but the ftrain which seems most natural to the author, is the fportive and humorous. It is to be regretted, that the Scottish dialect, in which thefe poems are written, muft obfcure the native beauties with which they appear to abound, and renders the fenfe often unintelligible to an English reader. Should it, however, prove true, that the author has been taken under the patronage of a great lady in Scotland, and that a celebrated profeffor has interested himself in the cultivation of his talents, there is reafon to hope, that his ditlinguished genius may yet be exerted in fuch a manner as to afford more general delight. In the mean time, we must admire the generous enthusiasm of his untutored mufe; and bestow the tribute of juft applause on one whofe name will be transmitted to pofterity with honour.

The Vifion. A Poem to the Memory of Jonas Hanway, Efq. 4to. 15. 6d. Dodfley.

The diction of this little poem is spirited and elegant, though fomewhat too ornamental; as the following quotation (and the whole is in the same style), will evince:

I faid: and straight a warriour angel came
From a furrounding cloud; his rich attire
Was living purple mix'd with lambent flame;
A fun, his fhield; his falchion, folid fire.
Wide o'er him in triumphal grandeur fpread,
A rainbow waves its rofeate ftreamers high;
An adamantine helmet grac'd his head,

Stupendous glories lighten'd from his eye!
Though terror nodded in his crim fon plume,

Yet mildness temper'd fweet his afpect's orient bloom. The Farrago, a Pick-penny. By Timothy Periwinkle, Efq. late Groom to His Royal Highness Prince Pegafus. 8vo. 1s. Hazard, at Bath. Many a true word is fpoke in jeft! and we cannot better characterife this performance than by adopting the motto prefixed to it. 6 Say what you will, its a pick-penny.

DRAMATI C.

The Death of Dion. A Tragedy. Written by Thomas Harwood, of Univerfity College, Oxford. 8vo. 15. 6. Scatchard and Whitaker.

• There is a fomething hangs upon my mind,
That faddens, and yet gladdens every thought.'

So fays one of the characters in this tragi-comic performance: and of this fadnefs' and 'gladnefs,' we partook in the perufal;

I

but

but our mirth was excited by the ludicrous images it contained; and we grieved for the author, not the hero of the piece.

The Sultan; or, a Peep into the Seraglio. A Farce. 15. Dilly.

This little piece is not new to the ftage, but now only first published. It is taken from Marmontel, and is a pleafing vehicle for mufic, as well as for the fpirit and naiveté of Mrs. Abingdon or Mrs. Jordan.

NOV E L 'S.

Exceffive Senfibility; or, the Hiftory of Lady Saint-Laurence 2 Vols. 12mo. 6s. Robinfons.

This novel has no very distinguishing qualities: the arrangement is fufficiently artificial to interest the reader; and the events are fo much within probability, as not to difguft him. Thefe volumes must be arranged in the middle clafs they are not fo excellent as to deferve great commendation, or so trifling as to excite contempt; and we think they more nearly approach the former than the latter rank.

The Curfe of Sentiment. 2 Vols. 65. Robinsons.

This is a pathetic and an interefting tale: the feelings are hurried away in commiferation of the diftrefs; the heart is foft ened, but, we fear, not amended. Whatever had been the affection which the tender, the artless Adeline had excited, however the hero had been previoufly enfnared in the trammels of apparent virtue, but of real vice and dishonour, Adeline fhould have been informed of that marriage, and the fubfequent feparation. If the tale be fictirious, this is a fault in the author; if it be genuine, it is a blemish in the character of the hero, whofe greatest misfortunes originate from that concealment. It is faid to be true; perhaps it is an embellished truth, for we have reafon to fuppofe that part of it at leaft is added. There is little novelty in the narrative; but the diftrefs is worked up with fingular power and pathos. If our limits had allowed, we fould have enlarged a little more on the ftory.

Georgina; or, the Memoirs of the Belmour Family. By a Young Lady. 4 Vols. I2m0. I 25 Baldwin,

This is a perpetuum carmen, and gives a hiftory of the adventures of grandfathers and grandmothers, continued down to their defcendants, without an adventure that can amuse, or an obfervation that can inftruct. It is as dull as a homily, and as uninterefting as fir Richard Baker's Chronicle. We hope the young lady had learned the art of making pies and puddings, with the long etcetera of female accomplishments, before she was initiated into this idle trade,

Henrietta of Gerftenfeld. A German Story. 12mo. 35. Lane. This Story is faid to be the production of M. Wieland; but, from fome circumftances, it is left unfinished, either in the ori

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ginal or tranflation. If we mistake not, the accounts which we have seen of the original, speak of more than one volume. The ftory, fo far as it goes, is well told; the reflections are judicious, and the moral unexceptionable.

There are a few defects in the tranflation, which feem to fhow that the author i a foreigner; but, in the fubftance, independent of the form, there is much merit. Is it in confequence of our common ancestry, that we feel a congenial warmth for every thing of German origin? or do we only approve of their writings becaufe of the ftrong, found, good fenfe, which is observable in every page?

On the whole, we have read the work with fo much pleasure, as to induce us to wish for the continuation.

Caroline; or, the Diverfitics of Fortune. A Novel 3 Volsa 12m0. 95. Lane.

This is a pleafing and interesting story though made up of 'fhreds and patches' of the fcenes and characters of fimilar works; yet they are well arranged, and the attention is fo closely fixed, that we want not the charm of novelty. The incidents are, however, rather too artificial; and we fee too plainly the finger of contrivance. The intricacies, arifing from changes of names, alfo rather difpleafe, from their frequent introduction. Thefe errors leffen a little the pleasure which would be otherwise felt, but the work has fufficient merit, in other respects, to atone for them.

The Village of Martindale, A Novel. 2 Vols. 12mo. 6s. Lane. The author promised us novelty, and he has not difappointed

us.

We do not mean to fay, that the knighted trader, the me◄ thodical juftice, or the punning efquire, are wholly new; but they are diftinguished by peculiar features, and a particular air, which render them pleafing companions, because they are not • fo common-hackneyed in the eyes of men.' Punning is a low fpecies of wit; but Mr. Sutherland's puns are commonly fuccefsful; and the whole is an ingenious and animated performance. The story is conducted with fkill: we were interefied in the progrefs, aud pleafed with the conclufion.

Retaliation; or, the Hiftory of Sir Edward Ofwald and Lady Frances Seymour. A Novel. In a Series of Letters. By Mrs. Cartwright. 4 Vols. 12mo. 12.5. Noble.

A play has been written for the fake of the stage-effect of the fifth act; and this novel's chief claim to applaufe arifes from the incident in the fourth volume, which is conducted with great address. The reft is trite, infipid, and common. The moral

is, however, good, and we fhall tranfcribe it in the author's own words: the affectation of pretty language is equally confpicuous. in other places; and it is always reprehenfible, as inconfiftent with a juit taste.

A deviation from truth, however apparently plaufible are its motives, can never meet with the fanction of Heaven, but must revert, with the interest of forrow, on the heart which has, for a moment, been feduced into a forgetfulness of the never-fading beauties of fincerity."

Orlando and Seraphina. A Turkish Tale. 2 Vols. 12mo. 5s, fewed.

Lane.

This flory, confeffedly imaginary, is borrowed from one of the inftances of Kirke's unfeeling cruelty, related by Hume. The narrative is well conducted the changes, though fometimes at the extreme verge of probability, are yet, on the whole, fufficiently credible; the language is correct, forcible, and often elegant; the characters varied and well difcrimi, nated. The termination differs from the event as it occurs in Hume it is a happy one,

The Turkish manners are drawn from the relations of tra vellers, particularly from the baron de Tott and Habefci. Whether the author has not been fufficiently attentive, or Eu ropean notions are fixed too deeply to be thrown off, through a continued work, we know not, but the customs are fometimes mistaken; and, to a nice enquirer, this error destroys the cunning, the magic of the fcene. The outline is well preferved by the alfitances which we have mentioned: the error is in the the minuter parts of the finishing.

Lumley-Houfe. A Novel. By a Young Lady. 3 Vols. 12mo. 75. 6d. ferved. Lane.

Mean fufpicion is more difgraceful than an eager credulity: though we have often been deceived by fpecious appearances, we fhall once once more believe; for, after carefully reading thefe volumes, we can find in them nothing inconfiftent with the defcription of the author which appears in the title. The young lady attempts to walk in the footsteps of mifs Burney: it would be injudicious praife, as well as injurious to her fair fame,' to say that he has equalled Cecilia or Evelina. As a first attempt, this work deferves praife: it is the luxuriant herbage, which promifes an ample harveft in due feafon. The flory is well conducted; the characters properly fupported; and the denouement is rendered interefting. The characters have, however, little novelty in the fecond volume, the story drags fomewhat heavily along; and the event is too plainly revealed by the little incident in the octagon chapel. There are no highly-finished fcenes, which hurry away the feelings in the whirlwind of passion, or those little characteristic details of lower life, which evince a deep knowlege of the human heart. We have mentioned very freely the young lady's defects, to point out the objects for her future attention. We mean not to leffen her merits; for we must repeat, that this is in general a very pleafing and interefting work. The remarks are animated and juit: the language, elegant and correct.

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