quences. In the influence of the magnetism, nature holds out to us a sovereign instrument for securing the health and lengthening the existence of mankind." of iron that were inserted in its lid. The patients then, arranged in considerable number, and in successive ranks, round the bucket, derived the magnetic virtue at once from all these conveyances:-from the branches of iron, which transmitted to them that of the bucket ;-from the cord which was passed round their bodies, and the union of their fingers, which communicated to them that of their neighbours;-—and from the sound of the piano forte or a musical voice, which communicated through the air. The patients were besides magnetised directly, by means of a finger or a bar of iron, guided before the face, above or behind the head, and over the surface of the parts affected, the distinction of the poles still observed. They were also acted upon by a look, and by having their attention excited. But especially they were magnetised by the application of the hands, and by the pressure of the fingers upon the hypochonders and the regions of the lower belly;-an application frequently continued for a long time, sometimes for several hours. The apparatus necessary for the administration of the magnetism, and the method in which it was employed, were the following. In the centre of a large apartment was a circular box made of oak, and about a foot or a foot - and an half deep, which was called the bucket. The lid of this box was -pierced with a number of holes, in which were inserted branches of iron, elbowed and moveable. The patients were arranged in ranks about this bucket, and each had his branch of iron, which, by means of the elbow, might be applied immediately to the part affected. A cord passed round their bodies, connected the one with the other. Sometimes a second means of communication was introduced, by the insertion of the thumb of each patient between the fore finger and thumb of the patient next him. The thumb thus inserted was pressed by the person holding it. The impression received by the left hand of the patient. In this situation the patients offered was communicated through his right, a spectacle extremely varied, in proand thus passed through the whole portion to their different habits of circle. A piano forte was placed in body. Some of them were calm, tranone corner of the apartment, and dif- quil, and unconscious to any sensaferent airs were played, with various tion; others coughed, spat, were afdegrees of rapidity. Vocal music was fected with a slight degree of pain, a - sometimes added to the instrumental. partial or an universal burning and The persons who superintended the perspiration; a third class were agi-process had each of them an iron tated and tormented with convulsions. rod in his hand, from ten to twelve These convulsions were rendered exinches in length. This rod was a traordinary by their frequency, their conductor of the magnetism, and had violence, and their duration. As soon the power of concentring it at its as one person was convulsed, others -point, and of rendering its emana-presently were affected by that symptions more considerable. Sound was tom. Accesses of this kind sometimes also a conductor of magnetism; and lasted upwards of three hours; they in order to communicate the fluid to were accompanied with expectorations the piano forte, nothing more was ne- of a thick and viscous water, brought cessary than to approach to it the iron away by the violence of the efforts. rod. The person who played upon Sometimes these expectorations were -the instrument furnished also a por- accompanied with small quantities of tion of the fluid; and the magnetism blood; and there was among others a - was transmitted by the sounds to the lad who frequently brought up blood surrounding patients. The cord which in considerable abundance. These was passed round the bodies of the convulsions were characterised by prepatients was destined, as well as the cipitate and involuntary motions of all union of their fingers, to augment the the limbs, or of the whole body; by effects by communication. The interior a contraction of the throat; by sudden part of the bucket was so constructed,affections of the hypochonders and the as to concentre the magnetism; and epigastrium; by a distraction and was a grand reservoir, from which the wildness in the eyes; by shrieks, tears, Buid was diffused through the branches hiccuppings, and immoderate laughter. 1 They were either preceded or followed by a state of languor and reverie, by a species of dejection, and even drowsiness. The least unforeseen noise occasioned starting; and it was observed, that the changing the key and the time in the airs played upon the piano forte, had an effect upon the patients; so that a quicker motion agitated them more, and renewed the vivacity of their convulsions. Nothing could be more astonishing than the sight of these spasms. One that had not seen them could have no idea of them; and in beholding the whole scene, the profound repose of one class of patients was not less striking than the violence with which another class was agitated. ultimately to share the fate of every popular delusion. Fortunately however for science, Mesmer's operations were deemed worthy of the attention of government; and on the 12th of March 1784, a committee, consisting partly of physicians, and partly of members of the royal academy of sciences, was appointed by the king to examine thoroughly the principles of the new magnetical system. At the head of this committee was the celebrated Dr Franklin; and the individuals united with him in the in quiry were, Majault, Le Roy, Sallin, Bailly, D'Arcet, De Bory, Guillotin, and Lavoisier. These philosophers immediately entered on the discharge of the duty which had been intrusted The first part of the work to which to them, with all the judgment and I have alluded, by Thouret, had for assiduity which it was natural to ex its object to shew, that the theory of pect from men so eminently qualified Mesmer, instead of being a novelty in for the task. Mesmer refused to har science, was an ancient system, which any communication with this commit had been abandoned by the learned a tee; but M. Deslon, the most concentury before. He demonstrated, in siderable of his pupils, consented to the most satisfactory manner, by pre- disclose to them the whole principles cise references to the writings of Para- and practice of his master, and to celsus, Van Helmont, Godenius, Bar- sist them in all their investigations gravius, Libavius, Wirdig, Maxwel, Accordingly, the commissioners, after Sir Kenelm Digby, Santanelli, Tent having made themselves tacquainted zel, Kircher, and Borel, that all the with the theory of animal magnetisma, propositions published and avowed by as it was professed by Mesmer, witnessMesmer were positively laid down by ed each of them repeatedly, its effects one or other of these authors. In the in public, when administered by Des second part, Thouret proves, by obser lon; they submitted, in private, to be vations and reasoning, remarkable for magnetised themselves; and they may their acuteness and good sense, that netised others in a variety of circum all the effects ascribed by Mesmer to stances. The final results of their in the operation of a new species of mag- quiry were communicated to the king, netisin, were to be attributed solely to on the 11th of August, in a Reporta the influence of the imagination on the which was drawn up by Dr Franklin, body; that they admitted of the same and which will be read with admira explanation as the cures of the two tion, as long as the history of the bu famous empirics, Greatrakes and Gassman mind affords interest to the moral ner; and that to pretend to the discovery of a curative means, which should extend to every species of disease, or, in other words, to a universal medicine, was an illusion unworthy of an enlightened age. s ro t philosopher or the physiologist. The animal magnetic fluid was pronounced to have no existence; and compression, imagination, and imitation, were shewn to be the true causes of the effects str tributed to it. The curious and ins This work of Thouret's received, teresting inquiries of M. Thouret, from a Committee of the Royal Society say the commissioners, Thave a conof Medicine appointed to examine it, i vinced the public, that the theory, the that praise to which it was so justly operations, and the effects of the ani entitled, from the talent and the erumal magnetism proposed in the last dition it displayed and it cannot be age, were nearly the same with those doubted, that its influence would alone revived in the present. The magne have been sufficient to have arrested cism, then, is no more than an old false019 the progress of the doctrine it exposed, hood. The theory, indeed, is now pre evenit animale magnetism had enotosented (45 was necessary in a mere end been, fumowitsoverycam tum, adestined, balightened lago) with a gróast álegrésű of pomp; but it is not, on this account, the less erroneous." This interesting Report was translated into English, with an Historical Introduction, in 1785; and it is from this translation, which is respectably executed, that the preceding detail has been almost verbatim extracted. It is very important however to mention, that in addition to this Memoir, which was obviously meant for the public eye, the commissioners deemed it their duty to communicate a private Report to the king; in which, with a laudable solicitude for the morals of the sex, they disclosed certain circumstances, accompanying the administration of the magnetisin, in the highest degree unfavourable to the purity of the female feeling and character, and which, by designing individuals, might be rendered subservient to purposes of the most criminal profligacy. This secret Memoir has since been made public. An exposure so complete, accomplished by men whose integrity and talents were acknowledged over the whole of Europe, speedily produced the effects that were to have been expected from it. In a few months, Mesmer and his animal magnetism were forgotten. Since the overthrow of this system, the most remarkable popular delusion which has prevailed, is the belief in the influence of the metallic_tractors of Perkins. With how much talent this deception was exposed by Dr Haygarth and his scientific friends, is generally known. To this most able and intelligent physician, physiology is indebted for a series of experiments, displaying in a manner still more striking perhaps than had hitherto, been done, the influence of powerful emotions on the corporeal frame. G. Edinburgh, Ast Sept. It is my object, on the present occasion, to advert to some of the advantages of which, if impartially considered, the study of ancient and foreign languages will be found to be productive. efl 1 ating influence which they have over the understanding. To be convinced of the reality of this fact, it is only necessary to attend to the operations of the mind to be called forth in learning any language. In acquiring a knowledge of Latin, for instance, a person ought (if I may be allowed to borrow the words of Beattie) to be able to" show, that he not only knows the general meaning, the import of the particular words, but also can refer each to its class; enumerate all its terminations, specifying every change of sense, however minute, that may be produced by a change of inflection or arrangement; explain its several dependencies; distinguish the literal meaning from the figurative; one species of figure from another; and even the philosophical use of words from the idiomatical, and the vulgar from the elegant; recollecting occasionally other words and phrases that are synonymous or contrary, or of different though similar signification; and accounting for what he says, either from the reason of the thing, or by quoting a rule of art or a classical authority;" a mode of proceeding which must, no doubt operate differently, according as it is more or less scrupulously observed; but by which, even when partially adopted, and as far as possible applied to other languages, it will not surely be denied, the attention must be fixed, the judgment strengthened, and the memory improved. All this, it may be answered, is very true, and all this may be safely granted; but it may be asked, in conformity with a very popular objection, at how high a price are these benefits to be purchased? Why at the expense of thought ?-at the expense of that which alone merits a moment's consideration; for, it may be maintained, the natural tendency of such an employment of the human faculties is to abstract the attention from things to words; from real important knowledge to things insignificant in themselves, and valuable only as a meansTM for the attainment of an end. This, however, is evidently founded upon error. Every thing is liable to be abused. But because some men have been deluded by contracted views, and foolishly imagined that their menThe first advantage which I shall tal aliment was augmented in propor notice, as resulting from an acquaint tion as their verbal stores were increas ance with such studies, is the invigored, it does not surely follow that all are equally misled by fancy; or that, in studying different languages, a man may not, at the same time, and with at least equal fervour, attend to the thought as well as to the expression of an author. In fact, no sensible person ever thought of separating the two objects. But besides their utility in invigor ating the understanding, ancient and foreign languages ought likewise to be studied, inasmuch as they facilitate the attainment of our own tongue. In glancing at this part of the subject, I do not mean to insist upon the advantages of etymological researches, in opposition to usage and the practice of the best models of English style. With respect to their mutual influence upon composition, the former must undoubtedly be ranked infinitely below the latter. But I believe it will be admitted by the most inveterate enemy of such inquiries, that by traeing words to their originals, and by viewing them in all different varieties of acceptation in which they have been successively received, a much greater insight into the principles of our vernacular speech will be obtained, than could have been expected from any other source. 1. Another advantage to be derived from acquisitions of this nature arises from the intimate connexion subsisting between the literature of other countries and the literature of this. They are, indeed, so interwoven with each other, that there is scarcely one celebrated work in the English language whose pages do not teem with allusions to ancient and foreign writers. Their very phraseology is often introduced; sometimes for its beauty -sometimes for arguments connected with it. If unconversant with the originals from whom quotations are thus frequently introduced, we must, therefore, be content to remain ignorant of many passages in our own writers, and, consequently, a great portion of our pleasure and our profit must be Lost. Conversation, too, at least that kind of it which ought most highly to be prized the conversation of the knowing and informed,-turns so frequently upon books, and upon topics to which books relate, that without a tolerable knowledge of other languages besides our own, or unless endowed -with very extraordinary powers indeed, we must either be debarred from the enjoyment of the benefits of cultivated society altogether, or be onpelled to listen to that which we do not understand, and which can only mortify our feelings by impressing us with a sense of our own inferiority. But independently of advantages thus extensive and adventitious, ancient and foreign languages will be found to be well entitled to attention, from the pleasure and instruction which they themselves are capable of affording It is to these languages that we are to look for some of the best writer that the world has ever produced. I poetry, in oratory, and in some branches of philosophy, they have never been surpassed. Shall we then deliberate relinquish the possession of such tellectual treasures, merely because cannot undergo the toil of rendering them accessible? Translations will not anewer the purpose. "Let any man," says the writer whom I formerly quoted, "re a translation of Cicero and Livy, and then study the original in his own tongue, and he shall find himself to only more delighted with the manner but also more fully instructed in the matter." "I never could bear to read a translation of Cicero," says Burke, in a letter to Sir William Jones "Demosthenes," continues the same writer, "suffers, I think, somewhat less; but he suffers greatly-so much that no English reader could well con ceive from whence he had acquired the reputation of the first of orators " I once intended," says Dugald Stev art, in reference to some extracts from Bacon, which he had inserted in the original Latin-" I once intended to have translated them; but found way. self quite unable to preserve the weighty and authoritative tone of the original." In the enumeration just exhibited it will be observed I have not included the advantages to be derived from the study of the dead languages, by pa sons who wish to be of the learned professions, and from that of the liv ing ones, by those whose inclination, or whose way of life, renders it nece sary to travel into foreign parts. On this branch of the subject, indeed, it were useless to enlarge; for to pers of this description, such philological studies must be considered not as mere matter of choice, but as absolute ly necessary,nud Gift I REMARKS ON THE STUDY OF SOME BRANCHES OF NATURAL HISTORY. THERE is not any branch of Natural History which has been more sparingly illustrated, in a popular manner, than the science of Entomology; though it may safely be averred, that few of its departments present a more extensive field of observation, or are more capable of exciting astonishment and admiration in the minds of its votaries. In truth, Entomology, as a science, so far from having kept pace with the advancements in other branches of natural knowledge, may be said rather to have retrograded during the labours of the existing generation. That the description of external character, and the determination of species, has been carried to a great degree of excellence cannot be denied; but that a corresponding neglect of the habits, the instincts, and the wonderful economy of insects, has taken place, must also unfortunately be admitted. That systematic arrangement is necessary in natural history, as in all other branches of human knowledge, is a fact too obvious to stand in need of illustration, and is perhaps sufficiently proved by the circumstance of Buffon one of the most accomplished men, and the most whom natural history has enlisted be Heath her banners-having failed to in duce the prevalence of a contrary opinion, notwithstanding every effort of his powerful genius. The want of fixed and determinate principles in the arrangement of Buffon, was indeed the very head and front of his offending" and it is well for science that his example has not been follow The human mind, however, as has been often remarked, is at all times hapo indulge in extremes, and with thirty years from the death of that Philosopher, who affected to disdain fthe trammels of system, we have seen icloud of men arise, some of them fot undistinguished in the annals of science who have devoted themselves industriously, and almost exclusively, in raising up and tumbling down one system of classification after another, without relation to any consequent Cobject of deeper interest, or greater tiporunce, like children tracking out the plans and the boundaries of tem VOL. I. ples and of cities upon the sand by the sea-shore.* I believe it will be acknowledged, on reflection, as well by the uninitiated as the learned, that a comparatively imperfect knowledge of those minuter parts of animals which distinguish and characterise the species, if united with a zeal for acquiring an intimate acquaintance with their instinctive habits, their uses in the creation, their relations to each other as members of one great family, and their beautiful adaptation to the soils and to the climates in which they exist, is of greater value than an exclusive knowledge, however perfect it may be, of those corporeal differences or affinities, by which the various species, families, or classes of animals, may be either separated or combined. If, therefore, it be true, that of two evils we should choose the less, I would not hesitate to say, that it would be far more advisable that naturalists should follow the loose and desultory method of Buffon, and others of his school, than by an entire subjection and devotion to all the minutiae of systematic detail, to neglect whatever is great and beautiful in the science, and thereby forfeit all claim to the praises of mankind, as agents in the extension of the most admirable species of human knowledge. The conduct of such men is in fact incapable of vindication, in as far as the perversion of talent, and the neglect of profiting by those facilities which the nature of their studies afford them, are incapable of being vindicated. Justone of ampiau Such a mode of prosecuting scientific research, if it deserve such an appellation, evidently lessens, not only the degree of interest which natural history is calculated to excite, but by confining this pleasure, limited though it be to the understanding of those only |