Art. 36. A practical Treatise on Diet, and on the most salutary and agreeable Means of supporting Life and Health by Aliment and Regimen. Adapted to the various Circumstances of Age, Constitution, and Climate; and including the Application of modern Chemistry to the Culinary Preparation of Food. By W. Nisbet, M. D. Author of the Clinical Guide*. 8vo. pp. 434 6s. Boards. R. Phillips. 1801. We have in this work a pretty extensive and minute, though rather a common-place view of the nature and effects of most of the substances which are employed as food; together with observations on many other circumstances connected with the support of life and health. The author, however, seems in many cases to have adopted opinions on the properties of different kinds of aliment, without taking into consideration any of the experiments which have been made by philosophers of modern times on the subject of digestion. This process, if we may judge from observations which sometimes occur in his work, is considered by him as intimately connected with fermentation and acidity; though it has been shewn that, in the healthy stomach, neither of these changes necessarily takes place. Yell. Art. 37. The English Olive Tree, or a Treatise on the Use of Oil, and the Air Bath: With Miscellaneous Remarks on the Prevention and Cure of various Diseases, Gout, Rheumatism, Diabetes, &c. By the Rev. W. Martin Trinder, LL. B. at Oxford, and M.D. at Leyden. Second Edition, much enlarged. 8vo. pp. 96. 58. Dwyer. 1802. The union of the divine and the physician is strongly recommended by the author of this work, as likely, among other reasons, to raise the poor clergy from secret distress to competency; and to cut down the present rate of fees, particularly in England, so as to exclude no man from ready and judicious aid.-We shall not enter into an examination of the propriety or expediency of the clergy becoming practitioners in medicine, nor of the reasons which the author has adduced on this subject. We have no doubt that he means well in these and the other remarks which he now lays before the public; but we by no means consider him, from the present specimen of his success in the prosecution of medical inquiries, as having done much towards making the union of professions popular. The air bath, or in other words the exposition of the naked body to the cool morning air in a bed-room, is recommended by the author as well adapted to prevent disease, by exciting a discharge of perspirable matter, and removing the tendency of the fluids to putrefaction. Friction with oil he considers as useful in recruiting strength, when exhausted by fatigue, without producing an obstruction of the exhalants. He also extols it as a valuable remedy in plague, dropsy, and many other diseases. He is of opinion that, if oil, poured on the troubled waves of the sea, can assuage their restlessness, so inunction over the human frame may soothe the irritability of the nerves, and restore the mind to tranquillity;' and hence he recom · *See Rev. vol. xxxviii. N. S. p. 314. mends mends it in indirect debility, and consequent spasm in the nervous Art. 38. Dissertations on White Swelling of the Joints, and the Doc Though the object of the present work is to improve the treatment of white swelling of the joints, the author does not appear to speak from actual experience in this disease. He disagrees with Mr. Benjamin Bell on the propriety of dividing it into the scrophulous and rheumatic species; and he states it as his decided opinion, that it always partakes of the nature of scrophula, that it has its origin in debility, and that it is to be cured by an invigorating and stimulating plan of treatment. He disapproves of the antiphlogistic regimen, topical bleeding, purging, and cold applications; and he recom mends nourishing food, the warm bath, warm fomentations, pressure with rollers, and rest. If the disease should not yield to this plan, he advises friction with the opiate liniment, or some oleaginous substance, immediately after the fomentations; and he supposes that, in this stage, small doses of mercury may have a good effect. He adds that it may perhaps be proper to employ blisters: but, from the very slight manner in which he seems to estimate this important remedy, he appears to be imperfectly acquainted with the good effects frequently experienced from their employment. POETRY, &'c. Art. 39. Numerous compilations of this kind have been presented to the public, at different times; and of all of them it might be said that their contents were very various, not only in point of subject and manner, but in point of merit. To the small selection before us, nearly the same character will apply: but, on the whole, we think that there is by no means a predominance of inferiority: a number of good old songs are preserved: several of those which are original have considerable comic effect; and nothing has been admit. ted to transgress the bounds of propriety. Art. 40. An Elegy sacred to the Memory of Lady Wright, formerly of Ray-House, Essex, but late of Bath; who, on the 6th of January in the Year of Jesus Christ 1802, quitted the dark Wilderness of this World for the happy Regions of Light, Bliss, and Immortality. By the Author of the Celestial Companion Woolsey). 4to. pp. 23. (R. A pious and affectionate tribute to the memory of a much esteemed Friend. The use of the monosyllable here for hither, at the end • This work is at present under our consideration. Yell. Do G.2. of two of the stanzas, is inadmissible; and the following line loses its measure, if properly pronounced: “For me, ǎbsent or present was designed.” Art. 41. The Horrors of Bribery; a penitential Epistle from Philip P. P. in general gives us a penny-worth for our penny: but here the rogue has completely taken us in, and has sadly disappointed our features, which were all prepared for a little risible exercise. The Tinman, though he hammers away in the true west-country dialect, assisted by his friend Tap, makes duller music than we should have expected to have heard from any tin-shop in the purlieus of Parnassus. May it repent thee, P. P., of doing Philip Hamlin's letter into verse; for thou oughtest to have been better employed, and not have buried thy genius in a tinker's budget! Thy muse seems to resent such vile drudgery, and does not recover herself till she speaks in propria persona, which happens not till she comes to these two stanzas, with which the poem concludes: • Such are the TINMAN'S tuneful sighs, Nor boast the iron heart of P—; But show that thine was form'd in MERCY's mould. No actual rape took place, thank Heav'n! A country Bumpkin in his love A simple Cymon, 'midst the polish'd GRACES. Then smile, and put the Bumpkin out of pain, Having thus, in spite of our mortification, endeavoured to exhibit him to the best advantage, we shall be very angry if P. P. does not look gracious, and promise to make us amends for thus introducing us to his new acquaintance, the crock and kettle-mender, whose melancholy penitence quite overcomes us: Hear me a bit-Lord! Lord! I thort no harm - Art. 42. The Lapse of Time. A Poem, for the New Year. By This lady's memory outruns her imagination, and her verses exhibit more traces of poetic reading than trains of poetic fire. She may not, however, so much wish to be a good poet as a good preacher, and may ManR Moy may excuse us from the fulsome flattery of telling her that all the muses presided at her birth, if we eclio a part of her serious exhortation: O then, while yet ye may Ye sons of sensuality and vice! Welcome the annual change with change of life Was the lyre ever strung more completely to the tune of an old 'sermon ? *LAW. Art. 43. Essays On the Action for Money Had and Received; on the Law of Insurances; and on the Law of Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes. By William David Evans, Esq. Barrister at Law. 8vo. pp. 540. 10s. 6d. Boards. Robinsons. In the first of these essays, which discusses a subject that has been only incidentally treated by other writers, we discover many marks of patient investigation, and nice discrimination. Mr. Evans, however, cannot accede to the doctrine laid down by Mr. Justice Buller in the case of Lowry v. Bourdieu, Dougl. 468, where his Lordship observed, "That there is a sound distinction between contracts executed and executory; and if an action is brought to rescind a contract, you must do it while the contract continues executory." Such a decision, the author conceives, cannot be sustained on any principles of general reasoning. It must be observed that the law, as laid down by Mr. J. Buller, has been recognized by Mr. J. Heath in the subsequent case of Tappenden v. Randall, C. P. T. 41 Géo. III. 2 Bos. & Pull. 467. His Lordship says, "It seems to me that the distinction adopted by Mr. Justice Buller between contracts executory and executed, if taken with those modifications which he would necessarily have applied to it, is a sound distinction. Undoubtedly there may be cases where the contract may be of a nature too grossly immoral for the Court to enter into any discussion of it: as, where one man has paid money, by way of hire, to another to murder a third person. But where nothing of that, kind occurs, I think there ought to be a locus pænitentia, and that a party should not be compelled, against his will, to adhere to the contract.?" The contents of the present volume are highly creditable to the talents and knowledge of the writer; and, we recommend it with perfect confidence to the attention of our professional. readers.The printer has not discharged his duty with so much accuracy as the author. Art. 44. The Reports of Sir Edmund Saunders, Knt., late Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench; of several Pleadings and Cases in that Court, in the Reign of King Charles the Second; with three Tables, 1st, of the Names of the Cases, 2dly, of the Mat Moy. S.R. ters ters contained in the Pleadings, and 3dly, of the principal Matters contained in the Cases. The 3d Edition, with Notes and References to the Pleadings and Cases. By John Williams, Serjeant at Law. Royal 8vo. Vol. II. 11. 16s. Boards. Cadell and Davies. 1802. Of the first volume of this highly improved edition, we gave an account in our 30th Vol. N. S., to which we must refer our readers, as its presents a view of the many valuable additions introduced by the present editor. These Reports have always been in high esti mation, and have received a great accession to their utility by the very learned, comprehensive, and judicious notes of Serjeant Williams. Indeed, several important topics, such as Common Recoveries, Seire Facias, Error, Policies of Insurance, Contingent Re-, mainders, and Executory Devises, are considered in these volumes with such accuracy, and at such length, as nearly to supersede the necessity of applying to any other works for information on those sub. jects. Whether this performance will be found useful on the Circuit, according to the editor's expectation, we will not presume to determine: but we are perfectly satisfied that, in many other situations, it will greatly facilitate the labours of the professional man. POLITICS. Art. 45. Ten Letters, principally upon the Subject of the late contested S.R. We have here a correspondence between Mr. Davison and Mr. Maddock, Nottingham electors, in which the former complains of being calumniated by the latter, as "an enemy to the executive Government;" and the latter replies without either boldly maintaining or ingenuously retracting the charge. Mr. Davison is a manly, clearheaded Whig, and has defended his character and political principles, with great spirit and ability. Art. 46. A Letter to John Bowles, Esq. on the Subjects of his two Pamphlets lately published, and intitled, "Thoughts on the late General Election as demonstrative of the Progress of Jacobinism," And "A Letter addressed to the Honourable Charles James Fox, in Consequence of his Speech in the House of Commons, on the Character of the late most Noble Francis Duke of Bedford," &c. &c. 8vo. 4d. Jordan. Mr. Davison here again enters the lists; and, after having vindieated his own character, he proceeds in behalf of the Nottingham Whigs to inflict public chastisement on Mr. Bowles, for misrepresenting the procession at the late election in that town, as indicating the progress of Jacobinism in this country. Mr. D. boldly and une quivocally contradicts Mr. B.'s assertions, and expresses surprize that he should have the audacity to publish such a string of slander. ous untruths. May Do Art. 47. A Letter to Robert Davison, Worsted Spinner, by Mr. Alexander Foxcroft, Attorney at Law, Nottingham; with the Reply of the former thereto. 8vo. 6d. Jordan. А сол |