cafe of tubercular phthifis, where it was afcertained by diffection, that fuppuration had not taken place. In a very recent cafe of phthifis, the relief afforded by the hydrogene was very trifiing, not equal to what I have produced in fimilar cafes, by common methods of practice. But what has moft disappointed me, is the want of efficacy in this medicine, in a curable difeafe, a common cafe of peripneumony, in which the patient recovered by the ufual remedies. In one cafe the patient was greatly relieved from his complaints, by ordinary medicines, after a long ineffectual courfe of hydro-carbonate. I have no reason to fufpect want of accuracy in adminiftering the gafes here." They were prepared exactly according to Mr. Watt's directions; in the beginning of most of the obfervations, they were exhibited in my prefence, and I have carefully noted every accidental omiffion. That they were given in dofes fufficiently ftrong is evident, from the intoxication or delirium, which was produced in most of these instances. On the other hand," the author adds, " it must be confeffed, that the hydrogene gave much relief to one patient, in the advanced state of phthifis, and that fome benefit refulted from it, in a chronic afthma. As far as my obfervation goes, therefore, I have only found the pneumatic medicines palliate, and even that effect has proved but tranfitory." The author intends continuing his experiments, and from his candour and impartiality, the public may expect that the value of thefe medicines, which has been fo greatly over-rated, will be fairly appreciated. On the converfion of diseases, a subject little noticed by medical writers, and the dilatation of the heart, which were treated of alfo in the first volume, we meet with many ingenious and valuable obfervations, which we must be content thus generallyto mention. The volume concludes with an appendix, containing a defence of a paper entitled, Arguments against the Doctrines of Materialifm*, publifhed in the last volume of the Memoirs of the Manchester Society, in anfwer. to Dr. Tatterfall. The author confines himfelf to the task of expofing the misreprefentations of his antagonists, which he does with great good humour and ingenuity, rightly observing, that the facts, on which his argument is founded, cannot by any fophifm be overturned. See British Critic, Vol. II. p. 364. Y y BRIT. CRIT. VOL. VI. DEC. 1795% ART. ART. XVIII. The Naturalift's Mifcellany, or coloured Figures of natural Objects, drawn and defcribed immediately from Nature. Vol. V. and VI. 8vo. 11. 6s. or 1s. 6d, each Number. Vivarium Natura, five rerum naturalium variæ et vivida icones, ad ipfam Naturam depicta, et defcripta. Nodder. 1794 and 1795. WE return with peculiar fatisfaction to the mention of a work, in which fo much claffical elegance is united with fo much curious and accurate knowledge in natural hiftory. Since the publication of our former account*, we have frequently reproached ourselves for having omitted to notice the peculiarly elegant ftyle in which the Latin defcriptions are penned; but juftice has lately been done to the merits of the writer, by fo confummate a judge in fuch matters, that we cannot better make atonement for our omiffion than by citing his words. Dr. Parr in his late pamphlet, in answer to Dr. Combe, thus fully expreffes his opinion: "More than once it has fallen in my way to fee fome botanical pieces, written by Dr. Shaw, of the British Mufeum, and happy am I in this opportunity of declaring the delight I felt from the pure and flowing Latinity, the appofite and lucid expreffions, the delicate fentiments, and the harmonious periods which adorn his charming compofitions." P. 71. Suffice it to add, that in the various fubjects of defcription which occur in the Naturalift's Mifcellany, Dr. Shaw is no lefs happy than in those botanical productions which Dr. Parr had seen. We fhall fubjoin a specimen in which the learned author declares his adherence to Peirefc's folution of the reputed blood fhowers recorded in 'hiftory, a curious fubject, and very ably handled. It occurs in the defcription of the Papilio Atalanta, which we fhall therefore infert entire, together with the English account correfponding. "In formofiffimis, quotquot generat Britannia, infectis habendus Papilio Atalanta ex eruca oritur, quæ plerumque urticæ vulgaris cui infidere folet, folia depafcitur. In pupam feu chryfalidem menfe Julio et Augufto ut plurimum convertitur, è qua diebus fedecim feu octodecim erumpit Papilio. "Pleraque infecta lepidoptera fimul atque è chryfalide liberantur, vel cum primum fe fugæ commiferint, guttas aliquas liquoris cujufdam colorati, ut plurimum magis minufve rubri, folent emittere. Hoc in plurimis fpeciebus communibus fæpifimè cernitur, in papilione fcilicet urticæ, Atalanta, Polychloro, reliquifque; et, ut taceam fimile quidpam velle naturam in cæteris animalibus recens natis, dignum eft ut Brit. Crit. Vol. II. p. 439, for Dec. 1793. Art, XVI. præcipuè præcipuè notetur, cum optime explicet phænomenon, non modo anLiquis temporibus, fed ct recentioribus, prodigii loco habitum; guttarum nempe fanguinearum ab aere defcenfum, quem memorant varii fcriptores, Ovidius præcipuè, inter portenta quæ, trucidato Cæfare, Romanorum animos turbarunt. Sæpe faces vifæ mediis ardere fub aftris : Sæpe inter nimbos guttæ cecidere cruenta. Rem miram quæ diu crux erat philofophorum, verifimiliter explicaffe primus videtur celeberrimus Peirefcius, qui in Gallia anno millefimo fexcentefimo octavo fuis oculis phænomeni veftiga examinavit, fibique perfuafiffimum habuit proveniffe guttulas rubras è papilionis fpecie, papilione fortaffe urticæ, id temporis præter folitum abundante, præcipuè prope loca ubi nimbus cruentatus ceciderat. In hanc fententiam ivit Swammerdamus, qui tamen non aurons fuiffe videtur. Eo me magis de hac re intelligenda folicitum fentio, quod noverim auctorem, cujus me nomen jam effugit, non modo de caufa hujufmodi imbris, fed et de ipfo imbre omnino dubitaffe. Satis tamen probavit Peirefcius, oculatus teftis, revera deveniffe à papilionibus circumvolitantibus humorem prædictum, quafi fanguine rubentem; cumque de eo fententiam firmaverit acutiffimi Swammerdami judicium, vix poffit dubitari quin peritiffimorum horum hominum fagacitas rem difficilli mam acu tetigerit." "The Papilio Atalanta is one of the most beautiful of the British infects, and proceeds from a caterpillar, which feeds on the leaves of the common nettle. It generally changes to a chryfalis in the month of July or Auguft; from which, in about the space of fixteen or eighteen days, emerges the complete infect. "The papilionaceous infects in general, foon after their enlarge ment from the Chryfalis, and commonly during the first flight they take, discharge fome drops of a coloured fluid, which in many fpecies is of a red, more or lefs intenfe. This may be frequently obferved in fome of the most common fpecies, as the P. Urtice, Atalanta, Polychloros, &c. and is a circumftance which, exclufive of its analogy to the fame procefs of nature in other animals, is peculiarly worthy of attention, from the explanation which it affords of a phænomenon fometimes confidered, both in ancient and modern times, in the light of a prodigy; viz. the defcent of red drops from the air, which has been called a fhower of blood: an event recorded by feveral writers, and particularly commemorated by Ovid among the prodigies which took place after the death of the great dictator. *It fhould be observed that Ovid, whom the Doctor quotes, fpeaks of these prodigies as previous to the death of Cæfar, Signa tamen luctus dedit haud incerta futuri. Virgil, whom perhaps he had fill more in his recollection, but could not cite because he does not mention the fhower, makes them fubfequent. Illé etiam extinto miferatus Cæfare Romam. It is curious enough, that Dryden has committed the contrary error, and tranflated Virgil thus, He firft the fate of Cæfar did foretel, And pitied Rome, when Rome in Cæfar fell, Sæpe faces vife mediis ardere fub aftris : "With threat'ning figns the low'ring fkies were fill'd, This highly rational elucidation of a phenomenon, at first view fo inexplicable, feems to have been firft proposed by the celebrated Pierefe, who, with his own eyes obferved the veftiges of an appearance of this kind in France, in the year 1608, and was clearly convinced of its real origin; viz. the difcharge abovementioned, proceeding from a fpecies of butterfly, probably the P. Urtica, which happened during that feafon to be uncommonly plentiful in the particular diftrict where the phænomenon was obferved. The fame idea was alfo entertained by Swammerdam, though he does not appear to have verified it from his own obfervations. I am the more particular on this fubject, as I have feen in fome author, whofe name I do not at prefent recollect, this folution, and even the appearance itfelf regarded as in the higheft degree improbable: but the ocular atteftation of fo eminent a character as Peirefc, and the full perfuafion of a reafoner like Swammerdam, are furely fufficient to establish not only the credibility but the certainty, both of the phænomenon itfelf and its explication." Vol. V. pl. 157. Such excurfions, for the fake of curious or elegant illuftration, are interfperfed occafionally; as for example, in the account of the Shell Dione, pl. 163, where Dr. Shaw gives an epigram of Aufonius, with a new tranflation, and two Latin verfions, one by a friend, the other by himfelf, of a paffage cited from the Botanic Garden, which appears in the English part. Under the article of the common flea, which, by the mode of treating it is rendered very pleafing, we have a citation from Ariftophanes, and a copy of verfes from the Christ Church Carmina Quadragefimalia, both of which are well tranflated in the fubfequent part. Even the Pediculus is rendered interefting by feveral claffical allufions, and fome difcuffion of the diforder phthiriafis. The opinion of the Doctor on this fubject is, perhaps, rather bold. He ventures to express doubts, whether a real and genuine phthiriafis (confidered as a primary disease) has ever appeared: but he alledges reafons which certainly have confiderable force. But why may we not afk, fhould this be fuffered to continue a matter of doubt? A celebrated literary character, often mentioned by Bofwell, as intimate with Dr. Johnfon, is faid to have died with that diforder upon him. The medical gentlemen who attended him, as he was a man of fortune, were probably of the first eminence, and are probably alfo ftill living: from them, therefore, all the facts may be known, how the diforder made its appearance, what modes of cure it refifted, &c. and furely thefe these things ought to be enquired, before fuch evidence of facts fhall perish. The most remarkable creatures described in thele two volumes are the Diogenes Crab, pl. 160; the European Bee-eater pl. 162. from an unpublifhed drawing, as we underftand, of the celebrated Edwards, a moft beautiful bird; the Head of the Dado, from the Afhmolean Mufeum at Oxford, pl. 166; the White-fronted Owl, pl. 171, a diminutive species never before figured; the mailed Coccus, pl. 182, a microfcopic infect found on plants of the cryptogamia clafs; the Lepidopterine Mite, pl. 187, an acarus which infefts the wings of butterflies, and the reft of that tribe; the Duck Barnacle, pl. 191, in which the curious fancies of the old naturalifts are well recorded; the Auftralian Frog, pl. 200, a deformed, but very curious fpecies, from New Holland; the fingle finned Lophius, pl. 203, a moft extraordinary fith, of which the Doctor doubts whether it is really a Lophius, or a fœtus of the trichechi, or any of the cetaceous tribe; the Aculeated Aphrodita, pl. 205, or Sea Caterpillar; with the Clavate, pl. 154; and Fafciculated Afcidia, pl. 214. We cannot undertake to enumerate all the curious particulars contained in thefe entertaining volumes; but we can anfwer for it, that thefe now mentioned will abundantly reward the curiofity of those who turn to the plates and defcriptions. The plates continue to be well coloured, and the letter-prefs very good. ART. XIX. Remarks on the Statement of Dr. Charles Combe. By an occafional Writer in the British Critic. 8vo. 94 PP. Is. 6d. Bell, Oxford-fireet. 1795. WE E confider ourselves as parties in the event which gave occafion to this controverfy, and it is this confideration. alone which obliges us to abitain from taking that extenfive notice of the pamphlet before us, to which its merits as a compofition pre-eminently entitle it. We must content ourfelves with recommending the perufal of it to men of learning, tafte, and virtue. In juftice nevertheless to the indubitable integrity of our learned coadjutor, we think it neceffary to fay, that the proofs here adduced, on pecuniary matters, as well as the authentic written documents which we curfelves have feen, completely vindicate his honour, and his friendship, from the unbecoming accufations of the furviving editor of Horace. Some political topics are introduced, which have no immediate connection with the original difpute, but find a place |