and laying a penalty on labour, is a very extraordinary method of banishing laziness.

If it is afferted, that nothing is fo dangerous as a tax paid by the buyer, which is, nevertheless, the cafe in China, where the taxes are more heavy, and better paid than in any other country; it is certain that the evil is a thoufand times worfe still, when the tax is paid by the cultivator himself. Is it not attacking the fubfiftence of the state even at its fource? Is it not labouring as much as poffible at depopulating the country; and, confequently, ruining it at the long run? for there can be no worse scarcity happen to a nation, than a scarcity of inhabitants.'

It is easy to obferve that every maxim contained in this quotation is falfe, when applied to a free and an opulent country, where there are hoards of riches, which are beneficial only when applied to the purposes of luxury. In England, where the doctrine of financing is better understood than in any other part of the world, the tax upon plate, which, properly speaking, is the only real tax we have upon luxury, brings in little or nothing. The window and the carriage taxes produce large fums; but they are taxes not fo much upon luxury as upon conveniency. A man may fave money by making use of a wheel machine instead of trudging on foot; in the fame manner a good turnpike road, notwithstanding the heavy taxes attending it, may be proved to be an article of frugality instead of luxury. Our author's thoughts upon beggars are whimsical, and can scarcely be understood in England, where no man can be a beggar but from vice or laziness. Our laws punish beggars; but they give to the poor as good a right to their daily bread, as the gentleman has to his fortune, or the artizan to his gains.

As the collection before us appears to be for the most part extracted from different works of Rouffeau rather than separate effays, we fhall not detain the reader with any farther extracts or observations upon them. In general, they discover more true knowledge of nature than of life; and the writer seems to have no adequate ideas of what we very properly call fecond nature; a study which modern philofophers seem too much to neglect, though of the highest importance to mankind, whe acquire it chiefly from the theatre,

V. A Pras

V. A practical Treatife on Wounds, and other Chirurgical Subjects ; to which is prefixed a fhort Hiftorical Account of the Rife and Progrefs of Surgery and Anatomy, addressed to young Surgeons, by Benjamin Gooch, Surgeon. 2d edit. 2 Vols. 8vo. Pr. 145. Cadell. N our Review for the month of February 1758, we gave an

Surgery, published by this author, which we regarded as a useful performance to practitioners in that art. The present work confifts of two volumes, whereof the fecond is a republication of the treatise above-mentioned, but now greatly enlarged, by the addition of other extraordinary cafes and remarks.

The first volume is addreffed to young furgeons, whom the author endeavours to excite to an affiduity in the study of their profeffion, and informs of the opinions both of antient and modern writers on the subjects of which he treats. The practice here prescribed, is drawn from the authority of the most eminent furgeons, and illuftrated with many observations and reflections, supplied by the author's long experience and diligent attention to the improvement of surgical knowledge. Among instances of the fatal effects of a concuffion of the brain, where only the blood-veffels have been found turgid, without any rupture of them, we meet with the following, in this collection.

A very remarkable cafe of this kind I had an opportunity of observing, fome years ago, by opening the head of a boy, who had received a fall a week before, and who from the time of the accident, till the day before his death, was almost inceffantly finging. Upon the ftricteft examination, I could difcover no extravafation or ruptured veffels, but those distributed in the folds of the pia mater appeared very turgid. When this fatal accident happened, the boy was learning pfalmody; and it was obferved by those who attended him on this occafion, that his voice was more melodious after than before it, and that he fung the tunes as truly. The day before he died he grew comatofe, and expired in ftrong convulfions upon the feventh day after the accident.'

As no fatisfactory description of the tumours on the heads of new-born children, is to be found in other phyfical authors, it may not be improper to infert the account of the nature and cure of that diforder, as delivered by this experienced practitioner.

This kind of tumour proceeds from an extravafation of blood, probably, in confequence of fome injury in a laborious, hafty or injudicious delivery; as time fhould always be allowed for a gradual dilatation of the parts, to admit of the exclufion of the foetus with fafety. It is feldom obferved on any other parts

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parts of the head, than the parietal bones; and the extravafat ed blood is moft frequently lodged between the pericranium and the cranium.

This tumour is generally circumfcribed by a ridge, when the extravafated fluid is contained between the cranium and pericranium, and feels as if there was a depreffion or deficiency of the bone; but the deception is owing to the fluid in the diftended pericranium yielding to the fingers, and to the ridge circumfcribing the tumour, which may be taken for the edge of the bone, without very accurate examination.

Some furgeons have looked upon this fort of tumour as an aneuryfm proceeding from the infide of the fkull; others as a hernia of the brain; but was either of these the cafe in question, it must appear between, and not upon the bones, as it does; and according to the firft fuppofition, a pulfation would be obferved in it. That eminent practitioner, Monf. Le Dran, one of the best and most accurate of the French writers, had very confused ideas of this kind of tumour, as we may fee in his first obfervation.

The furgeons of the Foundling-hofpital, who have had the greateft opportunities of discovering the nature of these tumours, and the beft method of cure, from their large experience, fay, they generally fucceed by opening them, in cafe the children are otherwife healthy; and that they prefer this method, rather than waiting in expectation of abforption by any other, apprehending that the bad confequences they have feen may proceed from the putrid quality of the fluid, contracted by its stagnation. They make an incifion the whole length. of the tumour, lay foft dry lint under the edges of the wound, to favour the discharge of the extravafated blood, after preffing out as much as they can without bruising the tender parts, and then apply a pledget of common digeftive over the lint, with eafy comprefs and bandage. By this treatment, those gentlemen have affured me, that they very feldom meet with any trouble in the cure, to difcourage the practice; but when the blood lies next the bone, very thin scales will sometimes rife and retard the cure a little.

Some other practitioners, of experience too, whom I have talked with upon this fubject, are against opening these tumours; advifing the application of compreffures, moiftened in warm auftere red wine, or red wine and vinegar, to be renewed as often as they grow dry, and fay they have generally obferved, abforption of the fluid to be the effect of this method, without bad confequences: however, fhould there appear no diminution of the tumour, by regularly purfuing this method a reasonable time, it will then certainly be advifeable to open it, left the

fluid fhould be abforbed in a putrid ftate, or the bone injured by it, whence bad confequences might enfue: and if the bone received an injury originally, the neceffity of opening is indifputable.

I have fucceeded in fome cafes by both methods, attending to these circumftances and confiderations, to direct my judg ment and practice.-I have generally added Sal. ammon. crud. to the above mentioned applications."

In reviewing the fecond volume, we cannot omit extracting a remarkable inftance of the efficacy of the folutio merc. fublimat. corrofiv. in removing an opacity of both eyes.

After these papers were fent to the prefs, a furgeon at Halefworth in Suffolk, brought to me at Doctor D'Urban's a gardener, who fome time before had received a violent blow with a man's fift upon his right eye, which caufed fuch an opacity of it, as excluded the rays of light; and what added, in the highest degree, to this poor man's calamity, whofe labour was neceffary for the fupport of his family, was, his having alfo loft all useful fight of his other eye, a great many years, by the like accident, as he informed us, notwithstanding the utmost care of a good furgeon to prevent it.

In the prefent cafe other proper means having alfo proved ineffectual, I strongly recommended the trial of the mercurial folution, from the extraordinary efficacy I had obferved of it; but did not the leaft expect it would have any effect upon the old cafe however, in a few weeks he began to be more fenfible of impreffions from luminous bodies in that as well as in the other eye; and after a regular perfeverance in the use of the medicine about two months, he was restored to fuch a degree of fight as to enable him to write legibly and to pick up pins thrown upon the floor, which proofs he gave us; but what astonished us most of all, he pofitively declared that he could fee better with that eye of which he had been long blind than with the other.

There ftill remain partial opacities in both eyes, and the visual rays not entering in their true direction, nor being properly refracted, vifion is indiftin&t and imperfect. He fees objects to the greatest advantage when he looks down upon them,

During the ufe of the medicine he was let blood now and then, living upon a cool diet, had his body kept open, and drank proper diluents very liberally; a feton was alfo drawn into his neck; from which I have often feen very good effect in inflammations of the eyes

* I have feen fingular good effects from giving a medicine of this nature, in very finall dofes as an alterative, in other as well as in thefe and venereal cafes, by continuing it

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a long

while,

This collection furnishes likewife an account of a ftone extracted from a man, by the operation of lithotomy, which weighed near fifteen ounces, and is, perhaps, the largest on record, taken from a living fubject. The effect of the topical applications to the incifion, being prevented by the conftant drilling of the urine, the wound continued in a foul and incurable condition during fix years, which the patient furvived the operation. The expedient of the unhappy fufferer in this miferable fituation, deferves to be related. He tempted a little favourite dog to lick the parts; who, in a fhort time, was fo well inftructed in his business, that whenever his master lay down, and uncovered them, he immediately went to work with his tongue. Soft dry linen cloths were then applied to the wound, which afforded more ease than all the remedies that had been used. As long as the patient lived, fays the author, his dog was his furgeon, and kept the wound tolerably clean and easy.'

The laft quotation we fhall felect from this performance, is of the cure of the thrush, which we are the more induced to recommend to the public attention, as being authorised from experience to confirm the efficacy of the remedy proposed.

As I think no perfon fhould keep to himself the knowledge of what may prove beneficial to mankind, I publish in this manner the following medicine, which I know, from much experience, may be relied on in the cure even of the worst kind of thrush in bad fevers; though indeed I have made no secret of it, but have mentioned it, as opportunity offered, to all my medical acquaintance, after I was fo fortunate as to make a difcovery of it above twenty years ago. It had long been in the poffeffion of a woman, who was fent for far and near upon this occafion, with conftant fuccefs, to which I had often been a witness. This induced me to offer her a confiderable gratuity to divulge the fecret, but though the refused to do fo, I have undoubted evidence, that the medicine I here mention is the very fame as her's.

Its compofition is borax and honey; the proportion of a dram of the borax in very fine powder to an ounce of pure honey, just

while, where I have had reafon to believe the cause of the dif eafe was an obftruction of the minuteft order of veffels; preparing the medicine in such a manner as to be given by drops, in fome appropriate vehicle agreeable to the ftomach, obferving the fame general rules that have been mentioned during the courfe. From my own experience I am convinced, the moft proper time of taking this medicine in fuch cafes, is at the patient's going to bed; it generally raises a gentle diaphorefis.'

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