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go to establish. Will it not be granted to me, that the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, when they agreed to purchase off the vengeance of their Assyrian oppressors by tribute, were at peace? Under the Tirshatha or Assyrian satrap, that is, under subjection, was not the land at rest? When Zedekiah paid tribute to Nebuchadnezzar, for some years, the land enjoyed repose; when he refused it, and the country was exposed to the invasions of the enemy, the repose was terminated.'

They who are inclined to controvert the position maintained in this dissertation will not allow these to be cases in point. The servitudes, mentioned in the book of Judges, are described in a manner which will not permit us to think that the Israelites regarded their land as being at rest while they groaned under them, and prayed for deliverance. This writer, however, steady to his hypothesis, maintains that it is neither inconsistent nor false to suppose the jurisdiction of the judge, as in some instances contemporaneous with the dominion of a foreign enemy. In a word, the genius of Asiatic conquest, more particularly in the earlier ages, never went to destroy or to alter the form of government, in the subjugated state: it was limited to the imposition of tribute, and personal service, in the nature of a feudal fee, of which singular, or, perhaps, in an uncultivated age, natural policy, it would not be difficult to assign the probable causes, or to accumulate examples.'-Will this statement agree with his assertion at p.109., that the first Judges appear to have been rather leaders to deliver Israel from her oppressors, than legislators?'- Mr. A. lays down also another postulate, viz. that the death of a chief is a very distinct thing from the commencement or duration of a servitude :' but this position, considering the distracted state of the Israelites, is very questionable. We shall not, however, contest the point with him, nor attempt an analysis of the method by which he establishes the several items in his calculation: but we shall transcribe his own summing up at p.170., and his short synopsis at p. 173.

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Thus, then, stands my calculus: - The building of the temple commenced in the second month of the fourth year of Solomon, (1 Kings, vi. 1. compared with 2 Chron. iii. 2.) so that there are three years in retrospect to the end of David. David reigned 40 years; Saul and Samuel 40; Eli and Samson 40; Abdon, Elon, and Ibsan, 25; Jepthah, Jair, Tolah, and Abimelech, 54; Gideon 40; 40 years in retrospect to the defeat of Sisera; 80, to the conquest of Moab, after the death of Eglon; 40, from thence to the defeat of Chusan; 8, to the beginning of his domination, which affords an aggregate of 410 years; 70 are necessary to complete the calculus, of which we have 30 to the passage of the Jordan, and 40 from thence to the exod.'

• SYNOPSIS.

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A very spirited reply is made to the objections that have been offered to the chronology here defended: but, instead of adverting to this portion of the dissertation, it is of more importance for us to notice the manner in which the 480 years in 1 Kings, vi. 1., are to be reconciled to the account given by St. Paul, Acts, xiii. 19, 20. For this purpose, Mr. A. suggests a various reading, by which he tries to get rid of 100 years in the reckoning of the Apostle but it is certainly more probable, if an error in transcribing has occurred, that 100 years should be added to the number in the book of Kings, than that this number should be subtracted from the passage in the Acts. After all, Mr. A. has but indifferent success in removing the objections which bear against his hypothesis from the text in the Acts; and we think that he is not sufficiently respectful to the Apostle, in his summary view of the question at issue.

• Whether, then, we reject the numbers of the Apostle, as falsified by the copyists, and substitute, with the exemplar of Beza, 350 years; or whether, with Usher, we distinguish the points of the text, and suppose the period assigned is from the birth of Isaac to the conquest of the land; or, whether, in fine, we consider the Apostle on his own principle of "being all things to all men, that he might gain some," merely stating the computation he knew to be familiar to his auditory, and not his own:-in whatever aspect, or point of view, we behold this celebrated text, we shall find, that it by no means authorizes the calculus of our adversaries;-that they reject its computation, while they quote its authority, and seem satisfied to force the expressions of the REV. APRIL, 1814. Apostle

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Apostle to countenance and support their dissent from the acknowledged evidence of Scripture, in order, afterwards, to extend the principle of rejection even against the alledged advocate of their heresy.'

On the whole, we regard this essay as an ingenious speciman of literary prize-fighting, better calculated to display the talents of the writer than to convince the reader.

[To be concluded in the next Number.]

ART. VII. Observations on the Nature and Cure of Dropsies, and particularly on the Presence of the coagulable Part of the Blood in dropsical Urine; to which is added an Appendix, containing several Cases of Angina Pectoris, with Dissections, &c. By John Blackall, M.D., Physician to the Devon and Exeter Hospital, &c. 8vo. 12s. Boards. Longman and Co. 1813.

D ROPSY is one of those diseases which occur under a variety of forms, and is attended with a number of phænomena; while the remedies which have been employed for its cure are also numerous, differing much from each other in their mode of operation, and confessedly very precarious in their effects. The cause of this fact it is not difficult to assign, and indeed it has been frequently pointed out; yet we have not witnessed the exertion of that diligence in counteracting the evil, which might have been expected from the nature of the circumstances. Dropsy consists in a train of symptoms that affect parts very different in their structure; it exists in different habits of the body, is induced by different causes, and seems even to arise from a different proximate cause, according to the parts which it attacks, the nature of the constitution, and other circumstances peculiar to each individual case. When, therefore, we employ the word dropsy in the usual manner, we probably confound dissimilar morbid states of the body under the same denomination; and it is the especial object of Dr. Blackall's publication to point out some distinguishing marks between the diseases thus vaguely arranged under the same name, and to denote the appropriate remedies for each. The attempt is rational and plausible; and we shall lay before our readers the method which the author has pursued, and state the degree of success which he has attained.

Dr. B. observes, in his introduction, that the only circumstance on which the present classification of dropsies depends is their situation, but that this is quite inadequate to throw any light on their cause. Unsoundness of some of the abdominal viscera, mechanical obstruction to the circulation of the

fluids,

Auids, a watery state of the blood, defective action of the absorbent and exhalent vessels, and an inflammatory temperament of the body, are enumerated among the various predis posing causes of the disease, all indiscriminately called by the same name, and treated in the same routine. Amid this confusion of opinions and practice, the author has fixed his attention on one symptom, from the presence or absence of which he conceives that an indication may be drawn respecting the state of the constitution, and the nature of the remedies that are appli cable to it. He has remarked that, in many cases, of dropsy, the urine possesses the property of being coagulated by heat; and hence he divides dropsies into those with coagulable and those with uncoagulable urine. This faculty of the urine. has not indeed been entirely unobserved, and Dr. Blackall mentions several writers who have noticed it. Mr. Cruickshank spoke of it in the most direct manner; and yet, in the present author's opinion, he failed in drawing the correct inference from it.

We next enter on the work itself by an account of those cases of dropsy in which the urine is not coagulable by heat; and these are again divided into such as have the urine pale and without sediment, and sometimes copious; those cases in which it is natural, except being rather scanty; and those in which it is high-coloured, deposits a sediment, and becomes turbid by cooling. The first of these states of the urine is not common, and sometimes is regarded as indicating a serious derangement of the constitution. Digitalis is not applicable to these cases, but a combination of bitters and potash is found useful; as also purgatives and iron: calomel is considered as generally improper. That state of the urine in which it is scanty, highcoloured, and deposits a sediment, is a much more usual form of dropsy. It generally accompanies ascites or hydrothorax, and is often an indication of disease in some of the abdominal viscera. Many cases of this description are related with, minuteness; and, in some of those which proved fatal, we have an account of the appearances on dissection. The enumeration of the symptoms, as well as the observations on the treatment, is very judicious, and seems evidently to be the production of a man who viewed the phænomena of disease with an accurate. and discerning eye. Dr. B. gives also some useful advice respecting the administration of squill in this variety of dropsy, and considers it as the best diuretic for this species of hydrothorax:

In the early stage of the disorder, medical treatment does a great deal, principally by means of diuretics; and squill is by far the most powerful of them. This drug gives out its virtues so per fectly to different menstrua, as to make the form of its exhibition in

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that respect a matter of indifference. But a solution of it is much more accurately and easily dosed than the powder, and probably admits of a more ready absorption. A minute attention to its dose is, likewise, of great consequence. It never operates so favourably as when it is given in the fullest quantity which the patient can bear without sickness. Indeed, that excellent practical writer, Van Swieten, as well as Dr. Cullen, considered some degree of nausea as proper for securing its diuretic effect. But few persons can be brought to submit to this for several days in succession; and it appears to be an unnecessary piece of severity, particularly as a risk must thus sometimes be incurred of producing full vomiting, which greatly prevents its future use as a diuretic. It is therefore proper to begin with a dose of the vinegar or tincture of squill, so small as not to incur any reasonable chance of sickness, and to increase the quantity gradually till either the desired effect takes place, or some degree of nausea. Just under this point it should be continued till it operates favourably, which will often be in a few days. In this manner it may be exhibited three times daily, and commencing with thirty drops the quantity may be increased to forty or fifty.

The mistura ammoniaci and spiritus ætheris nitrici seem to assist its operation.

With the foregoing cautions, the squill will be found to produce very great effects. The urine becomes pale and copious under its use; proportional relief is obtained in the breathing and in the diffused swellings; and it seldom either purges or palls the appetite, as it is justly accused of doing under other circumstances. Frequent repetition only, and the increasing strength of the original malady, impair its action; and if we look for any great effect from it, in removing the visceral obstructions, we shall undoubtedly be disappointed.'

The different species of coagulable or serous dropsy, classed according to the situation in the body which they occupy, form the subject of separate chapters, in which their causes, symptoms, and remedies are discussed. The anasarca which is attended with coagulable urine is referred to four causes, according to which the cases of this description are arranged :

One of these causes is scarlatina, which operates to a great extent in certain scasons; another is courses of mercury imprudently conducted, and perhaps aided by cold; a third the drinking of cold water when heated; and I have reserved a fourth section for those cases in which the exciting cause was not very obvious nor precise, but appeared connected with different circumstances of fatigue, cold, the use of strong liquors, visceral disease, or the injudicious employment of tonics.'

Each of these four heads is illustrated, as on former occasions, by a number of cases, to which is sometimes added the account of the dissection. After some remarks on cachexy, and on land-scurvy, states of the constitution which the author conceives to be intimately connected with that which induces dropsy, we have a valuable set of cases on hydro

thorax,

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