And WEEPING LADIES, should a lap dog die, The Bard has praises and a sigh to sell.' We now leave thee, Peter, to the full benefit of thy own declaration; and if thou gettest any custom for thy praises and sighs, remember that there are good-natured reviewers who have inserted thy Advertisement without fee or reward, other than the pleasure which the perusal of thy verses has afforded. MONTHLY CATALOGUE, For DECEMBER, 1806. MEDICAL, &c. Art. 14. The Medical Observer. No. I. On advertised or empirical Medicines. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Highley. THE object of this publication may be best learnt from the words of the editors; who state that their first number is devoted to the examination, &c. of empirical medicines, with the view of pointing out the dangerous consequences that most inevitably arise from their indiscriminate use, and also to expose the fraudulent and nefarious prac tices of advertising potent compositions, under fictitious names, indicating them to be of an innocent nature, in order to deceive the ignorant and unwary, and thus not only to tamper with the lives of their fellow-creatures, but also render the character of the British chemist and medical practitioner, contemptible abroad.' One opinion only can prevail respecting the magnitude of the evil, and the necessity of applying a remedy for it: but we have some doubts whether the talents of the present editors equal their good intentions. Contemptible as are the characters of the empirics who infest this country, and ridiculous as are their pretensions, they have, by their artifices, obtained so firm a hold on the confidence of the lower orders of society, that it will require both long and well directed exertions to open the eyes of the public to a due sense of their unworthiness. In our opinion, the interference of the legislature will be absolutely necessary; and we have some hopes that steps are now taking for this purpose, by a respectable association formed for the correction of medical abuses. Art. 15. A Treatise on the Chemical History and Medical Powers of Of the merits of this work, we have already spoken at some length in our review of the first edition. (See Vol. xxxvi. p. 284.) Its utility and importance have been generally acknowleged, and the auther author has been induced to prepare it a second time for the press, with the acquisition of a considerable portion of new matter. The most interesting of these additions consits of a communication from Dr. Marcet, containing an account of a chalybeate spring at Brighton, and forming one of the most accurate specimens of the analysis of a mineral water with which we are acquainted. Besides giving us the most minute information respecting the ingredients of the water in question, it also contains some valuable remarks on analysis in general, and furnishes us with some tests which promise to be very extensively useful in similar investigations. One of these is the nitromuriat of platina; a substance which, we are informed, is a very accurate test of the presence of pot-ash, or any of its compounds, while it is not in the least affected by the mineral alkali. Another substance, which is likely to be peculiarly valuable to the analyst, is the succinat of ammoniac; a salt which appears to indicate with great des licacy the presence of alumine in any of its combinations.-We were particularly struck with the elegant simplicity of the apparatus employed by Dr. Marcet, and with the neat manner in which he appears to have conducted every part of his processes. We shall only add that this treatise is in every recpect worthy of the public patronage, and must remain a work of standard value both to the chemist and the physician. Art. 16. The Domestic Guide in Cases of Insanity, pointing out the Causes, Means of preventing, and proper Treatment of that Disorder. Izmo. 25. sewed. Button, &c. It is the design of this writer rather to give popular than profes sjonal information. He deems it important in the cure of insanity, that the disease should be resisted from its very first commencement; and principally trom this motive he composed the present volume, which, from its small bulk and the plainness of its style, he thinks may be advantageously circulated beyond the limits of the profession, and may thus convey a general knowlege of the earliest symptoms of attack We can fairly recommend it, however, to the attentive consideration of those who are engaged in this branch of practice; since it contains many sensible and some new observations, and bears every mark of being the result of experience and observation. In the chapter on management,' the author insists on the neces sity of occasionally employing corporal punishment; a measure which may sound harsh, but which he regards as in the end less severe than many other methods that have been proposed for acquiring the proper degree of authority over the patient. His plan of medical treatment consists in producing a state of general relaxation; which he effects principally by the administration of purgatives, and the em ployment of the warm bath. He positively condemns opium, and digitalis; bleeding and blisters he considers as frequently injurious; and he ridicules the idea of deriving any advantage from the partial application of cold to the head. Notwithstanding, however, the geeral simplicity of his style and manner, and the number of oblique insinuations which he throws out against those who indulge more in learned theories than in the acquisition of facts, we find that the author has himself his favourite hypothesis. If his system of relaxation does does not succeed after a fair trial, he recommends the administration of emetics, on the principle that the act of vomiting impels the blood into the vessels of the head because, as in insanity the vessels of the head are clogged with viscid and impure blood, the impulse induced in vomiting, by driving up a current of fresh blood, will remove the former obstruction, and, as it were, rince out the vessels! Art. 17. An Appendix to Practical Observations on the Nature and 12mo. As we noticed Mr. Geoghegan's former work in terms of commendation, (Vol. xxxviii. p. 213.) we are sorry that we cannot speak favorably of the present appendix. Mr. G. describes a particular state of bubo, in which it shews no disposition to heal, and when mercury seems to aggravate rather than remove the symptoms. This occurence is well known to all practitioners; and they also know that, under such circumstances, it is necessary to discontinue the use of mercury, and to try those means which tend to establish the general health. The difficulty is to discriminate these cases from the more common kind: but no information is given on this point. The rule of practice, which he deduces from his views of the subject, we cannot but consider as highly objectionable; and if generally adopted, we are confident that it would prove very destructive in its consequences. Art. 18. An Encyclopedia of Surgery, Medicine, Midwifery, Physiology Pathology, Anatomy, Chemistry, &c. &c. &c. To which is added an abridged Translation of Cullen's Nosology. By John James Watt, Surgeon. 12mo. 8s. Roards. Highley. 1806. The publication, to which this pompous title is so egregiously misapplied, is a small volume containing short explanations of the terms used in medicine, and the different sciences connected with it. As far as we have examined them, the articles appear to be free from any gross or striking inaccuracies; and the work may be considered as rather deficient than noxious. Art. 19. Some workmen, boring for coal near Darlington, in the year 1789, discovered the spring which forms the subject of this pamphlet. Its strong sensible qualities rendered it an object of attention in the neighbourhood; and persons affected with different complaints having appeared to derive great advantage from the employment of its waters, Mr. Peacock was induced to examine into the nature of their impregnation. He accordingly gives an account of his experiments; which, although they do not exhibit any peculiar skill in analysis, or neatness in the management of chemical re-agents, seem sufficient to prove that it is a sulphureous spring of unusual strength. The sulphur appears to be held in solution by hydrogen; and if we may trust the result of Mr. Peacock's experiment, the quantity of sulphur is very considerably greater than that which exists in the celebrated waters of Harrowgate. It also differs from the latter in not containing any purgative salts.-If this statement be confirmed by more experienced analysts, the Darlington spring will be a very valuable addition to the mineral waters of this country. It will probably exhibit all the virtues of the other sulphureous waters in a higher degree, both from its superior strength, and because it is not purgative; the sulphur being able on this account more completely to pervade the system, and to produce its specific effects on it. After having given an account of the nature of the Darlington water, the author presents us with his ideas respecting the mode of its operation. We observe that he is a strenuous advocate for the chemical pathology, and a warm admirer of the hypotheses of Dr. Beddoes and Dr. Garnett. In conformity with the opinion of the latter, he imagines that sulphurated hydrogen, when received into the system, acts by attracting from it the superfluity of oxygen; or, to use his own expression, that it 6 possesses a disoxygenating or sedative power.' This process, he imagines, is principally effected by means of the hydrogen; and, in order to give plausibility to his hypothesis, he adduces several common experiments, in which oxygen and hydrogen manifest a strong attraction for each other. We have had frequent opportunities cf expressing our opinion respecting this kind of hypothetical reasoning, which has always appeared to us very vague and unsatisfactory; and we do not perceive that Mr. Peacock's method of treating the subject gives it any additional support. The author particularly recommends the Darlington water for the removal of cutaneous diseases; and here we think it will very probably be found efficacious. On this subject, we agree with Mr. Peacock in the opinion, that these complaints are generally attended with a constitutional affection, to which it is absolutely necessary to attend in the progress of the cure. Art. 20. Observations on the Use and Abuse of Mercury, and on the Precautions necessary in its Employment. By A. P. Wilson, M.D. F.R.S. Edin. 8vo. IS. Cadell and Davies. These observations are stated by the author to be addressed to the public with a view, on the one hand, to do away certain erroneous prepositions (prepossessions) respecting the effects of mercury, which impede the necessary employment of it; and, on the other, to call its attention to the impropriety of an indiscriminate use of this medicine, by which much harm is often done, and the medicine itself brought into disrepute.' The prejudices against the use of mercury, he imagines, arise from three sources, viz. the nature of the complaint in which it was first employed, the unpleasant effects which its operation frequently produces, and the bad consequences which arise from an improper use of it. The first objection is evidently frivolous; and he endeavours to shew that the second may be obviated by proper precautions, and that the third is an allegation which must necessarily lie against every substance of real efficacy. With respect to the second object which Dr. W. proposed for consideration, he thinks that, besides the debility which mercury, when when taken to any considerable extent, must occasion by evacuations, it also operates directly in weakening the stomach and bowels. Hence he argues against the employment of it as a purgative, and even goes so far as to assert that it ought scarcely in any instance to be given internally. Our practical readers will probably feel little disposed to acquiesce in this caution. On the whole, this pamphlet appears to us to be a weak and flimsy performance; and therefore it has disappointed us, as coming from a gentleman whose former works had impressed us with a favourable opinion of his talents. Art. 21. POETRY, &c. All Saint's Church, Derby: a Poem, by John Edwards. 4to. 3s. 6d. Rivingtons. It is possible to make too much of a subject, and poets are very prone to this sin of excess. On a country church of ne very distin guished fame, Mr. Edwards has written nearly a thousand lines; and though we may be disposed to applaud his skill, and the easy flow of his verse, we could have wished for his sake as well as for our own that he had been less diffuse. He begins his poem on All Saint's Church with the Creation, and terminates it with the General Resurrection In filling up the interval between these two events, a poet has indeed a large range: but then he must talk of something besides All-Saint's Church at Derby. This is the case with Mr. Edwards. After an address to the Majestic Pile, in which he expresses a wish that his verse might be a companion of its immortal subject, we are carried back to the days of innocence; are informed that in Paradise there was no necessity for churches; and are reminded of the building of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, and of its being copied in the temple at Jerusalem, which, having been destroyed, was suc ceeded by the second temple built to receive the Messiah, who promulgated the Everlasting Gospel, and ordained that there should be other places of prayer besides that at Jerusalem. Hence Churches began to be erected in every clime, and Then ALBION in her forest nooks, Her rude plantations, fields, and vallies green, Now we reach the avowed subject of the poem, its history is detailed, and its identity, under its various buildings and rebuildings, reminds Mr. E. of the sameness of the body at the general resurrection !! We come next to the Bell, (called the cryer of the clock') which is compared to the wandering Jew. At the sight of the tower, the |