according to the forged letter, fhe is to go off with Belville About this time Leefon is difcovered to have run away with Emily, Belville's fifter. He is purfued by Belville, who generoufly confents to his having her.

The bufinefs at the masquerade is conducted in the beginning of the fifth A&t. Belville there purfues his wife, mistaking her for Mifs Walfingham; but instead of making love to her, he profeffes his intention to reform, and henceforth, to be faithful to the virtues of Mrs. Belville. They are interrupted by the General, the Captain, and Torrington; whofe aim is to difcover the bafenefs of Mifs Walfingham. Belville fecures her in a closet; and after fome altercation, the Captain draws, and refolves to force his way to his unfaithful fair one. At that inftant Mrs. Belville comes forth, to the aftonithment of the whole company, and Belville is confirmed in his determination to be a good husband This is followed by a reconciliatory scene between Captain Savage and Mifs Walfingham; and the play concludes as ufual by bringing all the proper people together; putting the lovers in the way of matrimony; and making the reformed rake give fome good advice to the audience.

We have fo many occafions to review compofitions of this kind that we find it difficult to avoid a fameness in our manner of criticifing them. Some of our Readers may expect we should execute this business in form; and treat the subject in order of fable, character, unity, &c. This we do not imagine to be neceffary, where there is nothing remarkable, with refpect to those articles. The play before us, would not bear a comparifon with fume of our comedies in point of wit; or with others for meer language and moral fentiments. But the Author has, in a great degree, fucceeded in compromifing the difference between the two parties who now divide the theatre. He has more business, fpirit, and intrigue, than many of our fentimental writers; he is not inelegant in his ftyle; and he has more decency, inftruction, and morality than is to be found in our modern witty performances, without being in the least heavý, or unentertaining in his manner.

As the influence of the ftage upon the language of a country. is great, the critic, amidft his attention to higher objects, will not overlook thofe little improprieties which, if not timely reprehended, may grow fashionable, from the popular notion that the theatre is the school of correct and elegant fpeaking and writing. We have noticed one imperfection of the kind here hinted at, which has difgufted us in almoft every page of this comedy; viz. the vicious cuftom of contracting, gutting, and frittering words to pieces, by the mifapplication of thofe elifions which are frequently neceffary in verfification, but feldom, if ever, requi fite, or allowable, in profe. In dialogue, indeed, or in any

other

other profe-writing, this abuse of contraction, feems to par take only of the affected ftyle of a mincing milliner, or a coxcomb valet. We were, therefore, furprised to fee fuch barbarifm introduced in, otherwife, fo genteel a play as this School for Wives, but not for language. For here we meet with mul titudes of fuch ill-looking abbreviations as is'n't, wou'dn't, couldn't, fhou'dn't, didn't, hav'n't, hadn't, won't, darn't, with many more, equally uncouth, barbarous, and vulgar; and which, too, are put into the mouths of people who are fuppofed to have enjoyed the advantages of education. By this means the jargon comes recommended to the audience, as the very bon ton of polite converfation. But we hope Mr. A. will profit of this not unfriendly admonition; and that, in the next edition of his play, he will honeftly restore the vowels belonging to every word, which he has thus licentiously plundered of their rightful property.

W.

ART. IX. A New Inquiry into the Causes, Symptoms, and Cure, of putrid and inflammatory Fevers; with an Appendix on the Hectic Fever, and on the ulcerated and malignant Sore Throat. By William Fordyce, M. D. Svo. 3s. fewed. Cadell. 1773

WE

E are at a lofs to determine on what account our Author has called this a New Inquiry; as we find, after an attentive perufal of the work, that it contains more of the parade of fcience, than any new matter of information, either with refpect to the nature or the cure of fevers.

-The Appendix treats of the hectic fever, and the ulcerated and malignant fore-throat. In the first of thefe, Dr. Fordyce very judiciously recommends repeated (mall bleedings, a ftrict antiphlogistic diet, and change of air.

In the management of the malignant fore-throat, our Author condemns the use of aromatic cordials, blifters, and anodyne aftringents.

་

The following is Dr. Fordyce's method of cure in this disease. It is agreed on all hands, that the body must be very plethoric indeed, and in adults only, to require bleeding: I never faw it neceffary even once. I believe the repetition of it to be in general deadly.

Neither do hæmorrhages from the nose relieve the patient : they have indeed been reckoned dangerous here, as in other putrid distempers; and yet I have seen them happen very often, without proving a mortal fymptom. In the blood, if drawn away, the craffamentum is rather of a lax gelatinous texture, than denfe or compact, fine and rich, florid as lamb's blood, and quite foft.-See Doctors Fothergill and Huxham.

Emptying the ftomach by a gentle vomit will scarce ever fail to be of use; and there certainly appears to be a part of

6

the

the putrid humours, that can only be discharged from the body by the ftomach.

• Where there is a looseness, I generally correct the humours with my antiseptic wine-whey, No, II. * by lemonade, tamarind tea, or imperiale. I never faw the loofenefs treated in this manner do hurt, though the purging is commonly dreaded as the greatest fcarecrow in the malignant fore-throat, and therefore checked by every power of art. It did not hurt laft fummer in two young gentlemen, of noble families, though it went on after the scarlet and crimson eruption was complete: and where it has been stopped by opiates and aftringents, it has still proved fatal.

We have feen cafes in which blifters did not mend the matter. Heredia feldom found any benefit from them; and we have remarked above, that if made of cantharides, they are totally against the genius and character of the putrid fever. Το Jook for any utility from the discharge they occasion, in a difease where there fcarcely exifts any purulency, and where there is too much stimulus every where, appears rather to be worthy of a doating nurfe, than of a man of fenfe and skill.

Dr. Fothergill has given us the hiftory of two cafes where warm aromatic cordials and anadyne aftringents were adminiftered affiduously, with fuitable nourifhment, and veficatories applied fucceffively to the neck, the back, and arms, but without effect.

"There is not in this disease a more favourable symptom than a difpofition to fweat, with a foft and moift fkin: nothing feems to fhorten it fo much, to take off the delirium sooner, or to promote fo happily a good fediment in the water. Our first and our feventh Formula + have the best effects in this way. How II.

SERUM ANTISEPTICUM VINOSUM.

R. Lat. vaccin.

Aquæ puræ 15ẞ.

iß.

Simul ebulliant; dein admifce vini Rhenani veteris, vel vini albi cujufvis Hifpanici, 3ij. fucc.limonior. 3i. ut fiat ferum.

J.

EPTICUM.

+ SERUM ANTISEPTICUM.

B. Lact. vaccin. thiß.

Aquæ puræ thẞ.

Simul ebulliant; dein admifce fucc. aurantiorum Sevill; limonior.

a 3iß. ut fiat ferum.

VII.

HAUSTUS DIAPHORETICUS SEDATIVUS.

R. Spirit. Minderer.

Aquæ puræ à 3vi.

Liquor. anodyn. miner. Hoffman. gutt. xv.

Syrup. e mecon. zi.

M. fiat hauftus bis in die fumendus, aut 8vâ quâque horâ.

feldom

feldom does Peruvian bark perform any of thefe good offices for the patient!

I never gave volatiles, except Mindererus's fpirit, falt of amber, or the anodyne liquor of F. Hoffman, which are all antileptic; because I know that volatiles only difpofe the juices to be more putrid, or quicken the putrid procefs where it has already taken place too furely. C

Where cordials are wanted, or indicated, we can be at no lofs while currant jelly, orange and lemon, or wines diluted into what is called bifhop or negus, or yet pure wine or old cyder, can be had. I am not acquainted with any better cordial draught than our feventh or eighth Formula *. I never did, 'nor ever do expect to see the strength supported, or the difcafe alleviated, by any poffible preparation of animal fubftances. After sweating has begun, I believe wine will never hurt, if given with moderation, either diluted as above, or mixed with panada, fago, rice, and other grifels. Contraft with this kind of practice theirs who give draughts, composed of God knows what, fo often as every two or three hours day and night, for days and nights fucceffively, as if nature neither required other drinks, or foods, or repofe.

- If the circumstances of the cafe require it, Peruvian bark is hurried down with the fame hafte and follicitude; and bark must be given in our times, whether indicated or not. Where this beft and only true febrifuge drug is neceffary, (and it has often the happy power of triumphing over malignity in this disease, as well as in other putrid fevers, given as in our twelfth Formula +) let it in God's name be given in fufficient quantity to put them in a state of fafety, but not perfevered in for days and nights together, without any refpite to the poor perfecuted patient, when either the difficulty no longer exifts, or the state of the skin, or the increafed dryness, blackness, and hardness of the tongue, fo ftrongly and fully point out the impropriety of perfiting longer in its ufe; or as if it were, even in fuch a fituation, our laft and fole refource, though in fact we have fo many other aids from fraits, wines, and ftrong antiseptics both

VII.

HAUSTUS CARDIACUS DIVITUM.

R. Vini Burgundic.

⚫vel Burdegalenf.

aut Rhenani veteris, 3ij.

Sextâ quâque horâ fumendus, aut pro re natâ.

A XII.

7

+ FEBRIFUGUM ANTISEPTICUM. R. Decoct. (fortior.) cortic. Peruvian, 3ij. Spiritus falis marin. gutt; v.

M. fiat hauftus pro re nata fumendus & repetendus.

vegetable

vegetable and mineral. These laft remarks are equally applicable to the putrid fever at large, and to the malignant forethroat under confideration,'

D.

ART. X. A Treatise on the Kinkcough. With an Appendix, contain ing an Account of Hemlock, and its Preparations By William Butter, M. D. Fellow of the Royal College of Phyficians, Edinburgh. 8vo. 3s. fewed. Cadell. 1773.

TH

HE following are Dr. Butter's principal conclufions with refpect to the nature, feat, and occafional caufe of the Kinkcough. That it is an epidemic contagious disease of the fpafmodic kind; that the primary affection, is a morbid irrita bility of the mucous glands; that it is not feated either in the lungs, the top of the gullet, or ftomach, but in the intestinal canal; and that an infectious miasma is the occafional cause.

There is one very obvious objection to what our Author advances concerning the feat of the difeafe. If the chincough be a disease of the mucous glands, whence is it that the glands of the intestinal canal should be first affected? Infectious miafmata floating in the air, and repeatedly infpired with the breath, fhould primarily affect the glands of the trachea and lungs, rather than those of the intestines.

But the most valuable part of this publication is the method of cure, provided further experience confirms the Author's obfervations.

Hemlock, according to this Writer, is fpecific in this dif ease; and the following Corollaries are the refult of Dr. Butter's experience of the effects of this powerful medicine:

COROLLARIES.

'I. As hemlock hath not difagreed with any one of the foregoing patients, we may conclude that it will very feldom be contraindicated in the kinkcough, through what is called idiofync:afy, or pecularity of temperament.

II. This medicine cures the kinkcough even in the last month of pregnancy, and in the first months of infancy; and is abfolutely fafe both for mother and child.

III. Hemlock is fo far from occafioning fpafms in children, that it is a certain cure for a fpafmodic dileafe, which hath hitherto refifted all other medicines. Befides, it certainly prevented fpafms, and probably fatal convulfions, in the child, cafe fifth; notwithstanding a conftitutional tendency, a rapid dentition, and an obftinate kinkcough, al! copipired to bring

them on.

соба

icine

IV. It is a good medicine in dentition.

V. It cures the fymptoms attending the round wor.ns, and even expels these vermin.

2

• VI. It