of a scruple daily, in combination with opium. The mouth speedily became affected, and a cure of the disease followed. The author asserts, that during six years that he has been in the habit of thus removing this disease, he has not known one case of secondary symp toms. The observations which constitute the remaining part of the work are tolerably correct; but certainly present nothing new or very deserving of notice. Some experiments intended to illustrate the operation of mercury were made on dogs. Seven little victims were poisoned, and killed, by successive doses of calomel. The stomachs, on dissection, were inflamed in various degrees. In one, it was ulcerated, as in other cases of poison from corrosive substances. Had these experiments contributed an iota to the cause of medical science, we could have pardoned these sacrifices; but, not conceiving them to be of the slightest utility, we censure them, as wanton and absurd. The author, most unaccountably, considers the inflammation to have been indirectly caused by the medicine predisposing to cold! And the deaths of his dogs, with inflamed and disorganised stomachs, forsooth, were from inanition! One case only is excepted, in which ulceration had taken place. An Essay on the Blood; comprehending the chief Circumstances which influence its Coagulation; the Nature of the Buffy Coat: with a concise Medical View of the State of the Blood in Disease; and an Account of the Powers of a Saturated Solution of Alum, as a Styptic Remedy in Hemorrhage. By C. Scudamore, M.D. F.R.S.-8vo. pp. 162. 6s. Longman and Co. We are pleased to see the respectable pen of Dr. Scudamore engaged on a subject of such importance as that of the work before us. We have always been of opinion that, would experimenters of zeal and ability direct their attention in a suitable manner to this one point of enquiry, the most beneficial results to medical science might be fairly anticipated. Dr. Scudamore, in his preface, suggests that the pathological part of his work admits of being extended; but that, for this purpose, it demands further study and observation. This, in fact, is the only part of the subject to which we attach importance; and we sincerely hope that the ingenious author will continue his researches, with a view to ascertain, if possible, the character and appearances of the blood as peculiar to the various disorders of the human frame; and to define how far the respective deviations of this fluid from a healthy state, are, or are not, within the control of medicine. As our limits in the present Number forbid any useful analysis of the work, we must content ourselves with recommending it as highly deserving of general attention. Manual for the Preservation of Health. By Sir Arthur Clarke.-8vo. Colburn. THE nineteenth century has brought to light three redoubtable medical knights-Sir C. Abdy; the late Sir Francis Colombine Daniel, of Medical-Board notoriety; and this very Sir Arthur Clarke. Various are the modes by which men of a certain description thrust themselves into notice. Dr. Bossy figured in Moorfields; Sir Colombine adorned the Medical-Board of Charlotte-House; and Sir Arthur writes a book! This, perhaps, is natural enough: men are not to starve, rather than put the thinking part of the world out of humour. Does our duty require us to give an account of Sir Arthur's book? We think not. Those who can duly appreciate the motives to which the public owes productions of this class, and are aware of their undeviating insignificance, to say nothing of their fallacies, will give us credit for leaving Sir Arthur Clarke's publication without further notice. The New London_Dispensatory; containing a Translation of the Pharmacopoeia Londinensis of 1824: with the Medical, Natural, and Pharmaceutical History of the Articles in the Materia Medica; the Modes of preparing Morphea, Cinchonine, and the other recently discovered Alkaloids; and an Explanation of the Chemical Decompositions, &c. arranged according to a new Method. With an Appendix, giving an Account of Iodine, Hydrocyanic Acid, &c. By Dr. Cox.-8vo. pp. 327. 10s. 6d. Cox and Son. If we could form an estimate of a work by the length of its title-page, Dr. Cox's book would be entitled to our warmest approbation. It is, however, we must say, very inferior to the Dispensatories already in The new arrangement consists in combining the pharmaceutical preparations of the several drugs, with brief descriptions of their natures and properties. use. A Translation of the London Pharmacopoeia of the Royal College of Physicians of London. By a Scotch Physician residing in London. 8vo. As soon as any new edition of the Pharmacopoeia of the College comes out, a number of persons, knowing the eagerness of the lower class of the medical faculty to see what alterations are made, speculate on this curiosity, and run a race with each other to see which can the soonest bring into the market something they presume to call a translation. This is one of those crude doings into English; and, judging by the tone of the preface, it is probably, from the pen of some London Druggist. To criticise it, would be to waste our paper. EDUCATION. A Philological Grammar of the English Language. By Thomas Martin. pp. 401. Whittaker. "Aut prodesse aut delectare."-Either of these is laudable; and we are obliged to Mr. Martin for the fund of amusement he has afforded: We wish it were in our power to reward him by an introduction to his namesake, the worthy member for Galway.-Arcades ambo. As we do not wish to monopolize the enjoyment, we shall, before making any remarks on his publication, treat our readers with a specimen of his style, taken at random from among many of equal excellence : "Grammarians have begun to see this evil; the grammatical fire is kindled, and its light begins to dispel the deep gloom of intellectual stupor, which has so long bedimmed the eye of reason. The ladies, never backward in the cause of benevolence, have beheld the first glimmerings of grammatical radiance; have noticed its influence when admitted to the juvenile mind; and each endeavours, with becoming modesty, to vie with her sister in giving effulgence to the brightening prospect." If this passage is not so eloquent as Scaliger's celebrated eulogy on the grammatical art, " Utinam bonus essem grammaticus, &c.," it certainly does not yield to the rhapsody of that celebrated critic in point of extravagance. As a philologist, Mr. Martin here steps forward as the observer of all observers. The first part of his work consists chiefly of a separate review of almost all the English grammars now extant: and he must have been indefatigable in his research; for, among the authors and authoresses noticed, many names occur which had never previously reached our ear. These reviews, however, are, in general, in too digressive a style to be of much use. Mr. Martin's taste is evidently excursive; his work, indeed, is distinguished throughout by irrelevancies. His pathetic lamentation over the circumstance of boys often leaving school unable to mend their own pens, or rule their own lines, may do honour to his feelings as a preceptor of youth; but it appears to us rather misplaced in a philological treatise. Still it is but justice to allow Mr. Martin some degree of merit : he has read much, and thought much; but, unfortunately, he wants method and arrangement. We look in vain, in any part of his work, for the lucidus ordo so essential to the treatment of such a subject. For this reason we fear the work will never inform the student in English grammar, unless he be previously somewhat acquainted with it. To one praise, however, Mr. Martin may lay just claim; that of having been able to form a correct estimate of the value of his own publication. He has himself, in the dedication, designated it "a bold, but feeble, attempt to rectify the principles of English composition;" and this summary of its merits appears at once so comprehensive and so impartial, that we think nothing more is necessary, in conclusion, than to sanction it with our hearty affirmative. The Elements of the French Language, comprising a Number of Simple Rules, and Exercises adapted to them. By Professor Gislot, M. a. Teacher of the French and Italian Languages.-12mo. 4s. 6d. "THERE is nothing new under the sun;" and we are almost tempted to think, that Mr. Gislot's principal motive, in the publication of these elements, must have been, to furnish us with an additional example, however little needed, of the truth of this adage. After diligent inspection, we have failed to discover any thing like novelty in his book, if we except his adoption of the term "preterite anterior," for the tense which we have been accustomed to consider as the compound of the preterite. We are no friends to capricious changes in technical terms; they are productive of confusion to students, and very seldom tend to the better elucidation of a science. Mr. Gislot's novel designation of the tense alluded to, is very objectionable on the score of euphony, and appears to possess no advantage in regard to perspicuity. We observe that Mr. Gislot, in the commencement of his Elements, has inserted some remarks on the analogy between some French and English words, which, though not altogether new, are not found in the generality of French grammars. We beg leave, however, to doubt their utility. If intended to assist the student in translating from French into English, they are obviously superfluous: no rules are necessary to make him perceive the analogy between honneur, gloire, and renom, and the corresponding English words, honour, glory, and renown. If the design of the remarks is to supersede, in great measure, the trouble of referring to a dictionary, by enabling the scholar to convert several English words into French ones, by analogical rules, we think that, instead of being useful, they are mischievous, since, in all such rules, the exceptions will be sufficiently numerous to lead him into continual error. The only analogical knowledge that can be made serviceable for practical purposes, will be gradually and certainly acquired by reading and writing the language attentively. We have little to add respecting Mr. Gislot's treatise. With the few exceptions already specified, it is compilation all. We feel no disposition to censure its contents, which, at least, challenge some regard as very old acquaintances. There is just what is to be found in other books of equal bulk on the same subjects: the matter and the arrangement are alike without any claim to novelty. There is a long list of subscribers, many of them of the haut ton, prefixed to the work this, however, does not sway our judgment, though we are quite ready to make allowance for the author, as a foreigner, not having paid particular attention to our old English proverb, that Good wine needs no bush. As far as the public are concerned, Mr. Gislot's French grammar was certainly uncalled-for; but he appears to have a numerous and respectable connexion, and is, we dare say, a very clever teacher. Perhaps, too, like some other gentlemen of his profession, he can instruct better by his own book than by any other; in which case, we heartily wish him all the emolument, and his pupils all the improvement, which it is possible for both parties to derive from the publication of his elements. POETRY. Ancient Poetry and Romances of Spain, selected and translated by John Bowring.-Taylor and Hessey. WE honour Mr. Bowring's moral worth, and wonder at his acquire ments; but we would entreat him not to continue to translate with such portentous rapidity, lest he should find it impossible to do justice either to himself or his originals. The present volume, strictly speaking, was not a desideratum, since most of the pieces it contains have already been translated, by Mr. Lockhart, in a manner which we scarcely expect to see equalled, never to see surpassed. While we admit that he is not so faithful as Mr. Bowring, we must say, that he always improves, never degrades, and that the hope he begets he gratifies. Praise should always be given where praise is deserved. Every judge of poetry must admire: But Mr. Bowring's principal failure has been in his translation of the celebrated ballad-romance, which the conquered Moriscos of Granada were forbidden to sing or repeat aloud, on pain of death. He has not here the merit of adhering closely to the original; which defect we should not so readily have recognised, but for the grand majestic outline, which nothing can disguise. 66 My soul is in Madrid," is simple and pretty. We give it as an advantageous specimen. "How can I live, fair planet! From all thy lustre hid? My soul is in Madrid." The chief fault of Mr. Bowring's poetry is its harshness. His rhymes are generally formed of syllables too insignificant to be pronounced forcibly, and which, consequently, have no effect. All, however, which we have reprehended, may be pardoned in a Spanish or Italian Improvisatore, but not in a writer, to whom has long been granted a distinguished place among the manufacturers of English verse. Satires, by Joseph Hall, afterwards Bishop of Exeter and Norwich. With Notes, by Samuel Weller Singer. - Triphook, Old Bond-street. "THE Satires of Hall (says Warton,) are marked with a classical precision to which English poetry had yet rarely attained. They are replete with animation of style and sentiment. The indignation of Crit. Gaz. Vol. 1. No. 1. M |