Monthly Review of Literature. 87 



Treatise." We could name several more books j but he may think them too 

 old, and he will find that there are some " works written on the Ear calculated 

 to convey useful and correct information" even to our author. Secondly, his 

 new anatomical division, which only differs from the 'generally received ar- 

 rangement in placing an external part the mentus in the same description 

 with an internal part the tympanum, is, to say the least, not very profound. 

 We congratulate him on one point, his delineation of Mrs. Mozart's son's 

 ear. Depend on it the ladies will all have an otaphone, if for no other pur- 

 pose than to ascertain how far they may hope to rival Mozart. 



Report upon the Existing System of Public Medical Relief in Ire- 

 land. By the late Sir DAVID BARRY, M.D. and J. R. CORRIE, 

 M. D. Groombridge. 



THIS report is ably drawn up, and written in a plain simple style, that con- 

 vinces us of its perfect truth and fidelity. We regret that abuses so great as 

 those described in this pamphlet are permitted to exist. Their existence 

 points eloquently to a defective political as well as medical government. Me- 

 dical aid, it appears, is the only species of public relief which is afforded to the 

 the poor Irish ; and out of this relief are emanating the most grievous wrongs. 

 Alas ! poor Ireland ! If thy doctor prove untrue, thou hast lost thine only 

 friend ! .Can any system of public relief be expected to succeed, when the 

 first defect pointed out by the examiners is the following : 



" The total omission on the part of the legislature of all provision for an 

 efficient superintendence or control being exercised by properly qualified 

 persons, whether over the working of the whole system or over that of its 

 subordinate machinery." 



To all such as would know how the poor live 1 - and how far their comforts 

 are provided for, we earnestly recommend a perusal of this report. It is ac- 

 companied by suggestions for the improvement of charitable institutions. 

 Let us hope for the cause of charity and religion, that the suggestions will be 

 canvassed, and some step taken to improve the condition of those suffering 

 wretches, who even in the most despairing poverty are still our fellow- 

 creatures and have a right to our best sympathies. 



ALMANACS. 

 Comic Almanac, 1837. Charles Tilt, Fleet Street. 



ELIZABETH was thought to have deserved a reputation for wisdom, because 

 she chose wise ministers ; and by the same rule Charles Tilt must be ac- 

 counted a wit, for he chooses witty authors. Witness his " Comic Almanac." 

 The name of George Cruikshank is identified with fun; andRigdum Funnidos, 

 who supplies the letter-press, is a worthy coadjutor. Among the illustrations 

 we would especially designate as excellent " St. Valentine's Day/' " The Re- 

 turn from the Races," " The Fancy Fair," and " The Cockney Sportsmen." In 

 the second, the turnpike man talcing a sight at the swelFwho loses his ticket 

 and pays toll twice over, and the two dandies in the*third are inimitable. 

 All however are very good, and we are scarcely entitled to select one illustra- 

 tion as superior to its neighbours. A novel feature in this year's publication 

 consists in the caricatures en silhouette which adorn the almanac pages. These 

 alone are worth the price of the book. The remarkable occurrences attached to 

 the dates are in many instances sufficiently apt ; for example on "April 29th 

 Thrashing commences in London. Macready thrashes Bunn, but gets nothing 

 but chaff November 5th. Gunpowder Plot. Guy Vaux blows up the House 

 of Lords." But the odd pages between the months contain the cream of the 

 jests, and from them are derived the subjects of the illustrations. We shall 



