9oi 



RetrsfpeSl of Domeji'tc Literature.'— Medicine, 



en the tatln Grammar,'"' are well con- 

 trived. 



_ Connefted with claffical literature is the 

 difTertationon " TheTomb of Akxandtr,"^ 

 by Dr. E. D. Clarke ; the lubjtft of 

 which was firft canvafltd in our Magazine : 

 and whatever our opinion ir.ay be in re- 

 gard to the coirt£lne(s of his theory, we 

 would certainly be underltood to give the 

 woik. he has prefented on it to the public 

 every commendation, bnili tor elegance 

 and learning. Its objecl; is to prove thjt 

 one of the great ftjuare ciitfts which are 

 now in the court-yard of the Britifh Mu- 

 feum, was originally conltiudted to re- 

 ceive the embalmed body of Alexander 

 the Great. The theory is fupported by a 

 large body of curious evidence ; the ge- 

 nerality of which, however, is prefuinp- 

 tive j and too many links are wanting in 

 the chain of conntftinn to fatisfy the mind 

 of the difcerning reader. That the apo- 

 theofn typified on the medils of Lyfirjia. 

 chus is thit of Alexander, or that the 

 portrait exhibited is his, admits of doubt: 

 and though extraordinary i-ains is taken 

 to prove that the fuperftition refpeEtnig 

 Altxandtrs tomb was Egyptian, we per- 

 ceive no notice of that fingular pafiage in 

 Paufanius, which cxprelMy affirms his 

 funeral rites to have been celebrated after 

 the cuftom of the Maceckn'wns. The 

 hiftory of the Saicophagus itfelf is attend- 

 ed by teltinionies of a very different kind 

 to any of ihofe which matkthe hiltory cf 

 the real tomb. It was ften no longer ago 

 than 1491J unlefs we allow that which 

 was mentioned as lying on the lea (hoie 

 at Alexandria two centuries before by 

 Benjamin of Tudela, to be the iamc. 

 Moft of tl'.e better writers fince the former 

 period who have vifited P^gypt, have no- 

 ticed it, but not one with the (lightelt 

 idea that it was the long-loigotcn tombi 

 S>ime declare that the vtiy tradition of 

 the people concerning the real receptacle 

 of Alexander's body is entirely lott : and 

 others deterred all hoj-e of attaining the 

 hiftory of the prefent chelt, till the hiero. 

 glyphics on its fides have been decyphered. 

 The authorities rcfpedting the honours 

 which were really p^id to Alexander's 

 body occupy a Iar;ge portion of the volume, 

 and form an hiftorical colleftion truly en- 

 tertaining. They begin with CTlar and 

 end with Caracalla, when a laple of no 

 lefs than twelve hundred years forms a 

 break in what Dr. Clarke terms the chain 

 of telHmonies. St. Chryfoliom, indued, 

 who lived (o long ago as 397, makes a 

 fiipht mention of the tomb } but it is only 

 in i'u«h terms as more than in Jicatd that 



it was no longer in exigence : and front 

 which we are led to infer, that it was de- 

 ftroyed among the idols of Alexandria 

 eight years before. His words are thefe, 

 " Where is no-vj the TOM'S of Alexander t 

 fhexv me?" And what is equally An- 

 gular is, that no pallage in the clalTic 

 writers occurs to reconcile the appearance 

 of the prefent chelt with the adiual tomb 

 which they defcribe. Could we put faith 

 in the theory we fliould be better pleaicd. 

 The farcophagus would remain a memor- 

 able trophy of the Britifli vidories at 

 Alexandria. 



MEDICINE. 



Some additions of confiderable import- 

 ance have been made to the ftock of me- 

 dical literature. Weplace Dr. Hamil- 

 ton's " Obfer-vaticns on the Utilily and 

 Adminifl ration of Purgative Medicinei" 

 at the head of the lilt, becaufe, though 

 laft in the crder of time, it ftands unri- 

 valled in point of vali'e. His long and 

 acute ob(i:rvation, guided by the foundeft 

 judgment (which alone conftitutes true 

 experience), has enabled him to open out 

 many new views in regard to the nature 

 and treatment of feveral difeafes of im- 

 portance, which have hitherto been im- 

 perfeftly undcrfiood, and confequently 

 but little under the influence of medicine. 

 He has particularly illuftrated the utility 

 of thefe meJicines, when properly edmi- 

 niftered, in chorasa, hasmatemefis, chlo- 

 rolis, and fome nervous difeafes, and alf» 

 in the typhous and fcarlet fevers. 



Dr. WiLLAN has advanced one ftep 

 farther in the profecuiion of his " Ar-' 

 rangement oj Difeafes of the Shin ;" hav- 

 ing bmught forward the moft important 

 part ot his third order, comprifing an ac- 

 count of meafles and fcarlet fever. In 

 this publication he has difplayed the fame 

 acu ene's of difcrimination in the diag- 

 nortics of the difeafes that he examines, 

 and the fame fagacity in tracing their fy- 

 nonyms through the midft ot medical 

 records, which diltinguifhed the former 

 parts of his work. The peculiar charac- 

 teriftics of the two eruptions are defcribed 

 with lingular precifion ; and the treat- 

 ment directed to be employed for each, 

 under its various forms, is maiked by 

 that fimplicity which belongs only to a 

 fcicntific pradlitioner, who never pre- 

 I'cribes witliout clear views of his objeff, 

 and who diftingiiitlies what is efficacious 

 from what is tutile, in the oidin^fry rou- 

 tine of the profefTion. We have fincerely 

 to lament that the progrefs of this origi- 

 nal and valuable work is fo tlow. 



The 



