RetJvspect of Domejlic Literature — Biography. 



C31 



of llie iiiefficacy of that great preferva- 

 tive. Df. Willan lias quoted the writings 

 of the o|ip')fers of tlic inoculation of 

 Small-pox, vvlio huve rccordeJ a cata- 

 logue oi' evilii, alTcited with oJI the vehe- 

 mence of a Molciey or a limvley, to have 

 fjjnin;^ from that abominublc practice, 

 wiiich they alfo maintained at the fame 

 time to be totally inadequate to the pre- 

 vention of the Small-pox. in the natural 

 way. But experience has eliahlilhed the 

 fecurity of that practice, and the names 

 of its oppofers are forgotten, or remem- 

 bered only in aifociation with prejudice, 

 jaialignity, and felf-interelt. 



The fubject of Cou-pux iias alfo been 

 iJifcufled at length by Dr. Adams, in a 

 nmch enlarged edition of his " Obftrva- 

 tioiih on morbid Foljbns," now publilhed 

 ill quarto, in which the relults of nume- 

 rous experiments, made at the Small-pox 

 hofpital, are detailed. The author lias 

 obtained couhderablc additional infor- 

 laatioa on the msjority of the difeafes 

 produced by morbid poifons, fuch as the 

 Yaws, Sibbcns, &c. which have added 

 equally to the extent and to the value of 

 his book. 



Dr. PiMBEUTOs has furniflied medical 

 ftudeuts and young practitioners with a 

 jcompendious practical guide, in ■his"I'7Yo- 

 tifeon the Dlfcaj'cs of the abdoininal Vif- 

 rera." Ilia remarks cannot be laid to be 

 diftinguilhcd by novelty, but they are al- 

 ways clear and judicious ; and his detail 

 of diagnoilic fymptoms is generally very 

 perfpicuous and correct. lie has at- 

 tempted to maintain an hypothefis rela- 

 tive to the nature of thole glands, the 

 difeafes of which occafion emaciation, to 

 which we cannot fubfcribe. lie belie\es 

 that ema/?iation only accompanies the 

 organic derangenieiits of thole glands 

 which jirepare a fluid for Uie ufe of the 

 fyftem, fucli as the pancreas, liver, &:c> 

 which he calls glands of i'cpply^ and that 

 other glands, w hicn lecrete a fluid to be 

 flifcharged from the body, fuch as the 

 kidneys, Jkc. wbieh he calls K;lands of 

 waftc, may be dileuied without any ema- 

 ciation of the body. A curfory pcrufal 

 of Morgagni's Index will be futVicient, it 

 is apprehended, to refute this liyjiothelis. 



In Dr. Rftp's ''^Truitifi on Palnioaury 

 Confumption'' this fatal d-feale is del'crib- 

 fd, and its nature difculfed with ability. 

 When its fymptoms are fully cftabiilhed, 

 we may indeed watcli their progrefs, and 

 detail all their variations ; we may afford 

 ilight and partial relief to accidental e.\- 

 acerbutiuns (jf pain, or to tlie derange- 

 oienu Qf pai'ticular organs^ b.ic, J'crius 



oci/us verfatur urna, the fate of the fuf- 

 ferer is determined, and medicine can- 

 not accomplilh a reprieve. It is there- 

 fore to the early thrcatenings of pulmo- 

 nary i'yinptoms, tiiat the aittlKn jullly 

 caJis the mod ferious attention (jf the rea- 

 der ; it is to tlie neglect of thefe thrcat- 

 enings, to the trilling witli ti common 

 cold, that the muj ority of confuinptive 

 patients owe that forlorn condition, in 

 which medicine can only exert its pallia- 

 tive means, and fmooth the avenues to 

 the grave. There is in this Hork too 

 much anxiety to maintain the doctrines 

 of Brown to their full extent ; to which 

 few rational thcorifts can follow him. 



A trcatife " On the Fun^ions nnd Dif' 

 eqfes of the Stomuch," by Dr. Si one, lias 

 not added afiy muterial int'ormation to 

 the common flock upon that fabject. 



There are a few others of minor value, 

 whole titles may be added, viz. a pamph- 

 let by Dr. Sution, "On the Remittent 

 Fever which at tacks the T/uops in thin Cli- 

 mate," and fjr the cure of which the 

 author recommends fuch a copious dif^ 

 charge of the vital fluid, as would entitle 

 him to the honour of a acgree in the 

 Ichool of Sangrado. 



A fmall volume by Dr. Tohxstox, " On 

 XJruiury Slonc 'aid Gruvel ;" and another 

 by Mr. Robertson, " On the KJf'cefs of 

 TiiLd.ure ufCtmt/uiriJts," taken inteniaily, 

 ill leveral difeafes. 



BIOGU.vrHY. 



In biography, otir materials for tlie 

 prefent lletrofpeA are particularly rich. 

 It may be luthcient to enumerate i:i the 

 outlet, the lives of Lope de Vega Carpio, 

 IMr. Cumberland, Doctor Beattie, and a 

 Traveller in retirement. 



The " Life vf Lope de Vega," by Lord 

 Hoi-i.AXD, is not merely interelling as a 

 narrative, but from the account of De 

 Vega's writings, proves one of the moll 

 valuable contributions that has lately 

 been made to our knowledge of Spunifli 

 literature. He was born at Alndrid, .No- 

 vember the 25th, 1563; and coinpofed 

 feveial dramas of four .^Cts, each, before 

 he was twelve years of age. U'hile at 

 Ichool, he feems to have been feized with 

 that reftlefs fpirit of adventure, by which 

 his countrymen were Uien fo remarkably 

 diftiiiguilhed ; though he aftervvanis llu- 

 diod philofophy at -\lcala, and was re- 

 ceivecl with great dillmiStion by the Duke 

 of Alva, llis firll work of magnitude 

 was tiio ' .Arcadia,' which he dedicated to 

 his patron, whofe family he quitte.l uii his 

 marriage. A dut-i, after this, ocealloiied 

 by his \v"it, drove him for I'omc vriir-s m 

 L '4 V alea a^ 



