644 RdrofpeSi of Domejlic LiitraturC'-'Mifcdlanies. 



not before been taken notice of by Ana- 

 tomifts :" and the laft paper is by Dr. 

 Herscheli., " On the Quantity and Ve- 

 locity of the Solar Motion." 



The fecond part of the " Trnnfudions' 

 confilis of thirteen memoirs. One of 

 them contains " An Account of a Difco- 

 very of Native Minium," iu a letter from 

 James SmithsON, Efq. In another, Pro- 

 felfor Robertson offers " A new De- 

 mondration of the Binomial Theorem, 

 when the Exponent is a poiltive or nega- 

 tive Fradtion." But the moll intereilmg 

 paper contains Mr. Home's " Obferva- 

 lions on the Camel's Stomach, refpe^ting 

 the Water it contains, and llie Refer- 

 *oirs in which that Fluid is inclofcd ; 

 ■with an Account of fonie Peculiaiitics in 

 the Urine." They were made from an 

 animal purchafed in a dying flatc by the 

 Colleij;e of Surgeons in December 1805, 

 and contain fome fads which have not 

 before been afcertained. The lall me- 

 moir preff nts Dr. Hf.Kschet.l's " Obfer- 

 vations and Remarks on the Figure, the 

 Climate, and the Atmofphere of Saturn, 

 and its Ring." 



The contents of the tenth volume of 

 " The TrunJ'aciions if the RoyuL Irijh 

 Academy" are, as ufual, feparated into 

 the departments of Science, Literature, 

 and Antiijuiliti; of vhich the lirft is by 

 far the moft extenfive. Mr. Mn chell's 

 " Account of a new femi-mctalllc Sub- 

 ilance called Menacane, and its Ores," 

 is a very valuable paper ; thou'^h it may 

 perhaps feem curious that the modern 

 name of menacane, titanium, is not once 

 mentioned by the author. The obferra- 

 tions on the probable ufts to which it is 

 applicable, may be found fcrviceable. 

 Dr. Egan's " Experimental Inquiry into 

 the Nature of Gravelly and Calculous 

 Concretions in the Human Subjcdt, and 

 the Etfeds of Alkali.-..^ and Acid Sub- 

 ftances on them, in and out of the Body," 

 is written in too diifufe a ftyle : it might 

 be coinpreffed with great advantage into 

 half its prel'ent bulk. The lame remark 

 will apply to Mr. Littli's " Obferva- 

 tions on the Metallic Compofition for the 

 Specula of Relletting Telefcopes ;" al- 

 though he feems to have paid great at- 

 tention to the fubjet-}. Among the me- 

 moirs in the clafs of Pulite Literature, 

 Mr. Pulsion's " Effayon the Qucflion, 

 Whether the Origin and Frogrefs of the 

 Polite Arts in any Country, are con- 

 nected with, and depend on, the politi- 

 cal State of that Country," is highly cre- 

 ditable to its author; as vrell as Mr. 



Walker's EiTay " on the Origin of Ro- 

 mantic Fabling in Ireland." 



The Proverbs of the Emperor All, 

 " SententiiB Ati Ebn Abi Talebi," in Ara- 

 bic and Latin, have been carefully pub- 

 lilhcd at Oxford, under the immediate 

 direAion of the Univerfity; illuftrated 

 by the Annotations of the Rev. Cornelius 

 \'an Waenen. The correttion of the 

 prefs was committed to the care of Mi-. 

 Moufley of Baliol College, who appears 

 to have performed his talk with fidelity. 

 The text has been compared with tiie 

 moft valuable antl authentic manufcripis : 

 and prefixed are a Life and Portrait of 

 Van Waenen. 



The firll volume of the " Retrtfpe^ of 

 Philojhphical,, Mechanical, Chemical, and 

 Ag7icidtvral Difcoverica,^' feems hkeiy 

 to be ufeful ; tliough the want of plates 

 will probably be felt by its readers. It 

 is an Abridgement of the ditftrent publi- 

 cations, Englilb and foreign, wliich re- 

 late to Arts, Chemiftry, Manufu^lure«, 

 Agriculture, and Natural Philolophy ; 

 and contains occafioiial remarks on tlie 

 merits and defects of the rcfpe6tivc elfays 

 they contain. 



" The Miferies of Human Lfe' con- 

 fift chiefly ol an enumeration of all thofe 

 little accidents whivh are ((jntinually oct 

 curring tlirough the palVmg day, and 

 which, by a largo portion of mankind, 

 are too frequently deemed feiioufly vex- 

 atious. Many of ihem are told with con- 

 fider.ible humour, but we obferve little 

 that is fprightly in the dialogue by which 

 they are introduced ; and with very few 

 exceptions, the quotations from the poets, 

 as well as thofe tVoin the claffic writers, 

 are inappofitc ; or at leall but rarely 

 witty. The miferies are clafled ; and 

 conlift of thofe of the country, of game? 

 and fports, of London, of public places 

 of entertaiimient, of travelling, of focial 

 life, of reading and writing, of the table ; 

 miferies domelUc, miferies perfonal, and 

 miferies mifcellaneous. As famples with- 

 out the di:Jogue, we quote tlie following : 



" In riding — after having difmounted 

 in a folitary place, being refuted by your 

 horfe the liberty of remounting liim — no 

 one being at hand to hold his head — fo 

 that, after many hard but ineffectual 

 flruggles with him, he finilhes the difpute 

 by a parting kick, and then runs away. 



" A couch-window-glafs, that will not 

 be put up when it is down, nor down 

 when it is up. 



" At a bad inn — a very fmall egg, 



brought to you in a very tall wine glafs, 



1 at 



