1823.] 
N’avoit de moi que la moitié. 
‘L’autre est a toi: quelle soit tienne; 
Je la fie d-ton amitié;) 
Que de Marie il te souvienne. 
CANCER OF THE STOMACH. 
There are. few) diseases,.of the 
stomach more frequent, than that of 
Cancer. Jt appears to depend upon 
the same interior disposition as other 
cancerous diseases; but its determi- 
nate causes.are very numerous and 
various, The chief are deep and con- 
tinued grief, melancholy, or chagrin ; 
immoderate use,.of wines and spiritu- 
ous liquors, above all, taken in the 
morning fasting; strong contusions of 
the epigastrium ; a restraintlong exer- 
cised on that part; the suppression of 
an habitual hemorrhage,.or of a cuta- 
neous affection; in fact, any thing that 
can cause an irritation of the stomach. 
Among these causes, there are some 
which particularly belong to certain 
professions, to particular. epochs of 
life, &c.. Cancer of the stomach 
scarcely ever shows itself before the 
age of. twenty-five years: it is most 
frequent between the thirty-sixth and 
ibe liftieth years, Like all other can- 
cers, it causes at first only local effects; 
and itis not till the end of a certain time 
that it occasions a progressive change 
of nutrition, and of all the other func- 
tions: whence it follows, that its dura- 
tion exhibits generally two distinct 
periods, but whose absolute and rela- 
tive duration is very, variable. 
A crowd of diseases may complicate 
cancer of the stomach, and accelerate 
its fatal termination. The principal 
are—dropsy, (hydropisie, ) les squirres 
du foie et d'autres visceres, Uhepatite et 
la peritonité aigue ou chronique, et les 
fievres ataxiques et edynamiques. 
SALE OF THE LINNEAN COLLECTION. 
Ina Letter from Siv James Edward Smith, 
M.D. F.R.S. President of the Linnean 
Svciety, to Dr. Stoever.* 
London, Nov. 21,1791. 
In the first place, I shall give you, 
sir, an historical account of the sale 
ofthe Linnean collections with as much 
accuracy as I can. On the death of 
the younger Linneus, in the autumn of 
1783, his Majesty the King of Sweden 
was, I believe, in France. The mo- 
ther and sisters of the deceased were 
anxious to make as large a profit as 
they could of his Museum; and there- 
* See the Life of Sir Charles Linneus, 
translated by Joseph Trapp, a.m. from the 
German of D, H, Stoever, pu.v. 
Siephensiana, No, XX. 
45 
fore, within a few weeks after his 
death, employed Dr. John Gustavus 
Aerel, Professor of Medicine at Upsal, 
to offer the whole collection of books, 
manuscripts, and natural history, to 
Sir Joseph* Banks, fer the sum of a 
thousand guineas (1,050/. sterling). 
Dr. Acrel wrote’ to Engelhart the 
younger,» now professor at Gotten- 
burgh, and who was then in London, 
to make this offer to Sir Joseph. It 
happened that I breakfasted at Sir 
Joseph’s that very. day, which was 
December 23, 1783; and he told me 
of the offer he had, saying he would 
decline it, and advising me strongly to 
make the purchase, as a thing suitable 
to my taste, and would do me honour. 
At that time we knew very little of 
what the collections consisted. When 
the catalogue of the books, and other 
particulars, were sent, they proved 
much richer than either ‘Sir Joseph or 
myself had any idea of; but I ought 
not to omit, that Sir Joseph acted 
throughout the affair with the utmost 
honour and liberality,—for which, in- 
deed, he is very remarkable; always 
encouraging me, in every difficulty, 
with his assistance and his.advice. 
On the 23d of December I made my 
desire known to Dr. Engelhart, witi 
whom I had been intimately acquaint- 
ed at Edinburgh; and we both wrote, 
the same day, to Professor Acre], dc- 
siring a catalogue of the whole, and 
saying that, if it answered my expec- 
tations, I would be the purchaser at 
the price affixed. In this affair I 
trusted to the honour of Dr. Acrel 
alone; nor did I apply to any body 
else to take care of my interest in the 
matter. I never was in Sweden at 
any time of my life. In due time, the 
Professor sent an accurate catalogue 
of books, and a general account of the 
other articles. But, by this time, the 
mother and sisters of Linneus began 
to think that they had been too preci- 
pitate: they had been in great haste to 
sell the collection before the return of 
the King of Sweden. Perhaps she 
might be obliged to sell it to the Uni- 
versity of Upsal at a cheap rate; and 
they had pitched upon Sir Joseph 
Banks as the most opulent and zealous 
naturalist) in. Europe: thinking he 
would give more for it than any body 
else; and, at the same time, they fixed 
a thousand guineas as probably the 
largest sum that could be thought of. 
But, while they were in treaty with 
nic, enquiries were made, which gave 
3 them 
