430 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1794. 



or rejects other particles olTered to 

 it, has sensation superadded to it, 

 a;id, in process of time, the powers 

 of association and vohtion. The 

 living filament, being a part of the 

 father, has certain propensities be- 

 longing to him, which give the basis 

 of a similarity of structure ; and this 

 is altered or modified by the nutri- 

 tive particles derived from the jno- 

 ther. Other alterations proceed 

 from the ip^ination of the father, 

 at the insramit of generation, — the 

 extremities of the seminal glands 

 imitating the motions of the organs 

 of sense ; and th*s the sex of the 

 embryo is produced, which is male 

 or female, according as the image 

 of the one or the other of these or- 

 gans predominated in the father's 

 imagination at the critical period. 

 All augmentations are in conse- 

 quence of an irritation or sensation 

 of^ peculiar kind, which may be 

 termed animal appetency, which 

 seeks the particles that it wants ; 

 aud this operates even after birth, 

 aad, in the innumerable series of 

 ages, has produced all the diversi- 

 ties of forms in animals, accommo- 

 dated to their different modes of 

 life : — for the author supposes a 

 perpetual progress toward perfec- 

 tion in all animated beings, and 

 iipagines that none of them are at 

 present as they originally existcd,bva. 

 have gradually arrived at the state 

 in wliich we now see them, from 

 that of a- simple and uniform living 

 filament. 



thesis. What an acquisition \vo\ild 

 such a system have been to Mr. 

 Shandy ! 



5. 40. contains an essay on the 

 ocular spectra of hglit and colours, 

 by Dr. R. W. Darwin, of Shrews- 

 bury, reprinted from the Phi/os'.pki- 

 cal Transactions, vol. Ixxvi. p. 313. 



The history of the origin, progress, 

 and termination of the American 

 war. By Charles Stedman, esq. 

 who served under sir JVilliam 

 Hoive, sir Henry Clititon, and 

 the marquis Cornwallis. In tivo 

 vols, quarto. 1794'. 



TY7"E have had not a few histo- 

 V V ries relating to the American 

 war ; but not one that is in any de- 

 gree comparable with that before 

 us, in respect either of candour, 

 comprehension, or justness and ele- 

 gant simplicity of composition. 

 The grand design, outline, or plan, 

 of the work is announced, accord- 

 ing to the laws of sound criticism 

 and legitimate history, in the out- 

 set or introduction ; and to the 

 same point our liistoriaji brings 

 liis narrative, after a vast variety 

 of events, incidents, circumstanc 

 antidotes, and some few epitode! 

 in uie conclusion of this \veii-ar2' 

 ranged composition. Even from 

 the dedication, to the earl of Moira, 

 the general spirit, scope, and re- 

 sult of the book dedicated may be 

 ^ inferred, or rather anllclpatcd. This 

 We shall make no remarks on tMM^ddress, written with a dehcacy of 

 system; referring to the work itselrP'sentiment equally nice and ingeni 



such of our readers as are disposjd 

 to take pleasure in viewing the pro- 

 gress of an ingenious fancy in work- 

 ing up a little fact with abundance 

 o{ conjecture, into that product of 

 mental generation called an hypO' 



folic 



ou3, IS as follows : 



" My lord, tlie pain of recording 

 that spirit or.^|Kon, thnt weakness, 

 indecision, iiiOTience, luxury, and 

 corruption, which disgrace our pub- 

 lic conduct during t!ie course of the 



American 



