original, always weighty. When such use 
4s made of the opportunities of observa- 
tion, afforded by an institution of limited 
‘Means and moderate patronage, we have 
College of Surgeons. 8vo. pp. 1038. 
. THE aspect of the work before us is 
truly a phenomenon in book-making ; 
two full-sized octavo volumes without a 
single break or division into chapters, 
heads, or sections ; without a table of con- 
' tents or anyof the common helps (a good 
dex excepted} to assist the reader in 
‘cultivating an acquaintance with his au- 
Pee 
thor! 
‘ The first volume of this collection was 
} published 1801, and begins the history 
of vaccine inoculation, with Dr Jenner’s 
‘first. experiments: the second volume 
‘carries down the history to May 1803, 
and the establishment of the Royal Jen- 
} nerian Society in London. So much 
‘has now been written on this infinitely 
“important subject, so many questions 
} more or less intimately connected with 
it have been agitated, and above all, so 
‘many thousands have partaken of the 
‘benefit: cf vaccine inoculation,’ that, 
} though the subject is by no means ex- 
| hausted, it has become a very useful un- 
dertaking to exhibit under one compre- 
hensive point of view, a full, clear, and 
“impartial representation of all that has 
hitherto been done to establish cow-pock 
_ jnoculation. 
» Mr. Ring in the preface to the first 
volume thus announces his plan. 
© Boerhaave, speaking of the small-pox, 
‘says, ‘there is reason to hope'a specific may 
\ be-found to correct this malady ; and we are 
jmpelled to seek for such a specific, by the 
vast advantage that would thence aecrue to 
_ mankind.’ 
«« His words are prophetic; his hope is 
alized ; a specific is discovered for that dis- 
aise, which has been the scourge of Europe 
~ for a thousand years, aid commuited the most 
dreadful ravages in every quarter of the world. 
“© May the author of that discovery, which 
Hs oeminently distinguishes him as the bene- 
_ factor of the human race, live to reap the 
‘fruits of his labours! and to receive every 
possible demonstration of private and public 
‘gratitude and esteem! — eit 
~ The vast number of remarks published 
‘pn yaccine inoculation, both at home and 
“pbroad, having swollen this treatise far be- 
“Youd the bulk at first intended, it was deem- 
RING’S TREATISE ON THE COW-POX. 
7A5 
additional reason to join in the au- 
thor’s concluding sentence, that so much 
good has rarely, if ever, been done at so small 
an expence,”? 
“Art. XXIII. 4 Treatise on the Cow-Pox, containing the History of the Vaccine Inécula- 
tion, and an Account of the various Publications wiich have appeared on that Subject in 
* . . 
_ Great Britain, and other Parts of the World. 
By Joun Rinc, Member of the Royal 
ed expedient to divide it into two parts. The 
continual occurrence of new facts, and pub- 
lication of new treatises on the subject, ren- 
dered it impracticable to preserve a strict and 
methodical arrangement. ‘The intention of 
the author was, to collect and combine the 
substance of all that has hitherto been ascer- 
tained on this interesting subject ; and rather 
to incur the censure of prolixity, than to de- 
serve the charge of omitting any thing of 
importance, on an occasion where the wel- 
fare and happiness of the whole human race 
are so immediately concerned.” 
Mr. Ring’s name stands eminently con- 
spicuous as one of the earliest, most indc- 
fatigable, and most zealous promoters of 
the new inoculation, and we therefore 
give him full credit for the importance 
which he attaches to every iota that has 
ever been done or said on the subject : 
but as he professes in the present publi- 
cation to combine as well as collect, we 
must suggest to him that combination, 
in a case like the present, implies an as- 
sortment or arrangement of heterogene- 
ous materials, and not a mere republi- 
cation of the original documents in the 
order in which they happened to be in- 
serted in the Medical Journal or appear- 
ed in the booksellers’ shops. We be- 
lieve too that most of his readers would 
have wished for a little more selection as 
well as arrangement. 
Let not our readers suppose, however, 
that the present is a mere compilation, 
The author enters into the subject. so 
heartily, and is so much at home in every 
question of contruversy that has ever 
been started on these topics, that his 
pages abound with remarks which aeree- 
ably, and generally usefully, break the 
tedious uniformity of narrative: nor are 
wanting to enliven the reader, the sati- 
rical touch and the apt classical quota- 
tion. 
We shall not attempt a description of 
a work that defies analysis; nor would 
the task, if performed, be interesting to 
our readers, as it would chiefly present 
to them in another form what must be 
already quite familiar to them. We 
turn with much more satisfaction to the 
