364 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1800. 



liquescent by the moisture. When 

 the stones after being moist become 

 dry, it is a sign of fine weather. 

 On the other hand, when the wea- 

 ther inclines to rain, the water is 

 seen to diminish in vases and foun- 

 tains, because the humidity is then 

 carried away by the evaporation of 

 the electric matter. It is certainly 

 a surprising phenomenon to see the 

 earth, after very long and very 

 abundant rains, to be sometimes al- 

 most dry, the roads quite free from 

 dirt, and the lands to become arid 

 and parched; this is a sign that the 

 rain has not altogether ceased, and 

 denotes a continual efflux of elec- 

 tric matter, which being renewed 

 carries with it, in the form of va- 

 pours, all the moisture that falls on 

 the earth. There is sometimes, 

 however, a great deal of dirt, even 

 after a moderate rain, which, in 

 that case, is a sign of fine weather, 

 because it indicates that evapora- 

 tion has ceased. Dry earth and 

 moist stones announce rain. The 

 hoar frost, which is first occasioned 

 by the east wind, indicates that the 

 cold will continue a long time^ as 

 was the case in ] 770. If it thun- 

 ders in the month of December, 

 moderate and fine weather may be 

 expected. A fine autumn an- 

 nounces a winter during which 

 winds will prevail; if it is damp 

 and rainy it spoils the grapes, in- 

 jures the sown fields, and threa- 

 tens a scarcity. If it be too cold, 

 or too warm, it produces many ma- 

 ladies. A long severity of the sea- 

 sons, either by winds, drought, 

 dampness, heat, or cold, becomes 

 exceedingly destructive to plants 

 and animals. 



Account of a iiian who lives upon 

 large quantities of ram Flesh. In 



a Letter from Dr. Johnston, Com- 

 missioner of sick and wounded 

 Seamen, to Dr. Blane. 



Somerset-Place, Oct. 28, 1 799- 



My dear Sir, 



HAVING in August and Sep- 

 tember last been engaged in 

 a tour of public duty, for the pur- 

 pose of selecting from among the 

 prisoners of war such men as, from 

 their infirmities, were fit objects for 

 being released without equivalent, 

 I heard, upon my arrival at Liver- 

 pool, an account of one of these 

 prisoners being endowed with an 

 appetite and digestion so far beyond 

 any thing that had ever occurred 

 to me, either in my observation, 

 reading, or by report, that I was 

 desirous of ascertaining the parti- 

 culars of it by ocular proof, or un- 

 deniable testimony. Dr. Cochrane, 

 fellow of the college of physicians 

 at Edinburgh, and our medical 

 agent at Liverpool, is fortunately a 

 gentleman upon whose fidelity and 

 accuracy I could perfectly depend; 

 and I requested him to institute an 

 inquiry upon this subject during my 

 stay at that place. I enclose you 

 an attested copy of the result of this; 

 and as it may probably appear to 

 you, as it does to me, a document 

 containing facts extremely interest- 

 ing, both in a natural and medical 

 view, I will beg you to procure its 

 insertion in some respectable perio- 

 dical work. 



Some farther points of inquiry 

 concerning this extraordinaryperson 

 having occurred to me since my ar- 

 rival in town, I sent them in the 

 form of queries to Dr. Cochrane, 

 who has obligingly returned satis- 

 factory answers. These I send along 

 with the above-mentioned attested 



