194 Miscellaneous Facts and Observatiofis. 



Goitre is veiy common in this and in other parts of 

 South- America. 



Some other articles, more properly belonging to this 

 than to any preceding head of the journal, may be 

 seen in pages 175, 177, 178. 



50. For the following- highly interesting communica- 

 tion, the Editor is indebted to his good and learned 

 friend, Professor C. D. Ebeling, of Hamburgh. The 

 date of the Professor's letter is October 9th, 1804, 

 but it was not received before the month of July, 

 last. It is believed, however, that not a little of the in- 

 formation thus communicated, will be found 7ieiv and 

 acceptable to our readers. 



" Our Literature is still very fruitful; certainly too 

 much so. We compare it to a herd of rabbits, which 

 increase, and ruin the land in ^\ hich they whelp. The 

 present Michaelmas-fair inundates us with at least 1500 

 books, including pamphlets, magazines, Sec, and those 

 \v hich have only a new title-page, because they did not 

 iicll sufficiently well under their former one. Two hun- 

 dred and forty-eight booksellers sell them. The class 

 of Jiovels has shamefully increased to 125. Our critics 

 do their best to check this nuisance : but eveiy female 

 creature, even servants, will amuse themselves by read- 

 ing. Happily, the study of real Histor}^ begms to gain 

 ground. Many of our entertaining almanacs (68 are 

 published for the next year, poetical, moral, historical, 



