
( 40 ) 
HALF-YEARLY 
(Jan. 
RETROSPECT 
OF THE STATE. OF 
HOMES TLC LT EE RAT, Gee 
OTWITHSTANDING the numerous 
abftruétions to literary purfuits which 
neceflarily arife in the prefent difturbed 
fiate of civil Yociety, it 1s pleafing to ob- 
ferve, that fcience 1s making-continual, 
-and, in fome branches, even rapid, ad- 
vances. Of this fact, a general review 
of the prefent ftate of knowledge in Eu- 
rope, in compariion with former periods, 
would furnifh ample proof ; and though 
it muft be owned, however mortifying 
the confeffion, that Great-Britain has of 
late fcarcely been able to keep pace with 
her neighbours in the glorious career of 
intellectual improvement, it may be 
. hoped, that her {cientific and literary pro- 
ductions, during the laft fix months, will 
not be found altogether unworthy of the 
honourable rank fhe has hitherto held in 
the Republic of letters. 
PHYSICS. 
PuysIcat fcience has received con- 
fiderable contributions from various quar- 
ters. Dr. PRiEsTLEY, whom we muft 
ftill regard as one of our own writers, has 
publithed a valuable feries of ‘* Experi- 
ments and Obfervations relating to the 
Analyfis of Atmoipheric air, and to the 
Generation of Air from Water,’ on which 
his unremitted activity and ftrong inven- 
tive powers have been fuccefsfully em- 
ployed, in catting new light upon a fub- 
ject ftill imperfeétly underftood. In this 
work, the Dsctor ftill appears an advo- 
cate for the doétrine of phlogifton, in op- 
pofition to the new theory of chemiftry 
generally adopred. Dr, Dickson, in an 
*¢ Effay on Chemical Nomenclature,”’ de- 
fends, with fome exceptions, the old me- 
thod of nomenclature, and thinks it ca- 
pable of being reformed, without being 
new modelled. A bold‘attempt has been 
made by Dr. James Hutton, of Edin- 
burgh, to folye a problem, which has hi- 
therto baffled the fagacity of philofophers, 
in “* A Theory of the Earth, with Proofs 
and Illufirations.’’ This work, while it 
remains a proof of the authcr’s inge- 
nuity, will probably remain alfo a monu- 
ment of the folly of endeavouring to grafp 
a iubjeét too vaft for the human intellect, 
A lefs fplendid,,but very ufeful under- 
taking, prefenis itfelf to the public, in 
Dr. G. Grecory’s “ Economy of Na- 
ture explained, on the Principles of Mo- 
dern Philofophy.” The work is a com- 
prehenfive and well-arranged fummary of 
phyfical knowledge, judicioufly adapted 
3 
to conduét thofe who have not leifure for 
extenfive reading, into a general acquaint 
ance with nature; but it would have 
been more homogenous, if the author 
had not, in his laft book, indulged him- 
felf in an excurfion into the region of me- 
taphyfics.. Much fatisfaction muft not be 
expected from the trifling experiments 
and vifionary hypothefes of “* A Treatife 
on Magnetifm,”’ by Mr, WaLKeER, of 
Jamaica. On that branch of phyfics, 
which refpeéts the animal economy, much 
curious and valuable matter may be ex- 
pected from “ a Syfiem of comparative 
Anatomy and Phyfiology,” by Dr. Har- 
woop, Profeffor of Anatomy in.Cam- 
bridge, of which one fajaculus, a tenth 
part of the whole work, has been pub- 
lithed, on the fubjeé of the Olfaétory Or- 
gans. A beautiful work, containing brief 
defcriptions of animals, accompanied with 
engraved figures in the firft ftyle of ele- 
gance, is peblifhing in numbers, under 
the title of ‘‘ A Cabinet of Quadrupeds.”’. 
Botany has been enviched with a {plendid 
publication, ‘© On the Plants of the coaft 
of Coromandel,’”’ containing a feleétion 
from soo drawings, made in India, by 
J. G. Koeng, a pupil of Linnzus, pre- 
fented to the Court of Eaft-India Di- 
rectors by Dr. RoxBurGH, and pub- 
lifhed under their patronage : two fa/- 
ciculi have already appeared. ‘* An ufe- 
ful Introduétion to Botany,” comprifing 
much elementary knowledge, in a com- 
pendious form, has been prefented to the 
public by PriscrLLA WAKEFIELD. 
Farther affiftance is afforded to young 
people, in acquiring a knowledge of na- 
ture, by-an ecafy and popular ** Sytem 
of Netural Hiftory, in the form of Dia- 
logue,” tranflated, with too little atten- 
tion to correctnefs and elegance of ftyle, 
from the Gersaan of Profeflor RaFr, of 
Goettingen : the work is chiefly valued. 
for its defcription of animals. Were we 
not apprehenfive that we might expofe 
ourfelves to ridicule, for falling into the 
commdén error of miftaking marvellous 
tales for real faéts, we fhould introduce, 
underthis head, Mr. K1nc’s very amu- 
fing ‘“ Remarks, concerning Stcnes faid 
to have fallen from the Clouds, both in 
thefe Days and in ancient Times.” 
MATHEMATICS. 
Befides the improvement which the 
Mathematical fciences have received from 
feveral valuable papers in the Tranfac- 
tions 
