_ Retrofpest of French LiteraturemPhilofiphy. 
tators, but few rivals, Quinault, Bru- 
yeis, and Palaprat, Baroa, Campittron, 
Bourfault, Regnard, Dufrény, Daacourt, 
Hauteroche, &c. enriched the French thea- 
tre with a_ variety of plays, more or lefs 
fortunate. Quinault followed another 
track, and became the creator of the Opera; 
a fpecies of writing that procured him a 
diftinguifhed reputation. Our author 
now comes to the Ode, which is immedi- 
ately conneéted with the name of Rouf- 
feau, a poet who made, fo poor a figure in 
his epiftles ; next follow Satires and Boi- 
leau; then Fables and Tales with La Fon- 
taine, Vergier, and Senecé, Mention 1s 
made of Legrais, and Dethbulieres more 
pure than him, but lefs poetical; Fonte- 
nelle too profaic and too affeéted, but who 
acquired great reputation in paftoral poe- 
try; and alfo of Chaulieu, the only one 
of that age for whom a juft degree of ef. 
teem is ftill entertaimed. 
'  & Anecdotes de Conftantinople,” &c. 
Anecdotes relative to Conttantinople, and 
of the Lower Empire, from the. Reign of . 
Conftantine, its Founder, to the taking of 
Conftantinople by Mahomet Ii. and our 
own Times; containing an Account of 
the Origin, the Manners, the Cuftoms, 
and the Ufages of all the prefent Euro- 
pean Nations, and alfo of all the Peculia- 
rities of all the celebrated Nations, fcat- 
tered over the Face of the Globe, &c. A 
work edited by J. B. NouGaReT, 5 vols. 
o€tavo. Thefe five volumes conftitute an 
abridgement of the 24 volumes of the 
Hiftory of the Lower Empire, by Le 
Beau, continued by C. Ameilhon, ail the 
fuperfluous parts of that work being here 
omitted ; frefh materials are alfo added 
from the works of Voltaire, de Tort, &c. 
‘© Nouveau Dictionnaire Bubliogra- 
phique Portatif,” &c. A New Portable 
Bibliographical Diétionary, or an Effay on 
Univerfal Bibliography; containing the 
Indication of the beft Works of all Kinds 
that have appeared in France; preceded 
by a new edition of the work entitled 
s* Advice for colle€ting a fmail bur choice 
Library. By N. L. M. Desessarrs, 
Printer and Bookfeller. 1 vol. Svo. This 
work will be of great fervice to fuch per- 
fons as cultivate letters, and are defirous 
of being direéted in refpect to the choice 
of books. The firft part is written by 
Formeg, the perpetual Secretary of the 
Academy of Berlin: and the Dictio- 
Hary not only contains an abridgement of 
the various publications mentioned in 
s¢ ua France Litteraire,”’ but alfo a fum- 
ynary of the beft foreign books, 
7 
659 
PHILOSOPHY. 
«¢ Expériences {ur le Galvanifme,”’ &cs 
Experiments on Galvanifm in general, 
and particularly on the Irritation of the 
Mufcular Fibres, difcovered by Frederick 
Alexander Humboldt; tranflated from the 
German, with Additions, by J. F. N. 
Japerot, M.D. It is now about &f- 
teen years fince a profeffor of Bologna, 
called Dr. Galvani, by a feries of incon- 
teftible experiments, firit difcovered 2 cer- 
tain property in the nerves of animals, in 
confeguence of which they becaine irri- 
tated by the application of metallic fub- 
ftances. Several correfpondent facts induced 
him to prefume a direét analogy, and per- 
haps a real identity between the caufe of 
the eleétrical phenomena, and that of the 
phenomena in queftion. In confequence 
of this, he conferred on it the appellation 
of animal electricity. This expreffion 
appeared highly improper to thofe, whe 
after repeating Galvani’s experiments,’ 
could not be perfuaded of the conformity 
between the phenomena he had remarked, 
and thofe produced by eleétricity, They 
accordingly fubftituted a new appellation, 
that of metallic irritation, but this alfo 
was deemed an infufficient exprefiion, as 
foon as it was perceived that the contadt 
of carbonaceous matter, or even of living 
organs could produce the fame effects on 
the nerves as metals themfelves. On this 
the name of Galvani/m was adopted ; and 
it prefents the double advantage, of at 
once celebrating the fame of the philofo- 
pher to whom we are indebted for this 
ie f a 
Important difcovery, and of dehgnacing 
the phenomena, without indicating the 
caufe. Humboldt, a learned inhabitant of 
Berlin, has publifhed a colleétion of ex- 
periments made by himfelf; and his 
work, which is by far the moft complete 
of any we are yet acquainted with on Gad- 
vani/m, has been tranflated into French, 
and is now before us, ‘¢It would per- 
haps have been more wife,” fays the au- 
thor, ‘*to have multiplied my experiments 
during a fucceffion of years in filence, 
than to have offered them at prefent to 
the public; but it 1s well known, that 
when difcoveries are once publifhed, they 
often become mere fruitful, and confe- 
quently more Ufeful in other hands, than 
in thofe of the inventor. I have been 
only anxious, therefore, to colleét faéts, 
and to exhibit them, with al! the preci- 
fon that fuch a bufinefs demands.” 
Thefle few words are fufficient to convey 
a juft notion both of the work and the 
author, by ailording an idea of the con- 
é tents 
