Retrospect of. French Literature— Miscellaneous. 
‘eastern deities, in little gilded boxes, 
closely shut, and roiling along on wheels. 
Jn fine, being destined by. nature to 
bre athe ‘a pure and he: uthy air, they 
did so, and were men.” The ‘mode 
pointed out for preventing new ly- painted 
rooms fro being deleterious, is to keep 
a fire constandy lighted in ‘them, and 
for a ce me ut. is not provided with 
a chimney, it is recommended to burn 
a fire in an adjoining apartment. This 
is a very sumple, and if efficacious, a very 
uuport tant communication; but the suc- 
ceeding lett er, which denounces the 
practice of Blueing linen, as trouble- 
some, may be thought too trifling. 
The next agricultural epistle consists 
of an evlogium on the purity of the air 
OF Paris; notwithstanding the immense 
number of inhabitants, the numerous 
burial-places, and the infected state of 
the atmosphere. This is generally attri- 
uted to the waters. of the Seine, into 
which every species of filth is emptied ; 
but this river on the other hand travers- 
ing the whole ef the immense capital, 
according te some, compensates for every 
thing, and purifies the atmospheric air, 
80 as 10 render acrowded city tabs: 
Wi. de Scevole, however, supposes, that | 
the agitation occasioned by carriages, 
passengers, and the ringing of bells, ope+ 
rates a6 0 many secondary causes. 
We new ceme toa dissertation on the 
existence of the soul, occasioned by the 
four following lines, composed by Fre- 
deriek the Great : 
«Des que mous finissoms, motre ame est 
eclipsée, 
“¢ Ble est en tout semblable a la flamme 
élanécé 
“ Qui part d’un bois eile dont elle se 
nourrt it, 
*¢ Et dés qu ‘elle tombe en cendre elle baise _ 
et perir.” 
Our author meets this passage with the 
following couplet : 
« Jonis ubigue latet ; naturam amplictitu- 
rum nem; 
% Cuncta parit renovat, dividit, unit, alit.” 
“ Moyens de conser ver la sante des Ha- 
hitans des Campagnes, § ec.” Onthe Means 
of preserving, the Health of the Inhahi- 
tants ot the Country, both in their Cot- 
tages apd Fields, by Madame Gacor- 
Dufour, author oF many works on rural 
economy, and Member of sevéral Agri- 
cultural Societies. 
This lady, w ho exhibits much good 
sense, and appears to have had no com- 
mon shure of experience, begins by stat- 
ing the causes that render “the habita- 
ee Mac. No. 201. 
669 
tions of the French peasantry unbenlthy. 
We find that’ they are obliged from ne-. 
<essity to reside under the same roof ag 
their cattle, with only a thin separation 
between, and after they 
their cows) have repaired to the helds, 
(themselves and | 
their huts are generatly shut up, while- 
their windows are constantly fastened. 
In addition to this, they lie on uncured 
feather-beds, and use straw mattrasses 
(perllase), which are emptied ut once 
in four years. Itis difficult, we are.told, 
to remove the prejudices of the cottager 
by argument ; ; and it becomes necessary: 
The author 
once demonstrated to a person of this. 
description, the folly of sleeping in an 
to recur to di irect means. 
alcove or niche, with the curtains closely 
drawn, by merely placing a bird above 
his head! and exhibiting the little animal 
nearly expiring in the morning.* 
Madame G. next treats of air in ge 
neral; the necessity of repose after la- 
bour; and the propriety of eaeing proper 
aliments. She distinguishes 
among “the solid and substantial foods ;” 
_is.a great advocate for rye bread, al 
recommends four meals a day! 
next presented witha chapter on the ad- 
vantages 
the danger of suppressing persp! ivation by 
a sudden chill; &e. Most diseases, we 
are told, may be’ cured by a due propor- 
tion of exercise; and in some of the 
southern provinces of France, the ma- 
gistrates offer prizes annually to aire 
running, jumpmg, &c. Mothers are wara- 
ed against the use of bandages ee: their 
children; the danger of sleeping in the 
fields is pointed out; the use of lead and 
copper vessels is prohibited, as are also 
pewter mugs for cider and wine. Great 
pains are taken to demonstrate that new. 
houses are unhealthy: the Romans, we 
are told, prohibited any from being in- 
hhabited until after the expiration of three 
years. 
.In order to render the thatch of cot- 
tages more durable, it is recommended 
to cover them with a moss called la fon~ 
tinale in combustible (fontinalis anti-py- 
retice ), a plant that grows in great plenty 
in pools of water, &e. An other, the tor- 
tula barbutar andi Hdw. 5; and the éri~ 
yum rurate, Dillers, 1s produced on trees. 
These, we are teld, will not only enable 
them to last half a century, but prevent’ 
them at the same time fron: being de- 
stroyed by fire. ~The receipt is taken. 
from Sonnini, who observes, that the 
Laplanders always guard their woodea’ 
4h chimni ues 
and disadvantages of labour > 
potatoes — 
We are: 
