mind, but his glance manifested the placidity of a temper amaible and charitable In his general carriage, when not engaged in business, there appeared a certain abstraction and absence which indicated a thoughtfulness of disposition, the natural consequences of his various avocations. In the bosom of his family, during the short intervals that his labouring pursuits would enable him to join in the domestic circle, he was the tender husband-the fond father. As a master, he had the faculty of ex. citing by the blandness of his manners, obedience, reverence, and affection; and as a friend he was idolized by a numerous but select circle of friends, whose manners and tempers were congenial to his own. To inherit his extensive fortune so honourably acquired Sir Samuel has left the large family of six sous and a daughter, now, alas! orphans. Upon the whole, we think the following general remarks will not be an imperfect summary of the public and privale character of this amiable gentle. man. Sir Samuel Romilly was one of the few men, who, while they have the unbounded confidence of their own party, command the respect of their political adversaries. Though he treated most questions with the caudour that is inseparable from a love of truth, and with all the fervour by which zeal in a cause is characterized, he never excited the least suspicion of his motives, even when his reasons were urged with most force and warmth. His opponents seemed invariably to respect his intentions, when they combated his argu. ments with the greatest vehemence. This most flattering testimony was not a circumstance peculiar to the man; it would have happened to any other, who should have displayed the same rectitude in public life; and this is a fine rebuke to those who never extend their liberality beyond the narrow pale of party. It is the pride of our country, that honour and integrity are to be found in many political sects; and it is the knowledge of this fact which has produced that liberal spirit with which differences of opinion upon the gravest points are regarded amongst us. The lamented object of these reflections was a striking proof of the justice universally shewn to an honest vindication of opinion; and there is not a good or an eminent man, on the opposite side to that with which Sir Samuel acted, that does not share in the intense grief occasioned by his loss. Zeal in politics would be a curse, if it were inconsistent with the charities of our nature, and if it dried up the sources of pity. But thank Heaven! it is not so; and an enlightened and honest man may assert his sentiments with all the force of which he is capable, without exposing himself to the harsh judgment of those who differ from him in the view of the subject. Sir Samuel Romilly's opinion also upon any subject made a deep impres sion, not so much from the ability he displayed, uncommon as it was, as from the high respectability of his character. He was impressed with a deep reverence for our excellent constitution, which will account for the extraordinary zeal with which he resisted every thing which had the appearance of being inconsistent with its practice or spirit. He had errors, no doubt; but they were not of the heart. But that he loved his country warmly is beyond dispute. That his opinions were governed by that principle is equally undeniable, and that he never employed an argument, or made use of a sentiment, which did not embrace the happiness of his countrymen, is our sincere conviction. If he erred, the fault lay in the limitation of human mind; but his motives were unimpeached; and the reverence in which he was universally held constitutes a lesson which ought to operate upou those who engage in politics. His profound judgment, various acquirements, his skill in forensic and parliamentary speaking, and his astonishing industry which enabled him to attend to the weighty business of his profession and to his duties in the senate, are too wel known to require particular notice. It is his independence and integrity, which are more difficult to be appreciated (and without which, mental powers are a nuisance), upon which we are anxious to fix attention, and which render his loss a public calamity. Long also will the country bewail the death of so good a man; and every tear that is shed to his memory will be a tribute to virtue, and an offering, which only merit like his can receive from so enlightened a public. Sir Samuel was as mild and amiable in private life, as he was firm and independent in public. That all the charities of our nature had an abode in his bosom, is but too strongly substantiated by the cause of his death. How strong his affections must have been, when the bursting of a single link in the chain destroyed, almost in a moment, that solid and towering fabric of reason, which was erected in such a mind! This weakness and this wisdom-this union of the finest sensibility with the most manly purpose-this combination of all that is delicate and all that is great, shew human nature in a point of view, which commands at one and the same time, our utmost love and highest veneration. May that Being, whose attribute is mercy, and who mixed so much tenderness in the composition of that good man, pardon an act which obviously sprang from an excess of feeling, or rather from a sentiment which is the most binding link in our social system. It now falls to our truly painful lot to record the event which in every point of view may be considered a public calamity-the sudden death of Sir Samuel, who, on Monday, Nov. 1st, terminated his own existence at his house in Russell square. This truly amiable man, since the decease of his lady, had laboured under the most intense sorrow at an event, which deprived him of a beloved partner, in whose happiness his own centered, and to whom he was bound by the most endearing ties of tenderness and affec tion. The acuteness of his griefs, and the overwhelming anxiety of his mind on this occasion, produced a slow fever, which progressively deprived him of that equanimity of mind which had always distinguished his conduct. That which appeared to the observation of his immediate friends to be a calm resignation to the will of Providence, was but the thin veil which disguised a state of mind bordering on distraction. His disorder rapidly encreased, and he evinced signs of perturbation, which began to excite the most alarming apprehensions. On Sunday night he went to bed in a state of mind and body which augured the most unfavourable consequences-his rest was disturbed, and he could get no refreshing sleep. He remained in bed, his disorder increasing, until Monday afternoon, when, availing himself of the absence of one of his children who attended him, he in a moment of phrenzy jumped out of bed, and seizing a razor from a case upon the dressing table, committed that dreadful act which has robbed private Europ. Mag. Vol. LXXIV. Nov. 1818. relations of an amiable father, a beloved friend, a kind master, and the public of one of the most distinguished ornaments of human nature. On Tuesday an inquest was held on view of the body of this amiable individual, when a verdict was recorded,-" That the deceased cut his throat while in a state of temporary mental derangement."-The hapless pair thus re-united by death, were buried in one grave at Knill, in Radnorshire, on Wednesday, Nov. 11. THE REPOSITORY. A SELECT COLLECTION OF FUGITIVE PIECES. "The mind of man not being capable of having many ideas under view at once, it was necessary to have a REPOSITORY to lay up the ideas."-LOCKE. FEVERS. DEING deeply impressed with the Dimportance of the following observations on Dr. Bateman's Account of the Contagious Fever of this Country, we extract them into our Repository from the last Number of the Monthly Review, though they have been inserted in most of the morning and evening papers. DR. BATEMAN'S ACCOUNT OF THE CONTAGIOUS FEVER OF THIS COUNTRY. This is a work which is, on every account, calculated to excite attention. The topic is indeed, at all times, extremely important, but is at this moment rendered peculiarly interesting by the alarming epidemic which still exists in the metropolis, and many of our large provincial towns; and no person can be better qualified than Dr. Bateman to make a report of it: because he has held for fourteen years the office of sole medical superintendant of the House of Recovery for the Reception of Fever Patients. Besides the motives of a more obvious nature which might naturally be supposed to influence Dr. B., in wishing to leave an authentic history of a disease with which he has had so many opportunities of becoming thoroughly acquainted, he observes, "that it appears to him to be worthy of record, as it exhibits very distinctly a specimen of the common form, and of the common varieties, which the infectious fever has assumed in this country for many years past; and which is likely to continue, under our improved 31 and improving system of domestic economy, to be the ordinary fever of our island."-The theory implied in this sentence, that the infectious fevers which have, at various successive periods, invaded the inhabitants of this country, have been really identical,and that the differences observed in their symptoms and their degrees of virulence have depended on the changes in our habits and manners, and on the means of prevention or cure which have been adopted,-is afterwards more fully maintained and developed. Dr. Bateman begins by noticing the connexion between scarcity of food and epidemic fever; which appears to be so uniform, that we are justified in regard ing the former as the cause of the latter. That fever is not generated by the mere accumulation of the putrid effluvia from decomposed animal matter, appears to be proved by the most decisive evidence; though, at the same time, this is probably to be regarded as a powerful circumstance in multiplying and fostering it when once produced. And he observes, "The morbid and even natural effluvia of the living body, when allowed to accumulate by want of cleanliness and air, are unques tionably common sources of fever.". Whence the disease, once generated, is extensively propagated by the accessary circumstances, want of personal and domestic cleanliness, and crowded habitations without proper ventilation. It would appear that the most constant and characteristic symptoms in simple typhus, are a general prostration of strength, attended with pains in the head, and still more in the limbs and back. Under all its modifications, Dr. B. observes, the skin remains dry; and "no distinct humidity" is perceptible at the decline of the disease in a large majority of the cases; in 19 only out of 678, did any thing appear like a critical diaphoresis; that is, where the symptoms immediately subsided on the occurrence of the perspiration. With respect to the heat of the body in typhus, we are informed, that it was seldom found to be increased beyond the ordinary standard of health, except in the febricula of children, a part which would appear to be much at variance with the statements of Dr. Currie, who regarded the increase of temperature almost as the essence of the febrile action; and the reduction of this morbid temperature, as the grand indication of cure, which is to supersede almost every other remedy. Dr. Bateman expressly informs us that, in a very great majority of the cases which have been under his care. the beat has seldom exceeded 99° 100°. 66 The typhus fever, in this simple form, with which nearly two-thirds of the patients under Dr. B.'s care, during the present epidemic, have been affected, is not regarded as a dangerous disease; because, by simple treatment and removal of the extraneous circumstances, which are unfavourable to the re est blishment of health, the powers of the constitution appear to be generally suf ficient to effect a cure; but the result is very different in the complicated typhus. This second variety of the disease, which fell under Dr. Bateman's inspection, approximates very closely to the slow ne vous fever, so accurately depicted by Dr. Huxham: a fever which manifestly differs from the patrid pestilential fever described by the same able author, only in the less violence of its symptoms, and its more protracted course." It is stated that, during the first ten days of the complaint, the symptoms were not materially different, in the cases which afterwards became of the kind that is placed in this Secord Class, from those of the First. At this period an increase of the general diminution of the vital powers was very perceptible; and of all those which have usually been regarded as indications of a deranged condition of the nervous functions; but it would appear that the putrid or malignant symptoms, as they have been commonly styled, scarcely ever occurred in the House of Recovery. Among 678 patients, two, only, had extensive ecchymoses, or livid blotches; but even here the state was rather indicative of a failure in the powers of the circulating system, thin of any change in the nature of the constituents of the body, or any tendency to their decomposition or putrefaction. This section concludes with some curious documents respecting the average mortality of the typhus fever, which has been (beyond all doubt) greatly diminished, in this country within the last century; but it is not easy to form any correct estimate on this point. The Section on the method of treatment occupies nearly one third of the volume, and cannot be studied with too much attention. Notwithstanding the great reform that has taken place since the errors of the humoralists, and the still more fatal practices of the Bruno-, nians, Dr. Bateman remarks, that we have not yet overcome all our terrors of debility, and we still have recourse to our stimulants, although in less formidable doses. These, however, except in a very few instances, and in the latter stages, are to be entirely discarded: we are to commence with an emetic of ipecacuan; then to administer a purgative; and afterwards, if the occasion requires, proceed to blood-letting, and employ cold drinks and external cold through every period of the disease. Dr. Bateman has not, however, found the use of the cold effusions, as recommended by Currie, to answer the expectations that were raised in its favour; it is often difficult to put in practice; it did not apparently abridge the disense; and it would appear that cold washing with a sponge is generally a more effectual remedy. Dr. B.'s remarks on blood-letting are so peculiarly candid and judicious, that they deserve the utmost attention of all those who are anxious to acquire the most correct judgment on this very important and much-controverted question "No appearance of languor or debility," as it is very forcibly and correctly stated, "should induce a disposition to swerve from a steady pursuit of the anti-phlogistic plan, in diet, regimen, and medicine." Through the whole progress of the disease, except in some cases towards its termination, Dr. Bateman enjoins that, whatever may be the appearance of debility, "the administration of camphor, ethereal fluids, aromatic confection, and every description of cordial or tonic, and more especially bark, should be religiously avoided." The opposite treatment has, beyond all doubt, produced those very symptoms of malignancy which the bark and wine were supposed to be necessary to correct. All those appearances which depend on a morbid condition of the nervous system, and which have usually been attributed to debility, are with much more propriety referred to the effect of congestion, and consequent irritation of the brain or its appendages. Many important points are discussed in the section on contagion, which we regret that our limits will not permit us to specify farther than by a general reference. The most material of these points respects the distance to which : the contagion of typhus is capable of being conveyed by the atmosphere; a distance which Dr. Bateman conceives is much less than we commonly suspect, never perhaps extending more than a few feet from the source where it is generated or accumulated, provided that free access to fresh air is admitted. In proof of this very important practical position, facts are cited from the works of Russel, De Martens, and others, respecting the plague, as well as from Lind and Haygarth respecting fevers generally and from the very curious experiments of O'Ryan of Lyons, on the contagion of small pox. From these and other facts of a similar tendency, Dr. Bateman draws the conclusion," that infection cannot be caught in the open air, even by a close approximation to the most tainted sources of it, the uncleansed person and contaminated apparel of the sick : in short, that, to be rendered communicable, it must be condensed and accumulated in a confined and unchanged atmosphere; or, in the apparel or bedding, which has been long in contact with the patient." The practical inferences, therefore, are clear; namely, that apprehensions of danger, from passing through the streets of an infected district, or near hospitals, are altogether unfounded; that even in an apartment, contagion may be entirely prevented from spreading by perfect ventillation and cleanliness, which should, therefore, be exclusively relied upon; carefully avoiding the use of camphor, tobacco, vinegar, and all strong smelling substances, which have no influence in destroying contagion, and which lead to a dangerous supposition of security, by concealing the taint which ought to be removed by ventilation. THE POLAR EXPEDITION. From letters from Captain Ross and Lieutenant Robertson, of the Isabella, an account of the expedition has been drawn up for Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, which contains some particu. lars in addition to those we have heretofore gathered from other sources; and as every thing connected with this interesting experiment is curious and philosophically important, we hasten to extract from that publication the facts not previously noticed. On the 9th of June they anchored to an iceberg, which was a-ground about a mile from the shore, in 38 fathoms of water, in latitude 68° 22′, and longitude 53° 42', and they now obtained an accurate measure of the variation, free from any irregularity in the action of the ship. The variation was found to be 67° 39′ W. and the dip 83° 7'. This iceberg was so firmly moored, that the levels of the dipping needle were not in the slightest degree affected. On the 15th, the Isabella anchored to an iceberg about a mile from the northwest coast of Waygatt, or Hare-Island. All the astronomical apparatus was now got a-shore, a temporary observatory was erected, and the following accurate observations on the variation and dip were obtained :: A pendulum, which vibrated 82 seconds more than twenty-four hours in the latitude of London, when the temperature was 52°, vibrated in Waygatt Island 153 seconds more than twenty-four hours, when the temperature was 48°. Waygatt, or Hare Island, is about nine miles long, and 1400 feet high. Some of the rocks are basaltic, and coal is found near the surface, in the north-east part of it. The latitude of the island is 70° 22' 15" W., and its longitude 54° 51′ W., instead of 50° 15', as given in the charts. On the 26th of June, at the distance of only twenty miles from Waygatt Island, the Isabella got into a piece of Ship's head, South-west.. 84° 38′ W. Ship's head, West 93° 33′ W. Ship's head, North-west. 90° 20′ W. Captain Ross is decidedly of opinion, though there is some difference of sen timent on the subject, that the following points are established by his observations:-1. That the deviation occasioned by the direction of the ship's head, is not on the magnetic meridian, but differs in every ship. In the Isabella, Alexander, and the Harmony of Hull, to the westward of north.-2. That there is a point of change in the deviation, which may easily be found by azi. muth, or bearings of a distant object; is found, it may in like manuer be and that when this point of deviation found what proportion is to be added it is to the east of north; and in the or subtracted from the true variation, but only by actual observation; for the deviation does not increase, either in an arithmetical or logarithmic proportion. On board the Isabella, and in latitude 74°, the point of change is N. 17° E. The extreme deviation is, when the ship's head is N. 80 W.; viz. 19°, which is additive to the true variation: so that with the ship's head W. and N. there is 100° of variation; or by steering W. and N. the ship actually makes a S. by E. course. On the other hand, the variation decreases when the ship's head is to the east, but not in an equal ratio, the extreme being 17°, making the variation 64° on that tack. On the 4th of July, in lat. 72° 30', the following measure of the variation was taken : clear water that carried them to the On the 5th, it was land-ice, on the north side of Jacob's Bight, where they made the following observations: North latitude..... The ship was now swung, and azi muths taken on board at every five North latitude Captain Ross has found, in general, that the coast of Greenland, above the latitude of 68°, is about 100 miles farther to the west than in the Admiralty charts. On the 228 July, an opening in the |