properties on the power which tends to destroy them. It is therefore probable that, without this re-action, the effect of acids, which would immediately follow astringency, by the progressive augmentation in the degree of their concentration, would be induration. If any acids exist which are directly stimulating, this power probably belongs to some aromatic part with which they are always combined; such are, for example, vinegar and benzoic acid. Acids sometimes diminish the frequency of the pulse.'

The author then offers some remarks on the comparative effects of mineral and vegetable acids; the former, even when much diluted, being more astringent and less refreshing. The latter are recommended in all bilious complaints, putrid fevers, and scurvy. They are always useful as counteracting putridity, and of course in hot climates or seasons: but, for the same reason, they are improper for children, and in cold weather. M. NYSTEN concludes by the following remark: The prolonged use of acids, even when much diluted, would be injurious to health; they attack the enamel of the teeth, impair the digestion, produce wasting of the body, and might cause induration of the digestive organs; and those acids which excite inflammation and cauterization may induce all the evils of poisons.' To each of the articles, the writer subjoins his authorities; those in the present case are Wedel, Schaper, Goch, Israel, Quistorp, Baumer, Bontin, and Wrestney. The reader will observe that they are nearly all Germans, and names that are unknown in this country.

After this account of acids in general, we have a separate article for each individual acid. The acetic acid stands first; and M. NYSTEN describes its formation, the methods of concentrating it, and its medical qualities. Here, again, we shall quote his remarks, as affording a specimen of the merits of that part of the work to which our attention should principally be directed:

Vinegar is refreshing and slightly tonic; taken moderately, it sharpens the appetite, favours digestion, and augments the urinary secretion; as far as it is concentrated, it produces astringency; it Occasions cough in persons whose lungs are delicate; and its use, when long continued, softens and weakens the fibres of the stomach. During the summer of 1811, M. Pelletan related at a sitting of the Society of the Faculty of Medicine, the case of a child, who died after having used vinegar for a long time, and the membranes of whose stomach were found on examination to be extremely thin. Does vinegar, when taken habitually in a certain quantity, by acting on the stomach, produce emaciation? Is this effect also in part caused by its dissolving the fibrine of the muscles, and the various other textures to which it reaches by means of the absorbents? I am the more disposed to admit this last opinion, because, according to

the

the remark of M. Vauquelin, vinegar is the acid which acts the most powerfully on animal substances. We have recourse to the employment of vinegar to increase the tone of the stomach, and to combat scorbutic affections and the tendency to putrefaction. In this case, we put one or two spoonsfull of it into one or two pints of the vehicle, of which a glassful is taken. It is employed against vomitings and spasmodic hiccups, taken alone in the dose of a spoonful. It is given as being refreshing in bilious fevers, and commonly in the state of syrup, of which two or three ounces are put into two pints of the common drink of the patient. It is employed to excite the mucous membrane of the bronchiæ, in the third stage of peripneumonies and acute pulmonary catarrhs; and in this case recourse is had to the oxymel, which is diluted in the ptisan, of the same dose as the syrup. In the putrid dysentery and diarrhoea, vinegar is used as an astringent glyster; one part of it is added to three or four of the liquid which forms the vehicle of the glyster. Vinegar is regarded by many physicians as the antidote to opium: but various experiments which I have made on living animals cause me to doubt this property. In, the epidemics of contagious fevers, we make fumigations with vinegar, in order to keep off contagion; and persons who approach the sick often rub their hands with the same fluid. They sometimes employ for that purpose thieves' vinegar, which contains in solution different aromatic substances. Vinegar is often employed externally, especially in the form of vapour, to resolve certain local tumors and enlargements, situated in the white parts which surround the articulations."

The authorities for the article Acetous Acid' are, David Finariensis, Bergen, Fick, Worthington, Wedel, Gebauer, Herissant, Oosterdyk, Segers, Lepechin, and Moritsch. The remaining acids are treated separately; the Benzoic, Carbonic, Citric, Muriatic, Nitrous, Oxalic, Sulphuric, and Tartaric more at large, while only references are made to the others, as being less connected with the subject of medicine.

From the quotations which we have given, our readers will form a tolerably correct idea of the manner in which M. NYSTEN treats these subjects. He is not deficient in information, but he wants discrimination and selection, and pours out his knowlege on every topic without making any distinction between that which rests on the most firm and that which depends on more dubious authority. Yet with all this he appears miserably defective as to his acquaintance with the medical literature of England. We have already given some of his lists of authorities, and we shall insert the others for the remaining acids. Under Carbonic Acid, we have Smeth, Corvinus, Jassoy, Neufville, Chappon, Eickma, Nyberg, Swenske, Emmet, Luther, Dobson, Wittstock, and Johnson. The only other authorities quoted are Windorf under Sulphuric Acid, and Paecken under Tartaric Acid.

The

The article Adherence' is written by M. RENAULDIN, and occupies about five pages. Adherence is defined to be the union of certain parts which in their natural state ought to be separated.' The different kinds of adhesions are divided into external and internal; and the external are arranged under six heads, according to the parts of the body in which they exist; 1. of the eye-lids; 2. of the internal parts of the eye; — 3. of the nostrils;-4. of the lips; 5. of the inside of the cheeks; 6. of the fingers; -7. of the moveable articulations. Of these, some are said to be the consequence of natural structure, and others to be the effect of accidents. Internal adhesions are either chronic or acute; the latter are often produced by violence, such as adhesions between the membranes of the brain after injuries inflicted on the head. The adhesion of the lungs to the pleura frequently follows inflammation of the part; also of the heart and its containing membrane, and of the abdominal viscera among each other, or to the parietes of the abdomen. The adhesions which the liver forms with the neighbouring parts lead to some important pathological observations; and the same may be remarked respecting the effects which are described as following the adhesions of the intestines. The article concludes with these general views:

The formation of accidental adhesions is commonly owing to the inflammation, ulceration, or suppuration of parts of which the surfaces are contiguous or in habitual contact; and the agglutination is produced either immediately by means of the vascular system or by the interposition of an albuminous matter, which, being exhaled from the inflamed surface, gives rise to false membranes, or, finally, by the intermedium of cellular filaments more or less multiplied. If adhesions, as well interior as exterior, are generally injurious, yet some have salutary effects, and we even attempt to accelerate them by artificial means, in order to keep parts in union which have been accidentally divided or separated. Is it not on the doctrine of inflammation, and of the adhesions which result from it, that we produce the radical cure of the hare-lip, of the hydrocele by laying it open, of fistulas, &c.? From what we have said respecting adhesions, we may conceive that the greatest part of those which are external are sus ceptible of an easy cure; while, with respect to such as are internal, art experiences great difficulties, or is very often reduced to confess its weakness.'

The authorities are, as on former occasions, German; Bergen, Hebenstreit, Crell, and Bosc. This article, like those of M. RENAULDIN in general, is very respectably written; although if has the usual defect of being too long, and aiming at too great an appearance of minuteness and scientific arrangeIn Dr. Parr's Dictionary, the article Adhesion occupies only a few lines; and, although some of the information con

ment.

tained in the French work may be found in other parts, yet, we believe, a considerable portion of the minute detail is not to be obtained in the English dictionary.

The article Air,' which is written by MM. HALLÉ and NYSTEN in conjunction, extends to about 60 pages, although the remarks belong to the atmosphere alone; and it is in fact a complete treatise on the subject. It is divided into five sections; I. on the essential or physical properties of air and its composition; 2. on the accidental properties of air;-3. on the effects which the atmosphere produces on the animal economy; -4. on the foreign substances which may be mixed with the air, or dissolved in it, and alter its quality; and, 5. on the means which art employs to produce in the atmosphere modifications advantageous to health. These sections are again very much subdivided. The first section treats of the fluidity, compressibility, weight, and composition of the atmosphere. The second contains three articles, on the temperature, moisture, and electricity of the air, each of which is treated under a separate head, and these are still farther divided. The third section is of considerable length, and consists of many divisions and subdivisions; on the effects which the essential properties of air produce on the animal economy, the effects of air depending on its combinations in the animal body, and the changes which it experiences there from respiration, the action of the skin, and the alimentary canal. Section 4. on the effects which the accidental properties of air produce on the animal œconomy; as those of heat, of light, of different degrees of cold, of moisture and dryness, and their combination with heat and cold, of the vicissitudes of heat and cold, combined or not combined with moisture, the effects of the electric state of the atmosphere, and general precepts relative to the qualities of the air. In the 5th section, we have separate heads on the choice of situations, construction of buildings, management of fires, distribution of water, ventilation, purification of the air, guarding against lightning, cultivation of the soil, vegetation, animal effluvia, and chemical agents. The references here are analogous to those in other places, being principally composed of names that are entirely unknown to the English reader: viz. Gros, Boyle, Vesti, Arbuthnot, Mosca, Raulin, Sauvages, Kuehn, Kohlreif, Bouffey, Bodin, Gardien, and Cressac. On the whole, this must be estimated as an article of considerable merit, displaying much knowlege of medical philosophy, and diligence in the collection of facts. It is also very carefully arranged: but perhaps it may be thought that the author has introduced too many subdivisions of his subject, so as to render it difficult to perceive the nature of the plan which he proposes

to

to follow. The corresponding article in Parr's Dictionary is probably not more than one-sixth of the length of the French work, and must be regarded as, in most respects, decidedly inferior. Dr. Parr also subjoins his list of references, and it may be interesting to compare them with the above names:Hoffman, Boerhaave, Hales, Chaptal, Thomson, Boyle, Parkinson, Dobson, Lavoisier, Four croy, and Nicholson. Although Dr. Parr's article may be inferior, we will venture to assert that his sources of information are infinitely preferable.

In pursuing our examination, we observe a valuable article on Alienation,' by M. PINEL, and one immediately following it, intitled Aliéné,' by M. MARC, although in some parts rather pompous. The article Aliment,' written by MM. HALLÉ and NYSTEN, is very long, and enters much into detail. We shall merely remark concerning it that, in a copious list of references, the only English writer named is Arbuthnot. We have noticed many good articles on pharmaceutical subjects, by M. VIREY; on subjects connected with pregnancy and the obstetrical art, by M. GARDIEN; and on surgery by M. PARISET. We observe also some respectable articles of a philosophical nature, as on Analysis,' by M. PINEL. The articles on Anatomy,' by M. BAYLE; on Aneurisme,' by M. RICHERAND; on 'Avortement,' by M. MARC; and on Bain,' by MM. HALLÉ, GUILBERT, and NYSTEN; are also among the more elaborate and valuable.

To conclude, although we have pointed out some imperfections and defects in this work, we think that it possesses many claims to our attention; and that it promises to be very useful to the public, and creditable to those who are engaged in its

execution.

Art. VI. Recueil, &c.; i. e. A Collection of Official Documents calculated to undeceive the French respecting the Public Events of late Years. By FREDERICK SCHOELL, formerly Administrator of the Department of the Lower Rhine. 8vo. Paris. 1814. (Published in various Parts, to be subsequently bound in Volumes.)

WE E were apprized by the letters of our military officers, on the entrance of the allies into Paris, that the French had been kept in a state of ignorance respecting public events, which in a civilized people was almost inexplicable; and it is a singular fact that, in the end of March 1814, the majority of the French nation were ignorant of the emancipation of Holland. The greatest pains had been taken by the police to prevent the circulation of bad news, and the blank thus occasioned was not likely to be filled up by a people who give themselves so little trouble to inquire or to reflect. The present work accordingly

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brings