648

OF

ARTS AND SCIENCES.

*The Conductors of the AUGUSTAN REVIEW request scientific and literary men, and also Editors and Publishers, to favour them with authentic information relative to inventions, discoveries, and improvements in Arts and Sciences; Notices of works preparing for publication, and of those recently published; which will be thankfully received, and communicated to the public in the subsequent Number, if sent to the publishers (post paid) before the 20th of the month.

I.

INVENTIONS, DISCOVERIES, AND IMPROVEMENTS, IN ARTS AND SCIENCES.

Zoology.

ON Thursday, the 7th ultimo, the Royal Society assembled after the long vacation; but, unfortunately, its revered President, Sir Joseph Banks, although in a state of comparative convalescence, was still unable to take the chair. Sir Everard Home, a Vice-President, furnished a short paper on the comparative anatomy of the Lumbricus Marinus and Lumbricus Terrestris, contrasted with the teredo navalis. These worms have all red blood; burrow in wood or clay; have muscular stomachs, and their blood is aerated by means of tubes in their backs. After many abortive attempts to trace the mode in which their blood circulates, Sir E. was assisted by Mr. Cliff, who macerated the worms in vinegar, which coagulated their blood, and enabled him to discover the spot where the arteries and veins ramified, and to make accurate drawings of the parts. The common earth-worm has an artery along its belly, and a vein along its back, in which are apertures to imbibe air, and answer the purpose of lungs. The Lumbricus Marinus has a small and scarcely perceptible organ, which Sir E. considers as a heart, near the centre of the body, where the arteries from the head unite, and where the veins separate, to supply the extremities. The sea-worms Sir E. examined on the coast of Sussex.

On the 14th, Dr. Rawlinson Johnson presented, through the medium of the President, a paper containing some remarks on the natural history of the hirudo vulgaris, or the hirudo octoculata of Linnæus. Dr. J. was induced to denominate this leech h. vulgaris, as the h. tessulata has also eight eyes. It is found funder stones in rivulets; is from an inch to an inch and half long; it copulates like snails; is oviparous, and the ova are quick in three weeks, and break the kind of capsule in which they are enveloped in two months. The author thinks that all the leech genus must be oviparous. The h. vulgaris deposits from six to twenty or thirty ova, which are often destroyed by other leeches. It is of a blackish brown colour, with spots on the upper side, and greenish underneath. It has no organ like a heart, but it pulsates eight times in a minute.

Medical Galvanism.

Nov. 21, Dr. Wilson, of Worcester, communicated to the R. S. some additional particulars respecting the effects of galvanism on asthma. He states that spasmodic asthma is a disease of comparatively rare occurrence (for

which the smoke of stramonium has been advantageously used); that nervous asthma is very common; and that in the application of galvanism he has failed in giving relief to only one in ten, while the great majority has been permanently relieved. He uses plates four inches square, and generally begins with only four or five, and increases them up to thirty, which is the greatest number any patient could bear. The acid he uses is very. weak, being only one part muriatic acid to twenty of water; he continues the operation generally from five to ten minutes before the patient announces a relief in breathing. All persons can bear the galvanic battery to be more powerful at first than afterwards. The conducting wires are applied to the nape of the neck and the pit of the stomach, or rather lower, the parts being covered with tin foil; and the points are to be moved.

To the above facts the writer of this can add his own experience, in six or seven cases, all of which found some relief from the application of the galvanic fluid; but he cannot state that he was so fortunate as to effect a perfect cure in any one. The advantage, however, was well worthy the trouble of the experiment; and perhaps, ultimately, it may appear that about one-fourth are permanently relieved: an extraordinary fact in medical practice, for which the public are indebted to Dr. Wilson. It may be proper to add, what Dr. W. has not noticed, that, notwithstanding the tinfoil, the galvanic fluid invariably blisters the parts to which it is applied; and that it is in consequence of those blisters, and the consequently increased conducting powers of the blistered parts, that patients are unable to bear, perhaps, a sufficiently powerful battery. In some cases blisters are raised, in a few minutes, at the very first application, and they degenerate into ulcers, which continue open several weeks.

Antiquities.

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The Society of Antiquaries assembled on the same evening as the Royal Society; its transactions being, in general, less interesting, it is seldom so numerously attended. A paper was communicated by Mr. Bray, the treasurer, detailing some particulars of the ceremonies and expenses the king of the revels, or lord of the masks, in the 16th and 17th centuries. This notable person played the part of a king, had his ministers, chancellors, &c. and all the parade of mock-majesty; the details of which have been published by the late Mr. Brand. The present account was derived from some papers purporting to contain the expenses incurred by one of the kings of the revels, in the family of Moore, at their seat near Guildford, Surrey. It appears that a Christmas king, or lord of revels, even in the 17th century, cost £2000. in the Temple, to amuse the gentlemen of the long robe, at which the lord mayor and aldermen attended in their courtdresses. The royal household often lent articles of dress to assist in decorating the attendants of the mock-king. A minute account of the expenses, in 1629, of one of these entertainments was related; but it would be a waste of time to repeat them; moreover, the paper occupied three nights in reading, and was not even then finished!

It is remarkable that this Society has never turned its attention to literary antiquities; every thing respecting royalty has been ransacked and detailed, ad nauseam, while the history of our language, its progress and formation, the origin and mutations of our laws, the popular customs, &c. have been almost entirely overlooked by the Society of Antiquaries in its corporate capacity. France long boasted of an "Academy of Inscriptions;" Italy and Spain have similar establishments; but the London Antiquaries waste their time in recording the most useless and insignificant courtfooleries, and neglect those researches which might illustrate our language, and permanently benefit society. The Antiquaries of Scotland have evinced more general views, and consequently treated more important subjects.

11.

WORKS PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION.

Printing at Macao, under the Patronage of the Honourable East India Company, a Dictionary of the Chinese Language. By the Rev. Robert Morrison. To consist of three Parts. Part 1, Chinese and English, arranged according to the Chinese Radicals. Part 2, Chinese and English, arranged alphabetically. Part 3, English and Chinese. It will be published in Parts, at Half-a-Guinea each; and the whole expense will not exceed Ten Guineas.

Miss A. C. Mant, Author of Ellen; or, the Young Godmother, &c. &c. will shortly publish, in Two handsome Volumes duodecimo, Montague Newburgh; or, the Mother and Son: a Tale. It will be illustrated by an elegant Engraving, and printed on a fine paper.

The Continuation of Miss Burney's Tales of Fancy is expected in the course of a few weeks.

Mrs. Ann Plumptre is preparing for publication a Narrative of her late Residence in Ireland, which will be illustrated by Plates of remarkable Scenery.

Mr. Alexander Jamieson, Author of the Treatise on the Construction of Maps, &c. will speedily publish, in One Volume duodecimo, the Cavern of Rose Ville; or, the Two Sisters. Translated from the French of Madame Herbster. It will be embellished with an elegant Copper-plate Engraving.

The Rev. W. N. Darnell is printing a Volume of Sermons on Practical Subjects.

The Correspondent, consisting of Letters, Moral, Political, and Literary, between eminent Writers in France and England, and designed by presenting to each Nation a faithful Picture of the other, to enlighten both to their true Interests, promote a mutual good Understanding between them, and render Peace the Source of a common Prosperity. In Octavo Numbers. To be continued every Two Months. No. I. will appear in January, price 5s. sewed.

The Rev. J. Nightingale has in the press, in a Quarto Volume, English Topography; or, a Description of the several Counties of England and Wales, with a Map of each County.

Dramas, by Sir James Bland Burges, Bart. are printing, in Two octavo Volumes.

Some Account of the Life and Writings of Lope Felix De Vega Carpio, by Henry Richard Lord Holland, a New Edition, with Additions, in Two Volumes, small octavo, will shortly appear.

A Series of Letters from the celebrated Earl of Chesterfield to Mr. Arthur Stanhope, relative to the Education of his Son Philip, the late Earl, are preparing for publication.

The Prisoner of Chillon, a Fable; the Dream; Darkness; the Incantation, &c., by the Right Hon. Lord Byron, will appear in a few days.

A New Weekly Publication, entitled the LITERARY BEE ;or, the New Family Library, will appear within a few days. It will consist of Moral and Critical Essays; Classical Tales; Poems; Descriptions of remarkable Ruins, and of sublime and beautiful Scenery; with Pictures from real Life, and Essays on the Manners and Customs of different Nations. By some of the best British and foreign Writers of the present Age.

Tales of My Landlord. Collected and reported by Jedediah Cleishbotham, Schoolmaster and Parish Clerk of Gaudercleugh. In Four Volumes duodecimo.

Barron Field, Esq. of the Inner Temple, is printing, in Two octavo Volumes, a Practical Treatise on the Commercial Law of England.

Mr. Maclachlan, of Old Aberdeen, will soon publish a Volume of Medical Effusions.

An Essay on the Political Life and Character of the Right Hon. R. B. Sheridan will shortly appear, in an octavo Volume.

An Account of the singular Habits and Circumstances of the People of the Tonga Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean, By Mr. William Mariner, of the Port au Prince, private Ship of War; the greater Part of whose Crew was massacred by the Natives of Lefooga: Mr. Mariner remaining, for several Years after, a constant Associate of the King and the higher Class of Chiefs. To which will be added, a Grammar, a copious Vocabulary of the Language, and a Portrait. Two Volumes, 8vo.

An Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the Bengal Native Infantry, from its first Formation, in 1757, to 1796, when the present Regulations took place. Together with a Detail of the Services on which the several Battalions have been employed during that Period. By the late Capt. John Williams, of the Invalid Establishment of the Bengal Army. 8vo. with Plates.

Mr. T. Dibdin is preparing for the press, the posthumous Dramatic Works of the late Mr. Benjamin Thompson, which will be published by subscription for the benefit of his widow and six children.

The Rev. C. Simeon, of King's College, Cambridge, will soon publish, in octavo, Four Discourses preached before the University in November, 1815.

In the press, and will be published in January next, Memoirs and Remains of the late Rev. Charles Buck, collected and arranged from his Papers, and interspersed with observations illustrative of his Character; to which is added, a Brief Review of his various Publications. By John Styles, D. D.

Nearly ready for publication, in Two Volumes Svo., a Descriptive Catalogue of Recent Shells, arranged according to the Linnean Method, with particular Attention to the Synonymy; to which is subjoined a copious Index of the Synonyms used by previous Conchological Authors. By L. W. Dillwyn, F.R.S. and F.L.S.

Honorary Member of the Geological Society of London, the Linnean Society of Philadelphia, &c.

A Complete Course of Instruction in the Elements of Fortification; originally intended for the use of the Royal Engineer Department. By Lieut.-Col. C. W. Pasley, R. E., F. R. E., Author of an Essay on the Military Policy of Great Britain. 2 vols. 8vo. Illustrated by five Copper-plates, and five hundred Engravings on Wood.

A Translation of La Croix, Traité Elémentair de Calcul Differentiel et de Calcul Integral, with Notes by Babage, B. A., St. Peter's College; G. Peacock, M. A., Trinity College; and T. F. W. Herschell, M. A., St. John's College, Cambridge.

Q. Horatius Flaccus ad fidem Textus Ricardi Bentleii, plerumque accommodatus et brevibus notes instructus. Editet Thomas Kidd, A. M. e Coll. S. S. Trin.

The Franklin Manuscripts, noticed in May last, are in a forward state for publication.

A System of Mechanical Philosophy, by the late John Robison, LL.D., Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University, and Secretary to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. With Notes and Illustrations, comprising the most recent Discoveries in the Physical Sciences. By David Brewster, LL. D., F. R. S. L. and E. In Four Volumes 8vo. with numerous Plates.

Mr. Geo. Cumberland has prepared for the press a Work on the Commencement and Progress of the Art of Engraving, as far as relates to the advantages Art has derived from the productions of the Italian School.

The Rev. G. G. Scraggs, of Buckingham, has in the press, in Two duodecimo Volumes, Questions resolved in Divinity, History, Biography, and Literature.

III.

WORKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED.

ANTIQUITIES.

The History and Antiquities of the Abbey Church of St. Peter, Westminster. By E. W. Brayley; with Architectural and Graphic Illustrations, by J. P. Neale. Part I., with fine Engravings; Folio, to correspond with Dugdale's Monasticon; and Imperial and Royal Quartos.

BIOGRAPHY.

Memoirs of the Life and Administration of Sir Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford. Drawn from original Correspondence and authentic Papers never before published. By William Coxe, Archdeacon of Wilts. A new Edition, in Four Volumes 8vo. 21. 8s. boards.