fome refpects the Cayenne refin, and even poffeffes a certain degree of elasticity:-but all his proceffes were equally inefficacious. In fome of them, the refin was not at all affected; and, in others, was altered or destroyed.

After thus exhaufting almost every probable refource, one menftruum only remained to be tried; to which the Author had recourfe with regret, on account of its fcarcity and dearness, by its means however he at length refolved this very difficult chemical problem. This menftruum is the vitriolic æther, which quickly and eafily diffolves the whole of this anomalous fubftance; forming with it a transparent tincture, and on its evaporation leaving the refin behind, poffeffed of its former confiftence, elafticity, and all its other properties; and of fuch a form as the operator has chofen to give to it, while in its liquid. ftate. Great nicety however, we are informed, is requifite in the choice of the ether employed in this process. It is abfolutely neceffary to the fuccels of this experiment, to rectify 8 or 10 pints of the common æther by a gentle heat, and to fet apart for this purpose the two firft pints that come over. This, by the bye, our Author obferves, is the only æther on which the chemist can depend, who would inveftigate the qualities, or the proper action of æther, quatenus æther, on other fubftances.

The uses to which this difcovery is applicable appear to be various. The folidity, flexibility, and elasticity of the Caoutchouc, and its property of not being affected by aqueous, fpirituous, faline, oily, or other common folvents, renders it a proper and valuable matter for the conftruction of tubes, catheters, and various other inftruments, in which thefe united properties are wanted. The method by which the Author made fmall tubes of it is fimple and ingenious. He first prepares a folid cylindrical mould of wax, of the proper fize and shape; and then dipping a pencil into the ætherial folution of the refin, daubs the mould over with it, till it is covered with a refinous coat of a fufficient thicknets. In order that the tube may be fmooth and even, this work must be executed with great expedition; as the æther flies off from the wax and leaves the refin upon it, almoft immediately on its application. He then throws the piece into boiling water; by the heat of which the wax is foon melted, and rifes to the furface; leaving the refinous tube compleatly formed behind.

The remaining memoirs of this clafs, and volume, shall be the fubjects of a fucceeding article.

ART.

ART. IX.

Joannis Frederici Meckel Nova Experimenta et Obfervationes, &c.New Experiments and Obfervations relating to the Extremities of the Veins and Lymphatic Veffels of the Human Body; and on the Intentions of Nature in their particular Organifation. By John Frederick Meckel. 8vo Berlin, 1772.

T

HESE experiments and obfervations, which are addreffed to the long and juftlý celebrated Morgagni, do not appear to be undeferving the refpectable patronage of that anatomical and medical Neftor of the prefent age: as they present some new and curious circumftances, relating to the ftructure and ceconomy of the lymphatic veffels, and veins, in different organs of the human body, which had hitherto escaped the detection of the moft accurate and expert anatomifts.

The effay is divided into five fections; from the first of which it appears that the Author's mercurial injections made their way from the fmall lymphatic veffels of the conglobate glands, directly into the branches of the fanguiferous vein of the gland; and this, without any rupture of the veffels, or extravafation of the fluid, attending the experiment. From hence it neceffarily follows that there is an immediate anaflomofis or inofculation of the lymphatic veffels with the extremities of the veins belonging to these glands.

The fecond fection contains an account of fome eafy and fimple experiments, in which the quickfilver was introduced into the lactiferous ducts of the papilla, in the breasts of two females; and which prove, not only that there is an immediate vascular connection between the minute branches of these ducts, and the lymphatic veins; (an inofculation which had been before detected by our Author's colleague, Walterus) but that there is likewife a fimilar and ftill more evident and open communication between thefe ducts, and the extremities of the red or fanguiferous veins. By means of this peculiar and hitherto undifcovered organifation, the milk is occafionally reconveyed, from the lactiferous tubes, by a direct courfe, into the mafs of blood, from which it had before been fecreted. In the course of these experiments the Author difcovered likewife an inofculation of the malleft branches of the lactiferous ducts with each other. These and the other difcoveries and obfervations contained in the following fections are fucceeded by fome phyfiological and pathological remarks; in which the Author inveftigates the intentions of nature in the ftructure of the parts, and points out the medical or curative indications to be derived from the new lights here thrown upon it. As there feems to be nothing peculiar in M. Meckel's manner of conducting the experi

7

ments

ments related in this fection, it may appear fingular that these anaflomofes fhould have hitherto remained unobferved by Haller, Morgagni, and other great anatomifts. But the Author's detection of them is principally to be attributed, as he candidly intimates, to the particular fituation and circumftances of the two female fubjects, on whom his experiments were made, and which rendered thefe minute and evanefcent paffages more than ufually open, and pervious to his injections.

From the contents of the third fection it appears that the Author has been equally fuccefsful in inveftigating, by his injec tions, the real channel by which the femen, after it has been fecreted in the teftes, and collected into the veficulæ feminales, is abforbed, and conveyed from thefe laft mentioned receptaclesback again into the mafs of blood. It feems, from his experiments, that that ftrict economift, Dame Nature, exercifes this act of frugality, not by the intervention of the lymphatics, but by the agency of the veins; the mouths of whofe extreme branches immediately open into the cavities of these refervoirs, and abforb and carry off their ftagnating and fuperabundunt contents. Among other important purposes anfwered by this difpofition, fhe has hereby provided a remedy against any inconveniences and evils that might refult from a state of continence.

In the fourth fection, the Author demonstrates an actual communication fubfifting not only between the hepatic duct an the lymphatic veffels, but likewife between the fame duct and the branches of the Vena Cava; from which he deduces fome practical corollaries refpecting the jaundice and other difeafes of the liver. In the fifth and laft fection, the Author relates fome experiments which evince an occafional reforption of the urine, through the orifices of the veins opening into the cavity of the bladder; and he gives the cafe of a young man (together with the method of cure fuccessfully purfued in it) in which this abforption was fo very confiderable, that the urine had almoft entirely deferted the paffage of the urethra, and paffed through the pores of the fkin in his arm pts, where his linen and cloaths were continually wetted with it. With a few obfervations of the fame kind he concludes this effay, which, as the preceding anal fis has fhewn, contains fome new and curious facts and obfervations, that will recommend it to the perufal of the anatomift and phyfiologift, and which may poffibly have a diftant influence on medical practice.

Le Torfin des Rois, &c. An Alarm to Kings. By M. de Voltaire : With the Order of the Muphti for the Suppreffion of this Work; and the Decree of the Divan, condemning the Author to be impaled. 8vo. 2 s. 6d. London.

ΤΗ

HIS whimsical publication invites the princes of Chriftendom to unite their arms against the Ottoman empire; and yet laughs at the madness of the Crufades. It alfo ventures to throw a ridicule on Chriftianity, in the view, that its fpirit tends to perfecution and cruelty. But here the Author, it is obvious, has afcribed to this mode of faith, the evils which flow from the fiery zeal, and the vices, of its teachers.

ART. XI.

Bibliotheca Botanica. Qua ferepta ad rem Herbariam facientia a rerum initiis recenfentur. Auctore Alberto Van Haller, &c. &c. Tom. II. -A Bibliotheque of Medicine and Natural History ;-containing the fecond Part of the BOTANICA BIBLIOTHEQUE. 4to. 11. London. Heydinger. 1772.

IN

N our laft Appendix, and in our Review for March enfuing, we gave an account of the firft volume of this work, to which we refer our Readers.-The fecond volume confifts of two books, viz. the ninth and tenth, and completes the botanical part, which is carried down to the present year; and the work is executed with that accuracy and ability that may be expected from HALLER.

Bibliotheque de Madame la Dauphine, No. 1. Hiftoire.-The Library of Madame la Dauphine, No. 1. Hiftory. 8vo. Paris. 1771. THE Author of this ingenious and fprightly performance is

Librarian to the Dauphinefs, whom he intends to conduct through the different walks of literature that are proper for her rank and fex. He begins with hiftory; lays down a plan of ftudy in relation to it; fhews what books are proper to be read, and in what order; points out the object and moral end of hiftory, and marks the views, in particular, wherewith princes ought to read it. Though the work is intended for the ufe of a young princefs, yet the generality of readers may receive benefit from the perufal of it: the Author appears to be a man of tafte, a lover of mankind, and a friend to virtue.

We fhall only give one short paffage from him; it relates to Voltaire, and is as follows:-If this illuftrious man, whose activity feems equal to every thing, and who has ftruck into fo many different paths of literature, had given the first part of his life to poetry, and the fecond to history; if, in this new

2

career,

career, he had employed that attention and that fidelity, in the ftudy of facts and the fearch of truth, which mankind have a right to expect from those who undertake to inftruct them; if, in a word, he had propofed to himself, as the end of his labours, not the empty fatisfaction of pleafing and amufing, but the far more exalted pleafure, the ineftimable advantage of making men better and happier, we fhould then have had nothing but mafter pieces from his pen; he would have been confidered as the benefactor of his country, and would have enjoyed, univerfally, the reputation his talents deferve, and the efteem due to fo honourable an application of them. I should then, perhaps, have ftruck a great number of writers from the lift I have given, and put VOLTAIRE alone in their place. His hiftory of Charles XII. the only hiftorical performance of his that I fhall recommend to the reader, fhews, notwithstanding its inaccuracies, that no perfon is better qualified than the Author to give hiftory a noble and interefting air. He fuppreffes every circumftance that is unworthy of the attention of pofterity, and mentions thofe only which paint the foul of his hero, or are capable of roufing that of his reader: we follow him without regret, because he inftructs us; we remember what he fays, without difficulty, because he warms and animates us.

ART. XIII.

Etats formes en Europe après la Chute de L'Empire Romain en Occident.States formed in Europe, after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, by M. D'Anville. 4to. Paris, 1771.

M. D'Anville's character as a geographer is fo well esta

blifhed, that we need fay nothing concerning it.-In an advertisement prefixed to this work, he tells us that it is a very common thing, in books upon geography, to confider two objects only, very diftant from each other, viz. the antient and prefent ftate of countries. Now, as he very juftly obferves, this is neglecting a very confiderable interval, and paffing haftily, and without any connection, from the firft object to the fecond, though the one differs from the other fo much, as to render it a matter of importance to know by what means, and by what revolution, such a difference, and such a change took place,

Having published, therefore, a fyftem of ancient geography, our Author thought it would be doing a fervice to the world, to publish another work likewife, wherein the Reader might have a view of thofe ftates in Europe that were raised upon the ruins of the western empire. ૦ ૧ 2

It