overturns the doctrine of the fchools.' See p. 11, 12, 13. We fhall only fubmit the following conjecture here, that as it is faid, he had been in this flow fever for a month, and complaining fome time of a small pain in his head, till he was fent to the hofpital, where he continued two days in a low way, was feized with light convulfions and died.'-That he might die very quickly after the brain became thus affected, which was not the original difeafe, but the fatal fupervening fymptom; and poffibly in so soft a part, fuppuration may fuc ceed inflammation much fooner than in a fleshy one; (though fuch a delicate fubftance as the brain should not be admitted to colliquate or refolve into a pus-like consistence without a preceding inflammation) as the low way in which the patient continued till his convulfions appeared, and his freedom from any furor or delirium, neither of which are mentioned, may incline fome phyficians to doubt of an actual inflammation of the brain, or of its membranes, in this cafe.

In Dr. Home's own cafe, he complained of a pain in the head from the beginning. This was attended the next day by a fever, which abated by degrees without any vifible crifis, and left him exceeding weak. He had taken caftor and falt of wormwood, but acknowleges the heating nervous medicines were hurtful. He fuppofes, however, in the very next fection, p. 214, that the white sediment in his own cafe, and in one of the low fevers mentioned in this section, arose from fome flight fuppuration of the brain, and that nature 1. was carrying off the matter by urine.' Wonderful recoveries, indeed, may have been effected through very untraceable circuits; and whoever contemplates the exclufion of a fuppurated brain, by the out-let of the kidnies, will probably think it as obfcure a road as any.

But we haften from this fecond part, which feems a collec tion from our Author's diary, or adverfaria, wherein many cafes occur of very moderate utility and information, to the third and last part, entitled Experiments, which contains four fections, the firft of which is employed on the proportionate velocity of the blood, and heat of the human body, in morbid cafes. Thefe obfervations are followed by fome corollaries, to which we refer, p. 226, 227. From his experiments on the nitrum-murale, he concludes it to be a foffil alkali, mixed with a little volatile alcaline falt, or a principle, that, with fire, gives that falt. The volatility of this alcaline falt, however, he foon after afcribes to his collecting this mural nitre from a bog-houfe, that is, undoubtedly, from the walls of one, to make it mural: and he judges the alkaline falt to

be compounded from the nitrous acid in the air, intimately mixed with the calcarious earth of the lime-walls. The third fection contains fome ftatical experiments on the quantity of infenfible perfpiration, under different circumftances, in Scotland. To thefe we refer our Readers without any inference, as Dr. Home himself does in the following judicious reflection. I am very fenfible how dangerous a thing it is to draw general conclufions from one, or a few particular experiments; especially where fuch a vaft variety of circumftances ought to be regarded, before we come to a determination. I am convinced that others, who have engaged in this fubject, erred on this account, and attributed to one 'caufe what belonged to another. I think it, therefore, better to deliver the naked experiments, and leave every one to judge for himself,'

The fourth and laft fection, which concludes the book, treats of the measles at Edinburgh, in 1758, and of their inoculation, which Dr. Home first attempted. As this promifes fomething new and curious to the republic of medicine, we have been the more fummary in regard to the former parts of this performance. After premifing, that not above one in twelve of the infected died: he gives us a cafe of the measles, which brought on a pulmonary or hectical confumption, that did not difappear till the September following the month of February, on the fixteenth of which the patient was feiz'd. About the 11th or 12th of March the fever continuing much the fame, her relations gave her James's powder, a third of a dofe twice; the firft raifed a partial fweat on her, which foon went off; about three hours after, she got the second dofe, which puked her once, and purged her twelve times. That night he was more reftlefs than ufual, her cough drier, her pulfe weaker, and her throat was inflamed. The fecond day after, fhe got another dofe, which puked and purged her. Thefe three nights fhe flept almoft none. It was plain, from the hectic nature of this fever, that fweating could do her no fervice: it did her harm.' P. 260, 261, We are no ways defirous to contract the benefits this famous noftrum can really procure, but we have cited from this treatife two inftances, in one of which it is evident it did no good; and not improbable it was hurtful in the other.-Thefe are fuch inftances, as a patentee or proprietor is never at the 'expence of affording us, though the public is equally interested to know all the confequences, and to ftrike a balance on computing and confidering the good and bad ones-But to return to the inoculation of the mealles.

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Cur

Our Author fays, F. 255, contrary to what we have known or heard hitherto, that it was not an uncommon thing for these measles to attack the fame fubject twice; of which he had two cafes, and he was told fome had them thrice. Notwithstanding which, fome tragical events put him on feveral experiments of inoculating them. As there was no morbillous pus, and he could not procure a fufficient quantity of the fcaly matter, as he terms it, to inoculate, he did it from the blood itself, which he calls the magazine of epidemic difeafes. He chose the blood to infect from those who had the most fever, and the day after the turn of the measles, and generally preferred that taken from the cutaneous veins amongst them. He inoculated both arms, and suffered the incisions to bleed a quarter of an hour before he applied his morbillous bloody cotton, permitting them to remain three days in the orifices. It seems none of these circumstances are neceffary to variolous inoculation, the moft proper incifions for which would rarely bleed fo long, if permitted. Dr. Home made thirteen experiments of this practice, the laft of which, however, was only an imitation of the worft, the Chinese manner, of imparting the fmall-pox. Of thefe experiments, the first, third, fourth, fifth, fixth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth took, being nine in thirteen, or rather fifteen, as the Chinese method was tried on three fubjects. The fecond inoculated with morbillous blood, ten days drawn, did not take: though fome of the others thus infected were fo, from blood of fourteen days old. It took the natural measles two months after. The feventh, inoculated with blood five weeks old, did not take. The eighth, infus'd with blood of fix days old, from a patient in a high degree of the meafles, had fome fymptoms the fixth day, and a bleeding at the nose the eighth and ninth, but no eruption. Our author was afterwards told, the girl had the measles two years before, and that her mother had fubmitted her to the experiment for lucre. The tenth, who toook in July (as they were inoculated from March to Auguft inclufive) had the measles again in Auguft: this fecond infection Dr. Home is for afcribing alfo to his inoculation, because the child was feized with a fwelling of the parotid glands after the first measles, whence he fuppofes all the morbillous matter not carried off by the eruptions. Befides, as he avers his having feen feveral cafes in the natural way, where he fuppofes one infection to have produc'd two eruptions; he queries, why the like may not happen to thofe inoculated? -Doubtless it may, from very fimular conftitutions; but had this been the cafe of thofe inoculated for the small pox, it is likely that beneficial practice muft have grown into a very

early

early difufe. The thirteenth experiment was made on tw children, by letting fome cotton remain fometime in the nofe of a meafly patient the fourth day of eruption, and then putting it into the nose of the subject to be infected, to remain an hour there. This had no effect, any more than the meafly blood applied in the fame manner. We are not a little furpriz'd, that, on this curious occafion, it never occurr'd to Dr. Home to make a tryal of inoculating with the acrid lymph or humour, diftilling fo copioufly from the eyes of most patients in this difeafe; efpecially as he has obferv'd p. 285, 286, The principal action of the morbillous matter appears to be on this faline humour fecreted from the glandula lachrymalis.' What humour then is fo likely to be the peculiar Nidus and vehicle of morbillous contagion, and fo analogous to the matter of the variolous puftules? Befides, there was no want of this humour, which muft fave the party, to be infected from, the little pain or dread of scarification; fince we are told in the third experiment, p. 274, A great quantity of water comes out of her eyes, fo that fhe wets many cloths in the day.' Does not this plainly hint, that the lymph or ferum feems originally infected in this difeafe, rather than the red blood, which may be only mediately and lightly affected; and this may lead us to difcern why no fuppuration attends morbillous eruption. Very light water evaporated leaves little fediment: the pure abstracted element, we may imagine, would leave none. But if any vifcid or faline fubftance were fufpended in it, we must expect fenfible proofs of fuch, on fubftracting confiderably from their menftrum.

Upon the whole of morbillous inoculation, it looks as if we might divide it, like the politicians in the rehearsal, into three queftions. Confidering then, how often the application of meafly blood was ineffectual, which was three times in twelve by incifion, and once by one intrufion of it into the nofe: and confidering alfo, that cotton conveyed from the nofe of a meafly patient into that of a fubject, fail'd as often as intruded, which was but twice, the first question will be-With what humour or medium fhall a morbillous 'expectant, as he may be call'd, be inoculated? Confidering next, that these measles may be had twice, and even thrice, as Dr. Home allows, the fecond question is-How often the fubject is to be inoculated and reinoculated, in order to be fully fecure from the meafles? And as the tryals were made but upon fifteen fubjects, of whom but nine took; and the natural difeafe deftroys but one in twelve, the last question is -Whether he fhould be inoculated at all? Doubtlefs the

inocu

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inoculated should amount to a number, out of which the natural disease ordinarily destroys fome or several, to give any rational countenance and determination to a purfuit of it. However, as the Dr. tells us in his fifth corollary, that the cough almost totally disappears in the artificial measles; this may deserve some attention, as more have been fuppos'd to die by the ill impreffions left on the breaft and lungs after the meaffes, than during their acute and febrile process.

Thus have we endeavour'd to prefent our readers with an idea of this mifcellaneous performance, confifting of 288 pages. We have specify'd with pleasure the ingenuous motives the Dr. profefles for publishing it; and wish we could with equal justice approve the manner and execution of it; which, if we are to compare this book with fome former acceptable tracts of Dr. Home's, he seems to have been lefs folicitous about in the prefent inftance. In fact he appears to be rather blameably inattentive to expreffion and idom here: for as to any little crudity or indigeftion in meer notes or Adverfaria, of which many of his cafes feem to confift, we could overlook these on account of the probity with which he relates the unhappy events; and details the medicines and the regimen, which prov'd at least unavailing, and which he is candid enough to fuggeft, might be fometimes erroneous. But as this author's former productions were in very intelligible, and not inelegant English, we apprehend the dialect of the present book is rather, as the Hibernian exercise terms it, advancing backwards; and having had a former occasion or two of approving him, we think he should have recollected the good claffical axiom-Nec minor eft virtus quam quaerere parta tueri. We are well aware, that as language itself is local, the very correctness and elegance of it are, in some fort, relative alfo; and certain words and idioms are as right in Edinburgh, as very different ones are in London. But when a book, whofe fubject is fuppos'd to be interefting, is publifh'd in the last place as well as the firft, it seems expedient, that its language and idiom fhould be that of a great majority of those to whom it is addrefs'd: and however perfons may commonly difcourfe, all valuable and scientific books publifh'd in Great Britain ought to be in proper English, For want of this, we were ignorant what a grewing, and a grewing fit was, which occur not feldom, till a Scotch gentleman affured us, it was a fhivering or horror. We are often told, the patient thought himself better or worse of fuch or such a medicine. Some are faid to begin to fuch a medicine, omitting the word take. A gentleman is faid, p. 166, to begin to milk; though we are prevented from fuppofing fuch an

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