Bleeding recommended for fizy Blood. 169 lingering illness, which, if not timely reliev'd by repeated bleedings, mostly ends in death. But what I would principally remark is this; that I have frequently obferv'd that people of a lax fibre are liable to contract a ftate of fiAzy blood without any, or very little pain, and these chiefly fuffer because bleeding is fearce thought neceffary, though full as expedient as in a pleurity, or any other inflammatory ditemper. As to the third fort of blood mention'd, this is feldom feen, because the patient generally dies before it arrives at uch a compactness. Whoever confiders what must be the neceffary confequence of having fizy blood, must needs fee it trary difpofal of their territory to the Remedy for SizY BLOOD. C being very fatal to many people, efpe- D cially in country places, thro' fear and prejudice, has induc'd me to communicate the following obfervations. F I have remark'd three forts of fizy blood, but the first only can be proper ly call'd fizy, having on its furface when cold a kind of fize or jelly. The fe- E cond fort has been juftly compar'd to buff leather both for its colour and toughness; when it is very bad, it acquires fuch a hardness on its surface, as not to be penetrated even with a sharp inftrument. In the third fort, the grumous part of the blood collects itself into almoft a perfect globe, with a very small furface, and that hard and impenetrable; the under part likewife has near the hardness and folidity of flesh, and cuts ike a piece of liver. Most people uplon catching cold, or a itoppage of perfpiration, contract a fizy blood, which if neglected foon acquires the property of the fecond fort, becomes hard and tough, and then they are generally attended with a pleurify peripneumony, rheumatick pains, or fome other inflammatory diftemper, in which the necethity of bleeding plentifully is well known; but if it happens, through the remittion, or going off of the pain, bleeding has not been continu'd till the fizinels difappear'd, thofe people generally relapfe, or fall into fome chronical disorder, or muft occafion the most direful obstructions; or if the patient lives long enough, by its long ftagnation in the fmaller veffels, it at length putrefies, and occafions the worst of fevers, not much unlike the plague itfelf; and this feems to be the cafe of these cattle which die of the prefent reigning diftemper amongst them, it having been obferv'd that they ftink intolerably, even before they are dead, and then the distemper is highly infectious. This diftemper of fizy blood is much commoner to the inhabitants of this ifland, than is generally imagin'd; and when it arrives at fuch a degree of hardness on its furface, as not to be penetrated, cannot be reliev'd,' by any method or medicine, but frequent bleeding, till it becomes more tender. I am perfuaded, many useful lives might be fav'd if this was duly attended to, and in many cafes, though unattended with pain, if a fmall quantity of blood was to be taken away for tryal, and found fizy, thole people would ftand a much better chance by relying phyfick. All medicines which occafion upon bleeding only, than any courie of any fort of evacuations feem to increase the fizinefs of the blood, by leffening the quantity of the ferum. Any perfon that has fizy blood may with great safety lofe fix or eight ounces once a week, or oftner, if pain or any trouble. fome fymptom make it neceflary, even to an hundred ounces and more; but if they leave off bleeding before the blood becomes tender, it is all to no purpofe; if they are able to go abroad; riding on horfe-back will greatly affift, together with a diluting diet. If any H one know a medicine which would take off fuch fizinefs of the blood without fuch exceffive bleeding, he wou'd merit the thanks of many thousands by making it publick; for, befides the pre G udice which moft people conceive againit fuch frequent bleedings, it is in ittelf attended with fome inconveniencies, and not always with fuccefs. But if any think themselves in poffeffion of fuch a medicine, let them make a fair A tryal after once bleeding only, where the blood on its furface is hard and impenetrable, and if the patient recovers, and upon taking away a little blood it be found found and good, then, I think, they may fairly fay, they are in poffef fion of the best medicine in the world.; Where the blood is only fimply fizy, B once or twice bleeding with the ufual method of practice generally relieves but in the fecond and third fort of blood, where it is hard and impenetrable on its furface, all known medicines feem to lafe their effect, even bliftering how ferviceable foever in the beginning here ble medicine, not offenfive to the nicest palates, and will answer all the purpotes as well, if not better than tar-water, if affifted with bleeding where fizy blood makes it necessary. Take the rind of four or five fresh well fcented lemons or Seville oranges pared as thin as poffible, put them into a filver tankard or fome fuch veffel, and pour upon them a quart of rain or foft river water, made hot, but not to boil, let them ftand clofe cover'd till it is al moft cold, or but as warm as milk from the cow, then pour the clear liquor upgon four ounces of the finelt Venice turpentine, ftirring it well for an hour, let it ftand cover'd for twenty four hours, then ftrain it through a flannel for ufe, to be used in the fame manner and dofe as tar-water. proves ufelefs: The neutral fakts whe- CA private LETTER fent from one Qua ther natural or artificial are much too weak, the volatile falts carry off too much ferum by fweat, as do the fixt ones by urine, to be of any service; nor is it fafe to ufe fteel,or any other medicine that has a heating property; the rougher preparations of mercury and antimony are equally dangerous. In a word whoever is fo unhappy as to contract fuch a ftate of hard fizy blood, in my opinion, would do better to truft wholly to bleeding, and a very thin and flender diet, abstaining from all meat and the broth of it, all fermented and fpirituous liquors, and keeping as much as poffible from bed. Many people labouring under chronical difeafes, fome (as it is called for want of a name expreflive enough) under a complication of diitempers, will upon examination find they have fizy blood, which if not had regard to, can expect little benefit from KER to another. Defire thee to be fo kind to go to one of those finful men in the fieb, called an attorney, and let him take out an inftrument with ajcal fixed thereunto, by means whereof we may feize the outward tabernacle of George Green, and bring him before the lamb-fkin men at Westminster, and teach him to do, as he would be done by: And fo I reft thy friend in the light. R.G. Method to prevent Ships from leaking, tho their bottoms are eaten by worms, and no longer fit for fervice; alfo to free them from Vermin. By Col. Wm Cook. FIrft caulk well the infide planks or lining, then fill the vacant space between the timbers and the out and method or medicine. The great enco-infide planks, with boiling pitch or ro miums that have been beltow'd upon tar-water, made me hope it might do fomething in the cafe of fizy blood; but upon the most diligent obfervations I have been able to make, could never find it of any fervice where the blood is impenetrable; fo that I have always been forc'd to have recourfe to bleeding again, though I must confels it feems to have a confiderable effect in the beginning before the blood becomes too hard, and at the latter end when the blood begins a little to relent; fo that thofe people who depend fo much upon the ufe of tar-water would do well to examine the ftate of their blood, and if found fizy not wholly to relie on it.. The following is a much more agreea H fin fo high as the main gun deck. The pitch being put in very hot will run into every the fmallest cranny, and make the fhip as tight as a bottle, and at the fame time ballait her.There will be no room for vermin, as rats, &c. and the pitch ferve many ufes when taken out, and, therefore, will not be a great expence. Method to warm Rooms by the Steam of boiling Water. By Col. Wm Cook. ALL the rooms in an house may be fufficiently warmed from the kitchen fire, by fixing over it A, a copper with a ftill head, from whence goes B, a leaden or copper pipe heated by the fleam DESCRIPTION of team from the boiling water, through 8 rooms, traverfing that end or fide of the wall where the chimney might be. It has ftop cocks as at C, C, by which the fteam may be fuffer'd to pais fait or flow, which at D vents itself; at E is a ciftern of water to replenish the -boiler. An ACCOUNT of a DESCRIPTION of R ANDERSON was born at Ham A B King George I. foon after his acceffion, in confideration of his eminent qualities, but declined it. He dy'd May 3, 1743, aged 70, leaving a numerous family in very good circumftances. A multitude of fchemes and sketches of works were found among his papers, but none fi nish'd except that before us, on which he had labour'd with great ardor and application, having furnish'd himself with inftructions from merchants and other voyagers to the North, and filled his cabinet with animals and other rarities from thence. Ifeland (with which his work begins) is one of the largest islands in the world, being near 180 leagues in length, and 80 in breadth where broadeft. It is encompaffed on all fides with numbers of leffer ifles, and abounds with rocks and mountains covered with ice and C perpetual fnows; thefe rocks are often torn from their feats by the violence of the waters, and render the roads impracticable. Earthquakes are not fo uncommon here as in other northern countries, fince the island has its Volcano, or burning mountain (Hecla) which was believ'd D the only one in thofe cold regions, till another was difcover'd, Anno 1732, in the ifle of May. The other mountains of the island feem to have been of the fame kind, as almoft all of them carry marks of combustions which they had fuffer'd in former ages; neither have they yet entirely changed their nature, for not above 25 years ago a new Volcano vomited out flames, and large fragments of rocks towards Portlands Bay: the whole island was cover'd with the afhes that proceeded from its mouth, and even the fea was whiten'd with them for above 60 leagues along the Mburgh, March 14, 1674. His fa- & fhore. ther, a rich merchant, fent him to travel H Hecla is every where known,and therefore we fhall only relate a curiofity which we learn from none but M. derfon, who takes notice of a burning lake that fends forth gentle flames pretty regularly for 15 days together, and that this paroxyfm returns thrice a year. Volcanos have a natural relation to hot baths: Thus Vefuvius had the Baia of the antients in its neighbourhood, and Ifeland is full of fprings naturally very hot, bubbling up like a boiling pot, fo that meat has been drefsed therein. This mixture of hot waters, and eternal fnows, is very extraordinary. The most curious mineral of Ifeland is its cryftal, which has employ'd the greatest naturalifts of the last age, Huygens and Newton. There is alfo jet, which is very hard, and ftrikes fire with the feel like agate; it seems to be a vitrify'd fubftance, produced by the fub- A terraneous fire of that ifland. They have fulphur, or brimstone, in abundance; and they meet with lumps. of virgin fulphur, as big as one's fift, in marshy places. This commodity might be made an article of commerce of the ifland, fince they fend away B The vegetables make no great article; The moft remarkable animal in eland, is a kind of little horfes peculiar to this ifland, and pretty much in ufe among young princes and nobles, when they learn to ride. where his flock is bury'd; he haflens thither, removes the fnow, and often comes time enough to fave these poor creatures. The Ifeland fheep have another peculiarity, which is, that many of them have four, and fome eight horns, and this is the more obfervable in that those few oxen and cows which live on the island have none. The manner in which the inhabitants kill the animals whofe flefh they eat is very particular, and a true anatomical knife, and thruft it between the head experiment. They take a fmall narrow and the first vertebra of the neck; this wound penetrates the fpinal marrow, and the beast falls dead on the fpot. No corn grows in the whole island, and they keep no poultry, but birds of prey are in great abundance; from hence are brought the fineft falcons in the world. The king of Denmark fends every year an officer of his game to fetch them, and allows him a good salary; the price of a white falcon is ten crowns. -Owls abound in this country, where the length of the nights gives them a fair occafion of exercising their talents. M. Anderson had one as white as fnow, from which he took a drawing. All the rocks and infects about the island are full of fea-fowls; hence come the finest downs, which are the plumage of a bird called Aidur or Eider; the best of it is what this fowl pulls from itself to make its neft. Thefe birds lay their eggs in fmall crevices of the rocks, and places inacceffible to any but lelanders, whom neceflity teaches the art of clambering up the steepest rocks, for the fake of thofe eggs, and the dam befides when they can furprize her. But though the land of feland be fteFril and unfruitful, its barrennefs is amply recompenfed by the fecundity of the jeas about it, which are full of innumerable fhoals of fifh, that make almoft the whole of its commerce. M. Anderson here enlarges much upon the herring, the merchandize of which, he fays, Gi is worth more than the mines of Peru. The fheep who happen not to be houfed in winter, are fometimes furprifed with the fnow; in this extremity, they know, by a particular inftinct, the beft way to preserve their lives. They H huddle all together into a round clofe body, the united heat of which melts the now, and raises a train of vapours, that directs the fhepherd to the place Cod, or Itock-fifh more abound in thefe feas than any other kind, and make the principal article of their fishe ry An old foldier relates that in Flanders, which has fo often been the feat of war, the inhabitants not only dug holes in the earth to hide their riches, but plowed and fowed the ground-but that thefe places were discoverable in a morning by the want of dew upon the corn, as thefe theep by the vapour from their breath, DESCRIPTION of ry. They fit the cod in two lengthways, then dry them under coverts of boards, afterwards ftring them, and carry them to the fifth-ports, where they are fold to foreigners.- Whales are not scarce in the fe feas, and the Helanders mafter these vaft animals by cutting off their communication with the fea, and driving them before them with fhouting and hallooing till they are stranded in fome bay. A B The Northern meteors are no curiofity here; the Aurora Borealis fhines every night, and, in fome measure, fupplies the long abfence of the fun, which feems to leave the inhabitants of the North with fome regret, and may be feen longer than is warranted by the rules of aftronomy; and even during the longest winter night communicates a luftre, which makes a kind of day, that lafts an hour and half in four and C twenty-The northern cold prevents not the rifing of exhalations, fince thunder and tempefts are more common in winter than fummer.Spring and autumn are banish'd from thefe climates. A long and tedious winter fucceeds a fummer, which begins not till towards the end of June, and hardly lafts till September; fome of the hardeft frofts are in April. (Ses Vol, 1x. p. 14.) The author endeavours to gives us an exact idea of the inhabitants; they nearly resemble the Groenlanders, but by their commerce with Europeans they feem to have contracted fome of our víces, befides fome of their own natural defects. Drunkenness is predominant among them; all ages and fexes are much addicted to drinking of brandy, though adulterated with a naufcous mixture of train-oil or bad whey. D E The natives are however very robuft, hardy, and infenfible to all injuries of the air. Diftempers are very rare among them, and would be more fo, were it not for their bad diet. They are wholly deftitute of bread, and live only on fih, or flesh half putrefied. These alcaline aliments are not duly corrected by a fufficient proportion of acid G vegetables, whence a great inclination to putrefaction muft of confequence This name belongs to four ports of the ifland; the other eight are only for theep, and fome bullocks, which look too poorly to yield great price; for which reafon the Danif privileg'd merchants, who have the trade of the H inland in farm, would never frequent thefe fleshports, were it not for a law which obliges them to load once at these ports, for twice loading at the fish ports. (Gent. Mag, APRIL 1747.) prevail in their humours. Their flo" venlinefs is infupportable; this, indeed, is the most general fault of the northern people, though excufeable in fome meafure from the impoffibility of keeping themselves clean and neat during the long imprisonment in which they are confined by the fnows and ice. Their habitations are very mean and despicable; they make them under ground, to avoid the winds; their height is not above 10 or 11 feet, their breadth fix, their length twenty, and a cow's allantoist ferves inffead of glafs to cover fome fmall holes, which deferve not the name of windows. They are meer cowards, like the Groenlanders and Laplanders, and could never be made foldiers. Their floth and indolence are almoft invincible; none here learns a trade, but is obliged to provide himfelf with every little neceffary, with which we are so readily furnished by our artificers. Their trade is managed by truck, or bartering one commodity for another. The current money confifts in dry'd fifh, which muft weigh two pounds, valu'd at 6 Holland duits, and all fums are estimated on that footing. The prevailing or rather only religion is what they call the Lutheran. M. Anderfon confeffes, with forrow, that it has wrought no great change in the hearts of the inhabitants; and he is fenfible that the elanders are subject to moft vices of which the corrupt human nature is capable. Impurity, unknown among the Groenlanders, (Mr Egede makes an exception at their masquerades See Vol. XIII. p. 643 D) prevails here; and formerly it was under the protection of the laws. The revenues of this ifland are no more than 28,000 piafters. The king exacts, in lieu of all his rights, 40 fifh, or about 34 Dutch fous, of every inhabitant worth above 20 rixdollars. This fo poor, miferable, and flovenly race of people cannot live out of their own country. Experiments have been made for this purpote, and fome of their youth have been educated abroad, taught trades, and given speci |