refemble polypes, they belong to another clafs of animals; these Sea Pens floating and fwimming about freely in the fea; whereas corals, corallines, alcyonia, and all that order of beings, adhere firmly by their bases to submarine substances.

MISCELLANEOUS ACCOUNTS OF VARIOUS NATURAL PHANOMENA, AS EARTHQUAKES, METEORS, OBSERVATIONS ON THE WEATHER, &c.

Art. 4. An account of a remarkable Decrease of the River Eden, in Cumberland. By William Milbourne, Efq;

This phenomenon happened in the night, between the 28th and 29th of December, in the year 1762; during which this river fuddenly funk, at Armithwaite, at leaft two feet perpendicular in which ftate the water continued till about eleven o'clock of the morning of the 29th, when it began gradually to encrease till about one in the afternoon, by which time it had rifen about a foot perpendicular.

Art. 5. An account of the Rain fallen in a foot-fquare at Norwich. By Mr. W. Arderon.

This account is continued from the year 1749 to 1762; amounting, on a medium, to 27 inches deep.

Art. 7. An account of the late mild weather in Cornwall, [and] of the quantity of rain fallen there in the year 1762. By the Rev. Mr. Borlace.

The mild weather here spoken of, was in the winter of the year 1762. It is remarked that the winters in Cornwall are, in general, more mild than in other parts of this island.. That of the year above-mentioned, it seems, was remarkably fo; it being as uncommonly fevere in London and parts adjacent, as it proved mild in the Weft of England. The quantity of tain fallen that year on a foot fquare, rofe to 29 inches 9 tenths, perpendicular height. This does not differ greatly from the quantity that fell at Norwich at a medium for the feveral years, of which we have an account in the last article. It is remarkable, however, that they eftimate the quantity falling yearly at Paris, and its environs, at 19 inches only. In iflands however, and near the fea-coaft, it must neceffarily be greater.

Art. 12. An account of the Plague, at Aleppo. By Mr. Dawes, Chaplain to the Factory.

We have here a moft melancholy account of the deplorable fituation, to which this unfortunate country has been reduced for many years past, by a fucceffive vifitation of the calamities of famine, plagues and earthquakes. Among other particulars, which

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which Mr. Dawes relates of thefe terrible difafters, we fhall-felect the following:

This unhappy country for fix years paft has been in a very terrible fituation, afflicted during the greatest part of that time with many of the Almighty's fevereft fcourges. Its troubles were ushered in by a very fharp winter in 175, which deftroyed almoft all the fruits of the earth. The cold was fo very intenfe, that the Mercury of Farenheit's thermometer, expofed a few minutes to the open air, funk entirely into the ball of the tube. Millions of olive-trees, that had withftood the severity of 50 winters, were blafted in this, and thousands of fouls perifhed merely through cold. The failure of a crop the fucceeding harveft occafioned an univerfal fcarcity, which in this country of indolence and oppreffion (where provifion is only made from hand to mouth, and where, literally speaking, no man is fecure of reaping what he has fown) foon introduced a famine with all its attendant miferies. The fhocking accounts related to me on this fubject would appear fabulous, were they not confirmed by numberlefs eye-witneffes, both Europeans and natives. In many places the inhabitants were driven to fuch extremities, that women were known to eat their own children, as foon as they expired in their arms, for want of nourishment.-Numbers of perfons from the mountains and villages adjacent came daily to Aleppo, to offer their wives and children to fale for a few dollars, to procure a temporary fubfiftence for themselves; and hourly might be feen in our streets dogs and human creatures fcratching together on the fame dunghill, and quarrelling for a bone, or piece of carrion, to allay their hunger. A peftilence followed close to the heels of the famine, which lafted the greatest part of 1758, and is fuppofed to have fwept away 50 of 60,000 fouls in this city and its environs.'

Among many particulars relating to the prefent plague, that I have heard, the following anecdotes feem fomewhat extraordinary; and yet, as they are well attefted, I have no reason to doubt of the truth of them; viz. Laft year as well as this, there has been more than one inftance of a woman's being delivered of an infected child, with the plague fores on its body, though the mother herself has been entirely free from the distemper.

A woman, that fuckled her own child of five months, was feized with a moft fevere plague, and died after a week's Hinefs; but the child, though it fucked her, and lay in the fame bed with her during her whole diforder, efcaped the infection. A woman upwards of an hundred years of age was attacked with the plague, and recovered: her two grandchildren of 10 and 16 received the infection from her, and were both carried off by it.

While

While the plague was making terrible ravage in the island of Cyprus, in the spring of 1760, a woman remarkably fanguine and corpulent, after lofing her husband and two children, who died of the plague in her arms, made it her daily employment from a principle of charity to attend all her fick neighbours, that ftood in need of her affiftance, and yet efcaped the infection. Also a Greek lad made it his bufinefs for many months to wait on the fick, to wash, drefs and bury the dead, and yet he remained unhurt. In that contagion ten men were faid to die to one woman; but the perfons, to whom it was almost univerfally fatal, were youths of both fexes. Many places were left fo bare of inhabitants, as not to have enough left, to gather in the fruits of the earth: it ceafed entirely in July 60, and has not appeared in the island fince.'

Art. 14. Contains an account of an extraordinary degree of. cold at Berlin, in the winter of the year 1762, in which Farenheit's thermometer defcended to four degrees below o: while the barometer, stood at 30.1; the like having never been observed there before.

Art. 15. An account of a remarkable darkness at Detroit in America. By Mr. J. Stirling.

This phenomenon being really extraordinary, we shall give it in the obferver's own words.

Tuesday laft, being the 19th instant, we had almost total darknefs for the most of the day. I got up at day-break about ro minutes after I obferved it got no lighter than before; the fame darkness continued until 9 o'clock, when it cleared up a little. We then, for the space of about a quarter of an hour, faw the body of the fun, which appeared as red as blood, and more than three times as large as ufual. The air all this time, which was very denfe, was of a dirty yellowish green colour. obliged to light candles to fee to dine, at one o'clock, notwithI was ftanding the table was placed close by two large windows. About three the darkness became more horrible, which augmented until half past three, when the wind breczed up from the S. W., and brought on fome drops of rain or rather fulphur, and dirt, for it appeared more like the latter than the former, both in fmell and quality. I took a leaf of clean paper, and held it out in the rain, which rendered it black whenever the drops fell upon it; but, when held near the fire, turned to a yellow cofour, and when burned, it fizzed on the paper like wet powder. During this fhower, the air was almoft fuffocating with a strong fulphurous smell; it cleared up a little after the rain. There were various conjectures about the caufe of this natural incident. The Indians, and vulgar among the French, faid, that

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the

the English, which lately arrived from Niagara in the veffel, had brought the plague with them: others imagined it might have been occafioned by the burning of the woods: but I think it. moft probable, that it might have been occafioned by the eruption of fome volcano, or fubterraneous fire, whereby the fulphurous matter may have been emitted in the air, and contained therein, until, meeting with fome watery clouds, it has fallen down together with the rain.'

Art. 23. Obfervations on electricity, and on a thunder-ftorm. By Mr. Bergman.

This paper contains fome obfervations tending to confirm Mr. Delaval's experiments on the island Chryftal, inferted in the preceding volumes of the Tranfaétions.

Art. 33. An account of an earthquake in Siberia. By Monf. Wey

man.

This earthquake, attended with the ufual circumstances, was pretty extenfive, and happened in November 1762,

Art. 39. An account of an earthquake at Chattigaon. Tranflated from the Perfian. By Mr. Gulften.

This earthquake happened in the region of Islamabad, on the 2d of April 1762, and is faid by the Perfian writer to have been attended with fuch terrible effects, that from the time of Adam until now, no one in that place hath heard of the like.

Art. 40, 41, and 42. Give a farther account of the above earthquake, and its effects on the lands belonging to our East India Company.

Art. 49. An account of a remarkable meteor. By Mr. Samuel Dunn.

This meteor was a mock-fun, of equal altitude with the real fun; obferved at Chelfea about 5 o'clock in the afternoon on the 6th of October 1762.

MEDICINE AND SURGERY,

Art. 6. Obfervations upon the effects of electricity applied to a tetanus, or mufcular rigidity, of four months continuance. By Dr. Watson.

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This paper contains the very uncommon cafe of a poor girl in the Foundling Hofpital, who was reduced to the most miferable fituation, by the rigidity and contraction of her muscles in fo much that her whole body was diftorted in the most disagreeable manner; her flesh appearing to the touch hard and dry, and much more like that of a dead animal than a living one, At the fame time the poor creature was fubject to violent convulfions, which added to the horrour of this fhocking fpectacle. In thefe

deplorable

deplorable circumftances, having in vain applied fuch medicines as were judged likely to relieve her, Dr. Watfon conceived the defign of trying the effects of electricity, by which he had formerly afforded fome temporary relief to paralytic patients. The fuccefs of this trial was really furprifing; the patient being able, in less than three months, to move every mufcle in her body at will: her convulfions left her, fhe ftood upright, walked, and even ran about like other children of her age. In less than four months she was in every refpect perfectly recovered.

Art. 32. An account of the fuccefs of the bark of the willow, in the cure of agues. By the Rev. Mr. Stone.

The tree from which this bark is taken, is ftiled by Ray, in his Synopfis, Salix alba vulgaris, the common white willow. Of its effects Mr. Stone fpeaks in the following manner:

I have continued to use it as a remedy for agues and intermitting disorders for five years fucceffively and fuccessfully. It hath been given I believe to fifty perfons, and never failed in the cure, except in a few autumnal and quartan agues, with which the patients had been long and feverely afflicted; these it reduced in a great degree, but did not wholly take them off; the patient, at the ufual time for the return of his fit, felt fome fmattering of his diftemper, which the inceffant repetition of thefe powders could not conquer: it seemed as if their power could reach thus far and no farther, and I did suppose that it would not have long continued to reach fo far, and that the dif temper would have foon returned with its priftine violence; but I did not ftay to see the iffue: I added one fifth part of the Peruvian bark to it, and with this fmall auxiliary it totally routed its adverfary. It was found neceffary likewife, in one or two obftinate cafes, at other times of the year, to mix the fame quantity of that bark with it; but these were cafes where the patient went abroad imprudently, and caught cold, as a poft-chaise boy did, who, being almoft recovered from an inveterate tertian ague, would follow his bufinefs, by which means he not only neglected his powders, but, meeting with bad weather, renewed his diftemper.

"One fifth part was the largest and indeed the only proportion of the quinquina made use of in this compofition, and this only upon extraordinary occafions: the patient was never prepared, either by vomiting, bleeding, purging, or any medicines of a fimilar intention, for the reception of this bark, but he entered upon it abruptly and immediately, and it was always given in powders, with any common vehicle, as water, tea, small beer, and fuch like. This was done purely to ascertain its effects ; and that I might be affured the changes wrought in the patient could

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