Interefting, and too unpolifhed to be pleafing; and we fufpect that his time and labour will be found to have been mifemployed. The fubject indeed is not very fufceptible of ornament, but what it might have admitted the author feems to have been unable to give it :-Ecce fignum.

'Ere the disease is ripen'd in the frame,

Or bodes the symptoms of the phthific fame,
Left be your winters on your native ifle,
For climes whofe fway to gentle fenfe beguile.
Oft' o'er the billows of th' extended main,
Let the fleet veffel long your course sustain.
Where'er advantage prompts a varied range,
And use and pleasure bids the will to change.
So fpoke the precepts of the Roman fage,
In diction pureft of th' Auguftan age,
Bidding restraint not on the mind intrude,
With cares and burdens of folicitude.

• But if by fome untoward fate condemn'd
To linger here, amidft the fea's girth hemm'd;
Let the whole frame the veftiment fustain,
From the warm raiment of the fleecy train.
By heav'n's indulgence well beftowed here,
To fhield the habitants of this rude sphere.
Thus conftant fummer keep o'er all your frame,
Nor e'er let rashness your mutation blame.
Ne'er let the fkin's due efflux be suppress'd,
To injure thus the fympathizing cheft.

Nor let a gay feducing folar fmile,
Which 'luring, wantons only to beguile,
That tranfiently darts from the cloudy bounds,
And often but the gelid ftorm furrounds;
Urge you, whilft with its fleeting gleam you stay,
Or tempt you then your caution to betray.
Difrobe not then, enticed by false zeal,
The precious mantle of corporeal weal.
No change-no time-no season ever sway,

Shall through the year derange your cuftom'd way.
So may you by each rule which care fupplies,
In dietetic heed, and exercise,

That with excefs ne'er wildly deviates,
Nor for the frugal fenfes pain creates ;

Long hope your health ferenely on may flow,
And many years of eafe and fafety know.'

The poems annexed to each book have little merit.
CRIT. REV. VOL. XXVII. Sept. 1799.

P. 37.

H

An entire new Treatife on Leeches, wherein the Nature, Properties, and Ufe of that most fingular and valuable Reptile is moft clearly fet forth. By George Horn, Apothecary, &c. 8vo.

Is. 6d.

A particular account of the leech was certainly a defideratum; but that which the present treatise affords is not fatisfactory. For fome parts we want farther authority, and, for other circumstances, additional information. We fhould have wifhed for the authority of fome comparative anatomift for the internal ftructure of the leech; and an intimation of the means of better preferving the animal for new trials would have been useful, where leeches are scarce. Mr. Horn feems not to be aware that this reptile acts like the cupping-glafs by filling the furrounding arteries before it draws any blood; and he has not noticed the very difagreeable and troublefome hæmorrhages that often follow from this cause.

Obfervations on the difeafed and contracted Urinary Bladder, and frequent painful Micturition; with fome Cautions refpecting the Ufe of the Caufiic Bougie in the Treatment of Strictures in the Urethra. To which are added, Obfervations on the Schirro-contra&ed Rectum, from the fecond Volume of Memoirs of the Medical Society of London. By John Sherwen, M. D. Svo. Is. 6d. Johnfon. 1799.

As we have already noticed thefe valuable obfervations in the volume to which the title-page refers, it is fufficient to announce this feparate publication.

Twenty Minutes Advice to the Afflicted with the Nervous Head-Ache, and Nervous Disorders in general: their true Caufe defined, and a fafe and certain Remedy propofed. By a Student in Medicine. 12mo. 6d. Rivingtons.

Twenty minutes' advice' for fix-pence only! It must proceed from a tyro in medicine. But our aftonishment ceafed at the end, when we found this fafe and certain remedy' fold in pint bottles, price one guinca. Nil fuit unquam tam difpar fibi : the first and last page are at total variance. But, upon the whole, the advice is ju

dicious.

ASTRONOMY.

Catalogue of Stars taken from Mr. Flamstead's Obfervations contained in the fecord Volume of the Hifloria Cæleftis and not inforted in the British Catalogue, with an Index to point out every Olfervation in that Volume, belonging to the Stars of the Britisk Catalogue; to which is added a Collection of Errata that should be noticed in the fame Velume, by Carolina Herfchel, with introdatory Remarks and Explanations to each of them, by William Ferjel, LL. D. F. R. S. Published by Order and at the Lapenfe of the Royal Society. Folio. 10s. 6d. ferved. Elmsley. We announced, in our review of the fecond part of the Philo

fophical Tranfa&tions for 1797 (Vol. XXIII. New Arr. p. 244), an intended index of the obfervations of Flamstead. Five or fix hundred ftars, obferved by that aftronomer, were omitted in the catalogue. Thefe Mifs Herfchel has reftored; and it is of more confequence, as from the time that has elapfed, fince Flamite d's obfervations, the comparifon of their prefent appearance with that which he has defcribed, may furnish fome important remarks. The forms are thofe of Mr. Herfchel's nebule and clutters of ftars. Notes are added to the catalogue, from which it appears that several of the omitted stars have fince been obferved by other aftronomers, and were feen by Hevelius.

On the whole, the liberality and fplendor with which the directors of the Royal Society have published thefe ufeful additions to the Hiftoria Cæleftis, deferve our commendation; and the ability and attention of the aftronomers who have corrected fo many errors, merit the particular applause and thanks of those who labour in the fame field.

An Epitome of Aftronomy, with the new Difcoveries: including an
Account of the Eidourarion, or tranfparent Orrery; (invented by
A. Walker) as lectured upon by his Son, W. Walker. 8vo. JS.
Kearsley. 1798.

Mr. Walker's merit being well known, it is fufficient to obferve of this performance, that it will encourage the reader who has not feen his eidouranion to take the first opportunity of examining fo admirable a piece of workmanship; and those who have heard his lectures will be glad to refresh their memory with this compendium of the chief articles which afforded them fo much amufement and inftruction.

MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY.

An Account of the Commencement and Progrefs in finking Wells, at Sheerness, Harwich and Landguard Fert, for Jupplying those DockYards and Garrifens with fr. fh Water. To which is annexed, the Correfpondence between the Mafter General of the Ordnance and the commanding Engineer of thofe Places, (Sir Thomas Hyde Page), upon the Subject, in the Years 1778, 1781, and 1783. 8vo. IS. Stockdale.

The fubftance of this pamphlet, containing an account of the mode of finking the well at Sheerness, and managing the spring at Landguard fort, appeared in the LXXIVth volume of the Transactions of the Royal Society. As many perions may not have feen that account, they will be pleafed at the prefent opportunity of prouring it at a finall expenfe; and it dearves the attention of all who are employed in finking wells, particularly near the fea. We were furprifed at the intelligence given us by the author, when he fpeaks of the honour of knighthood as having been conferred on

1

him not for his services at Sheerness, but for his exertions in the American war. The greater part of our readers probably confidered the honour in queftion as an acknowledgement of his merit in a very difficult undertaking at Sheernefs; and in our opi nion few men in this country were ever knighted upon a more honourable occafion.

As the writer feems to have been neglected by his fuperiors, he does well in fubmitting the whole of his cafe to the public. The following paffages are abstracted from his letter to the comptroller in 1795.

I cannot inform you why more than ten years have paffed fince the fpring was found, without the dock-yard and navy having had the full benefit of it. I have, whenever an opportunity offered, fuggefted how the fupply might be given; but until the time of your having done me the honour to afk my opinion, I have had no regular authority for recommending a conclufion in a plan I have naturally much at heart, and which I conceive to be an object of confideration for the benefit of the navy.

I am of opinion that the expense of the main of iron pipes, from the well to the dock-yard, and the large refervoir, fhould be defrayed by the navy, and the work done under the direction of their own furveyors or officers. The main of pipes from that refervoir into the garrifon, or to any part for the use of the troops, fhould be at the expenfe of the ordnance. It could be no object of difficulty between the navy and ordnance how the expense of a few horfes occafionally, and two watchmen at the well, were to be paid. With regard to my own future fervices in this undertaking, it is only neceffary for me to affure you, that I fhould be happy to confult with any officer or furveyor of the navy on the spot at Sheerness, and to afford the best affiftance in my power. I have only to fubmit it to your confideration, whether the object is such as to deferve an application from the commiffioners of the navy to the marquis Cornwallis, for any further advice upon my part than that I have now the honour to give. P. 41.

The Coal Viewer and Engine Builder's practical Companion, by John Curr, of Sheffield. 4to. Taylor,

The author profeffes himself to be merely a mechanic, and this work proves his ability in his profeffion; but we fee no reason why he fhould not have availed himself of the affiftance of others to make his style perfpicuous, if he did not think himself capable of clothing his ideas in all the elegance of expreffion.' His performance, however, will be particularly useful to all perfons concerned in thofe works in which the fteam-engine is employed. The carpenter fmith, brafs-founder, &c. are inftructed in the proper manner performing their respective operations; and useful lessons are given for the management of very extenfive and complicated machinery.

ANTIQUITIES AND TOPOGRAPHY,

The Hiftory of the incorporated Town and Parishes of Gravefend and Milton, in the County of Kent; fele&ed with Accuracy from Topographical Writers, and enriched from Manuferipts hitherto un-noticed. Recording every Event that has occurred in the aforefaid Town and Parishes from the Norman Conqueft to the prefent Time. 4to. No Publisher's Name.

This is a fatisfactory and minute fpecimen of municipal hiftory. It is infcribed to the earl of Darnley, hereditary high-steward of Gravefend, whofe genealogy is traced from the Blighs of Yorkshire. Speaking of the neighbourhood of Gravefend, the writer obferves, that,

• In the north-eaft corner of this parish are fix or seven marshes from which the land rifes gradually on a loamy foil to the windmill, fituate on a fandy and gravelly hill, commanding one of the finett views in the kingdom, as from it may be feen Swainscomb, the place where the Kentish men oppofed William the Conqueror, and obtained their privileges; over which appears Shooters-hill, 16 miles diftant; Hampstead and Highgate hills, 26 miles diftant; the town of Grays in Effex, near which stands the elegant mansion of Zachariah Button, efq. built in 1791; and to the north, on the fummit, is the feat of lord Petre; Laindon-hill, majestically next rifes to our distant view, below which we fee the villages of Chadwell and Tilbury, the latter remarkable for its medicinal water; and extending our eyes more to the eastward we discover the town of Leigh, famous for its oyfter fishery, and South-end lately erected, to which place much company has reforted within three or four years paft as a watering-place. The fhipping lying at the Nore (20 miles distance) may be diftinétly feen, and with heart-felt pleasure we fee our commerce continually paffing and repathing this noble winding ftream in the vale below us, until we lofe fight of them at Woolwich; from this hill we obferve the telegraph on Gadds-hill, a hill mentioned by Shakespeare as noted for the exploits of Falstaff and Harry. In the fouth-eaft, a long range of stately trees points out Cobham-park, the refidence of the ancient lords of Cobham, and now of the earl of Darnley-near which is the church of Cobham; to the fouth we see the new erected mansion of Ifield-court, the refidence of John Tilden, gent. and in the fouth-weft, we have a diftant view of Knockholt-beeches at the verge of the county of Kent. This delightful bill takes in not lefs than a circuitous view of one hundred and fifty miles.' r. 111.

The fishery being an interefting fubject, we will add an extract on that head.

In 1714, there were only three British fishing finacks, of about 40 tons, employed in the cod-fifhery, and about 2: hands.