I fuppofe you wifh they fhould be, without accufing you of the greateft inconfiftency." P. 68. Such a return of evil for good, of rancour for liberality, of hatred for love, as this paragraph difplays, thank God, we have feldom feen among men calling themfelves Chriftians. Where has the Bithop treated Calvinifts with harshness? Not in the Charge furely, in which, though he fuccefsfully combats one of their favourite opinions, he expreffes a wifh to live in peace with fuch of them as will live in peace with him. What breach has he made, who exhorts his clergy to "be inflant in their endeavours to heal the divifions which rend the church of Chrift", and who fays exprefsly, "let not thofe, who are of one mind refpecting the fundamental principles of our faith, fuffer differences upon certain curious points to break the bond of peace and unity fo neceffary in this hour of common danger for the prefervation of true religion"? The breach has been made by the old Member and his friends, who, in the interpretation of fcripture, arrogating to themselves that infallibility, which even the Pope himself does not now claim, pronounce that no man can be a true member of the Church of England, who, on the curious points referred to, thinks not exactly as they think. It is against thefe men only, that the Bishop has ever thrown out the language of indignation; and what kind of a Bifhop would he be, if against fuch inceffant difturbers of the peace of the church he felt no indignation ? ART. III. The Lectures of Boyer upon Difeafes of the Bones; arranged into a fyftematic Treatife by A. Richerand, Profeffor of Anatomy, &c. Tranflated from the French by M. Farrel, M. D. Two Volumes. 8vo. 15s. Murray. 1804. THE author of these Lectures (Boyer) is a diflinguifhed Profeffor of chirurgical pathology, as well as a practifing furgeon; and the editor of them (Richerand) is not lefs celebrated by his phyfiological writings. From the united exertions of two perfons thus eminent in their refpettive deltinations as teachers and practitioners, we naturally expected a work which should exhibit a comprehenfive and accurate view of the various morbid conditions of the bony ftructure; which fhould, at the fame time, point out the beft modes of treatment, and be occafionally interfperfed with new and original facts and and obfervations. On perufing thefe Lectures, it is but justice to ftate, that thefe expectations have not been disappointed; and we think the tranflator has been usefully employed in turning them into English. Belides an Introduction, the firft volume comprifes an account of fractures, necrofis, caries, exoftofis, and ofteo-farcoma. The fecond volume treats of rickets, fragility of the bones, fprains, luxations, dropfy of the articulations, foreign bodies formed in the articulations, wounds of the articulations, white fwellings of the joints, anchylofis, and, laftly, deviations of the bones, and the means for preventing and correcting the deformity arifing from them. As a fpecimen of this author's opinion and practice, we fhall extract his obfervations on rickets. After premifing fome obfervations on the connection between this diforder and ferofula, and defcribing at length its fymptoms and progiefs, he proceeds to remark, that "nothing certain has been afcertained as to the proximate caufe of rickets; conjectures, however, have not been wanting on this fubject. Some have fuppofed that the bones are deprived of their phosphate by an acid; but what acid is this? How is it generated? Does the acid fmell of the breath of the ricketty patient indicate any thing refpecting it? "Is the foftening of the bones owing to a defect of reparation, while their ordinary lofs is going on? or is there a difeafe in the bones, by which they are decompofed and confuined, whilst the digeftive organs do not furnish a fufficient fupply of calcareou phofphare? or is the paffage of this falt from the chylopoetic vifcera prevented by the obtruction of the mefenteric glands? We muit acknowledge that ricketty patients, notwithstanding their voracious appetite, appear to digeft their food but badly, and that the paffage of the chyle must be impeded by the obstruction of the mefenteric glands, in which calcareous concretions have been found: latily, does the chyle contain a lefs quantity of phofphate of lime than natural? or does this falt, inftead of being depofited in the bones, país to other parts? and what is the caufe of this deviation? "If the body be anatomically infpected after death, the parts will be found in the following ftate: "The muscles are pale and emaciated; the cellular fubitance is quite deflitate of fat; the brain is in general found larger than natu tural, foft, and containing a preternatural portion of humidity; the fpleen and liver are flaccid and enlarged; the inteftines are pale, or rather whitish; all the lymphatic glands, efpecially thofe of the metentery and bronchiæ, are enlarged, and the latter fometimes fuppurated; the bones, reduced to their fibrous ftate, are flexible, bent in feveral directions, and easily cut. There have been various opinions as to the caufe of the curvature of the bones. Ghlon, who wrote towards the middle of the feventeen.h teenth century, is the firft who exprefsly treated of rickets: his explanation of the curvature is as follows: "The humours, fays he, that go to nourish the bones, are accumulated more on one fide than on the other; and thus curve the bone, or make it incline to the oppofite fide, in the fame manner as a coJumn might be curved, by introducing in the fame line, and on the fame fide, wedges between its different parts. But how is it proved that the humours are depofited in one fide in preference to another? and how comes it that the curvature takes place in most persons in the fame direction? "Mayow, an English author, gives the following hypothefis: the tendons being dry and fhortened, oppofe the elongation of the bones, and bend them in the fame way as a young tree is bent, by bringing both its ends towards one another by means of a cord. But, without having recourse to this far-fetched comparison, we find an eafy and natural explanation of the fact in the effects of the weight of the body, and muscular contraction. The deviations are in general an excess of the natural curvature; and it is easy to conceive, that the weight of the body, and mufcular action, which produce this natural curvature, may occafion an excess of it when the bones are incapable of refifting the forces that act on them. It is alfo found, that the natural, as well as the difeafed curvature, is always in the direction in which the most powerful muscles act; thus the tibia and fibula are curved outwards and backwards; and the femur is curved inwards and backwards, the mufcles of the internal and pofterior part of the thigh being more powerful than thofe of the external and anterior. "Rickets is an hereditary difeafe in fome families, though parents that have been affected with it, have fometimes a healthy and robust offspring. I think it can be traced, in fome inftances, to a venereal taint, which, though not the immediate cause, is very often an exciting cause of it and fero!ula. At least, it is certain that fyphilis tranfmitted from parents to their children, appears in the latter in a manner very different from that in which the former are affected. Thus we find that the children of the indigent and profligate are those most generally affected with rickets; but at the fame time it must be allowed, that there are many circumstances which conduce to this difeafe; fuch as a damp and cold refidence, impure air, inattention to cleanliness, and a deficiency of food. Though we do not fully adopt the opinion of Petit as to the influence of dentition, till we muft allow that the action then going on in the offeous fyftem, must be intimately connected with the cutting of the teeth; and that difficult dentition, the pain and bowel complaints arifing from it, may favour, in a powerful manner, the action of the exciting caufes of rickets. It is fingular enough that the teeth preferve their hardness, though they become loofe from the foftening of the alveolar proceffes: the foftening of the jaw-bones is fometines attended with exceffive pain, but at other times it takes place without any pain at all. "The prognofis is always unfavourable in rickets; there is no medicine which acts directly against it; and even in the most favourable cafes it is impoffible to guard againit deformity. However, the dan ger ger to life is great in proportion to the number of bones affected, the more or lefs fpeedy progrefs of the disease, and the age of the patient. Children at the breaft are in greater danger than those that have reached three or four years. If the bones about the thorax be confiderably affected, the cavity is diminished, the lungs are compreffed, the function of refpiration goes on imperfectly, and hence a number of diseases which are fatal of themfelves. "Sometimes the disease advances but flowly, and the patient arrives at puberty before he is quite well; but the great revolution that takes place in his fyftem at this time, arrefts the progrefs of the complaint. Meafles, fmall-pox, and other difeafes to which children are subject, have fometimes brought about this happy termination: the limbs recover their fize, the enlargement of the joints disappeared, and no mark of rickets remained but the deformity. "We know of no medicine which can be faid to poffefs any efficacy in this disease: tonics are indicated, and they fhould be ufed. But the principal advantage is to be derived from general treatment: the patient, if refident in a city, is to be removed to the country, where an elevated and dry fituation should be chosen; he is to be fupplied with a nourishing diet, and a moderate quantity of wine. But as the poor, among whom the difeafe is most frequently obferved, cannot change their refidence, they fhould be placed in the higheft apartment of the houfe, which fhould be kept well ventilated; and in the warm feafon the patient, covered with a shirt, fhould be expofed for a confiderable time every day to the fun: care, however, should be taken that his head be protected against the influence of the rays. "The bed on which ricketty patients lie, fhould consist of nothing more than a hair mattress, or oaten chaff; or it might be made of dried fern-leaves, among which fome aromatic herbs were mixed. Such beds are much better than thofe made of feathers; for they do not yield to the weight of the body, and they are much drier. If the patient be very young, he should be placed on his back, fo that the weight of his body may have as little influence as poffible on the bones; but as it is painful to remain constantly in this pofition, he may be allowed to fit up now and then, but not on a foft chair: he is to be placed on a feat capable of making a uniform refiftance, with a high straight back, and without arms. If the feat were foft, the patient, to find a peint d'appui, would incline forwards; and if it had arms, were he to lean on them, his fhoulders would be raised, and the cervical vertebra curved forwards. He should not be allowed to walk for a confiderable time; for at first he will be incapable of doing fo without affiftance, and the strings and ribands neceffary for fupporting him, contribute, by preffing on the parietes of the thorax, to deform that cavity." P. 5. The author further recommends frictions, loose clothing compofed of light materials, &c. In cafe of difficult dentition, the proper remedies against that fymptoin, fuch as rhubarb and opiates; and in cafe of worms, vermifuge medicines. When the rickets are accompanied with mefenteric obflruction, he advifes fmall doles of infusion of rhubarb, and repeated fric tions on the abdomen; and he is convinced, that the mufcular exertions which accompany the act of laughing, have a beneficial effect in fuch cafes. In cafe of a venereal taint, he re commends tonics combined with mercurials. He feems to have no opinion of the exhibition of phofphate of lime or of madder; but approves of the bark and other firengthening medicines. "Mechanical means", he obferves, "have been propofed for obviating the effects of this difeafe. It is nearly ufelels to attempt uling any machines with very young children, and it is alfo impoffible to confine them on their back in bed; befides, it would be extremely injuri ous to keep them confined in this pofture: the continued extenfion of the limbs, and the inactivity of the mufcles, would add to the general debility, and confequently increafe the difeafe. Splints, then, applied to the limbs, ftrong leather boots, and the apparatus for the spine, are really useful only in cafes in which the patient is of a certain age, and when the progrefs of the difeafe is gradual, and the ftrength not too much exhausted; and even in most of these cafes, the inactivity neceffarily occafioned by thefe machines, is productive of difadvantages which are not compenfated by their good effects. Apparatufes of this kind are fitter for correcting vicious attitudes contracted by healthy children, than deformity arising from rickets." P. 15. ART. IV. Tranflations from the German, Danish, &c. To which is added Mifcellaneous Poetry. 12mo. 84 pp. 3s. 6d. T. Reynolds. 1804. No O tafk is fo congenial to our wifhes as to fpeak in terms of commendation of those productions which have real merits to plead; and we fhould be acting in defiance of our better judgment did we not exprefs our particular fatisfaction with the work immediately before us. The greater part of thefe poems are judicioully felected from Bürger, Geffner, and other popular German authors. The Lenardo and Blandina, in the well-known flyle of Lenora, is tranflated with much fpirit and accuracy. The tale bears ftrong refemblance to the Guifcard and Sigifmunda, long made familiar in our own language; and, though not altogether free from the prefent corrupt tafte of Germany, contains many very beautiful paffages, and will furnish thofe who delight in romantic fictions with no fmall degree of gratification. The following are among the moft pleafing fpecimens of the author's German and Danifh tranflations. THE |