heart; and of the whole arterial fyftem. The feet and hands are naturally more predifpofed to the gout than other parts of the body, from their depending fituation. A debility of the liga. ments and tendons of the joints, predifpofing to this affection, is frequently tranfmitted by parents to their offspring; fo that the gout may be faid to vifit the fins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation.” P. 5. This statement appears to us defective, inafmuch as we derive no information whatever from it, and it may therefore pafs as a fpecimen of medical jargon in fact, admitting that debility, and a morbid excitement exift, they are fimply the effects of certain agents, and cannot, with any kind of propriety, be converted into caufes, which, we should prefume, must be active and operative. When the author tells us that luxury, intemperance, the immoderate ufe of wine, fpirits, and fpices, to which we may add indolence, have a confiderable tendency to produce gout, we comprehend him; we believe few perfons can long withfland these united agents; we do not deny that fome habits are more predifpofed to gout than others, but when Mr. Ring attempts to explain this predifpofition by debility with fulness of veffels. we think he is amufing himself with mere words. Admitting it to be correct, the greater part of our population are con tinually predisposed to gout, without ever being fubject to it, for debility is a very prevailing complaint in this. age. Mr. Ring's defcription of the gout is diftinct and correct. We do not quote it, because the complaint is fufficiently known. We do not think he has faid enough on the subject of want of exercise, and leading a fedentary life, which, with rich diet, even without indulging much in wine, greatly contribute to engender this painful diforder. A great portion of the book is occupied with brief statements of the opinions of phyficians, ancient and modern, concerning gout. In this refpect, Mr. Ring deferves commendation: in a short space he has acquainted us with much valuable and interefting information, derived from books which it might be difficult to confult; and by comparing the different modes of practice, we are enabled to determine upon that which is the most beneficial. The refult of the experience before us, favours the antiphlogiftic, or cooling, evacuating treatment. Bleeding, cathartics, fudorifics, and occafionally opiates, feem to be the best practice. Abundant proof is advanced, that the complaint is radically curable; but this must be effected by regimen. The paroxyfms being relieved by medicine, and convalefcence established; if the patient wish to avoid a recurrence recurrence of the complaint, he must refrain from his former habits; in fhort, become a new man; he must take exercise, live fparingly, adopting a milk or vegetable diet, and avoid every kind of excitement. Nothing is more abfurd or prejudicial than to abandon a gouty patient to his flannel and patience. Gout is as much within the reach of medicine as are most other complaints, and it is alfo a disease in which the patient may materially increase his fufferings by mifmanagement. The following cafe is in point.: "Mufgrave, in particular, relates the cafe of a gentleman who had lived intemperately many years, and had many fevere fits of the gout, which caused a confiderable number of remarkably large chalk ftones. Being reduced to poverty, he turned brickmaker, for the fake of earning his bread; and was furprizingly benefitted by his conftant employment. His appetite returned, but he had scarcely any thing to eat; he became athletic; and, what is more remarkable, his chalk.ftones utterly vanished; and in this temperate way he lived many years.” Mr. Ring has beflowed confiderable attention upon the Eau Medicinale, and has related fome cafes in which it oc, cafioned fatal effects. Certainly a combination of drugs fo powerful demands great caution; on this fubject, however, we have recently expreffed our opinions. We cannot close our account of this, publication without remarking, that fhort as it is, great part of it is occupied with irrelevant matter. Fifteen pages are taken up with a letter from Dr. Gregory to Dr. Harrifon on medical reform, which has already had a much wider circulation than it is likely to have in the prefent work, to which it is altogether foreign. The cafe of Mr. Wood, published in the Medical Tranfactions, and having no relation to gout, is republifhed on the prefent occafion, without the leaft neceffity, and runs through eleven pages. Much abufe is unfeelingly lavifhed on the celebrated Dr. John Brown. Doctors Latham, Kinglake, and Jones also are treated with confiderable afperity; and fome phyficians are vilipended for being adverfe to vaccination. Now though we admit the juftice of Mr. Ring's obfervations on this fubject, we think them totally irrelevant in a treatise on gout; but the affociative faculty of this gentleman seems to he ftrong, and frequently carries him away from his direct courfe. Some phrafes alfo fmell of the fhop, as "tried to tram it down our throats." With these exceptions, the volume may prove useful and entertaining to a numerous class of readers. BRITISH CATALOGUE. POETRY. ART. 10. The Old Bard's Farewell, a Poem. 25. 6d. Clarke. 1811. 4to. 16 pp. Though this poem bears no author's name in the title, yet the Signature of EDWARD JERNINGHAM, affixed to the dedication, removes the mystery. It is inferibed to George Ellis, Efq. (edi tor of the Specimens, &c.) whofe name carries with it as much fanction, as any name prefixed to a dedication can give. Mr. Jer, ningham has not of late been fufficiently a favourite with the public to excite much feeling by his valediction; yet it is certain that he has been esteemed and praifed by many competent judges; and if there be any thing to place in the oppofite fcale, this is not the time to bring it forward. He takes his leave with fome pious and more patriotic fentiments, and we are extremely defirous to part with him on good terms. His poem is very fhort, and the following lines are, perhaps, the beft in it; certain it is that they are not the worft; and they conclude with a plea which we are not inclined to disregard. "Oh England! oh my country! favour'd ifle, 'The milder fragrance of a winter flow'r." This is not quite like the farewell of Cumberland; but different minds are formed for different energies, and that of Mr. J. had always more of softness than power. ART. II. Glenochel: A defcriptive Poem, in two Volumes. By 1810. Of this poem we cannot make a more fatisfactory report to our readers than that which the author himself makes in the preface. "GLENOCHEL, "GLENOCHEL, the title, is fuggefted by the landscape defcribed being bounded by the chief range and detached ridges of the Ochel hills. The poem is divided into two parts. The firft describes fuch remarkable objects in the fhires of Kinross and Clackmannan as meet the eye, in a progreffive farvey to the weft, from the fummit of the Lomonds (conical mountains in Fife;) the fecond thofe fcenes connected with Lochleven, that are recorded in the tales of tradition, or on the pages of hiftory. Befides what may illuftrate the text, the notes offer conjectures on the etymology of the names of places and natural objects." The notes, which occupy nearly one half of the first volume, and about two-thirds of the fecond, are, indeed, of more value than the text. The author is not, it must be confeffed, wholly free from that extravagance by which the enquiries of the greater part of etymologifts have in all ages been characterized; but his authorities are in general highly refpectable, and the refults of his inveftigations will be interefting to the Scottish antiquary. Of the poem itself we cannot write in terms of very high praife. The author appears not, indeed, to be destitute of poetical genius; but his language is harfh; he attempts to compound words which cannot be made to coalefce; and he delights by far 100 much in alliteration, which is pretty enough when it comes occafionally and unfought, but is very difgufting when it appears to have been the object of an author's ambition. The following ftanzas on the marriage of Mary Queen of Scots to the Dauphin, afterwards Francis the Second of France, furnish a fair specimen of the author's verfification. "Now on the Queen the loves bestow The blandeft blufh of bridal bloom, "And, on the winds ambrofial borne, The the blissful power benignly balms And hope each care-fprung trouble calms. "The lovely fair ferenely fees The charms of life, of love her own, And round her ftately fteps of eafe Grace, glory, grandeur, all beftrown." The loyal and patriotic principles of this author are entitled to the highest praife. ARTY ART. 12. Leisure Hours, or Morning Amusements; confifting of Poems on a Variety of interefting Subjects, moral, religious, and miscellaneous : with Notes, by W. Steers. 12mo. 75. Sherwood. 1811. We have often lamented, and muft ftill exprefs our concern, that the writers of moderate poetry, will not be fatisfied with amufing themselves, or if they are reftlefs to fee their compofitions in print, that they will not be contented with ftriking off a few copies for their friends. The author of this little volume is be yond doubt a refpectable man, but a very indifferent poet. If there is any exception to this cold commendation, it is the copy of verfes entitled The Quarrel,' which happily enough reprefents the effectual emotions of nature, in a mifunderstanding between two brothers, and which if we had room we would infert. ART. 13. A Sequel to the Poetical Monitor, confifting of Pieces fele& and original, adapted to improve the Minds and Manners of Young Perfons. By Eliz. Hill. 12mo. Longman. 3s. 1811. This is a very agreeable mifcellany, and compiled with confiderable taste and judgment. It is in every particular well adapted for the purposes which it profeffes to have in view. ART. 14. Tranflations from Ancient Iri Manufcripts, and other Poems. By James Martin. 8vo. Sherwood. 7s. 1811. The Irish Poems which are here reprefented as tranflated are four-the remainder original. One of the original feems alfo of Irish birth. It is addreffed to Memory, who is fagaciously asked "Whether she can bring to-morrow?" That they are not however, altogether deficient in poetical spirit and tafte, the following fpecimen will demonstrate : "When firft the little bird begins She flutters round her natal neft ; With carols fills the grove, "So when the fifters firft infpire He |