time occasioned so little inconvenience, that it was not thought advisable to propose any particular remedy for it. The eye continued nearly in the same state about six months; but then the Epiphora became again troublesome, and it was frequently accompanied with a slight inflammation of the eye, very similar to that which the patient had experienced before the tube was inserted. In October, 1793, the uneasiness increased; the inflammation was more than ordinarily severe; and an abscess formed over the lachrymal sac. In consequence of this she consulted Mr. Andrews, her family surgeon, at Rumford, who, being informed of the insertion of the tube, advised her to consult either Mr. Wathen or me, on the measures that were necessary to be now adopted. Mrs. B. accordingly came to town on the 30th of October, and called on me in New Bridge-street. The abscess at this time had burst, and a small aperture was formed di- · rectly over the entrance of the nasal duct. On introducing through the aperture the round end of a probe, I ́very readily felt the top of the tube, and endeavoured to carry the probe through it; but its cavity was so completely filled, that I found it impossible to accom plish my intention. The lady expressed a great desire to have the tube withdrawn ; and as it appeared now to be incapable of answer. ing the purpose for which it was introduced, I acceded to her with, and enlarged the aperture, in order to give room for the introduction of a forceps with which it might be secured. After making repeated attempts with this instrument, I, at length, succeeded in bringing it away; and on examining the tube its cavity was found to be filled with a black solid substance, which appeared to be chiefly formed of inspissated mucus. Some warm water was injected through the wound, and being afraid to trust to the continuance of the communication without the insertion of a solid body through it, I introduced, in place of the tube, a part of a common probe, about an inch and an half long, which was bent at its superior extremity, in order to hinder it from passing too low in the duct. On the following day the inflammation of the eye was much abated, and the pas tient informed me that the discharge of tears over the cheek had been much less troublesome than on many of the preceding days, On the third day the watering of the eye had wholly ceased, and the sight was become quite strong. I now withdrew the probe; and again in jeeted some warm water; after which the instrument was replaced as before. When the probe was first introduced, it was my sole intention to employ it for a short time, in order to prevent the nasal duct from suddenly closing; which it was to be feared might have hap pened after the tube was extracted. I had not any expectation that the watering of the eye would wholly cease, so long as a solid body continued in the duct. Being agreeably disappointed in this respect, I determined to continue the style a longer time than was at first intended; and, instead of bending the upper end of the instrument, it was suggested by Mr. B. that if it had a head, like that of a nail, placed obliquely so as to sit close to the skin, it would be less likely to slip or be struck; and, if it were enamelled, so as to resemble the colour of the skin, it would be less observable. A style of this kind was accordingly substituted for the bent probe; and it has now

been

been worn upwards of four years, being only withdrawn once or twice in a week to inject some warm water through the passage; and, during the whole of this time, the lady ha. not experienced the smallest inconvenience from the watering of her eye, nor has she had the least inclination to omit wearing the instrument.'

With respect to the hæmorrhoids, Mr. Ware observes that, though the number of tumours protruded through the anus is considerable, the pain is generally produced by one or (at most) two of them. These will be found much harder and more inflamed than the rest; and on their removal, the disease will vanish. He therefore recommends the cutting these off as near to the basis as possible, by means of a pair of curved scissors. In the additional remarks on the ophthalmy, Mr. Ware again recommends the application of the unguentum bydrargyri nitrati, together with that of the tinctura thebaica, of the old London Pharmacopoeia.-This latter preparation, he observes, should not be confounded with the present tinctura opii of the college.

ART. XII. A Treatise on Chirurgical Diseases, and on the Operations required in their Treatment, from the French of Meffrs. Chopart and Desault, late Professors of Surgery at the Practical Academy, and principal Surgeons to the Hôtel-Dieu, Paris. In Two Volumes. By W. Turnbull, A. M. F.M.S. and Surgeon to the Eastern Dispensary. With an Introduction, Index, and Appendix, containing Notes and Observations, by the same. Vol. I. 8vo. pp. 540. 9s. Boards. Richardson. 1797.

IN

N the introduction, the translator of this treatise on practical surgery has entered into a justification of his conduct in presenting to English readers the work of a Frenchman. He has been told, he says, that to publish a warm eulogium on the characters of his authors might, at this day, either subject the writer to a suspicion of disaffection or want of prudence. • Shall I then,' he adds, as the humble translator of Chopart and Desault, whose labours were directed to the preservation of humanity, be fairly subject to reproach for recording the great and estimable qualities of these children of science? Shall I be accused of want of respect to the chief magistrate, or failing in allegiance to my country, if I attempt to draw a faithful outline of Gallic excellence?"

What can be more ill-judged and unnecessary than this appeal? Could it ever enter into the imagination of man, that a book teaching the practical art of surgery should have any interference with the political state or government of a country? There is no allusion of the kind in the original work; and it remained

for

for the translator to introduce such heterogeneous matter by writing a preface.

We are next presented with an abridgment of the life of M. Desault, who survived the scenes of confusion and murder lately exhibited in France, written by one of his pupils, Havier Bichat. We shall select his character, as recorded by his friend:

Desault was of a middling stature, of a well-proportioned shape, and of an open and ingenuous countenance. His constitution, naturally robust, had been strengthened by his first education; he was not weakened by the excess of pleasures; their allurements constantly found his heart indifferent.

All men have a predominant passion: his was the love of fame. They have all a favourite enjoyment: his was the improvement and exercise of his profession.

At some moments he appeared to possess an irascible disposition, and was subject to involuntary bursts of peevishness and passion; but was ever ready to acknowledge his indiscretions. These weaknesses, although pardonable, often carried him beyond the bounds of strict decorum; and his pupils, although they held his talents in the highest degree of veneration, sometimes could discover a want of gentleness in his temper.

His soul was noble, elevated, and great, even in its defects.He despised the base and underhand dealings of intrigue.-He never had to reproach himself, with having obtained, by such means, the places he enjoyed.-He was affected sensibly at the ingratitude of his patients; and would have thought it disgraceful to have made the least advance, to procure a legitimate retribution due to his labour.

He had enemies :-but what man of his abilities ever lived without them? Envy, which constantly pursues merit with a persecuting zeal, opened on him the flood-gates of defamation; but his answer to calumny was uniformly a silent contempt.-He had many friends. Their society was one of the chief pleasures of his life. At certain periods he assembled them at his house, and, in their conversations, diverted from his mind the recollection of his disappointments.

There are few surgeons, who, having written so little, have enjoyed so great a reputation. Two causes have contributed to extend it-first, the places which he enjoyed in the great hospitals of the republic; and, the second, the considerable number of pupils he had formed for his profession.

He died, too soon for humanity, in the 51st year of his age, beloved by all who knew him, except those, in his profession, whom he had eclipsed. The nation was eager to render to his memory a distinguished homage, in securing to his widow an annual pension of two thousand livres. He had married Margaretta, daughter of Matthias Thouvenin. An only son, Alexis Matthias Desault, was the fruit of this marriage.'

The

The first part of the volume consists of remarks on chirurgical operations in general.' These are delivered in a clear and simple method, and are properly adapted for the instruction of those to whom they are addressed.

The remainder of the book treats of diseases of the head, face, and neck.-The enumeration of the symptoms of each is accurate and concise; and the mode of treatment is rational and judicious. With respect to the notes, which are promised, the translator observes:

The notes, on particular passages, which I intended to place under the text in each volume, I have relinquished, until the publi cation of the second, when they will be divided in such a manner as to bind up at the end of each volume separately, or to form a third, at the discretion of the purchaser. In pursuing my original intention, I found the publication would be considerably retarded, and the reader too frequently interrupted in the perusal.'

We cannot deem this mode of publication useful. If notes be necessary, they should accompany the text to which they refer; and it should be remembered that they are beneficial in proportion to the ease with which they may be consulted.

ART. XIII. The Natural History of the rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia. Including their Systematic Characters, the Particulars of their several Metamorphoses, and the Plants on which they feed. Collected from the Observations of Mr. John Abbot, many Years resident in that Country. By James Edward Smith, M. D. F. R. S. P. L. S. &c. Folio. 2 Vols. 211. Boards. White, &c.

In his valuable preface to this splendid work, Dr. Smith [the

British Linné] very justly remarks that, in the rapid advancement which the science of Natural History has lately experienced, the systematic study of insects has been largely cultivated; and that those botanists, who were most expert in the principles of scientific arrangement, have advantageously applied those principles to the other departments of Nature; for that, while the sagacious and acute Linné was conceiving and digesting the plan of his Philosophia Botanica, his labours tended to the grand effect of methodizing all natural knowlege. The principles of that immortal work, (says Dr. S.) appear throughout his zoological labours; and they have been particularly applied to the insect-tribe by his pupil, the celebrated Fabricius, whose Philosophia Entomologica has formed a new epoch in the science it is calculated to teach. While he marshalled his newfound squadrons under the banners of his great preceptor, the riches of Nature flowed in on every side upon the scholar, as

they

they had formerly done upon the master, seeming to have been in each instance reserved for a favourite observer.'

The learned editor then proceeds:

But although the systematic arrangement of insects has of late been prodigiously advanced, the philosophical study of their economy. does not appear to have been equally cultivated. The splendid works of Clerc, Cramer, and Olivier, and the more exquisite one of Drury, do indeed display the complete insect, in a degree of perfection that leaves scarcely any thing to be desired; but where are the metamorphoses through which these finished forms have passed? and where are their various habitations, foods, and manners? Some European moths and butterflies alone are exhibited through all their changes, and with some of their varieties, by Harris, Wilkes, Esper, Ernst, the admirable Rocsel, and the inimitable Seppe; but who, since the celebrated, though not very accurate, Merian, has laboriously scrutinized those of the remote regions of India or America?'

Dr. Smith likewise observes, for the information of those into whose hands this noble edition may fall, that the materials of which the work is formed have been collected on the spot by a faithful observer, Mr. John Abbot, who was many years resident in Georgia; and who, after having previously studied the metamorphoses of English insects, pursued his inquirics among those of Georgia and the neighbouring parts of North Ametica.

The result of his observations he has delineated in a style of beauty and accuracy which can scarcely be excelled, and has accompanied his figures with an account, as well as a representation, of the plants on which each insect chicfly feeds, together with many circumstances of its manners, times of the different metamorphoses, and other interesting particulars. For all such facts recorded in these pages, the public are entirely obliged to Mr. Abbot. His memorandums, not methodized by himself for publication, have merely been digested into some sort of style and order, by the editor, who has generally added remarks of his own, in a separate paragraph and different type from the rest; and who has entirely to answer for the systematic names and definitions; that department having been left altogether unattempted by Mr. Abbot.'

Of these truly beautiful volumes, we are indeed enabled to speak with entire approbation. The plates are 104 in number, and are executed with admirable skill and elegance: on each is represented the caterpillar, chrysalis, and insect, and one of the plants on which it feeds; so that to the botanist as well as the entomologist this book is a valuable acquisition. The able editor has manifested his accustomed discrimination, and his intimate acquaintance with this branch of natural history, by the addition of synonyms from Linné and Fabricius, to such of the insects here represented as have been described by those