against the practice, more indeed from theory than experience, are answered; and a number of well related cases are detailed in its support. We have derived great pleasure and satisfaction from the perusal of Mr. Baynton's essay, and are disposed to bestow very decided approbation on the plan of treatment recommended by him. Art. 14. The Art of preserving the Sight unimpaired to an extreme old Age; and of re-establishing and strengthening it when it becomes weak; with Instructions how to proceed in accidental Cases which do not require the Assistance of professional Men, and the Mode of Treatment proper for the Eyes during and immediately after the Small-pox. To which are added, Observations on the Inconveniences and Dangers arising from the Use of common Spectacles, &c. &c. By an experienced Oculist. 12mo. 4s. 6d. Boards. Colburn. 1813. Although this treatise is professedly popular, it seems to be composed by a person who has a knowlege of the subject on which he writes, and it accordingly contains some useful information and many salutary admonitions. It has, however, a fault which is too common in books of popular medicine; that of being in many parts desultory and trifling so that we cannot recommend it to the perusal of our readers without warning them of this circumstance. It is divided into three sections; the first consists of General Observations on the Mode of preserving the Eyes in a healthy State;' the second, Of the best Mode of Treatment for weak Eyes;' and the third informs us how the eyes ought to be treated in cases of unforeseen accidents, but which are not of such immediate import as to require any professional operation.' Each of the sections is subdivided into a number of chapters; and, in order to give our readers an idea of the manner in which the subject is treated, we shall enumerate the titles of the chapters which compose the second section. Chap. 1. Of the Care continually necessary for the Preservation of weak Eyes. Chap. 2. On the Regulation of Exercise for weak Eyes, both in general and in particular Cases. Chap. 3. On the Choice of Labour or Employment most judicious for weak Eyes. Chap. 4. On the Species of Relaxation most proper for weak Eyes. Chap. 5. On the Conduct which ought to be observed both by the long and near-sighted. Chap. 6. On the Treatment proper for the Eyes after severe Illness.' The author's plan is to lay down certain specific rules for each head, and these are to be considered as a species of aphorisms, on which the remaining part of the chapter may be termed a commentary. The following are the rules for enabling the near-sighted to determine when it is absolutely necessary for them to use glasses. First, when the whole of the pupil of the eye, and, above all, the transparent tunic, is so much elevated, that it can easily be perceived when the eye is looked at horizontally. Second, when the patient writes very small and very close, and, particularly, when wishing to write a larger hand, his letters are ill formed, unequal, and his lines uneven. Third, when in the evening, at the close of day, he can distinctly read the smallest print, whilst those of a sound eye-sight can scarcely distinguish capitals. Fourth, when he can scarcely recognize any person, though only ten paces distant. And, fifth, when, to fix his view on any distant object, he is obliged to half close his eye-lids.' 1 We shall farther observe that, if this work cannot rank high as a literary performance, it will be found not unworthy of a perusal. Art. 15. An Essay on Medical Economy, comprizing a Sketch of the State of the Profession in England, and the Outlines of a Plan calculated to give to the Medical Body in general an Increase of Usefulness and Respectability. 8vo. 6s. Boards. Underwood. 1814. Most persons agree that the present state of the medical profession requires some reform, or alteration, in its economy and arrangement: but the greatest differences of opinion prevail respecting the nature of the change which is to be attempted. In the treatise before us, the subject is discussed with candour, and not without ability; many of the remarks deserving the serious attention of those who are interested in the welfare of the important class of society which constitutes the body of medical practitioners. In the first chapter, the author describes the medical establishment as regulated by law, and its defects;' in the second, the exist. ing establishment, or that which has arisen gradually out of the former, and which may now be considered as authorized by custom, and its imperfections ;' in the third, he gives a sketch of that establishment, which, from the foregoing review, seems to be the desirable one, comprehending a statement of its comparative advantages;' and in the fourth he institutes an inquiry into the practicability of the desirable establishment, or into the extent to which its principles admit of application, under existing circumstances.' The existing legal establishment is described as consisting of physicians, to whom alone belongs the duty of prescribing for diseases; of surgeons, who are to act under the physicians, whenever manual assistance is required; and of apothecaries, whose office is to prepare the prescriptions of the physician. This system, which we agree with the author is the one contemplated by the laws, is however found to be impracticable; and a different order is now established by general consent, and is every where brought into practice. In this the actual state of things, the physician is commonly considered as merely a counsellor, called in when the urgency of the case requires unusual skill; while the ordinary care of the sick is engrossed by the apothecary, or rather by a new description of men, styled general practitioners, who profess equally all departments. The branch of surgery is nearly in the same state with that of medicine; the pure surgeon being in like manner almost superseded by the same class of general practitioners. This order of things the author conceives to be'in many respects objectionable, as probably every man will do who seriously reflects on the subject: but he thinks that it has almost necessarily grown out of the former, in consequence chiefly of the Y 3 high high price which the regular practitioners have fixed for their labour, and the rule which is laid down for an equality of rank among them, so that it should not be deemed proper for any individuals to receive smaller fees than their fellow practitioners: the consequence of which is that the great mass of society, not being able to afford the sum demanded by the physician, is obliged to have recourse to cheaper advice. Although other causes are assigned for the present state of the profession, yet this seems to be regarded by the author as the principal; and the remedy which he proposes to obviate it is to divide physicians into three classes, depending on the length of time in which they have been engaged in practice, under the titles of juniors, medians, and seniors: their fees being fixed in a corresponding ratio. For the minute arrangement of the plan, and for the arguments by which the proposer attempts to enforce it, we must refer to the work. Probably most of our readers, though they should approve of the idea, will consider the execution of it as altogether impossible, and regard it more as an Utopian speculation than as a scheme proposed for actual practice. Yet advantage may arise from considering even improbable improvements; since, without adopting the whole system, we might have it in our power to make some approach to it. POETRY. Art. 16. Elegiac Stanzas on the late melancholy and tragical Catastrophe at Chislehurst. Respectfully inscribed to Thomson Bonar, Esq. By a Country Clergyman. 4to. Is. Wilson. The horrid murder of Mr. and Mrs. Bonar was a tragedy almost too deep even for the elegiac muse; since the gravest verse seems too light for the occasion. This country clergyman, however, means well; and, as he has published this trifle for the benefit of a distressed family, we shall copy two stanzas, and wish him success. "The deed of blood is done!" - The moonless night Art. 17. The sickening stars withdrew their waning light, Why slept, alas! in that disastrous hour, The guardian angels, who the good defend? The Olive Branch, a Poem. By M. Crawford. 8vo. When an author, in presenting us with a poem, declares it to be the first, the last, and the only production of his inexperienced Muse,' it seems to be useless, as far as he is concerned, to bestow on it any remarks: but a little praise may alter his resolution; and then the word last will only stand as a proof of his modesty. Cheer up then, Mr. Crawford; for your verses are superior to many which we are fated to read; superior to many which the hour of triumph has produced. Three or four stanzas, and those not the best, will shew that the encouragement which we here give is not unmerited: • Proud • Proud Corsican! that once proud day is past, When, at each movement of thy wild'ring maze, Unheeded bursts, and round thee harmless plays. Thy sword is blunted, dimm'd thy warrior-praise; Thy conqu'ring foes press on, and reach famed Paris' gates. Wide spread the portals to the victor-train. Behold the mighty toil of heroes done; And see them laurel-crown'd turn home again! In one short hour long years of mis'ry paid! While spreads the branching Olive o'er the plain; And kindred nations 'neath the grateful shade The solemn compact swear, and sheathe the battle blade: Bedews her slaughter'd children's gory urns; Plead to the feeling heart and melting eye, And ask that sacred boon that gen'rous breasts supply. More dazzling honours than my Muse can pay ! Home of the exile and unshelter'd head! On dark horizon still thy beaming ray, And o'er a 'nighted world new-dawning hope has spread !' We do not approve the contraction 'nighted;' nor the exclamation Gods!' and the old word'stithy' in stanza 38. Stanza 23., descriptive of the effect of the Russian winter on the French army, is beautiful, and we think new: Th' invaders, as their homeward way they wound, Were glued, as marble statues, to the ground. So, in the gelid cavern, deep and lone, With tangling briars and pendent shrubs o'ergrown, So have I seen concrete to solid stone The pure descending streams of liquid glass, As the entire proceeds of the sale of this poem, free from expences, are to be given by the author to the Fund for the Relief of the Sufferers by the War in Germany, our commendation of his generosity ought to be coupled with our praise of his verse. The influence of both must operate on the sale. Art. 18. Moonshine. 8vo. 2 Vols. 1. is. Boards. Longman and Co. 1814. This appears to be the produce of a female hand; and, however little we may be suspected of the grace of politeness, we are always disposed to shew all possible courtesy and forbearance on such occasions. In the present instance, as in many others, the two expressions which we have used have the same meaning: in truth, the less we say the better. Yet our duty to our readers will not admit of our being entirely silent. The work seems to be the emptying of a Commonplace-Book, and we collect from the preface that its contents have principally been the result of hours of sickness: but that circumstance can form no just excuse for a publication, if bad. Parents are frequently observed to have a peculiar attachment to such of their children as are weakly, or imperfectly formed; and, perhaps, it is to the same inclination of the mind that we must attribute the fondness which authors commonly feel towards those productions, which have proceeded from their brain in the hours of its sickness or debility. Certain it is that the excuse, or the reason, to which we are alluding, is much too frequently employed; and it is highly fit that critics should let it be known at once for the benefit of those ladies and gentlemen, in or out of Grub-Street, whose bodily health may happen to be impaired, that water-gruel will not be admitted as a substitute for the waters of the Castalian spring. Its powers of inspiration are of a very different nature. We do not pretend to have perused the whole of these volumes; and if any man ever does, we shall ascribe to him the greatest degree of human patience and perseverance. Much, however, we have read, and we selected from various parts, in hopes that we might have found some straggling piece which we could have presented to our readers: but, alas! in vain. It is indeed all Moonshine; differing, however, from its prototype in the natural world, in one particular, it is all original; not a tittle of its radiance is (we are willing to believe) borrowed: at least we have never seen any thing resembling it, and do not very much care how long a time may elapse before "we look upon its like again.' POLITICS. Art. 19. A compressed View of the Points to be discussed in treating with the United States of America, A. D. 1814, with an Apendix and two Maps. 8vo. pp. 39. Richardson. Circumstances of mutual irritation led to the present war with the United States; and it is no doubt the prayer of the majority of the people in both countries, that this unhappy contest may be brought to a speedy termination. The sword, however, being now unsheathed, some time may intervene before it can be returned to its scabbard; and, if the hints which are thrown out in this pamphlet are |