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At length she was carried to the house of her mistress: where she was stript and laid down before the fire, without any hopes, however, of her recovery. In this situation the doctor found her without motion, stiff,

An account of some preservatives (with their processes) against hunger and thirst, equal, perhaps, in virtue to the so-much boasted French alimentary powder.

HERE were some composi

and cold; her eyes shut, her mouthTtions in vogue among the anan

open, her countenance pale and hollow, and her whole body much swelled and full of water. She had no pulse, and the case being looked upon as desperate, the doctor had a mind to try an experiment, suggested to him by what he had observed of flies and other insects, that being drowned and apparently dead, will yet recover by half burying them in ashes or salt. He accordingly or dered a sufficient quantity of dry pot-ashes to be strewed upon a bed to about three inches deep: upon this layer of ashes the girl was placed, and another layer of ashes of about two inches deep, was sprinkled over her. On her head was put a cap, containing a good quantity of ashes also: and round her throat a stocking filled with the same, The blankets were now laid on the bed, and thus the patient lay about half an hour; when her pulse began to beat, by degrees she recovered her voice, and soon cried out articulately, I am frozen! I am frozen

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A cordial was administered, and she continued to lie eight hours in the ashes; during which time the water came away by the urinary passage to an amazing quantity: after which she found herself greatly relieved; and though for the three following days she was still a little indisposed, the indisposition was slight, and went soon off. In want of a sufficient quantity of dry potashes, dry salt may be used, and, according to the doctor, with the

same success.

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cients, for averting the direful effects of hunger and thirst, and were held by them to be extremely ne cessary in time of scarcity, long voyages, and warlike expeditions. Pliny says, that a small portion of some things allay's the hunger and thirst, and preserves strength: such as butter, cheese made of mare's milk, and liquorice. The American Indians use a composition of the juice of tobacco, with calcined shells of snails, cockles, oysters, &c. which they make into pills, and dry in the shade. Whenever they go upon a long journey, and are likely to be destitute of provisions by the way, they put one of these pills between the lower lip and the teeth, and by swallowing what they suck from it, feel neither hunger, thirst, nor fatigue, for four or five days together.

The following composition is an extract from a manuscript scholium on a book of Heron in the Vatican library and one much to the same effect, with some others, may be seen in Philo's fifth book of Military affairs. It was reputed an exceeding nutritive medicament, and also very effectual for banishing thirst. Both the besiegers of cities, and the besieged, fed upon it, in time of extremity, and called it the Epimenidian Composition, from the sea-onion, which was an ingredient in its composition. The process is thus:

The sea-onion being boiled, Ee 3 washed

washed with water, and afterwards dried, it was cut into very thin slices, to which a fifth part of sesame was added, and a fifteenth of poppy; all which being mixed and worked up into a mass with honey, the whole was divided into portions about the bigness of a walnut, whereoftwo in the day, taken morning and evening, were sufficient to prevent hunger and thirst.

There was another way of preparing it, by taking a pint of sesame, the same quantity of oil, and two quarts of unshelled sweet almonds; when the sesame was dried, and the almonds ground and sifted, the sea onions were to be peeled and sliced, the roots and leaves being cut off: then, pounding them in a mortar, till reduced to a pap, an equal part of honey was to be added, and both worked up with the oil: afterwards all the ingre dients were to be put into a pot, on the fire, and stirred with a wooden ladle, till thoroughly mixed. When themass acquired a solidconsistence, it was taken off the fire, and formed into lozenges, of which two only,

as above, were very sufficient for a day's subsistence.

Avicenna relates, that a person, setting out upon a journey, drank one pound of oil of violets, mixed with melted beef suet, and afterwards continued fasting for ten days together, without the least hunger, He says, that the oil of almonds, and beef-suet, will effect the same by their viscidity. Hence it was that this celebrated physician, who knew things more by unquestion able experiments, than by idle spe, culations and conjectures, prescrib ed the following composition, which in time of famine, by sea, or land, might be extremely serviceable.

Take of sweet alinonds, unshell'd, one pound, the like quantity of melted beef suet; of oil of violets two ounces; a sufficient quantity of mucilage; and of the roots of marsh-mallows one ounce: let all together be brayed in a mortar, and made into bolusses about the bigness of a common nut. They must be kept so as to prevent their melt ing by the heat of the sun.

MISCELLANEOUS ESSAYS.

A fable, by the celebrated Linnæus, translated from the Latin.

ONCE upon a time the seven

wise men of Greece were met together at Athens, and it was proposed that every one of them should mention what he thought the greatest wonder in the creation. One of them, of higher conceptions than the rest, proposed the opinion of some of the astronomers about the fixed stars, which they believed to be so many suns, that had each their planets rolling about them, and were stored with plants and animals like this earth. Fired with this thought, they agreed to supplicate Jupiter, that he would at least permit them to take a journey to the moon, and stay there three days, in order to see the wonders of that place, and give an account of thein at their return. Jupiter consented, and ordered them to assemble on a high mountain, where there should be a cloud ready to convey them to the place they desired to see. They picked out some chosen companions, who might as sist them in describing and painting the objects they should meet with. At length they arrived at the moon, and found a palace there well fitted up for their reception. The next day, being very much fatigued with their journey, they kept quiet at home till noon; and being still faint, they refreshed themselves with a most delicious entertainment, which they relished

so well, that it overcame their curiosity. This day they only saw through the windows that delightful spot, adorned with the most beautiful flowers, to which the beams of the sun gave an uncommon lustre, and heard the singing of most melodious birds till evening came on. The next day they rose very early in order to begin their observations; but some very beautiful young ladies of that coun try coming to make them a visit, advised them first to recruit their strength before they exposed themselves to the laborious task they were about to undertake.

The delicate meats, the rich wines, the beauty of these damsels, prevailed over the resolution of these strangers. A fine concert of music is introduced, the young ones begin to dance, and all is turned to jollity; so that this whole day was spent in gallantry, till some of the neighbouring inhabi tants growing envious at their mirth, rushed in with swords. The elder part of the company tried to appease the younger, promising the very next day they would bring. the rioters to justice. This they performed, and the third day the cause was heard, and, what with accusations, pleadings, exceptions, and the judgment itself, the whole day was taken up, on which the term set by Jupiter expired. On their return to Greece, all the country flocked in upon them to. hear the wonders of the moon de

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scribed, but all they could tell was, for that was all they knew, that the ground was covered with green, intermixed with flowers, and that the birds sung among the branches of the trees; but what kinds of flowers they saw, or what kinds of birds they heard, they were totally ignorant. Upon which they were treated every where with contempt.

If we apply this fable to men of the present age, we shall perceive a very just similitude. By these three days the fable denotes the three ages of man. First, youth, in which we are too feeble in every respect to look into the works of the Creator. All that season is given up to idleness, luxury, and pastime. Secondly, manhood, in which men are employed in settling, marrying, educating children, providing fortunes for them, and raising a family. Thirdly, old age, in which, after having made their fortunes, they are overwhelmed with law-suits, and proceedings relating to their estates. Thus it frequently happens that men never consider to what end they were destined, and why they were brought into the world.

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know where to hide her wretched head.

These great, these noble charities, have been very forcibly recommended to the attention of the public. I beg your assistance to convey some hints on a subject I do not remember to have seen yet treated of, which, though it cannot be considered in the light of the above charities, is nevertheless of some consequence. I mean the improper education given to a great number of the daughters of low tradesmen and mechanics. Every village in the neighbourhood of this great city has one or two little boarding-schools, with an inscription over the door, Young ladies boarded and educated. The expence is small, and hither the blacksmith, the alehouse-keeper, the shoe-maker, &c. sends his daughter, who, from the moment she enters these walls, becomes a young lady. The parent's intention is an honest one; his time is too much taken up, as well as his wife's, by the necessary duties of their profession, to have any to bestow on the education of their children; they are therefore obliged to send them from home. As this is the case, there ought certainly to be proper schools for their reception; but surely, the plan of these schools ought to differ as much from that of the great schools, intended for the daughters of the nobility and gentry, as the station of life of the scholars at the one differs from those of the other. This is, however, so far from being the case, that, the article of expence excepted, the plan is the same; and the daughter of the lowest shopkeeper at one of these schools, is as much Miss, and a young lady, as the daughter of the

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ling, at a mid-night hour, for the licentious liberties of a ball of 'prentices, where the young lady, no governess present, may be exposed to great dangers, at a place where the scheme for the ruin of many an innocent girl has been formed and executed. The needlework taught at these schools is of a kind much more likely to strengthen the natural propensity in all young minds to show and dress, than to answer any housewifely purpose. One of these young ladies, with the assistance of an ounce of coarse thread, and a yard of catgut, dresses herself up, in what has the appearance of point, or Brussels lace.

first viscount in England, at one of the other. The mustress of the school is called governess, for the word Mistress has a vulgar sound with it; and Miss, whose mamma sells oysters, tells Miss, whose papa deals in small-coal, that her governess shall know it, if she spits in her face, or does any thing else unbecoming a young lady. Was a foreigner acquainted with our language, to overhear a conversation of this kind, and some such conversation is to be heard every day in some alley or other in this town, how would he be astonished at the opulence of a country, where the meanest tradesmen kept governesses for their daughters? French and dancing is also to be taught at these schools, neither of which can be of any use to young ladies of this sort. The parents may imagine, the first may procure them a place; but in this they may be greatly mistaken; as, I believe, there is hardly a single instance of a girl's having learnt that language to any degree of perfection at one of these schools. As to the last, I could give reasons against that accomplishment making a part of their education, far too numerous to be inserted. I shall only mention that it cannot possibly be of use to them, and that it would be of much more consequence they should be well instructed how to wash the floor, than how to dance upon it. I am very certain, there are several fathers of this rank, who have had cause to wish their daughters had lost the use of their limbs, rather than be taught this pernicious use of them by the dancing-master, the consequence of which has often been, that of inducing them to quit their parents sober dwel- he may not be disappointed in so

How disappointed will the honest shop-keeper be, if, at an age when he thinks proper to take his daughter from school, he should expect any assistance from her! Can he suppose a young lady will weigh his soap for him? or perform any other office, the gentility of her education has exalted her so far above? Though ignorant of every thing else, she will be so perfect in the lessons of pride and vanity, that she will despise him and his nasty shop, and quit both, to go. off with the first man who promises her a silk gown, and a blonde In short, the plan of these schools appears to me much better calcu lated to qualify the scholars to become, in a few years, proper inhabitants of the Magdalen-house, than to make of them industrious, frugal wives to honest tradesmen, or sober faithful servants; and I cannot suppose the ambition of any. father of this rank. amongst us, rises higher, than to see his children in one or the other of these stations. That

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