MAGAZINES feleted. mall 340219 The BEAUTIES of all the disorders, the more skilfully we that apply them, and with the greater fuccefs. But, in the nobleft arts, the mind is alfo the fubject upon which we operate. The ainter, the poet, the actor, the orator, the moralift, and the statefman, attempt to operate upon the mind in different ways, and for different ends; and they fucceed, according as they touch properly the ftrings of the human frame. Nor can their feveral arts ever ftand on a folid foundation, or rife to the dignity of fcience, until they are Built on the principles of the human conftitution. Wife emen now agree, or ought to agree, in this, that there is but one way to the knowledge of Nature's works, the way of observation and experiment. By our conftitution, we have a strong propenfity to trace particular facts and obfervations to general rules, and to apply fuch general rules to account for o ther effects, , or to direct us in the production of them. This procedure of the understanding is familiar to every human creature in the common affairs of life, and it is the only one by which any real difcovery in philofophy can be made. 1 The man who first discovered that cold freezes water, and that heat turns it into vapour, proceeded on the fame general principles, and in the fame method, by which Newton discovered the Jaw of gravitation and the properties of light. His Regulæ Philofophandi' are maxims of common sense, and are practifed every day in common life; and he who philofophifes by other rules, either concerning the material fyftem, or concerning the mind, mistakes his aim. Conjectures and theories are the creatures of men, and will always be found very unlike the creatures of God. If we would know the works of God, we must confult themselves with attention and humility, without daring to add any thing of our's to what they declare. A juft interpretation of nature is the only found and orthodox philofophy; Whatever we add of we add of our own is apocry. phal and of no authority." All our curious theories of the for 2 mation of the earth, of the generation sim of of animals, of the origin of hatural and moral evil, fo far as they go beyond a juft induction from facts, are vanity and folly, no less than the vortices of Defcartes, or the Archæus of Paracelfus. Perhaps the philofophy of the mind hath been no lefs adulterated by theories, than that of the material fyftem. The theory of ideas is indeed very ancient, and Kath been very univerfally received, but, as neither of thefe titles can give it authenticity, they ought not to fereen it from a free and candid examination; öspectally in this age, when it hath produced a fyftem of feepticism, that Teems to triumph over all fcience, and even over the dictates of common fenfe. 41 13 I All that we know of the body is owing to anatomical diffection and obfervation; and it must be By an anatomy of the mind, that we can difcover its powers and principles. 9 SW But it must be acknowledged, that this kind of anatomy is much more difficult than the other; and therefore it needs not seem flrange, that mankind have made less progress in it. To attend accurately to the operations of our minds, and make them an object of thought, is no eafy matter even to the contemplative, and to the bulk of mankind is next to impossible. An anatomist, who hath happy opportunities, may have accefs to examine, with his own eyes, and with equal accuracy, bodies of all different ages, fexes, and conditions; so that what is detective, obfcure, or preternatural in one, may be difcerned clearly, and in its most perfect ftate, in another. Bat the anatomift of the mind cannot have the fame advantage: it is his own mind only that he can examine with any degree of accuracy and diftinctness. This is the only fubject he can look into he may, from outward figns, collect the operations of other minds; but these figns are for the most part ambiguors, and must be interpreted by what he per ceives within himself.' di qu So that, if a philofopher could delineate to us, diftinctly and methodically, all The BEAUTIES of all the MAGAZINES feleled. 311 all the operations of the thinking print t Of the various powers and faculties we poffefs, there are fome which nature feems both to have planted and reared, fo as to have left nothing to human induftry. Such are the powers which we have in common with the brutes, and which are neceffary to the prefervation of the individual, or the continuance t ון of the kindest There are other powers, of which Nature hath only planted the feeds in our minds, but bath left the rearing of them to buman culture. It is by the proper culture of thefe, that we are capable of all thofe improvements in intellectuals, in tafte, and in morals which exalt and dignify human nature; while, on the other hand, the neglect or perverfion of them makes its degeneracy and corruption. 4 The two legged animal that eats of Nature's dainties what his taste or appetite craves, and fatisfies his thirst at the crystal f fountain; who propagates his kind as occafion and luft prompt, repels injuries, and takes alternate labour and repofe; is, like a tree in the foreft, purely of Nature's growth. But this fame favage hath within him the feeds of the logician, the man of tafte and breeding, the orator, the ftatef man, the man of virtue, and the faint; which feeds, though planted in his mind by nature, yet, through want of culture and exercife, muft lie for ever bu. ried, and be hardly perceivable by himfelf or others. う .... The lowest degree, of focial life will up to great perfection; others will ral This makes hu and multiform in the individuals, that whom advan The language of philofophers, with regard to the original faculties of the mind, is fo adapted to the prevailing fyftem, that it cannot fit any other; like a coat t that fits the The man for made, and thews him ་་༢ པ་ it was tage, which yet will fit very aukward well proupon one of a different make, although perhaps as handsome and as well portioned. It is hardly poffible to make any innovation in our philofophy concerning the mind and its operations, phrafes, without ufing new words, and or giving a different meaning to those that are received; a liberty which, even when neceflary, creates prejudice and mifconftruction, and which must wait the fanction of time to authorife it. For innovations in language, like thofe in religion and government, are always fulpected and difliked by the many, till ufe hath made them familiar, and prefcription hath given them a title. If the original perceptions and noti ons of the mind were to make their appearance fingle and unmixed, as we firit received them from the hand of Nature, one accustomed to reflection would have lefs difficulty in tracing them; but, before we are capable of refection,, they are fo mixed, compounded, and decompounded, by habits, affociations, and abftractions, that, it is hard to know what they were originally. The mind may in this refpect be compar ed to an apothecary or chymitt; whole materials indeed are furnished by nature, but for the purposes of his art, he mixes, compounds, diffolves, evapo. pot odt to zainoɔdi zmoniuɔ two ¡¡Aates, と ture. Succefs, in an inquiry of this kind, is not in human power to command but perhaps it is poffible, by caution and humility, to avoid error and delufion. The labyrinth may be too intri cate, and the thread too fine, to be traced through all its windings; but, if we ftop where we can trace it no farther, and fecure the ground we have gained, there is no harm done; a quicker eye may in time trace it farther. Tates, and fublimes them, till they the various phænomena of human naë put on a quite different appearance; To that it were very difficult to know what they were at first, and much more to bring them back to their original and natural form. And this work of the mind is not carried on by deliberate acts of mature reason, which we might recollect, but by means of instincts, habits, affociations, and other princi. ples, which operate before we come to the use of reafon; so that it is extremely difficult for the mind to return upon its own foot-steps, and trace back those operations which have employed it, fince it firft began to think and to act. Could we obtain a diftinct and full hiftory of all that hath paffed in the mind of a child from the beginning of life and fenfation, till it grows up to the ufe of reafon; how its infant faculties began to work, and how they brought forth and ripened all the various notions, opinions, and fentiments, which we find in ourselves when we come to be capable of reflection; this would be a treasure of natural hiftory, which would probably give more light into the human faculties, than all the systems of philofophers about them fince the beginning of the world. But it is in vain to with for what Nature has not put within the reach of our power. Reflection, the only inftrument by which we can discern the powers of the mind, comes too late to obferve the progrefs of nature in raifing them from their infancy to perfection. It is genius, and not the want of it, that adulterates philofophy, and fills it with error and falfe theory. A creative imagination difdains the mean offices of digging for a foundation, of removing rubbish, and carrying materials: leav ing thefe fervile employments to the drudges in fcience, it plans a defign and raises a fabric. Invention fupplies materials where they are wanting, and fancy adds colouring, and every befitting ornament. The work pleases the eye, and wants nothing but folidity and a good foundation. It seems even to vie with the works of nature, till the envious blast of some fucceeding architect blows it into rubbish, and builds as goodly a fabric of his own in its place. Happily for the present age, the caftle builders employ themfelves more in romance than in philofophy. That is undoubtedly their province, and in thofe regions the offspring of fancy is legitimate, but in philofophy it is all fpurious. From the UNIVERSAL MAGAZINE. Practical-Obfervations of an Essex Fan mer, for curing Wheat damaged in the Field by Rain in Harvift. It must therefore require great cau-XXXX********* tion, and great application of mind, for a man that is grown up in all the prejudices of education, fashion, and philofophy, to unravel his notions and opinions, till he finds out the fimple and original principles of his conftitution, of which no account can be given but the will of our Maker. This may be truly called, an analysis of the human faculties; and, till this is performed, it is in vain we expect any just system of the mind; that is, an enumeration of the original powers and laws of our conftitution, and an explication from them of A WET harveft is what a farmer dreads more, than almost any thing, as it hurts the quality of his corn, increases his expences, and greatly leffens his profits. So much depends on the well gettingin of our bread-corn, that every man, who knows any thing that can forward to good a purpose, is in duty bound to The BEAUTIES of all the MAGAZINES elected, 313 wetted, if fine weather enfues, I would by all means advife him to unbind them, and afterwards fpread them out to be dried by the fun. This fimple method will often prevent great lofies, and the wheat may at last be got in in tolerable good order. It is a well known maxim, that wheat fhould be left for fome days in the field, after it is cut, before it is inned; this the farmers think (and not without reafon) improves its quality; the dews plump the kernels, and the fun brings it to a proper and perfect state of matu tity. Thefe then are the benefits that refult from leaving the heaves for fome time abroad'; but it is neceffary the weather thould be fine, or great loffes are often the confequence of this prac tice. Sometimes, when the farmer leaft expects it, the weather fets in foul, and it rains for feveral weeks fucceffively; it is then very difficult to preferve the wheat from being greatly damaged, not withstanding the many contrivances that have been thought of for this purpofe. Some shock their fheaves, fetting them up in traves of fix fheaves of a fide, and two to cap them; but this is a very. dangerous method, and never to be practifed after much rain has fallen: if the fheaves were dry, when the traves were fet up, from an expectation of its raming, it is of great fervice; but, if the heaves are firit fuffered to be wet, ten to one but the corn fweats, sprouts, and rots, by being fo close confined from the action of the air. After all, I am apt to think, that it is full as well not to cap the fhocks; for, if the rain is not very heavy and conftant indeed, the ears, provided they do not touch the ground, will dry nearly as faft as they are wetted, In Middletex, Kent, and fome parts of Effex; they generally bind their wheat as they reap; but then it must be fuppofed that their crops are, for the most part, pretty clear from green weeds, which would otherwife caute the fheaves to fweat violently in the mow, and greatly damage the corn. When a farmer is fo unfortunate as to have his wheat-fheaves thoroughly VOL. III. If the rain, however, should continue long, and there should be danger of the kernels growing (which by obfervation he may easily judge of) I would advise the thinking farmer inftantly to carry it home, wet as it is, and afterwards ma nage it as I fhall direct from my own frequent experience.. When the waggon, or cart, comes home loaded with theaves, let them be thrown promicuously into the bay of the barn, and not regularly mowed; for it is neceflary they should lie hollow, that the air may get into the vacuities, and prevent the fheaves from heating, dur ing the little time they are to continue in the fituation above described. 7 Let our farmer next prepare fome cutting-boxes, fuch as horfe-meat is cut in, in Kent and fome other counties. The number of thefe boxes fhould be according to the quantity. of wheat he has wet; but three or four, constantly kept going, will do a great deal of work. With these cutters let the ears be cut off from the wet fheaves; and, when a fufficient quantity are collected from all the boxes, let them be put loosely up in facks, and carried to a malt kiln, there to be regularly and gradually dried s and when the first parcel is done, another is to fucceed; and so on, till the whole work is compleated.. This method I can, from my own experience, recommend; and it is lefs expence than would at firft thought be imagined. The heat of the kiln may be kept up higher than when malt is drying, as the chaff of the ear will prevent the kernel of the wheat from be ing damaged by the fire, unless the heat is very intente indeed; but it will, however, be proper to keep the ears gently ftirring with a fork, or rake, during the time they are drying. In this management the farmer will find Sf find great advantages; and his wheat will, with a very inconfiderable additi onal expence, be nearly, and sometimes quite, as good in a wet harvest, as if it was houfed in ever fo good order, in fine fun-fhining weather. If, by chance, after you have cut off the ears from the fheaves, the weather fhould change and become fine, you may often dry them without the affistance of the kiln, by spreading them thin on a large threshing cloth, and turning them frequently with a wooden rake; and even, if by this method you should not intirely dry them, it will ftill bring them fo forward, that the kiln will eafily complete the cure. I muft, however, caution the farmer not to suffer the kiln to be much heated, unless the ears are kept constantly ftirring, during the time they are drying. From the UNIVERSAL MAGAZINE. Extract from an Effay on the diffolvent Power of Quick-lime, in Regard to the Calculus or Stone; by David Macbride, Surgeon. IN 'N Dr. Whytt's very ingenious Effay on the virtues of lime-water, we find a number of experiments, made with a view of determining what things impair or destroy its diffolvent power, with regard to the calculus; one of which plainly fhews, that the urine contains fixed air; for when this celebrated profeffor mixed an ounce and a half of lime-water, and an ounce of fresh-made urine, it immediately loft its yellow-colour, and became whitish and turbid, and, in a little time, a light, white fediment fell to the bottom, and left the liquor above perfectly pel. lucid, of a fine light lemon colour, without any fcum or cruft on the fides of the glass.' I repeated this experiment with pretifely the fame appearances; and found, that, on pouring off the clear, and dropping in spirit of vitriol, a violent effervefcence enfued; plainly fhewing, that the particles of the quick-lime, now faturated with the fixed air, which they had abforbed from the urine, were returned to their original state of a calcarious earth. There is fome danger of lime-water's being deprived of part of its virtue, from the vapour arifing from the alimentary fubftances, during their fermentation in the first paffages; and here we have another circumftance which is difcouraging, with regard to the diffolution of the calculus. By the experiments hitherto made, the calculus appears capable of dissolution in two ways; either by means of a strong acid, fuch as fpirit of nitre, which probably acts immediately on the earthy part of the ftone; or by lime-water, or cauftic alcali, absorbing the fixed air; whence the earthy parts, deprived of what bound them together, must presently fall to pieces *. With regard to internal exhibition, the acid is intirely out of the question, and the only hope of a fafe diffolvent muft reft on the caustic alcali, or on the lime-water. This alcali, when combined with oil, and made into foap, is not only fo greatly obtunded thereby as to lofe much of its power, but the soap itself is fo naufeous, that few patients can bring themselves to take it in a quantity fo large as to prove of much effect; it would therefore be a happy discovery if any vehicle could be found out, that would fufficiently fheathe the acrimony of the cauftic alcali, fo as to allow it to be taken in large and continued dofes: poffibly, veal broth, or a decoction of marth-mallow roots, might be found to answer this purpose; and lime-water might be taken at the fame time, which would not at all interfere with the operation of the alcali, but rather add to its activity. Of all the various fubftances examined by Dr. Hales, with a view of determining their respective quantities of air, the human calculus was found to contain the largest proportion; above one half of this mafs confifting of fixed air, |