ART. IX. Obfervations on Dr. Price's Revolution Sermon. 8vo. Is. 6d. Stockdale. London, 1790.

THE

HE author of this little tract commences with fhewing us that the only object of laws and government being the happinels of fociety, we need look no farther for arguments against the Doctor's propofed reformations than his own exultation on our prefent enviable fituation. Afterwards briefly tracing the progrefs of government, and the manner in which each of the European ftates have infenfibly fallen into that: which is moft congenial to their fituation and other circumftances, he concludes this part of his work with fome perfonal infinuations against the Doctor, and invectives against his fect, which we should not have expected from fo judicious and wellinformed a writer.

In fpeaking of the fermon, he fhews the fuperior advantages England enjoyed by her revolution above what can be expected by the French, and contrafts the calmness and moderation and good temper with which it was brought about, against the fe rious calamities that have attended the ftill unfinished state of the latter. This leads him to the main point, in which he differs fo materially from the Doctor:

The great principle,' fays our author, of this falfe philofophy. confifts in fuppofing that the highest refinement of abftracted truth is fit to be applied by all mankind to the offices of common life. It appears in almost every page of the fermon under different colours, and with varied forms of expreffion; but, upon the whole, we may pronounce it to be virtue pufhed to an extreme, from whence refults an evil different from, though equally great, with ignorance its oppoûte.

• It is hard to combat pofitions that come under fuch an affuming shape and appearance. There is little doubt, indeed, but that these maxims, clearing away human imperfections, are fairer in fpeculation than any that are now in ufe, as applied to common life; but then it must be remembered, that they are not fitted for action, that they are too finely fpun for common eyes, and that they are there fore incompatible with the practice of mankind; though, as quef tions of science, they might well be difcuffed by fuch perfons as could manage them with fkill, fince from difcuffions of that kind fomething useful may be ftruck out; even from materials that would be perni cious themselves in other hands. . . .. By attempting to remove the neceffary ignorance of mankind, that generally displays itself in reverential wonder, we remove the fhade from the light, and blaft our eyes with its excefs.'

After

After this our author expreffes his apprehension that even the boafted advantages of the prefs, which has yielded fo many bleffings to mankind, have been counterbalanced by too much enlightening those whose chief happiness consisted in their ig

norance: !

All our old prejudices, harmless and neceffary, no longer exist. Thofe foft delufions that cheered us in our afflictions cheer us no more. The holly and the mifletoe no longer garnish the hall of laughter and plenty: vain pageantry! even kiffes under it are kiffed no more; promoters of vice and unfubftantial pleasures that hang not on the lip! The fame dry and unfeeling ideas are extended to other innocent frivolities, that are more interelling to the generality of mankind; and the mind is left bare to the cold impreffions that. reafon may make upon it, while venerable errors are overturned, as the cathedrals of ancient days were overturned by the ravages of rebellion, and were exchanged for the reasonable convenience of a modern chapel.'

We have given this long extract becaufe we could no way do justice to the author's arguments but by giving them in his own words. We are ready to allow this as ingenious an apology for keeping the vulgar in ignorance as ever we met with; and, without giving our opinion on the fubject, fhall leave our readers to form their own.

The reft of the pamphlet contains many fenfible remarks on the Doctor's fermon, with more invective, however, than appears to us neceflary. We are ready to give the writer credit for the best intentions; and charity induces us to extend the fame to Dr. Price, how much foever we may differ from him.

ART. X. The Philofophy of Natural Hiftory. By William Smellie, Member of the Antiquarian and Royal Societies of Edinburgh. 4to. l. Is. boards. Edinburgh, printed: fold by Cadell, · London. 1790.

[Continued.]

THE fubject of Chap. V. that of inflinct, is curious and inexplicable. It has baffled all the efforts of thofe philofophers who would derive it from mere mechanifm, and the modification of motion. Mr. Smellie confiders, 1. Pure instincts. Inftances of this will readily occur to the reader. Birds of the fame fpecies build their nefts uniformly in the fame manner. The folitary wafp digs holes in the fand, into each of which the depofits an egg. The mother, though the feeds not upon flefh herself, collects ten or twelve fmall green worms, rolls

them

them up in a circular form, and fixes them in the hole in fuch a manner t that they cannot move. Thus the young caterpillar is furnished with the food which nature deftined for its fupport. 2. Inftincts which can accommodate themselves to peculiar circumftances and fituations. In the torrid climate of Senegal, the oftrich neglects her eggs during the day, but fits upon them in the night. At the Cape of Good Hope the continues the incubation during both day and night. Bees, when occafion requires, augment their cells. When a wafp, in attempting to tranfport a dead companion from the neft, finds the lead too heavy, he cuts off its head, and carries it out in two portions.

In countries infefted with monkies, many birds, which in • other climates build in bushes and the clefts of trees, fufpend ⚫ their nefts upon flender twigs, and, by this ingenious device, ❝elude the rapacity of their enemies. 3. Inflinets improveable by experience and obfervation. Instincts are original qualities of the mind, and are called into action by circumstances and fituation. An infant spontaneously applies its lips to the nipple. A calf pushes, before its horns are grown. Inftinct must be confidered as an inferior fpecies of reafon, which can be improved by attention and application.

In Chap. VI, Mr. Smellie confiders the five fenfes. The more immediate organ of fmelling is the pituitary membrane, which is foft, vafcular, and porous, covered with numerous papillæ, and totally invefted with infinite ramifications and convo lutions of nerves that are almost naked. All bodies in nature conftantly emit effluvia, or emanations, from their fubftances, which float in the atmosphere, are drawn into the nostrils along with the air, and ftimulate the olfactory nerves. These nerves

are defended from acrid odours by the fecretion of a thick infipid mucus. In the ftate of nature the fenfe of fmell would alone be perhaps fufficient to guard us against poifons; but the refinements of cookery confound our fenfations, and diminish their keenefs. This feeling is more acute in fome animals than in others. The dog, the fox, the raven, &c. poffefs it in a remarkable degree. The tongue and palate are the great organs of tafting. These are covered with nerves terminating in papillæ, which expand on the application of any fapid fubftance. This fenfe, if not vitiated, would affift us in the felection of wholefome food. The organ of bearing is the ear. The canals are cylindrical, contorted, and become gradually smaller till they reach the tympanum, or drum. Sound is conveyed by the undulations or pulfes of the air. In infants the fenfe of hear ing is obtufe, because the bones of their ears are foft and carti laginous, and the tremulations excited in thefe are weak. Hence children are extremely fond of noife.-The fenfe of feeling is

diffufed

diffused over the whole body, but it is more particularly acute on the skin, and especially at the tips of the fingers. The nervous papillæ, which are the organs of the fenfation, seem to be capable of erection, upon the application of an external object. The fenfe of feeing is the most noble, and the most refined. The particles of light are emitted from luminous bodies in ftraight lines, and with inconceiveable celerity. They are not originally homogeneous, but confift of feven different kinds. Thefe fingly convey the fenfation of the red, the orange, the yellow, the green, the blue, the indigo, and the violet; and their various combinations furnifh us with all our ideas of colour. The rays of light enter the pupil, pafs through the aqueous, cryftalline, and vitreous humours, are collected at the bottom of the eye, and form a picture on the retina, which is a fine expanfion of the medullary fibres of the optic nerve. Mr. Smellie gives a view of Dr. Reid's theory of double and inverted vifion, and of the method of estimating distance. He closes the chapter with an account of the Abbé de Condillac's Traité des Senfations; in which that author confiders what would be the feelings and actions of man, if he poffeffed only one, or a certain number of the fenfes.

Chap. VII. treats of infancy. Savages, in general, discover more difcernment and propriety of conduct in the management, of their children, than nations who call themselves civilifed. They are attentive to cleanliness, and encourage exercise. But, in refined fociety, the tenderness and prejudices of mothers often ruin the conftitution of their infants. The northern nations, plunge their new-born offspring into cold water. The Laplanders expose their infants on the fnow till they are almoft dead with cold, and then throw them into a warm bath. The time allowed for fuckling varies in different focieties. • In Holland, in Italy, in Turkey, and over the whole Levant, children, during the first year, are not permitted to tafte any other food. The Canadian favages nurfe their children four or five .. years, or even fix or feven.' In cafes of neceffity, recourfe may be had to the milk of quadrupeds; but the children ought then to be obliged to fuck the animal's teat, for the flow of the faliva is thus promoted, and digeftion affifted.

Chap. VIII. treats of the growth and food of animals. The due mixture of animal and vegetable food is the moft conducive to the perfection of the human fpecies. The Gentoos, who are nourished by plants and milk alone, are in general a meagre and a feeble race. In the tropical regions the vegetables are more plentiful, more various, and more luxuriant, and form a principal part of the fubfiftence of the natives. The inhabitants of cold countries indulge more freely in animal food. There is imo plant that is not ufeful to fome of the quadrupeds; and even

what

what is avoided by one as a poison, proves falutary food to another. Hence the diverfity of appetites, for food is the great caufe of the diffufion of animals over every part of the globe:

• Monkies, the elephant, and rhinoceros, fix on the torrid zone, because they feed on vegetables which flourish there during the whole year. The rein-deer inhabit the cold regions of the north, becaufe thefe countries produce the greatest quantity of the lichen, a fpecies of mofs*, which is their beloved food. The pelican makes choice of dry and defert places to lay her eggs. When her young are hatched, the is obliged to bring water to them from great distances. To enable her to perform this neceflary office, Nature has provided her with a large fac, which extends from the tip of the under mandible of her bill to the throat, and holds as much water as will supply her brood for feveral days. This water fhe pours into the neft to cool her young, to allay their thirft, and to teach them to fwim. Lions, tygers, and other rapacious animals, refort to these nefts, drink the water, and are faid not to injure the young. The goat afcends the rocky precipice to crop the leaves of fhrubs and other favourite plants. The floth and the fquirrel feed upon the leaves and the fruit of trees, and are therefore furnished with feet which enablë them to climb.'

Infects that feed upon carrion always avoid living animals Reaumur laid bare the thigh of a pigeon, and applied to it a flice of beef full of maggots. The infects difcovered uneafinefs, and thofe that remained on the flefh of the pigeon perifhed. Digeftion is chiefly performed by the diffolving power of the gaftric liquor fecreted in the ftomach. In granivorous birds the prodigious mufcular action of the gizzard seems to co-operate. Fowls pick up fmall pebbles, probably to affift in the comminution of their food. But if the gaftric liquor diffolves animal fubftances, why does it not corrode the coats of the ftomach it felf? Mr. John Hunter made a curious difcovery, that it only acts as a folvent on dead matter. After the food paffes the pylorus it is abforbed by the lacteals, and difcharged into the fanguineous fyftem.

The fubject of Chap. IX. is the fexes of animals and vege tables. With regard to the fexes of animals, few obfervations Occur. The diftinction of fex is the bond of union among individuals, the bafis of all the tender and benevolent paffions, and the great fource of all the pleasures of life. The male is generally distinguished by ftrength, vigour, and intrepidity. The conftitution of the female is more feeble and lax, and the mind is more fufceptible of the fofter feelings, and lefs capable of fteady exertions. Modefty is the virtue by which the females repêl the rude affaults of the males, and it is the irresistible

*We are furprised to find our refpectable author commit this overfight. The lichen or liverwort is entirely unlike the mofs, and quite a distinct genus.

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