Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Mounier 1801 Mounier, Jean Joseph 1801. De l'influence attribuée aux philosophes aux Franc-Macons et aux illuminés sur la révolution de France, Tubingen: J.G. Cotta; London: Dulau et Co.
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Subjects:

Politics, Causation, Botany, Scientific Practitioners

People mentioned:

John Robison Robison, John (1739–1805) DSB
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    Considers that Jean J Mounier Mounier, Jean Joseph (1758–1806) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> has given a 'history' of the French Revolution rather than an 'account of its causes' (6). 'He has stated, as the first causes of the revolution, circumstances that really proved it to be begun; and has gone no further back than to the earliest of its apparent effects: He has [...] contented himself with referring the fruit to the blossom, without taking any account of the germination of the seed, or the subterraneous windings of the root' (7).

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Parr 1801 Parr, Samuel 1801. A Spital Sermon, Preached at Christ Church, upon Easter Tuesday, April 15, 1800; To Which are Added Notes, London: J. Mawman; Cambridge: W. H. Lunn, J. Deighton, and B. Flower; Oxford: J. Cooke, Hanwell and Parker, and R. Bliss
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Subjects:

Politics, Utilitarianism, Morality, Religion, Hospitals, Patronage, Universities, Lecturing

    Reviews Samuel Parr's Parr, Samuel (1747–1825) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> arguments against both William Godwin's Godwin, William, the elder (1756–1836) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> views on universal benevolence and Anne R J Turgot's Turgot, Anne-Robert-Jacques (1727–81) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> objections to charitable institutions. Merely alludes to the particular charitable institutions in favour of which Parr's sermon was, in part, preached (namely the five 'royal hospitals' under the superintendence of the Lord Mayor of London: St Thomas's St Thomas's Hospital
Close   View the register entry >>, St Bartholomew's St Bartholomew's Hospital
Close   View the register entry >>, Bridewell Bridewell, prison
Close   View the register entry >>, Bethlehem Hospital Bethlehem Royal Hospital
Close   View the register entry >>, and especially Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital
Close   View the register entry >>). Remarks on Parr's '32 pages of very close printing, in defence of the University of Oxford University of Oxford
Close   View the register entry >>', rhetorically enquiring whether it is true 'that very many of its Professors enjoy ample salaries, without reading any lectures at all?' (23). Notes that since the publication of Parr's book the university authorities have 'abolished their very ludicrous and disgraceful exercises for degrees, and have substituted in their place a system of exertion, and a scale of academical honours, calculated [...] to produce the happiest effects' (24).

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Godwin 1801 Godwin, William 1801. Thoughts Occasioned by the Perusal of Dr. Parr's Spital Sermon, Preached at Christ Church, April 15, 1800: Being a Reply to the Attacks of Dr. Parr, Mr. Mackintosh, the Author of an Essay on Population, and Others, London: G. G. and J. Robinson
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Subjects:

Utilitarianism, Mental Illness, Population, Radicalism, Medical Treatment

    Approves William Godwin's Godwin, William, the elder (1756–1836) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> recantation of the principle 'that general utility should be made the immediate motive to our actions', and his comments on particular and general affections (25). Observes that, having read so far, he had hoped 'that a radical cure had been effected' for Godwin's complaint, but that on reading his remarks on population the 'delusion was dispelled', and he concluded that Godwin's was a 'case for life'. Godwin's expedients for counteracting 'the bad effects of excessive population, (so ably pointed out by Mr. Malthus Malthus, Thomas Robert (1766–1834) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>,) are, abortion and child-murder'. In consequence, suggests to Godwin 'the infinite importance of shaving and blistering the crown of his head, of keeping the primæ viæ open, and of strictly pursuing an antiphlogistic regimen. By these means, we have some times seen the understandings of great philosophers wonderfully and rapidly improved'. (26)

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Hunter 1801, Hunter, William 1801. 'Narrative of a Journey from Agra to Oujein', Asiatick Researches, 6, 7–77
Close   View the register entry >> Lambton 1801, Lambton, William 1801. 'Observations on the Theory of Walls, Wherein some Particulars are Investigated which have not been Considered by Writers on Fortifications', Asiatick Researches, 6, 93–102
Close   View the register entry >>Boag 1801, Boag, William 1801. 'On the Poison of Serpents', Asiatick Researches, 6, 103–27
Close   View the register entry >>Cox 1801, Cox, Hiram 1801. 'An Account of the Petroleum Wells in the Burman Dominians, Extracted from the Journal of a Voyage from Rangong, up the River Iravati to Amarapura', Asiatick Researches, 6, 127–37
Close   View the register entry >>Buchanan 1801, Buchanan, Francis Hamilton 1801. 'On the Religion and Literature of the Burmas', Asiatick Researches, 6, 163–308
Close   View the register entry >>Hardwicke 1801, Hardwicke, Thomas 1801. 'Narrative of a Journey to Srinagar', Asiatick Researches, 6, 309–81
Close   View the register entry >>Bentley 1801, Bentley, John 1801. 'On the Antiquity of the Surya Siddhanta and the Formation of the Astronomical Cycles Therein Contained', Asiatick Researches, 6, 540–43
Close   View the register entry >>, Asiatic Researches Asiatic[k] Researches; or, Transactions of the Society Instituted in Bengal for Inquiring into the History and Antiquities, the Arts, Sciences and Literature of India (1788–1839) Waterloo Directory
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[1 Introduction]

[2 Review of Narrative of a Journey from Agra to Oujein, by William Hunter]

[4 Review of Observations on the Theory of Walls, by William Lambton]

[5 Review of On the Poison of Serpents, by William Boag]

[6 Review of An Account of the Petroleum Wells in the Burman Dominians, by Hiram Cox]

[7 Review of On the Religion and Literature of the Burmans, by Francis H Buchanan]

[8 Review of Narrative of a Journey to Srinagar, by Thomas Hardwicke]

[12 Review of On the Antiquity of the Surya Siddhanta, by John Bentley]

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Olivier 1801 Olivier, Guillaume Antoine 1801. Travels in the Ottoman Empire, Egypt, and Persia: Undertaken by Order of the Government of France, During the First Six Years of the Republic, London: T. N. Longman & O. Rees, and T. Cadell Jun. and W. Davies
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Subjects:

Exploration, Government, Natural History, Entomology, Amusement, Hydrography, Population, Epidemiology, Climatology, Medical Treatment, Vulcanology, Geology

    Observes that Guillaume A Olivier's Olivier, Guillaume Antoine (1756–1814) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> journey was commissioned amidst 'the horrors of the revolutionary crisis in France', purportedly to collect information primarily on 'Commerce, agriculture, natural history, general physics, geography, the medical art, and even our political relations with Turkey' (44). Concludes from Olivier's established reputation as an entomological author that this purported intent was not a mere pretence to cover 'purposes of more questionable tendancy' (44). In his narrative Olivier explicitly eschews amusing anecdotes and descriptions. Discusses Olivier's account of recent hydrographical work carried out at the request of the Institut Nationale Institut Nationale, Paris
Close   View the register entry >>. Discusses Olivier's account of the consequences of polygamy on population size. Observes that 'canine madness is totally unknown in the east', and discusses the analogy developed by Olivier between 'that disorder and the plague, neither of which, he thinks, can be spontaneously generated or communicated by the atmosphere' (51). Discusses Olivier's suggested treatment for the plague. Observes of the island of Delos that, while 'every where schistose or granitical, it exhibits no trace of volcano; "nothing that can explain, by the laws of physics, the wonders which the Greeks have transmitted to us respecting it"' (57–58). Repeats Olivier's descriptions of the geology of some of the other Greek islands.

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Baldwin 1801 Baldwin, George 1801. Political Recollections Relative to Egypt: Containing Observations on its Government Under the the Mamaluks; its Geographical Position; its Intrinsic and Extrinsic Resources; its Relative Importance to England and France; and its Dangers to England in the Possession of France; With a Narrative of the Ever-Memorable British Campaign in the Spring of 1801, London: T. Cadell, jun. and W. Davies
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Subjects:

Disease, Medical Treatment, Induction, Error, Chemistry, Experiment

    The reviewer is fiercely critical of the work, stating that George Baldwin Baldwin, George (1744–1826) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> 'has suppressed every particle of information on the subjects he professes to discuss'. As an example of this, he discusses Baldwin's 'essay on the plague' which 'occupies a considerable portion of this publication'. Baldwin has been led by a 'singular process of induction' to place his confidence in the topical application of olive oil for the prevention and cure of the plague. (60) The treatment is based on a chemical theory of disease; Baldwin supposes that the humours of the diseased body are caused to effervesce by the presence of an acid, which can be abstracted from the body by its affinity for oil. He suggests the same treatment for gout. He has sought to demonstrate its efficacy by an experiment in which the acid juice of a lemon is removed by its affinity for olive oil.

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Irvine 1802 Irvine, Alexander 1802. An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of Emigration from the Highlands and Western Islands of Scotland: With Observations on the Means to be Employed for Preventing it, Edinburgh: Peter Hill; London: Longman & Rees
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Subjects:

Political Economy, Population

    The reviewer observes that since Alexander Irvine Irvine, Alexander (fl. 1802) RLIN
Close   View the register entry >> is a clergyman well-placed to gather local information, he had expected 'instruction on a very interesting topic in the political economy of Scotland'. Instead, the author 'has preferred fine writing to inquiry; and his reader, who looks for facts, will in vain peruse a tedious volume of eloquence' (61–62).

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Southey 1801 Southey, Robert 1801. Thalaba the Destroyer, 2 vols, London: T. N. Longman and O. Rees
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Subjects:

Horticulture, Acclimatization, Climatology

    Observes that English blank odes, sapphics, and dactylics have been considered 'as a species of monsters, or exotics, that were not very likely to propagate, or thrive, in so unpropitious a climate', but that Robert Southey Southey, Robert (1774–1843) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> 'has made a vigorous effort for their naturalization, and generously endangered his own reputation in [sic] their behalf' (72).

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Rennell 1802 Rennell, Thomas 1802. Discourses on Various Subjects, London: F. and C. Rivington
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Subjects:

Infidelity, Reasoning, Utilitarianism, Population, Natural Theology

    Observes that Thomas Rennell Rennell, Thomas (1754–1840) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> 'is apt to put on the appearance of a holy bully, an evangelical swaggerer, as if he could carry his point against infidelity by big words and strong abuse, and kick and cuff men into Christians'. Instead of expressing contempt of infidel philosophers, who 'have power to allure from the Church great numbers of proselytes', one should study them diligently and answer them satisfactorily. While everybody was 'abusing and despising Mr. Godwin Godwin, William, the elder (1756–1836) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>' he continued to grow in popularity, but 'Mr. Malthus Malthus, Thomas Robert (1766–1834) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> took the trouble of refuting him; and we hear no more of Mr. Godwin'. (88) Criticizes Rennell's 'admiration of the ancients', which leads him to consider 'the works of Homer Homer (8th century BC) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> to be the region and depositary [sic] of natural law and natural religion' (89). Observes that this is ludicrous in view of Homer's often immoral polytheism.

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Lavallee et al. 1792–1802 Lavallée, Joseph et al. 1792–1802. Voyage dans les départemens de la France, par une société d'artistes et de gens de lettres; enrichi de tableaux géographiques et d'estampes, 13 vols, Paris: Brion [and 3 others]
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Subjects:

Statistics, Politics

    'A STATISTICAL Survey of France, in its modern divisions, would be a work eminently calculated to attract, and to repay, the attention of the politician, and of the public at large. The publication before us, though it comprehend a part of the subjects now generally denominated Statistics, yet embraces so many other topics, as to furnish but a very superficial view of those which we consider as the most important' (91).

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Bowles 1801 Bowles, John 1801. Reflections at the Conclusion of the War: Being a Sequel to "Reflections on the Political and Moral State of Society, at the Close of the Eighteenth Century", 3rd edn, London: F. and C. Rivington
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Subjects:

Politics, Disease, Medical Treatment, Quackery, Radicalism

    'There is a political, as well as a bodily hypochondriasis; and there are empirics always on the watch to make their prey, either of the one, or of the other. Dr. Solomon Solomon, Samuel (d. 1818?) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>, Dr. Brodum Brodum, William (fl.1767) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, and Mr. Bowles Bowles, John (1751–1819) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, have all commanded their share of the public attention; but the two former gentlemen continue to flourish with undiminished splendour; while the patients of the latter are fast dwindling away, and his drugs falling into disuse and contempt' (94–5). Ridiculing Bowles's fears of sedition, the author observes: 'All complaint is futile, which is not followed up by appropriate remedies. If Parliament Houses of Parliament
Close   View the register entry >>, or Catarrh, do not save us, Dignum Dignum, Charles (1765?–1827) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> and Sedgwick Sedgwick, Mr (d. 1803) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> will quaver away the King George III, King of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover (1738–1820) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, shake down the House of Lords House of Lords
Close   View the register entry >>, and warble us into all the horrors of republican government' (97).

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Herrenschwand 1801 Herrenschwand, Jean 1801. Addresse aux vrais hommes de bien: a ceux qui gouvernent comme à ceux qui sont governés, London: W. and C. Spilsbury
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Subjects:

Theology of Nature, Invention, Progress, Human Species, Political Economy

    Reports that Jean Herrenschwand's Herrenschwand, Jean (1728–1812) RLIN
Close   View the register entry >> objective in this book is to demonstrate that 'in the general design of the universe [...] the race of man was destined to develope the earth in all its different capabilities, and, at the same time, to develope in itself all the faculties with the germs of which it had been provided by nature', and that, rather than 'promoting this double development', monarchs have always, 'either through error or depravity', been the 'scourges of mankind' (98). Considers that Herrenschwand states some truths, but that these are already better expounded elsewhere. These include his 'speculation which traces man's inventions to his necessities, and shews the dependence of his improvement on his wants; and all the reasoning that relates to the variations of price, and the natural causes by which production and consumption are adapted to each other'. His original remarks are 'extravagant and absurd', such as 'that great discovery, for the sake of which the whole book seems to have been written, which reveals the inseparable connexion between the prosperity of a people and the profuse expenditure of their rulers' (99).

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Anon 1802 Anon. 1802. The Utility of Country Banks Considered, London: J. Hatchard
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Subjects:

Political Economy, Population, Industry, Commerce

    Views the work as largely a poor plagiarism of Smith 1776 Smith, Adam 1776. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 2 vols, London: W. Strahan and T. Cadell
Close   View the register entry >> and Hume 1752 Hume, David 1752. Political Discourses, Edinburgh: A. Kincaid and A. Donaldson
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Pratt 1801 Pratt, Samuel Jackson 1801. Bread; or, The Poor: A Poem with Notes and Illustrations, London: Longman and Rees, and T Becket
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Subjects:

Political Economy

    Samuel J Pratt Pratt, Samuel Jackson (1749–1814) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> professes 'to instruct, as well as amuse the public; to interest their humanity, by an account of the sufferings of the poor, and enlighten their understandings by this profound lesson of political economy, That scarcity is occasioned entirely by monopoly, and lately took place after plentiful harvests' (108–09). The reviewer considers Pratt's doctrine absurd and his poetry equally bad.

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Langford 1801 Langford, William 1801. The Anniversary Sermon of the Royal Humane Society, Kensington, April 19, 1801: An Appendix by the Society, on Shipwrecked Mariners, etc., London: printed by Nichols and Son
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Subjects:

Societies, Medical Treatment, Accidents

Institutions mentioned:

Royal Humane Society Royal Humane Society
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    'An incident which happened to the gentleman engaged in reviewing this Sermon, proves, in the most striking manner, the importance of this charity for restoring to life persons in whom the vital power is suspended. He was discovered, with Dr. Langford's Langford, William (fl. 1801) RLIN
Close   View the register entry >> discourse lying open before him, in the state of the most profound sleep'. After further facetious comments on the sermon's style the reviewer concludes: 'The charity itself is above all praise'.

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Bonnet 1801 [Bonnet, J. Esprit] 1801. Essai sur l'Art de Rendre les Revolutions Utiles, 2 vols, Paris: Maradan
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Subjects:

Politics, Medical Treatment

    J Esprit Bonnet Bonnet, J-Esprit (fl. 1795–1816) RLIN
Close   View the register entry >> applies his 'revolutionary science' to ancient Rome and other situations. The reviewer observes: 'The idiosyncracy [sic] of such a constitution [as that of Rome] certainly affords no room for analogical inference [...] and to reason from its destiny, as to the utility of revolutions and counter-revolutions, in general, is like judging of the qualities of a drug, by its operation on a paralytic or an idiot' (123). Uses further medical imagery. Bonnet's 'recipe for preventing revolution seems to indicate a bolder practice [...] than his system of cure'. Paraphrases Bonnet as claiming that 'The philosophy of modern times has infected the throne itself', insofar as kings 'tacitly recognize the sovereignty of the people'. (124)

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Nares 1801 Nares, Robert 1801. A Thanksgiving for Plenty; and a Warning Against Avarice: A Sermon, London: printed for the author
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Subjects:

Providence, Piety, Agriculture, Miracle, Meteorology, Natural Law, Political Economy

    The reviewer points to inconsistencies in this sermon. Robert Nares Nares, Robert (1753–1829) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> writes of visitations of providence 'for the purposes of trial, warning, and correction'. He contends that 'it would be presumptuous and impious to pronounce the purposes' for which God interferes, but adds that 'it has pleased God, within these few years, to give us a most awful lesson of the vanity of agriculture and importation without piety'. (128) Nares writes that God does not interpose by 'positive miracle' but 'influences by means unknown to all but himself, and directs the winds, the rain, and glorious beams of heaven to execute his judgements, or fulfil his merciful designs' (128–29). The reviewer observes: 'Now, either the wind, the rain, and the beams, are here represented to act as they do in the ordinary course of nature, or they are not: If they are, how can their operations be considered as a judgment [sic] on sins? and if they are not, what are their extraordinary operations but positive miracles' (129). Rejects Nares's charge of monopoly against the farmers.

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Young, ed. 1802 Young, William, ed. 1802. The Journal of Frederick Horneman's Travels from Cairo to Mourzouk, the Capital of the Kingdom of Fezzan, in Africa, in the Years 1797–8, London: G. and W. Nicol
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Subjects:

Exploration, Patronage, Societies, Government, Cultural Geography, Politics, Physical Geography, Climatology, Expertise, Mapping, Imperialism, Commerce

People mentioned:

Mungo Park, Park, Mungo (1771–1806) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> James Rennell, Rennell, James (1742–1830) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> John Ledyard, Ledyard, John (1751–89) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Joseph Banks Banks, Sir Joseph (1743–1820) DSB ODNB
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Publications cited:

Browne 1799 Browne, William George 1799. Travels in Africa, Egypt, and Syria, from the Year 1792 to 1798, London: T. Cadell junior and W. Davies, and T. N. Longman and O. Rees
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    Describes the circumstances of Friedrich K Horneman's Hornemann, Friedrich Konrad (1772–1800) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> travels, which were conducted under the patronage of the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa
Close   View the register entry >>. Observes that he travelled to Egypt via France, 'where he met with every assistance from that liberal and enlightened spirit which has always directed the scientific circles of Paris'. Notes that Napoleon Napoleon I, Emperor of France (1769–1821) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> gave him assistance in Egypt, which he was at that time 'pillaging [...] under the treble disguise of mussulman, a man of science, and a friend of liberty' (130). Ridicules the 'laboured and pompous panegyric' on the African association in the introduction by William Young Young, Sir William, 2nd Baronet (1749–1815) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, who emphasizes the disciplined expertise of the society's travellers (134).

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Mackenzie 1801 Mackenzie, Alexander 1801. Voyages from Montreal, on the River St. Laurence, Through the Continent of North America, to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans, in the Years 1789 and 1793: With a Preliminary Account of the Rise, Progress, and Present State of the Fur Trade of that Country, London: T. Cadell, jun. and W. Davies
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Subjects:

Exploration, Natural History, Physical Geography, Ethnography, Race, Progress, Meteorology, Botany, Expertise, Instruments, Metrology, Heroism

People mentioned:

George Vancouver Vancouver, George (1757–98) ODNB
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    Observes that, while this is an interesting volume, it 'will convey but little important information to the Geographer, the naturalist, or the statesman' (141). Summarizes Alexander Mackenzie's Mackenzie, Sir Alexander (1763/4–1820) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> description of the Inuit peoples and his theory of their racial origins; discusses the failure of the Inuit to show any 'progress in civilization or improvement' under European influence (146). Observes that Mackenzie 'is not a naturalist, and had no leisure for minute observations'. Describes his observations of vegetation growing on permanently frozen ground, and of mixed woodland being succeeded exclusively by poplars after destruction by fire. Observes of the latter: 'Mr. Mackenzie must excuse us for not giving implicit faith to this observation'. Describes how, after one unsuccessful attempt to reach the Pacific coast, Mackenzie made a winter voyage to Britain 'for the express purpose of obtaining the necessary instruments and information, and returned fully qualified to make a scientific survey of the countries he was to traverse, and to fix his geographical positions with accuracy and precision'. (149)

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Wood 1801 Wood, James 1801. The Elements of Optics: Designed for the Use of Students in the University, 2nd edn, Cambridge: J. Deighton and J. Nicholson
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Education, Publishing, Textbooks, Universities, Light, Deduction, Induction, Experiment, Instruments, Hypothesis, Gravity, Speculation

Publications cited:

Newton 1729, Newton, Isaac 1729. Lectiones opticae. Annis MDCLXIX, MDCLXX et MDCLXXI in scholis publicis habitae: Et nunc primum ex MSS. in lucem editae, London: Guil. Innys
Close   View the register entry >> Newton 1704 Newton, Isaac 1704. Opticks; or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflextions and Colours of Lights. Also Two Treatises of the Species and Magnitude of Curvilinear Figures, London: Sam. Smith and Benj. Walford
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    Relates that, about five years before, James Wood Wood, James (1760–1839) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and Samuel Vince Vince, Samuel (1749–1821) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> 'undertook to draw up a series of elementary works, which should comprise the substance of the lectures usually read at Cambridge University of Cambridge
Close   View the register entry >>, upon Mathematics and Natural Philosophy', of which series this is the sixth and last volume (158). Addressing 'philosophical readers', the reviewer notes that the work is concerned with the deductive part of optics to the exclusion of the experimental, probably because the treatise has been composed primarily to 'assist the student of astronomy' (158–59). Does not entirely approve of this plan, which is a slight to Isaac Newton Newton, Sir Isaac (1642–1727) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>. However, generally approves of the execution of the work, while noticing that some sections contain 'considerable inaccuracies; chiefly where a reference was necessary to the merely experimental branch of the subject' (159). Briefly describes the contents of the work. Concludes with remarks on 'the inaccuracy with which our author has [...] alluded to some passages of Sir Isaac Newton's Optics [sic], in which the theory of Vibrations is mentioned'. Considers this section of Newton's work has commonly been perverted 'by ignorant theorists' who have used his authority to build 'the most extravagant hypotheses'. (162) Argues that Wood has failed to appreciate Newton's caution in stating the hypothesis of an etherial medium and in distinguishing it from a strict induction.

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Acerbi 1802 Acerbi, Joseph 1802. Travels through Sweden, Finland and Lapland to the North Cape, in the Years 1798 and 1799, 2 vols, London: Joseph Mawman
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Exploration, Climatology, Statistics, Scientific Practitioners, Religion, Magic, Mesmerism, Supernaturalism, Patronage, Government, Natural History, Illustration

People mentioned:

King Gustav III Gustav III, King of Sweden (1746–92) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>

    Observes that, while the Joseph Acerbi Acerbi, Joseph von (1773–1846) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> did not intend to give a statistical account of Sweden, 'we cannot imagine a more dry statistical account tha[n] that of Gothenburg' (164). Criticizes his personal remarks regarding academicians at Stockholm, Upsala, and elsewhere. Considers that some of the claims made by Acerbi have been invented; for example 'a man of talents [....] has published a demonstration of the existence of the devil in the human body [...] that the ceremony of exorcism was performed at the baptism of the present Prince Royal—that a gentleman of great abilities, accomplishments, and virtue [...] firmly believes, that by the influence of mesmerism, he can transport himself into heaven, hold converse with his deceased relatives, and distinctly perceive their souls clothed in white jackets'. Also criticizes a 'silly anecdote' which relates to the president of the Royal Society Royal Society of London
Close   View the register entry >> (Joseph Banks Banks, Sir Joseph (1743–1820) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>), and is 'an exaggerated edition of a falsehood contained in the dull writings of a contemptible satirist' (166). Criticizes as inconsistent and erroneous Acerbi's 'invectives against the government and academies of Sweden' (167). Later criticizes Acerbi's ingratitude in telling anecdotes at the expense of those who have aided him, as in the case of his remarks on Carl P Thunberg Thunberg, Carl Peter (1743–1828) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> and other academicians to whom 'he afterwards informs us [...] his work is indebted for most of the natural history which it contains' (170). Observes that the 'figures of the insects [...] are excellent' (172).

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Thornton 1802 Thornton, Henry 1802. An Enquiry into the Nature and Effects of the Paper Credit of Great Britain, London: J. Hatchard, and F. and C. Rivington
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Subjects:

Political Economy, Induction, Cultural Geography, Publishing

People mentioned:

David Hume, Hume, David (1711–76) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> Adam Smith, Smith, Adam (1723–90) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Charles L de Secondat Secondat, Charles Louis de, Baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu (1689–1755) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Institutions mentioned:

Bank of England Bank of England
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Publications cited:

Boyd 1801, Boyd, Walter 1801. A Letter to the Right Honourable William Pitt on the Influence of the Stoppage of Issues in Specie at the Bank of England, on the Prices of Provisions, and Other Commodities, London: J. Wright and J. Mawman
Close   View the register entry >> Smith 1776 Smith, Adam 1776. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 2 vols, London: W. Strahan and T. Cadell
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    Observes that 'the progress of commercial philosophy has been much accelerated by the writings of practical men of business' (172). Asserts that the personal knowledge of detail is incompatible with the habits of the statesman or speculative enquirer, making it necessary 'that the labour of accumulating particular facts should be separated from the more liberal task of generalizing these into principles' (172–73). 'In England, which is the native country of political economy, the works contributed by professional men, form a large deposit of authenticated facts'. Considers Henry Thornton's Thornton, Henry (1760–1815) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> work to be particularly valuable in this regard, although the materials are not well organized and some of the arguments are 'embarrassed'. (173) Regrets that it has not been written comprehensively in the form of a 'general treatise' (174), and seeks to give an 'abstract of its principal contents' (175).

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Playfair 1802a Playfair, John 1802a. Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth, London: Cadell and Davies; Edinburgh: William Creech
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Subjects:

Geology, Mineralogy, Chemistry, Stratigraphy

People mentioned:

Richard Kirwan, Kirwan, Richard (1733–1812) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>Jean A Deluc, Deluc, Jean André (1727–1817) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>Abraham G Werner, Werner, Abraham Gottlob (1749–1817) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>Robert Jameson Jameson, Robert (1774–1854) DSB
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    Observes: 'The Huttonian theory of the earth, which it is the object if the volume before us to explain and support, is not referable to either of those classes into which geological treatises have been commonly divided. Its author cannot be considered either as a Vulcanist purely, or a Neptunist, since he has asserted the agency both of fire and water, in his system' (201). Later concludes: 'The ability with which he [John Playfair Playfair, John (1748–1819) DSB
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Close   View the register entry >>, in which it was formerly deficient. The task, therefore, both of its advocates and its adversaries, will be hereafter comparatively easy; since it is scarcely possible for any question to remain, either as to the tenets it maintains, or the arguments by which they are to be supported' (216).

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

[Stephen] 1802 [Stephen, James] 1802. The Crisis of the Sugar Colonies; or, An Enquiry Into the Objects and Probable Effects of the French Expedition to the West Indies and their Connection with the Colonial Interests of the British Empire. To which are Subjoined, Sketches of a Plan for Settling the Vacant Lands of Trinidada. In Four Letters to the Right Hon. Henry Addington, London: J. Hatchard
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Subjects:

Imperialism, Nutrition, Pharmaceuticals, Aeronautics, Race, Disease, Mental Illness, Instinct, Feeling, Radicalism, Agriculture, Experiment

    The reviewer dislikes the anonymous author's 'predilection for circuitous modes of expression'. Quotes his contrast between mere labour on the one hand, and slavery on the other, which differs from it 'as widely as a nauseous drench in the mouth of an infant, from the medicated milk of its mother'. (218) Observes that the author tries to 'convey the idea of a white man's inferiority to a Negro, in the warfare of the West Indies' by comparing 'the contest to that of an aeronaut with an eagle'. Suggests that this analogy would be more likely to be used 'to pourtray [sic] the superiority of discipline and art over natural advantages'. (219) Gives examples of the author's more eloquent medical imagery. The author believes 'the instinctive dread' that the slaves have of their masters is 'a mysterious charm, which if once broken, cannot be restored'. The reviewer observes that, even if the feeling of slaves towards masters is instinctive rather than rational, it is no more 'anomalous and capricious than the emotions of the maniac, who trembles at the nod of his keeper, from some strange, ideal, and inexpressible dread—then, in a paroxysm of his disease, shakes off this unaccountable obedience—but soon, exhausted by the effort, returns to passive submission'. (224) The author recommends that 'the newly acquired island of Trinidada' (231) should be used as '"a farm of experiment", where the possibility of emancipating the negroes, by slow and prudent means, may be safely and conveniently tried' (232).

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Guyton de Morveau 1802 Guyton de Morveau, Louis Bernard 1802. A Treatise on the Means of Purifying Infected Air, of Preventing Contagion, and Arresting its Progress, trans. by Robert Hall, London: T. Hurst
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Subjects:

Gas Chemistry, Disease

Institutions mentioned:

Académie des sciences, Paris Académie des Sciences, Paris
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    Concludes: 'The very copious extracts which we have given, will secure us, we trust, from the imputation of having wilfully misrepresented the facts, opinions, and reasonings, which it contains. [...] a regard for the truth obliges us to declare, we have found in it a much less profound discussion of the subject, than, from the well-known talents and information of the author, we were prepared to expect' (244).

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Haygarth 1801 Haygarth, John 1801. A Letter to Dr. Percival, on the Prevention of Infectious Fevers: And, an Address to the College of Physicians at Philadelphia, on the Prevention of the American Pestilence. Read to the Literary and Philosophical Society of Bath, London: Cadell and Davies
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Subjects:

Disease, Vaccination, Medical Treatment, Medical Practioners

People mentioned:

Edward Jenner, Jenner, Edward (1749–1823) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>William Cullen Cullen, William (1710–90) DSB
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