fame annalifts. And how during the half of this last week precifely, Epiphanes made the daily facrifice to ceafe, and expanded as it were, and oftentatiously fet up, the abomination that maketh defolate, or defolating abomination, upon the horns or wings of the altar in the temple; to which the overspreading in the text does probably refer, we have already had too many occafions of obferving ‡, and need not now refume the fubject.' In giving an account of the utility and tendency of the interpretation, adopted and purfued in this work, Mr. Amner informs us ; that it will in the first place, and in cafe it be approved, go far in vindication of Grotius," that fiift of Chrif tian interpreters," as one of Mr. Mede's own followers has called him, from.certain heavy and most unjust charges against him in this very character, which his fuppofed errors in the interpretations of these prophecies feem to have chiefly brought upon him; and in which rather the force and freedom of his mind fhou'd have been applauded. And will alfo, under the fame circumstances, be of use in the fecond place, by lowering the too high reputation of the pious and learned Mr. Jofeph Mede (as the title to his works calls him, and as his reputation may be now perhaps said to be) on account of certain difcoveries, of a moft amazing nature, which he is fuppofed to have made in them:-but without any reafon, if in what follows we are not mistaken.' Does Mr. Mede's reputation then folely depend on his interpretation of thefe prophecies? or muft the vindication of Grotius require us to detract either from the learning or piety of Mede? The above paragraph is not fo liberal, nor fo refpectful to a writer of very confiderable and of acknowledged eminence as we could have wished. The note is also obnoxious to the fame charge. Not to infit (proceeds our Author) in the third place, upon the merit and importance of all inquiries into truth, and approaches towards it, when properly conducted, even though no immediate utility may be feen to be in them. Inafmuch as Chap. xi. 31. Chap. xii. 7, 11. "Such, for instance, as narrowness of mind, puerility and weakness of opinion and of judgment, inconfiftency and levity: which may be more or lefs met with in almost every one of Mr. Mede's followers. Not now to infift upon that of infidelity, which it feems Jurieu urged against him, and which were not worthy to be mentioned, but for Jortin's very fine obfervation upon him. Jurieu, fays this Writer, by treating Grotius as an infidel, went to work like a bungler; for, Eft ars etiam maledicendi, as Jofeph Scaliger faid upon a like occafion; and it requires fomething of a hand to throw dirt with dexterity." Rem, on Ecc. Hift. vol. i. p. 159. we cannot fail to believe, that both truth and virtue must be our good upon the whole, however at prefent we may not always fee it, and fometimes doubt the pofiibility of it.' ART. VI. CONCLUSION of the PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS, PAPERS relating to Z o oLOGY. Article 16. A fecond Effay on the Natural History of the Sea Anemonies. By the Abbé Dicquemare, &c. THE HE Reader will find, in our 51ft volume [September 1774, page 228] a particular account of the Author's difcoveries with refpect to the fingular reproductive powers of thefe marine animals. The prefent paper contains feveral new particulars relative to them, and to his various operations upon them; as well as fome other obfervations refpecting their fenibility, which is fo great, that they may conveniently be applied to the purpose of indicating changes in the state of the atmosphere, by their contraction and expansion, and of becoming pretty accurate marine barometers. Article 23. Of the Houfe Swallow, Swift, and Sand-Martin. By the Rev. Gilbert White. In three Letters to the Hon. Daines Barrington, F. R. S. Article 33. Of the Torpidity of Swallows and Martins, &c. By James Cornish, Surgeon. The fubject of these two Articles has likewife been pretty largely treated in our 50th volume [April 1774, page 283, &c.] In the fecond of them, Mr. Cornifh apparently refers to the objection which we offered (page 285) as fuggested by a friend, against the fuppofed torpidity of fwallows during the winter. We shall give his obfervation on the fubject, in his own words: The objection which has been brought against the opinion, that thefe birds do remain torpid during winter, is, that all birds do moult once in a year, and swallows do not moult with us. Now this argument is of little weight with me, as I am of opinion, that no bird that is to remain in a torpid frate during winter, can undergo the process of moulting; for it is probable, if I may hazard fuch a conjecture, that the great lofs of blood, which other birds fuffer during the change of their feathers, is faved by nature, in birds which undergo a state of torpidity, for their more effectual pr. fervation in fuch a state. And I have known many inftances of birds kert in cages that have not moulted for a feafon; particularly a fy lark, which retained his fong in full vigour during the autumn and all the winter.' We cannot think that Mr. Cornif's opinions, or conjures, on this fubject, or even the flight and partial facts he mentions, 13 relative relative to a few individuals, kept in cages, are fufficient to over, turn a general obfervation, not hitherto, we believe, controverted by any one; or that they tend to weaken, in the least, the force of our friend's objection, from whom we could borrow other ftrong arguments against the swallow-fleeping system, were it our province to enter deeper into the controversy.-We fhall only add, with refpect to martins, that Mr. Cornish relates his having, fo late as in the beginning of November, feen a great number of thefe birds, brought, as he supposes, out of their winter-quarters, by the warmth of a fine afternoon; and afterwards returning in the evening to the fiffures in the adjoining rocks. He offers likewife a few other teftimonies favourable to the hypothefis of torpidity, in the cafes of martins and fwifts; and one more with refpect to a bird found torpid in a hollow afh tree, and which was believed to be a cuckow. Article 39. An Account of the Gymnotus Electricus. By John Hunter, F. R. S. From this accurate anatomical description of the Gymnotus, it appears that the particular organs by which this fish exerts its electrical qualities, conftitute perhaps more than one-third of the intire animal. The nerves, likewife, which are appro❤ priated for the exercise of this peculiar function, and which arife particularly from the medulla spinalis, from which they are fent in pairs between all the vertebra of the spine, are much larger than is neceffary for the common operations or purposes of animal life. Three excellent plates accompany the Author's defcription, which cannot be rendered intelligible without them. In the 21ft Article is given A port Account of the Sea-Cow, and the Ufe made of it.' By Molineux Shuldham, Efq. PAPERS relating to ANATOMY. Article 30. An Account of an extraordinary Acephalous Birth. By W. Cooper, M. D. In a Letter to Dr. Hunter. After the mother had been delivered of a perfect living female child, Dr. Cooper was called in to extract a fuppofed remaining twin. In this operation he met with fome difficulty, but at length fucceeded in bringing forth the extraordinary subject of this Article, which was afterwards diffected by the late Mr. Hewfon, who likewife injected its blood veffels. It was a female, of the ufual fize of a common twin child, born at the full time; except that it wanted hands, arms, neck, and even head, and confequently brain, Below the navel, its trunk and limbs were perfect; but internally examined it was found to have no fpinal marrow; nor had it a heart, lungs, diaphragm, stomach, liver, kidney, fpleen, pancreas, or fmall inteftines Its uterus was perfect; and it had one ovarium, and a bladder, but without any cavity. A large artery, running upon the spine, fupplied fupplied the place of an aorta.-This fingular production feems to furnish a decifive determination of a phyfical queftion that has been ftrongly litigated. As it had no mouth, ftomach, or digeftive organs, it appears evidently to follow that the fatus in utero receives its nourishment immediately from the circulating fluids of the mother, transmitted to it by the umbilical veffels. In the 36th Article, the late ingenious Mr. Gooch offers fome practical remarks, relative to the performance of amputation above the knee, by means of a fingle circular incifion : the muscles attached to the bone being afterwards feparated, and the whole drawn upward by a retractor; with a view to prevent the too frequent protrufion of the bone, or a pointed ftump. We formerly explained M. Louis's rationale of a fimilar practice, in our account of the fourth volume of the Memoires de l'Academie de Chirurgie. [See Appendix to our 38th volume, 1768, pag. 592.] In the 37th Article, the fame excellent practitioner takes notice of a lufus nature, or variation, in the arterial system, which he had thrice obferved in amputations of the thigh; confifting of a divifion of the great femoral artery into two trunks :-a circumftance which may poffibly occur oftener than we fuppofe; and the knowledge of which may occafionally be of great practical ufe, by inducing the furgeon to hazard the operation for the aneurifm, in the thigh, inftead of having recourfe to an amputation of the limb.-An account is here given of the first-mentioned operation having been performed on the thigh of a dog with fuccefs, and without any alarming symptoms fubfequent to it; though, after the cure, no pulfation could ever be felt below the ligatures; nor was any divifion of the artery into two equal branches afterwards perceived on diffection: but a ramification proceeding from the artery, just above the part where the upper ligature had been passed, was found to be confiderably enlarged. GEOMETRY and ASTRONOMY. The Articles reducible to these two claffes will admit of little more than a mere recital of the subjects treated of in them. In Article 25, M. Lexel of Peterburgh communicates a few correfpondent obfervations of occultations of fixed ftars by the moon; to which he adds two theorems, intended to render the folution of polygons as easy as that of triangles by common trigonometry.-In Article 26, Mr. Landen gives the inveftigation of a general theorem for finding the length of any arc of any conic hyperbola, by means of two elliptic arcs; together with fome new and ufeful theorems deduced from it.— 27, contains fome obfervations made at Chislehurst, in Kent, in 1774, by the Rev. Dr. Francis Wollafton; princi 14 pally pally relative to the going of his aftronomical clock. He likewife takes notice of the fecond disappearance (April 5, 1774) and the fubfequent re-appearance (June 30) of Saturn's ring; both of which he was fortunate enough to obferve with his 3 feet achromatic telescope. He remarks that the magnifying power of 100, in this inft ument, feemed to fhew the thread of the incipient ring more vifibly than that of 150.-Article 28, contains a fet of propofitions relating to triangles infcribed within, and defcribed about, circles; by John Stedman, M. D. -In Article 29, Dr. S. Horfley, Secretary of the Society, communicates fome theorems relating to polygons defcribed in and about circles. In Article 35 are given fome aftronomical obfervations made at Leicefter, by the Rev. Mr. Ludlam;-and in Article 46, a method of abridging calculations in spherical trigonometry, by Mr. Ifrael Lyons. MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. Article 43. Experiments on Animals and Vegetables, with refpett to the Power of producing Heat. By John Hunter, F. R. S. Frequently have we remonftrated-we ftill hope not intirely without effect-against the ftud.ed cruelties of naturalifts and experimental phyfiologifts, exercifed on the defenceless brutes that fall in their way, and have the misfortune to be confidered by them as fit fubjects for their investigation. We fhall/ not therefore ftain our pages with a recital of the protracted fufferings of dormice, fnails, and carp, inflicted merely to afcertain their powers of generating heat; or to determine the precife degree of cold which ends a lingering course of torture, and finally withdraws them out of the reach of human pertecution.-A humane philofophical reader will be content to know, in general, that living animals poffefs powers of refifting both heat and cold, to a certain degree; without wishing to enter into a detail of the mifery inflicted on innocent brutes, merely to afcertain the quantum.-In the experiments recited in the two following Articles, we can attend the experimentalifts without pain; and fatisfy philofophical curiofity, without wounding our fenfibility. Article 45. Experiments in an heated Room. By Matthew Dobfon, M. D. &c. In the account which we gave of the first part of this volume of the Tranfactions, we related fome of the fingular refu'ts of certain experiments made in a hot room by Dr. Fordyce. Some experiments of a fimilar kind, made by Dr. Doblon, in the fweating room of the hofpital at Liverpool, are related in this Article; the refults of which are conformable to thofe in the paper above referred to, and to others given in the following * Monthly Review, jan. 1776, rage 29. Article. |