and the other planets, and treated a great number of curious fubjects in natural philofophy and mathematics that are relative to these profound and important refearches. In this fecond part of the work, now under confideration, the fagacious and philofophical Barnabite prepares the way for treating with perfpicuity the doctrine of the motion of rotation, by an expofition of the principal theorems of mechanics, relative to the ofcillation and collifion of bodies. He then divides this fecond part into five books. In the firft he fhews how one force only may produce at the fame time projectile motion and the motion of retetion about either a fixed or variable axis.-In the four following he treats of the figure of the earth, of the problems of preceffion and nutation, and of others that are analogous to them, of the beight and motion of the tides-and of the atmosphere of the planets. We find here alfo a fupplement to the theory of the moon, which was published in the preceding part of this work.

. III. There is, perhaps, no work that requires more maturity of thought, more depth of knowledge, and more accuracy of judgment, than the compofition of an elementary book in any fcience. Such productions, well executed, are rare, because they are above the abilities of the fuperficial and ignorant, and (generally fpeaking) are thought below the dignity of the learned. The Abbé ROSSIGNOL, ancient Profeffor of the Mathematics and Natural Philofophy in the University of Milan, who is exempt from the incapacity of the former, and the pride of the latter, has published a little work, entitled, Elemens de Geometrie: i. e. Elements of Geometry; and, to confirm the obfervation by which we began this Article, we are well informed that this excellent little book is the fruit of twenty years labour, reflexion, and ftudy, employed upon a fcience, which the learned Author has long taught with applaufe in feveral celebrated univerfities, He has followed, in thefe Elements, the method of Euclid, with little variation; but he has reduced, to the number of one hundred, the propofitions, which he thinks worthy of a place in a complete courfe of geometry. The Abbé RosSIGNOL is actually, as we are told, preparing for the prefs tome other works of ftill greater importance, relative to the improvement of natural philofophy, the application of mathematics to the advancement and purposes of the arts, and the prac tical part of mechanics. We fhall take notice of thefe productions when they are communicated to the Public.

ROM E.

IV. Jofephi Mariani Parthen'i Elettricorum Libri fex i. e. A Latin Poem on Electricity, in fix Books. This is the third Latin poem on a fubject relative to natural philofophy which the claffic foil of Italy has produced; and though it may not

pretend

pretend to equal merit with the admirable poem of Father BosCOWITZ on Eclipfes, nor with that of the learned and ingenious SAY on the Newtonian Philofophy, yet it has a juft claim to be placed on the fame fhelf with thefe two favourites of the Latin Mufes.

GERMANY and the NORTH.

V. There are few productions of the natural world that exhibit a greater variety of kinds or fpecies than marble, of which there are above three hundred forts in the collection of the Abbé de Crillon, Agent General to the Clergy in France. In order to banish the confufion, and prevent the frauds, that take place in this branch of natural history, the ingenious Mr. WIRSING of Nuremberg has formed the defign of publishing a series of prints, in which every fpecies of marble will be reprefented with its proper colour, its diftinctive properties. A part of this plan is already executed; feventy-eight kinds of marble, represented in the manner above-mentioned, in thirteen plates, have been lately published at Nuremberg, with a description of each in German and Latin, under the following title: Mar mora & adfines aliquos lapiles coloribus fuis exprimi curavit edidit Adamus Ludovicus Virfing. Nuremberg. 1776. The kinds of marble that are engraven in this first publication are thofe that grow in the neighbourhood of Nuremberg; but this is only the beginning of the undertaking, and the Author pro poles to reprefent, in the fame manner, the marbles of Ger. many and of other countries.

VI. Hiflorifche und Politische Abschilderung der Anglischen Manufa&uren, &c. i. e. An Historical and Folitical View of the Manufactures, Commerce, Navigation, and Colonies of England; with a particular Account of their prefent State. By Mr. T. G. TAURE, Secretary to the Imperial Court. This is by no means a contemptible performance. The Author's obfervations have been made upon the fpot; he feems to have been industrious in procuring information; and he has handled his materials. with judgment;-though now and then he is defective, and fometimes gives into the marvellous.

VII. Verfuch Uber den Gefmack und die urfachen feiner Verf cheidenheit, &c. i. e. Efay on Tafte, and on the Causes of its Variations. 1776. The entrance of Tafte into Germany, and its remarkable growth there, for feveral years paft, is a phenomenon which the different nations of Europe have been, for fome time paft, contemplating with refpect: but that Tafe fhould get fo far north as Mittau, on that fide of the continent, is a new, and, indeed, a plealing object. The piece under confideration has confiderable merit, and contains a philofophical analyfis of the mechanifmn, forings, and principles of Tafle, which is neither pedantic nor infipid. FRANCFORT

FRANCFORT ON MAYNE.

VIII. Danielis Vilhelmi Trilleri Clinotechnia Medica Antiqua ria, frue de diverfis Ægrotorum leclis, fecundum ipfa varia morbo 1 Genera, convenienter inflruend's, Commentarius Medico-Criticus. 16. This elaborate and learned work Concerning the Method of the ancient Physicians, who constructed Beds of different Kinds for the different Kinds of Diseases under which their Patients·laboured, is every way worthy of the attention both of the physician and the antiquary. The nature of the beds of the ancients, in general, is amply deferibed, and this defcription is followed by a large enumeration of the difcafes to which the forms of the beds, designed for the fick, were appropriated.

DENMARK.

IX. This part of the North furnishes nothing in the sphere of tafle, genius, or elegance, but brings now and then to literature and natural hiftory fome contributions that ought not to lie in oblivion. The Latin poems of Mr. LuxDORPH, Knight of the Order of Dannebrogg, published at Copenhagen, are as rude, chilly, and unaffecting as the climate and region that gave them birth, and are a proof that the true Mufes refufe to fing fo near the Poles. The two firft epiftles of Pope's Ef fay on Man have undergone a cruel metamorphofis in paffing through the hands of this rugged Verfificator, who has traduced them into Latin; as alfo feveral pieces collected from the most eminent poets of different nations, ancient and modern.- Much more refpect is due to the following work:

X. Defcriptiones Animalium, Avium, Amphibierum, Piscium, Infeltorum, Vermium, quæ in Itinere Orientali obfervavit PETRUS FORSKAL; poft mortem Auctoris Edidit Carften Niebuhr. 4to. i. e. A Defcription of the Animals, Birds, amphibious Creatures, Fifbes, Infects, and Reptiles, which were obferved by Mr. FORSKAL in his journey through the East, and have been published fince his death by Mr. C. Niebuhr.-The Author of this work was one of the most learned men that the court of Denmark fent into the Eaft in pursuit of knowledge. He died in the very flower of his age in Arabia *, and left behind him a valuable collection of drawings and defcriptions, which would have been loft to the world, had not the learned Traveller, Mr.Niebuhr, who was his friend and companion, taken care of these remains, and arranged them in the volume which is now before us. This arrangement is made in conformity with the fyf tem of Linnæus, of whom Mr. FORSKAL had been the disciple. The descriptions are curious and accurate, and the plates, which are 43 in number, are published in a separate volume,

Vid. Appendix to Review, vol. liii. p. 587.

under

under the following title: Icones Rerum Naturalium quas in Itinere Orientali depingi curavit P. FORSKAL, Prof. Havn; poft mortem Auctoris ad Regis Mandatum et are incifas edidit Carsten Niebuhr. 4to. 1776.

XI. The fame zealous and induftrious Editor has published alfo in 4to. the Flora Egyptiaco-Arabica of Profeffor FORSKAL, which contains a defcription of above 800 plants, and in which the science of botany is enriched with 20 new genufes. The cuts, which reprefent these plants, are alfo to be published in a feparate volume. We are informed that all thefe works of Profeffor FORSKAL are published at Copenhagen at the King's expence.

NETHERLAND S.

HAGUE and AMSTERDAM. XII. Hiftoire Abregée de la Suede, &c. i. e. A compendious Hiftory of Sweden, from the Kings of the House of Vafa to the Year 1776. By the Chevalier CHAMPIGNI. 4to. This is the firft. and last mention we propose to make of this itinerant and mendicant Author, who goes from town to town, and even from door to door, begging fubfcriptions (with immediate payment) to books, fome of which will probably never be published, and the reft of which are unworthy to fee the light. It is neceffary. to warn the Public against fuch authors, who do little honour to literature, and impofe upon the credulous by titles which they degrade by their mean proceedings. This fame Colonel and Chevalier Champigny has laid under contribution a great part of the European nobility, and (if we are not mistaken) even feveral crowned heads, who have fubfcribed to his promised History of England, which, if it ever appears, will, to our certain knowledge, be no more than a hafty and ill-digefted compilation of Rapin, Hume, and other (fubaltern) historians. Nay, this Compiler does not even pretend to have received any new information, or to have dipped into any fources, hitherto unemployed. He is certainly one of the boldeft thieves in literature we have met with; as appears not only from the history of Sweden now before us, but alfo from his own acknowledg ment; for he tells us that he had plundered (pillé) Puffendorff, as alfo many German and Latin authors; that he has stolen from Voltaire, and fo on: now, though there is no harm in compiling, yet the terms plundering and stealing are ignoble, and indeed fuch in general is the ftyle of this Writer in all the productions of his rapid and muddy facility at fcribbling. Rapid it is; for while he is compofing the Hiftory of England in 15 volumes in 4to. be offers to the Public, in fix volumes, 4to. the Hiftory of the Kings of Denmark of the House of Oldenburg, tranflated from the German original of Profetfor SCHLEGEL;

and

and this may deferve notice if the tranflation be exact, as Mr. Schlegel's reputation is well eftablished.

XIII. A bookfeller at the Hague has undertaken to publish a new and greatly improved edition of an important work, which is almoft, if not entirely, out of print. He proposes reprinting, in three volumes, 4to. the celebrated French work of the learned Herbelot, entitled, Bibliotheque Orientale, with a large Supplement, which will make a fourth volume. This Supplement will confift of a variety of important articles drawn from the papers of the late learned Mr. GALAND, Antiquary to the King of France, and. Profeffor of Arabic, and from a large MS. work of CLAUDE VISDELON, Bishop of Claudiopolis, which contains a multitude of excellent obfervations on that of Herbelot, as alfo on the hiftories and geography of China and Tartary, and which ferve, among other things, to correct the errors of the Mahometan writers with relation to these two great empires. These valuable MSS. are the property of the Editor, and they muft render this new edition highly interelling to the curious and the learned. The price to fubfcribers will be 24 florins.

XIV. The book fellers have publifhed at Maeftricht, a work adapted to throw new light upon a very interefting period of the hiftory of France, under the following title: Hiftoire du Proces du Chancelier Poyet pour fervir à celle du Regne de Francois 1. &c. i. e. The Hiftory of the Trial of Chancellor Poyet, which exhibits a View of the Reign of Francis I. with a preliminary Chap ·ter concerning the Antiquity and Dignity of the Office of Chancellor, and the Viciffitudes to which it has been jubject. dvo. 1776. The publication of this portion of hiftory, and the odious portrait which the Author draws of this unworthy Chancellor, undoubtedly fquint at a modern Chancellor, who lives in exile unpitied and unrefpected, and deprived of the favour which he fo grofsly abufed. When the Deputies of the Parliament came to inform Francis I. of the fentence they had pronounced againft Poyet, the King, furprifed that they punished a crime against the ffate with nothing more than exclufion from his office, and a pecuniary fine, faid to them with a certain degree of emotion, that he had been always brought up in the full perfuafion that a Chancellor of France ought never to life bis employment without long bis bead alfo.

MONTHLY