ment, &c.-Palacious is an epithet of no very happy coinage. As to the formation of one broad but narrow plank, we gladly resign the solution of such a problem to the acute metaphysicians of our northern capital; who will perhaps refer it to

their brethren in Dublin.

ART. V. The Miscellaneous Tracts of the late William Withering, M. D., F. R. S., &c. To which is prefixed a Memoir of his Life, Character, and Writings. 2 Vols. 8vo. 1.7s. Boards. Longman and Co.

THE

HE eminence of the late Dr. Withering is so generally acknowleged, that no apology is required for the appearance of the volumes now before us: indeed, it has been matter of regret that the duty of collecting his minor writings, and securing to posterity a knowlege of the most interesting particulars in the life of one so distinguished by his acquirements in science, and so amiable in private life, should have remained so long unfulfilled. The task of editor, as well as that of biographer, has now however been executed by his son, with a filial piety which commands our unqualified esteem; though we may differ from him regarding the importance of some of the particulars which he has deemed worthy of narration.

The father of Dr. Withering was a medical practitioner at Wellington in Shropshire, where the subject of the present memoir was born in the year 1741. After the completion of his preliminary education, he was sent at the age of twentyone to the University of Edinburgh; where, for several successive winters, he studied with much assiduity and distinction under Dr. Cullen and the other eminent teachers of that period. He appears even then to have formed connections of friendship with men who were afterward distinguished as botanists, but he felt as yet no ardor in the cause of that science which eventually he so warmly cherished.

"The Botanical Professor," he says, in one of his letters, gives annually a gold medal to such of his pupils as are most industrious in that branch of science. An incitement of this kind is often productive of the greatest emulation in young minds, though, I confess, it will hardly have charm enough to banish the disagreeable ideas I have formed of the study of botany."!

The successful termination of his studies was crowned in the year 1766 by the acquisition of the degree of Doctor of Medicine; on which occasion he published as a Thesis the germ of his future treatise on putrid sore throat,

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After

After some short delay, and the usual preliminary of a visit to Paris, Dr. Withering settled as a physician at Stafford. His attachment to the lady who afterward became his wife appears to have first directed his mind to the study of botany: for, by collecting wild flowers as subjects for her pencil, he became gradually inspired with an ardent enthusiasm in favor of that science which he was destined, at no distant period, so remarkably to illustrate and advance. Thus the tender passion, which has so often prompted the first effusions of the poet, rendered the subject of this memoir the eager votary of a science which, in its object at least, is remarkable for being so closely allied to poetry.

Dr. W.'s professional success, and the high personal estimation in which he was held in Stafford and its neighbourhood, enabled him, after a few years, to remove under the most favorable circumstances to Birmingham, where a wider field of emolument and celebrity was opened to him. Here his success was such as he merited. In a very short time,' says his biographer, notwithstanding his attention to practical chemistry and botany, his professional income amounted to one thousand pounds per annum.' (Vol. i. p. 44.) In the year 1776, the first of his residence in this town, he published his Arrangement of British Plants, in two volumes, 8vo.

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also a

At Birmingham the pursuits of science mingled largely with the professional avocations of Dr. Withering; and he enjoyed here the friendly intercourse of Messrs. Keir and Boulton, Dr. Priestley, and Mr. Watt. The name of Priestley, whose splendid discoveries in chemistry have so eminently contributed to the rapid advances of that science, cannot be mentioned on this occasion without bringing to mind the deplorable outrages at Birmingham, of which he was the unfortunate victim; and Dr. Withering, though not a Dissenter, nor present at the obnoxious dinner, was sufferer from the violence of the ultra rabble. On this urgent occasion,' says his son, he had the courage to receive into his own house a fugitive and persecuted family, affording them an asylum, till he was himself (in an exceedingly critical state of health) forced to abandon his premises, and hastily to secrete, or convey away, the more valuable effects. From this sudden removal, his books and collections in natural history (driven in waggons, covered with hay, through the roughest and least frequented lanes, to elude the pursuit of the many-headed monster,) sustained material injury.' The furniture and valuables contained in Dr. Withering's house, and possibly his acquaintance with the the more liberal Dissenters, may be supposed to have held him out to the rioters

as

as an object of attack: but his political principles do not appear to have ever been of a violent, or even decided, opposition-character. Participating, however, in those sentiments which widely prevailed among well-informed persons in this country at the close of the American war, Dr. W. viewed with sincere satisfaction the dawning of liberty in France: but he very soon became alarmed and shocked by the sanguinary progress of the Revolution; and he seems ultimately to have joined in a hearty approval of the measures of the British ministry. His biographer has not been very explicit on this subject, but such is the opinion which his statements have led us to form.

In 1785, Dr. Withering published his account of the Foxglove, which forms beyond doubt the most important point in his medical career. For ten years, he had been engaged in studying the properties of this powerful drug; and even after this long period, it is probable that he would have still delayed to give his opinions on the subject to the public, had he not found that measure necessary for the purpose of protecting his own fame and his just right to the merit of the discovery. Those who are most intimately acquainted with the history of medicine can best tell what multitudes of drugs have been discovered, lauded, universally employed, and in no long time consigned to neglect and oblivion: but the Fox-glove is at this day acknowleged to possess all the virtues which its discoverer claimed for it, viz. a power to control the action of the heart, and to increase the secretion of the kidneys. Although it is not now usually employed in some of those complaints for which it was recommended by Dr. Withering, it is still placed at the head of our remedies for dropsy.

Dr. W. was not possessed of a robust constitution, and for nearly twenty years before his death was a sufferer from pulmonary complaints. With a view to the removal or amelioration of this disease, he made two voyages to Lisbon, and resided for some time in the neighbourhood of that metropolis: but, unfortunately, he did not derive from the change of climate any very great advantages. Even there, under the pressure of ill health, his active mind employed itself in collecting facts respecting Lisbon as a station for consumptive patients, and in illustrating the botany and other branches of the natural history of Portugal; especially in analyzing the famed mineral waters of Caldas da Rainha. Perhaps the most remarkable trait in his character was his unwearied ardor in the cause of science: under every circumstance, he was still seen eagerly pursuing knowlege; and in his professional

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fessional journies, which were very extensive, he carried by night a lamp in his carriage for the purpose of reading.

The circle of Dr. W.'s acquaintance was very large, and his house was frequented by those who were distinguished as men of science, both of our own and of foreign countries. Indeed, nothing could have exceeded the esteem and affection in which he appears to have been held by his more immediate friends; and numerous instances of these feelings are recorded by his biographer, with a very laudable pride. At an early period of his life, we are informed, he obtained a firm conviction of the great truths of Christianity, and he maintained his faith unshaken to the last moment of his life. Yet it appears that some idle and groundless rumors on that subject had prevailed at the period of his death, the knowlege of which has induced his biographer to remark:

Improbable as it were that he who had been the advocate of Christianity, because esteemed a liberal philosopher, should, in the last extremity, halt between two opinions, and when about to deliver his account, sealed, to the great Judge of the universe, renounce the sure guide to his best hopes; misrepresentation and groundless surmises have rendered a detail of facts necessary.'—

With Dr. Withering no recantation was necessary. He affords another instance of a learned, unprejudiced, and sensible man, voluntarily, but not without examination, subscribing to opinions previously supported by many profound philosophers: in our own country, by a Newton, a Locke, a Bacon, a Boyle, a Milton, that excellent judge of evidence, Sir Matthew Hale, and more recently, though not less to the purpose, (from the peculiar facility of investigation which he possessed, as connected with oriental literature, and of which he fully availed himself,) Sir William Jones.'

The prolonged sufferings of Dr. W. were closed by death on the 6th of October, 1799, in the 59th year of his age. The event was preceded by a calmness and preparation which, though not unexampled, deserve to be recorded.

About six o'clock he intreated for two hours of undisturbed repose; but, alas! even sleep no longer brought refreshment: for life itself was fast ebbing away. Nevertheless, through the whole forenoon, he engaged in a series of conversations on the most interesting topics. Even his voice in those impressive discourses resumed its natural firmness, enabling him to descant with the utmost elevation of soul on the truth of that Revelation, and of those doctrines, which he had adopted from conviction, and cherished as the source of his highest expectations. He experienced their consoling influence in this awful moment, and whilst praising and magnifying the Lord, his features were illumined with the

ardent

ardent desire of a speedy translation to those realms, where pain and sorrow are no more.

If one lingering look was cast behind, it arose from an anxiety to be assured that those nearest and dearest to him were equally impressed with that lively faith, the efficacy of which he now doubly felt.

On his son and daughter, by his own desire, again drawing near to him in the afternoon, as if to reconcile them to the ap proaching separation, with a calm and beaming countenance, My children," he said, "see how easy I lie !"

Dr. Withering had never indulged in that carelessness of personal appearance sometimes observable in the studious. Indeed, he attached so much regard to neatness as to consider it, in a degree, at least, to the body what virtue is to the soul: nor did propriety of this kind escape his attention even at the point of death. Refreshed by an entire renewal of linen, and, perhaps, with a sense of decorum gratified, immediately afterwards, being raised at his own request, he fervently ejaculated, "Now I am ready!" at the same moment springing forward with an energy that might be deemed almost preternatural, he exhausted the feeble remains of vitality.'

In the volumes before us, we have all the published writings of Dr. W., except his Arrangement of British Plants; and, in addition to them, such selections from his manuscripts as were deemed likely to prove interesting. Of these the notes regarding Portugal, and the letters on the subject of Stonehenge, are the most important. His medical memoranda are few, and comparatively unimportant, when we consider the extensive and rich field of observation which, for so many years, was laid open to Dr. Withering.

These excellent volumes are ornamented with a very good engraving of Dr. W., from a picture by Breda; and with a fac-simile of his hand-writing, which is remarkable for its clearness and regularity.

ART. VI. A Treatise on Indigestion, and its Consequences, called Nervous and Bilious Complaints; with Observations on the Organic Diseases in which they sometimes terminate. By A. P. W. Philip, M. D. &c. 8vo. pp. 363. 9s. Boards. Underwoods.

To the medical world, Dr. Wilson Philip has been long known by his valuable work on Febrile Diseases; as also more recently by his researches into the vital functions, and into the effects of galvanism on the divided pneumogastric nerve. His claims to a place among the more eminent promoters of

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medical