blishment may be abridged, and their number thereby circumscribed as much as possible.

With these objects in view, I have

prepared a plan of the buildings, which appears to me well adapted to the ground lately purchased for a Lunatic Asylum at Edinburgh. This plan consists of various buildings, detached from each other. In it are four distinct houses, for the accommodation of forty patients in each, with a keeper's house, and lod. ging for the servants, and also separate cooking places, and other conveniencies. These buildings, together with four corner buildings, of smaller dimensions, form the four sides of a square, within which are four separate open courts, or airing-grounds. The four corner buildings are proposed for the accommodation of patients of a higher rank in life than either of the classes

lodged in any of the large buildings, and who might be permitted to walk and amuse themselves in the garden ground.

There are also exhibited in the plan, three buildings entirely removed from all the others, which are proposed for patients of a still higher rank in life, whose friends may wish them to have more extended accommodation, for themselves and servants, than they could obtain in any of the other buildings.

The house already on the ground may answer for lodging the principal keeper, or governor and he might be permitted to board a few particular pa tients.

The lodgings for the under keepers are also calculated to admit of a few patients of a harmless disposition, living with them; the whole, however, being under the controul and general superin: tendance of the governor.

P. 9.

exercising the functions of self preser vation, and at the same time extreme

ly liable to injure others, must be under the immediate superintendance of the state. It does not follow, however, that the state ought to take the management of them into its own hands, or can dispense with the vigilance and activity which are prompted by private interest. At the same time, there are very great evils attending the plan of leaving such persons entirely under private management. It is only by extraordinary profits, that any one can be induced to undertake so unpleasant an office. But these extraordinary profits the poor are unable to pay; they must therefore content themselves with the most miserable accommodation, and must remain destitute of that care and attention which their situation so much demands, To the rich, indeed, this danger is less; but in regard to them the system of private establishments is liable to objections, which do not exist in the case of the poor. Their wealth may often be a temptation to unprincipled relations, to confine them under a false pretence of madness, and thereby to possess themselves of their fortune. It is true, a certificate from a medical man is required, but, in so numerous a profession, is it certain that no one will be found, who can either be corrupted or deceived? The Sheriff is entitled to visit and examine private madhouses, but it cannot be expected that he should often do this; or when he does, that he should be a competent judge of the different cases.

These observations of Mr. Reid are followed by others on the General treatment of Lunatics, considered as a branch of Medical police, written by Dr Duncan, Jun. and which first appeared in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal. These appear to us to contain a very sound exposition of the principles by which this department of police ought to be regulated. Lunatics, being at once incapable of

In this part of the united kingdom, says Dr Duncan, I believe, any person, however notorious or suspected his character may be, is permitted to keep what is called a private mad house. He is not obliged, by law, to observe any regulations with regard to the admission of those sent to him; he is not required to report the names or condition of those confined; and he is subjected to no regular and stated visitations of commis, sioners, capable of investigating his conduct.

P. 20.

As

As a medium between private maSagement and that of the state, to both of which insurmountable objections are thus shewn to exist, public institutions, supported by subscription, seem to be the most eligible resource. They can supply to the poor those accommodations which they are unable to pay for; and the respectability of the persons, under whose superintendance such an institution can be placed, must check those abuses which are to be apprehended in case of the rich. It is true, the stimulus of private interest will be weakened; but this cannot operate with its usual advantage in a case like the present, where the person who lodges in the house is incompetent to judge of, or to report, the treatment which he receives.

There is only one particular, in which we have some hesitation in agreeing with Dr Duncan. He conHe conceives that, even after a public institution is established, private mad-houses ought still to be tolerated. Now we must observe, that, in that case, all the dangers of wrongous confinement, by the relations of the opulent, would remain in full force. Persons, acting with that fraudulent intention, would of course prefer private mad-houses, and the existence of a public institution could be no check whatever on their proceedings. We are at the same time aware, that it would be a very delicate step indeed, to confer a monopoly on any such institution. There could be no absolute certainty, that the best precautions would guard against the abuses to which bodies with exclusive privileges are naturally liable; and the corruption of such an establishment, when no remedy was permitted, might become a great public calamity. We would only point out the difficulty which exists, and that unless we vest such a body with an exclusive privilege, we must give ap the advantage alluded to above.Dr Duncan, however, proposes some plans for the regular visitation of pri

vate madhouses, which seem to be very proper and useful.

Following this, is a Report from a select committee of the House of Commons, appointed to enquire into the State of Lunatics, which was ordered to be printed on the 15th July 1807. The account of the treatment of pauper lunatics is truly melancholy.They are huddled together in jails and poorhouses, with little means of comfortable existence, and with no attention whatever to the means of recovery. Important facts are stated as to the advantages of lunatic institutions. So superior is the cheapness attendant on a large establishment, that at St Luke's, where there are 300, the expence does not exceed 7s. 6d. each per week. The report lays down a plan for dividing Scotland into four districts, to each of which one asylum might be appropriated. The first is the Southern district, containing Wigton, Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Ayr; number of inhabitants 191,032. Second, the Eastern district, Roxburgh, Selkirk, Berwick, Peebles, Haddington, Edinburgh, Linlithgow, Stirling, Fife, Kinross, Clackmannan. Population, 409,140. Third, the Western district, Lanark, Renfrew, Dumbarton, Bute, Argyle, Perth. Population, 460,419, Fourth, the Northern district, including all the other counties of Scotland, the population of which amounts to 540,770.

There are one or two things which, on surveying Mr Reid's plans, we are tempted to suggest. As the building, we believe, is not yet begun, room seems to be left for such suggestions: we make them, however, with great diffidence of our own judgement in such matters, and the highest respect for that of Mr Reid.

1. It strikes us as objectionable, that the cells for confining noisy patients should be in so centrical a situation, being contiguous, on one side, to the public day-rooms where the quieter

patients

patients meet, and on another, to the covered gallery where they walk. We should think the noise must penetrate, and must be attended with the worst consequences.

2. The apartments, both public and private, of the male and female patients, are completely separated from each other. This is done by placing. them on different sides of the house. Would it not be more convenient to lodge them on separate floors. We should thus save the going up and down stairs, which must often be troublesome, and which, in the present relative situation of the public and private rooms, cannot be avoided.

We now conclude, with our best

wishes for the success of this benevo

lent and useful institution.

Letter to the Right Honourable The Earl of Haddington, Lord Lieutenant of the county of Haddington,

town and villa gardens. By Walter Nicol. Second edition.

Introduction to the Art of Thinking. By the late Henry Home, Esq. one of the Senators of the College of Justice. To which is prefixed an original Life of the Author. Fifth edition. 8vo.

A Discourse preached in the Episcopal Chapel,. Cowgate, Edinburgh, February 9. 1809; being the day appointed by his Majesty for a General. Fast. By Arch. Alison L.L.B.— Second edition. 8vo. 1s.

HE

FOREIGN.

public will shortly be gratified.

Poems illustrative of the genius and influence of Christianity; to which are subjoined some fugitive pieces.By the Rev. William Robb, Episcopal Clergyman in St. Andrews, and Chaplain to the Right Hon. Lord Elibank. Embellished with a highly-finished engraving of the Cathedral of St. Andrews, and the Chapel of St. Rule. 8vo. 754

The Villa Garden Directory; or Monthly Index of work to be done in

TH by the publication of a series of interesting Letters from Madame la Marquise du Deffand to the Hon. Horace Walpole, afterwards Earl of Orford, between the years 1766 and 1780. Ta these will be added,.some Letters from the same Lady to Voltaire, published from the originals at Strawberry Hill. A Lite of Madame du Deffand will be. prefixed by the Editor; and the letters will be accompanied with copious explanatory notes.

The first volume of the Rev. Richard Cecil's Works, containing the Memoirs of the Hon, and Rev. W. B. Cadogan, of John Bacon, Esq. R. A. and. of the Rev. John Newton, with three portraits, will appear this month.

The

3

The new Herbal, for which Mr Bewick has engraved the cuts, and Dr Thornton has written the text, will appear in a few days.

The Rev. Dr Rees has in the press, * Sermon which he delivered at the opening of the new Chapel in Jewinstreet, Cripplegate.

A Gentleman is preparing for publication, an Historical Narrative of the late War in the Levant, from 1793 to 1801; to be accompanied with picturesque views, marine scenery, and a map of the Ottoman empire. The author is already in possession of an abundant stock of materials, but is still desisous of consulting the log-book, or other nautical journal, kept during that period on board any of the following ships-Theseus, Tigre, Lion, Swiftsure, Cameleon, Transfer, or Alliance. He wishes for further testimony concerning the charges upon record against Buonaparte, for the treatment of the Ohman garrison of Jaffa; of his sick and wounded on the depot on. Mount Carmel; and of the hospital scene at Jaffa, on the retreat. He will be thanktal also for the loan of any sketches, plans, or surveys; to be addressed to the care of Mr Gold, 103, Shoe-lane, London.

Messrs. Daniells intend to publish, under the title of Picturesque Voyages and Travels, a connected series of Views, exhibiting the most remarkable objects, Datural and artificial, which presented themselves in the different regions of the East that they have visited; and each plate to be accompanied with a portion of narrative and descriptive letter press.

Dr Mavor has made great progress on his new Edition of "Tusser's Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry," a work which may be considered as a calendar of rural and domestic economy for every month in the year; and as a picture of the state of agriculture, customs, and manners, in the 16th century. Though it ran through upwards of twenty editions, it is now so scarce, that it was with great difficulty copies of the early impressions, by far the best, were obtained for the use of the present Editor, who intends to enrich his edition with notes Georgical, illustrative, and explanatory, a glossary, and other improvements.

On the 2d of January, appeared in London, for the first time, a German Newspaper, in one sheet, 4to, to be continued every Tuesday and Friday.

Mr Jepson Oddy,author of European Commerce, is engaged in a work on the political, commercial, and local interests of this country; particularly as they will be promoted by the intended Stamford navigation.

Dr Buffa will speedily publish Travels through the States of the Empire of Morocco, in the year 1806. His correspondence with that Court relative to the interests of Great Britain, including a letter from the Emperor of Morocco to the King of Great Britain, is prefixed to it.

The Third Canto of the Pursuits of Agriculture will be ready in the course of the present month.

Dr Duigenan is about to publish a pamphlet of very great importance, relative to the state of Ireland and the Ro mish Question.

History of the Inquisition in Italy, Spain, Portugal, &c. illustrated with numerous plates, is in the press, and will form a large quarto volume.

There will shortly be published, Poems, &c, selected from the posthumous papers of John Dawes Worgan, late of Bristol; and a Sketch of his Life and Character, by an early Associate and Friend: with an Introductory Preface, by William Hayley, Esq.

Mr John Jos. Stockdale has in forwardness a Journal, consisting of a complete history of the whole of the late disturbances at Covent Garden Theatre.

A new Edition of Mr Headly's Select Beauties of Ancient Poetry, with a Biographical Sketch, by the Rev. Mr Kett, of Oxford, will shortly appear.

A work, called English Comedy, in six volumes, being a collection of ciassical dramas, will be published in January.

The Favourite Village, with an additional Poem, never before published, by the late Professor of Poetry, of Oxford, Dr Hurdis, will be published in a few weeks.

A Selection from the Juvenilia of George Wither is also in a state of for.. wardness. The Editor has been favoured by Mr Heber with the loan of the scarcest of Mr Wither's productions,

his Second Remembrancer, from which several extracts will be made. Some account of the Life of Wither, together with his Portrait, will also accompany the volumes.

The Second Volume of Britton's Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain is just completed. It contains seventy prints; also an history and description of each; with an Essay on the Rise, Progress, and Characteristics, of Domestic Architecture in England.-The Third Volume is announced to embrace Accounts, with various Architectural Illustrations, of Castle Acre Priory Church, Norfolk; Waltham Abbey Church, Essex; the Collegiate Church at Manchester; Hedingham Castle, Essex; Roslyn Chapel, Scotland; St George's Chapel, Windsor; the Crypt, St Peter's Church, Oxford, &c.

Mr Beloe's fourth volume of Anecdotes of Rare Books will speedily appear.

The Rev. F. Stone, late rector of Cold-Norton, Essex, has in the press, Memoirs of his Life.

Dr Churchill, author of the Medical Remembrancer, will shortly publish a Guide to Health.

A work, on the Origin and Constitution of the Parliamentary Boroughs of England, has just been put to press. The intention of the writer is to show that all the privileges and immunities enjoyed at present, by the cities and boroughs of this part of the United King. dom, are derived from the bounty of our ancient monarchs. The contents of the work are founded on documents of the highest authority: Doomsday book, the charters of our early Kings, public records, and the rolls of parlia

ment.

A Catalogue of Books, published in London, between the 1st of June, 1808, and the 1st of January, 1810, will be published in the course of the latter month. It will contain a reference to the different papers comprised in the transactions of learned societies, pubished in the above period. It is proposed to continue this catalogue quarterly.

Mr Pybus, of Hull, intends to pub. lish a Collection of Miscellaneous Re

ceipts and Philosophical Experiments, selected from various authors.

A Treatise on the Passions, by a La dy, will speedily appear, in two volumes.

Capt. Williamson, author of the Wild Sports of the East, has nearly ready for publication, the East India Vade Mecum, in two octavo volumes.

The Rev. Johm Hunt, of Titchfield, has circulated proposals for publishing by subscription, the whole of the works of the Rev. John Howe, including at least one volume of Discourses, never before printed, with a translation of such passages from the learned languages as are not rendered in the body of the work.

It appears, that in the principal works of botany, are described 1046 genera, and 19,803 species of plants, of which 683 genera have but one species, 263 but two, 174 but three, 124 but four. This enumeration is, however, only an approximation to the truth, as the works referred to are defective, and we may call the number of described plants 22,000. The first edition of Linnæus's Species Plantarum contained only 7,300.

A work will make its appearance on the 1st of March, consisting of Picturesque Views of twenty of the Parochial Churches of London, freely etched from original drawings, by W. Pearson.

In the first week of the present year will be published, a new edition, being the seventh, of the "Laboratory, or School of Arts," containing a much larger and more extensive collection of valuable secrets, experiments, and maz nual operations, in the arts and manufactures, than is to be met with in any other work in the English language. The whole is adapted to the present improved state of the arts and sciences, and illustrated with about forty copper. plates, some of which are entirely

new.

The ninth Number of Leybourn's Mathematical Repositary, containing, besides various articles, solutions to the mathematical questions proposed in the seventh number, and a series of new questions, to which he solicits answers from his correspondents.

POETRY.