remarked that her urine was increased in quantity, and had a peculiar sweet smell and taste. Under these circumstances she applied for medical aid, and was put upon animal diet: but, neither that nor the medicines that were given affording relief, she came under my care last month. I found her reduced in flesh and strength, with a dry parched tongue and skin; face flushed, as with a deep blush; perpetual and distressing thirst; depression of mind; sense of weariness and sleepiness, with a dull pain in the region of the kidnies. Her appetite was variable, at times very craving; bowels irregular; urine seven quarts aday, of pale straw-colour, with a sweet taste and smell. Upon evaporation it yielded a large quantity of substance resembling treacle. From her situation in life, and the impossibility of watching her proceedings, I could not depend upon her pursuing my directions with regard to diet, with sufficient accuracy and strictness. I believe she complird in part; and did not appear to be worse during a few days that she took myrrh and steel, in large doses. But, not gaining ground, I determined to put in practice Dr. Watt's plan of bleeding, as far at least as I could with safety to the patient The first time she lost only twelve ounces, the blood not flowing freely: she bore the operation, however, extremely well, and expressed herself to feel lighter and more cheerful after it The blood the following day had separated, as usual, into crassamentum and serum, but exhibited no signs of inflammation: the serum had a muddy appearance and a saline taste; the crassamentum was rather dark and soft in texture. The bleeding has been repeated twice since, to the extent of sixteen ounces each time; and the crassamentum, on both occasions, afforded the most decided evidence of what is considered the sign of inflammation-the cupped surface, and buffy coat; the red portion was florid, and interspersed with air-cells. She felt a little giddy after the last bleeding, but found so much relief in all her symptoms, for the urine is now less in quantity; that she seems anxious to pursue a plan which has succeeded better than any thing she has yet tried. This complaint, in general, proves fatal, unless the patient most resolutely adheres to the regimen prescribed; medicine, unaided by diet, will not cure it: but, from some cases on record, there is great reason to believe, that an animal and carbonaceous diet will effect this desirable purpose, the disease not being too far advanced. Dissection has shown the kidnies diseased, though I believe this is not always the case; and probably is a con equence of an increased determination of blood to those organs. All that we at present know in this respect is, that no alteration in the qualities and constituent parts of the blood can be detected previous to its arrival at the kidney; yet the secretion by that gland is materially changed in quantity and in quality. In investigating the nature of this obscure disease, great stress has been laid upon comparing the ingesta with the egesta, and much wonder has been expressed that the latter should exceed the former; while some ingenious persons who have taken the fact for granted without examining its validity, have exercised great patience and philosophy in attempting to explain the phenomenon. The truth is, that the balance is pretty equal; such is the keenness of the appetite, and so intense the degree of thirst, that few patients can withstand the temptation of eating and drinking inordinately; where this is not apparent, it must be attributed to some peculiarity in the disorder, or to deception. Craven-street, Jan. 27, 1813. SAMUEL FOTHERGILL, M.D. REPORT OF THE PROGRESS OF CHEMISTRY. THE long and ably agitated question concerning the existence or non-existence of water in muriatic acid gas, has been apparently decided by an experiment performed, on a considerable scale, in the elaboratory of the College at Edinburgh; and witnessed by some of the most eminent professors of that very respectable University. The mode adopted in this instance was as follows:-A large quantity of muriatic acid gas, previously dried by exposing it to the action of some deliquescent substance, was mixed in an exhausted vessel with the necessary proportion of ammoniacal gas, also similarly dried, to form therewith a muriate of ammonia. This was then exposed to the degree of heat required to sublime it, and the neck of the vessel, which was kept assiduously cooled, occasionally inspected, in order to discover whether any aqueous vapour had arisen during the process. After some time it was ascertained that a small quantity of water had actually arisen, for the interior of the neck was lined by a slight dew, but the globular particles of this dew were so exceedingly minute as to be hardly perceptible by the eye without the assistance of magnifying glass. Considering, however, that this fact will easily admit of explanation, by supposing, what is very probable, that the gases were not at first perfectly freed from moisture; the conclusion has been therefore drawn, that water is not a constituent part of muriatic acid gas, this substance being a compound merely of hydrogen and chlorine, and that the very minute portion of water which did appear was uncombined moisture derived from various other sources. It is well known that, in manufacturing small articles of steel, their forms are often so much altered by undergoing the necessary process of being hardened, as to render nearly useless any accuracy of workmanship which may have been previously bestowed on them. It appears, however, from the following experiment of Mr. LYDIATT, that, by repeatedly exposing the portion to be hardened to temperatures successively increased, this very serious inconvenience may, in great measure, be avoided. A cylindrical piece of steel, carefully made of given figure and dimensions, was heated to a degree just sufficient to occasion a faint hissing noice by immersing it in water, and this operation was repeated four or five times; gradually increasing the degree of heat each time, until the last time, at which it was heated to redness, and again cooled; when, upon due examination, it was found of as perfect a figure as it was before the commencement of the process. The celebrated COUNT RUMFORD, than whom, perhaps, no gentleman has more usefully applied his scientific knowledge to the practical improvement of the various luxuries and comforts of our tables and our habitations, has lately given us an essay on a new mode of making coffre, whereby we may prevent the dissipation of that essential aromatic oil, on which every one must have observed that the exquisite flavour of this enlivening beverage altogether depends. But, in order to attain effectually this desirable object, he says, that every family should themselves roast the coffee which they have occasion to consume, on account of the necessity of paying a greater attention to the management of this process than can be possibly bestowed on it when performed in the large way, in which it would necessarily be conducted by the public merchants. Coffee-beans may be conveniently roasted in a clean Florence flask, or any other similarly formed vessel, held by its neck over a clearly burning fire, until they assume a dark brown colour, and begin to exhale their peculiar fragrance, when they should be immediately removed; and, when cold, finely ground and put into an accurately closed canister or bottle. The mouth of the flask during the operation is to be slightly stopped with a loose cork and its contents, which never should at one time exceed half a pound, must be continually agitated, lest the completion of the process should take place sooner in one part than in another. It is evident, however, that attention must be also given to the manner of imparting the fine flavour of the coffee to its menstruum, the water, in as unimpaired a state as it is possible; and, for this purpose, the Count has recommended an improved vessel, for a particular description and delineation of the form of which we beg leave to refer our readers to his essay itself. It is very similar to the double vessel now commonly employed, excepting that it is so made as to be surrounded on all sides by boiling water or steam, contained in a third external vessel. By this ingenious contrivance, the escape of the volatile principle of the coffee is again effectually cut off; for, by thus enveloping the inner vessels in a medium of nearly the same heat throughout, we completely prevent that intestine motion in the mixture of the water and the coffee which would otherwise ensue, from the ascension of its hotter particles, and the consequent falling down of those more cold, if the surface of this mixture were exposed to a medium of inferior temperature to itself. The Count has calculated that one pound of good Mocha coffee-beans, which, when properly roasted and ground, weigh only 14 ounces, will make in this way 14 pints, which will fill 56 large coffee-cups with the very best coffee that need be made. In a paper laid before ti.e Society of Arcueil, `by M. GAY-LUSSAC, on Deliquescence, or the apparently spontaneous liquefaction which certain bodies undergo when exposed to the action of a humid atmosphere, we find an easy mode of ascertaining what peculiar substances possess this property, with the different degrees of humidity at which it first takes place in different bodies, and the variations that it experiences according to the temperature of the medium by which these bodies are surrounded. In order to determine the degree of deliquescence of a given substance, in an air completely charged with moisture at 60° F. if it be solid, make a saturated solution of it in water of the same temperature (60°), and boil the solution. If it boil at 212°, the lowest possible boiling point of any saline solution, the substance is not deliquescent; but, if it do not boil at so low a degree, it is more deliquescent in proportion as the boiling point exceeds 212. Thus, in air saturated with moisture, common salt, a solution of which made at 60° does not boil below 2260, will be found very deliquescent; while, on the contrary, corrosive sublimate and sugar of lead, the solutions of which boil at 2120, are accordingly not deliquescent. That the boiling point of all solutions must depend upon the temperature at which they were made, is evident from the well known increased solvent power of water by an augmentation of its temperature: and hence, nitre, which is but slightly deliquescent at the temperature of 60°, would at 212 be very deliquescent; the boiling point of its saturated solution made at this temperature being as high as 2337. To estimate the degree of humidity at which the phenomenon of deliquescence first appears in any substance, the internal part of a jar is moistened with a solution of such substance, and the degree observed to which the index of an hygrometer, placed beneath this jar, points at the expiration of a few hours. Thus, when exposed to a solution of common salt made at 602, the index will stop at 90°; shewing that below this degree the phenomenon does not commence, but from this point will be increased with the increase of humidity. The The generally received opinion, that the putrefactive fermentation of animal substances cannot be effected without the agency of oxygen or vital air, is now completely proved to be erroneous, by Dr. Joн MANNERS, of Philadelphia. He inclosed fresh beef, over water, in jars containing common atmospheric air, carbonic acid gas or fixed air, hydrogen gas or inflammable air, nitrogen and sulphurated hydrogen gases, and repeated his experi ments over mercury, and even immersed the meat in mercury itself, with precisely the same results; petrefaction proceeding with equal rapidity in any one of the last as in the first of these mediums. He has also demonstrated, that the evolution of sulphurated hydrogen and ammonia is not a natural consequence of the process, when conducted without the presence of oxygen; and that the gas produced under this circumstance is chiefly carbonic acid gas, holding in solution the fetid oil from which originates its peculiar and offensive odour. * The Editor presumes that be shall receive the congratulations of kis readers on the accession of this exceedingly valuable Report to the general variety of useful matter contained in this Magazine. MONTHLY COMMERCIAL REPORT. MINISTERS have caused it to be intimated to the Court of Directors of the East India Company, that it is the intention of government to accede to the wishes of the public, by opening the trade of Hindoostan, to seven of the principal ports of the United Kingdom, namely, LONDON, BRISTOL, HULL, LIVERPOOL, GLASGOW, DUBLIN, and CORK. The China trade to be still confined to the Company. We think this arrangement very creditable to the ministry, and very promising to the nation. An article from Frankfort gives the following information respecting the sales at the annual fair at Frankfort: "Our Michaelmas fair is ended. The sales of the merchandize, sent from different parts of Germany, Switzerland, and France, were very considerable. The cloths from Belgium, and some other parts of the French empire, as well as those from Saxony, were in high favour. Some India cottons sold well, though they were in general less sought after than the cloths of other fabrics. Leather from the Low Countries brought a high price, and some purchases of peltry were made. The sales of silk have not equalled expectations; the venders were fewer in number than they have been of late years, but the purchasers were more numerous; this has established a certain equilibrium in the balance of commerce. The muslins and kerseymcres of Germany and Switzerland were much sought after. The fair at Leipsic will commence immediately. The continuance of war in the North will hinder many Russian, Polish, and other chapmen from coming thither; but it is hoped that the presence of the other merchants from Wallachia, Moldavia, and Turkey, who are expected in great numbers to make purchases, will afford an indemnification for their absence. Among other delusions propagated by weak or wicked newspaper writers, is the assertion, that in the ensuing summer a profitable trade will be opened with Russia. These persons choose to forget that the English ships which arrived in the Baltic last summer were not allowed to unload, and that those which had unloaded reshipped their cargoes. Those cargoes remain, therefore, yet to be disposed of, at the same time the great market and entrepot of Moscow is destroyed, as to credit and commercial arrangement, for several years to come. Tọ supply Germany through Russia, is of course impracticable, because the seat of war lies mid. way between Russia and the rest of Europe. PEACE, and nothing but PEACE, can restore the prosperous trade of Great Britain. The rest is either delusive, or desperate and ruinous enterprize. Prices of land, &c. prior to the French war in 1793, and the present prices of the same, whereby it is proved that corn cannot be afforded under the present prices: Prices of Land, &e from the Year 1784 to 1802. Arable Land, from 10s. to 20s. per acre. Aleadow citto, from 30s. to 40s. ditto. Present Prices of Land. Poor's Rates, from 15. 6d. to 2:. €d, in the £. Poor's Rates, from 10s. to 12s. in the £. Property Tax, none. Assessed Taxes, but little. A good new farmer's waggon, 201. A three year old cart colt, from 127 to 15. Grey pease, from 3. to 45. per bushel. Property Tax, 10 per cent. Assessed Taxes, very heavy. A good new farmer's waggon, 50%. A three year old cart colt, from 407. to 50%. Best cheese, 12d per ib. Wheat, from 251. to 351. per load. Grey pease, from 9. to 10, per bushel. In 1812 there were imported into London 1,071,362 chaldrons of coals. In consequence of the deficiency in the crop of flax this year, that article has advanced from 75. to 1207. per ton. Potatoes damaged by the late rains, have been entirely restored by drying them on kilns used either for oatmeal or malt. The merchants at the out-ports are all alive, on the prospect of sharing the India trade; and already talk of building ships. The following are the prices of certain leading articles in Bristol market: Fresh butter 201 per lb.-Cheese 14d.-Veal 1s. per lb. best part.-Shoulder of mutton 94. per lb.-Baconprime 161. Naheens having for some time past been manufactured in Saxony, of a tolerable quality; the Saxon government has, in consequence, forbidden the introduction and sale of foreign Bankeens. The following is a statement of the price of the quartern loaf, wheaten bread, in every five years, from 1735 to the year 1809, as entered at the Town Clerk's Office, Guildhall, London: 1735 Geo. II. 1740 1745 1750 1755 1760 Geo. III. 1765 1770 54 1775 Geo. III. Standard of Bread.-The quartern loaf weighs 4lb. 5oz. 8r. From the 3d to the 15th, upwards of 60,000 ounces of gold and silver, in bars, and foreiga coin, were entered for exportation from London, to various parts of the Continent under the dominion of Bonaparte ! Persons are now travelling in the counties of Lincoln and York, offering 26s. for every; guinea they can get. Under the pretence that they are employed by government, they more easily obtain gold from those who possess it. Account of copper ore sold at Redruth on Thursday, December 10. Mines. Tons. Purchasers. At per ton. £3 12 6. English Co. 8 10 6 Cheadle W. and G. 6 11 6 The price now charged by the London refiners is, fine gold 51. 12s. per oz.; fine silver 71. 44. per oz. At Messrs Wolfe and Co.'s, Canal Office, No. 9, Change Alley, Cornhill.-London Dock. stock shares fetch 1011. per cent.-West India ditto, 1451. ditto.-East India ditto, 1041. ditto.-West Middlesex Water-works, 381. per share.-Grand Junction Canal 1981. ditto. The 3 per cent. consols on the 28th were 59, the 5 per cent. navy 881. 1 MONTHLY BOTANICAL REPORT. HAVING been prevented, by more urgent avocations, from continuing our Report regularly, we have suffered considerable arrears to accumulate upon our hands, a debt which wa shall endeavour now, at least, to begin to discharge. The BOTANICAL MAGAZINE has continued regularly to put forth its flowers every month, without regard to the severity of the season; and, since our last Report, has offered to the public a number of interesting plants; our account of which must be brief. Excomis nana, of the Hortus Kewensis, L'Heretier, Jacquin, and Willdenow; but Mr. The war against France began in 1793. Ксь Ker informs ng that it has been mistakenly supposed to be the Fritillaria nana of Burman and Linnæus, which is the Eucomis bifolia (Bot. Mag. No. 840), and that it is in reality the F. regia of these authors, but not of the Hortus Kewensis, where Dillenius's figure is erroneously quoted as a synonym, but which belongs to the present plant: as is also the E. regia of L'Heretier, which belongs to undulata (Bot. Mag. 1083). Mr. Ker has taken great pains to settle the synonymy right, but has very properly left the names, as they have of late years been very generally applied. IRIS fulva, the tawny or copper-coloured Iris ; a new species, introduced by Mr. Lyon last year, from the banks of the Mississipi, where it is found indigenous, growing in the low grounds in the neighbourhood of New Orleans. This industrious collector has, at different times, brought over two very large cargoes of North American plants; and we believe is gone again on the same pursuit, if his purpose be not interrupted by the unhappy war at present subsisting between this country and that of its younger brother, the government of the United States. LACHENALIA nervosa, a new species, approaching very near to purpureo-cœrulea, communicated by the Hon. Wm. Herbert, from his collection at Mitcham. VIOLA rothomagensis; a species that has been long known to the French botanists, as growing spontaneously near Rouen, and several other places, but does not seem to have been ever figured before. LOBELIA speculum. A pretty little annual, supposed to have been only of late discovered at the Cape of Good Hope, but which, from Dr. Sims's account, appears to have been long ago an inhabitant of the Botanic garden at Amsterdam, and to have been described and figured by Commelin. ROXBURGHIA gloriosa. A drawing of this beautiful climber has been before given to the public by Dr. Smith, in his Exotic Botany, who formed an idea of the structure of the flower considerably different from that of Dr. Roxburgh, adopted by Willdenow, Persoon, and in the new edition of the Hortus Kewensis. Dr. Sims, while he has followed the last mentioned authors in arranging this plant under the class Octandria, appears to us most inclined towards the opinion of Dr. Smith, who refers it to tetrandria. MIMULUS luteus. This species, the most beautiful yet known in the genus, was found by Dr. Langsdorff at Unashka, and transmitted to this country as perfectly new, under the name of M. Langsdorfii; but, by Dr. Sims's account, it appears to have been described and figured long ago by Father Feuillée. We observe that the same species is probably recorded in a cata logue printed in the present year at Moscow, under the name of M. guttatus. This plant probably has the merit of being perfectly hardy and of easy propagation, so that it will no doubt be soon common, and prove a valuable addition to the flower garden. The last-recorded number finishes the thirty-sixth volume of this charming work, containing in the whole fifteen hundred coloured engravings of plants cultivated in the English gardens, all drawn from nature, chiefly by that excellent botanical draughtsman, Mr. Sydenham Edwards. The size of this work is too small to do full justice to many of the subjects represented in it, and the want of dissections, displaying the parts of fructification, lessens its value to the botanical student, but these defects are in some measure remedied by the ingenuity of the artist, who has generally contrived to place the different flowers in such attitudes as to shew the most important parts, and are amply recompensed by the cheapness at which it is afforded. We may safely challenge the world to produce such a number of excellent botanical represe tations, so faithfully executed at so reasonable a price. It is high time that the editors should favour the public with another general index; sixteen volumes having been published since the last. Number 310 of the same work contains: TRITONIA longiflora, B and y; two additional varieties to the one before published, one of which had been formerly enumerated by Mr. Ker as a distinct species, under the name of T. zenu flora. Tritonia rochensis. A species nearly allied to the last-mentioned, but still more ornamental, and never before figured. Communicated by Messrs. Lee and Kennedy. IRIS prismatica. A new species, from the same collection, nearly allied, perhaps a variety only of I. virginica; introduced by Mr. Pursh, a Russian botanist, who has travelled much in North America, and, as we are informed, is publishing a new Flora of that country, which will be much richer than that of Michaux. NARTHECIUM americanum. This plant is a congener of Anthericum ossifragum of Linnæus, which latter species was first separated from Anthericum by our Hudson, whose name does not, however, occur in this account, Mr. Ker having adopted the generic character of a late writer, Wahlenberg, in his Flora Lapponica. The Narthecium of Jussieu, Michaux, and the French writers in general, is another genus, the Toficldia of Hudson, Anthericum calyculatum of Linnæus. Inattention to this circumstance probably led Mr. Pursh and Mr. Ker to suppose that this plant was the Narthecium glutinosum of Michaux, under which name it was first given in the Botanical Magazine, but corrected in the following number, CALOTHAMNUS |