to the plain expreffions of fcripture, is the true fenfe of fcripture. For it is the intended diftinguishing excellence of the facred books, that they are plain. Whether our Saviour had an existence in heaven with God the Father before his incarnation, I think one might fafely reft the decifion of this question with a Turk or an Indian, or any other plain, honeft, upright perfon in the world, who could read our New Teftament. Farther, when I have been contemplating this fubject, it has always appeared to me very frange, that fuch a magnificent apparatus fhould be inftituted by heaven to ufher into the world one who was nothing more than a man! Angels after angels wing their flight to Bethlehem, to indicate the birth of a man! -A moft magnificent heavenly choir, confifting of a multitude of angels, chearing the midnight hours with repeating, Glory to God in the highest! Good will towards men! deputed to our world, and chanting these rapturous ftrains to celebrate the birth of a man! Is it not fomething incongruous and difparate, that heaven fhould difplay all this fplendid fcenery, and lavish all this pomp and pageantry to introduce into our world a mere, ordinary, common man, diftinguifhed in no one natural endowment from any other of the fpecies? But fuppofing the being introduced with all this eclat, to be the fame who was in the beginning with God, and had glory with the Father before the world was, is not the decoration and magnificence-highly pertinent and honourable; and is it not with the greatest propriety that multitudes of the heavenly hoft, on this GREAT occafion,-fhould conjoin with harmonious voices and accordant hearts, in applauding and folemnizing a condefcenfion and benevolence, illuftrious and great beyond all example! Finally, whenever I have feriously revolved and difcuffed the merits of the Socinian fcheme,-it hath always appeared ftrange and extravagant to me to fuppofe, that a mere MAN fhould have all power in HEAVEN, as well as earth, immediately given him-that a mere man should inftantly have a name given him above every name, and be exalted to an eminence infinitely fuperior to any that obtains even in heaven !'-Some of our Readers will, perhaps, think that there is more of declamation than of argument in this Writer's infifting fo much upon the external apparatus and pomp with which the great event he alludes to was introduced.-But we proceed:

The two following differtations are entitled, Free and devout Thoughts on Coloff. i. 15-19. and 1 Cor. xv. 24-28. becaufe they are defigned, not only to enquire into the fenfe and meaning of thefe paffages of holy writ as compared with others, but alfo to treat them in a practical manner; and therefore the writer expreffes his hope, that those Chriftians who difapprove the fpeculative opinions, will yet be pleafed with the devotional fpirit of thele treatifes.'

The fifth and last differtation confiders the causes which probably confpired to produce our Saviour's agony. It was, we are told compofed about fourteen years ago, and the Author, upon reviewing it, fees no reafon to depart from the theory and fentiments it advances. The reafon, he adds, which originally induced me to write it, was my diffatisfaction with the fchemes which gloomy and fyftematic divines have devised to account for our Lord's agony.' Why should this Writer pronounce upon perfons who give an explication of this fubject different from that which he embraces, as gloomy divines? No doubt but numbers who have efpoufed a fcheme which he dislikes, have nevertheless been men of a very chearful fpirit. It is fufficiently verified by experience, that melancholy accounts and views, however difpleafing, may yet be truth and fact and certainly diftrefs and agony muft always be melancholy, whatever its caufe. Whether our Author's explication of this fubject is fully adequate to the fcripture account, or whether it is more fatisfactory than others which have been given, we fhall leave his readers to judge and determine for themfelves.

ART. III. Efays and Obfervations, phyfical and literary. Read before the Philofophical Society in Edinburgh, and published by them. Vol. III. Edinburgh printed, and fold in London by 8vo. Cadell. 7s. 6d. Boards. 1771.

THE

HE firft article in the third volume of thefe valuable effays and obfervations, contains fome ingenious experiments on Marles, by the late Dr. Ainflie.-From these experiments it appears, that marle does not contain the fmalleft proportion of alkaline falt: that it confifts of two parts, poffeffed of very oppofite qualities; the one clay, or a mixture of clay and fand; the other, foluble in acids, convertible by calcination into quick-lime, and confequently a real calcarious earth, differing in no refpect from the calcarious earth of lime ftone and the fhells of animals: that marles have many properties in common with lime-ftone; and that they differ from other calcarious fabftances only by containing a certain proportion of clay. For the experiments and obfervations, we must refer our Readers to the effay itself.

In the fecond article, Mr. George Clark confiders the advantages of Shallow Ploughing; and gives the general characters of the foil in the counties of Lincoln and Norfolk, where he faw this method of ploughing fuccefsfully practifed. Lord Kaims, in the fucceeding article, makes fome obfervations

For an account of the inftitution of this Society, and of their first vol. of Essays, &c. fee Rev. vol. xi. p. 169. See alfo an account of the Second vol. in our Review, vol. xv. p. 381.

од

on this fubject; and is of opinion, that the fuperior advantages of fhallow ploughing, are not yet fufficiently afcertained. This, is a point which can only be determined by an extensive expe

rience.

The different theories of Evaporation are confidered by Lord Kaims, in the fourth article. His Lordship adopts and enlarges upon the following doctrine: that evaporation is a fpecies of solution, and that in this process water is chemically diffolved in air. There is one difficulty, however, that attends this theory, and which is mentioned by his Lordship at the end of the article.

Neither of thefe caufes will account for the evaporation of water in vacuo. Elective attraction will not answer when there is no incumbent air to attract the water. Nor will mutual repulfion answer; because, in evaporation in vacuo, there is not fuppofed to be any extraordinary heat. The best way to account for this fuppofcd evaporation, at leaft the eafieft, is to deny the fact, which may be done bona fide, for I have not heard of any experiment that verifies it. I shall venture only a fingle hint, that an elective attraction betwixt glafs and water, fuppofing the fact to be ascertained, will fairly account for the phenomenon.'

The fact which his Lordship denies, is experimentally proved by Dr. Hamilton, in the fecond edition of his Philofophical Ejays. His Lordship's hint, to account for the phenomenon, fhould it prove to be a fact, is not the most philofophical; i. e. an elective attraction betwixt glass and water. It is well known to every chemift, that the attraction by which folution is performed, can only take place in confequence of the folvend and menftruum coming into contact; and it is certain, that there can be no chemical attraction betwixt the glass receiver and the water under it. This fubject has already been enlarged upon in the former parts of our Review *.

Art. IV. Letter from M. Turnbuli to Archibald Menzies, of Kildares, Efq; dated from Delphos, concerning Italy, the alledged Effects of the Bite of the Tarantula, and Grecian Antiquities. In the first part of this letter, our Author points out fome of the caufes of depopulation in the Italian states. With refpect to the bite of the Tarantula, he fays, I had every advantage I could wish for to inform myfelf of this affair, and from men of difcernment, who had taken fome pains in vifiting and examining the fick faid to be bit; among the rest, the archbishop of Otranto, of the noble family of the Carraccioli of Naples. This learned prelate affured me, from what he had feen of it, that it was a ridiculous vulgar notion, full of imposture and prejudice, and entirely void of foundation. He concurred,

• Vol, xxxv. p. 379. and vol. xl. p. 392. and vol. xlvi. p. 176. 4

indeed,

indeed, in opinion, with most men of judgement in those parts, that these difeafes proceeded from other causes. This feemed the more probable, and even clear to me, having had numberlefs opportunities of treating fuch difeafes in hot countries as are afcribed to this bite, and I always found that they were caufed by the heats of the mid-day fun. Though Malta is rather a wholesome climate, yet the fummer-heats cause very fatal fevers there, as well as other difeafes; among the reft, a teramus, or tenfe ftiffnels of the whole body, to fuch a violent degree, that it generally proves mortal in twenty-four hours, if the perfon affected is not relieved by a plentiful fweat. This, though rarely, happens alfo in Otranto, and other places, and is looked upon as an undeniable proof of the bite of the taran, tula; but, in Malta, they afcribe it to the being exposed to too great heats; for there a contrary prejudice runs fo high, that they deny the venomous power of all animals, fince the time of St. Paul's fhaking the ferpent from his hand into the fire, when he was caft away on that ifland. As to what has been believed, that the bite of the tarantula caufes a lethargic droufinefs, from which the perfon affected cannot be roufed but by fuch mufic as ftrikes his fancy and pleafes: this is not fo; for the fick perfon is always entreated and folicited to use this exercife; and, as a further incitement, they strike up fuch airs as the patient likes, or which, on trial, they find ftrike his fancy. The belief of fuch fymptoms arifes from the practices of tricking vagabonds, called tarantuliffi, who go about the kingdom of Naples pretending to be bit by the tarantula. They always affect thefe fymptoms, and pretend to be roused by certain airs, to which they dance in a strange extravagant manner. It is probable that you faw fome of them at Naples. Perhaps this method of cure might fucceed in fome particular .cafes, instead of other gymnaftic methods generally ordered.'

A fhort account of Corfu, Patras, Delphos, and Parnaffus, is all that relates to the Grecian antiquities, which make part of this letter.

Art. V. Letter from Dr. Austin, Phyfician, to Dr. Monro, jun. on the Effect of Electricity in removing Obftructions of the Menfes. Dated Edinburgh, 1764.

The hiftory here related is a proof of the fingular and immediate good effects of the electrical fhock, in certain female complaints. A few judicious remarks are added to this hiftory, by the late Dr. David Clerk.

Art. VII. The Effects of a very large Dofe of Opium, by the late Dr. David Clerk, Phyfician in Edinburgh.

The dofe was one drachm of folid opium, which would probably have proved fatal, had not a repeated and long-continued vomiting been procured, foon after the bad effects of the opium were discovered..

Art.

Art. VIII. Letter from Dr. B. Franklin to D. Hume, Efq; on the Method of fecuring Houfes from the Effects of Lightning. The method directed by Dr. Franklin, is fo plain and diftinct, that no one can be at a lofs in executing it. The Dr. has likewife added fufficient proof of its efficacy.

Art. IX. Method of determining the Strength and Direction of Earthquakes, by the late Rev. Dr. Wark, Minister at Haddington.

A veffel, which is the portion of a sphere of three or four feet diameter, is fet on a ground floor, and powdered over on the infide by a barber's puff; a fufficient quantity of water is then gently poured into it. Upon the mallet tremor, the water rifing in the veffel, will fhew both the heighth and direction of the shock by washing down the powder.-As water speedily evaporates, Dr. Wark propofed an improvement of this method, by using mercury instead of water, and covering the veffel with a plate of glafs, to keep it free from duft. Art. X. An Account of the Indian Pink, by Alexander Garden, M. D. in Charlestown, South Carolina, Member of the Royal Society at Upjal, and of the Philofophical Society of Edinburgh. Dr. Garden has given the Indian Pink-root, in hundreds of cafes, and never found it do much fervice, except it proved gently purgative: it efpecially anfwers, he fays, in continued or remitting low worm fevers, in which a decoction is given with the addition of fome of the ferpentaria. It is, in general, fafer to give it in large dofes than in fmall; for, from the latter more frequently the giddinefs, dimnefs of the fight, and convulfions, &c. follow; whereas, from large dofes, I have not known any other effect than its proving emetic or violently cathartic. To a child of two years of age, who had been taking ten grains of the root twice a day, without having any other effect than making her dull and giddy, I prescribed 22 grains morning and evening, which purged her brifkly, and brought away five large worms. After fome months an increated dofe had the fame good effects. I prefer the root to the other parts of the plant, of which, when properly dried, I give from 12 to 60 or 70 grains in fubftance. In infufion, it may be given to the quantity of 2, 3, or 4 drachms twice a-day.' Where it does not gently move the body, and produces the nervous fymptoms, a purgative will foon remove thele effects. There is added an engraving, and a botanical defcription of the plant.

Art. XI. An Account of a very infectious Distemper prevailing in many Places, by Ebenezer Gilchrift, M. D,

Dr. Gilchrift obferves, that this infectious diftemper, is of the venereal kind; that it chiefly infefts the lowest class of people; and that want of cleanlinefs is the great fource of its H continuance

REV. Aug. 1772.