puncturation: having introduced the needle through the integuments of eight and nine ribs, at the parts corresponding to the junction with their cartilaginous epiphises, I continued to press it gently forward. When it had penetrated to about two-thirds of its whole depth, (an inch,) I inquired if she experienced either pain from the puncture, or relief from the disease? She replied," she scarcely felt the instrument, but that her rheumatism had suddenly abated of its violence;" and, to my surprise, this reply was expressed in her natural tone of voice. She added, that she could "now speak and breathe freely," so that I found her former taciturnity, which I had attributed to moroseness, had vanished. After two or three operations, the patient was free from uneasiness, and could make a deep inspiration without pain. The operation was completely successful, for, excepting a slight darting pain, which occasionally troubled her for a few days afterwards, no symptoms of the disorder remained, and she continues at this time perfectly well." .... tained the needle in its place for five made the pain totally disappear, and Several other cases of eminent physicians are mentioned, which are only a repetition of what I have already stated, therefore shall not farther intrude upon your pages. In conclusion, I shall only state what M. Berlion, another eminent French physician, in speaking of the disease to which this remedy is applicable, says, "Vague and wandering rheumatism sometimes attacks the external muscles-subservient to respiration, the patient is obliged to remain motionless; every motion of the trunk compels him to cry out; a deep inspiration is very difficult; and laughing occasions such cruel pains that expectoration is impossible: Acupuncturation dissipates instantly this state of distress, and renders to the muscles their full liberty of action. space of one or two minutes, a patient, whose sufferings drew from him tears, exclaims he is quite well." In the I have been thus anxious to lay before your numerous readers a few particulars of this extraordinary mode of cure, in all cases of fixed pain, which is more or less attendant on that tormenting malady, rheumatism; the more so as our variable and ungenial clime induces the complaint in almost every family within its influence. W. H. The last I shall intrude upon you, is related by Dr. Haim, a French physician of eminence, who, it appears, was called upon to attend a female, suffering under a severe attack of rheumatism. "Antoinette Boulard, 38 years of age, had experienced a severe attack of rheumatism, which fixed on the inferior part of the left side of the chest. At first it gave way to the usual treatment in such cases: after six weeks I was called up again to see this woman: I found her in a state of great suffering, and her plaintive tone of voice indicated the violence of the pain, which drew from her cries on the least motion. Three days were passed in this state, and Antoinette obtained no relief. I determined, therefore, to practise Acupuncturation. I introduced the needle at the inferior margin of the cartilages of the false ribs. The instrument had hardly passed to the depth of a few lines, when the patient said the pain had changed its seat, and descended into the abdomen; at the same time, that it had lost much of its THIS work is entertaining, but not violence. I continued the introduc- profound. It touches on most subtion to the depth of an inch; by this jects connected with the trade, public means the pain was driven from the buildings, and benevolent instituabdomen, and permitted the patient tions, in this large and mercantile to breathe freely. However, I main-town, without descending to those Bermondsey-Square, Jan. 9, 1821. REVIEW.-A Description of modern Birmingham; whereunto are annexed observations made during an excursion round the town, in the summer of 1818, including Warwick and Leamington. By Charles Pye. Richardson, Cornhill, London. 8vo. pp. 106. minute delineations which would prove highly interesting to all classes of readers. Of this fact the author seems Fully sensible; and in his advertisement prefixed to the volume, he accounts for these deficiencies by stating, that in several instances the sources of information were shut against his inquiries. This statement implies a severe reflection on the individuals to whom the remarks apply, and we cannot but think that they merit that exposure which they have obtained. Into the ancient history of this town the author does not enter; and consequently, we are furnished with no data for marking those distinct eras in its manufacturing prosperity, which would enable us to trace its progressive advancement from diminutive beginnings, to its present commanding attitude among the manufacturing towns of Europe. Birmingham presents no monuments of antiquity, no venerable ruins to the antiquarian eye; yet, according to Hutton, Alfred found it a town; and one of the principal evidences of its great antiquity is, that it is contiguous to two Roman roads, the Ikenild and Shirley streets. The etymology of the name is involved in much obscurity. It has been variously written Brumwycheham, Bromycham, &c. and in common conversation it is now frequently pronounced Bromidgham. A family named Birmingham held this manor until the year 1537, when the Duke of Northumberland having attempted in vain to purchase it, perfidiously implicated the proprietor as an accomplice in a highway robbery, and then offered to save his life, on condition that he would sell the manor. The manor house, which is now called the Mote, still remains, though the site has been converted into a manufactory; and an apartment is shewn where the ancient lords held their court-leets. "The town is situated nearly in the centre of the kingdom, in the northwest extremity of the county of Warwick. The foundation of the houses," Mr. Pye states, "with few exceptions, is a dry mass of sandy rock, from whence no noxious vapours arise, and on which account the cellars may be inhabited with safety, though this is not customary here. In this favoured spot, the inhabitants enjoy four of the greatest benefits that can attend human existence; air more pure than in many other places; water of an excellent quality; the genial influence of the sun; and a situation not in the least subject to damps." Against this description, as delineating its natural advantages, we have nothing to object; but we conceive that some deduction must be made on account of the smoke which frequently pollutes the atmosphere, and occasionally hides the luminary of day. The trade and various manufactories of Birmingham hold a conspicuous rank in this volume. The whole, however, or nearly so, is comprised in a brief history, accompanied only with such remarks as would naturally occur to a resident, who had purposely turned his attention towards them, and had made his arrangements with a design of giving them to the world. But although we cannot compliment the author with having displayed any profound research, we readily acknowledge that his volume contains much general information; and while it is calculated to furnish both entertainment and instruction, we think that it will serve as a valuable directory to such persons as visit Birmingham with a design to survey its various curiosities, and to mark the effects of human ingenuity, in giving existence and perfection to invention, and the application of the arts. To the genius and enterprising spirit of Mr. Boulton, the author pays the following justly merited compliment. "The writer of these pages was born in the year 1749, and having been an attentive observer more than fifty years, he is convinced that the extensive trade now carried on in this town, is principally to be attributed to the enterprising spirit of the late Matthew Boulton, Esq. who, by his active and unremitting exertions, the indefatigable perseverance of himself and agents, together with the liberal manner in which he patronized genius, laid the foundation." concise, and the description is limited | to the most striking features in the picture. The information, however, is of much importance, and cannot fail to excite a general interest in every reader, who wishes to obtain an acquaintance with the topography of this district. The volume on the whole is pleasing and instructive; and the plan on which it is laid out being ample, is calculated to support a lofty superstructure. The author, by unremitting diligence and application, will, no doubt, in time, supply all deficiencies, and merit for his work an honourable rank among the topographical publications of his country. REVIEW.-The Cathedral Antiquities amateurs, they are pronounced to be quite unique of their kind. Their architectural accuracy has also been much praised. The work, as already published, comprehends histories and illustrations of Salisbury, Winchester, Norwich, Oxford, York, and Lichfield cathedrals.-Canterbury is now publishing, and will, we are told, be followed by Wells, &c. We need not add, that we wish the author success; and we anticipate as much pleasure from the perusal of his forthcoming volumes, as we have derived from those now on our table. REVIEW.-A Parental Portraiture of BIOGRAPHY, when the subject is good, and the delineation correct, generally furnishes a rich repast of entertainment and instruction. Such instruction as is derived not from the plausible speculations of the philoso We do not know a more delightful, more improving, and, happily we may add, a more fashionable accompaniment of history, than topographical antiquities; nor do we know a more pleasing and elegant study than comparing the classical researches, and the splendid engravings, of Mr. Brit-phic theorist, but from actual experiton, with the passages which they ence; between which there is a diffeillustrate, in the standard histories of rence, as great as between the ancient England. In the Cathedral Antiqui- maps of geographers, in which unexties, which Mr. Britton is now pub-plored regions were filled with cities, lishing, his first care is to exhibit the history of the several sees, and the influence which they successively acquired; next, to trace the history of the architecture of each cathedral, with an account of its present state; and, in fine, to sketch the biography of distinguished prelates, with the most characteristic anecdotes of their lives. The whole series abounds with critical discrimination-lively discussion--and curious research-given in a spirited and classical manner, and not in the usual dry, dull, heavy style, of former antiquarian works. Of the numerous engravings, we can give no idea by verbal description; for to say, they are splendid, beautiful, and picturesque, would convey nothing but a vague notion of excellence. To form any idea of their superiority as works of British art, they must be seen. We know that, by the unanimous opinion of the first and towns, and mountains and rivers, the mere creations of their own fancy, and those of modern times, which are the result of an actual survey, and a minute examination of those formerly unknown portions of our globe. The chief subjects of biography have generally been princes and statesmen, warriors, and men distinguished for learning and science,men who had occupied elevated stations in society whilst living, whose influence had been extensive, who had been the benefactors or the plagues of mankind, and had diffused happiness or spread a moral pestilence among them. Faithful biography posthumously delineates their character, traces their actions to those principles which gave them birth, removes the veil with which their good actions were concealed by their enemies and their bad ones by their friends, and honestly transmits their real character to the admiration or execration of posterity. Thus men who in life were a public curse, in the hands of the upright and intelligent biographer, become a public blessing, and furnish many instructive lessons to their suc cessors. with his tears, and whose soul was "What would offend the eye in a good pic- Mr. Treffry, however, has, much to his honour, avoided this common evil, and has faithfully recorded those defects which he saw, or thought he saw, in his beloved son. "Thomas Hawkey Treffry was born at Truro, in Cornwall, Nov. 2, 1802." The precocity of his talents have seldom been exceeded. "Before he was two years of age, he could not only speak distinctly, but had learned all his letters, could spell most words of one syllable, and repeat many verses of poetry. page 1. He had read through the greater part of the bible before he was four years of age, and was able to give a succinct account of the principal characters, and the most remarkable events recorded in the sacred volume. page 3. When he was about five years of age, he began to learn the French language, and before he had attained his sixth year, translated a sermon from the French of Ostervald, on Job xxi. 14; besides translations of many of Fenelon's Spiritual Letters," and other French works, far more difficult to render into English, page 9. Before he had completed his eighth year, he mani It is important to the interests of society, that the lives of those persons who have been intimately connected with the temporal destinies of empires and of kingdoms, and those by whom science and the comforts of this life have been eminently promoted, should be faithfully recorded. Such a record greatly increases our stock of useful knowledge; it not only shews us, as in an orrery, the heavenly bodies revolving upon the canvass, but it introduces us behind the scene, to an acquaintance with that mechanism which directs the whole, and discovers those hidden principles from whence emanated those actions which, when the actors lived, were considered the offspring of the highest wisdom, or the most egregious folly; of virtue the most transcendent, or vice the most execrable or diabolic. But no biography pleases us so much as that which is at once both intellectual and pious, which shews the development of the powers of mind, and marks its progress in spite of the numerous obstacles which oppose its march; combined with an equal expansion of the religious principle in exercises of piety towards God, and benevolence towards men. When these are united, as in the lives of Baxter, and Watts, and Doddridge, and Wesley, and Fletcher, and Coke, and Pearse, and Fuller, and others, whose names will be had in everlast-fested a taste for poetry, and wrote, ing remembrance, we not only contemplate them with feelings of delight and admiration, but their virtues become assimilating in their operation. We catch a portion of their spirit, and, though despairing of ever attaining to eminence like theirs, our energies are roused to follow their intellectual march, and humbly to copy their "work of faith, their labour of love, and their patience of hope." Among those who have benefited by the biography and works of others, and whose biography will also prove a blessing to posterity, we are to rank the amiable subject of the "Parental Portraiture," which, though written by a father, who wet every page of it in verse, a prayer and a hymn, which, though some of the sentiments and phrases are, in a few instances, evidently copied from hymns which we think it probable he had often heard, yet discover a soundness of judgment, and an ear for harmony, which are rarely to be met with at that early age. In the same year he began to learn Latin, soon after which he was sent to a public school at Kingswood, near Bristol, where he remained five years, and where his good conduct procured him the esteem of the governor and masters of that seminary. During his residence at school, he was, in common with several of his schoolfellows, the subject of religious impressions, to |