The inferences deducible from this table do not altogether correspond with those which the preceding would seem to warrant; but still they fully bear out the statement, that the atmosphere, both of the Undercliff and of Torquay, so far from being saturated with moisture, has a greater evaporating power than that of Clifton, which is usually regarded as rather a dry locality. And this seems borne out by the comparison of the amount of rain which falls at these three places respectively, as shown in the following table:

Annual. Winter. Spring. Summer. Autumn.

So, again, with regard to the number of days on which rain falls,—a matter of as much importance as the actual amount of rain,—we find that both these spots present a favorable contrast to Bristol; Torquay, however, having a decided superiority.

In regard to seclusion from northerly winds, both the Undercliff and Torquay possess this great advantage, that a very efficient shelter is afforded to them, without that excessive protection which becomes so injurious by obstructing the ventilation, and impeding the solar illumination of towns shut up within a narrow semicircle of hills. In both these localities, the invalid can enjoy long walks or rides, and encounter a considerable variety of scenery, without risk of severe exposure, even during the prevalence of northerly or north-easterly winds.

Dr. Martin assures us that the Undercliff is freer from sea-fogs than most places on the southern coast of England; and he believes that it has also an advantage, especially over the south coast of Devon, in regard to its electrical state,- —an element in climate of which we as yet know too little, but of which we trust that much will speedily be learned. Dr. Madden has nothing to say upon either of these points.

It is obvious, then, that both these situations present great advantages to those who seek a change of climate on account of such pulmonary affections as can be removed or mitigated by a mild and tolerably dry atmosphere; and the profession is much indebted to Drs. Madden and Martin for thus presenting it with satisfactory materials for its judgment.

PART SECOND.

Bibliographical Notices.

ART. I.-Elements of Chemistry, Theoretical and Practical; including the most recent Discoveries and Applications of the Science to Medicine and Pharmacy, to Agriculture, and to Manufactures. By Sir RICHARD KANE, M.D., M.R.I.A., President of the Queen's College, Cork, &c. &c. Second Edition.-Dublin, 1849. 8vo, pp. 1070. Illustrated by 230 Woodcuts.

SIR ROBERT KANE'S deservedly high reputation as a chemist, his intimate acquaintance with the industrial occupations of the Irish, and his unceasing efforts to develope the resources of his country, have tended to bring his 'Elements' into great public favour; and, as appears from the preface to this edition, his work has not only enjoyed considerable patronage in Great Britain and Ireland, but, under the editorial guidance of Professor Draper, of New York, it has been adopted in the Colleges of the United States.

The general plan and character of this treatise are peculiarly suited, in our opinion, to the wants of the chemical student; for while it is constructed so as to avoid most of the questionable and unproven hypotheses of modern chemists, it omits none of their important discoveries; it dwells much more upon general principles and doctrines, than upon the wearisome details with which most treatises are crowded; and it is written, moreover, in such an easy and familiar style, as to be adapted to the capacity of every reader of ordinary intelligence.

In his attempts to avoid the errors of modern hypotheses, however, the author sometimes commits faults of a serious nature. Thus, to take an instance or two, he treats the subject of heat as if the latter were a material agent; and he speaks therefore of quantities of it, of a special heat, of atmospheres of it, and he says that the production of it, whether it be by reason of friction, compression, or chemical action, is due to the condensation of matter, and to the evolution of specific heat. (p. 95.) So, also, he speaks of electricity as a fluid incorporated with matter; and he adopts this hypothesis, not because he believes in the actual existence of such a fluid, but because the supposition is ancient, and has become a part of our common creed. (pp. 138-269.) Magnetism, again, is spoken of (p. 185) as "a form of electricity," without any recognition of the views of those eminent physicists who regard it as not identical with any form of electricity, but as correlated to it, as it is also to heat. He evidently inclines to the idea that all these agents are dynamical, not in any sense material; and we could wish that he had spoken out his views more boldly, and had made the requisite changes in the phraseology he employs.

The radical theory is attacked by our author, as might be expected, with considerable energy; and he will not give it any more countenance than he is obliged to do. He censures it, not only on account of its involving so much speculation, but because, as he declares, the attempts which have been made by some eminent chemists to represent the composition of organized structures by means of formulæ, have tended to throw into confusion the most interesting questions of physiology and animal chemistry. (p. 661.) So that Sir Robert Kane is a follower in the path of Dumas, Laurent, Gerhardt, and Gmelin; and is disposed to adopt the theory of types, rather than the more popular doctrine of organic radicals. We cannot, therefore, but regard his work as a wholesome check upon the too rapid course of modern speculation; and we can recommend it to our readers as one of the best introductions extant to the science of which it treats.

We trust, however, that whenever it may reach another Edition, the Index will be found to have undergone considerable improvement. The author's fluent style and facile manner tend to hurry him right onwards, and thus not unfrequently lead to the postponement of topics of which some notice might have been expected, until some other and perhaps less appropriate opportunity. Hence a copious and well-arranged index is peculiarly requisite; and we are compelled to remark that the one which now terminates the volume is neither one nor the other, the references being meagre and the words frequently misplaced.

ART. II.-Lectures on Medical Missions, delivered at the instance of the Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society.-Edinb., 1849. 12mo, pp. 320. IN our Third Number, for July 1848, when considering the general question of medical ethics, we briefly alluded to the subject of Medical Missions, and took the opportunity of commending them to the favorable notice of our readers. The appearance of the present volume recalls our attention to this truly important matter, and will tend, we trust, to excite a deeper and more active sympathy among the profession at large-more especially in the metropolis and other large cities, where young men are being educated for the future exercise of the healing art-in the great and good object that is sought to be accomplished. It contains a series of lectures which have recently been delivered before the medical students at Edinburgh, and a prefatory essay from the pen of Professor Alison, in which this distinguished physician points out, in a calm and philosophic spirit, the intimate connexion that should ever subsist between the pursuit of scientific knowledge, and the reception of the blessed truths of Christianity. The lectures are six in number, and stand thus: 1. An introductory one, explanatory of the series and recommendatory of the subject, by Mr. Miller, Professor of Surgery in the University. 2. On the importance of Medical Missions, by the Rev. W. Swan, lately missionary in Siberia. 3. On the qualifications of a medical missionary, by W. Browne, Esq., F.R.C.S., and President of the Medical Missionary Society. 4. On the duties of a medical missionary, by the Rev. J. Watson. 5. On the sacredness of medicine as a profession, by Dr. Wilson, F.R.S.E. 6. On the responsibilities attaching to the profession, by Dr. Coldstream, F.R.C.P.E. They will, each and all of them, repay the labour of a

thoughtful perusal, and are, we think, exceedingly well fitted to promote the excellent cause which the Society, at whose instance they were delivered, has in view. The one by Professor Miller (it is also published separately, we believe) is especially deserving of praise for its eloquence and fervour; it should be read, and pondered too, by every medical man in the kingdom. May the good example that has thus been set by the Edinburgh school of medicine-to which so many of the present members of the profession look back with pleasure as their alma mater— be followed in other seminaries of professional instruction.

There cannot surely be a doubt but that as a body, we have not hitherto lived or acted up to the true and highest end of our vocation or mission. Our thoughts have been so much absorbed in the materialities of its pursuit, or in the ceaseless acquisition of its merely intellectual details, that its loftier and more spiritual bearings have well-nigh been overlooked by most of us. Perhaps, indeed, this charge might fairly be brought against every department of secular knowledge, as studied and carried out in the present day; they are all too much followed as an end, not as a means to a more remote and nobler one. How admirably has Bacon pointed out and rebuked this fault, when speaking of the impediments to the advancement of truth and science in his time:

"But the greatest error of all the rest is the mistaking or misplacing of the last or furthest end of knowledge; for men have entered into a desire of learning and knowledge, sometimes upon a natural curiosity and inquisitive appetite; sometimes to entertain their minds with variety and delight; sometimes for ornament and reputation; and sometimes to enable them to victory of wit and contradiction; and most times for lucre and profession; and seldom sincerely to give a true account of their gift of reason to the benefit and use of men; as if there were sought in knowledge a couch, whereupon to rest a searching and restless spirit; or a terrace for a wandering and variable mind to walk up and down with a fair prospect; or a tower of state, for a proud mind to raise itself upon; or a fort or commanding ground for strife and contention; or a shop for profit and sale; and not a rich storehouse for the glory of the Creator, and the relief of man's estate."

If such be the true end of all knowledge, how emphatically so must it be of that branch of it which professes to teach us how to soothe the sufferings and heal the diseases of our fellow-creatures! The physician, indeed, who takes the Bible as the oracle of truth and the guide of his life, cannot but feel the sacredness of his calling, and the deep responsibilities, but no less lofty privileges, which it involves. And is there not something very touching in the fact that the Saviour himself appeals to his works of healing as one of the signs and evidence of His Messiahship? "Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." When, too, he sent forth his disciples to preach the gospel, we read that he commissioned them also to heal the sick, to cleanse the lepers, to raise the dead, and to cast out devils;" adding the admonitory injunction,-"freely ye have received, freely give." Do not these things imply a hallowed union between the office of relieving human suffering and that of evangelistic teaching? And is there not therefore reason for believing that if the "healing element," so to speak, in missionary enterprise had been more earnestly and steadfastly worked

out than it has ever yet been since the apostolic age, there might have resulted a larger amount of success in the diffusion of the gospel in barbarous and heathen lands, than has hitherto been gained? Indeed, the good that has already been done by the few medical missionaries who have gone forth within the last eight or ten years-and to America belongs the praise of having been foremost and most zealous in the work-fully warrants this belief, and affords, at the same time, the most gratifying evidence how much our profession has it in their power to promote the highest welfare of the human race. How can it be otherwise? We all know the amazing power of active disinterested philanthropy in disarming even the most obstinate of their prejudices, and in winning the confidence and esteem of our fellow-creatures. The human heart cannot resist the force of this talisman; do good-single-minded, unselfish, good, and men are constrained to love you. Now this is the very weapon whereby it is sought to prepare the ground for the reception of the good seed of Christian instruction, in nations that are still lying in heathen ignorance and superstition. The medical missionary goes forth on his labour of mercy among the sick, the suffering, and the wretched, in lands where neither science has bestowed its light nor charity has conferred its blessing. He invites all to come to him for relief, without money, and without price. The poor, unused to sympathy, flock to him from all quarters; they have tried their own doctors, and probably besought their own gods, but without avail; he heals or relieves them; their affection is won by the good he has done them or their friends; they regard him as a benefactor, and look up to him as a friend; he invites them to join with him in praise and prayer to their common Father in heaven, from whom cometh down every good gift, and to whom he ascribes all the glory; their hearts, warmed with gratitude, respond to the call; the first gleams of divine truth dawn upon their souls; they feel the wish to know more; his advice directs and encourages them; they have the gospel preached to them; and thus they are led on from step to step, until at length they are brought to the saving knowledge of their Redeemer, and become missionaries themselves, in their own humble sphere, and to their own families and kindred, of the glad tidings of great joy which He came into the world to proclaim. This is certainly a glorious field for exertion; it rests, in a great measure, with medical men, whether it be rightly and efficiently occupied. Our privilege, as well as our duty, is great; we can all aid the good work in some way or another; to engage in it will dignify and exalt our profession; the object is an ennobling one; the present time is most favorable, the reward is sure; for beneficence like mercy, is

ever

"twice blessed,

It blesseth him who gives, and him who takes."

ART. III.-Letters on the Truths contained in Popular Superstitions. By HERBERT MAYO, M.D.-Frankfort, 1849. Post 8vo, pp. 152. THESE letters, which originally appeared in Blackwood's Magazine' for 1847, profess to examine and elucidate the reputed phenomena of "the divining rod, vampyrism, the belief in ghosts and dreams, secondsight, supposed workings of the holy spirit on masses, possession by