coats of the lacteals, which he fays, are exactly fimilar, to, thofe of the lymphatics. He divides them into three. A denfe, polished internal coat, to prevent tranfudation; and which by its duplicatures forms the valves. The middle coat is composed of mufcular fibres, running in all directions. The external coat, membranous, fimilar to the pleura and peritoneum. Thefe membranous coats as well as the above membranes formed from the furrounding reticular fubftance compacted. Suppofes with Haller, the reticular membrane, to be the bafis of all animal fibres. Coats of lacteals ftronger than thofe of arteries and veins, for they fuftain a greater weight of quickfilver; owing probably to their denfity. Moft irritable fyftem of veffels in the body. Neceffity of mufcular force in abforbents, from the want of the vis a tergo. Valves of the abforbents numerous; fimilar to those of veins. According to Hewfon, no valves in the absorbents: of fish; but found in all animals breathing air, Manner in which thefe veffels perform abforption, fuppofed to be by capillary attraction. Reafons, from analogy in the fluid taken up by the puncta lacrymalia. And from the abforption of the fluid in the femicircular canals and cochlea of the ear, performed in this way. Mode of abforption ingenioufly inveftigated. Animal bodies have power of abforbing folids as well as fluids, firft taught by Mr. John Hunter. Exemplified by Mr. Chefton's cafe of the thoracic duct containing calcareous earth abforbed from a fpine ventofa of the os ilium. Application to difeafes. Earth of bone probably abforbed in the mollities offium, and carried out of the body by the urinary fecretions. Many phoenomena in the animal ceconomy explained only from this principle. Orifices of the lacteals, from the villofe coat of the intef tines, firft defcribed and delineated by Lieberkühn, who gives a very particular account of them, and defcribes alfo the ampullule. Hewfon denied the exiftence of thefe ampullulæ. The only fubfequent anatomift befides our Author, who has defcribed them, is the ingenious Mr. Cruikthank. Mr. Sheldon has alfo found them in the human fubject, and has feveral preparations of them in his collection. They are admirably and diftin&tly thewn in plate, I. of this work. The orifices of the ampullulæ fhewn in plate. II. taken from Lieberkühn. The lacteals traced from their origin to their termination in the thoracic duct. Mr. Sheldon, while a ftudent at the Weftminster Hofpital, found, in perfons who died with ulcers on the villofe coats of the inteftines, the lacteal trunks under under the peritoneal coat, much more confpicuous, than in other fubjects; and had therefore an opportunity of injecting them with quickfilver, together with fome mefenteric glands of the first order. From the fame difeafed fubject he has fhewn the lacteals running in the longitudinal direction of the inteftine. See fig. 3. of plate II. The lacteals perform the office of lymphatics to the inteftines. No lymphatics diftinct from thefe. Two orders of lacteal veffels. Vafa lactea ingredientia, feu primi generis-& vafa lactea egredientia, feu fecundi generis. This alludes to their entering into and coming out of the mefenteric glands. A divifion of no confequence in anatomy or phyfiology. Lacteal and lymphatic glands; more numerous in the foetus and in children than in adults, The fifth plate represents a portion of the human jejunum, in which the thoracic duct appears filled from throwing quickfilver into the lacteals on the furface of the intestine. The author obferves that in making this preparation, the quickfilver poured into the lymphatic injecting pipe to fill thefe veffels, ran out in a full ftream by the jugular vein. Thus hath our ingenious profeffor traced and given delineations of the lacteal veffels from their orifices, and of their numerous ramifications and courfe through the mefentery and its glands, to their termination in the thoracic duct; which hath not yet been fully done by any preceding anatomift. The plates annexed are moft accurately drawn and moft beautifully engraved. The fecond part of this curious work, which we hope will foon appear, is to complete the anatomy of the reft of the abforbent fyftem, and which may indeed be confidered from these and all the other modern difcoveries made in it, as a new fyftem in the animal œconomy." ART. V. The Principles of Moral and Political Philofophy. By William Paley, M. A. Archdeacon of Carlisle. 4to. 11. is. Boards. Faulder. London. THE HE objects of this performance are of great weight and dignity. The author, after fome preliminary confiderations, fets himself to treat formally of moral obligation. He then inquires into the relative duties which are determinate and indeterminate. From thefe topics he paffes to the duties which refult from the constitution of the fexes. He next enumerates our duties to ourselves, and towards God. And then he concludes his fpeculations by an exhibition of the elements of political knowledge. Upon Upon topics fo fertile and fo interefting, there was room for displays of genius, erudition, and eloquence. But no fuch displays are to be found in the volume before us. The author, who for many years was a tutor or teacher in one of the Universities, had occafion to prelect to his pu-. pils upon the fubjects which he examines in the prefent work; and the notes which affifted him in this talk appear here in an amplified form. His sketches are every where rude and imperfect. His reading both upon morals and polity is narrow and confined. He exhibits the efforts of a ftudent, and not the perfection of a mafter. The more important books upon morality and jurifprudence, never feem to have engaged his attention. Yet, he is impreffed with the notion, that his obfervations are of great folidity; and that his atchievements deferve an extenfive notice. His vanity and the inefficacy of his toils are in a striking oppofition, and do not ferve to recommend him to favour. His profeffional pedantry is alfo prominent, and must be dif-. gufting to men, who are diftinguished by liberality and candour. But though he is attached to the church to which he belongs, he is by no means to be confidered as a bigot. In general, he is friendly to toleration and to the rights of mankind. While we allow him however this merit, it is a juftice which we owe to literature, to our readers, and to ourselves to obferve, that his ideas are common; and that we discover in his writings no traces of originality or invention. He is to be ranked in the humble ftation of a compiler, who is not deftitute of vivacity, and who retails the thoughts of other men with a confiderable fhare of popularity and precifion. And, indeed, notwithstanding his importance to himfelf, which is fufficiently ceremonious and Hattering, he has freely confeffed that he has the greatest obligation to the writings of the late Abraham Tucker, Efq;. part of which were publifhed by himfelf, and the remainder fince his death, under the title of "The Light of Nature r purfued by Edward Search, Efq;" Though our admiration is not excited by the abilities of our author, it yet becomes us to exhibit a fpecimen of them to our readers. Having ftarted the topic of the advantages of a power over property, he furnishes the following obfervations concerning wills. • From the confideration that wills are the creatures of the muni cipal laws which give them their efficacy, may be deduced a determination of the queftion, whether the intention of the teftator in an informal will be binding upon the confcience of thofe, who, by, operation of law, fucceed to his estate. By an informal will, I. mean a will void in law, for want of fome requifite formality, though no doubt be entertained of it's meaning or authenticity: as 5 fuppofe fuppofe a man make his will, devifing his freehold eftate to his fifter's fon, and the will be attefted by two only, instead of three fubfcribing witneffes; would the brother's fon, who is heir at law to the teftator, be bound in confcience, to refign his claim to the eftate, out of deference to his uncle's intention? Or, on the contrary, would not the devifee under the will be bound, upon difcovery of this flaw in it, to furrender the eftate, fuppofe he had gained poffeffion of it, to the heir at law? Generally fpeaking, the heir at law is not bound by the inten tion of the teftator. For the intention can fignify nothing, unless the perfon intending have a right to govern the descent of the estate. That is the first question. Now this right the teftator can only derive from the law of the land; but the law confers the right upon certain conditions, which conditions he has not complied with. Therefore the teftator can lay no claim to the power which he pretends to exercife, as he hath not entitled himself to the benefit of that law, by virtue of which alone, the estate ought to attend his difpofal. Confequently the devifee under the will, who, by concealing this flaw in it, keeps poffeffion of the eitate, is in the fituation of any other perfon, who avails himself of his neighbour's ignorance, to detain from him his property. The will is fo much waste paper, from the defect of right in the perfon who made it. Nor is this catching at an expreffion of law to pervert the substantial defign of it, for I apprehend it to be the deliberate mind of the legislature, that no will fhould take effect upon real estates, unless authenticated in the precife manner which the statute describes. Had teftamentary difpofitions been founded in any natural right, independant of pofitive conftitutions, I fhould have thought differently of this queftion. For then I fhould have confidered the law, rather as refufing it's affistance to enforce the right of the devisee, than as extinguish ing, or working any alteration in the right itself. And after all, I fhould chufe to propofe a cafe, where no confideration of pity to diftrefs, duty to a parent, or gratitude to a benefactor, interfered with the general rule of justice. The regard due to kindred in the difpofal of our fortune, (except the cafe of lineal kindred, which is different) arifes, either from the refpect we owe to the prefumed intention of the ancestor, from whom we received our fortunes, or from the expectations we have encouraged The intention of the ancestor is prefumed with greater certainty, as well as entitled to more refpect, the fewer degrees he is removed from us, which makes the difference in the different degrees of kindred. It may be prefumed to be a father's intention and defire, that the inheritance he leaves, after it has ferved the turn and generation of one fon, fhould remain a provifion for the families of his other children, equally related, and dear to him as the eldest.. Whoever therefore, without caufe, gives away his patrimony from his brother's or fifter's family, is guilty not fo much of an injury to them, as of ingratitude to his parent. The deference due from the poffeffor of a fortune, to the prefumed defire of his ancestor, will also vary with this circumstance, whether the ancestor earned the fortune by his perfonal induftry, acquired it by accidental fucceffes, or only tranfmitted the inheritance which he received. • Where Where a man's fortune is acquired by himself, and he has done nothing to excite expectation, but rather refrained from thofe particular attentions which tend to cherish expectation, he is perfectly difengaged from the force of the above reafons, and at liberty to leave his fortune to his friends, to charitable or public purposes, or to whom he will; the fame blood, proximity of blood, and the like, are merely modes of fpeech, implying nothing real, nor any obligation of themselves. There is always, however, a reafon for providing for our poor relations, in preference to others who may be equally neceffitous, which is, that if we do not, no body elfe will; mankind, by an established confent, leaving the reduced branches of good families to the bounty of their wealthy alliances. The not making a will is a very culpable omiffion, where it is attended with the following effects: where it leaves daughters or younger children at the mercy of the eldest fon; where it distributes a perfonal fortune equally amongst the children, although there be no equality in their exigences or fituations; where it leaves an opening for litigation; or laftly, and principally, where it defrauds creditors; for by a defect in our laws, which has been long and strangely overlooked, real eftates are not fubject to the payment of debts by fimple contract, unless made fo by will; although credit is in fact' generally given to the poffeffion of fuch eftates. He therefore, who neglects to make the neceflary appointments for the payment of his debts, as far as his effects extend, fins, as it has been justly faid in his grave; and, if he omits this on purpose to defeat the demands of his creditors, he dies with a deliberate fraud in his heart. "Anciently, when any one died without a will, the bishop of the diocefe took poffeffion of his perfonal fortune, in order to difpofe of it for the benefit of his foul, that is, to pious or charitable ufes. It became neceffary therefore, that the bishop fhould be fatisfied of the authenticity of the will, when there was any, before he refigned the right he had to take poffeffion of the dead man's fortune, in cafe of inteftacy. In this way, wills, and controverfies relating to wills came within the cognizance of ecclefiaftical courts; under the jurifdiction of which, wills of perfonals (the only wills that were made formerly) fill continue; though, in truth, no more now-a-days connected with religion, than any other inftruments of conveyance. Succeffion in eftates must be regulated by positive rules of law, there being no principle of natural juftice whereby to afcertain the proportion of the different claimants; not to mention that the claim itfelf, efpecially of collateral kindred, feems to have little foundation in the law of nature. Thefe regulations fhould be guided by the duty and prefumed inclination of the deceafed, fo far as thefe confiderations can be confulted by general rules. The ftatutes of Charles the fecond, commonly called the ftatutes of diftribution, which adopt the rule of the Roman law, in the diftribution of perfonals, are fufficiently equitable. They affigh one third to the widow, and two thirds to the children in cafe of no children, one half to the widow, and the other half to the next of kin; where neither widow nor lineal defcendents furvive, the whole to the next of kin, and to be equally divided amongst kindred of equal degrees; ENG. REV. Vol. V. April 1785. without R |