the executive power of this realm in the year 1777, when thefe letters were written, The reasoning of this writer we think neither remarkable. for acuteness nor confiftency. The following paffage we will offer to our readers, as fpecimen of his ftyle and fenti ments. If Dr. Price would fatisfy himself with this truth," that the people are the foundation of all government," without drawing any conclufions from this conceffion, which it will not bear, fo much would certainly be granted him. But he must not contend, because they are the foundation, that therefore they must alfo be the fuperfructure-that, becaufe without them power would not exist, it muft, therefore, exift folely in them. To infift on this, would not be lefs abfurd than, by removing the foundation ftill lower, to place omnipotence in duft and clay, becaufe thefe are the original conftituent parts of the people. 6 They have their ample fhare in the government of this country by their delegates; the only legal, and indeed the only poffible mode, in which they can exercife it; and they poffefs, (how justly, it is hard to fay,) the moft material of all legislative privileges, by holding the purfe-ftrings of the nation. Whether every moral agent has, or ought to have, the privilege of choofing his reprefentative -in what rank, or denomination of men, the right of election refidcs-whether all are not virtually reprefented by the body of national delegates and how far an attempt towards a more equal reprefentation may be expedient, are not fubjects for prefent difcuffion. It is notorious, that according to the prefent law and custom of England, the people, under a certain defeription, have a right to proceed to a new election of men, under certain qualifications, to reprefent them in the Houfe of Commons, at the expiration of feven y cars-That having elected and returned them, thefe delegates are vefted with all the conftitutional power of their conftituents-That thefe have eaten their feptennial cake, and muft be mere children to cry for it, before the return of the fame period. All this, I fay, is notorious and inconteftible. And thus the three eftates, conftituting the fupreme government of the nation, are establified and recognized, 'Let us now advert to their operation, which is also too notorious to require more to be faid concerning it in this letter, than the intent of it feems to call for. Sir William Blackftone fays very truly, that "if the houfes of parliament, or either of them, had avowedly a right to animadvert on the king, or each other, or if "the king had a right to animadvert on either of the houses; that "branch of the legislature, fo fubject to animadverfion, would "inftantly ceafe to be a part of the fupreme power; the balance "of the conftitution would be overturned, and that branch or "branches, in which this jurifdiction refided, would be complete"ly fovereign." If this be conftitutional language, and true with refpect to the three branches of government, what fhall we fay of the fituation of this country, if a right to animadvert upon all the three were lodged any where, independently of them all? This would ftrike, directly and and effectually, at the whole fupreme power; and would place the ' fovereignty out of the fovereignty. It would induce the most complete confufion that the greatest enemies to good order and government could defire; establishing a power unheard of in the annals of the world, and totally repugnant to experience, to common fense, and to the happiness of fociety; a power which would overturn the whole fyftem, by placing the fubject on the throne of the fovereign, or create a conteft, which muft end in the extirpation of every thing but the foil; enriched indeed, but enriched by the blood of its inhabitants, and for the benefit of the first invader. May Heaven grant, that we may be arguing upon an imposible event; but it is till the only event, toward which the principles and doctrines of too many have, for fome years, been directly tending.' The members of the Houfe of Commons are much indebted to this author, for raifing them not only above the controul, but above the nature of their conftituents. Duft and ashes,' according to his doctrine of ratios, are to the people, as the people to their reprefentatives. These fuperior beings are not to be cenfured for their conduct, but during feven years are to lord it uncontrouled over the rights and liberties of millions. ART. V. Medical Communications. vol. 1. 8vo. 6s. boards. Johnson. WE come now to Dr. Smith's account of the effect of fome medicines employed in the cure of cutaneous difeases. The perplexity in the diagnosis, and the uncertainty in the cure of fuch difeafes, are univerfally known; and therefore any new information concerning either, muft be welcome to every practitioner. Cutaneous diseases are afcribed by Dr. Smith either to fome original fault in the conftitution of the child, or of the parent, and to a fcrophulous, gouty, or latent venereal taint. It would perhaps not be very difficult to raife objections against fome part of this opinion; but it is of more confequence to confider the practical part of this paper. Tincture of cantharides, has been found of fome ufe; but it never produced a complete cure, except in one inftance. This is agreeable to Dr. Home's experience of it, who found that it produced a certain diminution of the complaint, and then became ineffica cious. Dr. Home obferves also, that it increased the quantity of urine, an effect which did not appear in Dr. Smith's patients. But the circumftance which ftruck us with the greatest furprize was, the enormous dofe given by the latter. One of his patients, having begun with small quantities, took took at laft three drachms, three times a day. We do not believe that a fact more oppofite to the common expectations of phyficians has of late been brought to light. Dr. Home's largest exhibition was, 35 drops, and four times a day. Of the efficacy of vitriolic acid, in leprofy and herpes, Dr. Smith's obfervations imprefs us with a very favourable opinion. He tells us, that on many occafions it has performed a complete cure; and that he has only met with two perfons, in whom it did not produce fome sensible amendment. In this Dr. Home's conclufion is very different, but it relates only two cafes. The tinctura veratri, which has hitherto ferved fo little other purpose than to add a name to the pharmacopeia, and a bottle to the fhelf, promifes to become an ufeful remedy, in difeafes of the fkin. Three cafes are related, in one of which it leffened, but did not remove the eruption; in another it accomplished a cure, and a third is ftill in progress, and the tincture bids fair to be of fervice. The dofe was increased from 20 drops to a tea-fpoon full; but in one case this quantity produced, an hour and a half after it had been given, giddinefs, hiccough, fick nefs, and fometimes vomiting, with a fenfe of great weakness, particularly in the lower extremities; and in one of the others, it occafioned fymptoms of a like nature, though in an inferior degree. We are likewise told in a note, that the tinctura veratri was efficacious in curing a delirium, (without fever) which came on every evening, and lafted two or three hours, and hysterical convulfions. The fits of an epilepsy were kept off by it for fome time, but they returned. Hence Dr. Smith thinks it likely to prove an ufeful remedy in nervous disorders. În order to fix our attention on one of the most curious fubjects that has of late engaged the notice of the medical world, we must not dwell on feveral fucceeding articles.→ But that the reader may know what he has to expect, we set down the titles : Art. 17. A cafe of hydrophobia, by Mr. Robinson, of Guy's Hofpital. 18. Cafe of an ulceration of the esophagus and offification of the heart, by Dr. Simmons. 19. An account of the diffection, by Mr. Watfon. 20. A cafe of difficult deglutition, occafioned by an ulcer in the afophagus, with an account of the appearances on diffection, by Dr. Garthshore. Cafe of a fuppreffion of urine, fuccefsfully treated, in which the bladder was punctured through the rectum.By Mr. Bentley, furgeon at Patlington, near Hull. 22. Pul 22. Pulmonary and other complaints, apparently supported by fever of the intermittent or remittent kind, and cured by the bark, by Dr. Chapman of Sudbury in Suffolk. In four of the five cases related in this article, the phthifical and hectic symptoms, were the fequel of catarrh and pleurify. -They had been treated either as phthifis, or as closely bordering upon it. The fymptoms by which the author was led to prescribe the bark, were the absence of any poftmeridian exacerbation, and the depofition of a cateritious fediment from the urine, while the fupernatant liquor remained quite clear. We are not prepared to deliver an opinion on the facts ftated here, and the reafoning upon them. We would rather wait till obfervation has determined fomething farther, for they will undoubtedly engage the attention of practitioners. In the mean time we fee not, why it fhould be concluded, that the affection of the lungs was fupported by a latent intermittent. Such an affection is a very natural confequence of the preceding difeafes. In one cafe it would appear, as Dr. Chapman has not failed to remark, that an abfcefs had been formed and burst, and in all the irritation produced by the difeafed condition of the lungs, was quite adequate to the febrile fymptoms. Shall we fay that the effect attributed to the bark, was not produced by it? This fuppofition, the tenour of the narrative does by no means countenance. In one cafe, the difeafe was beginning to yield, the medicine was difcontinued, and the fymptoms recurred, but they were entirely removed by its repetition. A febrile difeafe, however, may be cured by the bark, without being a genuine intermittent or idiopathic fever of any kind. 23. On the efficacy of opium in the cure of the venereal difeafe, by Frederick Michaelis, M. D. phyfician-general to the Heffian troops. The writer of this article is the fame perfon with the author whose inaugural differtation on the croup difplayed more extenfive knowledge, and greater ingenuity, than the fpeculations of many older phyficians, and who has lately been appointed profeffor at Heffe. We have here a number of obfervations, feemingly authentic, upon a moft curious and important subject, of which, as they are the first that have fallen under our notice, it becomes us to attempt a diftinct analyfis. The difcovery of the antivenereal powers of opium, like fo many others, was accidental. A perfon who had taken various mercurial preparations in vain, had recourfe to opium, for the alleviation of his pains. A perfect cure having been very very unexpectedly effected, Dr. Michaelis was led to try whether opium would be equally efficacious where no mercury was used. After fome affurances of the accuracy of his trials, we meet with a few general reflections on the effects of opium, which we fhall lay before our readers :— 6 It is truly aftonishing what immenfe quantities of this remedy the human frame will bear. We have been used to think two hundred drops of laudanum a day, a confiderable dofe, even in cafes of tetanus, in which, for obvious reafons, greater quantities may be given than in most other complaints. But half a drachm, or two fcruples of the extractum thebaicum daily, is what has, I believe, been feldom given. Yet this is the dose which several of my venereal patients (who never had been accustomed to opium) took for feveral weeks, with the best effect; and it was very remarkable, that thefe enormous dofes often produced little or no fleep, and that when they had that effect at first, it generally went off in a short time. The effects this medicine produces upon the human body, have not yet been obferved with fufficient accuracy. It is a general opinion, that it diminishes every fecretion, perfpiration excepted.This certainly is a mistake; and though in many cafes it promotes a diaphorefis, yet in many others I have feen no fuch effect, but, in its stead, a plentiful fecretion of urine, fo that in several patients, the quantity of urine exceeded that of all the fluids they had drank. This effect of large dofes of opium on the fecretion of urine, though not quite fo general a one as its promoting fweat, all my medical friends in New-York who made trial of this new remedy, have obferved fo often, that, extraordinary as it may seem, the fact is beyond all doubt. Another effect, which I, and several of my medical friends, obferved now and then, (though rarely) was, an increased secretion of faliva, fometimes amounting to an actual falivation; a symptom which I could not afcribe to any former remedy, as it occurred even in those who had never taken any mercury. But what will perhaps appear still more incredible, is, that opium fometimes produces a moft violent diarrhoea, particularly when great quantities of it are accumulated in the bowels. As to its effect upon the pulfe, I found generally that it quickened it at first, but afterwards commonly made it very flow and full; yet, in a few cafes, I have seen it continue quick and fmall, till the opium was discontinued. Sometimes indeed it produced head-ach, anxiety, pain in the breast, &c. which ufed immediately to vanifh after bleeding; and for this reason, if the patient is of a full habit, we ought not to omit bleeding, before we give the opium. I alfo made it a conftant rule, to cleanse the bowels previously, if there was any indication for doing fo; it being well known, that opium is improper when there are impurities in the firft paffages. • I have seen some few whofe ftomachs did not bear opium in substance; and even the thebaic tincture was now and then thrown up, but this happened fo feldom, that I did not find it neceffary to difcontinue the remedy. In general, I have obferved, that patients bear |