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ing this period had happened more or less directly from this source, the report would be much nearer the

truth.

On the comparative nutritive Properties of different Kinds of Food. A very interesting Report on this subject was formerly presented to the French minister of the interior, by MM. Percy and Vauquelin, two members of the Institute, the accuracy of which may be depended on. It may, this period of public distress, be valuable in those families where the best mode of supporting nature should be adopted at the least expense.

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The result of their experiments is as follows:-In bread, every hundred pounds' weight are found to contain eighty pounds of nutritious matter. Butcher's meat, averaging the various sorts, contains only thirty five pounds in one hundred. Broad beans, eightynine. Pease, ninetythree. Lentils, a kind of halfpea, but little known in England, ninety four pounds in one hundred. Greens and turnips, which are the most aqueous of all the vegetables used for domestic purposes, furnish only eight pounds of solid nutritious substance in one hundred. rots fourteen pounds. And, what is remarkable, as being in opposition to the hitherto acknowledged theory, one hundred pounds of potatoes only yield twenty five pounds of substance, valuable in nutrition.

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One pound of good bread is equal to two pounds and a half, or three pounds of the best potatoes; and seventy five pounds of bread, and thirty pounds of meat, are equal to three hundred pounds of

potatoes. Or, to go more into detail, three quarters of a pound of bread, and five ounces of meat, are equal to three pounds of potatoes: one pound of potatoes is equal to four pounds of cabbage, and three of turnips; but one pound of rice, broad beans, or French beans, is equal to three pounds of potatoes.-Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal.

JOHN HUNTER.

Hunter was a philosopher in more senses than one; he had philosophy enough to bear prosperity, as well as adversity, and with a rough exterior was a very kind man. The poor could command his services more than the rich. He would see an industrious tradesman before a duke when the house was full of grandees: would say, " you live by it; most "you have no time to spare," h these can wait, they have nothing t do when they go home." No man cared less for the profits of the profession, or more for the honor of i He cared not for money himself, and wished the Doctor, his brother Wil liam, to estimate it by the same scale, when he sent a poor man with this laconic note;—

"Dear Brother,- -The bearer wants your advice. I do not know the nature of the case. He has no money, and you have plenty, so you are well met. Yours,

J. HUNTER."

He was applied to once to perform a serious operation on a tradesman's wife; the fee agreed on was twenty guineas. He heard no more of the case for two months; at the end of which time he was called on to perform it. In the course of his attendance, he found out that difficulty under which the patient's the cause of the delay had been the husband had labored to raise the money; and that they were worthy people, who had been unfortunate, and were by no means able to sup

of such an affliction. sents some extraordinary novel feaport the expense It has all the appearance of "I sent back to the husband nine- tures. teen guineas, and kept the twen- being an impalpable powder. Iodine tieth," said he, " that they might not communicates to it a dull and very be hurt with an idea of too great an indistinct blue color. After having obligation. It somewhat more than been plunged in boiling water, it paid me for the expense I had been does not form a jelly in cooling, but at in the business."-Atheneum. precipitates itself instantly, without losing its yellowish hue. Boiling it in alcohol, or keeping it for some time in cold water, weakly sharpened with a mineral acid, deprives it of its ligneous color.

The Typha.-The fecula of the subterraneous roots of this plant has lately undergone an examination by several French chemists, and pre

From the Talisman.

THE CLOSE OF AUTUMN.

THE melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year,
Of wailing winds and naked woods, and meadows brown and sere.
Heap'd in the hollows of the grove, the wither'd leaves lie dead,
They rustle to the eddying gust and to the rabbit's tread.

The robin and the wren are flown, and from the shrubs the jay,
And from the wood top calls the crow, through all the gloomy day.

Where are the flowers, the fair young flowers, that lately sprung and stood,
In brighter light and softer airs, a beauteous sisterhood.

Alas! they are all in their graves,-the gentle race of flowers
Are lying in their lowly beds, with the fair and good of ours:
The rain is falling where they lie,-but the cold November rain
Calls not from out the gloomy earth the lovely one again.

The wildflower and the violet, they perished long ago,
And the brier rose and the orchis died, amid the Summer's glow;
But on the hill, the golden sod, and the aster in the wood,
And the yellow sunflower by the brook in autumn beauty stood,
Till fell the frost from the clear cold heaven, as falls the plague on men,
And the brightness of their smile was gone from upland, glade and glen.

And now when comes the calm mild day,-as still such days will come,
To call the squirrel and the bee from out their winter home,-
When the sound of dropping nuts is heard, though all the trees are still,
And twinkle in the smoky light the waters of the rill,

The south wind searches for the flowers whose fragrance late he bore,
And sighs to find them in the woods and by the stream no more.

And then I think of one who in her youthful beauty died,
The fair meek blossom that grew up and faded by my side,
In the cold moist earth we laid her, when the forest cast the leaf,
And we wept that one so lovely should have a lot so brief;
Yet not unmeet it was, that one, like that young friend of ours,
So gentle and so beautiful, should perish with the flowers.

ADVERTISEMENTS.

SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS, &c. AMUEL N. BREWER & BROTHERS have just received a large invoice of Surgical Instruments, which they will sell on the most favorable terms at their Store,-Sign of the Good Samaritan, 90 and 92, Washington St., where is also

of Liverwort, Slippery Elm Bark, pulverized for internal and external use; Mockerson Root, &c. &c. Constanly for sale, at Wholesale and Retail by Joseph Kidder, 70 Court Street.

for sale a large assortment of Drugs, Med-J

icines, Chemical and Electrical Apparatus, and other articles that are usually kept in Druggists' stores.

A few pounds of the genuine Liverwort, Hepatica triloba, for consumptive

complaints, for sale as above.

laft6t.

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ATHENEUM:

OR, SPIRIT OF THE ENGLISH MAGAZINES,
FOR JANUARY 1, 1828,
UST published by John Cotton, 184
Washington St. corner of Franklin St.
Original Story of Hamlet-Highland Su-
CONTENTS.-The Robber Spatolino-
perstition-French Gaming Houses
Evidences of Christianity, arising from
the Harmony of its Doctrines-The Pro-
gress of Painting in France-Autographs
-The Mutiny-The Days of Cœur de
Lion. In Two Parts.-Part I.-Friend-
ship's Offering. On Housekeepers; Pali-
nodia; The First Ball, by L. E. L.-Pro-
longing Life--Backgammon Boards-John
Hunter-Acclimatizing Plants-List of
New Books.

RETAIL APOTHECARY SHOP.

R

ICHARD A NEWELL, Druggist, Summer Street, respectfully informs his friends and customers, that he confines himself wholly to the retail business, and has on hand a complete assortment of genuine Medicines, which will be sold as low as can be purchased in the city.

R. A. N. keeps constantly for sale, Dr. Moore's Essence of Life; Anderson's Cough Drops; Spring's Pulmonic Elixir, a new and valuable medicine, prepared from the original recipe; with a variety of Patent Medicines. Also, genuine French and German Cologne Water, &c.

N. B. Physicians and Families who may please to send their orders to this

DR. WILLIAM BRADFORD, head Shop, may rely on the personal attendance of Mr. N.

of Poplar Street, has for sale a good Electrical Machine for medical purposes, and for amusing experiments. Also, Surgical Instruments, and a quantity of Liv

erwort.

MEDICINAL PLANTS.

A LARGE supply of Herbs, Extracts &c. has been lately received, as prepared in the best manner of the Shakers. Among these are Rose Flowers, Poppy do. Sweet Marjoram, Balm, a small quantity

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Published weekly, by John Cotton, 184, Washington St. corner of Franklin St. -The price of this paper will vary with the time of payment. If paid on subscribing, or within 3 months after, the price will be 3 dollars per annum; if paid after 3 months but within the year, it will be $ 3,50; but if not paid within the year, it will be 4 dollars. No paper to be discontinued till arrearages are paid.-All communications relating to the present or future concerns of this paper, to be addressed, always postpaid, to John G. Coffin.-Advertisements, 1 dollar a square.

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USE OF THE DEAD TO THE LIVING. perable obstacle to the cultivaWe last week republished the first tion of anatomy amongst this peopart of Mr. Mackenzie's very interesting and useful paper, in order to show the value and indispensable importance of Anatomy as the basis of all surgical and medical knowledge. We now make some further extracts from the same essay, which will exhibit some of the obstacles to the study of anatomy, and some of the effects of these obstacles, and shall close the subject with a few remarks. These observations are sufficient to show the importance of anatomy in certain surgical diseases. The state of medical opinion from the earliest ages to the present time, furnishes a most instructive proof of its necessity to the detection and cure of disease in general.

In ancient times the voice of reason could not be heard. Superstition, and customs founded on superstition, excited an influence which was neither to be resisted nor evaded. Dissection was then regarded with horror. In the warm countries of the East the pursuit must have been highly offensive and even dangerous, and it was absolutely incompatible with the notions and ceremonies universally prevalent in those days. The Jewish tenet of pollution must have formed an insu

ple. By the Egyptians every one who cut open a dead body was regarded with inexpressible horror. The Grecian philosophers so far overcame the prejudice as occasionally to engage in the pursuit, and the first dissection on record was one made by Democritus of Abdera, the friend of Hippocrates, in order to discover the course of the bile. The Romans contributed nothing to the progress of the art; they were content with propitiating the Deities who presided over health and disease. They erected on the Palatine Mount a temple to the goddess Febris, whom they worshipped from a dread of her power. They also sacrificed to the goddess Ossipaga, who, it seems, presided over the growth of the bones, and to another styled Carna, who took care of the viscera, and to whom they offered beanbroth and bacon, because these were the most nutritious articles of diet.

In the 14th century, Mundinus, professor at Bologna, astonished the world by the public dissection of two human bodies. In the 15th century, Leonardi da Vinca contributed essentially to the progress of the art, by the introduction of anatomical plates which were admirably executed.

In the 16th

century, the Emperor, Charles the 5th, ordered a consultation to be held by the divines of Salamanca, to determine whether it was lawful, in point of conscience, to dissect a dead body in order to learn its structure. In the 17th century, Cortesius, professor of anatomy at Bologna, and afterwards professor of medicine at Messina, had long begun a treatise on practical anatomy which he had an earnest desire to finish, but so great was the difficulty of prosecuting the study even in Italy, that in 24 years he could only twice procure an opportunity of dissecting a human body, and even then with difficulty and in a hurry; whereas, he had expected to have done so, he says, once every year, according to the custom of the famous academies of Italy. In Muscovy, till very lately, both anatomy and the use of skeletons were positively forbidden; the first as inhuman, the latter as subservient to witchcraft. Even the illustrious Luther was so biassed by the prejudices of his age, that he ascribed the majority of diseases to the arts of the devil, and found great fault with physicians when they attempted to account for them by natural causes. England acquired the bad fame of being the country of witches, and opposed almost insuperable obstacles to the cultivation of anatomy. Even at present the prejudices of this people are violent and deeply rooted. The measure of this violence may be estimated by the degree of abhorrence with which they regard those persons who are employed to procure the subjects necessary for dissection. In this country there is no other method of obtaining subjects but

that of exhumation aversion to this employment may be pardoned: dislike to the persons who engage in it is natural, but to regard them with detestation, to exult in their punishment, to determine for themselves its nature and measure, and to endeavor to assume the power of inflicting it with their own hands, is absurd. Magistrates have too often fostered the prejudices of the people and afforded them the means of executing their vengeance on the objects of their aversion. The press has uniformly allied itself with the ignorance and violence of the vulgar, and has done everything in its power to inflame the passions which it was its duty to endeavor to soothe. It is notorious that the winter before last there was scarcely a week i which the papers did not contai the most exaggerated and disgust ing statements: the appetite which could be gratified with such representations was sufficiently degraded but still more base was the servility which could pander to it. Half a cen tury ago there was in Scotland no difficulty in obtaining the subject: which were necessary to supply the schools of anatomy. The consequence was, that medicine and surgery suddenly assumed new life,-started from the stupor in which they had been spellbound,--and made an immediate and rapid, and brilliant progress. The new seminaries constantly sent into the world men of the most splendid abilities, at once demonstrating the excellence of the schools in which they were educated, and rendering them illustrious. Pupils flocked to them from all quarters of the globe, and they essentially contributed

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