his attention to a people among whom his system, so far at least as it respects a community of goods, seems already to prevail? We hope, however, that the time is far distant that shall attract the commercial adventurer to their shores, to bring in danger even the doubtful happiness they enjoy. Hitherto, their rocks and seas, their sterile soil and ungenial climate, and the stormy winds of the south, have been the bulwarks of their simple virtues. It is only to the fairer portions of the world, to lands rich with mines, and abounding with the fruits of the earth, that civilized man deigns to communicate his vices and diseases. It is true that Paraguay may owe much to the labours of the Jesuits, and we will hope that the natives of Otaheite, after having been corrupted by their intercourse with white men, may be reclaimed by the zeal of their missionaries. But it is principally for other benefits that we deserve the gratitude of these races. The humane Guanches have been nearly exterminated; the gentle aborigines of Hispaniola and Cuba are extinct; the warlike Caribees are dwindled to a degenerate handful; we have made the Peruvian unworthy of his illustrious ancestors; the savages of North America are a lessening and degraded race; and the African tribes have been taught to waste each other with bloody wars, to supply the slave markets of the Christian world. Only a handful of Esquimaux within the frozen girdle of the northern zone, a few tribes perhaps in the interior of North America, and it may be in the sandy deserts of central Africa, and these poor inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, have escaped the sufferings and the demoralization which the spirit of discovery and commerce have carried among all savage nations. It will be fortunate indeed for this simple race, if no ores are to be found in their hills, no furs in their thickets, and none of those productions which minister to our luxury on their soil, or in their waters. Let us hope that for the present, at least, no temptations to visit these shores may exist, but such as drew the Moravians to the icy coast of Greenland. On his passage homeward, the author visited the coast of Patagonia. He saw nothing to convince him of the truth of those accounts which have been given of the superior stature of the tribes who inhabit this country. He says-

"I have received particular accounts of the Patagonians residing in the Straits, from persons of veracity, who have lately passed through them; and the natives are described as being of ordinary stature, from five feet five inches (the stature of the Fuegians, from whom they are but little different) to six feet. From the circumstance of the land on the Patagonian side of the straits being more temperate, and less mountainous than that of Tierra del Fuego, those who live on that side take more land exercise, and are somewhat more robust, better clothed, and go together in larger tribes."-p. 204.

He admits, however, that "in the interior of the country, which is of vast extent, there may be men of Goliah-like stature," but supposes them to be chiefs selected on account of their uncommon height. It is certain, however, that in the neighbouring country of Buenos Ayres, where it might be supposed that correct information on this point could be easily obtained, there prevails a belief of the great size of the Patagonian savages. In a work translated from the Spanish, and lately published in London, supposed to be written by Don Ygnacio Nunez, a gentleman occupying a post of some importance under the government of Buenos Ayres,* it is said that a commissioner of that government had been sent to persuade the natives to cede a considerable portion of their territory. A conference was held with the principal caciques of the country, whose names are given; and the writer adds, that "the Indians who belong to these chiefs are seven feet in height, naked half way down the body and painted, and wear leather hats with a plume of feathers."

The work before us is accompanied with a chart of the track of the vessels Jane and Beaufoy, of the South Orkneys and South Shetland, besides several others, which add considerably to its value. An appendix contains a paper, entitled, Observations on the navigation round Cape Horn, Tables for finding the longitude with chronometers, &c. &c.

ART. II.—The Elements of Medical Chemistry; embracing only those branches of chemical science which are calculated to illustrate or explain the different objects of Medicine; and to furnish a Chemical Grammar to the Author's Pharmacologia. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood. By JOHN AYRTON PARIS, M.D. F.R.S. F.L.S. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London; Honorary Member of the Board of Agriculture; Fellow of the Philosophical Society of Cambridge; and of the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh; and late Senior Physician to the Westminster Hospital. NewYork: Collins & Hannay, Collins & Co. and Stacy B. Collins. 1825.

THIS work places in the hands of medical students the means of becoming familiar with a science as indispensable to the physician as it is desirable to the scholar and the man of liberal curiosity. It has been long acknowledged that Chemistry is un

* An Account, Historical, Political, and Statistical, of the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata.

popular in our Medical Schools; and this, perhaps, is owing in a great measure to the fact, that the text books in general use, however well adapted to extend the information of those who are somewhat advanced in this science, possess for the novice a character too abstract and uninviting; hence, the pursuit itself is not unfrequently associated with the most unfavourable impressions in the mind of the student, while from the engrossment of his other studies he finally becomes not only disgusted with the work itself, but for ever brands the science with recollections calculated to insure for him, in future, an eternal repose from all the toils of chemical investigations. He redoubles his exertions in the pursuit of the other sciences connected with his profession, and ultimately satisfies himself that chemistry is of no utility to the physician. He finds, on entering upon the practice, that he experiences no embarrassment from his deficiency in the knowledge of chemistry, and is thus, from his experience, more fully convinced that its utility to the practitioner of the healing art is exceedingly problematical. If he commit any errors from ignorance of this science, his ignorance itself prevents his discovery of them-and he prescribes with perfect fearlessness, medicines, whose improper admixture may sometimes render both inert or absolutely injurious.

Every day, indeed, presents instances of unchemical prescriptions, in which the ingredients either counteract each other in combination, or produce compounds of new properties, and often decidedly opposed in their operation to the object intended.

Thus it appears in what manner men, unacquainted with chemistry, may practice medicine, and remain insensible of their deficiencies. Should death follow their prescriptions, the plea of idiosyncracy, or some sudden change in the disease, suffices to blind the eyes of relatives, and to put to rest their own consciences. Nor does the fatal accident ensure the safety of future patients. The practitioner, not aware of his own ignorance, has no conception of the real cause of the catastrophe, and is ready to act the same part in a future tragedy. We have ourselves been, more than once, eye witnesses to medical prescriptions, perfectly inert, and directed in serious cases of disease, where either of the articles prescribed would have been useful; but the union of which, from its perfect inactivity, would have given to disease the reins of control, and probably to death an undisputed victim.

And to what cause is this evil to be traced, if not to a deficiency in medical education? In addition to the usual text books, were the student presented with a work like the Ele

ments of Medical Chemistry, especially during his initiatory studies, he would discover in its correct and attractive style, and in the copiousness and richness of its materials, enough to entertain his curiosity and rivet his attention, while the mere acquisition of chemical knowledge would in this manner become easy and delightful. The pursuit of this science would afford him pleasure in those hours when attention and interest are exhausted by the labour of research; and regarding its cultivation as a pleasure, he would ultimately become a proficient in the very science of which his ignorance would otherwise prove both fatal to his patients and disgraceful to himself.

In these Elements of Medical Chemistry, Dr. Paris displays a scientific accuracy of style, combined with all the charms of intellectual and classical embellishments; and his compositions present an excellent model to the emulation of young men who are anxious to add to their scientific knowledge the accomplishments of a polite and finished scholar. The work is devested of the superfluous and useless parts, which too frequently incumber elementary books, while it certainly possesses, for its size, more than an ordinary share of chemical information, judiciously arranged and condensed into a convenient form for the student. It derives also an additional value, from being "A Chemical Grammar to the author's Pharmacologia;" a work, whose reputation stands so deservedly high, that any encomiums from us were entirely needless. Not the least of the ex

cellencies of the Elements as a manual for the youthful student, is the easy and familiar manner in which the author introduces the doctrines and facts of Natural Philosophy, wherever they are connected with chemistry or with medicine. By this means, he still farther devests the subject of its abstract character, enlists the interest and curiosity of the reader, and communicates some knowledge of a kindred science, in the most pleasant and effectual manner.

Nor are medical readers alone capable of reaping the advantages of this author's labours. As an introductory work, we have no hesitation to recommend it to all classes of chemical students, as decidedly the best we have yet seen. It contains no useless matter; the subject is not obscured by any difficulties which could be avoided; and the manner of the author is perspicuous, simple, and chaste, rendering the matter as inviting as it can possibly be made. The medical observations introduced, so far from rendering the work less adapted to the common reader, we are persuaded, are of such a character as must yield additional interest to the work.

Some instances of the disposition too frequently manifested
VOL. II.

3

by our British relatives, to slight or condemn whatever emanates from the genius or learning of our own countrymen, we could not but observe. We would not severely or unjustly animadvert on this topic; yet as an instance, it appears to us totally unaccountable how our author, in enumerating the artificial means of producing heat, (vide p. 184,) could pass entirely unnoticed, the compound blow pipe of Professor Hare, an invention as creditable to its author, and a means of generating intense heat, as important, curious, and useful, as any mentioned.

In scientific works, we have a right to expect more liberality than we have been accustomed to receive from the English press; and we cannot but regard omissions, such as the present, as derogating from the character of an author, injurious (at least in this country) to the reputation of his work, and calculated rather to betray the bitterness of an ungenerous rival, than to sink the claims of a meritorious individual.

In the prefatory dialogue, the medical student will find some valuable remarks on the direction of his studies; and though some of them are trite, there prevails through the whole a general spirit of correctness and pertinency. The error, that chemistry is not essential to a practitioner, is here triumphantly refuted; and we were much gratified with the sentiments of the author on the subject of the preliminary education of a physician. If they were reduced to practice in this country, generally, we would have fewer physicians, it is true, but the deficiency would be more than compensated by the high character the profession would sustain from the superior talents and acquirements of its members. After recommending that the candidate for medical honours should first receive the advantages of Oxford or Cambridge, the author exclaims, “Is technical knowledge all that is required for the accomplished physician? Do not the liberal pursuits, which are so successfully cultivated at those seats of learning, contribute to the elevation of the understanding, to say nothing of the gentlemanly manners and feelings which are thus acquired by intercourse with the most exalted characters of the age?"

To conclude, we must say, that the publishers of this work deserve, from the public, the most liberal encouragement. To their enterprise and discernment we owe the advantages to be anticipated from the general adoption of this book in teaching chemistry to medical students, in particular, and the best wish we can offer for their success is, that it may be proportionate to the merits of the work they have given to the American public.