fituation, foundation, and foil; and these appear to be judiciously directed in the present building.

ac

Art. II. A letter to the Rev. Henry Ufsher, D.D. from the Rev. James A. Hamilton, D.D. M.R.I. A. giving an count of Parhelia feen at Cookstown, September 24, 1783. Art. III. Obfervations on the Lunar Eclipfe, March 18, 1783. Communicated by the Rev. H. Ufsher, D.D.

Art. IV. A Synthetical Demonftration of the Rule for the quadrature of Simple Curves in the Analyfis per equationes terminorum numero infinitas. By the Rev. M. Young, D.D.

Art. V. Defcription of a new Portable Barometer, by the Rev. Arthur M'Guire. Communicated by the Rev. H. Ufsher, D.D. M. R.I. A. and F.R.S. In this barometer the reservoir is made not of soft leather but of wood.

Art. VI. Obfervations on Pemphigus, by Stephen Dickson, M. D. fellow of the College of Phyficians, and one of the king's profeffors of phyfic in the city of Dublin, M.R.I.A. &c. Pemphigus is a difeafe that very rarely occurs; and many phyficians, in extenfive practice, have never met with an inftance of it. It appears, however, that fix cafes of this disease have fallen within Dr. Dickfon's obfervation; three in Scotland, one in England, and two in Ireland. Dr. Cullen has claffed pemphigus in the order of exanthemata, and defcribes it in the following terms: A contagious fever, veficles about the fize of an almond appearing on the first, second, or third day of the disease, remaining for many days, and at length pouring out a thin ichor.' Dr. Dickson proposes amending the defcription in the fubfequent manner: A fever, accompanied with the fucceffive eruption from different parts of the body, inter<nal as well as external, of veficles about the fize of an almond, which become turgid with a faintly yellowish ferum, and in three or four days fubfide.' Dr. Dickson is by no means convinced of this diforder being contagious. According to his observation, new veficles arife, not only on the first second, or third, but on every day of the difeafe. He has never known them remain for many days. The fluid they contain does not appear, in general, to be an ichor or fanies, but a bland, inodorous, infipid ferum; and, inftead of being poured out, it is moft commonly abforbed into the fyftem. No traces of this disease are difcoverable in the writings of the Greeks, Romans, or Arabians. With respect to the method of cure of this diforder, the general fymptoms of weakness and tendency to putrefaction obviously point out the proper treatment. When the veficles feize on the internal parts, irritation must be guarded against by opiates, demulcents, and gentle laxatives; nourish

Z 4

ment

ment must be supplied; and the grand remedies, bark and wine, efpecially the latter, must be diligently administered.

By

Art. VII. On the Extraction of the Cubic and other Roots. Communicated by the Rev. M. Young, D. D. Art. VIII. The hiftory of an Ovarium, wherein were found teeth, hair, and bones. By James Cleghorn, M. B. Communicated by Robert Percival, M. D.

In the fecond department, or that of Polite Literature, the firft article is an Effay on Sublimity of Writing. By the Rev. Richard Stack, D.D. fellow of Trinity college, Dublin, and M. R. I. A. A diftinguished author of the prefent age has already treated of this fubject with great ingenuity. He has endeavoured to prove that terror is, in all cafes whatfoever, either more openly or latently, the ruling principle of the fublime; and he inveftigates 'the different qualities of objects which are most apt to excite terror. His theory, it is acknowledged, feems in moft refpects perfectly juft, and in all its parts beautifully ingenious; but befides its being queftioned whether terror be the only principle of the fublime, he has not explained any farther connexion between the fublime and the pathetic, nor fhewn how far, or in what circumftances, the expreffions of the paffions, with their feveral energies, can excite this principle, whatever it be. To fupply this defect, therefore, Dr. Stack has written the prefent eflay, in which he discovers both judgment and tafte. Our limits will not permit us to detail the variety of his remarks; but we cannot avoid mentioning one of them in particular, as affording an inftance of his critical difcernment. It relates to that paffage of Homer where Neptune is reprefented as fhaking all the powers of nature, and which clofes with the image of Pluto ftarting from his throne, and fhouting with terror, left the general fhock might difclofe his infernal realms to mortal fight. Longinus bestows full praise upon every thought of the paffage except the last; but involves this in a general cenfure, that Homer's gods are men, and his men gods. Dr. Stack, however, thinks that the cafe now before us deferves no cenfure. There is,' he obferves,

Something fo inconceiveably fublime in the thought that, even were it not strictly confiftent with the laws of criticifm, it fhould be pronounced above the reach of art. But I think it can be vindicated. It was the genius of the heathen mythology to afcribe paffions to their gods; fo that great latitude was given the poet in the conduct of his machinery. Homer has certainly often violated all decorum and probability; yet the prefent occafion does not seem to be one of these. The fabulous account of Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto, having portioned out among them the univerfe according to the

rank

rank of each, prepares the mind for the watchful and jealous attention of each to his own province; fo that any fudden event (like the commotion excited by Neptune) which might feem to portend an invafion, muft naturally have excited an alarm, efpecially if it arose from the more powerful being. The mixed emotions of terror and aftonishment, fo fudden and momentary as they are here defcribed, betray no defect of magnanimity or vigour; and therefore have nothing in them unfavourable to a fublime defcription.'

Art. IX. Effay on the Style of Dr. Samuel Johnson. By the Rev. Robert Burrowes, A. M. and M. R.I.A.

This effay is continued through two numbers, with much candour, and at the fame time judicious obfervation. Obfcurity is the great fault which has been remarked in the ftyle of Dr. Johnson, arifing chiefly from the affectation of expreffing his thoughts by the use of polyfyllables of Latin derivation. The inftances adduced by Mr. Burrowes of this prevailing_fault in the Rambler, are fuch as can admit of no doubt. He justly obferves that this fault is committed without excufe, in every cafe where the language furnishes a received word adequate to the diftinct communication of the idea; and fuch is the copioufnefs of our language, that there are few ideas on ordinary fubjects which an attentive examination will find incommunicable in its ordinary words.

According to Mr. Burrowes, Dr. Johnson feems to have thought it neceffary, in conformity with his own principle, to introduce into his ftyle certain ornaments, which, in his opinion, would prove the effectual means of captivating the attention; and thefe ornaments, too laboriously fought for, and used without fufficient variety, have become the peculiarities of his ftyle. The author comprifes the principal of them under two heads, as arifing either from his endeavours after fplendour and magnificence, or from his endeavours after harmony. In particular he remarks that, as every fubftantive presents a determinate image to the mind, and is of courfe a word of importance, Johnfon takes care to crowd his fentences with fubftantives, and to give them, on all occafions, the most diftinguished place. This attachment to fubftantives, Mr. Burrowes farther obferves, has led him, wherever it was poffible by a change of conftruction, to fubftitute them in the place of the other parts of speech; and some examples are cited where this interchange is improperly ufed. Dr. Johnfon's licentious conftructions, however, are not to be conceived as flowing entirely from his paffion for fubftantives. His endeavours to attain magnificence, by removing his ftyle from the vulgarity, removed it likewife from the fimplicity, of common diction, and taught him the abundant ufe of inverfions, and licentious conftructions 3

of

>

of every kind. Metaphorical expreffion is one of thofe arts of fplendour which Johnson has moft frequently employed; and while he has availed himself of all its advantages, Mr. Burrowes obferves that he has efcaped most of its concomitant faults; though fometimes, it must be acknowledged, his metaphors fucceed each other in too quick fucceffion, and are followed up too elaborately. The fources from which his allufions are borrowed are fo abftrufe and fcientific, and his expreffions fo ftudiously technical, that even those who moft commend his fimilies as appofite, cannot pretend that many of them are explanatory.

Other peculiarities of Johnfon's ftyle remarked by Mr. Burrowes are the parallelifm of his fentences, and alliteration; in both which his writings much abound.

In compofing this effay the author has fingled out Dr. Johnson from the whole body of English writers, because his univerfally acknowledged beauties would be most apt to induce imitation; and he has treated rather of his faults than his perfections, because an effay might comprise all the observations he could make upon his faults, while volumes would not be fufficient for a treatife on his perfections.'

Art. X. Thoughts on Lyric Poetry. By William Preston, M. R. I. A. This paper contains fome fenfible remarks on an opinion of Mr. Mafon's refpecting lyric poetry, which he has publied in a note on Mr. Gray's feventh ode, in his edition of that author's works. This article is followed by an irregular ode to the moon, confifting of fixteen long ftanzas; in which the author happily unites ingenious fentiment and poetical imagery with harmony of verfification.

In the clafs of Antiquities the firft article is an account of an ancient infcription, in Ogham character, on the fepulchral monument of an Irifh chief, difcovered by Mr. Theophilus O'Flanagan, ftudent of Trinity college, Dublin.

Art II. The Antiquity of the Woollen Manufacture in Ireland, proved from a pailage of an ancient Florentine poet. By the Earl of Charlemont, P. R.I.A. The production on which Lord Charlemont founds his argument is entitled Dittamondi,' and written by Fazio Delli Uberti, a nobleman of Florence, who flourished not long after the death of Dante, It appears from this whimsical poem that Ireland was famous for her woollen manufactures fo early as the middle of the fourteenth century; and his lord hip confirms the authority of the poet on this fubject by an appeal to fome facts mentioned in English hiftory.

Art. III. An inquiry concerning the Original of the Scots in Britain. By Dr. Barnard, Bishop of Killaloe, M. R. I. A. and F. R. S. This learned prelate endeavours to reconcile the

arguments

arguments advanced by the two oppofite parties of antiquaries relative to the fubject in queftion. He admits, with the abettors of Scottish antiquity, that the north of Ireland may have been originally peopled from the, adjacent parts of Caledonia; but, along with this conceffion, maintains the authenticity of the Milefian dynafty; and fuppofes that a fettlement from Ireland, under Carbic Riada, was effected in the west of Scotland about the middle of the fecond century; when the ancient pofterity of the Caledonians returned, with the new appellation of Dalriadans, to their original country, where the devastations of a long war had made ample room for their reception, without inconvenience to the remaining natives, and where they, most probably, were received with open arms. The arguments fuggested by the bifhop in fupport of this opinion are ingeniously urged, but cannot be juftly confidered as decifive of the fact. He feems to place too much stress upon the conjectural application of the expreffion pro indigenis, ufed by Gildas and Bede. This term, he thinks, could not be applied with any propriety by the Scots and Picts to themfelves. We fo far agree with his lordship as to think it cannot be applied to them, individually, as the reprefentatives of their respective nations; but it cer tainly may be applied to the people, in general, of their country, who seem to have a better title to the appellation of indigeni than the pofterity of a colony which had migrated to Ireland many hundred years before.

Art. IV. contains Ancient Gaelic Poems, with Tranflations, respecting the race of the Fians, collected in the Highlands of Scotland in the year 1784. By M. Young, D. D. M. R. I. A. Dr. Young's motive for collecting thefe poems was to throw additional light on the controverfy concerning the authenticity of Mr. Macpherson's Offian. The following is the fummary evidence of the present author on this fo much agitated subject: Mr. Macpherson is by many fuppofed to be the fole and oriC ginal author of the compofitions which he has published as tranflations of the works of Offian; this charge I am enabled. to refute, at leaft in part, having fortunately met with the originals of fome of them. Mr. Macpherson, I acknowledge has taken very great liberties with them; retrenching, adding, and altering as he judged proper; but we must admit that he has difcovered great ingenuity in these ' variations.'

Art. V. Account of a Greek Manufcript of St. Matthew's Gospel, in the library of Trinity college, Dublin. By the Rev. John Barret, B.D. fellow of Trinity college, Dublin. With refpect to the probable date of this manufcript, Mr. Barret concludes, from the circumftance of its being written in round

and