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(fays our Author) inferred, that something befides cohabitation is neceffary to conftitute marriage in the fight of God. But (in answer to this inference) let us fuppofe, fays he, that four of this. woman's husbands were dead, or had divorced her for adultery with another man; that under either of thefe circumftances, fhe had married a fifth husband, whom she had deferted, and lived in adultery with another man; fhe certainly had had five hufbands, and the man with whom he now lived in adulterous commerce, perhaps clandeftinely, could not be properly tiled her husband, nor the his wife.'

Now the whole weight of this moft evafive reafoning refts on the feeble ground of a fancied conjecture, in direct contradiction to the obvious fenfe and letter of the paffage, when one part of it is viewed in connection with another. Let our Readers judge," Jefus faid unto her, Go, call thy husband, The woman answered and faid, I have No hufband. Jefus faid unto her, Thou haft well faid, I HAVE no hufband; for thou HAST HAD five hufbands, and HE whom thou now HAST is not thy HUSBAND. In that faidft thou TRUELY." Now if the fifth husband had not been dead, or the band of marriage actually diffolved (which was all one with respect to the liberty the woman would have acquired), would our Lord have faid that the fpoke the truth, in declaring that he had no bufband at the time he was converfing with her? For, on Mr. Madan's conjecture, the actually had a husband at that very time, though perhaps fhe had deferted him. Thus, our Author, to ferve the wretched purpose of his PERHAPS and SUPPOSE, will indirectly charge his Saviour with falfity, or at least equivocation-we fay indirectly, for we charitably believe that he was not aware of the confequences that would refult from the admiffion of his hypothefis.

If Mr. M. chufes, we have no objection to read the last claufe of the paffage in the following manner-" He whom thou now haft is not THY hufband" i. e. He is the husband of another woman, and confequently he cannot be a husband of thine.

But if we give it this fenfe, how will his fyftem of Polygamy ftand?

[To be continued.]

ART. VI. Experiments establishing a Criterion between Mucaginous and Purulent Matter: And an Account of the Retrograde Motions of the Abforbent Veffels of Animal Bodies in fome Difeafes. By the late Mr. Charles Darwin. 8vo. 2 s. 6 d. Cadell. 1780.

THIS

HIS pofthumous work, independent of its intrinfic merit, cannot fail particularly to attract the notice of every Reader poffeffed of fenfibility, by the affecting circumstances at

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tending its publication. It is a monument, too prematurely erected by parental piety, to the memory of a departed fon; of whofe ingenuity and induftry thefe pages afford a very striking fpecimen; and who was carried off by a fever, before he had completed his twentieth year, while he was profecuting his medical studies at Edinburgh. The father of this youth, who is the Editor of this performance, is the worthy and ingenious Dr. Darwin of Litchfield.

The first of the two picces which conftitute this literary collection, is a Differtation of the late Author, containing an account of the experiments made by him, with a view to afcertain the beft criterion between pus and mucus; and for which a gold medal had been adjudged to him by the Efculapian Society at Edinburgh, fcarce two months before his death.

The utility of difcovering a certain criterion, by which these two fluids might be diftinguished from each other, is as evident as is the fallacy of the tefts which had hitherto been propofed to afcertain the difference between them:-particularly with respect to the phenomena attending the trial, originally propofed by Hippocrates, of dropping them into water, or rather fea-water; where it was fuppofed that mucus would fwim, and pus fink to the bottom. The prefence or abfence of air bubbles, however, renders this criterion highly fallacious. Van Swieten has obferved, as the late Author remarks, that one portion of expectorated matter would swim; while another part of the fame matter would fink: and further, that what had swam in the morning would fink in the evening.

Equally deceitful are the indications from the colour of the matter, and from the foetid fmell; by which laft it has been thought that pus might be diftinguifhed from mucus. But pus, the Author obferves, has often no bad fmell; and a difagreeable, fmell is frequently perceived in the mucus excreted in fome periods of a common catarrh, or coryza.

Mr. Darwin's obfervations are comprehended in 35 experiments; in which pus, mucus, and coagulable lymph, were fubjected to the action of the three mineral acids, and of the mild and cauftic fixed alcalis. From thefe he deduces the following among other conclufions:

That pus and mucus are both foluble in the vitriolic acid; though in very different proportions; pus being much the lefs foluble of the two: and that by the addition of water to either of thefe folutions, they are decompofed; the mucus fwimming at the top, or forming large flocci in the mixture: whereas the pus falls to the bottom, and, on agitation, forms a uniform turbid mixture:-that alcaline lixivium generally diffolves pus, and, fometimes, though with difficulty, mucus; but that, on

the addition of water, the pus is precipitated, but the mucus is not affected.

From the whole of his experiments the Author deduces this obfervation: If a perfon wifhes to afcertain the nature of any expectorated material, let him diffolve it in vitriolic acid, and in cauftic alcaline lixivium; and then add pure water to both folutions and if there is a fair precipitation in each, he may be affured that fome pus is prefent. If in neither a precipitation occurs, it is a certain teft that the material is entirely mucus: if the material cannot be made to diffolve in alcaline lixivium, by time and trituration, we have alfo reafon to believe that it is 'pus.'

The next Differtation was defigned for the late Author's inaugural thefis; and is here tranflated from the original Latin. It contains many curious and original obfervations on the retrograde motions of the fluids contained in the abforbent veffels; and on the diseases producing, or produced by, these aberrations of the abforbent veffels from their ufual or natural functions.

After giving a fhort account of the fyftem of abforbent veffels, the Author proceeds to fhew, that though the valves, with which the lymphatic and lacteal veffels are furnished, may feem to form infuperable obftacles to the regurgitation of their contents; yet it is poffible that these valves may not, under certain circumftances, and in certain difeafes, fo completely close the veffels, as to prevent the retrograde motion of their contents. He afterwards fhews, that fuch an inverted motion actually takes place on feveral occafions.

A mechanism analogous to that of the absorbent system occurs even in fome of the larger and more confpicuous organs; which, in a difeafed ftate, are frequently known to regurgitate their contents. Thus, fays the Author, the upper and lower orifices of the ftomach are closed by valves; which, when too great quantities of warm water have been drank, with a defign to promote vomiting, have fometimes refifted the utmost efforts of the abdominal mufcles and diaphragm: yet, at other times, the upper valve, or cardia, eafily permits the evacuation of the contents of the ftomach; whilft the inferior valve, or pylorus, permits the bile, or other contents of the duodenum, to regurgitate into the ftomach.'

On this occafion the Author takes particular notice of a phenomenon which has been frequently obferved; and which has induced many phyfiologifts, both ancient and modern, to fufpect, that there was a nearer or more direct communication between the ftomach and urinary bladder than that of the circulation. This fufpicion has been founded on the quickness with which a great quantity of cold water, drank by a perfon heated by exercile, paffes off by urine:-on the quick and large flow of REV. Oct. 1780.

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urine which paffes at the beginning of intoxication:-on the smell of this urine, refembling that of particular fubftances swallowed not long before :-on experiments made on brutes, where the ureters have been tied and on particular inftances in the human fpecies, where the kidneys have been totally obliterated by fuppuration; and yet, in both cafes, the urine has continued to pafs.

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From all these inftances, it appears reasonable to conclude, that fluids may pass from the ftomach or inteftines, without having previously entered the blood veffels, or performed the courfe of the circulation. The urinary lymphatics, the Author obferves, after Hewfon, are joined with the inteftinal abforbents, by numerous anastomoses: and as there is no other expeditious road from the ftomach to the bladder; he very plaufibly infers, that the fluids above mentioned are conveyed rectiffimo curfu, and with their tastes and odours not much changed, by the urinary branch of the lymphatics; the natural or ufual motions of which are inverted, in confequence of the difordered ftate of the animal. On this occafion he relates the following curious experi

ment:

The more certainly to afcertain the exiftence of another communication between the ftomach and bladder, befides that of the circulation, the following experiment was made, to which I muft beg your patient attention :-A friend of mine (June 14, 1772), on drinking repeatedly of cold small punch, till he began to be intoxicated, made a quantity of colourless urine. He then drank about two drachms of nitre diffolved in fome of the punch; and eat about twenty ftalks of boiled afparagus. On continuing to drink more of the punch, the next urine that he made was quite clear, and without smell; but in a little time another quantity was made, which was not quite fo colourlefs, and had a strong smell of the afparagus. He then loft about four ounces of blood from the arm.

The fmell of afparagus was not at all perceptible in the blood, neither when fresh taken, nor the next morning; as myfelf and two others accurately attended to: yet this smell was ftrongly perceived in the urine, which was made juft before the blood was taken from his arm.

Some bibulous paper, moiftened in the ferum of this blood, and fuffered to dry, fhewed no figns of nitre by its manner of burning. But fome of the fame paper, moistened in the urine, and dried, on being ignited, evidently fhewed the prefence of nitre. This blood and the urine ftood fome days expofed to the fun in the open air, till they were evaporated to about a fourth of their original quantity, and began to ftink. The paper, which was then moistened with the concentrated urine, thewed the prefence of much nitre by its manner of burning;

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Whilft that moiftened with the blood, fhewed no fuch appearance at all,

Hence it appears, that certain fluids, at the beginning of intoxication, find another paffage to the bladder, befides the long course of the arterial circulation and as the intestinal absorbents are joined with the urinary lymphatics by frequent anaftomofes, as Hewfon has demonftrated; and as there is no other road, we may juftly conclude, that these fluids pass into the bladder by the urinary branch of the lymphatics, which has its motions inverted during the difeafed ftate of the animal.'

Two other cafes, which occur afterwards in the notes fubjoined to this performance, tend strongly to confirm the Author's hypothefis on this fubject.

The fubject of the first of thefe cafes had long laboured under a diabetes. He had for fome time drank four pounds of fluid, and paffed twelve pounds of urine daily. Each pound of the urine was found to contain an ounce of fugar: nevertheless, Dr. Home, who had read the Author's thefis in manuscript, found, on taking fome blood from this patient, that neither the fresh blood nor the ferum tafted fweet. On opening his body after death, no morbid appearances were obferved, except that the left kidney had a very small pelvis; and that there was a confiderable enlargement of most of the mefenteric lymphatic glands.

The other cafe was communicated to the Editor by Mr. Hughes of Stafford; who informed him, that, from two quarts of urine of a patient in the infirmary at that place, who was affected with a chyliferous diabetes, he had obtained four ounces and a half of a hard and brittle faccharine mafs, like treacle which had been fome time boiled:-but that four ounces of blood, which he had taken from the patient's arm, with defign to examine it, had the common appearance; except that the ferum refembled cheese-whey; and that, on the evidence of four perfons, two of whom did not know what it was that they tafted, the ferum, instead of a faccharine, had a faltish tafte.

These two cafes fhew, that the faccharine matter, with which the urine in diabetic patients fo much abounds-like the nitre and afparagus which were fwallowed during the drunken diabætes above mentioned-had not entered the blood veffels, or performed the courfe of the circulation. It is afterwards obferved, that the process of digeftion refembles that of the germination of vegetable grains, or of the making barley into malt; as the vast quantity of fugar found in the urine of the laft'mentioned patient, muft have been made from the food which he took, in very large quantities; and from the great quantity of small beer which he drank. And it is further obferved, that, as the ferum of the blood was not fweet, the chyle appears to have been conveyed to the bladder, without having previously entered

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