Observes: 'In the "ARCANA OF SCIENCE" will
be found Abstracts of the principal Discoveries of the past six months,
together with a few valuable Documents or Paper on questions of contemporary
interest; which, it is hoped, have been distinguished by their usefulness, as
well as by their attractions for scientific inquirers' (iii–iv). Notes
that the 'Architectural Series' is a 'proof of the Proprietors' anxiety to
identify "THE
MIRROR"Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and
Instruction
(1822–47)
Mirror Monthly Magazine
(1847–49)
Waterloo Directory
CloseView the register entry >> with the Novelties of Science and Art, as
well as to render it an agreeable Miscellany of General Literature' (iv).
Observes that to say that presentiments 'are produced by a latent taint of
superstition, is to elude the question', and that such experiences have been
'confessed by men of the sternest intellect' (7). Argues that many
'visible presentiments rest upon authority so good as to be not a little
troublesome to those who would explain them all implicitly on natural
principles' (8). Documents numerous examples of presentiments of death.
Section: The Selector, and Literary Notices of New Works
Death, Statistics, Publishing, Adulteration, Population
Reports on the annual bill of mortality, observing that it takes the 'same
form as the Ale and Porter Brewer's Return'. Comments: 'if
Mr. AccumAccum, Friedrich Christian
(1769–1838)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>
be right, there is more connexion between these two "Returns" than is generally
supposed'. Considers that the 'Malthusians will rejoice to hear that the
christenings exceed the burials, as heretofore, by 7,633'.
Ridicules various 'trite remarks' on the preservation of health made in an
almanac, 'dated from the Council-Room of a learned University and Society'.
Concludes: 'We were not aware that the united labours of a "Society" were
requisite to repeat what
old ParrParr, Thomas ('Old Parr')
(d. 1635)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> and our
grandmothers told us long ago'.
Argues that infants are devoid of imagination, and that the fearful
imaginings which harm them in their development are entirely attributable to
parents or nurses.
Feeling, Wonder, Romanticism, Geology, Palaeontology, Design, Theology
of Nature
Urges that the 'grand monuments of nature, which mark the revolutions of the
globe' should evoke a far greater sense of wonder than even 'the great remains
of human works'. The establishment of 'order and harmony' and the production of
'a system of life and beauty' out of the 'chaos and death' manifested by
geological phenomena proves 'the infinite power, wisdom, and goodness of the
Great Cause of all Being!'.
Records numerous spoof opinions, including: 'Opinion is much divided on the
subject of travelling between the Aeropleustics and the Vallancey [possibly a
reference to the Irish military engineer
Charles
VallanceyVallancey, Charles
(c. 1726–1812)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>] scheme. The plan of flying kites is, however, thought the
most feasible in the city. The friends of the kite and the vacuum tube
are each disposed to back their favourites for a large sum; but the odds are
five to one "Teakettle against the field". When this question is decided, a
suspension bridge over the Irish Channel, and a tunnel under the Straits of
Dover will be immediately put in hand'. Records: 'The
London
universityUniversity of London
CloseView the register entry >> is fifty per cent. better than at the last quotation.
Mechanics' Institutions hold their own'. Reports: 'Mustard-seed is still the
"sovereign'st thing in the world" for the digestion'.
Observes of Campbell that he betrays profoundly philanthropic feelings,
though he seeks to efface them. Notes: 'Mr Campbell professes to be hopeless
and sarcastic, and takes pains all the while to set up a
universityUniversity of London
CloseView the register entry >>'. Remarks: 'His skull was
sharply cut and fine; with plenty, according to the phrenologists, both of the
reflective and amative organs: and his poetry will bear them out'.
Argues against the practice described in the article title: 'Because an
immense globe of fire, or luminous matter, of one kind or other, ever so many
millions of miles off, chances to set at a given hour, is that any reason why
you must set too, who are close at hand, and not of luminous matter? We hold
that it is as reasonable to sit up with the stars, as to lie down with the sun
[...] nothing like a general system of rules for the guidance of human life can
be deduced from the motions of the heavenly bodies'.
The anecdote recounts Booker's humorous poetical explanation of the origin
of scented and coloured roses, which relates them to the primeval flower's
reaction to the kiss of Eve.
Observes that the 'manner of life' of sailors, 'the frequent opportunities
they have for reflection amidst the most elevating and sublime scenes in nature
(for what can exceed the waste of waters), the constant and ceaseless dangers
and perils to which they are exposed, combined with the deficiency of education
(which is perhaps the most material point), all seem calculated to [...] render
the mariner more superstitiously inclined than most men'. Considers that, on
land, the general decline in superstition 'before the light of knowledge,
affords a striking illustration of the "invaluable blessings which descend even
to the lowest of the people, from the diffusion of the sound principles of
philosophy"'. Reviews some past and present superstitions of sailors, and
observes that 'If the sailor would accustom himself to reason on any matters
out of the ordinary course of things [...] he would find that most of those
apparently mysterious occurrences on the deep, could be explained, on the
simplest principles, both natural and philosophical'. (55)
Reports on the great advantages in terms of public health, animal welfare,
and general convenience of the system of abattoirs adopted in Paris, and
endorses the proposals of
James HakewillHakewill, James
(1778–1843)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
to introduce a similar scheme in London. Observes: 'Even the removal of that
focus of filth and nauseating odours, Warwick Lane, would be no inconsiderable
amelioration of that part of the city, as our good friends of Paternoster Row
will allow; but the grave
faculty of physiciansRoyal College of Physicians
CloseView the register entry >> seem to
have taken the alarm long since, for they have removed their sanctum to
a splendid new college, in one of the most elevated and salubrious situations
of the metropolis; while their dismal old temple in Warwick Lane is deserted'
(68).
Observes: 'Franklin he liked. He respected him for his acquisition of wealth
and power; and would have stood in awe, had he known him, of the refined
worldliness of his character, and the influence it gave him. Franklin's works
[...] were among his favourite reading' (72).
Anon 1747–66Anon. 1747–66. Biographia Britannica; or, The
Lives of the Most Eminent Persons who have Flourished in Great Britain and
Ireland, from the Earliest Ages, Down to the Present Times: Collected from the
Best Authorities, both Printed and Manuscript, and Digested in the Manner of
Mr. Bayle's Historical and Critical Dictionary, 6 vols, London: W. Innys
[and 22 others]
CloseView the register entry >>
Subjects:
Scientific Practitioners, Medical Practitioners, Exploration, Botany,
Collecting, Societies, Publishing, Museums, Patronage, Government
Anon 1747–66Anon. 1747–66. Biographia Britannica; or, The
Lives of the Most Eminent Persons who have Flourished in Great Britain and
Ireland, from the Earliest Ages, Down to the Present Times: Collected from the
Best Authorities, both Printed and Manuscript, and Digested in the Manner of
Mr. Bayle's Historical and Critical Dictionary, 6 vols, London: W. Innys
[and 22 others]
CloseView the register entry >>
Relates that he comes from a long line of labourers, but that 'there are men
among the labourers, some of whom have not, perhaps, second shirts to their
backs, more perfect grammarians, astronomers, astrologers, and arithmeticians,
than any other men in England; all of course self-taught' (83).
Mirror of Literature, 11 (1828), 88.
The North Cape, As It Appears on Approaching It from Mageroe
Military Technology, Steam-power, Government, Patronage, Invention,
Cultural Geography
'An experiment has already been made with Mr. Perkins' steam artillery,
which he is constructing for the French government. Quere, what would be
the odds on the inventer's [sic] head were he in Constantinople?'
Considers that the sentiment and language of country newspapers is much less
denuded than that in the London newspapers. Country writers often prefer
uncommon to common language. Thus: 'If a flash of lightning set a haystack in a
blaze, or ring the bells of a steeple, the approved epithet is, "the electric
fluid". If a dog bite a pig, the narrative teems with "virus", the "rabid
animal", and the "latration" of the patient. Or, if a stage-coach running races
meets its natural fate, the world are called to wonder at "centripetal force",
"dire concussions", and "compound fractures of the tibia"' (95).
The narrator recounts the observation in
Galt 1813Galt, John 1813.
Letters from the Levant: Containing Views of the State of Society, Manners,
Opinions, and Commerce in Greece, and Several of the Principal Islands of the
Archipelago, London: T. Cadell and W. Davies
CloseView the register entry >> that women are treated
less equably the further south one travels. Observes: 'It is not a little
extraordinary how many of our most important discoveries owe their existence to
chance. Every body knows the anecdote about
Sir Isaac NewtonNewton, Sir Isaac
(1642–1727)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>
and the apple;
Dr. JennerJenner, Edward
(1749–1823)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> and
the milkmaid [...] &c. &c.'. The narrator describes his or her own
serendipitous discovery of Galt's principle 'that women are operated upon
topographically by the climate', and recounts the changing behaviour of his or
her sister-in-law on moving to different addresses in London. Relates that in
the south of the city the sister-in-law was utterly subordinate to her husband,
and that she 'actually went the length of justifying the
Thames TunnelThames Tunnel
CloseView the register entry >>,
Tom holding fifteen shares in that watery excavation'. (108) The narrator
describes the wife's increasing dominance as the couple moved to progressively
more northerly addresses in the city, and concludes: 'No married man for whom I
have a value shall run his head against the North Pole if I can prevent it'
(109).
Section: The Selector, and Literary Notices of New Works
Aikin
1799–1815Aikin, John
1799–1815. General Biography; or, Lives, Critical and Historical, of
the Most Eminent Persons of all Ages, Countries, Conditions, and Professions,
Arranged According to Alphabetical Order, 10 vols, London: G. G. and J.
Robinson [and 3 others]; Edinburgh: Bell and Bradfute
CloseView the register entry >>
Anon 1747–66Anon. 1747–66. Biographia Britannica; or, The
Lives of the Most Eminent Persons who have Flourished in Great Britain and
Ireland, from the Earliest Ages, Down to the Present Times: Collected from the
Best Authorities, both Printed and Manuscript, and Digested in the Manner of
Mr. Bayle's Historical and Critical Dictionary, 6 vols, London: W. Innys
[and 22 others]
CloseView the register entry >>
Anon 1747–66Anon. 1747–66. Biographia Britannica; or, The
Lives of the Most Eminent Persons who have Flourished in Great Britain and
Ireland, from the Earliest Ages, Down to the Present Times: Collected from the
Best Authorities, both Printed and Manuscript, and Digested in the Manner of
Mr. Bayle's Historical and Critical Dictionary, 6 vols, London: W. Innys
[and 22 others]
CloseView the register entry >>
Describes how the beneficence of
King Edward VIEdward VI, King of England and Ireland
(1537–53)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
in founding Christ's Hospital, inspired
Richard
CastellCastell (or Casteller), Richard
(fl. c. 1553)
ML1/11/301/2 CloseView the register entry >>, a shoemaker, to bequeath his lands for that institution and
also 'for the succour of the miserable sore and sicke harboured in the other
hospitalls about London' (147).
'The West Indian white cannot bear with temper to see the mixing of the
offspring of a black and white illustrated by mixing a glass of port wine or
claret with water, five several times, after which the mixture becomes to all
appearance pure water'.
Heber 1828Heber, Reginald
1828. Narrative of a Journey Through the Upper Provinces of India from
Calcutta to Bombay 1824–25 (With Notes upon Ceylon): An Account of a
Journey to Madras and the Southern Provinces, 1826, and Letters Written in
India, 2 vols, London: John Murray
CloseView the register entry >>
Subjects:
Race, Ethnography, Religion, Climatology, Animal Breeding,
Degeneration, Progress, Human Species
Discusses differences in skin colour among the different races, attributing
them to differences in climate. Suggests that other racial differences might be
caused by differences in climate, given time. Suspects that the 'primitive
complexion' of humans was that of the Indian, and that climate produced the
'negro' and European races by degeneration and improvement respectively, with
the English at the pinnacle. Supports this by the analogy of coloration among
wild and domestic animals.
Reflects humorously on a report in
The TimesThe Times
(1777–1900+)
Waterloo
Directory CloseView the register entry >>, 1
January 1828, that 'An able chemist and physician declares his conviction, that
it would be possible to transmute dead bodies into CANDLES'
(169). Suggests that this would be a suitable alternative to emigration as a
remedy for over-population, especially in Ireland. Considers some of the
possible outcomes of the procedure, noting: 'It would be grievous for a
president of a
Royal SocietyRoyal Society of London
CloseView the register entry >>
to be crammed into a bottle, and placed in a back garret, to twinkle the hours
away, until the tennant—some sans-culotte bricklayer's
labourer—staggered home, and puffed the ex-president out. [...]
Physicians and doctors would make but tolerable candles—they would always
appear with "winding-sheets" in them. [...] We should not like to see [...] a
modern
BrummellBrummell, George Bryan ('Beau')
(1778–1840)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
light his cigar at a
Dr.
FranklinFranklin, Benjamin
(1706–90)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>' (170).
'Tacitus relates the fall of a Roman Theatre, by which not less than 50,000
persons were killed or maimed. The Grandees of Rome, on this occasion, threw
open their doors, ordered medicines to be distributed, and the physicians
attended with assiduity in every quarter.'
Section: The Selector, and Literary Notices of New Works
Angelo
1828–30Angelo, Henry
1828–30. Reminiscences of Henry Angelo: With Memoirs of his Late
Father and Friends, Including Numerous Original Anecdotes and Curious Traits of
the Most Celebrated Characters that have Flourished During the Past Eighty
Years, 2 vols, London: H. Colburn and R. Bentley
CloseView the register entry >>
Subjects:
Quackery, Medical Treatment, Display, Animal Behaviour
'On the evening before
Dr. ClubbeClubbe, John
(c. 1703–73)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> died, his
physician feeling his pulse with much gravity, and observing that it beat more
even than upon his last visit; "My dear friend," said he, "if you don't
already know, or have not a technical expression, for it, I will tell you
what it beats—it beats the dead march."'
'The ARCANA of SCIENCE and THE USEFUL
ARTS, containing ONE
THOUSAND INVENTIONS and
IMPROVEMENTS of the past year,—will be published on the
13th instant.'
Describes various curious resemblances in stones and minerals. Describes
chemical phenomena in
Benwell
CollieryBenwell Colliery, near Newcastle-upon Tyne CloseView the register entry >> near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, as a result of which the roof
takes the imprint of pit props. Argues for a 'plastic spirit' in nature by
which matter is 'modified into the form and shapes of the bodies of flies,
insects, &c.' (180). Discusses the history and origins of 'formed stones',
relating them to the Noachian deluge and the 'division of waters' in the first
creation narrative of Genesis.
Introduces a French riddle, and its translation: 'My first in
EuclidEuclid
(fl. 295 BC)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> holds distinguish'd
place; / My second rolls incessantly through space: / My whole, 'tis said, is
rich, and rules the sea; But wine they drink there, is too dear for me';
suggests that the answer is 'Angleterre'.
'A person inquired at a punning bookseller's, the other day, if there was
any recent work on mineralogy. "I don't know," replied the witty
bibliopole: "if there is any thing of the kind it must be Feldspar (Field's
Parr)."'
'Just Published. ARCANA of SCIENCE and ART, or One Thousand Inventions,
Improvements, and New Facts of 1827, with many Engravings, price 4s. 6d. in
cloth'.
Bemoans the smoke in London, suggesting 'a gigantic consumer / Be plac'd on
the top of St. Paul's' and enquiring: 'Why can't the gas-company burn it, /
'Twould save them a fortune in coals!'. Lists among London's notable
attractions 'Mr.
Cross'sCross, Edward
(1774?–1854)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>tame wild beasts, and all / Cross's crosser
untameable flock, / [...] Lighted clocks, that the charleys may doze, /
Nor hazard miscalling the hours; / [...] Steam printing, steam coaching, and
cooking, / Steam-brewing, and boating, and guns; / [...] The Tow'r, the Thames
tunnel, and docks, / Canals, gas and water works, fires' (197).
Notes that 'Vernal Notes' does not constitute a series, 'but will consist of
a few details of some of the most interesting phenomena of the natural history
of the season, interspersed with slips from the Floral Calendar of the
month, with poetical illustrations, so as may revive the recollections of the
country' in residents of London. Hopes also to 'aid the recreative studies of
Natural History, by familiarizing the general reader with a few of its most
popular facts, and thus become the means of drawing his attention to a more
scientific examination of its several branches' (204).
[Forster] 1828[Forster, Thomas
Ignatius Maria] 1828. Circle of the Seasons, and Perpetual Key to
the Calendar and Almanack: To which is Added the Circle of the Hours, and the
History of the Days of the Week; Being a Compendious Illustration of the
History, Antiquities, and Natural Phenomena, of Each Day in the Year,
London: Thomas Hookham
CloseView the register entry >>
Observes that 'there were very few free schools in England before the
reformation', and that 'young women had their education [...] at nunneries,
where they learnt needle-work, confectionery, surgery, physic, (apothecaries
and surgeons being at that time very rare,) writing, drawing, &c.'
(216).
Relates an argument on the medical effects of drinking port-wine, between a
port-wine drinker and a temperance advocate. The former gives as his clinching
argument the fact that port-wine has 'kept the plague and the sweating-sickness
out of England', nothing of the kind having occurred there since the Methuen
trade treaty with Portugal (1703).
Relates an anecdote of the club containing the following: 'BroughamBrougham, Henry Peter, 1st Baron Brougham and
Vaux
(1778–1868)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> was putting
hypothetically the case of a man convicted of felony, and duly hanged according
to law, but restored to life by medical appliances; and asked what would be the
man's defence if again brought to trial' (218–19).
Relates an anecdote of a man who took his dislike of cruelty to what the
narrator considered ridiculous lengths, refusing to kill mice and spiders. The
narrator argued with him that on this principle the 'insect' responsible for
the bloom on a plum or for fermenting vinegar should not be destroyed.
'While a ventriloquist was describing the nature of gas, a blue
stocking lady clamorously inquired of a gentleman near her, what he meant
by oxy-gin and hydro-gin, or what was the difference? "very
little, madam," said he; "by oxy-gin, we mean pure gin, and by
hydro-gin, gin and water"'.
Introducing the illustration, asserts that 'Building, parking, and
disparking are the order of the present day'. Observes: '"All the talents"
write on landscape-gardening; and men who have given up the search of the
philosopher's stone, and left "all meaner things" to larger numbers [...] are
at length convinced of our earthy origin, and accordingly betake themselves to
theories of transplantation and papers on agriculture and gardening'. Notes
that both people and trees have been found to be 'improved by being
transplanted'. Observing that trees are now transplanted with more care than
formerly, suggests that a similar transformation has been wrought in human
transport.
Considers that differences in intellectual ability, while to some degree
dependent on variations in native ability, are much less so than generally
supposed. Suggests reasons why many do not more effectually improve their
intellectual faculties. Argues that, nevertheless, 'Real genius [...]
accompanied by good sense, will break through the trammels of circumstance,
undismayed by privations, unchecked by obstacles'. Expounds the powers of such
genius, suggesting that its 'knowledge of things appears to be gained by
intuition'. (227) Discusses the vanity of genius and pretenders to genius.
Narrates a story of one such pretender, Thraso, who was considered a 'prodigy
of skill' at 'a public school in the north' because he could 'solve a question
in Double Position by the rule of Algebra' (228). Seeking to maintain such
appearances in the wider world, Thraso frequently made a fool of himself: 'If
the subject of physiognomy be introduced, and whether the visage be a true
index of the mind, Thraso [...] remarks that it is not as one of the Latin
poets, he thinks
SallustSallust (Gaius Sallustius Crispus)
(86–34BC)
CBD CloseView the register entry >>, decides the
question by saying, Fronti nulla fides'. In an afterword, argues that
real merit would be better distinguished from superficial pretension, if the
rising generation were given 'a better grounded, and more solid, but less
extended education'. (229)
'The celebrated
M. de PradtPradt, Dominique Georges
Frédéric de Riom de Prolhiac de Fourt de
(1759–1837)
WBI CloseView the register entry >> is forming
an experimental farm as a school of practical husbandry for a part of central
France.'
Seeks to correct the view that 'the familiar intercourse of nations is a
thing of modern growth, and that turnpike-roads and mail-coaches, canals and
steam-boats, are the only methods by which we can bring together distant lands,
dissociabiles terras' (236–37), pointing to the great fairs of
Europe in evidence.
Argues that there are not whole classes who have an innate propensity to
drunkenness. Urges that manual labourers should be worked hard, paid
moderately, and carefully overseen, and that under such circumstances 'Their
rigidity of fibre, and flow of animal spirits, will [...] keep them from the
ale-house and the gin-shop' (237). Considers the comments on drinking-clubs in
MacNish 1827MacNish,
Robert 1827. The Anatomy of Drunkenness, Glasgow: W R
M'Phun
CloseView the register entry >> too harsh,
asking: 'Would he have people to gather together round one large, long, or
round table, or several smaller ones, lean upon their elbows, stare into each
other's face, and discuss the Mechanical Forces, the Tides, the Prism, and the
Pleasures of Knowledge? And all this, without either pipe or tumbler?'.
Conjures a picture of a typical small town, where the inhabitants are mostly
'well to do', but have 'no turn for knowledge or literature, except, perhaps,
so far as to set up a Mechanics' Institution', arguing that drunkenness
prevails more there than in the larger cities. (238)
Education, Universities, Gender, Cultural Geography, Mathematics,
Medical Practitioners, Nomenclature, Steam-power, Machinery, Phrenology, Astronomy,
Geology, Natural History, Chemistry, Steamships, Alchemy
Warns
University of
OxfordUniversity of Oxford
CloseView the register entry >> and
University of CambridgeUniversity of Cambridge
CloseView the register entry >> men to attend
to their studies, in advance of an invasion of blue stockings from Scotland.
The bluestockings will beat them at solving problems in
EuclidEuclid
(fl. 295 BC)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> and will soon probe the
depths of medical science. 'Their clack is resounding, / With hard words
abounding; / Steam-guns are their weapons, which cause great disorder. / By Gas
they're enlighten'd— / By nothing they're frighten'd'. They excel in
every department, including phenology, and have a predominant 'organ of
Prying'. They will surpass astronomers, geologists, conchologists,
chemists, and steam-boat inventors. ''Tis said they've discover'd perpetual
motion, / Attach'd to their tongues, 'twill be henceforth their own'.
Counsels the reader not to believe the enemy who claims their heads are 'vacuum
engines' and that 'Watt'sWatt, James
(1736–1819)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> Steamer teaches / The plan of their
speeches, / Beginning in noise, and concluding in smoke'.
Reports that during the French revolution the
Cimetière des InnocensCimetière des Innocens, Paris CloseView the register entry >>
in Paris was cleared, during which process 'a sort of spermaceti was
discovered, occasioned by the action of water on some of the dead bodies', out
of which candles were made.
See also:
Anon, 'Men and Candles', Mirror of Literature, 11 (1828), 169–71
The poem is headed by an extract from the
British
AlmanacBritish Almanac
(1828–1900+)
BUCOP CloseView the register entry >> on the 'universal interest' of meteorology. The male
poetic narrator recounts his attempt to engage in conversation 'old Sir
Geoffrey's daughter', whose only subject was the weather. He tried several
subjects: 'Was she a Blue?—I put my trust / In strata, petals, gases'
(252). Finally he concluded that the man who married her might as well 'marry a
Barometer, / And hang himself beside it!' (253).
Invokes the reader to consider the many who drink themselves to death.
Observes: 'perhaps you may remember more than one—ay half a dozen medical
students—as they were called—who after spending in the slips of
theatres, and the boxes of taverns, and worse haunts, the means furnished for
their education by parents who had meanwhile denied themselves even the
necessaries of life—vanished from the streets, as they said either truly
or falsely, for berths on board Whalers. Home-returning in poverty, they got
unsettled in small rural villages, unable to support a howdie', until some
disgraceful end overtook them (254).
Death, Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Narcotics
The narrator is the eponymous roué, who is dying. He protests that he
is not, and that his physicians 'judge by their own emaciated, fragile bodies;
they have no idea how much such a firm-knit, athletic frame' as his can suffer
(261). He considers the physicians fools, reporting that they insisted that he
should sleep and gave him a 'cursed' potion. His sleep was filled with
monstrous nightmares, and he observes 'I would rather invent some machine to
prop my eyes open, than take their cursed opiates to damn me before my time'.
(262)
Reports: 'an establishment for the exhibition of national productions in
arts, mechanics, manufactures, &c. is now in progress, under the patronage
and auspices of
Mr. Agar
EllisEllis, George James Welbore Agar-, 1st Baron
Dover
(1797–1833)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>'. Relates that the society 'will be framed on the plan of the
Société
pour l'encouragement de l'industrie nationaleSociété d'Encouragement pour l'Industrie Nationale, Paris CloseView the register entry >>', and describes
the activities of that society. (270)
'A GENTLEMAN being asked what business he intended to bring
up his son to? answered, "If I thought the rage for gigs, whiskies, tandems,
&c. would continue, I should bring him up to the profession of a
surgeon"'.
Concerns a physician who refused to take his own advice of giving up wine as
a cure for 'a constant rheum in his eyes', observing 'I love wine better than
my eyes'.
Medical Treatment, Hydropathy, Medical Practitioners, Race
The eponymous hero is a hack writer suffering from rheumatism, who goes to
Brighton for his health. He is treated at the Turkish baths, but is only cured
when, on falling down a well, he drinks a smugglers' stash of gin.
Anon 1747–66Anon. 1747–66. Biographia Britannica; or, The
Lives of the Most Eminent Persons who have Flourished in Great Britain and
Ireland, from the Earliest Ages, Down to the Present Times: Collected from the
Best Authorities, both Printed and Manuscript, and Digested in the Manner of
Mr. Bayle's Historical and Critical Dictionary, 6 vols, London: W. Innys
[and 22 others]
CloseView the register entry >>
Franklin 1793Franklin,
Benjamin 1793. Works of the Late Doctor Benjamin Franklin:
Consisting of his Life Written by Himself, Together with Essays, Humorous,
Moral & Literary, Chiefly in the Manner of "The Spectator", London: G.
G. J. and J. Robinson
CloseView the register entry >>
Supernaturalism, Mental Illness | Pharmaceuticals,
Medical Practitioners
Gives as an argument to prove that 'the common relations of ghosts and
spectres are generally false' the fact that they usually only appear to one
person at a time, noting that 'it seldom happens to above one person in a
company to be possessed with any high degree of spleen or melancholy'.
Observes: 'Apollo was held the god of physic, and sender of diseases. Both were
originally the same trade, and still continue'.
Relates that at Mickleham, Surrey, there is an inn 'much frequented by
botanists, for the beauty of the surrounding scenery, and the rare plants to be
found in the neighbourhood'. One of the last acts of the dying proprietor,
himself a botanist, was to send his daughter to see if a particular species was
in flower. 'This is a beautiful illustration of the love of nature, and the
exhaustless delight to be derived from her studies'. (308)
Fleming 1828Fleming, John
1828. A History of British Animals: Exhibiting the Descriptive Characters
and Sytematical Arrangement of the Genera and Species of Quadrupeds, Birds,
Reptiles, Fishes, Mollusca, and Radiata of the United Kingdom. Including the
Indigenous, Extirpated, and Extinct Kinds, Together with Periodical and
Occasional Visitants, Edinburgh: Bell & Bradfute; London: J.
Duncan
CloseView the register entry >>
Among the 'ifs' are the following: 'If ruin'd men were fond of Quod [i.e.
prison], / Mechanics of the loom, / A schoolboy might admire the rod, / And
North [presumably a reference to 'Christopher North' (i.e.
John WilsonWilson, John ('Christopher North')
(1785–1854)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>) of
Blackwood's Edinburgh
MagazineEdinburgh Monthly Magazine
(1817)
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine
(1817–1900+)
Waterloo
Directory CloseView the register entry >>] might flatter
BroughamBrougham, Henry Peter, 1st Baron Brougham and
Vaux
(1778–1868)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
[...] If laudanum were a lively thing, / A sermon might amuse [...] If gas
contractors kept their words, / We'd pension off the sun' (316).
Bemoans the endless debating in clubs of rules and regulations. Observes: 'I
have known a philosophical club to be dispersed the first night of meeting by
an intemperate debate, whether coffee or negus were to be handed about for
refreshment'. Describes the debating clubs once common at the 'Crown and Rolls
Rooms in Chancery-Lane', including the 'Academics'—apparently a reference
to the
Academical
SocietyAcademical Society, Chancery Lane CloseView the register entry >>.
Burns relates that certain flowers and birds evoke strong feelings in him.
Observes: 'Are we are a piece of machinery, which, like the Æolian harp,
passive, takes the impression of the passing accident? Or do these workings
argue something within us above the trodden clay? I own myself partial to such
proofs of those awful and important realities—a God that made all
things—man's immaterial and immortal nature—and a world of weal or
woe beyond death and the grave' (327).
Observes of Burns that his agricultural methods were undeveloped: 'He
plodded on in the regular slothful routine of his ancestors; he rooted out no
bushes, he dug up no stones; he drained not, neither did he enclose; and weeds
obtained their full share of the dung and the lime, which he bestowed more like
a medicine than a meal on his soil' (328).
Sadler 1828Sadler, Michael
Thomas 1828. Ireland; Its Evils and their Remedies: Being a
Refutation of the Errors of the Emigration Committee and Others, Touching that
Country; to Which is Prefixed a Synopsis of an Original Treatise, about to be
Published, on the Law of Population, Developing the Real Principle on which it
is Universally Regulated, London: John Murray
CloseView the register entry >>
Walter 1828Walter, Weever
1828. Letters from the Continent: Containing Sketches of Foreign Scenery and
Manners; with Hints as to the Different Modes of Travelling, Expense of Living,
etc., Edinburgh: William Blackwood ; London: T. Cadell
CloseView the register entry >>
[Macculloch 1828]Macculloch,
John 1828. An Essay on the Remittent and Intermittent Diseases,
Including Generically, Marsh Fever and Neuralgia: Comprising under the Former,
Various Anomalies, Obscurities, and Consequences, and, Under a New Systematic
View of the Latter, Treating of Tic Douloureux, Sciatica, Headach, Ophthalmia,
Toothach, Palsy and Many Other Modes and Consequences of this Generic
Disease, 2 vols, London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green
CloseView the register entry >>
The narrator is astonished by the size of the mouth possessed by a man
sitting opposite him in the Advocate's Library in Edinburgh. For a spell, his
attention oscillates between it and an interesting article in
Blackwood's Edinburgh
MagazineEdinburgh Monthly Magazine
(1817)
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine
(1817–1900+)
Waterloo
Directory CloseView the register entry >>. He observes: 'Each possessed a magnetic property;
and my mind was, like a piece of iron, reciprocally acted upon by a couple of
powerful loadstones' (331). The mouth evokes strong feelings of wonder and
delight in the narrator, who questions why it should have so strong an effect
upon him. However, 'being neither casuist nor phrenologist', he has to drop the
subject as being too much for his powers (332). When the man with the mouth
yawns, the narrator thinks that it would 'rival the loudest yawn ever uttered
by luckless wight, while luxuriating in the recondite pages of that profound
philosopher,
Dr. BlackBlack, Joseph
(1728–99)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>'
(333).
Nutrition, Pharmaceuticals, Medical Practitioners, Disease
The poem reflects on the consequences for health of overindulgence. Begins:
'Ye distant dishes, sideboards blest / With Halford's [possibly a reference to
Henry HalfordHalford (formerly Vaughan), Sir Henry
(1766–1844)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>]
peptic pill / Where grateful gourmands still attest / Illustrious Robert's
skill'. The imagined gourmands eat 'regardless of their doom', 'Yet see how all
around them press, / Th'attendants of each night's excess; / Fell Indigestion's
followers vile: / Ah! show them where the hateful crew / Scoff calomel and
pills of blue, / Ah! tell them they have bile'.
Relates the details of the planned bridge from a prospectus sent by a
correspondent. Discusses the recently completed
Hammersmith
BridgeHammersmith Bridge
CloseView the register entry >>, quoting the opinion of the 'EditorTimbs, John
(1801–75)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> of the
Arcana of ScienceArcana of Science and Art
(1828–38)
Yearbook of Facts in Science and Art
(1838–80)
Waterloo
Directory CloseView the register entry >>'. A
footnote states: 'A second edition of this valuable little work is, at the
suggestion of the public, now publishing in parts. It has been pronounced to be
one of the best assemblages of the Scientific Improvements of the past year;
and with the above facility, we hope its circulation will be proportionate to
the importance of its contents'.
The afterword explains that the extract is from the
Quarterly Journal of
ScienceJournal of Science and the Arts
(1816–19)
Quarterly Journal of Literature, Science and the
Arts
(1819–27)
Quarterly Journal of Literature, Science and
Art
(1827–30)
Journal of the Royal Institution of Great
Britain
(1830–31)
Waterloo
Directory CloseView the register entry >>, observing: 'something more than a single
linear acknowledgement is due from us to that valuable work for our
occasional levies on its pages. The New Series [...] has done more than
any similar journal to popularize science and art' (375).
Observes: 'In these days of sines and tangents, it may become the fashion to
scoff at the ever-living languages; but we agree with
Mr. MaudeMaude, Thomas
(1801–65)
WBI CloseView the register entry >>, "take
away this chief corner-stone, and the temple of our future glories will
be a slovenly, unregulated pile, devoid of grace, and devoted to oblivion"'.
Notes that the 'conductresses of female education seem to have better sense
than to question the utility of the classics'.
'FROM the pine that once flourished on Norway's bleak
hills, / The skill of the chemist a spirit distills; / From the lemon that grew
in some grove in Navarre, / His art too an essence or oil can prepare; / Of the
first, dearest Harriet, an ounce you may take, / Of the latter, two drams, and
you'll Scouring Drops make'.
'The
HermesHermes Trismegistus
()
DSB CloseView the register entry >>, or Mercury, of the Egyptians,
surnamed Trismegistus, or Three Illustrious, who was, according to
Sir Isaac NewtonNewton, Sir Isaac
(1642–1727)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>,
the secretary of Osiris, is reported to have been the inventor of music'.
Details the circumstances under which this is supposed to have occurred.
Observes: 'There is something beautiful in this allegory which leads us into a
conception of the energetic powers of the human mind in the early ages of the
world, thus directed to discovery of the capabilities of nature by the finger
of Omnipotence in the form of accident'.
Bray, ed. 1818Bray, William, ed.
1818. Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn:
Comprising his Diary, from the Year 1641 to 1705–6, and a Selection of
his Familiar Letters. To which is Subjoined, the Private Correspondence Between
King Charles I and his Secretary of State, Sir Edward Nicholas, Whilst his
Majesty was in Scotland, 1641, and at Other Times During the Civil War; also
Between Sir Edward Hyde, Afterwards Earl of Clarendon, and Sir Richard Browne
Ambassador to the Court of France. The Whole Now First Published, from the
Original Mss., 2 vols, London: Henry Colburn
CloseView the register entry >>
Relates that he was 'a lover of the sea, and skilful in shipping; not
affecting other studies, yet he had a laboratory, and knew of many empirical
medicines, and the easier mechanical mathematics' (390).
Mirror of Literature, 11 (1828), 390–91.
The Effects of Light upon Animals, Vegetables, and Minerals
Magic, Superstition, Education, Progress, Religion, Medical
Practitioners
Asserts that 'though the "march of mind" is making sad inroads on the
"wisdom of our ancestors," yet [...] a belief in witchcraft still prevails
amongst the peasantry of our native country to a considerable extent'.
Nevertheless maintains that the 'progress of intellect in the human race
towards perfection, during the last century, has certainly been much more rapid
than could have been expected', and that 'philosophy' has broken the power of
superstition. Traces the history of witchcraft. Observes that formerly 'the
most eminent men and philosophers (Sir Thomas BrowneBrowne, Sir Thomas
(1605–82)
DSB
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> for instance) were not proof
against the prevailing opinions'. (391) Relates that in 1634 the reprieved
Pendle witches were sent to London, where they were 'viewed and examined by his
majesty's physicians and surgeons' (392).
Repudiates the pleasures of nature in favour of those of Metropolitan life.
Observes that no-one 'that has a soul in him' could care about 'the billet-doux
which the bee carries from the male ash to the female; the leers and loving
looks of a couple of jacks, or gudgeons, or red mullets [...]. Put a hook in
the jaws of the rascals; drag them out; bring them to London; send them to
school at Bleadon's [possibly an inn or hotel], or to the professor at the
proper London University in St. James's-street [possibly a reference to
one of the clubs for which that street was celebrated], till they be fit for
appearing in genteel-company' (396–97). Advises: 'course over every land;
sail over every sea; be frozen with
ParryParry, Sir William Edward
(1790–1855)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, roasted
with
ClappertonClapperton, Hugh
(1788–1827)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
[...]; be a traveller who has more glory than name; go up in
balloons—down in diving-bells; fly over the Alps, or tunnel it under the
Atlantic;—why, what do you get by that? Pain—sheer unmingled
pain—without an atom of pleasure' (397).
'The Gulf of Negropont, in Greece, ebbs and flows seven times a day.
AristotleAristotle
(384–322 BC)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> not being able
to give any rational account of this phenomenon, drowned himself therein,
saying, "If I cannot understand thee, thou shalt take me"'.
Asserts: 'CHILDREN, destined by their parents to be
travellers, should be thrown into a pail of ice the moment they are born, and
then transferred for half an hour to the kitchen fire; they may have to swim
across frozen rivers, and run a race in the torrid zone, more than once before
they die:—they should be often fed on bread and water, and sometimes not
at all; in the deserts of Arabia there is seldom any of either:—they
should be clad thinly; the brigands of Terracina frequently strip their
victims:—they should know how to go naked on emergencies; tailors are not
to be had in the wilderness'.
A poetic tale of a woman with a 'doctor' who, once called in, was reluctant
to discharge his patient: 'But medical gents, Sir, as well you and I know, /
Can't hastily leave, when there's plenty of rhino; / While the purse is in
health the disorder is slow, / The lighter your pocket the sooner they go'.
Clayton 1739Clayton, John
1739. 'An Experiment Concerning the Spirit of Coals, Being Part of a Letter to
the Hon. Rob. Boyle, Esq.', Philosophical Transactions of the Royal
Society, 41 (1739), 59–61
CloseView the register entry >>
Subjects:
Invention, Discovery, Gas Chemistry, Light, Technology
Discovery, Gas Chemistry, Light, Technology, Controversy
On the grounds that it would introduce controversy, the editor declines to
include in the journal a letter signed
'Verax'Verax
CloseView the register entry >>, which disputes the claims of an
earlier letter on the invention of coal-gas lighting. He nevertheless
summarises its contents. Referring to the preceding article [John Davy, 'Origin of Gas Lighting', Mirror of Literature, 11 (1828), 419], he observes that it has been included
in full 'on account of the record which our correspondent has therein copied
from the "Philosophical
TransactionsPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
(1665–1900+)
Waterloo Directory
CloseView the register entry >>," which, whether considered in connexion with the
origin of gas-lighting, or as an interesting experimental research,
will, we are persuaded, be acceptable to the reader' (420).
While the 'study of physics is sublime, for the student feels as if mounting
the lower steps of the ladder leading up to God in the skies', the study of
metaphysics is sublimer still, 'when reason is her own object' (426).
The narrator is giving an 'account of the wonders of Frangistan (London)' at
'an audience with the shah at Ispahan'. The shah is interested to know if he
has seen the 'miraculous spying-glass' (telescope) of which he has heard. He is
incredulous when the narrator describes a steam-ship.
Statistics, Political Economy, Institutions, Architecture
Describing the Greek Doric architecture of the new Corn Exchange, observes:
'Indeed, the accuracy of its details almost corresponds with the fora of
the ancients, except that its halls are appropriated to the Philosophy of
Statistics, or of those provoking items £. s. d.—and its
speculations restricted to the
SmithsSmith, Adam
(1723–90)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> and the
MalthusesMalthus, Thomas Robert
(1766–1834)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> of
our days' (433).
Derham 1796D[erham],
W[illiam] 1796. The Artificial Clock-Maker: A Treatise of Watch,
and Clock-Work, Wherein the Art of Calculating Numbers for Most Sorts of
Movements is Explained to the Capacity of the Unlearned. Also the History of
Clock-Work, Both Ancient and Modern with Other Useful Matters Never Before
Published, London: James Knapton
CloseView the register entry >>
Narrates the burial in a trance of a rich burgomaster's wife, and her
revival after her coffin was opened by the sexton. When the sexton came to rob
the coffin, he fancied that he smelt 'the pestilential breath of decay, though
it was full early for corruption to have begun is work' (446). The supposed
corpse seizing his hand, he fled; he trembled all over 'as if shaken by an
ague-fit' (447).
Details Clapperton's life and travels. Reports that during Clapperton's
first African journey,
Sultan BelloMuhammad Bello, Sultan of Sokoto
(fl. 1817–37)
CBE CloseView the register entry >> of
Sokoto [in modern Nigeria] requested him 'to send from England some Arabic
books and a map of the world; and, in recompense, promised his protection to as
many of our learned men as chose to visit his dominions' (v). The sultan also
repeatedly expressed a desire for a British consul and physician to be resident
at Sokoto. Describes as underhand the dealings of the sultan on Clapperton's
return to Sokoto with the requested presents.