In connection with the chapters on FOOD and DRINK, contained in this work, the above TABLE OF DIETARY was collected and arranged, at considerable troub'e and expense, by the Author. It is designed to s'ow the particular regimen selected for the sick, and peculiar to each district. This will greatly aid Committees in forming Diet Tables, both in point of Health and Economy, for any Charitable Institutions. To his estimable friend, Dr. Duncan, of Edinburgh, and other professors, the Author is obliged for the kind facilities afforded him in furnishing documents for this tabular view of aliment for the indigent and afflicted. "Est domus apta satis, est hic cibus J. MURRAY, M.D. utilis ægris." In laying the above valuable tables of Dr. Murray before our readers, we do not mean to recommend them as examples in all cases to be followed; but as furnishing information not only to physicians in hospitals and private practice, but also to invalids, which may be turned to good account. In return for these tables we would solicit physicians and superintendents of public institutions generally to furnish us with those of the diet which they prescribe and direct. 354 Natural Science-Notices, &c. NATURAL SCIENCE. Ir has been well remarked, that one feels inexpressible relief, after witnessing the distressing scenes in every day life, and the petty cares and vexations to which man subjects man, to contemplate the harmonies of creation, and to study the revolutions of the planetary system, and the structure and formation of the earth which we inhabit. The mind is elevated by such subjects; self-love is gratified by the discoveries made in the progress of our inquiries; and we feel in communion, as it were, through his works, with the great first Cause, the creative intelligence who gave methodical arrangement and harmonious movement to the whole. Frequent and attentive observation of the phenomena of external nature, hegets an habitual calmness of disposition, eminently favourable to health and happiness, and induces a caution in drawing inferences from few and imperfect data, by which true philosophy is sure to gain. Sensuality, in its obnoxious meaning, finds no incentives in the study of nature; yet all the senses in more immediate relation with intellect, are fully and pleasurably occupied. We rarely meet with men whose wants are more moderate and ambition less worldly than naturalists; enthusiasm they have, but it takes a salutary and specific direction, and its indulgence claims only their own personal privation-no encroachment on the comfort of others. The devotee to natural science in this his life exempt from public haunt, Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, To him the deep ravine and narrow defile are records of history; they speak of revolutions in the earth's surface, chronicling, themselves, their own change. The forest, the copse, the particoloured moss, have in his eyes charms beyond their mere picturesque disposition and various hues; he connects, in his mind, their growth with the quality of the soil, and the very age of the still lower rocky foundation; he notes their contrast with the vegetable forms and productions of other climates and remoter lands, and finds in scenes which would seem cold and spiritless to others, materials for abundant reflection and comparison; objects of genuine poetry and eloquence. In this point of view alone, to say nothing of their numerous applications to the useful arts, geology, mineralogy, zoology, and botany have claims on the attention of every individual who is desirous of making the expansion of his mind and the elevation of his feelings contribute to the preservation, and be in a measure commensurate with the vigour, of his health. We have been led into this train of thought by looking over the first number of the "Monthly American Journal of Geology and Natural Science," the contents of which we find to be varied and instructive. We could not have expected it to be otherwise, knowing the established reputation of its editor, and the zeal with which he may expect to be aided in his progress by numerous distinguished naturalists, both here and in various parts of the United States. Just Published, By Henry H. Porter, Literary Rooms, 121 Chesnut street, and by Judah Dobson, 108 Chesnut street. ORNITHOLOGICAL BIOGRAPHY; or an account of the habits of the Birds of the United States of America--accompanied by descriptions of the objects represented in the work, entitled "THE BIRDS OF AMERICA," and interspersed with delineations of American Scenery and Manners. BY JOHN JAMES AUDUBAN. F. R. SS. L. & E. &c. THE JOURNAL OF CONDUCTED BY AN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICIANS. Health-the poor man's riches, the rich man's bliss. NO.23. PHILADELPHIA, AUGUST 10, 1831. VOL. II. Ir has occurred to us, that it will be an acceptable course to our readers if we enumerate, in regular succession, the chief causes which the experience of the world has shown to be instrumental in prolonging life; and afterwards to exhibit the contrasted causes which tend to shorten life and bring on disease. Each cause will form, in the order of enumeration, the subject of a brief and practical disquisition, in which we shall endeavour to set forth, in a suitable manner, its intrinsic and relative importance, and the means of giving it more energy when it is favourable to the prolongation of life, and of obviating or mitigating its operation, when it is adverse to this purpose. On some of these subjects, we shall be induced to dilate with more fulness than on others, for two obvious reasons; first, on account of their practical and available nature-and secondly, because they have not yet engaged much of our attention. Many subjects have been already discussed with considerable detail, and with no little variety of illustration and corroborating facts. It will be sufficient, therefore, to refer to such of our former numbers as contain our views on these topics, when they shall come before us in the regular course of enumeration of causes. The advantages of this proposed plan, to our readers, will be, to enable them to hold in their memories the grand or capital points connected with the preservation of health and long life, and thus to prevent their attention being unduly absorbed on one or two, to the exelusion of others, often of equal importance.. We shall also have it in our power, by adherence to this plan, to continue, in consecutive series, an exposition of our sentiments and experience, and not allow ourselves to be crowded out, as VOL. II.-45 355 we often are, by the great number of other matters-always instructive and intrinsically valuable, it is true, but which in future must be postponed rather than we should be interrupted in our main course of practical hygeinic instruction. Occasionally it will happen that explanations of a collateral nature will be required in our brief disquisition of causes, healthy and morbid. These will be found either in former numbers of the Journal, or in another article in the same number in which we are treating of the force and operation of the cause. To illustrate our meaning, let us suppose that, among the means of prolonging life, we have to treat of the first and exceedingly important one, "Good Physical Descent." We immediately lay down the axiom, that physical, and moral, and mental peculiarities are transmitted from parent to child. To avoid repetitions, and illustrate in part this position, we refer our readers to the articles in our first volume, headed "Inherited Peculiarities," "Longevity," Hereditary Peculiarities,;" to those in the present volume entitled, "Causes of Longevity," "Robert Burns." We then proceed in continuation of the subject to state, that it is by this law of inheritance that the different species of animals are preserved with all their peculiarities of form, and colour, and habits. 66 In the vegetable kingdom, the operation of this principle is evinced in a remarkable manner in the effects of the process of grafting and inoculating. In the latter, we find that a single bud, or germ, as it were, inserted into the bark of another tree, and receiving juices and nutriment from it, still retains, when expanded into a branch, the peculiarities of the leaves, flowers, fruit, and gum or resin that distinguished the parent stem from which it had been taken. So it is with the young being of our own species; it has in itself at birth, those distinctive characters announcing its parentage, and by which it receives, in a modified manner, and converts to its own purposes of growth, the various alimentary articles and air presented to it. Much of size and passive strength will depend upon the quantity and quality of food; much of agility and endurance of fatigue will be the result of suitable exercise; a large stock of ideas will come with education. But the aptitude to be impressed by foreign stimuli, as well for nourishment and strength as for giving rise to the phenomena of sensation and intellect, will depend on primary conformation-stamina inherited from parents. The direct application of this axiom of inherited corporeal and mental aptitudes, and predisposition to particular modes of action and thought, is seen in the great liability of some over others to consumption, scrofula, insanity, gout, and diseases of the heart, together with a large tribe of morbid states of less violence and immediate danger. These few observations on "Good Physical Descent" are to be regarded as incidental, and intended to explain our future course as regards one series of subjects. To show the connexion between these, it will be sufficient to mention the next condition or means for "Prolonging Life," viz. "Prudent physical Education." According to our success in this second means, will depend very much the force and permanency of the first, and our ability to abide by the third condition, an "Active and Laborious Youth," and our success in obtaining the fourth, a Happy Married State." It is thus we shall proceed step by step in the elucidation of the grand problem which interests us all; but at the same time without any material interference with our customary variety of topics, and fulness of illustration. 66 INFIRMITIES OF THE SENSES. We have received, at different times, letters and notes from our readers, requesting to be informed of the best means of obviating the effects of weak vision and imperfect hearing; the advantages and disadvantages of wearing glasses; how far these last are proper in very early life, &c. &c. Some of these requests have been anticipated in former numbers of this Journal; others we have only been prevented from answering by the press of matters on our table, and the implied necessity of making an early disposal of them. In addition to these obstacles, there is another of some moment, viz. the difficulty in making ourselves fully understood without a preliminary notice of the structure and functions of the sense, the disorders of which it is desired to prevent. A few remarks of a general nature, will not, however, we presume, be unacceptable on this subject. The senses of sight, hearing, smell, and taste are in close connexion with the brain, by means of the nerves of their respective organs-the eye, ear, nose, and tongue; and hence the influence reciprocally exerted by the brain on the senses, and by these latter on the former. Whatever disturbs the faculties of the mind, the material instrument of which is the brain, will affect more or less the integrity of the senses, the material organs of which are the expansions of nerves, the other extremities of which are blended with the brain, at its lower part or basis. On this account, strange noises, humming and buzzing sounds in the ear, or sudden obtuseness of smell, is sometimes an evidence of weakness of particular portions of the brain, which may show itself after a short time, in a more decided manner, in apoplexy or insanity. Protracted wakefulness, by exhausting the mind and enfeebling the brain, weakens also the senses. Inflammation of the brain, in acute disease, is sometimes followed by deafness, sometimes by defective vision and squinting. This |