was one evening walking in the ftreet, he found the boy diverting himself, as ufual, with his favourite exercife of finging. Gravina obferving the talents of the youth (of which he was a competent judge), and the generous difdain with which be refused a piece of money offered as a small reward for his abilities, was determined to adopt him. The father, labouring under poverty, and anxious to fee a fon, who was endowed with great natural quickness, well educated, readily affented to the Abbé's propofal. Gravina wifhed to change the name of Trappaffo for another, which might be fignificant of the manner whereby the boy had obtained his elevated fituation: the Greek word METROTάGIS (a change) occurred to him; he confequently called young Trapalo by the name of METASTASIO, and ever after confidered him as his own fon.

Such was the fuccessful and rapid progrefs which Metaftafio made under the tuition of his new father and master, that, at the age of fourteen, he compofed his Guiftino, a tragedy; which may juftly be called, confidering the age of its author, a noble effort of genius.

Gravina died in 1718, and left to Metaftafio, whom he ftiles in his will" egregium alumnum meum," 15000 Roman crowns. This circumftance occafioned a great revolution in the life of the poet. Believing himself now fufficiently rich, he abandoned the profeffion of the law, to which he had been brought up, and devoted his whole time to poetry, and the diffipation of his fortune. After various juvenile indifcretions, growing fenfible of his impending ruin, he left Rome, and his extravagant affociates, and went to Naples, where he applied with great diligence to the practice of the law, in order to procure a fubfiftence. While he was at Naples, the viceroy of that kingdom was making preparation for celebrating a feftival on the birthday of the Empress Elizabeth, wife of Charles VI. Metaftafio was, on this occafion, appointed to compose a theatrical piece, which was performed on that night, and gained him much applaufe: this was his Gli Orti Efperidi. He now again abandoned the law, and devoted himself for ever to Apollo and the Mufes. After fucceeding in many other dramatic performances, he returned to Rome, in company with a noted finger, of the name of Marianna Bulgarini, who had fignalized herself in performing fome parts of Metaftafio's operas. He now became an admired dramatic writer, and the then miferable ftate of the Italian opera ferved as a foil for the fuperior excellence of Metaftafio.

In 1729, being elected Poet to his Imperial Majefty, he fettled his principal affairs at Rome, and leaving Bulgarini to manage the reft, he arrived at Vienna in the year following; where, during the remainder of his life, he enjoyed his annual ftipend of 3000 florins.

Having given an account of this great lyric poet's manner of life, &c. in our Review, vol. xlviii. p. 467, we shall only add that he died of a fever, April 12, 1782.

The Editor of thefe volumes informs us, that Metaftafio has left the Counsellor Martinetz his executor, with a fortune of 150,000 florins. This Gentleman, who was the intimate friend of Metaftafio, intends, we are here told, publifhing a collection of that poet's familiar letters, with a complete biographical account of this celebrated Genius.

ART. VIII.

R-m

Frederici Augufti Walter, Med. Doct. Annotationes Academica. 4to.

Berlin.

HE ingenious and laborious gentleman to whom we are indebted for this publication, hath given ample fpecimens of his fkill in anatomy and phyfiology. The present performance confifts of two treatifes, one on uterine polypi, the other on the liver and gall-bladder.

Dr. Walter applies himself, in the first treatife, to examine what is a polypus, and how it is produced; and concludes, after defcribing their different kinds, with fome brief remarks on the danger of extirpating them. He fuppofes a polypus to be produced by the fecretion of a coagulable liquor, from the extremities of the veffels of the internal furface of the uterus. The liquor thus fecreted, becoming more infpiffated every day, is at length converted into a cellular membrane, which, adhering clofely to the extremities of the veffels, draws them out in length, fo that they become large trunks fupplying the polypus with blood and nourishment. In a fimilar manner alfo the Author accounts for thofe calcareous concretions which are found in the cellular fubftance of the uterus. He proceeds to confider all polypi, 1. Ratione adhafionis, 2. Ratione confiftentiæ, and Jaftly, Ratione extirpationis. He blames Levret, and others, who divide polypi into fleshy, tendinous, mucous, &c. fince he cannot admit that any polypus can poffibly be either fleshy or tendinous. He enumerates five fpecies, according to their adhefion, and defcribes each with precifion. In this part of his work, the Author difplays great fkill in phyfiology.

Dr. Walter's remarks on the extirpation of polypi, though fhort, are judicious, and fhew him to be a cautious, yet refolute practitioner.

The fecond treatife, which explains the ftructure of the liver and gall-bladder, together with the circulation through that important vifcus, is an elaborate piece of phyfiology. The Author begins with defcribing the liver of the foetus, as obferved on the twenty-fecond day after conception, and traces the progrefs of its

increase

increafe, and the changes it undergoes from that early period to its perfect ftate in the adult. This is a valuable natural hiftory of the formation of the abdominal contents. Few anatomifts have had greater opportunities of infpecting the abdomen of foetufes than Dr. W. His father's very large mufeum, in which is contained a vaft collection of fcetufes, of all ages, was always open to him; and the anatomical theatre at Berlin, as our Author informs us, is annually fupplied with at least two hundred bodies. Of thefe opportunities Dr. W. has induftrioufly availed himself.

Certain opinions of former anatomifts are contradicted; and we fhall briefly mention fome of them. Dr. Walter fays (when defcribing the liver of a foetus twenty-two days old), Lobum finiftrum hepatis ejufdem cum dextro effe proportionis, cujus in adulto, atque nullo modo dextro lobo æqualem ut nonnulli viri illuftres affirmarunt.' Again, Proceffum vermiformem minime figuram habere conicam aut ampliorem effe illo adulti.'

The gall bladder is accurately defcribed, and an elegant engraving is given of it, fhewing its three coats, and the valves in the duct.

The experiments made in order to elucidate the circulation through the liver, and explain the formation of the bile, are numerous; many of them are curious, and all of them well adapted to illuftrate the opinions of the ingenious Author. The conclufions drawn from the appearance and ftructure of the parts, and from the experiments, are briefly as follow:

The office of the hepatic artery is twofold, viz. to nourish the cellular fubftance and men branes of the veffels of the liver, and to fecrete and depofit in the vena portarum a certain liquor neceffary for the formation of the bile.-The vena portarum is the only veffel which fecretes the bile.-The reforbtion of the chyle, and thence the nutriment of the whole human body, is performed by means of the vena portarum as well as by the lymphatics. If the lymphatics, and the inteftinal and mefenteric glands fhould be indurated or obftructed, the reforbtion of the chyle, and the nutriment of the body, may be performed by the vena portarum alone, and life may be prolonged, notwithstanding fuch obftructions. A cafe is given where this actually happened. The ufe of the hepatic branches of the vena cava, especially of its anaftomofis with the vena portarum, is, in conjunction with the excretory ducts, to carry back, and mix with the general mafs of blood, fuch blood as is unfit for the formation of bile, and fuch chyle as may have been reforbed by the vena portarum. The office of the lymphatics of the liver are to abforb any liquor depofited in the cellular fubftance, and alfo fuch

nutritious juices as may have been fecreted along with the bile. The veins of the internal furface of the gall-bladder resorb from the bile, during its ftay there, the thinner or watery parts of it.

Our Medical Readers will doubtless perceive, that many of these opinions are difputable; we pretend not to vindicate them all; yet, by the Author's reafoning and experiments, they are well fupported; and we recommend them to the peculiar attention of the phyfiologift. Secretion hath hitherto remained a myftery, nor has Dr. Walter thrown much light on the subject in general; his remarks, however, intitle him to the thanks of the anatomift, and we truft his promifed future labours will afford us the fame pleasure and information in their perufal, which we have experienced from the present.

With respect to the difeafes which proceed from a vitiated or obftructed circulation through the liver, or from a morbid ftate of the parts themselves, we find feveral new hypothefes, which ; are certainly ingenious, and worthy the attention of the nosolo- ! gift. Dr. Walter would perhaps have rendered a more material fervice to the healing art, had he defcribed the diagnoftic fymptoms of the difeafes he mentions. For inftance, he does not inform us how to diftinguish between a jaundice produced by a deficiency of fecreted bile, and one produced by an obftruction in the biliary duct. This however is excufable: Dr. Walter did not intend to write a treatise on the diseases of the liver, &c. but only a defcription, with the natural hiftory, of that vifcus. He has happily fucceeded in his plan; and, perhaps, it might have been more prudent for him to have paffed over the nofological part entirely. If indeed his new opinions fhould excite a controverfy, in which the fubje&t may be freely and learnedly difcuffed, many improvements might be expected. The subject is an important one, and cannot be too minutely investigated.

We ought not to conclude this article without obferving, that the plates which accompany this work are elegantly executed. R--m

ART. IX.

A Treatise on the Venom of the Viper; on the American Poisons; on the Cherry-Laurel; and fome other vegetable Poifons. To which are annexed, Obfervations on the primitive Structure of the Animal Body, &c. &c. With defcriptive Plates. Tranflated from the original French of FELIX FONTANA. By Jofeph Skinner, Navy Surgeon, &c. 8vo. 2 Vols. 145. Boards. Murray. 1787.

S we noticed the French edition of this work in a former

A article, in which we lamented that our limits would not

fuffer us to enter into a minute detail of the latter part of this * See Review, vol. lxx. p. 586.

excellent

excellent performance, we now refer the Reader to what has been already faid, and proceed to what was then omitted.

The fupplement contains a very valuable series of experiments, by which our ingenious Author has difcovered an antidote against the poifon of the viper. From the experiments recorded in the first volume, the boafted antidote, viz. the fluid volatile alkali, has been found to be, in all cafes, inefficacious, and that even when mixed with the poison, no alteration in its noxious quality was produced. Our Author frequently employed himself in mixing the poifon of the viper with various fubftances, among which the lunar cauftic was obferved to be fingularly effectual in correcting its deadly quality. He made his experiments by mixing equal quantities of the lunar cauftic with the poifon collected from the ferpent. This mixture he formed into a pafte, by means of a fufficient quantity of water, and applied it immediately to the wounds which he made in a number of fmall birds, guinea-pigs, &c. all of which escaped unhurt. Animals that were wounded by the venomous teeth of vipers, and had the paste applied to the wounded part, all recovered. In other experiments, the pafte was washed off foon after its application, and the animals did not feem at all affected with the disease of the poifon, although the mufcles under the wounds were much hurt by the burning of the cauftic.

The fuccefs of thefe experiments induces the Author to flatter himself with having difcovered a certain remedy against the bite of the viper. From fubfequent trials, however, it appears, that this fpecific does not always fecure the animal bitten. The irregularity of the bite, the depth of the wound, and the different directions in which the teeth, by biting, may run under the fkin, are obftacles to the effectual application of the cauftic. Several animals that were bitten died after the cauftic was applied, as foon as they would have done if no remedy had been ufed; and though fcarifications were made on the bitten part to admit the cauftic into a more immediate contact with the poifon conveyed by the teeth, the application failed of fuccefs. This we can eafily admit, fince the fwelling or inflammation, which almoft inftantaneoufly fucceeds the bite, may augment the difficulty of bringing the cauftic into contact with the poifon.

From a general view of the experiments here recorded, we have not the leaft hesitation in pronouncing the lunar cauftic a true specific against the bite of a viper; but the difficulty of its application, and the time that may elapfe before it can be made, are circumftances which render this remedy liable to fail, for unless it be fo applied as to penetrate to the bottom of the wound it cannot produce any good effect; moreover, if the application be delayed, even for a few minutes, the animal will