for this miscellany to say, that those habituated to peruse it, from the varied nature of its contents, and the wide range of subjects concentrated in its pages, must of necessity be well informed, and possessed of a general knowledge. By those readers who already possess a taste for literature, the EXTRACTOR will be adequately appreciated; while, where this taste is yet crude and immature, it will tend gradually to form and foster one. The Editor may be allowed to express his own convictions of the work, without subjecting himself to the charge of arrogantly assuming the merit to himself; he candidly acknowledges this is wholly due to the excellent sources from whence (at a large expense of care and diligence, certainly) he has supplied his pages. Nor, while upon this topic, can he refrain from making his acknowledgments to the proprietors of the various works, whose pages have furnished his literary exchequer, for the liberal disposition they have evinced, in permitting him to appropriate the élite portions of their publications. At the same time, he must observe, he had hardly expected any exception would have been taken, as his selections (all made with the view of suiting the taste of the general reader) comprehend but a minimum part of their respective contents. In fact, it has been matter of surprise to the Editor, collecting, as he has regularly done from the commencement of the work, every individual periodical published in London, how small is the average amount of articles even the most fruitful furnish. But the design of the EXTRACTOR is to convey only the alcohol of these various publications. From its pages is rigidly inhibited whatever matter is mediocre in quality, from the nature of the subject devoid of interest to the general reader, or that relates to questions of party, whether of politics or religion. In fine, it may be observed, that, adhering to the plan set forth in the prospectus, while the most comprehensive and diligent scrutiny is taken of every periodical that issues from the press, the EXTRACTOR only gives place to those articles which are enstamped with the seal of a sterling and unqualified excellence. London, February 28th, 1829. THE EXTRACTOR. CALCULATING MACHINERY. THE following extract from a letter addressed to the Editor of the Times, gives an account of the progress of “a machine for calculating and printing mathematical tables. In this place, we may just notice, that such an invention is by no means new, two machines for a similar purpose having been constructed in the time of Charles II. by the son of Sir Samuel Morland (the Statesman); and two more, to answer the same ends, by the late Earl Stanhope, about forty years since; and it is said his lordship, when proposing a plan to Parliament for the reduction of the national debt, verified the truth of all his calculations by means of them. Subjoined to this letter we have given a brief description of these instruments, as related in one of our Encyclopedias.* executed on a large scale, and with perfect Slough, Aug. 15, 1828." MORLAND'S CALCULATING MACHINERY. "Having been requested by Mr. Babbage to superintend, in his absence, the progress of his important invention of a machine for calculating and printing mathematical tables, and having been in consequence an eye-witness, for many months, of the work actually executing, as well as having been intrusted by him at the same time with the disbursement of the current expenses, I am enabled to state, from certain knowledge, that the whole amount of the sum originally advanced" MORLAND was master of mechanics to by government, has been bonâ fide expended on the object of its destination. It has, bowever, proved very far from sufficient to cover the expenses of the undertaking, the deficit having been supplied from the private purse of the inventor. To those conversant with mechanism, and who are aware of the multitude of tools to be invented and constructed where machinery of a nature entirely new is to be Charles II., and invented the speakingtrumpet; a fire-engine; a capstan, to heave up anchors; and two arithmetical machines, of which he published a description, under the title of 'The Description and Use of Two Arithmetic Instruments, together with a short Treatise, explaining the ordinary Operations of Arithmetic, &c. presented to his most excellent Majesty, Charles II. by S. Morland, in 1662.' This work, which is exceedingly EDIT.] No. I.-NOVEMBER 1, 1828. rare, is illustrated with twelve plates, in which the different parts of the machine are exhibited; and whence it appears that the four fundamental rules in arithmetic are very readily worked, and, to use the author's own words, without charging the memory, disturbing the mind, or exposing the operations to any uncertainty.' That these ma-, chines were at the time brought into practice there seems no reason to doubt, as, by an advertisement prefixed to Mr. Morland's work, it appears that they were manufactured for sale by Humphry Adanson, who lived with Jonas Moore, Esq., in the Tower of London." EARL STANHOPE'S CALCULATING MA CHINERY. "THE smallest machine, which is intended for the first two rules of addition and subtraction, is not larger than an octavo volume; and by means of dial-plates, and small indices moveable with a steel pin, the operations are performed with undeviating accuracy. The second, and by far the most curious, instrument is about half the size of a common table writing-desk. By this, problems in multiplication and division, of almost any extent, are solved without the possibility of a mistake, by the simple revolution of a small winch. The multiplier and multiplicand in one instance, and the divisor and dividend in the other, are first properly arranged; then, by turning the winch, the product or quotient is found. What always appears singular and surprising to spectators is, that, in working sums in division, &c., if the operator be inattentive to his business, and thereby attempts to turn the handle a single revolution more than he ought, he is instantly admonished of his mistake by the sudden springing up of a small ivory ball." EXPERIMENTS ON THE GENERA TION OF INSECTS. THE celebrated Italiam physician Redi, who died in 1697, was the first to prove, by experiment, that insects are not engendered in putridity. To prove the fact, he had three snakes, which he called Angui d'Esculapio, killed, and put into an open box. These were soon covered with little worms, all alike in shape, being conical, but of different sizes, as they were produced at different times, which increased daily both in size and number. Having consumed the flesh, they all escaped through the fissures of the box, leaving the naked bones in a corner. He again had three of these snakes killed, and put them into a box as before ; in a few days they were peopled with worms of the same shape as the former; but some, less than the rest, were inclined to flesh colour, while the others were entirely white. Having devoured the snakes, they anxiously sought to escape; but as he had taken more care than before in securing all the outlets in the box, they were unable to effect this. Gradually they became more quiet, and, after some time, lay motionless, as if asleep. Shrinking into themselves, they imperceptibly took the form of an egg, and by the twentieth day they had all assumed this figure. At first they were of a white colour, but by slow degrees became first golden, then red. Some remained of this colour, but the rest continued to become darker and darker, till they were quite black; and, from soft and tender, their skin had changed to the hard and brittle shell of the chrysalis or aurelia. On examining these more closely, he found the black ones were more strongly marked than the others, which were nearly smooth. At the end of eight days the red chrysalides burst, and from each issued a fly of a dull ash colour," turbid, dismayed, and, so to speak, wrinkled and unfinished," with its wings yet unfolded: but in the space of a quarter of an hour it dilated its little body, unfolded its wings, "and, relinquishing the sad ash colour, it was dressed in a vivid green, marvellously brilliant. It was now so much larger than before, that it seemed impossible to conceive that its little shell could have contained it.” In fourteen days some of the black ones burst, and produced a larger fly,“ black, marked with white, hairy on the abdomen, and red at the nether end; such as daily frequent butchers' shops, or any place where there is dead flesh." So many different flies from the same kind of flesh, did not dismay, but, on the contrary, stimulated him to fresh exertions; instead, therefore, of only one kind, he put many into different boxes, and obtained the same result as before, except that the different species of insects were more numerous. He next put some skinned river frogs into a glass vessel, which he left open; on the following day, he found them covered with worms, some sporting in the foetid liquor that had stilled from the carcase, while the rest depastured on the frogs. On the third day he found they had all decamped, leaving nought of the frogs but the bones. Some fish from the Arno were the next victims to his inquisitive spirit, and these also were soon peopled; but on these, and the sides of the box in which they were placed, he observed not only worms, but also some very small eggs, which, crushed between the nails, gave a white subtle liquid, clearer and less viscous than the white of birds' eggs. By the twentieth day they were all hatched, and the worms had increased to twice their original size, and went about twenty-five or thirty to the grain; but next day they were so amazingly enlarged, as to weigh about seven grains each. Meanwhile they continued devouring the fish, and finally Jeft nothing but the bones; and these "they left as white and clean as if they had issued from the hands of the most diligent anatomist in Europe." Having taken means to prevent their flight, which they all attempted, he watched their gradual progress towards perfection. The perfect insects were of five kinds; four he had seen before, the fifth, a little black fly, greatly exceeding the number of its pupa, which were black and large, he had never observed till then. Seeing this curious disproportion, be opened one or two of the pupae, and found that they contained upon an average from twenty-five to thirty flies, but never more than forty. After this he made many more experiments on lion's flesh, tiger's, and in fact, multitudinous species of fish, flesh, and fowl, cooked and raw, and found that the insects were promiscuously produced on all kinds of meat; and, indeed, one piece would sometimes contain all the species he had observed, and he generally observed not only worms but eggs. The eggs reminded him of the impurities left upon meats by flies (that afterwards become worms), which butchers and housewives guarded against by defending them with gauze coverings. This made him doubt whether the eggs he had perceived were not deposited on the meat by flies, similar to those they produced, instead of being generated by the corruption; the more, because he invariably found that flies, resembling those afterwards produced from their eggs, alighted upon the flesh previously to the appearance of the worms; "but vain would have been the doubt, if experience had not proved this." To do so, he put into four wide-necked flasks, a snake, some river fish, some cels from the Arno, and some veal, and covered the mouths with paper, tied on tight, and sealed. As many inore flasks, containing similar meats, he left open. In a few days, the fishes and meat in the open flasks were, as usual, covered with worms; in the closed flasks, the flesh, although putrid, was entirely free from worins, though, on the outside of the paper, there were a few worms as well as eggs; the former, in vain, using every endeavour to enter. After this, he made many similar experiments, and always found that uncovered meats shortly teemed with life; while, on the contrary, those that had no communication with the external air, corrupted, but never verminated. During the course of these experiments, he ascertained the curious fact, that when the common fly dies, it serves as a nest for its own species equally with any other kind of dead flesh. Not yet satisfied, he determined on making a new experiment. He put some meat and fish into a large vessel, covered with very fine gauze, which he also put into a large box, covered with the same gauze, that the air might penetrate to the meats, while it remained free from the intrusion of insects. On these he did not see a single worm, but frequently saw the little creatures writhing about on the outer gauze, trying to make their way through; and it was with difficulty that he was once quick enough to prevent two of them from falling on the meat, for they had got their bodies half through the inner gauze. He also observed the flies, attracted by the meat, and unable to make their way to it, drop their eggs upon the gauze; some of them alighting upon it, others hovering in the air during the operation; and he perceived that each left six or seven eggs at a time. This was the point he wished to attain, and he had now discovered that insects supposed to be engendered by corruption, were, in reality, propagated by their own species.-Mag. of Nat. History. PHILOSOPHY OF QUACKERY.* (From the Athenæum.) THOSE who reside in the metropolis have no idea of the extent of quackery and dece¡ tion which pervade many of our large country towns, and especially certain watering-places, from London. The last-mentioned situations not even more distant than one hundred miles blended and mixed up with knavery." To are, indeed, " "the great asylums of ignorance, those who have not observed how closely the folly and credulity of the high may approach to the prejudice and infatuation of the low, it may appear extraordinary that the great and the grand supporters of the march of humbug. fashionable, not the vulgar and ignorant, are If an order of men, not superior to common tradesmen, some of whom (we are prepared with proofs) can neither speak nor write common sense, common English, nor common grammar, have not exclusive possession of and appointments in these places, they at least the field, nor the leading honorary distinctions obtain the richest patients, and by far the first individual practices. Fortunes, from various have been made by this sort of illiterate, halfamounts up to one hundred thousand pounds, educated persons, within these last fifteen years, upon the strength of some species of imposture gross and absurd almost beyond belief. According to the Editor of Percival's "Medical Ethics," and some other authorities "Medical Ethics; or, a Code of Institutes and Physicians and Surgeons. By the late Thomas Precepts, adapted to the Professional Conduct of Percival, M. D. &c." (see Sir A. B. Faulkner's "Rambling Notes"), the people of fashion go in regular series, first to Bath, to have all their diseases cured by an instrumental panacea; next to Cheltenham, to have their skins soaked in muriatic acid tubs; and lastly, to Leamington, to have their heads shaved and inundated in cold water.-Pp. 264-317. It seems that from two and four guineas a day, to twenty guineas per month, are paid for all these beautiful expedients, either to the wand-bearer who operates at Bath, to the whale who throws out his tub, or to the surgeon-barber (for such, in fact, was the customary practice of that ancient order), who shaves and deluges the skull. The Editor mentions some "Honourable," who underwent a curative process for a disordered stomach, paid three hundred guineas for the same, and departed re infectú. -P. 263. The fashionable part of English society, a class of beings extremely "wayward and skittish in all their movements," are followed wherever they go by a legion of quacks, as a leaky ship by the sharks. These good people migrate from place to place, and always to men of the same class, as an old writer observes," spending their physical substance among physic-harpies, and their ravenous attendants, nurses, quacks, apothecaries," &c. The Editor of the "Medical Ethics" relates the following anecdote :-" Lord A. (Anson, we have heard) some years ago sent for an old woman to Cheltenham to attend his child, whose method of cure consists in wagging her thumb over them. She wagged her thumb for hours over the cradle; but the infant died, though his lordship had assured the physician in attendance that she was infallible. This woman keeps a carriage, and gets 1000l. per annum at the expense of aristocratical wisdom!"-See page 276 of Moore's "History of Vaccination. The elements of modern quackery are much the same as formerly, but, of course, modified by change of time and manners. Its most striking and prominent features are: First, Unparalleled lying. The aspiring genius must be what old Wilding calls "a constitutional liar, telling you more lies in one hour than all the circulating libraries put together publish in a year." He must be capable of curing any thing and every thing, by remedies that have nothing short of miraculous agency, and, at the same time, of convincing others that all who have preceded him in the treatment of a case have been guilty of consummate ignorance. The very basis of his success is a reputation for making traordinary cures." All men of observation, whether in or out of the profession, know that to give assurances of cures in chronic diseases, is the conduct of none but gross impostors. "I am well satisfied," says old Baynard, "that all these confident and most Corinthian assurances are but prostituted hopes and promises of your trifling prescribers, when they ex are at a stand either in the cause or its cure." Hippocrates is generally silent relative to the success of remedies: he thought a thorough knowledge of the disorder the most important step towards its cure. But the practice of these persons seems to indicate that it is unnecessary to be able "to distinguish between a kettle and a cart-wheel." The Editor of the "Ethics" gives several instances of those cures, which are nothing but frauds. We have never seen one of them that stood a year. Mr. Wadd says, that "the late Lord Gardestone, himself a valetudinarian, took the pains to inquire for those persons who had actually attested marvellous cures, and found that more than two-thirds of the number died very shortly after they had been cured. Sir Robert Walpole, Lords Bolingbroke and Winnington, were killed by cure-mongers!" To this system of lying, some few accessaries may be added. Moliere's "Medecin malgré lui" wished "that he did but know a few physical hard words." The Paracelsian style of high-flown bombast, and solemn and pompous exclamations in a peculiar verbiage, with a certain pomp and circumstance in the arrangement of exteriors, "With books and money placed for show," like nest-eggs, to make patients lay, and, above all, the constantly counterfeiting of excessive employment, are useful additions. The third step is to convert all diseases into one, and reduce the treatment to a single method. One disease, and one remedy are very antiquated features of pure quackery. Our author says, that there is a peculiar policy in adopting the more mysterious parts of the frame for the seats of all diseases. "Among those single organs, which have been destined here and there to be the source of all diseases, and of great wealth, the rectum has achieved more celebrity than the Northwest Passage, and proved more lucrative than a gold mine. Indeed, touched with the enchanter's wand, like Midas, it has turned every thing into gold."-P. 258. "It has become so fashionable to have contractions of the rectum, and to be poked with a bougie, that scarcely visitors of any age or sex go to some certain places (Bath we imagine), who do not devote their persons to that curious process."-P. 259. Fashion in disease is not rare. Voltaire relates, that, after Louis XIV. was-operated on for fistula in ano, all the French Court would have that disease, and be cut for it. The fourth, and not least important means, is intrigue through puffers. Painted Jesabels and card-playing old maids, who have a certain gossiping influence in coteries, are most invaluable allies, with a gang of cook-maids, lodging-house-keepers, and kept-mistresses to men of rank. The author mentions an old stager, whose recommendations were valued at 500l. per annum. It is the practice of |