5 APRIL 1845, Page 18

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Prom Mara 21st to April 3d. BOOKS.

_American Facts. Notes and Statistics relative to the Government, Re- sources Engagements, Manufactures, Commerce, Religion, Education,Literaeare, Fine Arts, Manners and Customs of the United States of America. By George Palmer Putnam, Member of the New' York Historical Society, &c.; Author of " An Introduction to History," &c. With Por- traits and a May The Prime Minaster; an Histories! Romance. By William H. G. Kings- ton, Author of "The Circassian Chief," &c. In three volumes. St. Patrick's Eve. By Charles Lever. Illustrated .by Phis. De Rohan, or the Court Conspirator; an Historical Romance. By M. Eugene Sae, Author of " The Mysteries of Paris," &c. In three volume!` Mount Sorel; or the Heiress of the De Veres. By the Author of the "'Two

Old Men's Tales." In two volumes.

The Freaks of. Cupid; a NoveL By an Irish Bachelor. In three volumes. The Parish Rescued; or Laymen's Duties, Rights, and Dangers. By the Reverend W. F. Wilkinson, M.A. Maids of Honour; a Tale of the Court of George I. In three volumes. The History of England, from the Accession to the Decease of King Geom.

the By John Adolphus, Esq. Volume VIL

General Report of the Royal Hospitals of Bridewell and Bethlem, and bf the House of Occupations, for the Year ending 81st December 1844.

A Series of Letters on Agricultural Improvement; with an Appendix. By John Joseph Mechi. [Mr. Mechi, of Leadenhall Street, has always had a taste for the country-abd agriculture. A short time since, he turned from theory to practice, from thought to action, and bought a farm of 180 acres, called Tiptree Hall, Essex, at a cod of 8,2501. The house was bad, the buildings were bad, and the soil was bed•-• " about two-thirds of it a strong yellow loam subsoil, in a state between putty and birdlime, according to the season , the remainder was a delightful black swamp with an intermixture of sand; and "the Essex people considered it never could be improved even to become of tolerable goodness." But Mr. Mechi set to work, and practically refuted the "Essex calves though at a cost of 6)2001. beyond the purchase; a fact which seems to confirni the opinion of Boussingault, that it is cheaper to buy new land than to improve old upon a gigantic scale. Mr. Mechi, however, would deny this. He has made four per cent; which he says is good interest, with the Three per Cents at par. He also holds that he has employed a great number of labourers, and has permanently improved a portion of his country: to neither of which merits the fuudholder can lay claim, whilst he gets one per cent less for his money. The manner in which the cash was sunk ,is-minutely described in this quarto, and is illustrated by plates and plans: but ; the principal sources of expense were a thorough draining of the whole property -upon a plan of Mr. Medics own; the entire removal of all timber trees and ...hedges, as well as all old, crooked, and unneeevssry banks and ditches, repbwing 'them for the most part by wood or iron fences; a thorough sweep of house and oat-buildinga, with their reerection on a scale something more than comfortable. --.Tbe following is a summary of the outlay for improvements.

" Draining, fencing, levelling, ditching, and roads 2,200 0 . 0 Barn, stabling, tanks, sheds, yards, &c. 2,000 0 0

House and mikes

1,000 0 . 0

Machinery, implements, cooking apparatus, &e. 500 0 0 Manure, marl, &c. 500 0 0

£6,200 0 0

" The item for house has been objected to : bat I have yet to.learn that a farmer is not entitled to be as well housed as a tradesman or manufacturer ; and I am convinced brick and elate buildings are ultimately much cheaper than board and thatch."

The volume consists of the Letters which Mr. Meehi has addressed to different agricultural papers, with accounts of his plans, the explanations that have been called for, and the little controversies in which he has been involved: for Tip- tree Hall Farm has excited some attention, and perhaps some envy among agn- cultural observers. To these Letters are added Essays on agricultural topics, with extracts and remarks from other writers; forming; altogether, what our an- cestors a hundred years ago would have named " Meclu s Farming Miscellanies." They have been published in their present shape, not by request of friends," but of urgent necessity. The author has had so many applications for accounts of his experiments, that his gratuitous distributions in answer to these demands have already cost him "nearly two hundred pounds "; so that he publishes in self- -defence, but at cost price. His objects are not profit, for the price can afford none, but to eall public attention to the vast field of outlay for capital and labour which our own country offers in the improvement of its soil, instead of

• sending our resources abroad to raise up competitors in trade. There is much of

• truth in what Mr. Mechi alleges. Whilst experiment, science, skill, and capital, have been applied to every thing in connexion with commerce, manufactures, and navigation, the advances in agriculture have been limited, slow, and partial; for large tracts of country, perhaps one half of England, is cultivated now pretty much as it was ages ago. Here is a vast field for improvement; but where is the needful? What landlord is in circumstances to lay out upon improvements double the value of the fee-simple of his estate ? and we question whether Mr. Mechi's suggestion of Agricultural Companies would answer.] Practical Observations on the Diseases most fatal to Children; with refer- ence to the pre propriety of treating them as proceeding from Irritation, and not from Inflammation. By P. Hood, General Practitioner in Medicine and Surgery. The principal object of this work is expressed in the titlepage—to inculcate the opinion that most of the diseases of children which appear to be inflammatory .Deafly arise from irritation. As a consequence from this view, Mr. Hood incul- aates a milder mode of treatment than is usually, though perhaps it might be more correct for him to say, than is always adopted. Less bleeding by leeches, -less strong purging; instead of which he recommends, according to the disease and its symptoms, a cautions use of calomel, mild aperients, emetics, sedatives, ' counter-irritants, and the closest attention to the state of the gums during den- tition.

It is perhaps not too, much .ta say that the more ,cautions treatment of Mr. flood is not rare among experienced practitioners in the diseases of children; --though the use of leeches may not be so systematically rejected as he appears to recommend. The views he advocates may, however, be safely recommended to notice cunt grasso, especially tri young practitioners who are apt to have too great a confidence in the doctor's powers. The book 'also appears to be the result of conviction induced by observation and experience; and it abounds with remarks -indicating the practical man. Perhaps the distinction between inflammation and ..irritation may be advantageously borne in mind with adults as well as children, as Mr. Hood appears to think.] Chromatics; or the Analogy, Harmony, and Philosophy of Colours. By

George Field, Author of Chromatography; or a Treatise on Colours and

Pigments, and of their Powers in Painting, &c. A new edition, augmented. fide Field's theory of the analogy between harmonies of colours and of sounds has been eight-and-twenty years before the world, during which time the properties and phenomena of light and colours have been investigated by several men of science; yet, we believe, the soundness of his theory and the correctness of his

chromatic scale of hues have never been successfully on ed: on the contrary, scientific research has tended to confirm the validity of . Mr. Field's autho- rit on this subject, therefore, may be considered as fairly established.

This new edition has been much enlarged, and otherwise improved; and many new illustrations and experiments have been added. The "Metrochrome " de- scribed in this work is an ingenious, and useful contrivance for ascurately deter- „mining the actual and relative values of separate tints of colour.aad combinations ref them.

The author's fondness for long words and Latinized terms is a fault of Ogle, -which is happily gone out of fashion since Mr. Field's earlier days.]

The Churchman's Theological Dictionary. By the Reverend Robert Eden, MA., FAA., late Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and Minister of St. Mary's Chapel, Lambeth. [A useful and well-compiled dictionary of words used in theology; the term being taken in a wide sense, so as to embrace not only words of common occurrence but recondite terms of science, and proper names—as "Aaron.” The book appears to have been a work of care and labour; the accounts of words (for they pass beyond definitiens).being full without being overladen. The views of the author are Protestant, but devoid of acrimony or controversy. " The artifice," -says be "which unhappily is no uncommon one, of insinuat ing opinions of things under the guise of an explanation of the meaning of words, the editor repudiates as disingennoue] The Plays of Philip Massinger ; with Notes, Critical and Explanatory, by William Gifford. A new edition, complete in one volume. '[TUE handsome edition of Messinger is distinguished from one or two other modern single-volume reprints of the great dramatist by its elabomteintroduetory .matter, critical commentaries, and explanatory notes. Besides Gifford's own labours, it contains Dr. Ireland's Essay on the Writings of Messinger, and his -critical estimate of each play. It is in fact the whole of Gifford's large and ex- pensive edition compressed. mto a single volume, without any loss of clearness, and at a very moderate price.]

The tEneid of Virgil. With English Notes, by Charles Anthon, LL.D., • Professor of Greek and Latin to Columbia College, and Rector of the Grammar School, New York. Edited by J. FL Major, D.D., Head Master of King's College School, London.

[4nh e merit of Anthon's school editions of the Classics is well known both in co and America, for the clearness and fullness of their explanations, swhetheurnrbeTating to the constructing of the text or an explanation of its allusions. The present edition of The tEneid of Virgil is not only a neat and handy reprint of Professor Anthon's last school-book, the notes being placed at the foot of the page instead of relegated to the end: Dr. Idajor.has improved the original in the only way perhaps it requires improvement, by omitting the translation of easy passages, and notes conveying information which in this country is at• hand in Classical Dictionaries and other books used by the student.]

X a. d. • eisaracteristin of the Greek Philosophers: Socrates and Plato. By the Reverend John Phillips Potter, A.M., late of Oriel College, Oxford. [A series of essays on Socrates and Plato; one main object of which is to defend. Socrates from the charges of immorality brought against him ey modern writers. Some of the essays are reprints of reviews on classical publications, which perhaps first directed Mr. Potter's attention to the whole subject.] Photogenic Manipulation; containing the Theory and Plain Instructions in the art of Photography, or the production of pictures through the agency of Light. By George Thomas Fisher junior. Illustrated by wood-cuts. In two parts. Second edition.

[An enlarged and improved edition of a neat, concise, and explicit manual of the various photographic processes; brought down to the latest discoveries, including Actin-chemistry and Thermography. The first part is devoted to the Zsa= and other modes of producing hmnings of light on paper; the second part the Dvuerreotype. and other processes of fixing the light-formed images on metal. The in&rination given in this unpretending little book is useful and intelligible both to experimenters and those who are only curious to know the history.aad operation of these extraordinary arts.]

The Fruit, Flower, and Kitchen-Garden; being the Article "Horticulture' in the seventh edition of the " Encyclopaedia Britannica." By Patrick Nelll, LLD., FIl.S-E„ Secretary to the Royal Caledonian Horticultasal Society. Third edition, revised and improved.

[The patronage bestowed upon this reprint from the Encydopmena Britaanieeril p2es, a sufficient proof of its popular merit; which arises not less from its bre ' altd clearness than from its strictly practical character. The scientific prince ea which gardening rests are noticed no further than is necessary for the soden

of " "]

The Works of G. P. B. James, Esq. Revised and corrected by the Anther. With an Introductory Preface. Volume IV. " One in a Thousand." [This fiction has received an extensive revision; but there is nothing calling for present notice either in itself or the preface.] A Catalogue of British; Vertebrated Animals; the names derived front Bell's " British- Quadrupeds and Reptiles' " and Terrell's " British Biala and Yishes " : so printed as to be availablefor labels.

NEw SERIAL.

Lives of Illustrious Lords Mayors and Aldermen of London, from the cur- liest to the present time. Part I.

[Sir Williani Walworth, the slayer of Wat Tyler, and Sir Richard Whittingtorettof cat celebrity, are the subjects of the biographical hietories in this part: and though the roll of London Mayors and Aldermen may not muster many Josh puissant citizens, the annals of the Corporation will doubtless furnish a goody array of worthies. The compilation is respectably done, but evinces no great an- search : nothing new is told, and the statements of the chroniclers are taken.= trust Some account of the Civic Corporation and its Guilds would be d -bitable by way of introduction: and it might be well that the work should close with the Royal christening of the New Exchange : the descent from William of Walworth to Michael of Walbrook would be a sad fallfor Mayoral dignity.]

NEW PERIODICAL.

Revue de Phaologie, de Litterature, et d'Histoire Aeicienne. - No. L