his mother: "but you are forgiven; so now bring with any man's wife and children. And now, me some coal from the box." madam, I tell you, as you told a friend of yours George looked at the face of his wife; and as one day last year,-'tis the FOOLS' PENCE that have he met the tender gaze of her mild eyes now turn-done all this for us. The Fools' pence !-I ought ed to him, he felt the tears rise in his own. He rather to say, the pence earned by honest indusrose up; and putting money into her hands, he try; and spent so that we can ask the blessing of said, "There are my week's wages. Come, come, God upon the pence." hold out both hands, for you have not got all yet. Lay it out for the best, as you always do. I hope this will be a beginning of better doings on my part, and happier days on yours."

Mrs. Crowder never recovered the customer she had lost.

The foregoing is abridged from a small pamphlet published in London.

BISHOPS.

George told his wife, after the children were gone to bed, that when he saw what the pence of the poor could do towards keeping up a fine house, and dressing out the landlord's wife and daughters, and when he thought of his own hard-working, uncomplaining Susan, and his children in To T. W. WHITE, Esq. want, and almost in rags, while he was sitting drinking, night after night, destroying his health and strength; he was so struck with sorrow and shame, that he seemed to come to himself at last. He determined, from that hour, never again to put the intoxicating glass to his lips.

Editor of the Southern Literary Messenger. DEAR SIR, I recommend the following extract from a medical journal to the especial and attentive perusal of your fair readers. The subject of which it treats has for some time awakened the anxious curiosity of all who feel an interest in the More than a year afterwards, one Sunday after- health, and-what a woman is said to relinquish noon, as Mrs. Crowder, of the Punch-bowl, was with the greatest reluctance-in the personal beauty walking with her daughters to the tea-gardens, of our females. If the hints and suggestions of they were overtaken by a violent shower of rain; this medical writer should prevail on these delicate and had become at least half drenched, when they creatures to adopt some means for the removal of entered a comfortable house, distinguished by its the unseemly incumbrance to which he refers, I comforts and tidiness from all others near it. Its shall be amply repaid for the labor of transcription. good-natured mistress and her two girls did all they could to dry and wipe away the rain-drops and From the Medical Repository, published in the mud-splashes from the ladies' fine silk gowns, all draggled and soiled, and to repair, as far as possible, every mischief done to their dresses and

persons.

When all had been done that could be done, and, as Miss Lucy said, they "began to look themselves again," Mrs. Crowder, who was lolling in a large arm-chair, and amusing herself by a stare at every one and every thing in the room, suddenly started forward, and addressing herself to the master of the house, whose Bible and whose face had just caught her eye,-" Why, my good man, we are old friends! I know your face, I'm certain still there is some change in you, though I can't exactly say what it is."

66

City of..

A singular malady, which has recently made its appearance among the ladies, has excited much speculation in the medical world. As the victims of this complaint obstinately reject all advice, and delicacy forbids a close and accurate examination of the parts affected, we have been compelled to resort to conjecture, and to adopt such conclusions as external appearances would seem to indicate.

Judging by this imperfect mode of observation, we suppose that an enormous tumor, of the wart or wen species, has been produced by the opera tion of some unknown cause over the lower region of the spine. That it is a callous excrescence, may be inferred from the absence of all pain and inflammation, which could scarcely exist to any great extent without affecting seriously the general health; and it is a remarkable feature in this disease, that the fair sufferers seem to be utterly insensible to

But how is it," said Mrs. Crowder, "that we the danger of their situation, and indulge, without never catch a sight of you now?"

restraint, in their usual amusements. We have Madam," said he, "I'm sure I wish you well: had no means of ascertaining the exact superficial nay, I have reason to thank you; for words of extent of this tumor; but its apparent magnitude yours first opened my eyes to my own foolish and varies in different persons, and frequently fluctuwicked course. My wife and children were half-ates in the same individual. Neither have we naked and half-starved, only this time last year. been able to determine its consistency, or whether Look at them, if you please, now: for sweet, con- the cyst, which contains it, is connected with the tented looks, and decent clothes, I'll match them body by a narrow neck; or whether it adheres to

the surface through the whole extent of its appa-mitted to suspend our opinion on the subject, till rent elongation. In shape, it resembles a cylinder some stronger proofs be adduced. And, indeed, to stretching horizontally across the back, with its suppose that these amiable and innocent creatures truncated extremities protruding somewhat on each could, from any cause, be so cruelly backbitten, we side beyond the circumference of the waist. must regard, mangre all the conclusions of science, as a most violent presumption.

This uncommon affection, like the goitre, is confined to the softer sex; and as, upon its first advent The medical world has been much divided, as in this country, it raged principally in the cities, usual, on the question, whether this novel disease its origin was hastily ascribed to some floating be epidemic or contagious. A vast amount of miasm in the local atmosphere, or to the habits of learning and ingenuity has been expended in the diet and exercise peculiar to a crowded population. controversy, without throwing much light on the But before the truth of this hypothesis could be subject of debate; it has left the respective disputested by experiment and observation, the hypothe-tants more wedded than ever to their own opinions. sis itself was completely exploded by the fact, that The arguments are so equally balanced, that both the malady had spread with unexampled rapidity parties may probably lay claim to some share of into the most secluded districts of the country. the truth. If this tumor be insectiferous, as some Indeed, some of the most gigantic specimens of have conjectured, no reason can be assigned why this portentous excrescence which we have ever it may not be propagated in the same way with encountered, were found in very retired situations; many cutaneous diseases, which are believed to yet as the disease in the same vicinities was by no originate in similar causes. means universally diffused, the cases in question were probably sporadic.

On the other hand, the portentous rapidity with which this malady is disseminated, unparalleled in Various conjectures have been hazarded as to the annals of human calamity, except by the fearthe efficient cause of this phenomenon; but none ful progress of the cholera, must be produced by have been sustained by a sufficient induction of some cause of more general operation than mere physiological facts to command the assent of the contagion. But it is not our province tantas comfaculty. It is scarcely necessary to notice the ponere lites, and we shall pass on to more practisupposition, that it is an unnatural enlargement of cal inquiries-to the peculiar symptoms and probathe spleen, since it is evidently a superficial for-ble means of relieving a disease, which, from its mation, and can have no connexion with the vital application to the back, may emphatically be called cavity. Some have imagined, that the muscles of a scourge.

the body, driven from their natural position by the The progress of this peculiar malady, like that excessive pressure of the corset, have swelled out of its great prototype, the Asiatic cholera, is altoimmediately below the line of that stricture into gether astonishing, and militates against every conunusual magnitude, and thus gave rise to this pro-clusion of analogy and experience. It has been tuberance; but if this were so, the enlargement known in a few hours to reach its utmost degree of would be commensurate with the cause, and there- tumefaction; and young ladies, whose sylph-like fore would encircle the whole body. Others main- tenuity of form was the ornament and admiration tain, that the unnatural action of the dorsal muscles of the evening entertainment, have emerged from in the effort to produce that curvature of the spine, their chambers in the morning accoutred with a miscalled the Grecian bend, might have occasioned pack of such prodigious dimensions, that, with little a partial dislocation of that main pillar of the hu- effort of imagination, they might be mistaken for man system, and that the morbid action, thus gene-gypsies on a march, bending beneath the weight of rated, terminated in the formation of this enormous all their household goods. The morbid action indifungus; but it were more rational to conclude, that cated by this preternatural growth, would seem to this fashionable bend is an effect rather than a demand the exhibition of the most speedy and decause, and is assumed as a counterpoise to the cisive remedies. Leeching, cupping, and other preponderating weight of this unseemly hump, topical applications might palliate, but could scarcely which would otherwise throw the line of gravity arrest the progress of this extraordinary swelling. without the base, and thus destroy the equilibrium The cautery and the knife could alone be relied on of the body. The most plausible hypothesis yet for its effectual extirpation. The operation, howproposed as a solution of the difficulty is, that the ever, would be hazardous; for the vitality inditumor in question is analogous to the elephantiasis cated by its rapid development, betrays its connexof the West-Indias, and is the work of some veno-ion with the arterial system. The excision of so mous insect burrowing beneath the cuticle in the large a mass from the body, would, under any cirregion of the loins. If this be so, the cure may be cumstances, be attended with a sense of exhausboth delicate and difficult; but the image of the tion, and might seriously affect the nervous system, soft and tender skin of a beautiful woman perfo- particularly when the unfortunate patient, from a rated, like some moth-eaten parchment, is so dis-delusive conception of the disease, is averse to the tasteful to our imaginations, that we must be per- necessary measures of relief.

It is to be feared that our females will resist all Venus, or the girdle of Florimel. Not to speak efforts to disburthen them of this ungainly protube- of the unpleasant surmises to which such an unrance, since, from a strange hallucination, they seemly protuberance must give rise, the most serisuppose it to be ornamental, and to improve the ous physical derangement may be anticipated from natural symmetry of their figures. In Switzer-this enormous pressure on the diaphraghm. land, goitre keeps goitre in countenance; and the The unwillingness of the fair sufferers to subbelles of the Vallais, reconciled to this unavoidable mit to medical examination, renders it impossible calamity by its universal prevalence, are easily to ascertain with precision all the symptoms of this persuaded that it is a beauty rather than a defect. disease; but so far as we have observed, the most On the same principle our American ladies cherish, prominent are, slight febrile action, nervous excitaas their most graceful appendage, a hideous incum- bility, giddiness of the head, restlessness, excesbrance, resembling for all the world a beggar's wal- sive flightiness, and an inordinate proclivity to the let in shape and appearance; for it cannot be doubted, intoxicating pleasures of fashionable life. These that, if it were confined to a few individuals, it symptoms may vary in degree according to the chawould be an object of derision or disgust. Such, racter and constitution of the patient, but they are indeed, is the perversity of taste produced by that believed to be the usual concomitants of this singutyrant custom, that they have actually dignified lar affection. They proclaim that the nervous this deformity with the venerable name of bishop, system is deeply implicated, and that every indulfrom its imaginary resemblance, we presume, to gence of an exciting nature must be pernicious. the hump frequently superinduced on the incum- It is evident, therefore, that retirement, solitude bents of the episcopal office by age, infirmity and and quiet, are essential to recovery. We should incessant toil. It was from a like depravity of advise, as a preliminary to any course of treatment, perception that the courtiers of Alexander, because a residence in some secluded mountain-valley, that celebrated conqueror was wry-necked, conceived that unnatural distortion to be the perfection of grace and elegance, and submitted to the painful effort of affecting a similar dislocation.

where pure air, rural occupations, romantic scenery, and an absence of the temptations and frivolities of the gay world, might gradually renovate the tone of the nervous system, and prepare the way for a radical expulsion of this hideous excrescence.

deformity.

Campbell County, Va, Dec. 1841.

CAN I FORGET?

D.

It is supposed, from the prevalence of goitres and idiocy in the same districts of Switzerland, that We have entered with the greater minuteness there is some inexplicable connexion between that into the discussion of this subject, because the inexcresence and the brain. We are not prepared terest which we feel in the welfare of our fair to deny the truth of this conjecture; and by parity country women, no less than the sentiments of huof reasoning we think it much more probable, that manity, demand from the medical faculty the exerthe bishop, resting as it does on the spinal column, tion of their utmost skill in the extirpation of such and thus communicating directly with the seat of an alarming evil, and more especially in ridding perception, should exercise a still greater influence the form of youthful beauty of so loathsome a on the powers of the understanding. Is it altogether impossible, that the medullary substance, occupying the chambers of the cranium, should, from the power of gravitation, or an irregular circulation of the fluids, have abandoned, in a great measure, the cavity of the skull, and accumulated on the lower region of the spine, so as to form this extraordinary enlargement? We throw out this idea as a mere hypothesis, to be tested by future investigation. Certain it is, that the subjects of this strange disease are characterised by a levity and volatility, which increase in a ratio with the growth of the dorsal tumefaction. If this bump had made its appearance on the cranium, phrenology would have furnished a ready explanation of the phenomenon; but unluckily the disciples of that useful science have not extended their inquiries to the mental qualities indicated by the irregularities of the spine.

BY L. J. CIST.

"I have treasured every look,

I have garnered every tone,
Till my heart is like a book
Filled with memories alone:
And I wonder oft if thou,

BIBLIO

N

THEC

In thy far and happy home,
Ever think'st of him, who now
To thy presence may not come !"
W. D. Gallagher.

Can I forget?-
When, hand in hand, we roved the sunny bowers
The bright, the blest, the golden-winged hours,
Of childhood's home; or up the mountain's side,
Or by the streamlet's gently murmuring tide,

The ramifications of this swelling seem to be Gathered young Spring's first flowers-the fair wild-rose spreading horizontally, and it is apprehended, that And the blue violet, sweetest flower that grows! Nurturing the while, through each delightful hour,

it may ultimately encircle the slender waists of the ladies with a continuous ridge, which no illusion of the imagination can transform into the cestus of'

Love's bud to bloom-itself a fairer flower!
Ah me! not yet
Those days can I forget!

physician may, with profit, add the one now before us, to his list of periodicals. The price is $2 50, in advance.

whether this or that political dogma be consistent with de- to the world, usually in the medical journals. And any mocratic doctrines, are matters of opinion, and therefore of dispute. In this free-thinking age, there is no one who may speak ex cathedra in political science; nevertheless Mr. Camp has given the public a book which may be read with pleasure and profit.

POPULAR LECTURES ON ETHICS OR MORAL OBLIGATIONS, for the use of Schools. By Margaret Mercer. Peters burg: Edmund & Julian C. Ruffin.

The schoolmaster is indeed abroad in the land; the spi

popular education is advancing. Some of the first talents of the country are enlisted under its banners. Miss Mercer is among them. She has performed well her part; and she performed a good work, when she addressed her little volume to the affections of the young, and cast it in the com

THE FAMILY LIBRARY, No. 139. History of Michigan from its earliest colonization to the present. By James H. Lan-rit of intellectual improvement is rife; and the cause of man. New-York: Harper & Brothers; 1841. Another work from this prolific press! This is an abridgement of a history by the same author, prepared under a law of the State. And as pleasantly as Mr. Lanman writes, we could have wished his volume for the Family Library had been still more abridged. A commercial ac-mon school treasury. It is particularly suitable for young quaintance once wrote six or eight pages of fool's-cap, ad- ladies and girls, though it may be perused with profit by the vising with his partner in Liverpool as to the shipment of a youth of either sex. The lectures of which it is comprised cargo of salt. "Salt won't do," was the laconic reply. abound in practical good sense, and sound doctrines and And we would recommend to the Messrs. Harpers to im-instructions, both moral and religious. Miss Mercer is a press upon their writers of State Histories the importance of some little attention to the salty style of the Liverpool merchant. We have less fault though to find with Mr. Lanman's History of Michigan, or Mitchi-sawgyegan as its Indian name runs, than we have, or than we expressed in a former No., against Dwight's History of Connecticut. The Catholic church planted her missionary stations in Michigan upwards of two centuries ago. There are many interesting incidents connected with the early history of this new State, and her historian makes the most of them. It is a well written and an agreeable little volume.

THE AMERICAN ALMANAC AND REPOSITORY OF USEFUL
KNOWLEDGE for the year 1842. Boston: published by
David H. Williams.

This is one of the most valuable publications any where to be found. It comprises upwards of 300 pages 12mo. of the most important statistical information, concerning the General and State Governments-exports and importsagriculture and manufactures-civil and military establishments, etc. As a book of reference it is useful at all times, and to men of every pursuit in life. The present volume is particularly valuable on account of the statistics relating to the sixth census' of the United States; by which a greater amount of useful information has been collected than by any other. The work is to be had at the Bookstore of Messrs. Randolph & Co.

A Tribute to the Memory of the Rev. George G. Cookman.
A Poem, delivered at the Alexandria Lyceum, by Daniel
Bryan: 1841.

This is a neat pamphlet of sixteen pages, published for the benefit of Mrs. Cookman, whose husband was among the passengers of the ill-fated President. The sale, we are happy to learn, has been very large; and the poem especially, as every thing from the pen of Mr. Bryan does, has met with great favor. It possesses decided merit.

The Maryland Medical and Surgical Journal and Official Organ of the Medical Department of the Army and Navy of the United States. Baltimore: John Murphy; 1841.

The second No. of the second volume of this journal lies on our table. It contains a list of chemical tests and agents, that is worth to the practical man many times the price of subscription. The present No. is a capital one. It contains several valuable papers: Among them we would notice especially the Memoir of Sir Astley Cooper, and the conclusion of a prize essay on Cutaneous and Mucous Exhalation.' No physician can keep pace with the improvements and discoveries that are daily being made in his art, without the assistance of medico-periodical literature. The most valuable discoveries in medicine are first announced

devout Christian; and she has 'let her light so shine,' in the tone of earnest affection which she has imparted to these admirable essays. In setting forth so much that is good and excellent, it is to be regretted that our authoress did not pay as much attention to manner as to matter; for it is a pity that grammatical errors should be suffered to creep in, and mar, as they not unfrequently do, the beauty of her discourse. We have opened the book at random, and stumbled upon such blunders as these: "Economy is such a just restraint of one's inclinations, and such a regulation of their expenditures, as will turn their means to the best account:" p. 179. Often the sight or the hearing perish:" p. 58.

This book is written for the instruction of the young, and for the use of schools; therefore we would hold the writer rigidly within the rules of grammar. The frequent use which she makes of as, as a pronoun, grates upon the ear; to say the least of it, it is an inelegance of style which should not be tolerated, more especially in such books as this. The 'as will' in the first quotation is a case in pointand like cases abound. Such sentences ought to be recast. Expressed thus, the one above would have been faultless:

66

Economy is that just restraint of one's inclinations, and that regulation of one's expenditures, which will turn one's means," ctc. But notwithstanding such faults, the book is sensibly written. It may be had at the Bookstore of Messrs. Randolph & Co.

THE POEMS OF JOHN G. C. BRAINARD. A new and authentic collection, with an original memoir of his life. Hartford: Edward Hopkins; 1842.

Brainard may justly be considered one of the most interesting of American poets. His personal popularity, the mingled playfulness and melancholy of his effusions, their patriotic tone, and the early death of the promising minstrel,-all tend to hallow and endear his memory. It is several years since the volume of his pieces, issued in his life-time, has been out of print. The edition published with Mr. Whittier's memoir, after the poet's decease, was very limited, and a large portion of it was destroyed by fire. It was also quite incorrect, and was shabbily executed. There was then, it seems, ample reason for the appearance of the present volume. We have examined it with care, and can assure our readers that the casket is, in every respect, worthy of the jewels it enshrines. For this beautiful volume, the public are indebted to the ardent interest with which the publisher cherishes the memory of Brainard. He has long wished to see something like justice done to the poet; and to this end, has labored to bring together a perfectly authentic and correct edition of his writings. This he has at length succeeded in doing; and the lovers of American poetry have now another handsome and charm