fmall part only must be uncovered, cleanfed, and exposed to the action of the air to harden; and then the part fo managed must be again carefully covered with boards, to prevent the rain or moisture coming to it, which will effectually defeat all endeavours to preferve it; and this method of uncovering, cleanfing, and covering again, must be repeated till the whole is cleared and dried; which in variable seasons will take up feve. ral months.

Authors differ in claffing the ofteocolla among the vegetable or mineral fubftances. Moft of the ancients, as has been already obferved, have miftaken it for bones that have undergone fome accidental change; which others again deny, as no traces of animal parts have ever been discovered in it by chemical proceffes; nor any fragments of bones been found near where it grows. Erafmus has written the best upon it.

Thofe who will not admit the ofteocolla among the animal, have ranged it among the mineral fubftances; in which they are certainly right. Profeffor Teichmeyer indeed calls it a marle; but M. Henckel of the board of mines, claffes it among the minerals, yet fays nothing of its production. Profeffor Junoker fays, it is generated in the fand, but he likewife leaves the manner undecided. My opinion is, that it is a root, to which the fand adheres, and by degrees produces the osteocolla; and I am the more confirmed in this opinion, as upon enquiry, I found near Terne, in the marquifate of Brandenburg, a withered twig, and a green fhoot from a rotten ftump, the uppermost part

of which was wood ftill, but the root or lowermoft part was wholly tranformed into pure ofteocolla; and this ftump I had reafon to believe was the remains of a tree which the people of the country call a fpecies of poplar.

Its origin, therefore, is to be fought for in the remains of the black poplar, the timber of which being first cut down, and the ftem orftumprotted, the ofteocolla grows by degrees from the remaining root; for in all the parts of the ofteocolla, fomething of woodiness is difcoverable, which, when thoroughly rotted, crumbles away and leaves thofe innumerable perforations which give it the appearance of bone; and that it is peculiar to this tree may be prefumed from this, that though of teocolla has been diligently fought for in the roots of other trees grow. in on the fame ground with the poplar in which it is found, yet nothing like it has ever been difcovered. From all which, these conclufions, I think, may be fairly deduced.

I. That the foil in which it is found is not the efficient cause of its growth.

II. That wherever ofteocolla is found, there is or has been poplar.

III. That whoever finds ofteocolla will plainly perceive it has been a root. And,

IV. That wherever ofteocolla abounds, there will be feen a bony-like fubftance, projecting from the ground, which has given rife to the vulgar notion, that it grows and bloffoms.

Be this however as it may, wherever these bony-like excrefcences appear, by digging a fpan

I 4

deeper

deeper, ofteocolla will certainly be found; and though the parts that are above ground be hard, those underneath are always foft.

M. Beurer tried the ofteocolla in various menftruums, to discover the quantity diffolvable in each, and for this purpose infused half a dram of the ofteocolla in half an ounce of each menftruum: The oil of vitriol diffolved four grains of it; the folution was yellow; and the fediment a cream colour. The fpirit of vitriol reduced the whole to a falt. The fpirit of nitre diffolved one fcruple and four grains of it; and the acid of common falt, one fcruple and fix grains; aqua fortis diffolved one feruple and four grains, and diftilled vinegar one, fcruple and a

half.

By diftillation on an open fire, the ofteocolla yields a urinous fpirit; a fixed alkali being poured upon it, produces an immediate effervefcence; the fediment converted to a lixivium with pure water is quite tasteless, though oil of vitriol poured upon the ofteocolla in a retort over a gentle fire, will feparate from it an acid of common falt.

M. Beurer endeavoured to reduce part of the fediment to a calx; but without effect.

Its ufe in medicine is abforbent; and it is by fome applied in the cure of the fluor albus.

fuit of the laft confequence to her; she went only among her lawyers, or to church, to endeavour to in. terest heaven in her caufe; here fhe was obferved to proftrate herfelf before every altar. She eat little, and flept lefs; tho' fhe had been told, that the court feemed favourable to her caufe, yet the evening before the day of hearing fhe fell into what was believed to be an apoplexy. The phyfician and furgeon being called, found her fitting motionlefs in a chair, with her eyes open and fixed upward; her arms raifed, and hands joined, as one in an ecstasy; her countenance, which before was both pale and forrowful, was now both florid and gay; her breathing was free; her pulfe was like that of one afleep, full, and flow; her limbs were fupple, and would move as one would have them, without offering any refiftance, and would remain in what pofture they were left in; when her chin was pulled down, her month remained open; when her arms were raised they remained fo; and let them be put into the moft uneafy pofture one could think of, they always remained in the fituation they were put in. to; fhe all this time feemed infenfible; they tormented her feveral ways; put live coals to her feet; bawled into her ears that fhe had gained her caufe, the gave no figns of life; Meffrs. Attalin and Charles, both profeffors of phyfic, had her blooded in the foot, and when they came to vifit her after fupper, they found her recovered out of her cataleptic fit; which had held her three or four hours. She here entertained them with all the circumftances of her law-fuit, interfperfed with fuch

moral

moral reflections, as naturally arofe from her ftory; thofe prefent did every thing to affure her fhe would gain her caufe; he was asked whether the had any notion of what happened unto her: fhe faid fhe had feen nothing, but could diftinguish the voice of fome about her; yet the never felt the chafingdifh of coals under her feet, nor the bleeding in the foot; though fhe had been tormented all manner of ways, yet fhe never complained of any pain or laffitude; while fhe thus entertained the company, fhe was obferved to interrupt her difcourfe, to draw a deep figh, and then her eyes became fixed; every thing was done to prevent thofe little fits by reminding her where the left off; but he could never recover the thread of her difcourfe, but would begin fome other ftory; in about an hour after fhe fell into another cataleptic fit, which was as ftrong as the first: after it was over, he, fitting in her chair, talked of her affairs as before, for an hour and a half good, and after this, fhe began to fpeak wildly, the likewife fcreamed frightfully, and was foon after feized with a violent fever. She was treated by the above phyficians for three or four days: fhe ftill remaining at Benfançon, but without any vifible relief; whereupon they advised to have her carried back to Vefoul, her native place, where, to the furprise of every body, the perfectly recovered, and is ftill living.

A fimilar cafe, ftill more extraordi

nary, 1762.

A fervant maid at Montpelier, about twenty, of a pale com

plexion, and ever complaining of cold in her extremities, of a timorous though fretful difpofition, after fome grief she took in March, was feized with a cataleptic fit; whatever attitude fhe was in at the time of feizure, the retained it till the fit was over. Thefe fits increafing, obliged her to be carried into the hofpital, where the was attended by Meffrs. Sauvage and Lazerme: thefe fits were various as to their duration, being from half a quarter to three quarters of an hour; in the months of April and May, 1757, this catalepfy was accompanied with very extraordinary appearances, diftinguishable into three vifible periods, the beginning and ending cataleptic, and middle, lafted a whole day, or from morning till night, when her cataleptic fit, which often ufed to hold her five or fix minutes, was over, as was always known by her beggining to yawn, the then fat up in, her bed, began to talk very faft, and more fenfibly than fhe was known to do in her full health; the would now often change her difcourfe, and that pertinently enough, and appear as if the directed her difcourfe to fome friends prefent; this was always obferved to have fome connexion with that fhe held in a fit the day before, or it turned on fome moral reflection, which the fhrewdly would apply to fome of the attendants of the hofpital. All this time her eyes were fully open, and yet the was in a moft profound fleep, without either motion or feeling, as M. Sauvage confirmed by many experiments he made. ift, By approaching the flame of a bougie, fo near her eye as to burn her eye

brows;

brows; fhe however did not even wink at this. 2dly, He got one to bawl loud into her ear, thump hard at the head of the bed, which at any other time would terrify her greatly; he befides had fome brandy and even fpirit of fal ammoniac put into her eyes; he alfo thruft his finger into them, had Havanna fnuff blown into her nofe, pins thrust into her flesh, and her fingers twisted, yet all to no purpofe, The never gave the leaft fign of feeling.

While thefe experiments were making, her difcourfe (for fhe all the time continued talking) all of a fudden became more lively; this was a prelude to a new fcene; fhe now began to fing and jump, and burft out after into a fit of laughter, endeavouring at the fame time to get out of bed, which fhe at laft effected with feemingly great joy; fhe now ranged the whole ward, carefully avoiding the beds, chairs, &. a id returned without any difficulty to her own bed, lay down after, and covered herfelf, where in a fhort time fhe was feized with a cataleptic fit, which in lefs than one quarter of an hour left her; fhe then awoke as out of a profound fleep; upon fecing fo many about her, the appeared confufed,

and cried for the remainder of the

day, though he had no know. ledge of what he did in her

fit.

About the end of May all the foregoing fymptoms left her, tho' it could not be attributed to any effect from medicines. She was blooded once in the arm, often in the foot, and feven times in the jugulars; he was purged five or fix times after fome aperitive apozems fhe took; he took a fto

machic electuary made of the bark, cinnabar, pulvis ad guttetam, and, when the weather was mild, the was bathed twenty times in a bath rather cold than warm; fhe had after fome preparations of Mars ordered for her, was feemingly reftored to her health, but the was far from being fo, having returns of her diforder every winter, to 1759, with this difference, that it was not now preceded by a cataleptic fit, nor was her want of feeling fo great. She was one day feized with a fit on the bridge, where he was obferved to speak as to her own fhadow or image the faw in the water. At a fit fhe had laft Christmas holy-days, fhe had fome notion of those about her.

This young woman is now fo accuftomed to her diforder, that all the concern it gives her is fome little confufion; however, the is not of fo pale a complexion; but fhe ftill feels the fame heat and weight on her head, and on the decline of the fit complains of a cardialgia, which awakes her.

On a fifb of the river of Surinam, which produces very fingular effects. From the fame.

Wders in nature; and, if the

E daily difcover new won

fact we are going to give an account of, after M. Mufchenbroek, is exactly fuch as it is related, it is one of the most extraordinary that occurs in the hiftory of animals.

This able naturalift fays, in a letter to the Abbé Nollet, that a fish or kind of eel is found in a river of Surinam, which has the fingular property of ftriking you,

as

as the fhock or commotion of Leyden, when you put your hands into the water near the place where it is. If, for instance, fishermen or feamen come near in a boat, within the distance of eight or ten feet, and dip their hands in the water, they immediately feel themfelves ftruck, fays M. Mufchen. broek, as in my experiment (it is the fame as the commotion of Leyden) by the electricity of the fish; if they push it with a ftick, they feel a fmarter ftroke; and if with an iron rod, they are ftruck, as with a mighty force; in fhort, no one dares to lay hold of it with the hand; and with an electrical fhock it kills the fishes that in fwimming pafs near it; yet, the moft remarkable thing is, that if the feamen, instead of an iron rod, dip down by the fide of the fish a ftick of fealing-wax, or even touch it with that tick, they feel no ftroke; whence M. Mufchenbroek concludes, that in the different circumstances here related, the men are ftruck by the electricity only of the fish.

Here are very fingular effects, and there are others which are more extraordinary, fince M. Muf. chenbroek finishes his recital, by faying that fome others are not lefs certain than the foregoing, but which he dares not give an account of.

None can be better difpofed than we are to adopt the opinions of fo learned a gentleman; yet, in admitting all thofe marvellous effects, we cannot believe, with him, that they ought to be attributed to electrity. It feems he was induced to think fo after the experiment of the fealing-wax;

but it appears incompatible with the facts we knew of. It is indeed well known that every real electrical body, being made wet, tranfmits electricity as metals and other non-electrical fubftances. Thus the tick of fealing-wax wetted ought to produce the fame effect as the iron bar, &c. unless it be fuppofed that the fmall part of this ftick out of the water is enough to prevent it, which is not very probable. Befides, a tick of wood, or iron rod, might tranfmit certain concuffions, or certain motions, communicated by the fifh to the parts of the water, which the fealing-wax might not. Many things may be till faid to fhew that electricity has no fhare in the fingular effects attributed to this fish, and perhaps none of the facts do really exift. Let us not forget all the wonders that have been related of the tor pedo. Though this fish is an inhabitant of our feas, and it was eafy for every one to ascertain what is faid of it, yet none before M. Reaumur, in our days, had fhewn what all thofe ftories amounted to. There are two thou. fand leagues from hence to Surinam; and what an alteration may arife in facts through the courfe of fuch a paffage! Yet all the aboverelated circumstances give us reafon to regret that one of thofe fingular fishes, which was bringing from that country to M. Mufchenbroek, died in the paffage. If it had lived, this wife naturalift would have foon difcovered and made known all the certainty in the facts related of it.

The fish here fpoken of is called by naturalifts gymnotus, and by

the