,->>>-> X\&W&'~2L >S >AS> ■* Af>*x* >^L.^ ^S»A9> > >•> * !>>!?. *£*> ■>•• -** ■-"'-4C *£s 3i>3> y> ~>^g> P- » t>: O ^ **> "s^>- »;> * ^ i ,-> - J> i .■""">> 3>^ -if>^A>A. , 3>>»">; (>-3>"D6* *> »>3 ^■:ky^ ■\:**v: %n„ ^llrip A ■■*ap. »- N< $ :GOGC^C^:: - ... - J "Ov iCU'-'OaQ'J'GO sSti t ~' * A. 1 AL '."'' :?¥*rt;i'i^ FRONTISPIECE. vide p. 185. !? DANIEL'S LIFE-PRESERVER, from Shipwreck, Bathing, &c. Lu -A THE ACCIDENTS OS HUMAN LIFE ; HINTS FOR THEIR PREVENTION, AND THE REMOVAL OF THEIR CONSEQUENCES. BY NEWTON BOSWORTH, HONORARY MEMBER OE THE LONDON PHILOSOPrf* ICAL SOCIETY. PVom a London copy, revised, amended, and enriched witk a variety of interesting matter. He that waits for an opportunity to do much at Once, toay breathe out his life in idle wishes { and regret, in the last hour, his useless intentions and barren zeal. JOHNSON. NEW-YORK: PRINTED AND SOLD BY SAMUEL **fcoW»£ ,-t t*9. 357, PEA*MT»«XT. "'■">' DISTRICT OF NEW-YORK, ss. Be it remembered, That on the thirteenth day 01 ********* April, in the thirty-eighth year of the Tn- | L. S. * dependence of the United States of Anieri- **####*#* ca> Samuel Wood, of the said District, hath deposited in this office, the title of a book, the right whereof he claims, as proprietor, in the words following, to wit: " The Accidents of Human Life ; with hints for their Prevention, and the Removal of their Consequences. By Newton Bosworth, Honorary Member of the London Philosophical Society. From a London copy, revised, amended, and enriched with a variety of interesting mat- ter. He that waits for an opportunity to do much at once, may "breathe out his life in idle wishes; and regret, in the last hour, his useless intentions and barren zeal. Johnson." In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, u An act for the encourage- ment of learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such cop- ies, during the times therein mentioned:" and also, to an Act, entitled'" an Act, supplementary to an Act, enti- tled an Act for the encouragement of learning, by se- curing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books to the Au- thors and Proprietors of such copies, during the timei- therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving and etching historical and other prints." THERON RUDD, Clerk of the District of New-York, PREFACE. Much has been said, in jest, about the " Miseries of Human Life ;" why may not something be said, in tar- nest, about its accidents—those frequent sources o' deep and lasting misery ? By accidents, I mean simply those sudden and unex- pected events, generally of a calamitous kind, to which we are all more or less exposed. Though they are often said to be casual in their occurrence, they are all produ- ced by their proper causes, as much so as the most regu- lar and uniform appearances in nature. They are only called accidents, because previous circumstances do not appear to indicate them, or, in simpler terms, because they come upon us unawares. The well-ordered mind ad- mits not of so fickle a divinity as Chance, but ---------sees a God employed In all the good and ill that chequer life. Nothing, therefore, can be farther from my intention than, by the term I am obliged of necessity to use, to exclude the idea of an overruling Providence, extending to the minutest events, as well as the greatest. To those, however, who are in the habit of reflecting upon what passes around them, it must have often ap- peared, not only that accidents are occasioned by inatteu- IV. tion, ignorance, or presumption, but that their injurious consequences have been multiplied exceedingly by impro- per treatment, sometimes even more than by absolute ne- glect. The occurrence of an accident calls for prompt ex-* ertion ; and often leaves no time for reasoning, delibera- tion, or inquiry: if, then, the minds of the actors in the hasty scene, be uninformed as to the proper mode of pro- ceeding, it is evident that, in many cases, the danger of in^ creasing the evil will be at least as great as the probabili- ty of removing or lessening it. And how often, especial- ly in the country, do we meet with persons so egregious- ly ignorant of what is proper to be done in any emer- gency, that their assistance is rather to be deprecated than desired'. The design of this little volume, is to do something tot- wards the removal of the ignorance complained of, by communicating to general readers, and especially to young persons, such information as I have been able to eollect on the subject of bodily accidents in general, whether arising from fire, water, journeying, heat, cold, amusements, violent exertion, or other cause, together with the best methods I could think, or hear, or read of for avoiding those accidents, and alleviating or removing their consequences. Having been long accustomed to the instruction of youth, it wag natural that I should consider a course of Addresses to young persons, as the best mode I could adopt, of conveying the information I had to offer ; for beside the advantages my pupils would derive from this plan, it would be likely that, in consulting their under- standings, I should be able to adapt myself th» more V. readily to the comprehension of those classes of society, who are most in need of the kind of knowledge here communicated. These Addresses were accordingly, in substance, delivered to my resident pupils, at intervals, in the course of the last half-year;, and the interest they excited and preserved in the minds of my auditors, en- courages me to hope they will not be presented to the publie in vain. Our juvenile lectures were regularly honoured by the attendance of two gentlemen of this University : the Rev. James Plcmtke, Fellow of Clare-Hail, and Vic-T of Great Gransdcn in Huntingdonshire ; and Frederic Thackeray, Esq. The former of these gentlemen, a i- ter witnessing the ra-ages of a dreadful lire, which, last autumn, destroyed a great part of Emmanuel College,* suggested to me the present undertaking ; the latter fur- nished me with a variety of medical and surgical re- marks; and to both I am highly indebted for many valu- able bints and observations with which they favoured me, during the progress of our reading, and of which I have adopted as many as my limits would permit. Other gentlemen, too, on being informed of my plan, readily communicated such suggestions as occurred to them, and were likely to be useful. My thanks are due, on this account, to Dr. Lettsom, the philanthropic Treasurer of the Royal Humane Society ; W. Frend, Esq. of the Rock Assurance-Office; and my excellent friend Dr. Gregory, of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. * See Address I. p. 5. 1 * VI. The intelligent reader of this little volume will, un- doubtedly, meet with many things in it which have oc- curred to his reading or his observation, before; but his benevolence will induce him to pardon, if not to ap- plaud their introduction into a work, designed chiefly for those persons whose knowledge, and whose means of acquiring knowledge, are much more limited than his own. To have omitted them, with this end in view, would have been manifestly improper. As utility is the objtel of these addresses, so familiarity is the mode in which I have studied to compose them : with what success, it would ill become me to decide ; al- though, if I may judge from the readiness with which my young auditors understood me, perhaps I may venture to hope, that I have not altogether failed of my purpose. And since, according to a very ancient maxim, example strikes more forcibly than precept, I have enlivened my •nstructions by occasional anecdotes ; taking care, how- ever, not to insert so many of them as to give to my piece the air of a story-book. Insignificant as this publication may be deemed, in a literary point of view—if it shall prove the means of saving a fellow-creature's life.or even of procuring him an hour's exemption from unnecessary pain—if it shall, in only one instance, prevent the sighing of the mourner, or mitigate the sorrows of the suffering —the time occupied in composing it will have been better employed than in the mere pursuit of honour or of fame. Merton-Hall Academy, Cambridge, Dec. l.*M81 *>. vu. Note of the New-York Pubhher. The reader is respectfully informed, that among the additions made to this edition, are the facts on sponta- neous combustion from the slaking of lime; on the ex- treme danger of the vapours from in3a.-r.nmMe spirits • and on self-combustion, in certain cases, of the humaii body itself. The directions on the part :f the New- York Humane Society were drawn up some years ago, by Doctors Dingley and Smith, two men inert among the most benevolent and active of our citizens, but not now inhabitants of this world. For the original1 experit ments on swimming, ahd the remarks on catching cold, related p. 89, and p. £33, me publisher acknowledges his obligations to his friend Dr. Mitchill. CONTENTS. PAGE. I. Introductory Address. --.....-......- - - - 1 II. On Accidents from Fire.—Directions how to es- cape from a burning house.---------------- 12 III. Accidc7its from Fire, continued.—Directions for extinguishing Fires.------------------- 35 IV. Accidents from Fire, continued.—Compositions to extinguish Fire.—Danger from burning Clothes.—How to put out the Flame.------ 47 V. Modes of guarding against Fire.—Miscellane- ous Cautions.---.....------------------ 60 VI. Accidents from Water.—Dr. Franklin's Advice to swiminei>.—Dr. Mitchili's experiments on Floating and Swimming.—Useful Precau- tions.—Means of raising Bodies from the Wa- ter.—Drags.---------------...._________ 7g VII. Accidents from Water, cntiriucd.—Means of restoring to Life Persons apparently drown- ed.—Directions of Humane Society of New- Yorl.—Resuscitative Process in familiar verse. 119 is. VHT. Accidents from Water, continued.—Dangers of the seas.—Shipwrecks, and Means of Deliv- erance.—Life-Boats.—Lieut. Bell's and Capt. Manby's Methods.—Man-Saver, Cork-Jacket, Marine Spencer, Life-Preserver.—Arab?an and Chinese Methods.....................I66 IX. Accidents at Play.—" Dangerous Sports."— Falls.—Col Crichton's Bed and Frtire for re- moving wounded Persons.—Dogs.—Wounds.— Burns and Scalds.—Gunpowder and Frs-arms. —Swallowing Bones, &c.—" Never conceal an Accident.".........................191 X. Accidents in Travelling, and Cautions.—Intense Cold.—Sudden Changes from Cold to Heat, and the contrary.----" Catching Cold."----Dr. Mitchill's observations on colds.' > Thunder Storms.——Fainting.-—Caution against in- dulging extreme Sensibility.—Conclusion, - • 218 THE FOX AND THE BOA*. A CABLE, FROM JESOP. The boar "stood whetting his tusks against an old tree. The Fox, who happened to pass by at the time asked him why he made those warlike preparations, since there was no enemy near that he could perceive.— " That may be, Master Renard," said the boar; but we should scour up our arms while we have leisure, you know,—for in the time of danger we shall have some- thing else to do." THE ACCIDENTS OF HUMAN LIFE. INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. MY YOUNG FRIENDS, IT has pleased Almighty God to place us in a world where pain and pleasure, good and evil, are perpetually intermixed.— Though we are surrounded with the kindnesses of our benevolent Creator, we are exposed to calamities of various kinds; though we have many reasons for gratitude, we have also many for caution; and though it be true that " there is mercy in every place," it is equally true, that " dangers stand thick through all the road," which we are destined to tread in our passage through this mortal state. o 2 Among the many inconveniences that human beings suffer, those which are occasioned by what are commonly termed accidents, are not the least painful. So uncertain is every thing in this world, that no condition, rank, or situation can wholly exempt us from these. They sometimes happen to us when wo least expect them, and at other times surprise us when we think ourselves best prepared to repel them. All the elements, as they are called, fire, air, earth, and water, seem fertile in calamity; and, however useful they are, in general, to man, they are often the causes of his severest suffering. As neither place nor condition is secure from accidents, so there is no time when we are not exposed to them in some way or other. In short, whether we are at home or abroad, on land or on water, at rest or in motion, asleep or awake, in darkness or in day- light, our comforts may be destroyed, our limbs, broken, or our lives endangered, by some sudden occurrence which we have neither the wisdom to foresee, nor the power to prevent. It is true, how ever, that care and knowledge are often very useful to us, though they will not absolutely in- 3 sure us from danger; for, as many of the miseries and accidents of life are the fruit of negligence and ignorance, it is but fair to believe that a pru- dent forecast may prevant many evils, and may lessen the bad consequences of others when they happen. And so it is in fact; as a little observa- tion will convince you. Indeed, it always has been so; and Solomon has long ago remarked, as you may remember reading in the book of Pro- verbs, that " The prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself, but the simple pass on, and are punished." It is no doubt for the purpose of self-preservation, as well as for the benefit of his fellow creatures, that the faculty of reason was implanted in the heart of man. Young as you are, most of you have heard of, and several of you have seen, many distressing things. If you trace back the various events of your life, from the time you first began to think and to understand, you will doubtless call to mind many tales of wo, to which you have listened, or many shocking events which, perhaps, you your- selves have witnessed. Your attention has often been called to the destruction of houses, goods, 4. and even lives, by fire, and to other terrible effects of that element; to instances of the loss of life by drowning, falling from horses, the crush of carriage-wheels, and a multitude of other causes; and, in many cases, where death has not ensued, broken limbs or maimed bodies, or injured health, have been the consequence of accident or impru- dence, Nor is it among strangers alone that these things have happened : your own play-ground •will furnish you with examples, though you have reason to be thankful, and I join you with all my heart in the feeling of gratitude, that these have but seldom occurred, and none of them has proved of very serious consequence. Let not this re- mark lessen your care to avoid all improper ex- ercise, or any excess of violence in that which is proper. You know the old saying, " Verhum sat sapienti,^ which, for the sake of those who do not learn Latin, I will state in their own language, " A word to the wise is enough." Shew your- selves wise by taking the hint, and proving that it is sufficient to restrain you from excess. If you have paid much attention to what you have seen and heard, it is likely that you have 5 noticed or heard some other person remark, how much the danger on some occasions has been in- creased by the awkwardness or ignorance of those who have given their assistance. In the happen- ing of a fire, for instance, how much confusion is produced, how much time is lost, and how much good is prevented, by the want of know- ing how to act. People running in one ano- ther's way, and spilling upon themselves or their neighbours the water which ought to supply the engine ; some clamouring for one tiling, and some for another; till, having at length succeeded in putting out the flames, they find, that, had they employed other methods, or thought of something at the time, which occurred to them afterwards, they would have extinguished the fire more effec- tually, with less fatigue, less danger, and less loss. Such, you may remember, was for some time the case during the late alarming fire at Emmanuel College, which would probably have been much more speedily extinguished, if persons accustom- ed to the business, or furnished with the requisite information, had been present from the first to superintend and direct the operations of the work- 2 v J> 6 men. So also in the case of drowning ; when a body which has not been long under water is brought to the shore, much depends upon the means used to restore its animation. To all ap- pearance, perhaps, the vital spark is fled; no sym- tom of life remains; and very little hope is en- tertaioed of renewing activity in so pale and motionless a body. If improper means are re- sorted to, the question is soon fatally decided, and he who was so vigorous and healthy a short time ago, is to breathe no more. On the other hand, if the spirit has not actually left its habitation of clay, means may be employed so well adapted to the case as to restore to its use the powers of the body, and preserve a life which may possibly be one day an honour to society. A medical poet* of the last century asserts, that " thousands have died of medicable wounds;" and it is no less true that thousands have perished through improper treatment, who might have been saved by the prompt application of other means. The great success which has attended the benevolent exer- tions, and judicious plans, of the Royal Humane * Dr. \rmstrong, in his excellent poem on Preserv. ing Health. * 7 Society, of which I shall give you an account hereafter, both suggests and confirms the obser- vation. I have just been favoured with the sight of a letter from the worthy treasurer of that ex- cellent society, from which I learn, that, at the next annual meeting of the society, at least eigh- teen honorary medals, besides a great number of other rewards in money to assistants, &c. are to be distributed to persons, who, during the last year, have been successfully engaged in restoring animation to those who would otherwise have per- ished by drowning. Do you now feel anxious to know something more about a society whose obr ject is so noble, and whose exertions, under the blessiug of Providence, have been so often success- ful ? And do you wish to learn the methods which have been attended with such happy con- sequences ? I hope you do; and, in that case, I promise very soon to gratify your curiosity. In like manner, also, there have been instances, in which persons, who have had the misfortune to break a leg, or a thigh, or an arm, have, by the awkwardness of those who removed them to their homes, been disabled for life; and I have been 8 told that it is by no means uncommon for the simplest fractures to be so much increased by this very means, as to render both the pain, and the confinement, of the sufferer, three or four times as great as they need to have been : and all this, not so much from want of attention, as want of knowledge in the attendants. It would be easy to mention various other instances, in which igno- rance has been attended with such terrible effects; but these are sufficient to convince you that it is worth while to obtain such knowledge as may be of the most essential service upon any occasion of this kind. It is often impossible, even in ordinary cases, to act well without some degree of preparation. How much more, then, is that preparation neces- sary in sudden and unusual emergencies ? These are not times to think and deliberate, so much as to act; and to act promptly, or it may be in vain. If our minds be uninformed, as to the nature of the case; we are as likely to be wrong as right in what we do. I do not say that it is possible for people in general to obtain an accurate and thorough acquaintance with every case; but there 9 are certain general principles, agreed upon by those who have paid most attention to these sub- jects, which it will not take any of you a long time, or much application, to learn., The advan- tage of this knowledge may be very great both to yourselves and others. Should you pass through life without meeting with any serious accident in your own person, you will have abundant reason for gratitude towards the great Author and pre- server of your existence. But, even then, it is very likely your fellow creatures may some time or another need your aid. And would you not be glad to impart it ? The next duty to self-pre- servation is that of benefiting, or striving to bene- fit, others ; and surely the pleasure of such a duty is as pure as its practice is useful. Would it not delight your hearts to rescue a human being from danger, to snatch him from destruction, or to minister to his wants ? If you saw him sinking into a watery grave, or, being brought to shore to all appearance dead, would it not be to you a gratification of the highest kind to be the means of restoring him, as it were, again to life, to his friends, and to society? If you happened to 10 meet with a person who had fallen into a fit, or broken a limb, or wounded himself dangerously, or exposed his life or his safety in any other way, would it not please you to be able to em- ploy, or advise, such methods as would remove his danger, and diminish his suffering ? I am persuaded it would. None of your amusements would give you half so much real and lasting satis- faction. You would be happy in the thought— happy in the action—and happy in the remem- brance of your exertions : all the days of your life it would gratify the best feelings of your nature to think that you had thus been the means of making others happy. You would enjoy the high " luxury of doing good," and of knowing that you had done it. But how shall you be able to act aright in any of these cases, without being acquainted before- hand, at least in some measure, with what is proper to be done ? You would either be too much confused to contrive any thing to the pur- pose, or you would act at a venture, and your interference might do more harm than good. Let me entreat your attention, then, while I mention, 11 iii order, some of the principal accidents to which we are liable, and present you with the best in- formation I have beeu able to collect respecting ihe most proper mode of proceeding when they happen. There will be nothing, either in the subjects themselves, or the manner of treating them, that you cannot readily understand; and I shall endeavour to make the series of addresses which I propose to deliver to you, as plain and as eutertaining as it is in my power to do. If you should gain any thing from them which may be useful to yourselves, or enable you to be of service to others, I shall be well rewarded for my trouble, and you for your attention. 12 ADDRESS n. »N ACCIDENTS FROM FIRE.--DIRECTIONS HOW TO ESCAPE FROM A BURNING HOUSE. WITH the useful and agreeable qualities of fire, we are all acquainted ; and, if one may judge from the eagerness with which you all rush towards it in frosty weather, none would be more ready than you are to join in its praises. It is only, however, when it is under due regulation and control, that we have reason to admire it: when it bursts from its confinement, you know with what fury it rages, what dreadful effects it produces, and how difficult it is to stop its pro- gress, as long as there is any thing within its reach which it is capable of consuming. No one of our common proverbs is more true than that which says,—" Fire and water are very good servants, but very bad masters." It is to the former only, in its character of master, that we are now to direct our attention. 13 Suppose you were roused from your sleep with the cry of " fire !" and were informed that the house in which you had been sleeping was in flames : how would you act ? You might reply, " I would leap out of the window, as fast possible, to save my life." Be not too quick, however, in your decision, lest you " make more haste than •good speed," and break your neck in the attempt. As soon as you have received the alarm, endea- vour to collect yourself, and be as cool as possible ; otherwise you may, and without any good reason, expose yourself to as great a danger as that from which you are escaping, and from which a little thought and contrivance may enable you to escape without incurring any other. I no not mean that you should stand still and be burnt; but only that you should consider before you act, and " deliberate," as your copy says, " before you resolve," if it be but half a minute. You would then, perhaps, proceed iu this manner:—Having slipped on any part of your clothes which lay at hand, and which would not detain you long, you might peep out at the window to see or inquire ih what direction the flames were acting; yon 3 14 would then judge whether there were any chance of going down as you went mp, namely by the stairs; and, if so, it would be much better thus to escape than hastily and unnecessarily to ex- pose your limbs or your life by a leap from the window. If you found it impossible to descend by the stairs you had been examining, there might be other stairs in the house of which you might avail yourself. Should these also disappoint you, it is possible that by walking upon the leads of the house, or creeping upon the roof, you might reach an adjoining house or other building, arad thus be removed from danger, till some means were offered for you to reach the ground. Should all these trials fail, or should it so happen that you have no opportunity of making them, yon must, after all, make your exit at the window. But when you have arrived at the spot, do not act without thinking, whatever speed it may be requi- site for you to employ. Possibly some kind friend or neighbour may have planted a ladder against your window, to aid your escape, and it would be a great pity to lose the advantage of this for want of a single look. Should this not be the 15 case, you must consider about letting yourself down. If there be more than one window in the room, or within reach, it will be worth while to inquire which is best adapted for the purpose. Below one, may be iron rails or hard stones, and under the other a garden, or soft grass : it will take but a moment to decide in this case. Hav- ing chosen your window, throw out the bed, if you can conveniently, so as to alight in a place pro- per to receive you ; and then, if you have not a rope-ladder, or a fire-escape,* proceed to let yourself down by means of the sheets tied toge- ther, and securely fastened either to the window, the bed-post, or any thing else which will prevent them from slipping. You would, of course, be careful to keep such good hold of your sheets, as not to drop from them till you came to their lower end, or touched the ground, the last of which might be done if the windows were not more than 18 or 20 feet high. In descending, you would either let the sheets slip through your hands, and thus slide down as you do from a tree or a lad- der, or else, which is perhaps preferable in most * See an account at the end of this address. u cases, you would remove one of your hands, and then the other, alternately lower and lower ; and, finally, when you arrived at the end of the lowest sheet, if you could not yet touch the ground, you would either drop, or spring from, your hold, as circumstances or inclination might determine. In fastening the sheets together, and io securing them at top, some attention should be paid to tha kind of knot which is used; otherwise they might slip from each other, and bruises or broken limbs, or death, might be the consequence. In substan- ces of a uniform thickness throughout, as ropes or Cords, almost any kind of double knot, if pulled tightly, will be sufficient to make a safe joint; but when sheets are tied together by their corners^ -which run taper, to a point, they are very liable to slip, unless great care be taken to make them secure. I would, therefore, advise, that before the parts are brought together to be fastened, a single but hard knot be tied at the extremity of each corner by way of safety, and which may hence be called the safety knot; if then the sheets be tied together by almost any knot, in such a manner that the safety knots may act as checks, 17 it will be almost impossible for them to separate from each other. I will give you an example of this mode of fastening, by tying two handkerchiefe together; and, as you are so dexterous in making something like Oordian knots in your shoestrings, and in rejoining your broken whipcord, I have no doubt you will at once understand me, and learn my method in a trice. By the way, if you aTe desirous of seeing some other kinds of knots, which are not yet introduced into your practice, you may find plates of them in almost all the Cyclopedias ; and I will shew to any young gen- tleman, who desires it, some curious specimens in Dr. Hutton's Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary. In the case of persons being so shut up by the flames, as to render it impossible for them to avoid passing through a part of them, I have heard of some wrapping themselves up in a blank- et, which should be wetted if possible, and thus rushing through that part where there appeared the least danger. This ought evidently to be a last resort; and is so dangerous an expedient, that nothing but necessity can justify its adoption. 3* 13 Though I have been thus anxious to urge upoa you a proper care for your own safety, I would not wish you to be so selfish as to refuse your assistance to others who may be in equal danger. If you should consider your own place of descent to be more safe and proper than any other, you will, of course, if there be other persons in the house, be desirous to assist as many of them as possible, in making their escape by meausof your contrivance. Children and timid persons, who have not presence of mind to descend safely by themselves, it has been suggested, mieht be low- ered in a basket, or by a sheet tied round the body. In favour of the method of letting onejs self down by sheets, I could produce several examples in which it has been used with success, though I find, by talking with several persons, it is not nearly so well known as it deserves to be. I will, however, relate one remarkable escape which has lately taken place, though not from fire, yet from something as dreadful; and from which you will see the advantage of having use- ful knowledge stored up in the mind, and ready, 19 when wanted, to be brought into action. You cannot have forgotten the alarm which was occa- sioned, while you were at home during the Christ- mas holidays, by the terrible murders then per- petrated in London. About the middle of De- cember (1811), Mr. Marr and his family, who lived in Ratcliffe Highway, were all most barba- rously murdered, except a female servant, who happened to be out on an errand. A few nights afterward, a similar murder, and nearly equal in atrocity, was committed in the house of Mr. and Mrs. Williamson, New Gravel Lane, not far from the former scene of bloodshed. John Tur- ner, who lodged in the house, hearing the cry of " Murder!" arose from his bed, went down stairs, aud saw a villain rifling the pockets of Mrs. Wil- liamson. He immediately ran up stairs, took the sheets from the bed, fastened them together, lash- ed them to the bed-post, and thus descended from the window, hanging by the sheets till the watch- man came up, who received him in his arms. An alarm being immediately given, a crowd soon collected near the house, and the door was broken •»pen ; but the murderers were gone. From the 20 circumstances of the case, as related in the news- papers, there can be no reason to doubt, that, but for this means of escape, this man would as cer- tainly have lost his life, as the rest of the family did theirs. Of so much importance, sometimes, are those things which, at other times, appear hardly to deserve remembrance or notice. Though I have employed so much time, and so many words, in laying down the above directions, I hope you will not think me tedious, or suppose I want to detain you too long in deliberating in a case of such great and urgent danger. If yon are well acquainted with the preceding particu- lars, and others which you may happen at any time to thiuk about yourselves, it will take you but a few moments to run over the whole in your minds, and to determine accordingly. I wish to make these considerations as familiar to you as possible, that you may be able to choose the best mode of action when danger arrives ; as the boar In the fable sharpened his tusks in the time of peace, that he might be prepared for war, if it should happen, and have nothing to interrupt him in the combat. 21 There is a story, I think in the Spectator, which will enliven this part of our subject, and at the same time shew that nothing that is likely to be useful to ourselves or others ought to be despised. ** A certain Cham of Tartary, travel- ling with his nobles, was met by a dervise, who cried with a loud voice, ' Whoever will give me a hundred pieces of gold, I will give him a piece of advice.' The Cham ordered him the sum; upon which the dervise said, ' Begin nothing of which thou hast not well con- sidered the end.' The courtiers, hearing this plain sentence, smiled, and said with a sneer, ' The dervise is well paid for bis maxim.' But the king was so well pleased with the answer, that he ordered it to be written in golden letters in several parts of his palace, and engraved on all his plate. Not long after, the king's surgeon was bribed to kill him with a poisoned lancet at the time he let him blood. One day, when the king's arm was bound, and the fatal lancet in the surgeon's hand, he read on the basin, ' Begin nothing of which thou hast not well con- sidered the end.'' 22 He immediately started, and let the lancet fall out of his hand. The king, observing his confu- sion, inquired the reason : the surgeon fell pros- trate, confessed the whole affair, and was pardon- ed ; but the conspirators were put to death. The Cham, turning to his courtiers, who had heard the advice tvith contempt, told them, that counsel could not be too highly valued which had saved a king's life." I would improve the moral of this story, or rather adapt it more completely to our purpose, by advising you to let nothing be thought trif- ling which may one day or another save your own life or that of a fellow creature. Having escaped from your burning house, your next business would be to put out the flames, and save as much of the building and furniture as possible. The means of doing this will form the subject of the next address. In the mean time, fail not to cherish in you? hearts a feeling of sin- cere gratitude to the kind Preserver of your be- ing, that none of you has ever yet been in a situ- tion so alarming. Pa; at fires, and who, being on or near the spot, would be ready on all emergencies : he mi«;ht also follow some other business, as his principal means of support. Another suggestion of the same gen- tleman's i?, that regulations should be proposed, 44 and, where practicable, societies formed, for the safe removal, preservation, and guarding of pro- perty of all kinds. I shall conclude this address with a few re- marks on the Method of Extinguishing Fire <>? Chimneys. As the inner parts of chimnys, when the soot has collected upon them, very easily take fire, it is no wonder that such occurrences very frequent- ly happer*. They are seldom attended, however, with any material danger, unless there happen to be beams or other pieces of timber wrought in the cMmney, and act^sr.ble to the fire, as indeed is too often the case in old houses. At any rate, perhaps, you world not much like to sleep in a house while the chimney was on fire ; and even in the day time, you would judge it right to ex- tinguish it as fast as possible. For this purpose, several schemes have been adopted; such as firing a loaded gun or pistol up the chimney to dislodge the burning soot—letting down a rope, to the mid- dle of which a bunch of wet straw or any similar substance is fastened, and by i eans oi" which it 45 can be drawn up and down within the chimney, thus clearing it effectually from its dangerous. contents. Sometimes, when the fire is not very violent, so as to endanger the person, a chimney- sweep is sent up, or let down, with the same in- tention. In all these methods, it will be right to be careful of the fiery materials which fall down, lest, by being scattered along the floor of the room, they should set the whole house in flames: it will also be of advantage to keep the doors and windows shut. Water thrown into the chimney at top is seldom of much use, as, if the tunnel be upright, the water is more likely to come down the middle of it, than to act effectually along the sides, unless a board were placed so as to make an inclined plane, for the water to be poured on, and direct it to run with force against the particular side or sides where it is needed. A more rational method, if it can be adopted. and it may in all cases where the flue which con- tains the fire has no other flue opening into it, is to cut off the supply of external air, by which the fire is fed and sustained. This may be done, 46 either by stopping, with a wet blanket, the upper orifice oi the chimney; or, which is better, by applying also a similar blanket either to the throat of the chimney, or over the whole front of the fire-place, closing the orifice with the utmost care to prevent the admission of the a:r. If there hap- pen to be a chimney-board, or a re«-;sU:r, nothing can be more effectual than to apply them imme- diately : and having by that means stopped the draught of air from below, the burning soot will be put out as completely, though not quite so speediiy,' as a candle ie put out by an extinguish- er, which acts exactly upon the same principle. If you fix your attention for one minute upon this scheme, you will see that, to insure its complete success, it is necessary that the external air be unable to find a passage to the fire, in any part whatever, from the top to the bottom of the chim- ney ; and, with this view, it will be right to ex- amine it carefully, before you put full confidence in the method, in any particular case. You will find, in this, as in many other occurrences of life, that a little thought will often prevent a great deal of trouble. 47 The best preventative of fires in chimneys, is evidently to have them kept as free from soot as possible, by frequently sweeping them, or, as the lawyers would add, " causing them to be" swept. Unless you are more fond of the sooty business than I wish you to be, you will think the addition very necessary here. ADDRESS IV. ACCIDENTS FROM FIRE, CONTINUED.--COMPOSI- TIONS TO EXTINGUISH FIRE.--DANGER F»i*M BURNING CLOTHES, WITH DIRECTIONS TO FT*"T OUT THE FLAMK. WATER and fire have long been acc'*,*.''*<-d enemies ; and it is in consequence of this enmity that the former is always resorted to whenever the latter is likely to do mischief—indeed, ii, is almost the only ingredient which is thought of. ki general, when we want to put out a fire, ft k * * the only substance, however, that may be lucfdl 43 on such occasions, as you must have noticed, if ever you paid much attention to the subject > though from its fluid nature, which renders it ex- ceedingly easy of application, and from its cheap- ness, as well as from its natural and inveterate hostility to fire, it is not likely it will ever be out of repute as an able extinguisher. Still, it has often been a question, whether some other things might not be thought of, which, by being mixed with water, or dissolved in it, would render it more eminently useful. Several persons have turned their attention to the subject, and with some degree of success. Among others, Mr. William Knox, of Gotten- burg, in Sweden, made many experiments with compositions for this purpose. He divides them into simple and compound solutions. Of the latter sort, which he prefers as the surest and most pow- erful, I shall give you a few examples. 1- Water......................75 gaHs. cla).......................10 qts. Vitriol......................10 ,i0- Common Salt —..............10 do. 2- w»ter..........,...........75 gailg. 49 Strong solution of wood ashes----18 qts. Fine clay reduced to powder----18 qts. S. Water---...................75 galls. Red ochre, or the residuum of aqua- fortis ....................IS qts. Common Salt.................15 qts. 4. Water.............-•■......75 galls. Strongest herring pickle---------15 qts. Red ochre...................15 qts. That these mixtures, or indeed almost any other which will render the water more dense without much decreasing its fluidity, would put out a fire more speedily than water alone, is very likely, since it is principally by covering the burning body and keeping from it the air which would feed the flame, that water itself is go useful for this purpose. There may be other qualities, however, of a chemical nature, which may render some things much more suitable to be mixed with water than others; and it is only ex- periment that can determine, with sufficient ac- curacy, which are absolutely the best It would not be difficult to make such experiments on a small scale ; and as I really think the subject is 6 50 of importance, and may prove useful, I shall be happy to assist you in the pursuit, whenever we have opportunity. The following is the preparation of M. Von Aken, which I give you on his authority, as quo- ted in the Pantalogia, and which appears from his account to have been eminently successful: Burnt alum.................30 lbs. Green vitriol in powder.........40 Cinabrese, or red ochre powdered - - - 20 Potter's or other clay, finely pounded and sifted,................200 Water....................630 With 40 measures of this liquor, an artificial fire, which would have required the labour of twenty men, and fifteen hundred measures of common water, was extinguished, under the direction of the inventor, by three persons only. The price of this compound solution is estimated at one halfpenny per pound. If such be the case, surely it would be worth while to keep in the fire-offices a quantity of the mo6t approved ingredients, laid up in proper pro- portions, that ou the first alarm of fire they might 51 accompany the engines without delay, and be considered as necessary a part of the extinguish- ing apparatus as the engine itself. Other mixtures have been, at different times, proposed by various persons ; but it would be tedious and perplexing to enumerate them all. Some have recommended the strewing of sand or mould upon the burning or heated parts ; and when this can be done with convenience and in sufficient quantity, it might have its use ; but, in general, I am afraid the method will be found too much like catching birds by laying salt upon their tails! Several years ago, a Dr. Godfrey, improving upon the hint of Mr. Greyl, a foreigner, tried a curious scheme for putting out fires, when they had not extended themselves beyond the room in which they began. He constructed a number of wooden vessels, which he filled with water, oil of vitriol, and sal-ammoniac : these being thrown into rooms that were purposely set on fire, burst, after the manner of bombs, and scattering their contents by the explosion, very speedily and completely extinguished the flames. This contrivance ap- 52 pears better adapted to ships than houses. It does not appear to have been at all in use lately, or even to have been tried since the inventor's experiment. Danger from burning clothes. How to extinguish the flame. Let us now turn to another view of the subject^ less awful in its appearance, less destructive to property, but not less fatal to life. Indeed, so numerous of late have been the instances of the death of females by setting fire to their clothes in the parlour or the drawing-room, as well as among children who have been left alone in the cottages of the poor, that it may justly be doubted, whether more persons do not perish by this means alone, than by all the other descriptions of fire put to- gether. You think this strange, perhaps ; and can hardly believe there is any good reason for saying it; but if you had noticed, as I have done for some months past, the very great number of deaths from this cause which have been from time to time reported in the newspapers, you would be less surprised at the opinion. The fact 53 is, these cases are very much overlooked, from the shortness of the accounts, and from their oc- curring privately ; while the burning of a house not only commands attention while it lasts, but is generally attended with so many circumstances as to require a length of statement to describe it. Besides, it is certain that the number of lives lost by the burning of houses, is few, compared to the number of fires that happen, as any one may satisfy himself by an inspection of the accounts for any given time.* If I were to give you an account of all the cases which have fallen under my notice within the last five or six weeks, and which may fairly be ascribed to this cause alone, I should fill up the remainder of this address with the names of the persons who have been thus awfully cut off, and of the places where these sad events occurred. I shall, however, select a few from the number, to give you an idea of the dan- • This estimate is confined to England alone. 1 do not therefore take into the account the number of victims at the late tremendous fire at Richmond, in Virginia. This, however, is a most extraordinary case. 6* 54 ger, and to produce in the minds of those who may read them hereafter, a salutary caution which may enable them to avoid it. On Sunday, the 1 st of March, in the present year, Miss Hannah Rhodes, aged 17 years,.de- parted this life, after enduring seven weeks un- paralleled sufferings, which were occasioned by her clothes catching fire. She was so dreadfully burnt in every part of her body, that a mortifica- tion ensued, which put a period to her existence. In a moment, while she was standing at the fire, the flame ascended above her head, and before it could be extinguished, produced the awful conse- quences above related. It appears, that the tor- tures she endured in the interval between the ac- cident and her death, were too excruciating to be described. Miss R. was a young lady of consid- erable abilities, had an amiable disposition, and was a most affectionate daughter ; circumstances which render her loss the more to be regretted. The concourse of people assembled at Margate, to witness her interment, sufficiently evinced their regard for departed worth. London Newspapers, March 9, 1812. 55 An inquest was held at Lovth, in Lincolnshire,. on the 4th infant on the body of Susan Ta> lor, a child oi 10 years of age, whose clothes caught fire on the 11th of Febiuay, by wnich accident she was so dreadfully bunt as to occasion her death on the 3d of March, in violent tortures. Stamford Paper, March 20, 1812. Mary Snowden, aged 14, of Burley, in York- shire, was standing near the fire ; her clothes eaught fire, and in the fright she ran out of doors : she was so miserably burnt, that, after lingering till the following Sunday, she died. Monthly Magazine, March, 1812. In the United States, frequent accidents of the same kind occur. In Baltimore, not long since, a very amiable and excellent lady was scorched to death by the blaze of her clothes, as she was engaged at her toilet It is needless, however, to multiply examples in so plain a case. You must all have heard of other instances. Even when death does not take place, very painful sufferings are often endured, and the person is perhaps deformed for life—a pitiable and unsightly object During the last 56 winter, a friend of mine was drinking tea with some company in the parlour, while her children were playing in an adjoining room. On a sudden, a cry was heard; and one of the children was found in flames. She had been " doing dares," as it is called, with her companions, and among other things, amused herself with swinging by her hands from the chimney-shelf. Thus her clothes j caught fire, and were with difficulty extinguished ;, , but not before she was so dreadfully burnt that her life was despaired of for several weeks. In one hospital alone, the Bath Infirmary, it appears that not fewer than thirteen children, miserably burnt, have been received within these few weeks: several of them died soon after admission. Among the higher classes, these distressing things are chiefly to be ascribed to the lightnesg of the ladies' dresses, and the quick draught of modern fire-places, by which not children only, but grown-up persons, and even some more ad-* vanced in years, have lost their lives. If ladies will make fashion every thing, and think no risk too great to run, no danger too fierce to brave, to shew their allegiance to this tyrant, they must 57 lake the consequence; though it is to be lament- ed their courage is not devoted to a better cause. At all events, a little more care might be taken to avoid the fire ; and it is, perhaps, not too much to hope, that when a few more have fallen victims to the flames, the adoption of fire-guards will become more general. Among the poor, the danger is in great mea* sure confined to children, who, being left alone where there is a fire, have not sense or experi- ence enough to keep out of harm's way. A strike in:, caution to mothers, never t« leave their child- ren alone in such a dangerous situation : and to those who have children placed under their care, to watch over them with the utmost attention. It is well for you, my boys, that your garments are made of " sterner stuff"* than those of your listers, otherwise, instead of scorching your trow- sers or your coat-lappets, by approaching too near the fire, some of you would long before this have •torched your bodies, and perhaps have endan- gered your lives. * Shakespeare, Jul. Cas-act III. sc. 2. 58 But how is the fire to be put out, when it has once seized upon a female's clothes ? This ques- tion it is full time to consider. How, then, would you proceed, if unhappily one of your sisters, or any other of your friends, should, while standing before the fire some cold winter's evening, find her gown in flames ? This is a case that would try both your courage and your skill. Perhaps you would run into the street, and cry " Fire !" This would be a most fatal step—the flames Avould be making progress, the sufferer would be in the great- est danger—and her only chance of escape, as far as depended upon you, would be lost. No, no! Do not leave the room till the fire is out unless it be to fetch something that is very near at hand to put it out If you discern the fire at the first moment, as soon as it has caught the garment, you may perhaps muffle the flames, by hastily gather- ing up a part of the dress with your hands, and clapping them together. You can easily take hold of the two corners of your pocket handker- chief, and bring the parts near together, by hastily; closing your hands : this is similar to what you may do to quench the fire. If this should not 59 succeed, or if the flames have advanced too far to try it, let the person roll herself upon the floor, in such a manner that the flames may be as much as possible under her body: if the carpet be move- able, throw a part of it over her, and thus stifle the flames. A hearthrug would answer the same purpose. In the absence of these, a cloth from the table, or even your own coat, might be thrown about her: whatever it is that you do, let it be done expeditiously; for upon this, more than upon any thing else, its success may be said to depend. As it may happen that there is no carpet in the room, or that it may be fastened down, some persons have recommended a cloth to be kept in some well known place in the house, and to be distinguished by some appropri- ate name, as the safety-cloth, the extinguishing- cloth, the fire-check, or any other by which it may immediately be called for and known. In poor houses and cottages, a bed quilt, hastily snatched off, and thrown round the person on fire, wouh i soon put out the flames. In all these cases, you see, we have recourse to our old general principle, that of preventing the access of the ex- 60 tcrnal air to the substance on fire; and whenever - we have an opportunity of bringing this principle into action, we may, sooner or later, be sure ©f succeeding. ADDRESS V. MODES OF GUARDING AGAINSR FIRE.--MISCEL- LANEOUS CAUTIONS. WE are so liable to the attacks of fire in va- rious forms, aud from numerous causes, that it is ho wonder many persons have at different times endeavoured to find out some security against them. Among others, lord Stanhope, an active and ingeuious nobleman of the present day, has direct- ed his attention to the subject and has invented a method of securing floors from the attack or pro- gress of fire; a method which it is not difficult to employ in building new houses, or relaying floors, and which appears to be well calculated to answer the purpose his lordship had in view. 61 The general method is divided into three parts, any, or all, of which may be adopted as occasion may require. 1. Under-flooring. 2. Extra-lath- ing. 3. Inter-securing. If you attend carefully to the following description, you will s >on under- stand the principles of the method in general, and be able to determine which particular part of it is to be preferred in any case that may occur to you. 1. Under-flooring. This method is either single or double. In single under-flooring, a fillet of common oak or fir laths, about a quarter of an inch thick, is nailed all along each side of every joist and of every main timber of the floor which is to be secured. The top of each of these laths or fillets ought to be an inch and a half below the top of the joist and timbers against which they are nail- ed ; and they will thus form a sort of small ledge on each side of all the joists. These fillets, in nailing, are to be well bedded in a rough plaster, formed as directed below, so that there may be no interval between them and the joists. The spaces between the joists are to be filled up with 7 62 tshort pieces of common lath, laid by the side of each other in a row, so that their ends may rest upon the fillets, and their direction be in a direc- tion contrary to that of the joists: these cross pieces ought also to be well bedded in the rough plaster, but are not to be fastened with nails. They must then be covered with one thick coat of the rough plaster, which is to be spread over \ them to the level of the tops of the joists; and in a day or two this plaster should be trowelled over close to the side of the joists, without covering 1 the tops of the joists with it. 1 In double under-flooring, the fillets and short \ pieces of laths are applied in the manner above described; but the coat of rough plaster ought to be little more than half as .thick. While this is spreading on, some more of the short pieces of laths must be laid upon it between the joists, and be dipped deep in it They should be laid as close as possible to each other, and in the same direction with the first layer of short laths. Over this second layer of laths, there must be spread another coat of rough plaster, which should be 63 trowelled level with the tops of the joists without rising above them. This rough plaster may be made of coarse lime and hair; or, instead of hair, hay chopped to about three inches long, may be used with advantage. ■ One measure of common rough sand, two measures of slaked lime, and three measures of chopped hay, will form, in general, a very good propor- tion, when sufficiently beat up together in the manner of common mortar. The hay should be put in, after the two other ingredients are well beat up together with water. This plaster should be made stir.*; and, when the flooring boards are required to be laid dowu very soon, a fourth or fifth part of quick-lime in powder, formed by dropping a small quantity of water on the lime- stone a little while before it is used, and well mixed with this rough plaster, will cause it to dry very fast. If any cracks appear in the rough plaster work near the joists, when it is thoroughh dry, they ought to be closed by washing them over with a brush wet with mortar wash, which may be prepared by puttiug two measures of quick-lime and one of common sand in a pail, and 64 stirring the mixture with water, uutil it becomes of a proper consistence. Before the flooring boards are laid, a small quantity of very dry common sand should be strewed over the plaster work, and struck smooth , with a hollow rule, moved in the direction of the joists, so that it may lie rounding between each pair of the joists. The plaster-work and sand ' should be perfectly dry befcre the boards are laid, ; for fear of the dry rot. The method of under- flooring may be successfully applied to a wooden stair-case ; but no sand is to be laid upon the rough plaster-work. The expense of ntler-floor- ing, his lordship estimates at little more than 9rf. per square yard. 2. The method of extra-lathing, by which the second layer of laths may be imbedded in the rough plaster with which the first layer is covered, will afford additional security to ceiling joists, to sloping roofs, and to wooden partitions—to which indeed it is more especially applicable. Expense Qd. per yard for partitions; Qd. per yard for the ceiling. 65 3. Inter-securing, is very similar to that of un- der-flooring ; but no sand is afterwards to be laid upon it. This method is applicable to the same parts of a building as that of extra-lathing; but it is seldom necessary. Such is the substance of lord Stanhope's direc- tions for securing the wood work of buildings from destruction by fire. It is evident, at first view, that the method would tend very much to stop the progress of the flames (and his lordship has proved its efficacy by experiments); which is a very material consideration, since floors and partitions, as they are generally constructed, have a contrary effect, and, instead of checking, only feed and extend the fire. The additional expense of lord Stanhope's plau is now somewhat more than the estimate above given, owing to the ad- vanced price of materials and labour. Though I cannot take upon me to recommend this plan, from any actual experience of its advantage, yet I confess it appears to be deserving of your atten- tion, whenever you arc going to build a house, or alter one. 7* 66 Another method of securing floors has been recommended by Mr. B. Cook, of Birmingham, who proposes that not only the rafters and beams Bhould be formed of Iron, and cast hollow ; but that the flooring joists should be also made of cast iron. If these latter were made light, and laid nearer each other than the wooden joists com- monly used in flooring, and if they were cast with a small projecting edge all along the bottom of each joist, so that when laid down, a flat tile, or thin quarry, would just fit in between each pair of joists, and if the spaces were filled up with cheap tiles or quarries made on purpose, "or even with rubbish well pressed, the floor would become fire-proof; or at least, it would be exceedingly difficult for the fire to make its way through nich a floor, even with the assistance of the boards to be placed upon the joists. The boards might be screwed down with very little trouble; and the whole plan appears to be at least as effectual as that of lord Stanhope, with the additional advan- tage of adding scarcely any thing to the expense, especially in those parts of the country where the iron-work can be obtained in the neighbourhood, 67 without the charge of any great length of car- riage. The same gentleman has proposed the applica- tion of iron to another purpose in "building. You would think it odd, perhaps, to have iron stairs and stair-cases: yet such are actually recommend- ed by Mr. Cook. They might be made of cast and sheet iron combined, or of cast iron only. In the former case, when the framing was fixed, the front and top of the step might be attached to it with six or eight screws; and in order to give it a neat finish, a light bevelled moulding might run all around the front of every step, and the joint- ings be neatly fastened to if with small screws, with heads countersunk into the mouldings. On the other hand, if the whole were of cast-iron, the front and top of the steps might be cast in plates, and the framing cast with sunk edges, so that the steps would just fit into the groved fram- ing ; and four or six screws would fasten them in h few moments. A whole flight of stairs thus formed, would very speedily be put together. Such stairs would be much handsomer than stone, and of half the price, or less. They would ap- 68 pear very beautiful, if well painted, to imitate mahogany, or any other substance that fancy might dictate ; and it is evident, from their con- struction, that such stairs and their railings would allow much scope for taste and genius in the pat- « terns from which they were to be cast, and admit of ■ every variety of ornament that inclination might desire. At the same time, also, that the rich might gratify their fancy in the form and embel- ■ lishments of their stairs, persons in lower circum- stances might avail themselves of so durable a I material, Common stair cases of iron would pro- 1 bably be made as cheap as those of oak, if not cheaper ; and Mr. C. thinks, if a manufactory ■were established, and a trade made of it, they ; might be afforded as cheap as those of any kind of wood whatsoever. But the grand advantage qf these stairs would be their safety in case of fire. " Dreadful," observes Mr. Ct " must be the situation of those persons, who, waked by the cry of fire, rush to the landings, find the lower rooms are burning, the stair-case blazing and fall- ] ing, and no escape left but the terrible one of pre- , ■ripitating themselves from a window, and running 69 the risk of being dashed to pieces ; when, if the stair-case had been of iron, all might have escaped with little or no injury." Having once thought of iron stair-cases, beams, and flooring joists, it will be no wonder if ia other parts of buikii;igs, especially the roof, it should be proposed to use iron i,-stead of wood. This lias accord: ngly been done. A few years ago, I saw in o *e of the iron works, near Dui'ley, a model of an iron roof, nearly fit to receive the outer covering of slates or tiles. It appeared ex- ceedingly light in its construction, much more so than those made of wood, and I thought it very likely that the plan would some time or other be adopted. I have since learned that several roofe in different parts of the kingdom, have been late- ly constructed, as to their spars, rafters, beams, and laths, entirely of iron, but whether alter the above or a similar model, I do not know ; nor is it of much consequence, since as great a variety may take place among iron roofs as among those formed of timber. An iron roof has lately been put up at Newport in Monmouthshire. It covers 70 a building 40 feet long and 21 feet wide over the walls; arid consists of seven main couples, two leading couples, and wall plating, all of cast iron, wrought iron laths, screw-pins, &c. total weight 2 tons, 4 cwt. 2 qrs. 20 lbs. being sufficiently strong to sustain the heaviest stone tile of this country, and is in itself lighter than one of wood, of which substance there is not one particle. The main couples are made in three pieces, the collar or tie beam of which forms part of a circle, thereby giving much more head-room than is possible with wood : it requires neither side pieces nor rafters, the wrought iron laths being a substitute for both. The whole roofing, after having been fitted to- gether, and taken to pieces again, at Aberdare iron-works, where it was cast, was conveyed in a wagon to Newport. It was fitted together again, and fixed on the walls in less than five hours, completely ready for the tiler, who, having no laths to prepare or nail on, can tile a roof in half the time it could be done on one constiucted of wood. These roofs, it is said, are applicable to buildings of all sizes, can be put up at a much 71 less expense per square than any other, and ar^ evidently far more durable.* In a large public building, called the Coloured Cloth Hall, lately erected at Leeds, and consist- ing of five streets, averaging one hundred yards each, cast iron is substituted for wood in the main beamings, for the purpose of guarding against fire.* Hiave heard of an asylum for insane persons, but I forget where it is erected, in which, not only all the parts before mentioned, such as beams, roofs, flooring joists, and stairs, but the very doors aad door-cases, are all formed of iron; and there is no doubt that the scheme has been more or less adopted in various parts of the British empire, much to the safety of the buildings and those who inhabit them. What should you think of iron bureaus, chests of drawers, book-cases, and other articles of fur- niture ? The same Mr. Cook, whom I have men- tioned before, has written a letter to recommend such things; and has pointed out a method in • See the Monthly Magazine for Aug. 1810, pp. •36, 83. 72 which they may be made,not only light and cheap, but ornamental also. I have said so much about buildings, that I have neither time nor room left to say much about their furniture; I must there- fore, take leave of this subject, and refer you to the letter itself, which you will find in the 99th number, or the XXII. volume, of Nicholson's Philosophical Journal. The other paper, about the iron stairs, is printed in the XXIV. votatnc of the same work. When houses are built close together, as in streets, it is of great importance to have party- walls, as they are called, by means of which especially in crowded cities, the progress of the flames has often been stopped, when otherwise they would have proved much more destructive. In London, this plan is enforced by act of parlia- ment. Those parti.ions between rooms which are plastered or stuccoed, are mu~h more safe than those which are wainscoted. Solid brick parti- tio,.f, even if only four inches broad, are better still. It is not enough that you build your house with as much attention to security as possible, it is 73 •accessary also, when you inhabit it to be on your guard against the danger of fire, in whatever form it may be employed. Much injury has been oc- casioned by negligence on this point: houses have been set on fire, and burnt down, and sometimes lives have been destroyed, by the carelessness of servants in throwing out cinders before they have been cool; by leaving linen to dry before the fire; by the falling of the red hot poker upon the floor, when it has beeu incautiously left in the fire ; by dropping sparks from a candle ; by placing the candle too near the curtains ; and by various other means,* of which you have proba* • Among other less common sources of danger, it nay be proper to mention, that some time ago, a gen- tleman in France, sustained considerable loss from the bursting of a phial by the frost, which set some phos- phorus at liberty from the water in which it was kept; thus producing flame, on the accession of air to that combustible substance. The newspapers late- ly recorded an instance, still more curious, of the win- dow curtains in a farm house, near Gedney, in Lin- colnshire, being set fire to by a pair of spectacles, which were left in the window seat, and which acting as a lens or burning-glass, collected the rays of the sun, andjiroduced an effect which might have been 8 74 bly heard at one time or another. Children and young persons have also been the cause of great mischief by the practice, to which they are so much inclined, of playing with lighted straws, paper, &c. not considering the danger to which they are thus exposing themselves and their friends. To read in bed by candle light, ought by no means to be recommended or even allowed, since it would be easy to relate many fatal conse- quences produced by it. Perhaps some persons, otherwise very careful, may have continued in the use of it with safety ; but it is notwithstanding a very unwise plan, and is attended with so much danger, even when most carefully pursued, that it would be better laid aside altogether. In cases of sickness, distressing accidents from fire some- times occur. " Mr. M. had a sick infant. He and his wife attended the child. A candle was kept burning by the bed side. In the dead of night the exhausted mother awaked w ith the shocking spectacle of the curtains, tester and bed in flames. The father rose, and in his attempts to extinguish highly injurious, if not speedily discovered. The curtains were burnt. 75 the fire, waB dreadfully burned. By great exer- tions the house and furniture were saved from destruction. The conflagration arose from a too near approach of the candle to the curtains." You will do well to call these hints occasional- ly to your remembrance, not to alarm, but to caution you; not to render your lives miserable by continued fear, but to render them safer by prudent attention. " Great care ought to be taken, in approaching inflammable vapours with a candle. In a house in the city of New-York, a few years since, a ter- rible fire arose, and destroyed the festivity of a wedding, from the ascension of the vapour of brandy or some other ardent spirits, by the flame of a candle. This accident befel the parties in the cellar of the house, where a cask was broach- ed, for the purpose of procuring liquor to regale the company. " The following account of a distressing acci- dent, is taken from a newspaper, printed in Effing- ham county, Georgia, July 24,1808 : On Sunday arrived Mr. John Gromet and family, with mer- chandise. On the Monday following they were 76 employed in opening them. On Tuesday even- ing, a hogshead of Brandy took fire from a can- dle, but in what manner it is difficult to say; the fire communicated from that hogshead to others, and in a small time the house was in flames, by which Mr. Gromet was so much burnt that he died on Wednesday morning, and Mrs. Gromet lies in great agony, and it is feared she cannot survive long. " It is not a great while since, a very destructive fire proceeded from the bursting of a large bottle of Vitriolic Ether, in the shop of an eminent druggist. The volatile vapour having been too elastic for its confinement immediately filled the room, and took flame, from the fuel on the hearth and the candle on the counter. The blaze was extensive and vehement: the building and its contents were much damaged. This alarming occurrence teaches us to be cautious about the use of this subtile and combustible agent. " It may be mentioned to you, that a gentleman of this city, on attempting to syringe his ear with ether, for the purpose of dissolving some liardended wax within it burned the external ear 77 and cheek to a blister, and singed the hair from that side of his head, by the too near approach of a candle to the ethereal gas, which filled the air during the operation. " The city was alarmed with fire, a few years ago, which, on examination, was found to proceed from the slacking of Lime. A quantity of that article, fresh from the Kiln, had been stored in a leaky house; the rain had penetrated the cask6; the process of slaking commenced ; and the heat evolved was so great as to kindle a fire destruc- tive to the store, and a number of the adjoining buildings. The history of spontaneous combus- tions, you have doubtless read in the New-Yorlf Repository, vol. XVI. p. 217, and sec. 1, where they are examined and explained at large. " Our country, is a country where newspapers are more extensively circulated than in any por- tion of the terraqueous globe. From these vehicles of intelligence, are extracted the following facts concerning quicklime, becoming wet, slacking on board vessels, and Betting them on fire : " Port of Boston, Nov. 26th, 1812. After a spell of hard weather, arrived Sch. Coughlin, on Tues- 8' 78 day ; she was originally bound to Richmond, with an assorted cargo, and 95 hds. lime on board. Off Montaug, the lime caught fire, and continued bur-iing five days, when she was scuttled and sunk near Brooklyn Beach. *■' New-York ship news, from the Mercantile Advertiser, of Nov. 30, 1812.—The Schr. Sally, of and from Providence, R I. with a cargo of i lime, oil, and cider, bound to Norfolk, was cast away in the gale of last Monday night on Nor- . walk Island. The vessel caught fire the next day from the lime, and wras consumed, vessel and i cargo, except about 100 barrels—crew saved. | *• "Norfolk, Dec. 9,1812.—The brig Mary Ann, j Duncan, from Newburyport, bound to Baltimore, was stranded on Cape Henry on the night of Thursday the 3d inst and bilged ; the water com- municated to a quantity of unslacked lime in the hold, set the vessel on fire and she was entirely consumed. The crew took to the boat and were saved. " There is one calamity against which I ought | to guard you ; and this is the spontaneous com* ' bustion of the human body itself. Various evi- , 79 dence on this head is before you in the respect- able work already quoted, Med. Repos. vol. XIV. p. 179, and in several other places. And we have to lament that a perfect preventative against so dreadful an accident has not yet been discovered. It is in the recollection of many persons, that some years ago, a notorious woman, ealled Man-of-war Nancy, was destroyed by an internal fire, which broke out within her body> and consumed her to ashes. The older inhabi- tants of New-York well remember this event, and the story of it." ADDRESS VI. *N ACCIDENTS FROM WATER.--DR. FRANKLIN'S ADVICE TO SWIMMERS.--DR. MITCHILL's EX- PERIMENTS ON FLOATING AND SWIMMING.— - USEFUL PRECAUTIONS.--MEANS OF RAISING BODIES FROM THE WATER.--DRAGS. WE often find that things are dangerous, in one point of view, in proportion to their utility in an- other Nothing is more useful to us than water : a regular and copious supply of it is one of the 80 •greatest of temporal blessings; and yet, on the other hand, nothing, in the way of accident, ii more destructive. Nay, it is not too much to assert that more lives are lost by drowning, than by all other casualties put together. If you de- sired a proof of this, it would only be necessary to remind you of the great number of persons who are drowned in our rivers, ponds, act of respiration; for, when the chest was dilated by the inhaled air, my body rose, and when it was contracted by expi- ration, my body descended very perceptibly. " It also required some little exercise of my limbs, to preserve an equipoise. A small and seasonable motion of a hand or a foot, would keep me in either of the requisite postures, by resisting any tendency to turn or roll over. 90 "The temperature of the water was 74* of Fahrenheit's Thermometer. There was as much evenness as a calm could produce; and the place of experiment was not incommoded by current; it being the open shore of the harbour. " I satisfied myself also, that when I took the erect attitude, aud brought my head perpendicu- lar, or to a right-line above my thorax, my body did not sink deep enough to cover my head, or to impede my respiration. With a motion of my limbs just sufficient to preserve my erect posture, I found the surface of the water, rather below my chin. With the little variation of my specific gravity, as I inspired or excluded air, I enjoyed a perfect ability to breathe; and this was effected without the necessity of keeping myself up by treading water, as it is called. " This discovery of my own weight in relation to that of water, is susceptible of several useful applications. " If I should fall overboard, I now know, that as long as my lungs are inflated with air, my body will rise from the plunge, float upon the water, 91 and be buoyant enough to allow respiration to go on. " If the water should be smooth and even, I can change my attitude from the prone, to the lupine and erect with very little exertion, and with no considerable exhaustion of my strength. " Should a boat be sent to my assistance, I can, by discreet management in thus keeping afloat economize my muscular powers, until relief shall reach me. " Unless the water should be cold enough to chill me, I could, probably for several hours, save myself from sinking. " The embarrassment of clothing will render more exertion necessary to keep afloat While it lessens the wearer'6 ability, according to its quali- ty, as of leather in boots; of metal in buttons, money or watches; or of wool and linen, in coats and shirts, it may alter the specific gravity of the body: causing a buoyant one, to be kept afloat with more difficulty; and a heavy one, to find the bottom more readily. "The specific gravity of the human body varies so little from that of water, that a very 92 few ounces may determine the difference. It is, therefore, to be presumed, that exceedingly small weights, may drown a person, such as a few ounceB or even pennyweights, appended to the body. " I would recommend it to every one of my fellow-citizens, to learn the art of swimming as a part of his education. I likewise propose, that he should ascertain by experiment the specific- gravity of his body, and his ability to keep it buoyant and balanced; and, seeing that the spe- cific gravity may vary, in the progress of life, as fat or bone may predominate, I suggest the expe* diency of renewing such experiments from time to time, that the individual may understand hi»i constitution the better. " For those whose bodies have a greater spe- cific gravity than mine, or ia other words, a great- er propensity to sink, it may be necessary to throw the head forward, or backward, that it may not bear directly downward upon the thorax and lungs; and it may further be requisite, to make greater exertions with the arms and legs for the purpose of keeping the body afloat, and of giving* it a propulsive motion. §3 (i A person who is buoyant has the before men- tioned advantage, of remaining on the surface, af- ter an accident, until help can be brought to him. There is another advantage ; this is in a current which may, in some cases, convey the person with little expenditure of his powers, almost to the land, or even quite ashore. There is yet a third convenience; that where the water is stag- nant and no succour in view, the swimmer, relying on his own exertions, to get on dry ground, may rest himself from time to time, and be saved from sinking under a violent and unremitted struggle to extricate himself from peril. Great advantage may accrue from laying to and resting, once in a while, between the spells of labour. ** I know that rough water, and a surface foam- ing with white-caps and breakers, may render it difficult for a person either to float or swim with convenience. But, even in such a situation, when a calculation is made upon the chances of escap- ing, the odds is much in favour of natural buoy- ancy, aided by the skill to keep one's self up by a proper equilibrium. 94 '• The great secret in this watery exercise, is to keep afloat. To swim, is to move artfully and methodically through the water : a ship swims by means of sails; a barge swims by aid of oars ; ft canoe swims by the force of paddles. A fish swims by the exercise of his fins and tail; and a frog by the action of anterior and posterior mem- bers. The latter animal is the most neat and elegant swimmer of the whole race of quadrupeds. He affords the best model for man's imitation: and if I should be asked for a practical precept on this subject I vvould say to my fellow crea- ture, Goto the frog, thou who wishest to sustain thyself in the liquid element, imitate his motions, and become a swimmer. "Tliere are different pulmonic capacities. Some persons have fuller and larger chests than others. They who have the most ample lungs, will be on that account the most buoyant. And this is an additional reason, for every person to determine experimentally, the physical tendency of his body to sink or swim." 95 ' 2. Be very eareful where you bathe, if you can swim ever so well, lest there should be weeds to entangle your feet or any thing else to endan- ger your life. It is by the neglect of this very caution, that many good swimmers expose them- selves to greater danger than those who cannot ■wim at all, and their very expertness becomes fatal to them, by tempting them into places where their destruction is inevitable. Such, you may remember, was the conduct and such was the fate, of the unhappy gentleman who was drowned last summer in the river near Cambridge. He was able to swim very well—and therefore des- pised the thought of danger. Venturing, how- ever, into a part of the river with which he was unacquainted, his progress was soon arrested by the weeds and rushes which grew plentifully at the bottom,* and which entangled him so com- pletely, that all his efforts to break his hold were unavailing—he sunk, to rise no more alive. Assistance was soon procured by his friend ; but * I have been since informed that a part of this state- ment is not quite correct: the weeds were floating on the surface of the water, and the swimmer venturing tipon or among them, was soon entangled and drowned. 96 it was too late. The body, when found, waa brought to the shore, and the usual means em- ployed to restore it to life ; but in vain. This is not the only instance which has happened within my knowledge in the same place, and by the same means ; but, as it is the latest, I thought an account of it was likely to impress you more forcibly. Thus, you see, it is not enough to learn the art of swimming ; it is also necessary to be very prudent in the exercise of it. 3. Do not expose yourselves to danger, in any other way, unnecessarily ; whether it be by walking on the sides of boats; playing on the banks of rivers, or other deep waters ; sailing ia a boat, except in the company of some experienced person, or unless you are well skilled in the management of your vessel; or venturing upon the ice before it is sufficiently strong to bear you. It would be easy to give you many examples of the fatal consequences of neglecting this caution ; but you can probably recollect some yourselves j and, as the danger is so evident, I hope nothing more will be needful to fix the rule upon your memoir. 97 4. If, however, after all your care, you should be so unfortunate as to fall into the waUr, or by any other means get out of your depth, how ought you to act ? If you could swim, you would undoubtedly make for the shore as fast as pos- sible, or, at least, keep yourself from sinking until some one came to your assistance, or per- haps until you reached a boat. One of these you might do, if no impediment from weeds or the cramp prevented you. But what if you could not swim ? Let us hear old Millson* on the sub- ject. " If you wish to drown yourself, I'll tell you," says he, " how to" do it " presently.— Kick and splash about as violently as you can, and you'll presently sink. On the contrary, if, impressed with the idea that you are lighter than the water, you avoid all violent action, and calmly • I here refer to an excellent little tale, by Mr. Parkinson, entitled, " Dangerous Spurts," of which old Millson is the hero, by means of whom, Mr P. lias contrivrd to communicate, in a very agreeable manner, a variety of good counsel and valuable infor- mation, highly worthy the attention of young persons. A few expressions I should like to see altered or omit- ted. 10 5>8 and steadily strive to refrain from drawing ia your breath whilst under the water, and to keep your head raised as much as you can, and gently but constantly move your hands and feet in a proper direction, there may be a great probability of your keeping afloat until some aid arrives."' I know it is difficult to have what is called pre- sence of mind on such occasions as these, and that it is the want of this very quality which in- creases the danger tenfold, and often renders escape impossible where, otherwise, it would be easy ; but yet, on the other hand, it is certain, that calmness without knowledge is of no use whatever; and, therefore, a useful hint, if treasured up in the mind, many occur to it at the moment it is wanted, and prove of the most essential benefit. The following singular instance of a man's life being saved by very simple instructions given him at the moment of danger, is related by Mr. Nicholson, in his Philosophical Journal. " The ship Worcester was moored off Culpee, in the Ganges, in November, 1770. One of the men, who was employed in some occupation forward ahput the cables, slipped into the water, which 99 I am sure was running seven or eight knots (01 milerg) an hour, which is very common in that river. On the alarm being given, rrtost of those who were upon deck ran aft, where we saw the man's head rise above the water, at the same time that he held up both his hands, and after a few seconds splashing, sunk again. Soon afterwards he rose a second time ; and at that instant the commanding officer, who had a hand trumpet in his hand, called out to him—' Keep your hands down in the water.'' He did so,and remained a considerable time afloat, while one of the boats which were riding astern, was got alongside and manned; and this relief was also retarded by a blunder from too much haste, by which she was cast off without oars on board. His fears must naturally have increased, as his distance from the ship became greater every moment; and I suppose this impression made him forget \\U newly acquired art; for he renewed his elevation of ha'u's and dashing of the water, and again sunk ; but soon rose again, and for a short time obeyed the incessant and unvaried instruction which was vociferated to him through the trumpet, 100 Whenever he deviated [from this advice] he sunk ; and he had disappeared in this manner at least five times; and had been carried almost out of hearing before the boat took him up ; which, however, at last happened, without any injury to his health, as he took an oar, and assisted in r iog b:ck to the ship." No. I. 58, or Vol. XIV. p. 330. 5. Neier venture into cold water when your body is much licatcd by exercise. This is an im- prudence which has often proved fatal. An in- stance has already been related, in page 88. Nearly allied to this case, is another melancholy one which has been lately reported to us in the newspapers: Oo Mmday evening, the 16th of February, died at her house at Grafton Street after only two days illness, Lady Catherine Stew- art, wife of Major General Stewart, and sister of Easerved, that persons have been recovered by having been stripped, placed in the open air, aud having cold water dashed on them for some time. Warmtli and friction have in other instances been attended with the happiest success. In a particular manner, the face, temples, wh-jlu head and breast of tin- pii'.ient should be rubbed with strong vinegar, which should be appiied to the nostrils by means of any common cloth. Of suffocation by burning Charcoal. In general, the treatment is the same as recom- mended in the preceding article. But, the par- 147 ticular directions for avoiding the bad effects of the fumes of these substances, are, 1. Not to remain near them when burning. 2. To burn them iu a chimney or the open air. N. B. The burning of chorcorl in pfijs and close stoves should most carefully be avoided iu the cabins of ships and vessels, and in all Hjrht rooms, where chemical or mechanical works are going on, because fatal events have often taiv< n place, where this caution has been neglected. 3. To avoid being so placed as that the cur- rent of air will blow the fumes upon you; this is 1 particularly necessary in all operations with cop- per, mercury, lead, arsenic and cobalt. 4. It will be well to have a tub of water in all rooms where charcoal is burnt and where metallic processes are carried on. 5. Iu all cases of sudden faintness, or fits, where works of this sort are carried on, vinegar being one of the most common, has also in repeat- ed trials been found to be one of the best of remedies. 148 Of Lightning. To avoid its bad effects. 1. A Conductor. 2. When in a house, the middle of the room is the safest place. 3. When exposed to the storm abroad, the middle of a plain is safer, avoiding single trees, especially chesnut trees. 4. When in a wood or forest, avoid standing under, or near any very tall trees. 5. During the rising or continuance of a thun- der storm, avoid touching the conductors of any building, or being very near them, especially at an open window. 6. In the country, shun all trees where scythes and other metallic implements of husbandry are hung up. In case of the suspension of animal motion, the remedies are the same as for drowning ; except that much stronger shocks of electricity should be sent from the breast, through to the back, and from one side of the breast to the other ; and this shoald be done with as little delay as possible, in 149 order to excite the heart, and the system of blood vessels connected immediately with it, into motion. Of Still-born Infants. These are to be treated, when the organization seems to be perfect, and there are no appearan- ces that the child had suffered death many hours before the birth, much in the same manner as per- sons who suffer by drowning ; but more gentle and tender treatment must be observed ; the tem- perate healthful warmth must be kept up ; the lungs must be inflated by blowing air into the nos- trils, and at the same time keeping the mouth 6hut; the head is to be kept raised, anil gentle friction with warm water to be used all over the body. In numbers ol instances, where this plan has been pursued for the space of an hour and an half, or even longer, the animal motion has been restored. • 14 v 150 Of the effects of eating the sub-acid fruits to excess; such as currants, cherries, apples, peaches, melons, &c. The effects are very similar to those that arise from drinking cold liquors and eating Ice-Creama in the hot season; and in general the same meth- od should be observed to effect a cure. But to prevent the injurious effects of taking fruit in- temperately in the hot season, it will always be adviseable to take a little good wine, or ardent spirits, immediately after eating the fruit. The eating of a little good old. cheese with some bread, immediately aft^i* the fruit, is also a very salutary practice. N. B, There are but few cases that can be re- lieved by emetics, and whenever three are ad- ministered, it should be done by the advice of some judicious person, and with great caution, Of extreme Ccld. To prevent the effects. 1. As the extremities, and particularly the 151 feet, are first affected, it will be necessary to guard the parts with woollen cloths, which should be clean and dry, if possible ; the feet should be guarded with socks within the shoes or boots, or which is better, over them ; these may be of wool- len yarn, or of furs, or cloth, and should cover the whole foot and leg. 2. Persons always sustain cold best who avoid hunger, take a due proportion of sleep, and are temperate in the use of spirituous liquors. 3. It will be proper to give as much motion to the body and limbs as the situation Avill admit; where this cannot be done, and there are two or more together, let them place their feet against each others bodies, or what will be much better, against the breast and belly of a dog, or any oth- er animal covered with hair. 4. Danger first shows itself in numbness and sleepiness.—When a person perceives this, he should force himself to exercise ; and. when sev- eral are in company, any one in whom these "} mptoms are perceived, should be obliged to take all possible motion; in this situation, it will be of the greatest consequence to inspire resold 152 tion and courage in those who appear to fail first; and it will be adviseable to excite the passions, particularly anger, hope and pleasant emotions of the mind to produce a greater degree of ani- mation. To Cure. When the animal motion is stopped, proceed as iu the case of drowning; except so far as what relates to the frozen parts of the body. When this is the case, the following directions will be safe and very useful. 1. Place the body in a cool room, without fire. 2. Use the bellows as in drowning, at the same time rubbing the whole body with cloths dipped in eold water; these merns must be persisted iu for several hours ; and all hot applications are to be most carefully avoided at first, and afterwards introduced gradually as in the case of drown- ing. 3. In case any member should become frozen, let it be immersed in cold water, into which a small quantity of snow or ice has been put; when it has remained in this state twenty or thirty min- 153 uies, or till the frost appears to be taken out, let the cold water then be used without the ice for the space of an hour at least, so as to keep the part from the air, and restore the warmth and cir- culation gradually. 4. The patient, during all this time, and for many hours after, should be kept in a room with- out any fire; a brisk purge should be adminis- tered ; after the operation of which, the frozeu part, having been continued for a proper length of time in the water, should be anointed with a little oil, and the part being wrapped up proper- ly, the patient should go to bed. All spirituous drinks should be avoided, and the patient should be very abstemious in his diet, to moderate the subsequent inflammation or mor- tification. The effects of scalding or burning are to be treated in a similar manner, provided the appli- cations can be made immediately after such ac- cidents. N. B. All hot poultices should be avoided in the case of frost; but yest will be of great utili- ty, applied all over the diseased part, in a cool state, and renewed once in two or three hours. 154 Of the heal of the Sun. The degree of danger *»,■; •• opposed to the ruu, may be judg< d of ii'-i;1 .:•<■ following symp- toms, viz. 1. Head-oehe, with tiiiobbi'ig »nd giddiness. 2. Disposition to f-iut, aud stupidity. 3. Heat and dryness of the skin, and redness of the eyes. 4. Diiiicult breathing, speaking and moving. To prevent these symptoms. 1. Avoid all considerable motion, exercise or labour, when exposed to the powerful rays of the sun. 2. Avoid spirituous liquors and full meals at such times, especially when there is a necessity for much motion. 3. Wear a white hat, or one covered with white linen or paper, and a white dress in general, will be advantageous. 4. It will be well to seek a shade on the ap- pearance of any of the above mentioned symp- toms, and to loosen all tight things about the body, particularly the neck. 155 To cure these Complaints. 1. The patient should be removed into a cool place, and all ligatures about him should be loos- ened. 2. Put the feet, and if possible the legs, into warm water, supporting the body at the same time. 3. Cover the head Avith linen dipped in cool water, or vinegar, which is to be preferred. .1. If the pulse be absent, or very feeble, give the patient spirits aud water in small quantities at a time ; if, on the cont: ary, the pulse be remark- ably strong, use moderate bleeding, and let him take cooling drinks, such as lemonade, butter- milk, vinegar and water, &c. These should be taken moderately, and often repeated. Of Intoxication or drunkenness. The symptoms are too well known to need any description. The treatment must be varied according to difleient constitutions and circumstances ; and in case of surden apparent death, the foregoing ruks must be observed. In general, it may be recom- 156 mended to lay the body in an easy posture, and in a cool place, with the head a little raised ; to loosen all tight things about the bo- dy and limbs, particularly the neck; to suffer the patient to sleep, to make him smell the fumes of strong vinegar, and to rub the body gently with vinegar and water. After the de- bauch is over, the bowels should be moderately purged, or opened with a clyster, unless the strong liquors have done this before; or produced vom- iting, which should never be much urged with medicines. Let him drink freely of cool water at the time of intoxication, and swallow a few spoonfuls of olive oil, or some other mild oil; but afterwards, when he begins to suffer debility and sickness at his stomach, let the stimulus of ardent spirits be changed for something more durable, such as good soup, well seasoned with salt and pepper, occasionally using some cordial drink, which the effect of habit in those who have made too free a use of strong liquors, will often abso- lutely require; exercise, and even labour in pro- portion to the strength of the patient, should al- so be enjoined. 157 There are but few who have resolution enough to conquer a tippling habit; but this number would be greater, if they knew how to proceed; for their benefit the following advice is offered. The only effectual method to get rid of habitu- al intoxication is, to diminish the quantity of strong liquor daily and gradually, which, with in- flexible resolution, will destroy the habit; or to change the stimulus of strong liquors for some- thing more durable, and which is not endowed with any stupifying property: for this purpose, prop- er food should be taken, and an electuary com- posed of the powder of Peruvian bark, wild vale- rean, or Columbo root, with the oil of Cloves, or some other essential oil, has, in many cases, beeu found very useful; a piece as large as a nutmeg, should be taken several times in the day, espe- cially when a sinking faintness is felt at the stom- ach. All who have studied the nature and proper- ties of the stomach, know that the tone of that or- gan is destroyed by the excessive use of strong liquors ; the liquor of the stomach becomes vitia- ted and Eour. and the food is consequently not 15 158 properly digested and converted into good nour- ishment, so that the whole body soon becomes in- jured. In this situation, one of the best things that can be done, is to abstain entirely from all spirituous liquors; such as rum, gin, brandy, whiskey, Ro- man and hot purl, mint juleps, and all other mix- tures of spirituous drinks, many of which are ren- dered still more pernicious by being mixed with metallic and other poisonous substances. To relieve the patient from some of these evils, the newly expressed juice of lemons or limes has been found serviceable; but what is much better, let him take from twenty to one hundred drops of the spirit of hartshorn, in a small cup of water, several times in the day ; this will tend to de- stroy the morbid acid in the stomach, and to keep out the wind, as dram-drinkers express it, much more effectually than drams themselves, and by being a substitute for the stimulus of the stupify- ing liquors, it will prevent languor, faintness and that dejection of mind, which too fnquentl) drive the res-'less victim to the delusive relief of the bowl and the glass. 159 Temperance in eating should also be strictly observed, the want of which is often productive of as bad effects as intemperance in drinking, and even worse. Persons who fall sacrifices to these habits gen- erally imagine they are troubled with bilious dis- orders ; and of their own choice, or by the fool- ish advice of others, as ignorant as themselves, they fly, for every little uneasiness arisiug from Hie derangement of the digestive organs, to the use of emetics, by which they are but too often hur- ried out of existence, especially when this is ac- companied with a liberal use of the lancet. Of Convulsions, Swoons, Fits and Trances. These sometimes produce the common appear- ances of death, while the patient is in a recover- able condition. As these events arise from some peculiar state of the imagination, violent opera- tious of the passions, or from „some disease of an earlier date, as epilepsy, catalepsy, hysterics, &c. no very particular directions can be given in this 160 glace, except calling for proper help and advice in dangerous cases, as soon as may be. And it is always to be remembered, that per- sons have sometimes been recovered from appa- rent death, after sudden and violeut sickness, as In the case of jail and other malignant feven. After the proper methods of recovery have been tried for a sufficient length of time, and without success, the interment of the body ought to be de- layed in all instances, till evident appearances of a beginning putrefaction haye taken place, for in almost all cases where the body remains apparent- ly whole, putrefaction is found to be the only certain evidence of the absolute extinction of life, or suspension of animal motion. If this cau- tion be not properly observed, after all the usual methods of recovery have been tried in vain, the person may suffer the indescribable horrors of those, who, we have reason to believe, have, in some instances, while the spark of life remained in a latent state, been prematurely committed to the grave. By these cautions, the " terror of premature interment," and the anxious fears in the minds of the surviving relatives, that 161 «urh an event may have taken place will at all times be prevented. The Rcsusriiutirr process has been thrown into familiar verse by Mr. George Dyer. Philanthropy. "Whoe'er would know, how great the joy, to save "Friend, child, or parent, from the untimely grave, And snatch from death the victim of despair, Or ; tin the generous lover's grateful prayer, Studious attend ; while we with care explain How you the heartfelt pleasure may attain. Great Caution, and Receioing Houses. When in the stream, by accident, is found A pallid body of the recent drown'd, Though every sign of life is wholly fled, And all are ready to pronounce it dead, "With t'Mider care the clay-cold body lay In flannel warm, and to some house convey : Tli'- nearest cot (whose doors still open lie When mi.-'ry calls) will every want supply. Infants. 1- it a child, yet weak in strength and age ? Then let thy thoughts the gentlest me;i-is engage; * 'In some warm bed between two persons laid, 'Infant or child may claim no further aid. 15 * 162 Adults. If woman, man, or youth, attendance claim;, Then mark the rules that sage experience frames; First lay the body on a couch or bed, With gentle slope, and slightly raise the head. The Sun, kc. Do Winter's cold, or damps, extend their gloom '■' Let moderate fires attemper soft the room ; Or, does the sun in summer splendour stream. Expose the body to its cheering beam. Friction. And, when with tepid cloths it well is tried, Let friction soft with flannels be applied. These lightly sprinkle first, ere you begin, With rum or brandy, mustard or with gin. Communication of Heat. Bottles, or bladders, fill'd with water hot, And heated tiles, and bricks, should next be got; These wrap in flannel, with precaution meet, And then apply them to the hands and feet; Nor with the heated warming-pan be slack, But move it gently o'er the spine and back. Inflation. Let one the mouth, and one the nostril close, While through the other the bellows gently blows * Thus the pure air with steady force convey, To put the flaccid lungs again in play. Should bellows not be found, or found too late, Let sqm» kind s«ul with wiTfiirg mouth inflate ; 164 I'heo downward, though but lightly, f r«M tke chut And let th' inflated air be upward prest. Tobacco Fumes. But should not these succeed, with all your care, With vigour then to different meuns repair ; Tobacco smoke has often prov'd of use : Nor proudly thou the potent herb refuse. Th' eiiliv'ning fumes with watchful patience pout' Into the bowels thrice within the hour ; If this should fail, tobacco clysters ply, Or other juice of equal energy. Agitation. Mere agitation oft assistance gives, And slumb'rous life awakening, oft relieves Let some assistant hands, with sinews strong,- The undulating force awhile prolong. Fortitude. JVor yet the important doubtful task forego, Bfor quit too hastily the scene of wo ; Try other means, nor quit the glorious strife, Till gain'd the prize of slow-returning life. Additional Means of Heat. Shouldst thou these means a tedious hour pursue. Yet not one gleam of life returning view, Despair not;—still for kind assistance fly To brewhouse, bakehouse, or to glasshouse nigh : Haste, haste, with speed the remedy embrace : In a^hes, grains, or lees, the body place ; There let it covered rest ; there gently meet 164 The latent blessing of attempered heat. On health's true standard all are well agreed, The heat should not that measure much exceed " Great good from hot-baths, if with ca«e obtain'd, With early care applied, is often gain'd. Electricity. Sometimes, though life is cold in every vein, And Death o'er all the powers may seem to reign, Th' electric fluid, nature's purest fire, The soul reviving vigour can inspire ; Breathe through the frame a vivifying strife, And wake the torpid powers to sudden life: Yet more—this shock of life is oft the test, Though all who look may be of doubt possest; Let fly the sudden shock, iflife remain ; Spasms and contractions instantly are plain. No longer doubt, no more the case debate, You see the body in a living state. Resuscitation. When these, or other pleasing signs appear, Oh ! then rejoice; returning life is near ". Proceed, proceed,—if he can swallow aught; Pour lukewarm water careful down the throat; (iive brandy, rum, or wine, a small supply, Whatever he can bear, or may be nigh. Prudence. Now sec your patient snatch'd from instant death, Restor'd to draw once more, the vital breath : 165 (Jo tkeu—convey him with a friendly acta, And let him feel, in bed, the comforts warm. Ah ! cease from noise : his half-shut eye-lid shew* He wants the soothing of a sweet repose. Gratitude. I Soon, soon again from slumber shall he wake; I Soon, soon again of cheering health partake : And now, restor'd to partner, child, or friend, Shall bless your name to life's remotest end. i Perseverance. But, ah ! a fatal error oft has been, When life, though latent, was not quickly jeeii, Then thinking that the conflict all was o'er, ' That life was fled, and could return no more ; Who much have wish'd, and yet despair'd to save, Too rashly doom'd the body to the grave. More patient thou, with ardour persevere Four hours at least: the gen'rous heart will feat To quit its charge, too soon, in dark despair; Will ply each mean, and watch th' effect with eere.: For should the smallest spark of life remain, Life's genial Meat may kindle bright again. 166 ADDRESS VI11. DANGERS OF THE SKAS.—SHU'WRECKS ; AND MEANS OF DELIVERANCE.--LIFE-BOATS.---- LIEUT. BELL'S AND CAPT. MANBy's METHODS. MAN-SAVER, CORK-JACKET, MARINE SPEN- CER, LIFE-PRESERVER.--ARABIAN AND CHI- NESE METHODS. We will now direct our attention to accidents from water on a larger scale. How fatal soever our ponds and rivers often prove, the ocean is much more destructive to the life of human be- ings. It is not here, in solitary instances alone, that we must contemplate the work of death: not scores only, but hundreds, are sometimes swallowed up at once ; and thousands are every year thus suddenly plunged into eternity. We, who live at a distance from the shore, and have never, perhaps, seen a shipwreck, or heard the piercing cries of the sinking sailors mingled with the roaring of the winds and waves, can form no adequate co ception of the horrors of such a scene. As the old ballad says, 167 " You gentlemen of England, That live at home at ease, Ah ! little do you think upon The dangers of the seas." Indeed, if we were to think about them ever so much, we should have a much weaker impre:- sion of them, than a single opportunity of wit- nessing them would give us. In either case, I hope, we should learn to feel for the sufferers, and if we should happen to be present on any such occasion, I trust we should be glad to reu- ■ der them any assistance in our power. The greatest dangers to which ships are ex- posed, are for the most part within sight of shore, or even within a short distance of it, where rocks, and sand-banks are ready to receive the vessels, and upon which they are sometimes dashed to pieces by the tempest, or run aground so as not to be got off again in such a state as to be fit for sailing. In such a case, it is evident the crew must perish, unless there be some means of con- veying them to shore; and this is very difficult, if not impossible. Common boats are often of no use, being either uuable, on account of the rough- m*ss of the sea, to reach the vessel, or in danger 168 of being overset by the waves. For the same reason many have perished in their own boats, when, having loosened them from their veasel, they have attempted to reach the shore in them. Such dangers as these gave rise to the inven- tion of the life-boat, which was first constructed at South Shields, in the year 1789. Some gen- tlemen of that place, lamenting the frequent re- currence of shipwreck and its dangers, offered a premium of two guineas to the person who should produce the best model of a life-boat. The pre- mium was awarded to Mr. Greathead, a ship- builder of Shields ; and several boats have since been built upon his plan, not only there, but on many other parts of our coast. The boat is about 30 feet long over all, and 10 feet broad, built in the flaunching manner, as repre- sented in the cut, and decked at the floor heads, rows twelve oars, fixed with Grummets on iron pins, is steered by one, and covered with cork on the outside two or three strokes down the gun- wale, will carry thirty people well, and live in a most tremendous broken-head sea. In the month of September, 1789, the ship LIFE BOAT. Page 168. 169 Adventure, of Newcastle, was stranded on the Herd sand, on the south side of Tynemouth ha- ven, in the midst of tremendous breakers, as the waves that are furiously broken by rocks or sand- banks are called. All the crew dropped from the rigging one by one, in the presence of thou- sands of spectators, not one of whom could be prevailed upon, by any reward, to venture out to her assistance, in any boat or cobble of the com- mon construction. Had you been there, you would, no doubt, have wished for a safer boat; in which persons might have ventured to the as- sistance of the drowning crew. To the honour of the gentlemen who resided at Shields, they did not content themselves with wishing, but im- mediately called a gewral meeting of the inhabi- tants, when a committee was appointed who offer- ed a: premium for the model of a beat which should appear best calculated to brave the dan- gers of the «sea, especially of broken water— Many proposals were offered ; but preference was given to that of Mr. Greathead, a ship-build- er cf Shields, who was immediately ordered by the committee to build a boat, partly on his own 10 170 plan, and partly on that of Mr. Wouldhavc, an- other candidate for the premium. The boat was launched on the 30th of January, 1790, and so well has it answered, even beyond expectation, in the most tremendous broken sea, that since that time, not fewer than two hundred lives have been saved, at the entrance of the river Tyne alone. Many boats have since been constructed upon this plap, and are kept at different parts of our coasts where shipwrecks most frequently happen. Great success has every where attended them. For- eign nations have also availed themselves of the invention : Mr. Greathead, about the year 1803, was honoured with an order for one of his boats, from Alexander, emperor of Russia. I ought, in justice, to inform you, that though Mr. Greathead had been the most noted and most successful builder'of life-boats, the Shields boat is not the first of the kind that was constructed; for Mr. Lukin, a coach maker of London, had taken out a patent for a life-boat several years bofore. And it appears, from a passage in Gillingwater's History af Lowestoft, that so early as the year 1771, a similar boat was built and tried in France. 171 This boat was invented by M. Bernieres, direc- tor of the bridges and causeways, and was ex- hibited at Choisy, before Louis XV. and the Dauphin. Though eight men were iu the boat, and it was completely filled with water, it was so far from sinking, that the men rowed it about the river, without any danger whatever. Afterwards a mast was erected in the boat when filled with water, and to the top of the mast a rope was fast- ened, and drawn till the end of the mast touched the water ; yet, as soon as the men who hauled her into this situation let go the rope, the boat and mast recovered themselves in less than a second; " a convincing proof that the boat could neither be sunk nor overset, and that it afforded the greatest possible security in every way."*— It does not appear, however, that th:3 invention • Gillingwater's history of Lowestoft, 4to. p. 69.— Since this address was written, the invention of a metal- lic life-boat, by Mr. Dodd, has been announced. It is said to be formed upon pneumatic and hydrostatic prin- ciples ; that is, the properties both of air and of water were considered in its construction. It is made of mal- leable iron, lead and tin, twenty feet long and six feet wide, and draw* only ten inches of water with twenty- fire persons. There boats possess valve? which not only 172 has been applied to any great extent in France • nor indeed is it certain whether it was ever car- ried farther than these experiments. In comparing our own ingenuity with that of our neighbours, it is commonly said the French invent, but the English improve. Though I have long doubted the truth of this, as a characteris- tic distinction of the two nations, since there is much more invention in the one and improve- ment in the other that this comparison would seem to imply, yet that we stand high in the es- timation of the world as a nation of improvers, is too well known to be denied. I hope we deserve the character, and I wish we may long retain it. This thirst for improving is very general in its operation among us; and, accordingly, we find discharge all the water from them, without personal aid, but act occasionally as air valves *. they are ballasted with confined water taken in and put out at pleasure; are remarkably buoyant and lively in agitated water, will neither sink nor overset, and v*ll yet serve all the ordinary purposes of ships' boats, either for rowing or sailing. Such are the properties ascribed to this boat *. part of them have been proved, by trial, to belong to it; and if it shall be found to possess them all, its inventor will have deserved well of his country. 173 that life-boats have not been neglected. The meritorious exertions of Mr. Greathead, and the success which has followed them, have induced several other persons to turn their attention to the subject, and to attempt improvements in his plan. Among others, Mr. Christopher Wilson, of Lon- don, has constructed a boat, which he calls the neutral-built self-balanced boat, which from the trials that have been made with it, appears likely to answer in many respects as well as Mr. Great- head's, and in others better ; for it has the advan- tage of being more readily put to sea, and more easily pulled through the broken water. Sir Thomas Clnrges, of Sutton upon Derwent, has contrived a life-boat which shews considera- ble ingenuity. The leading advantages of it are, that it is not only incapable of sinking, but that it cannot even fill, or be water-logged ; that there is much cabin room ; that it is well built for rowing, the oars not being on a curve, but nearly in a right line, and low to the water . and that it is furnished with a very pow- erful rudder which reaches some inches below the keel, but will haul up level with it when go- 16 * 174 ing into very shallow water, and then let down again. I should like to give you a description of this boat, but have not room for it: you may read it at your leisure in a very useful monthly publication, called Nicholson's Journal, No. 96. Mr. Wilson's boat is described in the 92d number of the same work. There have been several experiments on life- v boats, at New-York. It was about the year - 1803, that a very benevolent and ingenious gen- tleman, Mr. Du Buc Marentille, exhibited iu the East River, near Corlaers hook, a boat which would not sink, though filled with water; and which though laid on her side, with her sails flat on the water, would spontaneously right her- self Again. And during the last and present year (1813) the Rev. Wm. Phcebus, has repeatedly called the attention of the citizens to his boat, which ia so constructed as neither te sink nor overset. Yet she has all the conveniences of a ship's yawl.— The trials made with her, between New-York and Long-Island, sufficiently evince her cheap- ness, buoyancy, and fitness for business. 175 That these excellent inventions have not come into more general use, must be owing to some other cause than a want of knowledge. But it may happen that a ship may be strand- ed near a part of the coast where there is no life- boat, or if there be one, it may be impossible, from want of hands, or other causes, to get it off Eto the assistance of the crew. Here it is evident, that if they cannot come off in their own boats, they are in a very distressing state; and they may fire their signal guns in vain. In such a lituation, the method invented by Lieut. Bell, about the year 1791, of throwing a line on shore, by means of a shell, from a mortar on board, f 'might be resorted to. The general principles of this method will be made plain to you, by the following account of an experiment made at Woolwich, on the 29th of August in that year. From a boat moored about 250 yards from the shore, the shell was thrown 150 yards on shore with the rope attached to it. The shell was of ,, cast iron, filled with lead ; its diameter was 8 inches, and its weight 75 pounds. The rope in the trial was a deep sea line, of which 160 yards 176 weighed 18 lbs. By means of the line, kept fast on shore by the ball, Mr. Bell and another man worked themselves on shore upon his raft of casks, whicli is formed by lashing five empty casks together, one in the centre, one at each end, and one at each side, of the central cask. He varied the experiment several times, with differ- ent sizes of rope and of ball; and sometimes used a grapnel instead of the latter, but it did not re- tain its hold in the ground so well, though among jocks, or on a rough shore, it may be useful.—< To make the raft more complete, he directs that a seaman's chest be fixed upon the top of the casks, having parts of its ends or sides cut out, in order to let out such water as may be thrown into it by the surf. He declares himself ready to un- dertake to land with such a float upon a lee shore any where upon the coast, when it might be deemed unsafe for a boat to land. The pe- culiar construction of the piece of ordnance which he recommends for this purpose to be used on board of ships, is such that the chanK ber is to contain one pound of powder, and the bore to ad.mit a leaden ball of sixty pounds 177 or upwards, which he supposes will carry a deep sea line between three and four hundred yards distance. Such a piece of ordnance with suita- ble apparatus, he thinks should be kept on board every ship; and he advises that it be always brought upon deck, and there kept ready for use, when within sight of land, and particularly in •tormy weather. Another method, directly the reverse of this, was contrived by Captain Manby about five years »go, and has since been adopted by him on vari- ous occasions, and with the most gratifying suc- cess. It consists in throwing a rope from the shore to the vessel in distress, by means of which the crew may be drawn to the shore, even when the broken water prevents a boat from pulling up to the ship's aid, though within ten or twenty yards. The circumstance which gave rise to this method, and the happy result of it, are so well related by the benevolent captain himself, in the preface to a book he has just now publibhed on the subject, that I shall copy the passage for your information. " The dreadful events," he observes, " of the 178 18th of February, 1807, when his Majesty's gim- brig Snipe was driven on shore near the haven's mouth at Yarmouth, first made an impression on my mind, which has never been effaced. At the close of that melancholy scene, after several hours of fruitless attempt to save the crew, up- wards of sixty persons were lost, though not more than fifty yards from the shore, and this wholly owing to the impossibility of conveying a rope to their assistance. At that crisis a ray of hope beamed upon me, and 1 resolved immediately to devote my mind to the discovery of some means for affording relief in cases of similar distress and difficulty. It is a matter of no small consola- lation, when I reflect that my efforts were crown- ed with the happiest success, and have been al- ready instrumental in the preservation of ninety souls from a watery grave, of which seventy- seven were my countrymen, and thirteen unfor- tunate Hollanders." In another place he ob- serves that only three, out of the number of lives he has attempted to save, have been lost; and of these, two were incapable of exertion from insen- 179 Bibility, and the third unhappy man lost his life by his own temerity. Captain Manby has paid great attention to the manner of firing the shot from the mortar, as well as to the shape and fixing of the balls them- selves, and has made many useful improvements in both these respects. The object in firing is to throw the shot beyond the vessel, so that the rope may lie across it, and give the poor mari- ne is that assistance they so much need. The captain has contrived a barbed shot for the pur- pose of catching the rigging and securing the rope : he has also invented a cot to slide on a rope, to convey females and infirm persons from the wreck to the shore : and he has, moreover, suggested a plan for discharging guns without the. aid of fire, by a chemical composition. But tempests and shipwrecks often happen in die ni^ht, when darkness may prevent the vessel from being seen on shore, and the crew may not have it iu their power to point out their exact po- sition by the flash of their signal guns, or to dis- cern the rope if it should be thrown across the ship : circumstances which must heighten the dan- 180 ger and the horror of a situation exceedingly aw- ful at the best. Against these difficulties, Cap- tain Manby has provided, by a contrivance as ingenious in itself, as it is likely to be effectual in its consequences. He first employs a hollow ball made to the size of the piece, and composed of layers of pasted cartridge paper to the thick- ness of half an inch : this ball, being filled with about fifty luminous balls of star composition, and a sufficient quantity of gunpowder to burst the ball and inflame the stars, is then projected into the air towards the supposed place of the wreck- ed or stranded vessel. The stars, as they fall, il- luminate the sea to a great distance round, and continue their splendour a sufficient length of time to allow the vessel to be seen. Its direction is determined in an iustant by means of two up- right sticks painted white and fixed iu a plank, by the nde of which the mortar is to be placed, and will thus be pointed exactly toward the ves- sel.^ The shell affixed to the rope differs from that used in the day time by having four holes iu it to receive a like number of fuses, and by being filled with the fiercest and most glaring 181 composition, which, when inflamed by the dis- charge of the piece, forms a brilliant tract for the rope, which is thus rendered visible, to the joy and advantage of those who so greaUy need its aid. Tliere are many other excellent instructions and remarks in Captain Manby's book ;* but I have not room to notice them. * Its title is, " .//( Essay on the Preservation of Ship- Knckidpersons : with a descripitve account of the appa- ratus, and the manner of applying it, as adopted suc- cessfully by G. W. Manby, Esq." &c. Sold by Longman, &c. It appears right to mention, what I observed since the above was written, that Mr. C. Humphries, of Morton Hampstead, near b"xeter, has laid claim to the honour of several of the inventions practised by Capt. Manby, especially the method of throwing a tine with a prep pic from the shore to a ship in distress, and that of expeditiously landing shipwrecked seamen; an account of which he affirms was communicated by him to the Trinity House, London, in December, 1799. See Mr. H's letter in the Monthly Magazine, No. 230, p. 5. At »ll events, whatever quantity of invention may be fairly adjudged to the respective claimants, much praise is due U) Captain Manby for his ex. itions, and every friend to humanity will rejoice in their siicci-v. 17 18i- Before I close this address, I must describe to you a few other inventions designed for the pur- pose of preventing persons from sinking in water, when they accidentally fall into it. The Man Saver is something like a Teetotum: it is designed to save a person who has fallen over- board ; the floating part is like a dTum-head of a capstan, either of cork, or hooped like a cask ; the pole run through it serves for a man to hold by, as well as, with the flag on top, a guide for the ship's boat to find it; and the bottom to act as a counterpoise to keep the pole upright. They are no trouble, as they are made fast to the miz- zen chains, and let go by cutting the lashiDg, in one minute, into the sea. 183 I would only add one remark. If a little bell t was fixed in a light iron crutch, upon the top of the pole, instead of the flag, the motion of the waves would keep it constantly ringing ; and, on a dark night, be the best direction, to either the sailor in the water, or the boat to fetch him. The Cork Jacket is formed by t«wing thin flat : pieces, or shavings of cork in a waistcoat or jacket to fit close to the body, to which it is se- cured by buttons or strings. The Marine Spencer, invented by a gentleman whose name is Spencer, is made in the form of a girdle, of a proper diameter to fit the body, and six inches broad, composed of about 500 old tav- ern corks strung upon a strong twine, well lashed 184 together with lay-cord, covered with canvas*, and painted in oil so as to make it water-proof.— Two tapes or cords, about two feet long, are fastened to the back of the girdle, with loops at the ends. Another tape or cord of the same length has a few corks strung to the middle of it, is covered with canvass, and painted. A pin of hard wood, three inches long, and half an inch in diameter, is fastened to the front of the girdle by a tape or cord about three inches long. To use the spencer, it should be slidden from the feet close up under the arms, the tapes or cords are to be brought one over each shoulder, and fast- ened by the loops to the pin : the tape or cord between the legs is to be fastened to the other pin. A person thus equipped, though unac- quainted with swimming, may safely trust him- self to the waves ; for he will float head and shoulders above water in any storm, and, by paddling with his hands, may easily gain the shore. Such a spencer may also be made of cork-shavings at a very trivial expense.* * Report of R. H. Society 185 A canvass bag would serve very well to hold the corks, or cork-shavings, and, if of greater breadth than the above, might answer many good purposes, if kept on ship-board, although it be not water-proof. It has been suggested, that pieces of cork might be worked into the ordinary dress of sailors, especially about the shoulders and neck ; which, as it would give them an op- portunity of recovering themselves, and using their own powers, when they happened to fall in- to the water, might be the means of saving many valuable lives.* The Life-Preserver is a most admirable in- vention, by Dr. Daniel, a surgeon of Wapping, near London. The body of the machine, which is double throughout, is made of pliable water- proof leather; the head of the wearer is to pass between two straps which rest upon the shoul- ders, and his arms are to pass through the spaces on the outside of the straps, so as to allow the machine under them to encircle the body, like a large hollow belt; on the lower part of the • See Monthly Mag. for July, 1812. 17* 186 back of it is a strap which is to pass between the the th-ghs of the wearer, aud buckle in front. The machine, thus fixed, is to be filled with air by the mouth of the wearer, who is to continue blowing through a stop-cock in the front of the machine till it is fully inflated ; the air is then confined by turning the cock. Soon after Mr. Daniel had completed his in- vention, he made a public exhibition of it in the river Thames. On the 27th of July, 1806, he went with several of his friends, in a barge and other boats, accompanied with a baud of music, to conduct and witness a very gratifying spec- tacle : several men clad in linen dresses and red leather helmet caps, and wearing the preservers, appeared in the river, moving about at pleasure ; they appeared to float freely, aud to rest breast- high in the water with perfect ease and freedom, Multitudes of spectators crowded the three bridg- es and both sides of the river, to witness this cu- rious and pleasing exhibition.* With this or a similar apparatus it was, that a * See the Reports for 1807 and 1812. 187 very amusing experiment was made, not a great while since, in New-York. Several men thus equipped, leaped off a wharf, near Peck's Slip, and immediately recovered the erect attitude, standing as it were in the water. Violins were then handed to them, aud they amused themselves, and the numerous attendance of citizens, with playing a number of airs and tunes, with as little concern as if they had stood on the floor of the best orchestra in the city. The machine, when properly made and well ! *farnished, resembles a broad belt or circular girdle, composed of two folds of pliable leather attached together, and perfectly impervious to water. When it is well filled with air from the lungs, it is capable of preventing four persons from sinking under water, as the following ex- tract will testify : it is from a letter addressed to Mr. Daniel, by John Dickenson, Esq. of Norwich. He was sailing towards Norwich in a pleasure-boat, with two ladies and another gentleman. They had taken the precaution of procuring one of the life-preservers, which was on board. " On tacking," says Mr. 1). " to en- 188 ter Norwich river, at the extremity of a broad water, two miles over, known by the name of Braydon, a sudden gust overset the boat, precip- itating myself, companion, and two ladies, into as agitated a water as I have ever seen at sea (ex- cept in hard blowing weather.) You may judge my situation at such a juncture. Your machine was jokingly filled as we came along, to which 1 as- cribe (though very unexpected by us) our pre- servation. The gentleman, whose name is Goring, was inexpert at swimming, and with difficulty kept himself up, till I reached him ; and then di- recting him to lay hold of the collar of my coat, over which the machine was fixed, I proceeded towards the ladies, whose clothes kept them buoyant, but in a state of fainting when I reach- ed them : then taking one of the ladies under each arm, with Mr. Goring hanging from the collar of the coat, the violence of the wind drift- ed us on shore upon Burgh Marshes, where the boat had already been thrown, with what belong- ed to her. We got the assistance of some coun- trymen directly, (after taking refreshment at a marsh-farmer's house, where we procured some 189 dry clothing for the ladies, who were now pretty well recovered) and by their endeavours put the boat in sailing trim, and prosecuted our voyage to Norwich, which we effected by eleven o'clock that night."* From this remarkable instance, and several others which have been recorded, we have reason to assert, that Mr. Daniel's life-pre- server is well entitled to the name it has received. In the frontispiece I have given you a represen- tation of the interesting scene, and a separate > view of the preserver itself. It is worthy of notice, that a contrivance, on a similar principle, has been in use among the Arabs from the earliest ages. Taking the skin | of a goat, they sew up very completely its dif- t ferent openings, except the skin of one of the legs, which they use as a pipe or tube to blow up the rest of the skin, and theu twist and hold it ve- ry tight to prevent the escape of the air. By means of this inflated skin, they can keep them- selves floating in the water as long as they please; •Transactions of the Society of Arts for 180T. \l- iholson's. Journal, Vol, XX. p. 2ij">. 190 arad, by paddling with their hands and feet, cau transport themselves to considerable distances.* In China, where millions of persons live al- most wholly on board vessels on the canals, the children are preserved from drowning by a very droll method. An empty gourd, or calabash, well corked, is tied upon the back of each child, who thus paces the decks of the vessels in secu- rity, knowing that, if he should happen to fall overboard, he would be prevented from sinking, or that, if he should be under water for a mo- ment, the shell at his back would soon buoy him up again. Would it not amuse you to see the little fellows running about the vessels, with those artificial humps upon their backs ? * Report of R. H. Society for 1812, p. 107. Also sev- eral of the preceding Reports. 191 ADDRESS IX. ACCIDENTS AT PLAT.--" DANGEROUS SPORTS.v FALLS.--COL. CRICHTON's BED AND FRAME FOR REMOVING WOUNDED PERSONS.--DOGS.-- WOUNDS.--BURNS AND SCALDS.--GUNPOWDER AND HRE-ARMS.--SW'ALLOW ING BONES,.&C. NEVER CONCEAL AN ACCIDENT. As we have been so long upon the water, I sup- pose you will be glad to get fairly and safely up- on land again. I shall be happy to attend and remain with you there ; for it is an element I much more to my liking, as a place to live upon, I than the boisterous and deceitful ocean. You r must not imagiue, however, that when you are safely landed, you are totally exempt from dan- : ger. You are not so weak as to think so, are you ? Very well. I am glad of it; and hope yon will excuse me for giving you an unnecessa- ry caution: it is an error into which I am not often very likely to fall. ' Let us proceed to the principal accidents 192 which yet remain to be noticed. Some of these may happen to us so suddenly and unexpectedly, that we cannot by any means provide against them ; while there are others which we may avoid if we will. Between these you will easily distinguish, as we go on; and I hope you will de- rive this advantage from your present attentiou to them, that in future life you will be as careful to abstain from dangerous practices, when they are improper and unnecessary, as you would be anxious to obtain help, should any injury befal you. Among the sports and exercises which daily yield you so much delight, there are some which are so obviously dangerous, and are so often at- tended with fatal effects, that to engage in them is to expose yourselves willingly to danger.— These had better be given up entirely : there will be plenty remaining to afford y< u abun- dance of amusement without endangering your safety or your health. Old Millson* has very well taught you to distinguish between the safe ■ !~cc note en p. 97. 193 and the dangerous sports. He has cautioned you against the practice of jumping from high places; which, though often done without any idea of danger, is sometimes attended Avith the breaking of a leg ; and even when no immediate injury is perceived, it often lays the foundation of dreadful pains and diseases in future life. He cautions you also against Weighing cheese and butter, as it is called, which is done by two boys entwisting the arms together back to back, and thus swaying each other: this he calls a highly dangerous practice; and states an instance in which, in consequence of this sport, the back-bone was actually broken, and the poor boy made a cripple for life. There is nothing in the whole catalogue of ' sports, which I look upon with more dislike than the " ruffian-like practice," as old Millson calls it, adopted by some boys, of throwing stones at each other. You have frequently heard me ex- press this dislike, and I have also stated to you various instances in which it has been attended with very serious consequences. To your credit, I am happy to add, that my remonstrances on this IS 194 head have not been made in vain; and I hope a practice so disgraceful will never be resumed amongst you. Birds'-nesting is often as dangerous as it is cru- el. I should be happy to dissuade you from it ou both these accounts. Of its danger, old Mill- son will furnish us with a striking example. Let it not be recommended to you in vain. " Sometimes," he says, " I received from my misconduct that punismnent which I merited. Thus, one evening, just before dark, 1 had climb- ed up a very high tree to take a bird's nest, and was trying to get from the branch I was on, to the one on which the nest was built, when my foot slipped, and I fell, but not far; for my coat skirts entangling in the boughs, my fall was bro- ken, and I, at the same time catching hold of another bough with my hands, hung in this man- ner, fearing that my clothes would give way, and that not having power enough to support myself with my hands, I must fall and break my neck. " At length I Avas fortunate enough to get my leg across another bough, but could not disentangle my clothes; I now called aloud, but could make 195 no one hear, and was therefore obliged to pass the whole night in this dreacful state ; oftentimes feeling such pain from being so long in one posture, as to be ready almost to lose my hold, and trust to the consequences : and I should certainly have fallen through fatigue, if I had not, about the middle of the night, got my back also to bear a little on another branch. " Think what a situation I had put myself in by indulging my cruel disposition ; think how dreadful a night I passed, fearing every mo- ment that my clothes Avould give way, or the branch break, and that I should fall to the ground, and be bruised to atoms. " At last, morning came, and some labouring men passing near the tree, I cried aloud : they looked abont, but not seeing me, they walked on. I had noAV given myself up for lost, but in about half an hour, some more persons passiug by, I re- peated my cries ; and was fortunately discover- ed by them, and released from my shocking sit- uation. " But think of the perverseness and thought- lsssness which so ruinously influenced all my ac- 196 tions. Within a week, I climbed a tree again, and enticed my brother to follow me. We had nearly gotten to the top of the tree, and my bro- ther Aras on a branch on Avhich I was going to step, Avhen he prayed me to desist; but such Avas my Avicked obstinacy, that to ask me not to do a thing Avas sure to inspire me with an inclination to do it directly. So it Avas in this case, I stepped on the branch, which broke directly, and we both fell. " Oh ! Avhat did I feel at the moment of fall- ing : buffeted about from one branch to another, I at last reached the ground with such violence that I lost my senses. When I recovered, I found myself surrounded by people, Avho had been rendering me assistance : but to my poor brother their kindness was fruitless—he was kill- ed outright. " I was now carried home; one of my arms and one of my legs were brokers; and I had the dreadful reflection fixed in my mind, that by my obstinacy I had occasioned the death of my bro- ther."* . ' * Parkinson's Dangerous Sports, p. 121—5. 197 Now these are dangers and troubles which you may avoid if you please. It is no more necessa- ry for you to climb up lofty trees, or to throw stones at each other, or to jump from high pla- ces, or to run the risk of having your back bro- ken, than it is to thrust your fingers into the fire, or to knock your head against a wall; and if you do either of these things by choice when you have no occasion for it, and after you have re- ceived such a warning as this, you will in great measure deserve all the evil consequences which it may bring upon you. May this example ef- fectually deter you from an imitation of it. After all our care, however, and it is our duty to be careful, we may be overtaken by some ca- lamity or another. Amongst the accidents to which we may be exposed, none are more com- mon, and frequently none more serious in their consequences, than those occasioned by falls.— But these are often much aggravated by the first attempts to correct them ; thus, a fall which has only broken a man's leg, may be followed by a very bad wound in the flesh, through the awk- wardness of the attendants in carrying him home, 12 * 198 Of this the following case presents a remarkable instance : A. B. fell from a scaffold, and broke his right leg, without any wound in the flesh or the skin ; his companions were carrying him home in a chair, Avhich gave him great pain ; a a gentleman passing by, observed to them that the pain arose from the unsteady position of the leg, which kept dangling about. As the men grew tired, they stopped to rest themselves, and fortu- nately opposite to a house where some women were ironing ; the gentleman immediately begged the use of their ironing-board and a mattress, on which the poor fellow was conveyed, in compar- ative ease, to his home. The stairs to his bed- room were too small to admit this conveyance ; he was therefore carried by two men, and imme- diately his pains returned most dreadfully.— When the surgeon saAV him, instead of the simple fracture, he found one end of the broken bone had been forced through the flesh and skin by the mode adopted in carrying him up stairs. In the first instance, a few weeks would have cured him; but in the latter case it required as mauy months, besides much impairing his health, and 199 rendering his leg crooked after all. Had his friends brought his bed down stairs, all this would have been prevented; and perhaps the most pro- per place for a poor man to be kept in, who is to be a prisoner for some Aveeks, is the ground floor, as here his friends can more easily visit and assist him. If accidents happen in places remote from a vil- lage or a house, it may be thought means cannot be found to render assistance, even though some persons may be by to apply them : those cases are very few, if the eye-witnesses will be cool and collected, as the following case may help to shew. C. D. was riding in the open fields in Tever- sham parish ; the report of a gun frightened his horse ; he was thrown, and had his thigh broken. A surgeon was sent for, who was met providen- tially in Barnwell. In such a situation, you would not expect the bandages and splints neces- sary to bind up the thigh. Some stonepickers were standing round the poor felloAir; and the surgeon ordered them to look among the heaps they had collected for two of the blade-bones of a sheep, which they readily found. Having 200 wiped them, and applied his handkerchief round the thigh which he had set, he placed the smooth sides on the outer and inner side of the fractured bone, and by means of his neckcloth and the boy's garter, he firmly bound up the limb. A cart was going by on the road at some distance, which Avas hailed, and immediately brought to the spot; some haum found in the field was put in, by way of a bed, on which the person was placed, and was thus brought to Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge, where he remained three weeks, and Avas cured. On leaving the hospital, he re- turned thanks to the governors, in the very neck- cloth and blade-bones he had been at first bound up with. A most ingenious contrivance has been made by Col. Crichton, of the Royal Edingburgh Vo- lunteers, for the easy conveyance of sick or wounded persons. It consists of a cheap bed and an elastic frame, as represented in plate VI. and described in the note below.* It may be either * " The lower frame A A is made of ash or elm, seven feet long, find five feet four inches broad. B B, Two strong wooden pillars, bound on the sides by two circular Page 200. PI. VII. & k *&. S5 "8** *3 SOI carried by men, or removed to any distance on a cart or waggon. As a proof of its utility, the in- ventor relates the following instances. " A per- son was brought in it, with a compound fracture in the thigh-bone, from the" West Highlands to Edkjgburgh, a distance of 74 miles, in two days. A gentleman, with an attack of the gout both in his hands and feet, was removed from Edinburgh to the north of England, above 140 miles, in three pieceB of iron, for supporting the elastic frame. C C C, The elastic frame, made of the best ash, supported by the wooden pillars, and semicircular pieces of iron. E E E, The frame or cot, containing a matttress or daliasse, stuffed with straw.—Two or three hammocks may be sus- pended, and will answer as well as the cot. F F, Rings and iron hooks by which the cot, bed, and mattress are supported. G G G G, Four handles projecting from the under frame, one foot three inches long each, by which the whole may be carried by four men. H H H H, Four Semicircular hoops, over which a cover can be thrown, to protect the patient from the weather.. The under frame and pillars should be. made of a.' 233 On the subject of catching colds, are here for the first time annexed Dr. Mitchill's observa- tions, written some years ago, for the information of one of his inquiring friends. " This frequent and troublesome ailment, seems to be much misunderstood by people in general, even of the more intelligent and enlightened class- es, not excepting physicians themselves. The name of the malady, ' a cold' in our language, is ill chosen ; and tends to mislead folks in their thoughts concerning it. Whence, when we advert to the influence that Avords have upon ideas, a tolerable reason can be rendered, Avhy the misconception is so extensive. " It is generally thought, that the complaint is catched by exposure to cold, especially after the body has been heated and brought into a state of perspiration, by exercise, clothes, or culinary warmth. I shall not enter into the detail of va- rious hypotheses about its causes, as you have done, nor discuss whether it is owing to a recep- tion of frigorific particles, or suppression of per- spirable matter; whether it arises from repletion »r inanition ; because, it appears to me, all these 21 * 234 suppositions are very far from the truth. But I shall endeavour to state to you some facts and considerations, tending to a conviction that heat is the exciting cause of this rheum or catarrh, by which I mean, that combination of sneezing, coughing, inflammation of the throat aud nostrils, heaviness of the head, suffusion of the eyes and countenance, &c. which together, constitute what is is called ' a cold.* '• And here it will be enough for the present pur- pose, to use the terms heat aud cold in their xuU gar and ordinary signification, without calling iq the aid of instruments to ascertain the several de. grees of warmth with philosophical accuracy. •**' After long search and inquiry, for au instance of this disease coming on during the prevalence and under the actual operation of cold, I have been hitherto entirely disappointed. Not a single, unequivocal and well-authenticated fact, has ever yet been produced to me, of the commencement or increase of the enumerated phlogistic symptoms, while the body of the person was continually un- der the action of the refrigerating cause. Tho 235 observations of others may possibly be different from mine, but certain I am, that neither in my- self nor in others, have I ever been able to re- mark the before-mentioned inconveniences, until the body of the patient had somehow been expos- ed to the agency of increased heat or stimulus. " So far is mere cold from being the cause of catarrh, that many instances have happened of persons being almost chilled to death by wintry ex- posure, and recovered to good health, without ex- periencing a symptom of that affection. And this is commonly the case Avhere prudent mea- sures are adopted, of applying heat to the torpid body, not suddenly nor violently, but by slow, gradual and almost imperceptible degrees. In all the cases noted by myself, the beginning of the malady is to be dated from the excessive and in- ordinate effect of an exciting or inflammatory power upon the body, for the most part predis* posed by antecedent cold, to receive more easily and readily the morbid impression. " Let us, however, attend to the evidence of facts, and try whether this doctrine is well sup- ported. 236 " I remember, when I was in Edinburgh, I had occasion to consult a number of authors upon a certain subject which I was then anxious to in- vestigate. In order to do this more convenient- ly, I went to the University library and requested the keeper to hand me the several volumes that I wanted to inspect. The room in which I sat doAvn was airy and spacious, the Aveather raw aud damp, the fire small and remote. I continu- ed intent upon the objects of my search, until I shivered with cold, and my fingers were almost too much benumbed to pen the extracts I at as making. In this condition, I departed from the library, and that I might avarm myself, ran brisk- ly along the street to my lodgings. To make myself comfortable the sooner, I took a small cor- dial, and placed myself near a hot coal-fire. Af- ter a short time, the symptoms of catarrh mani- fested themselves. They went on to increase until dinner time. During and after dinner, they were considerably heightened. As I was under an engagement to spend the remainder of the day abroad with some agreeable company, I went, in- disposed as I was, to join the party. And here 237 in addition to the. stimuli of the exercise, the fire, the cordial and the dinner, the operation of a heated chamber, good punch, warm tea, spright- ly conversation, vocal aud instrumental music, was so powerful and efficacious, that my catarrh became too troublesome to permit me to tarry un- til the departure of the other guests. I Avent home, and again placed myself very near a large fire, to expel (as I thought) the cold Avhich I had taken, but I quickly found all the symptoms in- tolerably aggravated thereby. The fire was then damped, I moved to the middle of the room, stripped off my coat, sat alone in my shirt, and swallowed now and then some cold water. In a very short time, I felt the tightness across the breast, swelling of the throat, dry, ti« kling cough, stoppage of the nostrils,difficulty of breathing, and stuffing of the head, all greatly mitigated : inso- much, that emboldened by this- success, I, by pushing up the window-sash to aomit the cold air during the night, drinking more cold water, and taking one blanket off my be 1, rested pretty com- fortably, was much better in the morning, and by 238 a continuance of the like regimen, soon got com* pleteij* well. " I recollect also, once when I was in New York, a few years ago, I was troubled Avith a catarrh for some short time ; and as it was not violent, I paid very little attention to it. One evening, it happened, that I had business at five or six different houses. While I Avas walking in -the open air, and kept cool in my passage from place to place, I felt very little of the complaint; but no sooner had I seated myself ten minutes, and partook of the glow of the room, and the spirit of discourse, than a running of the eyes and nose, increasing hoarseness, and frequent sneezing, in- dicated the unfriendly action of the parlour fire. In the course of my walk, the catarrh was regu" larly increased by going within doors, and as constantly relieved by coming out: so that five or six vicissitudes were experienced in the course of one evening. " It occurs to me likewise, that as I lately made an extensive excurson through the state of New-York, about midwinter, in a sleigh, in compliance with the humour of the company, and the fashion of the season, I drank several times 239 of cherry-brandy, gin, &c. the morning on which I set out. Alter considerable exposure in this Avay, I stopped at a tavern for refreshment.— Here, soon after I had swallowed some spirits and water, and enjoyed the fire, I was seized sud- denly Avith catarrh ; and as I was afterwards in- duced like the rest, to continue taking whets, while on the journey, the consequence was, that the malady did not leave me until after my re- turn, and the discontinuance of that fashionable, but unhealthy practice. " Here, I believe, are some of the common methods of bringing on catarrh ; and the circum- stances of each experiment have been thus re- lated iu detail, that a fair inference may be draAvn from them, of the mighty influence of " heat and other stimulants,'1'' in exciting and continuing the disorder. " If from these instances, and thousands of others, which might be adduced in favour of the same opinion, it can be firmly established, that cold is uot the cause of catarrh, but that heat is the principal, though not in all cases the sole ag-nt in forming the complaint; it may be easily understood, how it might be prevented and cured." 240 Thunder-storms.—Thunder, you know, is harm- less : it is only the lightning Avhich does mis- chief. The safest places in thunder-storms are beds, the middle of rooms, and cellars under- ground. While sitting or lying in a room, the windows and doors should be closed, and care should be taken uot to be near any large pieces of metal, Avhich, by attracting the lightning, might injure the eyes, if no other injury should ensue. If you are overtaken by a thunder-storm, while on a journey, be sure never to take rcfu