tragical death of that Great Prince, was the following.

"There was to be, fays he, a CABINET OF STATE, in the Louvre, deftined to receive, whatever could tend to the knowledge of Finance, of Science, and of Art." After enumerating several of these, particularly relating to the army, such as lifts, plans, charts, &c. &c. he adds, "I conceived a scheme, of appointing a large room, as a magazine of models, of whatever is moft curious in machinery, relating to war, arts, trade, &c. and all forts of exercises, noble, liberal, and mechanical; that all thofe, who afpired to perfection, might, without trouble, improve themselves in this filent fchool. The lower apartments, were to hold the heavy pieces of workmanship; and the higher, were to contain the lighter. An exact inventory of both, was to be one of the pieces of the great cabinet."*

What a pity is it, that this noble plan was not carried into execution! It would not have been the least of the imbellishments of the reign of Henry. It would have done honour to the Prince, and to the age. I mean not to difparage the utility of our modern collections, of fofils, fhells, moffes, and infects. They are the works of God; and,

Sully's Memoirs, vol. IV.

+ I have been informed, that this plan is fince carried into execution, in the Palais Royal.

therefore,

therefore, worthy of our higheft admiration. But I can easily conceive, that a fcheme like this, upon a smaller scale, might poffibly be applied to better use, than many of those collections actually ferve. In a town like this, the opulence, and even the very existence of which, depends upon manufactures, and these again upon arts, machinery, and invention, a PUBLIC CABINET, devoted to this purpose, would be at once of general ornament, and utility,

1

REMARKS on the different SUCCESS, with refpect to HEALTH, of fome ATTEMPTS to pass the WINTER in high NORTHERN LATITUDes. By JOHN AIKIN, M. D. Read January 16, 1782.

HOUGH the cure of diseases may, perhaps,

THO

most safely be confined to the members of a profeffion devoted by education and habit to this fole object, yet the prefervation of health muft, in fome measure, be committed to the care and judgment of every individual. The difcuffion, therefore, of any means to obtain this end, divested, as it may be, of technical language and abftrufe fpeculation, cannot fail of being gene

rally

rally interefting. The moft remarkable and ufeful account of fuccefs in this important point, perhaps any where to be met with, has been afforded by that celebrated and much-regretted navigator Captain Cook; an account which was justly thought worthy of the most honourable approbation a Philofophical Society could bestow. From fimilar fources, relations of voyages and travels by plain, unprejudiced men, I have collected fome other facts, probably at prefent forgotten or difregarded, which appear to me capable of fuggefting feveral striking and important obfervations relative to the prefervation of health in particular circumstances. Thefe, with a brief commentary and fome general reflections, I beg leave to fubmit to your confideration.

Towards the beginning of the last century, feveral voyages of discovery were made in the Northern Seas; and the Greenland whale-fifhery began to be pursued with ardour by various European nations. These two circumstances have given rise to various inftances of wintering in the dreary and defolate lands of high northern latitudes; and the furprizing difference of fuccefs attending these attempts must strike every reader.

The first remarkable relation of this kind that I have found, is that of the wintering of Captain, Monck,a Dane, in Hudfon's Bay,

latitude

latitude 63o. 20'. He had been sent on a voyage of discovery with two fhips, well provided with neceffaries, the crews of which amounted to fixty-four perfons. The fhips being locked up in the ice, they landed, and erected huts for paffing the winter, which they occupied in September, 1619. At the beginning of their abode here, they got abundance of wild-fowl, and some other fresh provifion; but the cold foon became fo intense, that nothing further was to be procured abroad, and they were obliged to take to their fhip-ftores. The feverity of the cold may be conceived, from their feeing ice three hundred and fixty feet thick; and from their beer, wine, and brandy being all frozen to the very centre.

The people foon began to be fickly, and their sickness increased with the cold. Some were affected by gripes and looseness, which continued till they died. At the approach of fpring, they were all highly fcorbutic, and their mouths were fo extremely fore, that they were unable to eat any thing but bread foaked in water. At last, their bread was exhausted; and the few survivors chiefly fubfisted on a kind of berry dug out from beneath the fnow. When the spring was far advanced, no fresh vegetables could yet be found. In June, the Captain crawled out of his hut, and found the whole company reduced to two men befides himself. These melancholy relicts fupported themselves in the

best

best manner they were able, and recovered their ftrength by feeding on a certain root they difcovered, and fome game caught in hunting. At length they embarked in the fmaller fhip, and after undergoing numberlefs dangers and hardships, returned home in fafety.

In the fame immenfe bay, but as far fouth as lat. 52, Captain James, an Englishman, wintered with his crew. His refidence was on an island covered with wood; but the cold was, notwithftanding, moft intense. In the depth of winter they were able to procure very little fresh provifion by the chace, and all became grievously afflicted with the fcurvy, except the Captain, Master, and Surgeon. Weak and fick as they were, however, it was neceffary for them to labour hard out of doors during the greatest inclemency of the feafon; for, believing their fhip fo damaged, as to be incapable of carrying them home, they undertook the laborious task of building a pinnace from the timber growing on the island. At the return of spring, the young greens fprouted up much fooner and more plentifully here, than where Monck wintered; and it became very hot before they left the place. They loft only two men out of a crew of twenty-two.

In the year 1633 two trials were made by the Dutch of establishing wintering-places at their northern fisheries; the one at Spitzbergen, the

other