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soon appeared there were no hopes of his recovery. After his death it was found, that the thigh bone was quite carious, and that the excruciating pains he so long felt, were owing to the gradual corrosion of this bone, by some acrimonious bumour.

The Archbishop was in his seventy-fifth year. Now it is related in the Life of Dr. Ralph Bathurst, who died in his eighty-fourth year, that his death was occasioned by the like accident of breaking his thigh, while he was walking in his garden. And it is added on the occasion, "It is said that at first, and for some time, he refused to submit to the operations of the surgeon, declaring, in his tortures, that there was no marrow in the bones of an old man*." Dr. Bathurst was bred a physician, and was of great eminence in his profession, insomuch that some regard, as it should seem, ought to be paid to a declaration of this kind coming from him, and yet I vehemently suspect the truth of it, on account of what here follows. At Christmas, 1767, an old gentlewoman confined to her bed by illness, and in the 85th year of her age, had occasion in the night to make use of the ba son, and being very weak and helpless, she tumbled upon the floor as she was endeavouring to reach it, and broke her arm. She had a fever upon her at the time, and yet this notwithstanding, as likewise notwithstanding her weakness and extreme old age,† the arm was set and united well, and in a reasonable time; and she had tolerable good use of it for many months before she died, which was on the 20th of October last. In short, the affirmation or supposition rather, of Dr. Bathurst, appears to me to be a subject that ought to be inquired into by those who have opportunities of making,

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It is a common notion, and in all parts, for I have heard. it from many mouths, and in many places, that our bones are most brittle in frosty weather. This is a difficult matter, at best, to prove, and I imagine the observation has nothing to support it, but the frequency of fractures at such seasons. But now, Sir, if this be the whole foundation of it, this one particular will scarcely bear the weight that is laid upon it.

Warton's Life of Ralph Bathurst, page 182.

+ She was older, you observe than either the Archbishop or Dr. Bathurst.

For first, men are most liable to slip then, and consequently more fall than common. Secondly, falls are violent apon sudden slips. Thirdly, the limbs are often thrown into unnatural positions by such slips; and lastly, the ground in frosts is hard, and impinging with force against it when it is in such a state, must endanger the bones more than at any other time, and occasion the more fractures. In short, the external constitution of the air may have effect on the surface of our bodies, as to the pores, and the affections of heat and cold, but that the internal stamina of the bones and the substance of them should be altered in respect of cohesion, of induration on one part, and pliableness on the other, is a thing difficult to conceive. And quæry, whether a degree of cold sufficient to effect that would not immediately induce death? For my part I cannot apprehend how the flesh, the periosteum, the blood, and even some of the vital parts could stand it. I will not pretend to say how the case may be with a dry, dead, uncovered bone, lying exposed to the ambient air in a severe frost; but surely, if the substance of a human bone can be so penetrated by an excess of cold, as to suffer an alteration in the cohesion of its parts, the marrow of such bone must be in a manner damaged and destroyed.

It is true the bones of old people do break with the greatest facility, and from the slightest causes, as appears from the two cases of Archbishop Secker and Dr. Bathurst, reported in your Magazine of November 1768; but then this fragility may be supposed to arise from an internal cause, to wit, the aridity or dryness of old men's bones, tenacity or toughness depending mainly upon a competent degree of moisture. And this I presume was the case with that great man, Archbishop Laud. At 54 years of age, his Grace strained, or rather broke the great ligament of his foot, the tendon Achillis, and when he was 68, as he was walking up and down his chamber at the Tower, the sinew of his right leg gave a great crack, without any slip or treading awry, and brake asunder in the same place where he had broken it before. His Grace, however, recovered it, and could go strongly upon plain ground. See his Diary, pag. 42, 63, 191. The event, you observe, was not very bad, but that is not the meaning of my introducing this fracture; for my design is to shew, by this, how easily dryness in the limbs of old persons disposes them to break. But this, I apprehend, is by no means the case with our bones in frosty seasons, which I presume are so fenced and secured against the exterual injuries of weather, by the periosteum, the flesh, and

the skin, that one cannot suppose them to be drier in hard weather than at other times. I incline to believe upon the whole, that the bones cannot be affected by any severity of weather less than what would cause death.

1769, Jan.

I am, Sir, yours, &c.

T.Row.

XXXV. Whether Oily Substances are hurtful to the Bones?

MR. URBAN,

THERE is a passage in the Book of Psalms which carries with it some difficulty, in respect of me at least. The Commentators, those I have seen, touch it very lightly, and the naturalists do not perfectly agree, or, it rather may be said, disagree. The words are, As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment; so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.' Ps. cix. 18. Some think the allusion is to the oil sticking close to the bones, others to the penetrating nature of it. But neither of these interpretations seems to be sufficient, as one substance may stick close to, and even penetrate another, with→ out doing any harm; whereas the context and sum of the passage seem to imply something that is hurtful and pernicious to the bones. And indeed it is asserted by some great names, that oil is really prejudicial to them. Thus Dr. Nieuwentyt says, "There is nothing more pernicious to a naked bone, than to put oil, or any other moisture upon it, which will cause a miserable corruption therein on which account it is, that the most skilful surgeons, in treating about the diseases of the bones, do most carefully warn the readers against the same.' And then he cites the authority of Hildanus and Paræus, observing, there was no further occasion for any other evidence in this behalf, since these two gentlemen may be justly ranked amongst the most famous and skilful men in the art of medicine. He concludes, 'whoever has seen this caries ossium-in any considerable degree in a living person, and has been informed that the same may be produced, or at least augmented, by any liquid. or oleaginous matters, must needs confess, that the wrath and curse of God cannot be described by more lively comparisons, than in these words of the Psalmist, since water and

VOL. II.

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oil, that are mentioned in this text, are both of them the most pernicious things imaginable to the bones.'* It is certain, that in the eastern countries, they used much oil about the human body, for the purpose of suppling, purifying, and brightening the skin, and so far it was useful in those adust climes; but it should seem from this passage in the Psalms, they were aware at the same time, that oil, how beneficial soever it might be to the skin, was hurtful to the bones. So far, so good,

But now, Sir, others do not apprehend that oil has any such noxious quality, in respect of bones, and they adduce an experiment to shew it has not, but on the contrary is rather serviceable to them. Thus Alex. Blackrie speaking of oil, the third, and by much the largest ingredient in the composition of soap, says, it is so far from having any share in its lithontriptic properties; that, on the contrary, he. thinks it rather tends to hinder the other ingredients from exerting their active powers for this purpose, by becoming, in some degree, a cement to connect the calcareous particles of our food, &c. That this is the case will evidently ap pear,' he says, by the easy experiment of calcining a bone till it is reduced to an inert' inactive earth; which, if not disturbed, will, nevertheless, retain its former shape. The bone thus robbed of its agglutinating principles, will become so friable as to crumble into dust and ashes upon a gentle touch; but afterwards, [now please to observe, Mr. Urban,] by the affusion of a sufficient quantity of oil, such a degree of tenacity may be restored to it, as will allow it to be taken up and handled freely without breaking. That oil contributes much to the stability of the bones, by preventing them from growing too brittle, the learned and accurate anatomist, Dr. Alexander Monro, when he enumerates the uses of the marrow, has evidently shewnt.' Here, a great anatomist asserts, that oil contributes to the stability of the bones, and an acute disquisitor shews by experiment, that it will even restore the lost tenacity of them. What then is to be done in this case? How are we to determine, when there are such cogent authorities on both sides the question, whether oil be hurtful or beneficial to the bones? For my part, I cannot but wish some further inquiries might be made upon this subject. As to the Psalmist, he will be clear either way, as

Nieuwentyt, Relig. Philosopher, I. p. 208.

+ Blackrie's Disquisition on Medicines that dissolve the Stone, p. 84. Seq where be cites Monro's Anatomy of the Bones, Edit. 1V. p. 20. Seq.

it is a sufficient justification for him, that in his day it was understood, that oleaginous substances were prejudicial to the human stamina, though upon after-researches it should prove otherwise; for I suppose it is an allowed maxim now, that the Scriptures were not intended to teach us philosophy. I am, Sir, Yours, &c.

1769, Feb.

T.Row.

XXXVI. Curious Account of the Dissection of Old Parr, from a Manuscript of Dr. Harvey.

THOMAS PARR was a poor countryman of Shropshire, whence he was brought up to London, by the Right Hon. Thomas Earl of Arundel and Surrey, and died after he had outlived nine princes, in the tenth year of the tenth of them, at the age of 152 years and 9 months.

Being opened after his death (anno 1635, Nov. 16.) his body was found very fleshy, his breast hairy, his genitals unimpaired, serving not a little to confirm the report of his having undergone public censures for his incontinency; especially seeing that after that time, viz. at the age of 120 years, he married a widow, who owned, Eum cum ipsa rem habuisse, ut alii mariti solent; et usque ad 12 annos retroactos solitum cum ea congressum frequentasse. Further, that he had a large breast, lungs not fungous, but sticking to his ribs, and distended with much blood; a lividness in his face, as he had a difficulty of breathing a little before his death, and a long-lasting warmth in his arm-pits and breast after it, (which sign, together with others, were so evident, in his body, as they used to be on those that die by suffocation.) His heart was great, thick, fibrous, and fat. The blood in the heart blackish and diluted. The cartilages of the sternum not more bony than in others, but flexile and soft. His viscera were sound and strong, especially the stomach; and it was observed of him, that he used to eat often by night. and day, though contented with old cheese, milk, coarse bread, small beer, and whey; and, which is more remarkable, that he did eat at midnight, a little before he died. His kidneys covered with fat and pretty sound; only on the interior surface of them were found some aqueous or serous abscesses, whereof one was near the bigness of a hen's-egg, with a yellowish water in it, having made a roundish cavity, impressed on that kidney: whence some thought it came,

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