Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 2, 1802).djvu/64

46&#93; 4 6J COM the Circassians and Georgians in the north-west of Asia, and also the inhabitants of the islands in the Pacific Ocean. Those of our readers who may- wish to see these observations far- ther pursued, we must refer to an ingenious Esstoy on the causes of the variety of Complexion and Figure in the Human Species, published afew years since byDr.S. S.Smith, Professor of Moral Philosophy in the College of New Jersey. They will also find some excellent stric- tures on this subject in Mr. Clauk- 50 n's elaborate Etsa.i/ on the Slavery end Commerce of the Human Spe- cies, 8vo. 3s. 1788. Having given this general view of the subject, w~e cannot suppress £be observation, that many un- thinking persons are more anxious to preserve, and improve their com- plexion/ particularly that of the countenance, than to inquire into their animal economy, and to re- gulate its different functions. The face, indeed, when not disguised by art, is often the index of health and disease ; though it is absurd to consider it as the cause of those changes which take place in the body; whereas it exhibits only the cf/vci. Hence we may confi- dently assert, that all contrivances cf crafty empirics, perfumers, tra- velling mountebanks, &c. which are pompously offered to the pub- lic in daily prints, or by means of b lis and pamphlets, containing specious certificates, to induce the giddy, the idle, and unwary multi- tude (nay, sometimes the lady of rank and fashion), to purchase, those " beautifying compositions" — are mournful instances of human folly, and moral depravity. Those su- perficial persons, however, who .are determined to cure the surface, COM and neglect, the inward state of" their decaying frame, by paying little or no attention to their mode of living, we reluctantly consign to the head of Cosmetics : others, on the contrary, whose minds are not irretrievably biassed in favour of external applications (at which even the untutored negro would smile), we refer to the different articles connected with diet and regimen. COMPOST, in agriculture, is a certain mixture designed to pro- mote vegetation, instead of dung. To effect this purpose, various ex- periments have been made, of which we shall mention the fol- lowing. An oil-compost was invented by the ingenious Dr. Hunter, author of the Gcorgical Essays, who di- rects 12 lbs. of North American pot-ash to be broken into small pieces, and dissolved in four gal- lons of water. This mixture is to stand 48 hours, when 14 gallons of coarse train-oil should be added. In a few days the alkaline salt will be liquefied, and the whole, when stirred, become nearly uniform. Thus prepared, it should be pour- ed on 14 bushels of sand, or 20 of dry mould, and the whole turned frequently over, for about six months, at which time it will be fit for use. When these ingre- dients are mixed with one or two hogsheads of water, they will form a fluid compost, to be used with a water-cart. The inventor himself, however, acknowledges that it is much inferior to rotten dung ; yet, from various experiments, it ap- pears to be a tolerable substitute for that article. A compost prepared from putri- fied animal substances will, doubt- less, be preferable to any other manure : the only obstacle to their being