Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/467

Rh important crisis. Hence persons, thus situated, ought to be extremely vigilant over the vagrant effusions of fancy, and not suffer themselves to be misled by the frequent, though momentary, impulse of an excited imagination: the happy consequences of such a system would be felt by future generations; because every neglect, of which they are guilty at this period, cannot fail to be productive of physical and moral detriment to those who are the dearest pledges of their existence. Nor should they indulge, beyond the bounds of reason, in the eating of any strange dish, or drinking particular liquors, to which they are not accustomed; as desires of this nature must be ascribed to an unnatural appetite.

It is an indisputable truth, that in the present improving state of society, we possess no distinct treatise on a subject of the highest importance to the prosperity of mankind; namely, a popular work on pregnancy, in which scientific rules are delivered with such a degree of delicacy as to convey plain instructions, in a correct and pleasing manner. Until this great desideratum be fulfilled, we are inclined to repeat the just complaints of against his cotemporariescontemporaries [sic], that they cultivated the art of rearing good horses, but neglected that of educating their children.  PRESERVATION, in domestic economy, is the art of preserving animal and vegetable substances, with the least trouble and expence.

In the articles, , , , , , &c. we have already pointed out various new and effectual contrivances for preventing the corruption of : and though we likewise treat, in the progress of the alphabet, on the most useful vegetable bodies, and introduce the best methods of preserving them in a fresh state, yet we cannot neglect this opportunity of communicating to our readers a general fact of the utmost importance to the maritime interest of this country; and which appears to have hitherto escaped the notice of British journalists.

As we never attribute the merit of a new discovery to any person but the original inventor (let him be a sworn patentee or a mere adventurer), we shall begin our narrative with the name of a philanthropic Livonian clergyman, Mr., who, in the year 1772, published a few sheets in the German language, of which the following is the substance:—After numberless experiments made with a view to ascertain the relative moisture contained in different plants, this excellent man has clearly convinced the world, by actual proofs laid before the late the Great of Prussia, that "vegetables may be preserved in their natural state, so as to retain their juices, their colour, taste, and alimentary properties, for a series of years, by a proper method of drying and packing them."—As we propose to describe this simple process, under the article , let it suffice to observe, that eight tons, or 32,000 pounds of fresh herbs and roots, may thus be concentrated into the compass of 16 cwt. or the twentieth part of their bulk, so that a single horse may remove with ease, what otherwise would have required the united efforts of twenty.  . See.  . See .