X68 ON TORPIDITY IN ANIMALS. 



facts which prove how little philosophers know of the prin- 

 ciple of accommodation, that regulates the animal economy 

 according to prevailing circumstances, are already nume- 

 rous, and observation bids fair to multiply them. 

 The diminish- I have shown in the present essay, that a quadruped re- 

 ed action of the markable for its torpidity may be rendered active at all sea- 

 brain thecause , , .,, . , * ,. . 

 of torpidity. sons D y a P' entl Tul and generous diet: perhaps a contrary 



regimen properly managed might incline an animal, no less 

 remarkable for its activity, to become torpid at times. The 

 preceding suggestion will not appear absurd to those, who 

 view torpidity in the light it is here represented, I mean as 

 a periodical custom of prolonging sleep to an unusual 

 length, the respiration becoming at the same time slow and 

 feeble, and the heat of the body diminishing of conse- 

 quence. Some singular anomalies in the history of man 

 himself may be said to answer in part to the foregoing de- 

 scription, and to indicate an incipient propensity to become 

 torpid under certain circumstances. There are instances of 

 great insensibility arising from the operation of causes on 

 the system, which have an evident tendency to destroy the 

 vital power ; or which, to speak more properly, incapitate 

 the brain to generate this power in sufficient quantity, to 

 supply the various demands of the voluntary and involun- 

 tary functions : the little that is produced being expended 

 on those operations of the economy, which are absolutely 

 Proof ofobjec- necessary for the continuance of life. Dr. Plot relates the 

 turn 4th. case jf a p 00r „', r i eight years old, who, being beaten by a 



severe stepmother, and then sent hungry with some refresh- 

 ments to her father in the fields, could not refrain from eat- 

 ing part of them ; reflecting afterwards on the probable 

 consequences of her conduct, she proceeded no further on 

 her way, but retired to a neighbouring wood, and there fell 

 into a profound sleep, being oppressed with fear and sor- 

 row : in this state she remained for seven days, and, when 

 discovered, showed no symptoms of life, beside the softness 

 of her flesh, and flexibility of her joints. Dan. Ludovicus, 

 from whom Dr. Plot borrows this relation, happened to be 

 present, and succeeded in his attempts to recover this poor 

 creature. He first washed a glutinous phlegm from her 

 face with warm water, and cleared her mouth and nostrils 



from 



