256 



ox DEATH FROM COLt>. 



part of the UHiversc. If they retttine(J their energy, they 

 wouhl peribh from inanition. They are unacquainted with 

 want; they feel not its pains; ihcy incur not its danger* 

 Nature saves theni from it by that axiom, which has b,een 

 fedunJumfo^^ ^^ ^ i^^^' he who sleeps, dines. I'hc state of 



iood. .sUipefaction, in which their vital principle takes refuge as 



long a§ the cold and its companion want continue, occasions 

 This stupor them no uneasine.s:, : it commences even with a sensation of 

 but pleasurable, tranquil enjoyment, a sensation not unknown to ourselves. 

 Notadisease, . It is certain, that being thus benumbed is not even a dis- 

 ease : that the drowsiness, which brings it on, is pleasurable: 

 but friendly to that sleep is an asylum, in which life fortifies itself, expend- 

 ^'^* ing less, and husbanding its resources: that it is even a pro- 



tection from the injuries as well as from the^ pains of cold : 



and renders the and that it renders living bodies more capable of retainino- 

 body a woise l - i i- • • i • ^i • i ,• ^ 



cbnductorof "^^^^ by diminishing their conductmg power. 



heat. When the Cold increases with too much violence, man be- ■ 



When our comes insensible to it. If one of his limbs freeze, he does 

 we areinsensi- "^^ perceive it, till he is informed of it by others*. On the 

 ble of it. contrar}', he fancies himself at length growing warmer; and 



Effects of ge- jf no one of his limbs be more affected than another, his 

 state seems pleasurable : he feels a seducing and delightsome 

 propensity to sleep: he is angry with his friends, who urge 

 him to walk on, and prevent him from indulging his inclina- 

 tion : he intreats them, to let him close his eyes for a few 

 moments; and if they yield, he falls asleep, and appears 

 dead like a dormouse. 



His death in Let US venture to suppose, that he is not more dead in 



this case only .. _, . i , . ■ ^i • 1.1 i 1 1 



apparent, like reality. There is no doubt in this case, but he would sleep 



that of oiher Jike the dormouse, deprived of thought and of apparent vital 



action, at least as long as the same temperature continued, 



though it may ^^^ ^^^V ^^^'^ presume, that he would really and completely 



end in extinc- Jose his life at the expiration of a certain time, if he received 



tion o 1 e. 210 succour : for instance, after his fat was consumed, if he 



were not frozen a'S^well as asleep; or after the habit of the 



vital functions had been entirely extinguished by a frost too 



severe/ or of too long continuance, so as to stop the ahmeu- 



* This is very eommon in Poland and Russia. 

 ^ tary 



