«6 TORPEOTIA. Art. VII. 2. 3. 1. 



into warm water to take away the ftiffnefs of the cold dead vef* 

 fels ; which become inflexible like the other mufcles of dead 

 animals, and prevent the injected fluid from paffing. 



Before the improved knowledge of chemiftry, and of natural 

 philofophy, and of the laws of organic life, fome writers have 

 fpoken of cold as a ftimulus to the fyftem, inftead of fpeaking 

 of it as a diminution of the ftimulus of heat. But the immedi- 

 ate confequence of ftimulus is the exertion of the ftimulated 

 fibres ; now an increafed application of heat is followed by an 

 increafed action of the fibres expofed to it ; but an increafed 

 application of cold is followed by a decreafed action of the fibres 

 expofed to it ; as appears by the rednefs of our hands when 

 warmed by the fire, and the palenefs of them, when they have 

 been a while covered with fnow. 



A painful fenfation fucceeds the defect: as well as the excefs 

 of the ftimulus of heat, as mentioned in Vol. I. Sect. IV. 5. 

 and the voluntary exertions of the fubcutaneous mufcles called 

 fhuddering, are excited to relieve the pain occafioned by the tor- 

 por of the fibres expofed to cold j and thofe of the mufcles 

 fubfervient to refpiration are voluntarily excited in fcreaming to 

 relieve the pain occafioned by heat, which may have occafioned 

 the error above mentioned. 



Others have fpoken of a fedative quality of cold, which is cer- 

 tainly an unphilofophical expreflion •, as a fedative power, if it 

 has any diilinct meaning, fhould exprefs a power of diminifhing 

 any unnatural or excefiive motions of the fyftem ; but the ap- 

 plication of cold diminifhes the activity of the fibres in general, 

 which may previoufly be lefs than natural, as well as greater. 



All the fame fymptoms occur in the cold fits of intermit- 

 xents ; in thefe the coldnefs and palenefs of the fkin with thirft 

 evince the diminution of cutaneous abforption ; and the drynefs 

 of ulcers, and fmall fecretion of urine, evince the torpor of the 

 fecerning fyftem ; and the anhelation, and coldnefs of the 

 breath, mew the terminations of the pulmonary artery to be 

 likewife affected with torpor. 



After thefe veiTels of the whole furface of the body both ab- 

 forbent and fecretory have been for a time torpid by the appli- 

 cation of cold water i and all the internal fecerning and abforb- 

 cnt ones have been made torpid from their aflbciation with the 

 external j as foon as their ufual ftimulus of warmth is renewed, 

 they are thrown into more than their ufual energy of action ; 

 as the hands become hot and painful on approaching the fire 

 after having been immerfed fome time in fnow. Hence the 

 face becomes of a red colour in a cold day on turning from the 



wind, 



