CONSUMED BY ANIMALS. 37 



and after the experiment. In experiments tlius 

 conducted, it lias been found that the animal lost 

 about tV more heat than corresponded to the oxygen 

 consumed ; and had the windpipe of the animal been 

 tied, the strange result would have been obtained of 

 a rise in the temperature of the water without any 

 consumption of oxygen. The animal was at the 

 temperature of 98° or 99°, and the water, in the 

 experiments of Despretz, was at 47*5°. Such ex- 

 periments consequently prove, that when a great 

 difference exists between the temperature of the 

 animal body and that of the surrounding medium, 

 and when no motion is allowed, more heat is given 

 off than corresponds to the oxygen consumed. In 

 equal times, with free and unimpeded motion, a 

 much larger quantity of oxygen would be consumed 

 without a perceptible increase in the amount of 

 heat lost. The cause of these phenomena is obvious. 

 They appear naturally both in man and animals at 

 certain seasons of the year, and we say in such cases 

 that we are freezing, or experience the sensation of 

 cold. It is plain, that if we were to clothe a man 

 in a metallic dress, and tie up his hands and feet, 

 the loss of heat, for the same consumption of oxygen, 

 would be far greater than if we were to wrap him 

 up in fur and woollen cloth. Nay, in the latter 

 case, we should see him begin to perspire, and warm 

 water would exude, in drops, through the finest 

 ]^ores of liis skin. 



If to these considerations we add, that decisive 



