ANIMAL HEAT. 121 



effect, and cause its elevation above the natural 

 standard. A man met with an accident which 

 occasioned a forcible separation of the bodies of 

 the fifth and sixth vertebras of the neck, attended 

 with an effusion of blood within the tlieca ver- 

 tebralis, and a laceration of the lower part of the 

 cervical portion of the spinal chord. It is well 

 known to surgeons, that under such circum- 

 stances inspiration is always very imperfectly 

 performed by means of the diaphragm only, 

 without the assistance of the ribs ; while, in con- 

 sequence of the paralysed state of the abdominal 

 muscles, expiration depends altogether on the 

 pressure of the abdominal viscera acting on the 

 relaxed diaphragm. The patient in this in- 

 stance died at the end of 22 hours from the 

 period of the injury, and for a considerable time 

 previously to his death breathed at very long 

 intervals, the pulse being weak, and the counte- 

 nance livid. At last there were not more than 

 5 or 6 inspirations in a minute. Neverthe- 

 less, when the ball of a small thermometer was 

 placed on the inside of the groin, the quicksilver 

 rose to 111 of Fahrenheit. Immediately after 

 death the temperature was examined in the 

 same situation, and found to be still the same. 

 The case occurred under my care in St. George's 

 Hospital, in the year 1821, at which time Mr. 

 Czesar Hawkins was house surgeon ; and the 

 facts were observed and noted by Mr. Hawkins 

 and myself, and witnessed by several of the 

 students. 



