254 



Animal Heat. 



Vol. IX. 



an individual who was unable to swallow, 

 and whose body lost 100 lbs. in weight 

 during a month; and, according to Martc]], 

 (Trans. Linn. Soc, vol. xi., p. 411,) a fat 

 pig, overwhelmed in a slip of earth, lived 

 160 days without food, and was found to 

 have diminished in weiglit, in that time, 

 more than 120 lbs. The whole history of 

 hybernating animals, and the well-establish- 

 ed facts of the periodical accumulation, in 

 various animals, of fat, winch, at other peri- 

 ods, entirely disappears, prove tliat the 0x7- 

 gen, in the respiratory process; consumes, 

 without exception, all such substances as 

 are capable of entering into combination 

 with it. It combines with whatever is pre- 

 sented to it; and the deficiency of hydrogen 

 is the only reason why carbonic acid is Ihe 

 chief product; for, at the temperature of 

 the body, the affinity of hydrogen for oxy- 

 gen far surpasses that of carbon for the 

 same element. 



VVe know, in fact, that the g;raminivora 

 expire a volume of carbonic acid equal to 

 thai of the oxygen inspired, wliile the car- 

 nivora, the only class of animals whose food' 

 contains fat, inspire more oxygen than is 

 equal in volume to the carbonic acid ex- 

 pired. Exact experiments have shown, that 

 m many cases only half tlie volume of oxy- 

 gen is expired in the form of carbonic acid. 

 These observations cannot be gainsaid, and 

 are tar more convincing than those arbi- 

 trary and artificially produced phenomena, 

 sometimes called experiments; experiments 

 which, made, as too often they are, without 

 regard to the necessary and natural condi- 

 tions, possess no value, and itiay be entirely 

 dispensed with; especially when, as in the 

 present case, nature affords the opportunity 

 for observation, and when we make a ra- 

 tional use of that opportunity. 



In the progress of starvation, however, it 

 is not only the fat which disappears, but also, 

 by degrees, all such of the solids as are ca- 

 pable of being dissolved. In the wasted 

 bodies of those who have suffered starvation, 

 the muscles are shrunk and unnaturally soft, 

 and have lost their contractility; all "those 

 parts of the body which were capable of 

 entering into the state of motion, have 

 served to protect the remainder of the 

 frame from the destructive influence of the 

 atmosphere. Toward the end, the particles 

 of the_brain begin to undergo the process of 

 oxidation, and delirium, mania, and death 

 close the scene; that is to say, all resist- 

 ance to the oxidizing power of the atmos- 

 pheric oxygen ceases, and the chemical pro- 

 cess of eremacausis, or decay, commences, 

 in which every part of the body, the bones ex- 

 cepted, enters into combination v/ith oxygen. 



The time which is required to cause death 

 by starvation, depends on the amount of fat 

 in the body, on tlie degree of exercise, as in 

 labour or exertion of any kind, on the tem- 

 perature of the air, and, finally, on the pre- 

 sence or absence of water. Through the 

 skin and lungs there escapes a certain quan- 

 tity of water, and as tlie presence of water 

 is essential to the continuance of the vital 

 motions, its dissipation hastens death. Casea 

 have occurred, in which a full supply of wa- 

 ter being accessible to the suflerer, death 

 has not occurred till after the lapse of twenty 

 days. In one case, life was sustained in this 

 way for the period of sixty days. 



In all chronic diseases, death is produced 

 by the same cause, namely, the chemical 

 action of the atmosphere. When those sub- 

 stances are wanting, whose function in the 

 organism is to support tlie process of respi- 

 ration; when the diseased organs are inca- 

 pable of performing their proper function of 

 producing these substances; when they have 

 lost the power of transforming tlie food into 

 that shape in which it may, by entering into 

 combination with the oxygen of the air, pro- 

 tect the system from its influence, then, the 

 substance of the organs themselves, the fat 

 of the body, the substance of the muscles, 

 the nerves, and the brain, are unavoidably 

 consumed. The true cause of death in 

 these cases is the respiratory process, that 



the action of the atmosphere. 



A deficiency of food, and a want of power 

 to convert the food into a part of the organ- 

 ism, are both, equally, a want of resistance; 

 and this is the negative cause of the cessa- 

 tion of the vital process. The flame is ex- 

 tinguished, because the oil is consumed; and 

 it is the oxygen of the air which has con- 

 sumed it. 



In many diseases substances are produced 

 which are incapable of assimilation. By the 

 mere deprivation of food, these substances 

 are removed from the body without leaving 

 a trace behind; their elements have entered 

 into combination with the oxygen of the air. 



From the first moment thai the function 

 of the lungs or of the skin is inteVrupted or 

 disturbed, compounds, rich in carbon, appear 

 in the urine, which acquires a brown colour. 

 Over the whole surface of the body oxygen 

 is absorbed, and combines with all the sub- 

 stances which offer no resistance to it. In 

 those parts of the body wliere the access of 

 oxygen is impeded — for example, in the 

 arm-pits, or in the soles of the feet— pecu- 

 liar compounds are given out, recognisable 

 by their appearance, or by their odour. 

 These compounds contain much carbon. 



Respiration is the falling weight, the bent 

 spring, which keeps the clock in its mo- 



