840 EXPERIMENTS ON MR. HOPKINS; 



the human body, I performed the following ex- 

 periments on Mr. T. B. Hopkins, a medical gen- 

 tleman of sanguine temperament, aged about 

 twenty-eight years. The temperature of Mr. H. 

 was 100-5 under the tongue, and his pulse 72 per 

 minute. At twenty minutes after eleven a. m. he 

 entered a bath at 1 10. In five minutes, the tem- 

 perature under his tongue rose to 103, and in 

 five minutes more, to 106, when his pulse was 

 132. At this time, the bath was at 108, in which 

 he remained until twelve o'clock, when it had 

 fallen to 105, and his own temperature to 104, 

 when he left it. But the most important fact 

 connected with the experiment was, that at one 

 o'clock, or an hour after quitting the bath, his 

 temperature was 102 in the mouth, and his pulse 

 96. At two o'clock, (still in the bathing room,) 

 his temperature was 101, at which it remained 

 until nine o'clock in the evening, when his pulse 

 was 82. 



If then it be true, that the temperature and 

 circulation of a vigorous young man are kept 

 above the natural standard for eight hours by 

 remaining forty minutes in the hot bath, what 

 might we not expect from its early employment 

 in all cases of exposure to external cold, and be- 

 fore the cold stage of intermitting fever? Would 

 it not prevent, or greatly mitigate, many forms of 

 disease that prove fatal ? And is it not self-evi- 

 dent, that after thus raising the temperature and 



