4G WONDERS OF ORGANIC LIFE. 



carbon, (or charcoal,) for combination with 

 oxygen. 



So far we have endeavoured to show why 

 the body is enabled to struggle against a great 

 increase of heat, within certain degrees of tem- 

 perature ; and we believe that the causes we 

 have explained are all effectual, up to a given 

 point. But we have yet to learn what part the 

 nervous system plays in this counteraction ; 

 what galvanic or electro-galvanic changes are 

 going on ; and what is the agency of the brain, 

 the spinal chord, and the intra-abdominal 

 ganglia. As with the generation of animal 

 heat, so with the generation of cold to counter- 

 act heat, there are powers \yithin the animal 

 frame which have hitherto eluded research, 

 for the vital principle is in itself a mystery. 

 Hence, much as we may learn, there is that 

 remaining which can never be solved by human 

 intellect. 



Let us now attend to our second topic, 

 namely, the power which the animal frame 

 possesses of counteracting the influence of cold. 

 Cold produces lethargy and death, yet up to a 

 certain degree and for a certain duration of 

 time it will be sustained by the system, accord- 

 ing to the ratio of the health and of the vital 

 energy of that system. There are repellent 

 forces within the body, but these fail under the 

 influence of time and degree — not, however, 

 without a struggle. This struggle is main- 

 tained by the mysterious power within the 

 organic frame, or, in other words, by vital 



