AND ANIMAL LIFE. 155 



mencement of the tendency to sleep, the respira- 

 tory functions have been disturbed. The proper- 

 ties of the blood gradually become deteriorated ; 

 and, as these alterations proceed, the heart in the 

 same ratio has its powers of propulsion diminish- 

 ed. From these conditions it necessarily follows, 

 that the arterial blood which is sent to the brain, 

 and other parts of the body, is deficient in its 

 ordinary stimulating qualities. The action of the 

 heart being enfeebled, it is less capable of trans- 

 mitting the blood to the surface of the body, to 

 counteract the injurious effects of cold. From 

 this view, it is manifest that the lungs are, in 

 the first place, affected by the disorder of the ex- 

 ternal circulation ; and this continues to increase 

 according to the severity or duration of the cold, 

 and is also augmented by the inability of the 

 heart to relieve the congested lungs. The quali- 

 ties of the blood having become less stimulating, 

 they are less calculated to excite the action of 

 the sensorial faculties ; and, indeed, every part 

 of the nervous system has the necessary relations 

 existing between it and the sanguiferous deran- 

 ged, relations which regard the properties of this 

 fluid and its quantity in partial circulation. Dr 

 BEAUPRE, in his Historical and Medical Sketch 

 of the Russian Campaign, gives an interesting 

 description of the symptoms characteristic of the 

 influence of cold. 



