AND ANIMAL LIFE. 165 



tion of respiration, and the weakened motions of 

 the heart ; but these are amply sufficient to sup- 

 ply the demands of the system. 



CLXXXII. The nature and itifluence of those 

 changes which predispose to, or precede torpidity, 

 are manifestly the depressing effects of cold, di- 

 minished temperature, and almost total extinc- 

 tion of every assimilating faculty. But it is im- 

 possible to give limits to life ; it is not a simple 

 power, but an aggregate of powers, the extent 

 and energy of which may be lessened, in the 

 same manner as we modify chemical attraction, 

 by diluting the active materials that dispose 

 themselves to sudden or violent combination ; 

 but, in this case, the laws which regulate the 

 changes are unaltered, the slowness or extent of 

 the operation in the one does not destroy the cha- 

 racter of attraction, nor does the diminution of or- 

 ganic laws in the animal and vegetable creation 

 render the continuance of life impossible. Animal 

 existence and attraction exhibit every gradation of 

 force, from the zoophyte to man, from the tedious 

 formation of a crystal to instantaneous explosion ; 

 and when cold, by determining the blood upon 

 the internal viscera, lessens the generation of ani- 

 mal heat, in co-operation with its consequences, it 

 enfeebles, to the same extent, the activity of ani- 

 mal and organic life. 



CLXXXIII. No part of Nature subject to the 

 laws of organization is indebted for its existence to 



