AND ANIMAL LIFE. 185 



If a thermometer be applied in winter to dif- 

 ferent parts of the body, it will indicate different 

 degrees of temperature ; and, generally speaking, 

 all much less than that of the internal cavities, as 

 proved by the instrument being placed beneath 

 the tongue. In summer there will be a greater 

 equality, because the sanguineous fluid is warmer 

 by one or two degrees ;* it also circulates with 

 greater velocity, and is more generally diffused ; 

 and, independently of these considerations, the 

 atmosphere is more temperate, tending rather to 

 court than repel its equable distribution. 



CCV. When the body is the warmest, 

 the blood cannot be cooled to any great extent 

 in the course of its circulation \ and, therefore, 

 when the system has a demand for its various 

 resources to overcome the excessive heat to which 

 it is exposed, the distribution of the blood can- 

 not be regarded as a very efficient means, as sup- 

 posed by Dr MONRO, Secundus, of Edinburgh, 

 and Mr BELL of Manchester. 



CCV I. The evaporation from the lungs and 

 surface of the body is the most powerful agent 

 that physiologists have alluded to, in controlling 

 the temperature of the system ; its beneficial 

 effects are experienced in inflammatory fevers, 

 and it is often promoted in diseases, in order to 

 equalize the circulation and reduce the tempera- 

 ture ; but its office is to remove the heat already 

 * Via. EDWARDS, p. 489. 



