35 i 



. As to the influence of partial heating Dr. Edwards relates 

 the following experiment : 



" The hand being immersed in water heated to the temperature 

 of 34 R. (lOS^.SF 42.5Cs.) rose one degree of the same 

 scale, and the temperature of other remote parts not imme- 

 diately exposed to the influence of heat were found to have risen 

 to a corresponding degree." 



I have repeated this experiment of Dr. Edwards, and I have 

 found no evident elevation in the temperature of remote parts, as 

 the mouth and the hand, not immersed in water. 



I conclude, then from the facts contained in this note, that, in 

 general, the temperature of the body is not sensibly modified 

 by the chilling or the heating of a small part of the frame. 



XII. ACTION OF COLD ON THE COAGULABILITY 0F BLOOD, AND 

 PERSISTENCE OF LIFE IN FROGS AFTER LOSING HALF OF THE 

 VENTRICLE OF THE HEART. 



Dr. Marchal (de Calvi) and other physiologists, have recently 

 asserted that cold diminishes the quantity of fibrine and conse- 

 quently the coagulability of blood. I have observed a curious 

 fact, which shows that blood may possess a very great coagula- 

 bility although exposed to the action of cold. I have found that 

 after the removal of the half of a ventricle, in frogs, the 

 blood may coagulate at the surface of the wound and the ani- 

 mal may continue to live. After the mutilation has been made, 

 the lips of the wound are drawn upwards and inside in conse- 

 quence of the muscular contraction. The blood flows very 

 abundantly, but its coagulation quickly begins, and a layer of 

 solidified blood is soon formed on the entire surface of the sec- 

 tion, and by this process the wound is rapidly obliterated. The 

 hemorrhage has been frequently stopped in a few minutes. 



This experiment is successful only in cold seasons, probably 

 because the batrachia are able to bear much better a loss of 

 blood at a low than at a high temperature. The pulsations of 

 such mutilated hearts continue with regularity and strength, but 

 the impulse given by the remaining of the ventricle ought to 

 be diminished. Nevertheless the circulation of blood is accom- 

 plished well enough to allow the animal to live many months. 



