EFFECT OE COLD ON ANIMAL HEAT. 109 



every expiration afforded a pleasant, cooling impression 

 to the nostrils, and their breath cooled their fingers. Dr. 

 Blagden, on touching his side, found it felt like a corpse. 

 Their watch chains, and pieces of metal, which they had 

 in their pockets, were so hot that they could scarcely 

 touch them. In subsequent experiments, the heat of 

 the room was 240, and even 260. These excessive 

 degrees of heat they bore without experiencing any in- 

 jurious effects. The circulation was raised to 140 in 

 a minute, and their perspiration was extremely copi- 

 ous, running down in streams over their bodies. I do 

 not recollect all the details of the account, but these are 

 the principal facts, 



Dr. B. Before we quit this subject, we shall find it 

 interesting to look a moment or two, at the various 

 modes, in which the respiratory function is managed in 

 the lower orders of animals. 



Emily. I am glad you have proposed this, for I nev- 

 er could conceive how this function is managed in fishes, 

 for they surely have no access to the air. But first let 

 me ask if the human constitution manifests a similar 

 power of preserving its own temperature, in exposures to 

 extreme cold, as well as heat? 



Dr. B. Its power in this respect is no less wonder- 

 ful than in the other ; some astonishing instances of it 

 have been from time to time recorded by voyagers and 

 travellers. Lewis and Clarke relate that two Indians, a 

 man and a boy, slept on the snow in an ordinary light 

 dress when the mercury in the thermometer, at sunrise, 

 was 40 below zero. The man suffered no inconven- 

 ience ; the boy had his feet frozen, but they were re- 

 covered by cold water. 



Emily. I recollect a striking fact of this nature re- 

 corded by Capt. Lyon, in the Journal of his voyage to 

 the polar regions. He says that he often saw the young 

 Esquimaux children exposed half naked to the open air, 

 when the mercury was 32 below zero ; and that too, 

 without suffering any apparent inconvenience. 

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