vol.. LXXXII.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 1 99 



At such times the thermometer was taken out of Edwards's mouth, to admit 

 of his answering the questions put to him. He said, that on plunging into the 

 water he felt an extreme cold, which he could not but think was partly owing to 

 his being exposed naked to the wind before; that this cold diminished, and in a 

 little while he felt comfortable, but that afterawhile the sense of coldness returned, 

 though less than at first; diminishing again, but in a less degree. At length his 

 sensations became pretty fixed. In this state, when the water was at rest, he 

 should not even have known, by his feelings from the upper part of his chest to 

 the pubes, that he was in water at all. His feet and legs were very cold; so 

 were his hands and arms; and so also the penis and scrotum. He mentioned 

 likewise, that he felt a cold circle round the upper part of his body, though not 

 constantly. On examining into this, I found it was greatest at first, and that it 

 extended over the space which, from the undulations left in the bath by the plunge 

 of immersion, was alternately above and under the surface of the water: when 

 the bath settled, it was little felt; but by agitating the fluid, I could reproduce it, 

 at any time when the cold in the extremities was not so great as to prevent its 

 being felt. This curious particular serves to explain a circumstance much dwelt 

 on by Mr. Amyat, in giving an account of his sufferings on the wreck; that 

 what he felt most severely was the cramps in the muscles of his hips and sides, 

 parts which, from his situation on the wreck, must have been alternately under 

 and above the surge. Here I must observe, that the sea did not break over the 

 sufferers all the time they were on the wreck. The wind moderated, as well as 

 the waves, and for the last 15 hours, they were not at any time overwhelmed, or 

 at least Mr. Amyat himself was not. The cold never abated. Being all lashed 

 to the wreck, they never changed their positions; the bodies of those who died 

 occupied the space where they were originally placed. Mr. Amyat therefore, 

 during the whole time sat nearly up to the middle in water, but subject to the 

 variations occasioned by the motion of the sea. 



To return. — When exposed naked to the wind, the mercury in this case sunk 

 as usual 5 or 6°, and his shiverings were great. Desirous of restoring his heat as 

 speedily as possible, we incautiously heated the hot bath to 104°: but after being 

 ^ a minute in it, he screamed out with pain, especially in his extremities, and 

 about his scrotum. When taken out, his shiverings almost amounted to con- 

 vulsion. The bath was lowered to 88°, and he was replaced in it, and its 

 temperature progressively, but pretty rapidly, increased to 100°. He continued 

 however to shiver much, his heat remaining about 90°; but a bladder, with very 

 hot water, being introduced under the surface of the bath, and applied close to 

 his stomach, the good effects were instantaneous, his shiverings ceased, and his 

 heat mounted rapidly to 98°. 



