IN THE ANIMAL ORGANISM. 229 



nerves of involuntary motion, and conveyed to the 

 heart, lungs, and intestines. In this case, the circula- 

 tion will appear accelerated at the expense of the force 

 available for voluntary motion ; but, as was before re- 

 marked, without the production of a greater amount of 

 mechanical force by the process of oxidation of the 

 alcohol. 



Finally, we observe, in hybernating animals, that, 

 during their winter sleep, the capacity of increase in 

 mass (one of the chief manifestations of the vital 

 force), owing to the absence of food, is entirely sup- 

 pressed. In several, apparent death occurs in conse- 

 quence of the low temperature and of the diminution of 

 vital energy thus produced ; in others, the involuntary 

 motions continue, and the animal preserves a tempera- 

 ture independent of the surrounding temperature. The 

 respirations go on ; oxygen, the condition which deter- 

 mines the production of heat and force, is absorbed 

 now as well as in the former state of the animal ; and 

 previous to the winter sleep, we find all those parts 

 of their body, which in themselves are unable to furnish 

 resistance to the action of the oxygen, and which, like 

 the intestines and membranes, are not destined for 

 the change of matter, covered with fat ; that is, sur- 

 rounded by a substance which supplies the want of re- 

 sistance. 



If we now suppose, that the oxygen absorbed during 

 the winter sleep combines, not with the elements of 

 living tissues, but with those of the fat, then the living 

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