PECULIAR SECRETIONS. S77 
feelings, and confirmed by a variety of decisive experi- 
ments. Dr Currie found the temperature of a man, 
plunged into cold salt-water at 44°, to sink in the course 
of a minute and a half, after immersion, from 98° to 87°, and 
in other experiments, it descended as low as 85°, and even 
83°*, In these experiments, the pulse sunk from 70 beats 
i a minute, its natural state, to 68 and even 65; and after 
the first irregular action of the diaphragm from the shock of 
immersion had ceased, the breathing became regular, and 
unusually slow. When the human body is exposed to a 
higher temperature than its natural standard, a correspond- 
ing change likewise takes place. Dr Forpyce tried a varie- 
ty of experiments on this subject. By exposing the body 
to heated air in a close room to the temperature of 120°, 
and in some cases as high as 211°, the heat of the body 
rose to 100°. In this situation the pulse beat 145 times in 
a minute. No change, however, was produced on respira- 
tion, it became neither quick nor laborious+-. Similar ex- 
periments have likewise been performed on other warm- 
blooded animals. Dr Hunter found the temperature of 
a common mouse to be 99°, when the atmosphere was 60° ; 
but when the same animal was exposed for an hour toa 
cold atmosphere of 15°, its heat had sunk to 83° f¢. Dr 
Crawrorp exposed a dog, whose natural heat is 101° or 
102°, to water whose temperature was raised to 112°, and 
found that his temperature was raised to 108° and 109°. 
In air at 130°, the temperature of the dog was 106° §. 
* Phil. Trans. 1792, p. 199. + Ibid. 1775, p. 114, 
{ Ibid. 1778, p. 21. 
§ Phil. Trans. 1781, p. 486. The venous blood, in such experiments, 
appeared of a light florid colour, like the arterial, indicating the diminished 
action of the capillary vessels upen the blood. 
