C 131 ] 



CHAP. II. 



H E excefîes of heat and cold have, in 



fome inftances, near the fame efièâ: : fire 

 blifters the {km ; and, in the colde^l: feafons at 

 Hudfon's Bay, and in the northern parts of Eu- 

 rope, the touch of cold iron, Sec. is dangerous : 

 for metals, by their greater gravity, are, in pro- 

 portion, colder than frozen water ; and, if touch- 

 ed by the hand, will blifter and take off the fkin. 

 A fort of chemiftry may be performed by froft 

 as well as by fire. A friend of mine, who refided 

 fome years at our fettlements at Hudfon's Bay, 

 in North America, told me, that on broaching 

 a barrel of lime-juice, for the ufe of their facto- 

 ry, they found it to be hard frozen, which obli- 

 ged them to take ofi^ the hoops from the barrel, 

 and chop ofi^ fome of the ice for their ufe : this, 

 when melted, they found to be almoft as infipid 

 as water -, and concluded, that the whole calk was 

 fpoiled, and of no ufe ; but, on breaking farther 

 into the ice, they found in the centre of it a fmall 



K2 



quantity 



