EFFECTS OF COLD. 



121 



size of extreme parts is said to be so consi- 

 derably lessened^ that rings^ which are tight 

 when the body is warm^ drop off the fingers, 

 and even shoes fall olf the feet. The action of 

 the heart and arteries in general becomes weak- 

 ened ; and the blood being partially delayed in 

 its course througb some of the cutaneous vessels^ 

 and not undergoing the change of colour^ which 

 a circulation through the lungs produces, it gives 

 a bluish or livid colour to the fingers, ears, and 

 other projecting parts. 



" If the cold be intense, or the exposure long 

 continued, the circulation in the extreme parts 

 becomes altogether interrupted, and the power 

 of evolving heat being completely destroyed, 

 mortification is the consequence. 



Parts killed in this manner are said to be 

 frost-nipped or frost-bitten, a subject which I 

 shall presently consider more in detail. From 

 the languor and weakness of the arterial system, 

 produced by the application of cold, other effects 

 on the constitution necessarily accrue. 



