302 Sir Benjamin Thompson’s 
from thefe experiments, that the conducing power of mercury 
to that of water, under the circumftances defcribed, is as 36! 
to 1 17 inverfely, or as 1000 to 313. And hence it is plain, 
why mercury appears fo much hotter, and fo much colder, to 
the touch than water, when in fa£t it is of the fame tempera- 
ture : for the force or violence of the fenfation of hot or cold 
depends not intirely upon the temperature of the body exciting 
in us thofe fenfations, or upon the degree of heat it actually 
^poftefles, but upon the quantity of heat it is capable of commu- 
nicating to us, or receiving from us, in any given fliort period 
of time, or as the intenfity of the communication ; and this 
depends in a great meafure upon the conducting powers of the 
bodies in queftion. 
The fenfation of hot is the entrance of heat into our bodies ; 
that of cold is its exit ; and whatever contributes to facilitate 
or accelerate this communication adds to the violence of the 
fenfation. And this is another proof that the thermometer 
cannot be a juft meafure of the fenjible heat, or cold, exifting 
in bodies; or rather, that the touch does not afford us a juft 
indication . of .their real .temperatures. 
A Table 
