8 Mr.  hunter  on  the  Heat , See. 
the  ftem,  on  which  was  marked  the  freezing  point.  The 
item  was  embraced  by  a fmall  ivory  fcale  fo  as  to  Aide 
upon  it  eafily,  and  retain  any  polition.  Upon  the  hol- 
low furface  of  this  fcale  were  marked  the  degrees  which 
were  feen  through  the  Item.  By  thefe  means  the  lize  of 
the  thermometer  was  very  much  reduced,  and  it  could 
be  applied  to  foft  bodies  with  much  more  eafe  and  cer- 
tainty, and  in  many  cafes  in  which  the  former  ones 
could  not  be  conveniently  applied:  I therefore  repeated 
with  it  fuch  of  my  former  experiments  as  were  not  ori- 
ginally fatis factory,  and  found  the  degrees  of  heat  very 
different,  not  only  from  what  I generally  imagined,  but 
alio  from  what  l had  found  in  my  former  experiments 
with  the  thermometers  of  the  common  conftru£tion. 
I haveobferved  in  a former  paper^,  and  find  it  fupported 
by  every  experiment  I have  made  on  the  heat  and  cold 
of  animals,  that  the  more  perfect  have  the  greateft  power 
of  retaining  a certain  degree  of  heat,  which  may  be 
called  their  ftandard  heat,  and  allow  of  much  lefs  varia- 
tion than  the  more  imperfect  animals : however,  it  will 
appear  from  the  firft,  fecond,  and  third  experiments,  that 
many,  if  not  all  of  them,  are  not  capable  of  keeping 
conftantly  to  one  ftandard  ; but  vary  from  their  ftandard 
( a ) Vide  Philofophical  Trania&ions  for  the  year  1775,  vol.  LXV.  part  IL. 
p.  446. 
heat, 
