204 Dr. Currie's Account of the 
Of the powers attending animation, that which seems fun- 
damental, is the capacity of the living body of preserving the 
same heat in various degrees of temperature of the same me- 
dium, and, indeed, in media of very different density and pres- 
sure. If a definition of life were required, it is on this faculty 
that it might best be founded. It is known that some fluids, 
applied to the skin, vary in their effects according to their im- 
pregnation. In the same degree of temperature, pure water 
on the surface of the body is much more hurtful than water in 
which salt is dissolved. Seafaring men are universally ac- 
quainted with this, and a striking proof of the truth, as well 
as of the importance of the observation, may be found in 
the Narrative of Lieut. Bligh. Probably the saline impreg- 
nation may stimulate the vessels of the skin in some way that 
counteracts the sedative or debilitating action of the cold. At 
any rate, it seemed not unlikely that some light might be 
thrown on this curious subject, by observing the effects of im- 
mersion in fresh and salt water, of equal temperature, on the 
animal heat. And this might also assist in accounting for the 
death of the unfortunate men already mentioned. 
EXPERIMENT I. 
I placed a large vessel, containing one hundred and seventy 
gallons of salt water, in the open air. The atmosphere was 
damp, and what is called raw. The thermometer stood at 44 0 
in the air, and this also was the temperature of the water. The 
subject of my experiment was Richard Edwards, a healthy 
man, twenty-eight years of age, with black hair, and a ruddy 
complexion. The hour chosen for his immersion was four 
in the afternoon, about two hours after his dinner; a time 
