210 Dr . Currie's Account of the 
cular serves to explain a circumstance much dwelt on by Mr. 
Amyat, in giving an account of his sufferings on the wreck ; 
that what he felt most severely was the cramps in the muscles 
of his hips and sides, parts which, from his situation on the 
wreck, already described, must have been alternately under 
and above the surge. Here I must observe, that the sea did 
not break over the sufferers all the time they were on the 
wreck. The wind moderated, as well as the waves, and for 
the last fifteen hours, they were not at any time overwhelmed, 
or at least Mr. Amyat himself was not. The cold never 
abated. Being ail lashed to the wreck, they never changed 
their positions; the bodies of those who died occupied the 
space where they were originally placed. Mr. Amyat, there- 
fore, during the whole time sat nearly up to the middle in 
water, but subject to the variations occasioned by the motion 
of the sea. 
To return.-— When exposed naked to the wind, the mer- 
cury, in this case, sunk as usual five or six degrees, and his 
shiverings were great. Desirous of restoring his heat as 
speedily as possible, we incautiously heated the hot bath to 
104°: but after being half a minute in it, he screamed out 
with pain, especially in his extremities, and about his scrotum. 
When taken out, his shiverings almost amounted to convul- 
sion. The bath was lowered to 83°, and he was replaced in it, 
and its temperature progressively, but pretty rapidly, increased 
to ioo°. He continued, however, to shiver much, his heat 
remaining about 90°; but a bladder, with very hot water, 
being introduced under the surface of the bath, and applied 
close to his stomach, the good effects were instantaneous, his 
shiverings ceased, and his heat mounted rapidly to 98k 
