The Arkansas banner., 1843-12-09
11TILE ROCK, SATURDAY ls4s.

ol where any difference exists between fhem
 Tn regard to their vital temperature. it is as
 serted, by the best observers. that the bioba
 ns temperature belongs to the hyperboreans.-
 | ne former live in an atmosphere of nearly
 equal temperature with the body itselG ane
 'ile latter in an atmosphere of ice; the thcr.
 maj difference of about S4 degrees. bemo
 greatly more than can possibly be eomnen.
 sa1eo1 even upon the chemical hypothesis it.
 sell, py the difference between the amount.
 oi carbon mgested and oxygen inspired by
 them respectively. It is true that the same
 ahlinal' exposed to opposite extremes of tenn
 perature, undergoes, for the time at least. a
 change of vital temperature; but, in the warm
 blooded animals, even this variation from the
 normal standard has very limited range
 never yet, by exposure to the lowest atmos-
 Phefic temperature compatible with life, ha- Nihg been reduced more than 15 degrees, nor
 elevated, by an opposite exposure, more than
 degrees, according to Fordyce, and Blag-
 den and Dobson) )-and certainly not more
 than 5 degrees, (aceording to Berger and De la Roche.
 /. The iYant, whose lungs are much larger Ill proportion to its whole bulk whose respiration is much more freouent- and whose food is equally carbonaceous. and much more frequently taken-than in the adult; and which, according to the chemical
 hypothesis, should possess a higher vital temperature than the adult, is, nevertheless. about 2 degrees below the adult temperature.
 3' Persons in the advanced stage of pull monary consumption, the greater part of whose lungs Gin some instances as much as Seuen-elghthS) is disorganzed, and imperme- able by air-who, consequently, inspire very little oXygen-who partake sparngly of food
 who, moreover, are reduced and cooled down by colliquative discharges-and who, according to the chemical analysis, should be almost mtirely without vital heat-do ac- tually possess temperature above the stand ard of health. Similar observations may he made of patients i'll of pneumonitis, whose lungs are, to great extent, soidifed, whose diet IS absolute, and who are reduced by de- plellon; and who, yet, manifest very high grade of febrile reaction.
 4. Whales, which, in proportion to their huge bulk, have very small lungs, breathe very lntrequently, (only once in about 15 mlnutes,) and, consequently, inspire very small proportional quantity of oxygen, and subsIst on food but sparingly carbonaceous :: yet they, immersed, too, in the freezing wa tefs ot the Northern seas-consorting, with ice-bergs, possess and maintain a vital tenn perature several degrees higher than that of most land animals
 3. Living vegetables, as trees, have their peculiar vital temperature, and maintain 1t under the variations of atmospheric tempera- ture; beng several degrees warmer than the air, when that is at 56 degrees; and several degrees cooler than the air, when that is at a temperature higher than 56 degrees. And yet, as, according to the chemical hypothesis, vital heat, results, alone, from the absorption of oxygen, and its reaction with the elements of the body which absorbs it: and, as, in- stead ot being absorbed by vegetables, it is actually eliminated by them,-vegetables should, certainly, never rise above the at- mosphere i'll temperature. This state of the case, taken in connexion with that limb of the chemical hypothesis which asserts the identity of the uital force and uitaz heal- that they are the same in animals and in ve- getables, presents us with the aconderfM dou- otN duclng opposite effects, and of the same effect resulting from opposite causes: : as wonder ful, indeed, as that light and darkness should both, and at the same time, proceed directly from the surl-or that thing should be, and not be, at the same time.
 0. As already asserted, animals possess the remarkable power of maintaining their own peculiar uniform vital temperature, under a very high as well as under very low atmos- pheric temperature. That animals do possess this power IS we'll ascertained, and certain The earliest recorded observations, within my reach, upon this point, are those of Govern or Ellis of Georgia, made nearly hundred years ago. He suspended a Thermometer under his umbrella, at the level of his nostrils. and walked in the sunshine. The mercury rose to 105 degrees, thus suspended; but upon being applied to the hottest part of his body, 1t fell to 97 degress; and he could never succeed in raising 1t above that point, by the heat of his body. Soon after this, the accidental experiment of Duhamel and Tllet established the power of the body to bear, with impuni- ty, temperature of upwards of 2S0 degress. About twenty years later, this was corrobo- rated by the careful experiments of Dr. For dyce and Sir Charles Blagden. These expe- riments consistedhsin entering close rooms heated, by flues in the floor, to 260 degrees, and remaining sswith tolerable ease,n long enough to boil water, roast eggs, and cook beef steak to dryness. But during all this while the temperature of their bodies nerer rose higher han 100 degrees; and when they breathed upon the Thermometer its mercury was lowered several degrees, and their breath communicated a sense of coolness to their nostrils, and fingers. Besides this, the tenn perature of the atmosphere oF the room was rapidly and considerably reduced by contact with their bodies. In addition to these may refer to the experimental exhibitions of Chabert-the 'sFire King" and others, who have entered ovens heated as high as from 400 to 600 degrees, and remained, with impuni- ty, for long time; and to the familiar expe- riment, which any one can make, of immers- ing the feet and legs in hot water, with the effect, mol of exalting the temperature of the