Smyrna times. [volume] (Smyrna, Del.) 1854-1987, 1858-06-17
Resisting Heat,

The power possessed by the human organism
OF resisting enormous variations of tempera
ture, for time, is well known and for brie
space of time man is capable of enduring tenn
perature considerably higher than is ever reach
ed by our atmosphere in the hottest regions Of
the earth; but 1t is exceedingly questionable
whether he could resist degree of cold much
more intense than occurs on the surface of the
globe. Of the capabiIity animals possess OIL
resisting heat, let the following speak:
In the years 1760-6I, NM. Duhamel and
! Tlllet were appointed to devise some means OF
destroying an insect whch consumed the grain
! IN the province of AngOumals, in France
They found that this could be done by subject
Ping the corn, and the insects contained in an
oven, to degree of heat great enough to xiii
! The insect but not SO great as to hurt the grain
| In order to ascertain the precise heat of the
oven, they introduced into it thermometer
placed on the end of long shovel. The mer-
curry, when the thermometer was Withdrawn.
was found to Indicate degree of heat consd-
crably above that Of boiling water But NJ
Tlllet was aware that the thermometer had
sunk several degrees as it was drawn towards
the mouth of the oven. While he was puzzled
ly the actual degree Of heat, girl, who was
ono of the attendants, offered to go in, and to
mark with pencil the height at which the
mercury Stood And she did enter the oven.
and remained there two or three minutes. and
then marked the thermometer at 100 degrees
OF Reaumer, which nearly equal 260 of Fab
renheIt. NJ. Tlllet then began to express some
anxiety for the safety of the girl, but she as.
sured him that she felt no inconvenience, and
stayed IN the oven ten minutes longer, during
which time the mercury reached the 2S0th de-
gree of Fahrenhelts scale, denoting IS degrees
of heat above that of water when it boils.-
When she came out, her complexion was con-
slderably frightened, but her respiration was
by no means quick or laborous. This expert
ment was afterwards repeated. Another girl
remained in the oven as long as the former had
done, at the same temperature, and with the
same IMMUNITY. Nay, she even breathed, for
the space OF five minutes, air heated to about
325 degrees Of Fahrenhct--or lib above that
of boiling water.
The publication of these facts naturally cx-
cited the curiosity of scientific men, and other
experiments were soon instituted. DIR. Dobson, !
of Liverpool, and several other persons with |
him, shut themselves up in the sweating-r room
of the public hospital there, the air having been
heated till the quicksilver stood at pa degrees
of Fahrenheit. They did not experience any
oppressive or painful sensation of heat. DR..
Forcyde and Dr. Bagden made some remarka-
BILE trials of the same kind. They entered
rooms artificialIy heated to a very high degree,
sometimes naked, and sometimes with their
clothes on, and bore the extraordinary tempera-
ture of 240. and even 260 degrees, for a con-
siderable time, with very little inconvenience.
In all these experiments it was found that the
animal heat, as aScertained by thermometers
placed under the tongue or grasped in the hand,
was scarcely increased at all, and the rcspira-
ton but little affected but the pulse was very
much quickened. The frequency of DR.. Bad-
gems pulse, in one instance, was doubled. To
give you a more lively notion of the degree of
heat to which the bodies of these gentlemen
were exposed. we may state that their watch
chains and other pieces of metal about them,
became so hot that they could scarcely be touch
ed; when they breathed upon the thermome-
ter, the mercury Immediately sank several de-
grees; each act of extirpation produced plea
SAINT feeling of GOODNESS in the nostrls, and they
cooled their fingers by breathing upon them
In and by the same heated air which they re.
spred, eggs were roasted quite hard in twenty
minutes, and beef-steaks were dressed in thirty.
three minutes, and when the air was blown
upon the meat by means of bellows, it was suf-
fciently cooked in fifteen minutes.