Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1865-03-22
ANIMAL HEAT.

Ahiillal neat Is tnat property OF all AMI
mails, by means Of which they preserve a
certain temperature, which is quite indie
pendent of that OF the medium by which
they are surrounded, and appears rather
to be in proportion to the degree of sensi-
bility and irritability possessed by them.
1t is greatestin birds. The more free and
independent the animal is, the more uni
form is its temperature. On this account,
the human species preserves a tempera-
ture nearly equal, about $4,000 Fahr.,
in the frozen regions at the pole, and be-
meath the equator; and on this account,
too, the heat Of the human body remains
the same. when exposed to the most ex-
treme degrees OF temperature; in fact,
cold at first rather elevates,- and extreme
heat rather depresses the temperature of
the human body.
Fordyce and Blagden endured the tenn.
Perature OF an oven heated almost to red
ness, and two girls in France entered a
bakers oven heated to 1850 Fahr., in which
fruits were soon dried up, and water boil.
ed. A Spaniard, Francisco Martinez by
name, exhibited himself, short time since.
at Paris, iii stove heated to 279o Of
Fair, and threw himself, immediately af.
ter, into cold water. Blag den was expos
ed in an oven to heat Of 257o, in which
water boiled, though covered with OIL
There is also remarkable instance of a
similar endurance of heat by the convm-
siona,aires, as they were called, upon the
grave Of st. Medardus, in France. A GER
titicate signed by several eye-witnesses,
among whom were Armand, Arouet, the
brother of Voltaire, and Protestant no.
bleman from Perth, states that woman
named la Sonet, surnamed the sal0mander,
lay upon fire nine minutes at a time,
which was repeated four times within two
hours, making, in all, SO minutes, during
which time fifteen sticks of wood were
consumed. The correctness of the fact
stated is allowed even by those opposed
to the abuses in which it originated. The
flames sometimes united over the woman,
who seemed to sleep; and the whole mi.
racle is to be attributed to the insensibili.
ty OF the skin and nerves, occasioned by a
fit of religious insanity.
These facts are the results of law of all
living substances, viz: that the tempera.
ture Of the living body cannot be raised
above certain limits, which nature has fix
ed. There is also an increased flow Of
perspiration, by means of which the heal
of the body is carried off. The extreme
degrees of cold which are constantly en-
dured by the human frame without injury
are we'll known, and are to be explained
only by this powerin the living body tt
| 70 op6 nraooruo re- o,r,, boot Tl>
greater the irritability of individuals, whe
Their from age, sex, or peculiarly Of con
stitution, the greater the warmth of thu
body: it seems also to depend, in part
upon the quickness of the circulation o
the blood thus children and small animals
whose circulation is lively, feel the coll
least. The heat and the power of preserv
ing it differ also in the different parts Q
the body; those appearing to be warmes
in which there is the most copious suppl,
Of blood, as the brain, the head and necE
the lungs and central parts of the body
We see, also, that when the irritability {
the body, or of any part of it, is particular
ly increased, the heat of the part under
goes similar change. Increased activit
and motion of the body, as in walking
running, &c, and diseases Of increased e!
element, as fever and inflammation, pre-
dnce similar increase in the temperatul
of the body. ALI this justifes the conclr
sion, that animal heat depends chief
upon the irritability of the body, and
thus most intimately connected with tt
state of the nervous system. This view
confirmed.by the late experiments of Br
die, who ascribed this power Of the livir
body to the influence Of the brain. E
destroyed the brain of rabbit, and ke
up the respiration by artificial means b
the heat Of the animal regularly dimi
: ished.
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