The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-04-07
'ExpgRlMeNrs. selow ZERO.
The Varied Effects of Intense Cold on DIFF.
ferent Anfmals.

The Varied Effects of Intense Cold on DIFF
fcrent Animals.
NJ. Raoul Pictet has been making
some curious experiments ON the physio-
logical effects of extreme cold With tho
aid of various freezing mixtures he has
arranged what he calls wells of cold"
tfrss air i'll which is cooled to various de-
grees. So far tho temperature in the
coldcst OF these wells Is only reduced to
1G6 degrees below the Fahrenheit zero
but much lower temperatures are easily
reached by other means 1t is calculated
by modern physicists that about AGO de-
grecs below zero will be reached what
is called the temperature of death" or
absolute cold," ut which all substances
arc solid and Mt their extreme limit of
contraction. NJ Pictet has of course not
yet attained this condition, but he has
approached near enough to it to give
some singular indications of what may
be discovered later.
In one OF his experiments dog was
introduced into well of cold' mt
temperature of 1870 degrees below the
Fahrenheit zero. For 10 minutes the
animals vitality struggled successfully
against the cold, and even raised to tho
extent of half ccntigrado degree the
temperature of the well. AT the end of
this time the dogs cXtremitics began to,
freeze, but the heart and vital organs
remained warm, and it was not until
tho end OF M hour and half that tho
temperature Of this part of the animal
was found to have been reduced ono
ccntigrade degree. After this point was
reached, however, the vital powers
seemed to give way, the temperature
suddenly fell, and nothing could revive
tho poor beast
NJ. Pictct himself had the courage to
try how such terrible cold felt He
plunged his bare arm into the well ut
the Same temperature which had proved
fatal to the dog and held it there for
five or six minutes. At the end of thrcc
or four minutes he felt violent pain,
proceeding apparently from the pcrios-
tcun, or sensitive covering of the bone.
After about two minutes of this he
withdrew his arm. and IL sharp, burn
ing pam came on, caused, as he sup
posed, by the sudden reaction in the it's
sues. In experimenting on other animals
he found that the lower the organism
the better 1t seemed TO resist cold
Fishes could be frozen hard without los
ing vitality If the temperature to which
they were exposed did not sink below
the Fahrenheit zero, and if the expert
mcnt did not last too long, they could
be thawcd ont, apparently without i'll
jury. Frogs could be kept for time i'll
temperature 20 degrees below the
Fahrenheit zero without harm, but they
succunbcd to Il temperature of 30 dc
Srecs below. Snakes bore about the
same degree of cold, and ccntipcds did
not seem To be Inconvenience by !,
temperature of 60 below Snails were
still moro hardy, suffering no loss of
vitality III IL we'll at Il temperature 1Sl
degrees below zero.
This astonishing fortitudc was how
ever, far surpassed by that of certain
microbes, which NJ. Pictct frozc up in :,
block of solidificd atmospheric air at Il
temperature $50 degrees below the Fab
rcnhcit zero. In this block, hard and
solid rs crystal, lie kept them for some
time, and then thawcd them out gently.
upon which they exhibited their usual
activity. What can be the nature of Il
circulation which is indifferent to this
awful cold on of an organism i'll which
circulation can be entirely stopped with
out injury we can only conjecture, but
Nj. Pictct's experiments have certainly
added another mystery to that standing
enigma of science known as vitalitv.-
Paris Journal