The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-04-11
Effects OF Intense Cold.

NJ Raoul Pictet has been making
some curious experiments on the physio-
logical effects of extreme cold. With the
aid of various freezing mixtures he has
arranged what he calls "wells of cold, :"
the air in which is cooled to various de-
Srees. So far the temperature in the
coolest of these wells is only reduced to
166 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-
grees below zero will be reached what
is called the temperature of death, " or
absolute cold, at whic' all substances
are solid and at 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 a dog was
introduced into well of cold" at a
temperature of 1870 degrees below the
Fahrenheit zero. For 10 minutes the
animals vitality struggled successfully
against the cold, and even raised to the
extent of half a centigrade degree the
temperature Of the we'll At the end of
this time the dogs eXtremities began to
freeze, but the heart and vital organs
remained warm, and it was not until
the end of an hour and half that the
temperature Of this part of the animal
was found to have been reduced one
centigrade degree. After this point was
reached, however, the vital powers
seemed to give way, the temperature
suddenly fell, and nothing could revive
the poor beast.
M. Pictet himself had the courage to
try how such terrible cold felt. He
plunged his bare arm into the well at
the same temperature which had proved
fatal to the dog and held it there for
five or six minutes. At the end of three
or four minutes he felt a violent pain,
proceeding apparently from the perios-
teum, or sensitive covering of the bone
After about two minutes of this he
withdrew his arm, and sharp, burn
ing pain 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 it 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
ment did not last too long, they could
be thawed out, apparently without in
jury. Frogs could be kept for time in
temperature 90 degrees below the
Fahrenheit zero without harm, but they
succumbed to a temperature of 30 de-
grees below. Snakes bore about the
same degree of cold and centipeds did
not seem to be Inconvenience by a
temperature of 60 below. Snails were
still more hardy, suffering no loss of
vitality i'll well at temperature lS4
degrees below zero
This astonishing fortitude was, how
ever, far surpassed by that of certain
microbes, which NJ, Pictet froze ND in a
block Of solidified atmospheric ar at a
temperature $50 degrees below the Fab
renheit zero In this block, hard ana
solid as crystal, he kept thom for some
time, and then thawed them out gently,
upon which they exhibited their usual
activity. What can be the nature of u
circulation which is indifferent to this
awful cold or of an organism in which
circulation can be entirely stopped with
out injury we can only conjecture, but
M. Pictet's experiments have certai y
added another mystery to that standing
enigma Of science known as vitality
Paris Journal.