Trincomalie. The town of Kandy, the capital of the interior of Ceylon, is situated in latitude N. 7 deg. 17 min., and is elevated about 1,500 feet above the level of the sea. Trincomalie is situated in latitude 8 deg. 34 min. Kandy is surrounded by hills and mountains, which are covered with wood, and frequently enveloped in clouds, and which abounds in springs and torrents. Trincomalie is at least fifty miles distant from any mountains. The intervening country is low, and, though wooded, very dry, being subject to long-continued drought. One of the consequences of these peculiarities of situation is, that the difference of temperature between the two places is very considerable. The mean annual temperature of Kandy is about 73.5, whilst that of Trincomalie is about 10 degrees higher; and in the summer and autumn months the difference of temperature is from 12 to 15 deg. In passing from the former place to the latter, the temperature of the body was increased, and on returning again to the former city was again diminished. Thus six individuals, before leaving Kandy, had a mean temperature of 98.15 deg.; and in a few days afterwards at Trincomalie, it was increased to 99.9 deg. Fahr., a difference of more than a degree and a half, although they were leading a sedentary life. That this variation of temperature did not depend on the individuals examined belonging to a different race from ourselves, was proved by observations on many individuals of different races and tribes, at the Cape of Good Hope and Ceylon, and the Isle of France, the Caffres, the Vaidas, Singalese, Malays, Sepoys, and half caste. In none of these did the temperature vary more than it is found to do among any similar number of Europeans, and consequently the slight differences observed between them could not be attributed to difference of race or habit.*

* These observations, though opposed to the results which Douriller has drawn from his own experiments, may be depended on, as the experimenter, Dr. Davy, has proved himself to be a most careful and accurate investigator. In this instance he collected a large number of facts at the onset of each investigation, upon which to base his opinions, before any fixed theoretical notions had taken forcible possession of his mind, a course which alone enables the inquirer to deduce correct and impartial conclusions. Besides this evidence of the correcs

TEMPERATURE OF DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE BODY.-Our sensations, without the aid of the thermometer, make known to us that all parts of the body do not at all times preserve the same temperature. We are often certain that the extremities are colder than the trunk; and a law of decrease of temperature in the ratio of the distance of parts from the heart has been deduced from this observation. We learn, however, from exact measurements, that this law is not correct; in fact, experiments have shown that the variety of temperature in different parts of the body has no connexion of an inverse kind with their distance from the heart. Formerly it was assumed—and on which, partly, was based a theory of animal heat-that there was no appreciable difference of temperature between venous and arterial blood. Dr. Davy has, however, sufficiently proved that the temperature of arterial blood is higher than that of venous; as is, also, the temperature of the left side of the heart, contrasted with that of the right. "In my inquiries," says Dr. Edwards, " along with M. Gentil, into the relations, in point of temperature, of certain external parts, we found in a strong man, perfectly at rest in mind and body, in the month of July, the external air being at 71 deg. Fahrenheit, the temperature of the mouth 102 deg. Fahrenheit, that of the rectum corresponded. The hands presented the next highest degree, marking nearly 99.5 deg. Fahrenheit. What is remarkable is, that the armpits and groins, which corresponded with

ness of the views expressed, we find them more recently supported by facts drawn by several French naturalists from numerous observations made by them on the influence of climate in the human body. Their observations, more than 4,000 in number, were commenced in April, 1836, and continued with few interruptions, every day at 3 o'clock P. M., until November 6th, 1837. The subjects were eight sailors, and two men who worked in the hold of the ship. The results obtained were, that the temperature of the human body rises and falls, though in a slight degree only, with the external temperature; that it falls slowly in passing from hot to cold climates, and rises more rapidly in returning towards the torrid zone; but that these changes in the temperatures of the body are more considerable in some individuals than in others. The temperature of the ten men at Cape Horn, lat. 59 deg. S., when the temperature of the air was 32 deg. Fahr., differed only about Fahr. from the mean temperature of the same men when at the Ganges, near Calcutta, in an external temperature of 104 deg. Fahr.

one another, were very sensibly lower in temperature than the hands; they did not raise the thermometer higher than 99 deg. Fahrenheit. The cheeks marked 96.5 deg. Fahrenheit, the temperature being ascertained by enveloping the bulb of the thermometer in the skin of these parts. The feet were a little lower-about 96 deg. Fahrenheit. The temperature of the feet was, therefore, notably lower than that of the hands, differing to the extent of rather more than 3 deg. Fahrenheit. Placed on the skin between the chest and abdomen, the thermometer was at its minimum, not rising higher than 95 deg. Fahrenheit."

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TEMPERATURES OF THE INTERNAL PARTS.-1st. The warmest part of the body, according to John Hunter, is in the abdomen, close to the septum, which separates it from the cavity of the chest. 2nd. The next part in point of temperature is the left side of the heart. 3rd. The right side of the heart. The rectum and the mouth shut possess the same temperature. The greatest difference between the temperature of these internal parts does not exceed 2 deg. Fahrenheit.

The temperature of the organism, or any part of it, depends greatly on the kind, the quantity, and the quickness of the flow of blood through it. It has been observed, on compressing the large artery which supplies the arm with blood, that the temperature of it fell nearly a degree; and in those operations where a ligature has been placed on a large artery, and thereby the circulation of blood through it prevented, the temperature of the parts supplied by it falls so low as to require artificial warmth. From these statements we learn, that the freer the circulation of blood through a part, the greater the animal heat contained in it. From this fact we are able to draw a most interesting and beneficial conclusion, in reference to the removal of disease, the retention of health, and the invigorating of weakened constitutions generally, or of individual parts merely. For example, muscular contraction, and therefore exercise, which thereby promotes the curative processes, is a cause of heat, as it determines the flow of blood to and through the muscles, as well as the surrounding parts.

EFFECTS OF EXTERNAL TEMPERATURE UPON AN ISOLATED PART OF THE BODY.-Under this head we shall examine first, the extent of the effect; and, second, its influence on other parts. The facts on which our conclusions are based are borrowed from the researches of Dr. Edwards and M.. Gentil.

“The hand, at 98 deg. Fahrenheit, having been immersed in a tub of water cooled down to 41 deg. F., in all during twenty minutes, five minutes after it had been taken out of the water marked no higher a temperature than 55 deg. F. This experiment shows how rapid and extensive, and how much beyond what could have been anticipated, may be the refrigerating effects of cold water applied to an extremity. Another not less remarkable result is the singular slowness with which the temperature of an extremity is regained, although exposed to the gentle warmth of the air. The hand, in the above experiment, after the lapse of twentyfive minutes from the time it, was removed from the water, was still not higher than 69 deg. F.; and after the expiration of an hour and a half was only 87 deg. F. The foot, in the same circumstances, gave nearly analogous results.

"In a number of experiments of the same nature as the last, where one hand was plunged in water cooled down by ice, the other hand, which was not subjected to the action of the cold bath, lost nearly 20 deg. F. in temperature."

From these facts it is apparent that partial chills or exposure of individual parts to low temperatures may be, and are, felt very extensively, even when the cold is not very severe; and also that the chilling of a single part, such as the hand or the foot, may cause a loss of temperature in all the other parts of the body, even beyond what could have been presumed as likely or possible.

We are anxious that you should consider well these statements, they will aid you greatly in understanding how local chills may produce febrile states, and how it is that evil consequences may arise from the improper use of water in health and in the treatment of disease. In a subsequent part of the course you will have brought before you, and fully illustrated,

the modes by which chills may be prevented, or, when present, removed. Deeply interesting to the water cure physician are the details on which we are at present engaged, for in them is contained, when united with the origin of the animal heat, the key to the right understanding of the immense influence which water has in removing illness, and in promoting the improvement of health and the prevention of disease.

(To be continued.)

CORK SCIENTIFIC AND LITERARY SOCIETY.— ATTEMPT TO SUPPRESS AN ESSAY ON THE WATER CURE.

TO DR. WILLIAM M'LEOD.

DEAR SIR, It is difficult to determine whether the popular or professional prejudice opposes the greater obstacle to improvement in whatever branch of science it may be attempted; but every reformer feels that, united, they present the most vexatious and formidable barrier to the progress of discovery and the extension of truth. This much too may be safely asserted, that many of the most fatal errors which have ruled the popular mind have emanated from the schools and colleges, and have lingered the longest in the dusty cells in which they had their birth. Nowhere has the spirit of reform effected less than in the profession of physic; and on no subjects are the generality of men so ill-informed as on those which most nearly concern their temporal well-being, namely, the laws which regulate the animal economy in health and disease. It was therefore that I hailed with joy and gratitude the appearance of the first number of the Water Cure Journal, a journal which aims at the enlightenment of all classes of the community. For similar reasons I have also derived much gratification from an attendance at four recent sittings of the Cork Scientific and Literary Society, at which an Essay on Physical Education, by Mr. Ralph Varian, was read and discussed.

The essayist pointed out several of the leading defects in general education, and suggested means of remedying them. He dwelt at some length on the medical virtues of water when