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my chamber without any clothes whatever, half an hour or an hour, according to the feafon, either reading or writing. This practice is not in the leaft painful, but, on the contrary, agreeable; and if I return to bed afterwards, before I drefs myfelf, as fometimes happens, I make a fupplement to my night's rest of one or two hours of the most pleafing fleep that can be imagined. I find no ill confequences whatever refulting from it, and that at leaft it does not injure my health, if it does not in fact contribute much to its prefervation. I fhall therefore call it for the future a bracing or tonic bath.

March 10, 173.

I fhall not attempt to explain why damp clothes occafion colds, rather than wet ones, because I doubt the fact I imagine that neither the one nor the other contribute to this effect, and that the caufes of colds are totally independent of wet and even of cold. I propofe writing a fhort paper on this fubject, the first leifure moment I have at my difpofal. In the mean time I can only fay, that having fome fufpicions that the common notion, which attributes to cold the property of ftopping the pores and obftructing perfpiration, was illfounded, I engaged a young phyfician, who is mak ing fome experiments with Sanctorius's balance, to eftimate the different proportions of his perfpiration, when remaining one hour quite naked, and another warmly clothed. He purfued the experiment in this alternate manner for eight hours fucceffively, and found his perfpiration almoft double during thofe hours in which he was naked,

OBSERVATIONS ON

THE GENERALLY PREVAILING DOCTRINES OF LIFE AND DEATH.

You

TO THE SAME.

YOUR obfervations on the caufes of death, and the experiments which you propofe for fecalling to life thofe who appear to be killed by lightning, demonftrate equally your fagacity and humanity. It appears that the doctrines of life and death, in general, are yet but little underflood.

A toad, buried in fand, will live, it is faid, unil the fand becomes petrified; and then, being inclofed in the flone, it may fill live for we know not how many ages. The facts which are cited in fupport of this opinion, are too numerous and too circumftantial not to deserve a certain degree of credit. As we are accustomed to fee all the animals with which we are acquainted eat and drink, appears to us difficult to conceive how a toad can be fupported in fuch a dungeon. But if we reflect, that the neceffity of nourishment, which animals experience in their ordinary ftate, proceeds from the continual wafte of their fubftance by perfpiration it will appear lefs incredible that lome animals in a torpid ftate, perfpiring lefs becaufe they ufe no exercife, thould have lefs need of aliment; and that others, which are covered with fcales or thells, which flop perfpiration, fuch as land and fea turtles, ferpents, and fome fpecies of fifh, fhould be able to fubfit a confiderable time

without any nourishment whatever. A plant, with its flowers, fades and dies immediately, if expofed to the air without having its roots immersed in a humid foil, from which it may draw a fufficient quantity of moisture, to fupply that which exhales from its fubstance, and is carried off continally by the air. Perhaps, however, if it were buried in quickfilver, it might preferve, for a confiderable space of time, its vegetable life, its fmell and colour. If this be the cafe, it might prove a commodious method of tranfporting from diftant coun tries thofe delicate plants which are unable to sustain the inclemency of the weather at fea, and which require particular care and attention.

I have feen an inftance of common flies preferved in a manner fomewhat fimilar. They had been drowned in Madeira wine, apparently about the time when it was bottled in Virginia, to be fent to London. At the opening of one of the bottles, at the houfe of a friend where I was, three drowned flies fell into the first glafs which was filled. Having heard it remarked that drowned flies w re capable of being revived by the rays of the fun, I propofed making the experiment upon thefe. They were therefore expofed to the fun, upon a fieve, which had been employed to ftrain them out of the wine. In lefs than three hours two of them began by degrees to recover life. They commenced by fome convulfive motions in the thighs, and at length they raifed themfelves upon their legs, wiped their eyes with their fore feet, beat and bruflied their wings with their hind feet, and foon after began to fly, finding themfelves in Old England, without knowing how they came thither. The third continued lifelefs until funfet,

when, lofing all hopes of him, he was thrown a

way,

I wish it were poffible, from this inftance, to invent a method of embalming drowned perfons, in fuch a manner that they might be recalled to life at any period, however diftant; for having a very ardent defire to fee and obferve. the ftate of America an hundred years hence, I fhould prefer to an ordinary death, the being immerfed in a cak of Madeira wine, with a few friends, until that time, then to be recalled to life by the folar warmth of my dear country. But, fince, in all probability, we live in an age too early, and too near the infancy of fcience, to fee fuch an art brought in our time to its perfection, I muft, for the prefent, content myfelf with the treat, which you are fo kind as to promife me, of the refurrec tion of a fowl or a turkey-cock.

1

PRECAUTIONS to be used by thofe who are about to undertake a SEA VOYAGE.

WHE

HEN you intend to take a long voyage, nothing is better than to keep it a fecret till the moment of your departure. Without this, you will be continually interrupted and tormented by vifits from friends and acquaintances, who not only make you lofe your valuable time, but make you forget a thoufand things which you wish to remember; fo that when you are embarked, and

fairly at fea, you recollect, with much uneasiness, affairs which you have not terminated, accounts which you have not fettled, and a number of things which you propofed to carry with you, and which you find the want of every moment. Would it not be attended with the beft confequences, to reform fuch a custom; and fuffer a traveller, without deranging him, to make his preparations in quietnefs, to fet apart a few days, when thefe are finished, to take leave of his friends, and to receive their good wishes for his happy return?

It is not always in one's power to choose a captain; though great part of the pleafure and happinefs of the paffage depends upon this choice, and tho' one muft for a time be confined to his company, and be in fome meafure under his command. If he is a focial fenfible man, obliging, and of a good difpofition, you will be fo much the happier. One fometimes meets with people of this defcription, but they are not common; however, if yours be not of this number, if he be a good feaman, attentive, careful, and active in the ma nagement of his veffel, you may difpenfe with the reit, for these are the most effential qualities.

Whatever right you may have, by your agreement with him, to the provifions he has taken on board for the ufe of the paffengers, it is always proper to have fome private ftore, which you may make ufe of occafionally. You, ought, therefore, to provide good water, that of the thip being often bad; but you must put it into bottles, without which you cannot expect to preferve it fweet. You ought alfo to carry with you good tea, ground coffee, chocolate, wine of the fort you like beft, cyder, dried raifins, almonds, fugar, capillaire, citrons, um, eggs dipped in oil, portable foup, bread twice

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