[3] Animals are divided by naturalists into two classes, cold-blooded and
warm-blooded; the latter breathe by lungs, through which all the blood
of the body is continually passed, and which has direct communication
with the air. Cold-blooded creatures, such as fishes, breathe by means
of gills, and the air, instead of coming into direct contact with their
vital fluid, is absorbed from the water. In the case of reptiles, which
are cold-blooded, although the air may come into direct contact with the
blood, as in the respiration of the frog, yet, by the peculiar structure
of his lungs, only half the blood is sent to them to be purified; and
thus his superiority over the fish in receiving air direct, is balanced
by the circumstance that his blood is only half purified, in consequence
of being only in part exposed to the action of the air. The temperature
of animals is found to have relation to their activity and vital energy.
The following list exhibits the temperature of the animals mentioned.--
Birds, 105 degrees Fahrenheit,
Sheep, 100 degrees --
Worms, 36 degrees --
Frog, 40 degrees --
Snail, 36 degrees --
Fish, 60 degrees --
* * * * *
Society makes criminals, and then punishes them for their misdeeds.