rce becomes
too abundant, the excess is carried off by perspiration.

MRS. B.

It is by the same law of nature that we are enabled, in all climates,
and in all seasons, to preserve our bodies of an equal temperature, or
at least very nearly so.

CAROLINE.

You cannot mean to say that our bodies are of the same temperature in
summer, and in winter, in England, and in the West-Indies.

MRS. B.

Yes, I do; at least if you speak of the temperature of the blood, and
the internal parts of the body; for those parts that are immediately in
contact with the atmosphere, such as the hands and face, will
occasionally get warmer, or colder, than the internal or more sheltered
parts. But if you put the bulb of a thermometer in your mouth, which is
the best way of ascertaining the real temperature of your body, you will
scarcely perceive any difference in its indication, whatever may be the
difference of temperature of the atmosphere.

CAROLINE.

And when I feel overcome by heat, I am really not hotter than when I am
shivering with cold?

MRS. B.

When a person in health feels very hot, whether from internal heat, from
violent exercise, or from the temperature of the atmosphere, his body is
certainly a little warmer than when he feels very cold; but this
difference is much smaller than our sensations would make us believe;
and the natural standard is soon restored by rest and by perspiration.
It is chiefly the external parts that are warmer, and I am sure that you
will be surprised to hear that the internal temperature of the body
scarcely ever descends below ninety-five or ninety-six degrees, and
seldom attains one hundred and four or one hundred and five degrees,
even in the most violent fevers.

EMILY.

The greater quantity of caloric, therefore, that we receive from the
atmosphere in summer, cannot raise the temperature of our bodies beyond
certain limits, as it does that of inanimate bodies, because an excess
of caloric is carried off by perspiration.

CAROLINE.

But the temperature of the atmosphere, and consequently that of
inanimate bodies, is surely never so high as that of animal heat?

MRS. B.

I beg your pardon. Frequently in the East and West Indies, and sometimes
in the southern parts of Europe, the atmosphere is above ninety-eight
degrees, which is the common temperature of animal heat. Indeed, even in
this country, it occasionally happens that the sun's rays, setting full
on an object, elevate i