of an old Bible preserved the life of a dog, accidentally confined in a room at Newcastle upon Tyne, for twenty days. 5. Food stimulates the whole body by means of the process of digestion which goes forward in the stomach. This animal function is carried on by a process, in which there is probably an extrication of heat and air. Now both these, it has been remarked, exert a stimulus in promoting animal life. Drinks, when they consist of fermented or distilled liquors, stimulate from their quality; but when they consist of water, either in its simple state, or impregnated with any sapid substance, they act principally by distention. II. The chyle acts upon the lacteals, mesenteric glands, and thoracic duct, in its passage through them; and it is highly probable, its first mixture with the blood in the subclavian vein, and its first action on the heart, are attended with considerable stimulating effects. III. The blood is a very important internal stimulus. It has been disputed whether it acts by its quality, or only by distending the blood-vessels. It appears to act in both ways. I believe with Dr. Whytt, that the blood stimulates the heart and arteries by a specific action. But if this be not admitted, its influence in extending the blood-vessels in every part of the body, and thereby imparting extensive and uniform impressions to every animal fibre, cannot be denied. In support of this assertion it has been remarked, that in those persons who die of hunger, there is no diminution of the quantity of blood in the large blood-vessels. IV. A certain _tension_ of the glands, and of other parts of the body, contributes to support animal life. This is evident in the vigour which is imparted to the system, by the fulness of the seminal vesicles and gall bladder, and by the distension of the uterus in pregnancy. This distension is so great, in some instances, as to prevent sleep for many days and even weeks before delivery. It serves the valuable purpose of rendering the female system less liable to death during its continuance, than at any other time. By increasing the quantity of life in the body, it often suspends the fatal issue of pulmonary consumption, and ensures a temporary victory over the plague and other malignant fevers; for death, from those diseases, seldom takes place, until the stimulus, from the distension of the uterus, is removed by parturition.