this fever prove a putrid change to have taken place in the blood before death. All animals which die suddenly, and without loss of blood, are disposed to a speedy putrefaction. This has long been remarked in animals that have been killed after a chase, or by lightning. The poisonous air called _samiel_, which is described by Chardin, produces, when it destroys life, instant putrefaction. The bodies of men who die of violent passions, or after strong convulsions, or even after great muscular exertion, putrify in a few hours after death. The healthy state of the body depends upon a certain state of arrangement in the fluids. A derangement of these fluids is the natural consequence of the violent and rapid motions, or of the undue pressure upon the solids, which have been mentioned. It occurs in cases of death which are induced by the excessive force of stimulus, whether it be from miasmata, or the volatile vitriolic acid which is supposed to constitute the destructive samiel wind, or from violent commotions excited in the body by external or internal causes. The practice among fishermen, in some countries, of breaking the heads of their fish as soon as they are taken out of the water, in order to retard their putrefaction, proves the truth of the explanation I have given of its cause, soon after death. The sudden extinction of life in the fish prevents those convulsive or violent motions, which induce sudden _disorganization_ in their bodies. It was observed that putrefaction took place most speedily after death from the yellow fever, where the commotions of the system were not relieved by evacuations. In those cases where purges and bleeding had been used, putrefaction did not take place sooner after death than is common in any other febrile disease, under equal circumstances of heat and air. [27] Outlines of a Theory of Fever. [28] See Wallis's edition of Sydenham, vol. i. p. 165. vol. ii. p. 52, 94, 98, 350; De Haen's Ratio Medendi, vol. ii. p. 162. vol. iv. p. 172; Gaubii Pathologia, sect. 498; and Dr. Seybert's inaugural dissertation, entitled "An Attempt to Disprove the Doctrine of Putrefaction of the Blood in Living Animals," published in Philadelphia in 1793.