In our own country scarcely a winter passes without the occurrence of some event equally illustrative of this physiological fact; and it is highly important that the medical jurist should be able to appreciate its influence; those who perish in this manner are generally individuals of the most wretched condition, and will be found to have undergone much suffering and privation; by which their nervous energy had been too much exhausted to generate sufficient heat to counteract the diminished temperature of the atmosphere; an event of this nature occurred in London during the winter of 1819, when a man and his wife, aged persons, and poor, but not supposed, nor indeed proved to have been quite destitute, were found dead in their apartment, although food was discovered in the room, and money was in the pocket of the man: the night (28th of December) had been inclement, and there was neither bed nor fire in the miserable couple’s apartment. It appeared in evidence that they had been previously ailing. The verdict recorded that they had perished from the inclemency of the weather, in consequence of the destitute circumstances under which they were found. It would seem that persons who are long exposed to intense cold do not suffer a painful death; they gradually lose their sensibility, become drowsy, and die as if through the effects of an opiate. Mr. _Brodie_[52] classes the effects of cold in the following order. 1. It lessens the irritability, and impairs the functions of the whole nervous system. 2. It impairs the contractile powers of the muscles. 3. It causes contraction of the capillaries, and thus lessens the superficial circulation, and stops the cutaneous secretion. 4. It probably destroys the principle of vitality, equally in every part, and does not exclusively disturb the functions of any particular organ. These positions have been confirmed by experiment. Dr. _Chassat_ states that in an animal immersed in a cold bath, death may take place at 79° Fahr. (26 _Centig._), although it may be sometimes cooled down as low as 69° (17 _Cent._) before it dies; but, _cæteris paribus_, the animal dies sooner as the cooling is more rapid. M. _Portal_ thinks that cold produces death by inducing apoplexy, and remarks that the examination of the bodies of persons who have died from cold, proves the presence of sanguineous congestions in the vessels and cavities of the body, and especially in those of the brain. Dr. _Cooke_, however, has remarked that “M. _Portal’s_ notions on this subject seem to want confirmation. Excessive cold undoubtedly produces, first drowsiness and afterwards a profound sleep, in which the unfortunate individual generally perishes; but we have not on record a sufficient number of cases with particular descriptions of symptoms and appearances on dissection, to enable us to say positively that cold kills by apoplexy.”