CHAPTER IX.COLD AND HEAT.
Hatteras and Johnson had waited for the three hunters with someuneasiness. When they returned they were delighted to find a warm andcomfortable shelter. That evening the temperature had decidedlyfallen, and the thermometer outside stood at -31 degrees. The threewere very much fatigued and almost frozen, so that they could hardlydrag one foot after the other; fortunately the stoves were drawingwell; the doctor became cook, and roasted a few walrus cutlets. Atnine o'clock they all five sat down before a nourishing supper.
"On my word," said Bell, "at the risk of passing for an Esquimaux, Iwill say that food is an important thing in wintering; one ought totake what one can get."
Each of them having his mouth full, it was impossible for any one toanswer the carpenter at once; but the doctor made a sign that he wasright. The walrus cutlets were declared excellent; or, if they made nodeclarations about it, they ate it all up, which is much more to thepurpose. At dessert the doctor made the coffee, as was his custom; heintrusted this task to no one else; he made it at the table, in analcohol machine, and served it boiling hot. He wanted it hot enough toscald his throat, or else he did not think it worth drinking. Thatevening he drank it so hot that his companions could not imitate him.
"But you'll burn yourself, Doctor," said Altamont.
"O no!" was the answer.
"Is your throat lined with copper?" asked Johnson.
"No, my friends; I advise you to take counsel from me. There are somepersons, and I am of the number, who drink coffee at a temperature of131 degrees."
"One hundred and thirty-one degrees!" cried Altamont; "but the handcan't support that heat!"
"Evidently, Altamont, since the hand can't endure more than 122degrees in the water; but the palate and tongue are not so tender asthe hand; they can endure much more."
"You surprise me," said Altamont.
"Well, I'm going to convince you."
And the doctor, bringing the thermometer from the parlor, plunged thebulb into his cup of boiling coffee; he waited until it stood at a 131degrees, and then he drank it with evident joy. Bell tried to do thesame thing, but he burned himself and shouted aloud.
"You are not used to it," said the doctor.
"Clawbonny," asked Altamont, "can you tell me the highest temperaturethe human body can support?"
"Easily," answered the doctor; "various experiments have been made andcurious facts have been found out. I remember one or two, and theyserve to show that one can get accustomed to anything, even to notcooking where a beefsteak would cook. So, the story goes that somegirls employed at the public bakery of the city of La Rochefoucauld,in France, could remain ten minutes in the oven in a temperature of300 degrees, that is to say, 89 degrees hotter than boiling water,while potatoes and meat were cooking around them."
"What girls!" said Altamont.
"Here is another indisputable example. Nine of our fellow-countrymenin 1778, Fordyce, Banks, Solander, Blagden, Home, North, LordSeaforth, and Captain Phillips, endured a temperature of 295 degrees,while eggs and roast beef were cooking near them."
"And they were Englishmen!" said Bell, with an accent of pride.
"Yes, Bell," answered the doctor.
"O, Americans could have done better!" said Altamont.
"They would have roasted," said the doctor, laughing.
"And why not?" answered the American.
"At any rate, they have not tried; still, I stand up for mycountrymen. There's one thing I must not forget; it is incredible ifone can doubt of the accuracy of the witnesses. The Duke of Ragusa andDr. Jung, a Frenchman and an Austrian, saw a Turk dive into a bathwhich stood at 170 degrees."
"But it seems to me," said Johnson, that that is not equal to otherpeople you mentioned."
"I beg your pardon," answered the doctor; there is a great differencebetween entering warm air and entering warm water; warm air inducesperspiration, and that protects the skin, while in such hot waterthere is no perspiration and the skin is burned. Hence a bath isseldom hotter than 107 degrees. This Turk must have been anextraordinary man to have been able to endure so great heat."
"Dr. Clawbonny," asked Johnson, "what is the usual temperature ofliving beings?"
"It varies very much," answered the doctor; "birds are the warmestblooded, and of these the duck and hen are the most remarkable; theirtemperature is above 110 degrees, while that of the owl is not morethan 104 degrees; then come the mammalia, men; the temperature ofEnglishmen is generally 101 degrees."
"I'm sure Mr. Altamont is going to claim something more for theAmericans," said Johnson.
"Well," said Altamont, "there are some very warm; but as I've neverplaced a thermometer into their thorax or under their tongue, I can'tbe sure about it."
"The difference of temperature," resumed the doctor, "between men ofdifferent races is quite imperceptible when they are placed in thesame circumstances, whatever be the nature of their bringing-up; Ishould add, that the temperature varies but little between men at theequator and at the pole."
"So," said Altamont, "our temperature is about the same here as inEngland?"
"About the same," answered the doctor; "as to the other mammalia,their temperature is a trifle higher than that of man. The horse isabout the same, as well as the hare, the elephant, the porpoise, thetiger; but the cat, the squirrel, the rat, panther, sheep, ox, dog,monkey, goat, reach 103 degrees; and the warmest of all, the pig, goesabove 104 degrees."
"That is humiliating for us," said Altamont.
"Then come amphibious animals and fish, whose temperature varies verymuch according to that of the water. The serpent does not go above 86degrees, the frog 70 degrees, and the shark the same in a medium adegree and a half cooler; insects appear to have the temperature ofthe water and the air."
"That is all very well," said Hatteras, who had not yet spoken, "andI'm much obliged to the doctor for his information; but we are talkingas if we had to endure torrid heats. Would it not be wiser to talkabout the cold, to know to what we are exposed, and what is the lowesttemperature that has ever been observed?"
"True," added Johnson.
"There's nothing easier," continued the doctor, "and I may be able togive you some information."
"I dare say," said Johnson; "you know everything."
"My friends, I only know what others have taught me, and when I'vefinished you'll know exactly as much. This is what I know about coldand the lowest temperatures observed in Europe. A great manynoteworthy winters have been known, and it seems as if the severesthas a periodic return about every forty-one years,--a period whichnearly corresponds with the greater appearance of spots on the sun. Ican mention the winter of 1364, when the Rhone was frozen as far asArles; that of 1408, when the Danube was frozen its whole length, andwhen wolves ran over to Jutland without wetting their feet; that of1509, during which the Mediterranean at Cette and Marseilles and theAdriatic at Venice were frozen, and the Baltic as late as April 10;that of 1608, which killed all the cattle in England; that of 1789,when the Thames was frozen--as far as Gravesend, six leagues--belowLondon; that of 1813, of which the French retain such a terriblememory; and that of 1829, the earliest and longest winter of thiscentury. So much for Europe."
"But what temperature has been reached above the Arctic Circle?" askedAltamont.
"Really," said the doctor, "I believe we have experienced the greatestcold that has ever been observed, since our spirit thermometerindicated one day -72 degrees; and if I remember aright, the lowesttemperatures ever observed before were only -61 degrees at MelvilleIsland, -65 degrees at Port Felix, and -70 degrees at Fort Reliance."
"Yes," said Hatteras; "we were delayed, and unfortunately too, by avery severe winter!"
"You were delayed?" exclaimed Altamont, staring at the captain.
"In our journey westward," interposed the doctor, hastily.
"So," said Altamont, continuing the conversation, "the maximum andminimum temperatures endured by men vary about two hundred degrees?"
"Yes," answered the doctor; "a thermometer exposed to the open air andsheltered from reflection has never risen above 135 degrees, and inthe greatest colds it never falls below -72 degrees. So, my friends,you see we can take our ease."
"But still," said Johnson, "if the sun were to be extinguishedsuddenly, would not the earth endure greater cold?"
"The sun won't be extinguished," answered the doctor; "but even if itshould be, the temperature would not fall any lower, probably, thanwhat I have mentioned."
"That's strange."
"O, I know it used to be said that in the space outside of theatmosphere the temperature was thousands of degrees below zero! butsince the experiments of the Frenchman Fourrier, this has beendisproved; he has shown that if the earth were placed in a medium voidof all heat, that the temperature at the pole would be much greater,and that there would be very great differences between night and day;so, my friends, it is no colder a few millions of miles from the earththan it is here."
"Tell me, Doctor," said Altamont, "is not the temperature of Americalower than that of other countries of the world?"
"Without doubt; but don't be proud of it," answered the doctor with alaugh.
"And what is the reason?"
"No very satisfactory explanation has ever been given; so it occurredto Hadley that a comet had come into collision with the earth and hadaltered the position of its axis of rotation, that is to say, of itspoles; according to him, the North Pole, which used to be situated atHudson's Bay, found itself carried farther east, and the land at theold Pole preserved a greater cold, which long centuries of the sunhave not yet heated."
"And you do not admit this hypothesis?"
"Not for a moment; for what is true of the eastern coast of America isnot true of the western coast, which has a higher temperature. No! wecan prove that the isothermal lines differ from the terrestrialparallels, and that is all."
"Do you know, Doctor," said Johnson, "that it is pleasant to talkabout cold in our present circumstances?"
"Exactly, Johnson; we can call practice to the aid of theory. Thesecountries are a vast laboratory where curious experiments on lowtemperatures can be made. Only, be always careful; if any part of yourbody is frozen, rub it at once with snow to restore the circulation ofthe blood; and if you come near the fire, be careful, for you may burnyour hands or feet without noticing it; then amputation would benecessary, and we should try to leave nothing of ourselves in theselands. And now I think it would be well for us to seek a few hours ofsleep."
"Willingly," answered the doctor's companions.
"Who keeps watch over the stove?"
"I do," answered Bell.
"Well, my friend, take care the fire does not fall out, for it's mostabominably cold this evening."
"Don't be uneasy, Doctor; it's very sharp, but see, the sky is allablaze!"
"Yes," answered the doctor, going up to the window, "it's amagnificent aurora. What a glorious sight! I should never get tired oflooking at it!"
In fact, the doctor admired all these cosmic phenomena, to which hiscompanions paid but little attention; he had noticed, besides, thattheir appearance always preceded disturbances of the magnetic needle,and he was preparing some observations on the subject which heintended for Admiral Fitz-Roy's "Weather Book."
Soon, while Bell was on watch near the stove, all the rest, stretchedon their beds, slept quietly.