Chapter 41 Chapter 9 Cold and Heat

Hatteras and Johnson waited for the three hunters with a certain anxiety.They were very happy to be back in their warm and comfortable home.The temperature at night was extremely low, and the thermometer placed outside indicated minus thirty-one degrees Celsius. The men who came back were exhausted, almost frozen, and could not bear it any longer. Fortunately, the fire was very hot, and the fire was only waiting for the prey. The doctor became a cook, and roasted some seal ribs.At nine o'clock in the evening, five companions sat at a sumptuous dinner table. True enough, said Bell, I admit, at the risk of being an Eskimo, that eating is a great event during the winter;

Everyone's mouths were too full to answer his question right away, but the doctor gestured to him that he had a point. The rib meat of the seal is declared delicious, and even if it is not said, people swallow the last piece, which is worth any words in the world. While the sweets were being eaten, the doctor prepared coffee as usual, and he let no one prepare this excellent drink; he made it on the table in an alcoholic coffee-pot, and served it piping hot.In his opinion, coffee has to scald his throat, otherwise he doesn't think it's worth passing his throat.His coffee was hot that night, and his companions could hardly do the same.

But you will burn, doctor, Altamon told him. No, he replied. Do you have a copper-clad soft palate?Johnson retorted. Not at all, my friends, and I advise you to do as I do.Some people, and I'm one of them, drink coffee at 55°C. Fifty-five degrees Celsius!exclaimed Altamon, but the hands could not bear the heat! It is obvious, Altamon, because the hand cannot withstand a temperature of more than fifty degrees in water; but the soft palate and tongue are not so sensitive as the hand, and they can resist what the hand cannot resist. You surprise me, said Altamon. Well, I'll convince you.

The doctor took the thermometer in the living room, dipped the ball into the boiling coffee, and when the thermometer read fifty-five degrees Celsius, he swallowed the delicious liquid, showing a look of satisfaction. Bell bravely imitated him, hot and screaming. Not used to it, the doctor said. Croubney, said Altamon again, can you tell us the highest temperature the human body can withstand? Very easy, replied the doctor, people have done experiments in this area and come up with astonishing facts.I also recall one or two that show that one can get used to everything and not even get cooked at the same temperature as a steak.If so, it has been said that the average oven worker in Rochefort-Cours can stay ten minutes in an oven at a temperature of one hundred and thirty-two degrees Celsius, that is to say thirty-two degrees hotter than boiling water. ℃, potatoes and meat are well roasted beside them.

Amazing working lady!cried Altamon. In addition, there is an indisputable example.Nine of our countrymen, Foddis, Bankes, Solander, Cragdin, Holme, North, Sir Seaforth, and Captain Philip, withstood a temperature of 128°C in 1774. In high heat, the eggs and beef were cooked right next to them. These people are British!Bell said with a touch of pride. Yes, Bell, the doctor replied. oh!The Americans would do better, Altamon said. Are they baked?The doctor answered. why not?The Americans answered. Anyway, they haven't tried, so I'm on the side of my countrymen.I add one last fact, which is simply unbelievable, if one doubts the reliability of the witnesses.The Duke of Largos and Dr. Young, a Frenchman and an Austrian saw a Turk enter a bathing pool at 78°C.

But it seems to me, said Johnson, that it is less than the furnace-maids, and our countrymen! Sorry, the doctor replied, there is a big difference between hot air and hot water, hot air causes sweating, protects the skin, and hot water can't sweat, it will burn.Therefore the highest temperature in the baths is usually forty-two degrees Celsius. This Turk must be an extraordinary person to be able to endure such high temperatures! Mr. Crawburn, Johnson asked, what is the usual temperature of living things? The temperature varies with nature. The doctor replied that birds are the animals with the highest body temperature, and the most prominent among them are ducks and hens; their body temperature exceeds 43°C, while the body temperature of the gray owl is only 40°C. Followed by mammals, people, the British body temperature is usually 37 ℃.

I'm sure Mr. Altamon has to fight for the Americans, Johnson said with a laugh. It is true, said Altamon, that some people had a high temperature, but I never had a thermometer on their chest or under their tongue, so I can't be sure about that. good!The doctor replied that the difference between the different races is very small, when they are in similar circumstances, no matter what food they eat, I may even say that the body temperature of people is about the same at the equator as at the poles. So, says Altamon, our own heat is the same here as in England? About the same, the doctor replied. As for other mammals, their body temperature is generally slightly higher than that of humans.The body temperature of horses is very close to that of humans, as well as rabbits, elephants, porpoises, and tigers; but the body temperatures of cats, squirrels, mice, bears, sheep, cows, dogs, monkeys, billy goats, and female goats reach thirty Nine degrees Celsius, and finally, the most dominant among them is the pig, whose body temperature exceeds forty degrees Celsius.

It's a shame on us, Altamon said. Next are amphibians and fish, whose body temperature largely varies with water temperature.The body temperature of a snake is only 30°C; that of a frog is 25°C, and that of a shark in the same environment is one degree lower.five degrees Celsius; finally, the body temperature of insects is roughly equivalent to that of water and air. It's all well and good, said Hatteras, who hasn't spoken yet, and I thank the doctor for teaching us about science, but we talk as if we were going to overcome a terrible heat.Wouldn't it be better to talk about the cold and know what we're up against and the lowest temperature ever measured?

Makes sense, Johnson replied. It couldn't be easier, said the doctor again, and I can give you many facts on this point. I believe, said Johnson, that you know everything. My friends, I only know what I have been taught, and when I speak, you are taught as I am.What I am here to say is about the cold, about the low temperatures that Europe has experienced.You can cite many unforgettable winters. The coldest winter occurs about once every 41 years, and its appearance coincides with the appearance of the largest area of ​​sunspots.I will cite to you the winter of 1364, when the Rhone was frozen all the way to Arles; In the winter of 1608, the Adriatic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea were frozen over in Venice, Sète, and Marseilles, and the Baltic Sea was still frozen until April 10. In the winter of 1608, all the livestock in England died. In the winter of 1813 the Thames froze as far as Gravesade, six miles below London; It was the earliest and longest winter in the nineteenth century.This is the case in Europe.

But here, beyond the polar circle, what's the coldest temperature?Altamon asked. Indeed, replied the doctor, I think we have experienced the coldest epoch ever measured, for the alcohol thermometer indicated minus fifty-eight degrees one day.If I remember correctly, the lowest temperature currently confirmed by polar voyagers is minus 47°C in Melville Island, minus 59°C in Felix Port, and minus 56°C in Unicom Port.Seven degrees Celsius. Yes, says Hatteras, we are held back by a cold winter, and what a bad time it has come! Are you blocked?Altamon looked at the captain fixedly and said.

On our westbound flight, the doctor said hastily. So, said Altamon, picking up the subject again, is there a difference of about a hundred degrees between the highest temperature and the lowest temperature a human being can withstand? Yes, answered the doctor, a thermometer placed out in the open, protected from all reflections, never goes above fifty-seven degrees above zero, nor does it drop below fifty-eight degrees below zero in times of unusual cold.So, my friends, you know we're still pretty comfortable. However, Johnson said, if the sun suddenly disappeared, wouldn't the earth fall into an abnormally cold state? The sun won't go away, replied the doctor, but if it does, the temperature won't really drop below the temperature I'm telling you about. This is really strange. oh!I know that people used to think that the temperature of the space outside the atmosphere reaches several thousand degrees; but this idea should be dispelled by the experiment of a French scientist Fourier; he proved that if the land is in a region without any heat, the coldness we measure at the pole To a still greater degree, the temperature difference between night and day is exceptionally great; therefore, my friends, it is no colder a few million miles from here than it is here. Tell me, doctor, asked Altamon, is the temperature in America not cooler than in the rest of the world? No doubt, but don't be proud of it, the doctor replied with a smile. How to explain this phenomenon? Attempts were made to explain this phenomenon, but the results were not very satisfactory; thus Halley thought that a comet which had collided obliquely with the earth had changed the position of the earth's axis of rotation, that is, the position of its poles; according to his The point of view, formerly at the North Pole at Hudson Bay, has moved eastward, and the original Arctic region has been frozen for too long and is still so cold that centuries of sunshine have failed to warm it. You do not accept this theory? Not at all, because what is true for the east coast of America is not true for the west coast, where temperatures are higher.No!It should be seen that there are different isotherms for the latitude of the earth, and everything is like this. You know, Mr. Crawburn, Johnson said it's a good thing to talk about the cold in the circumstances we're in. There is a reason, my old Johnson, that we are the experimental reinforcements of theory.These areas are a huge laboratory where one can do all sorts of interesting experiments at low temperatures, just be attentive and careful throughout; if any part of your body freezes, immediately rub it with snow to restore the blood Loop, if you come near a fire, be careful because you will burn your hands and feet and you won't realize it, which will require amputation, try not to leave any part of us in the arctic.Having said all this, my friends, I think we had better ask sleep for a few hours' rest. With great pleasure, replied the Doctor's companions. Who looks after the stove? Me, Bell replied. jl kktc Well, my friend, take care that the fire does not go out, for it is strangely cold to-night. Don't worry, Mr. Crawburn, that's certain, but look!The whole sky seemed to be on fire. o Yes, replied the doctor, and he approached the window, the Northern Lights are so beautiful!What a sight!I really didn't get distracted watching it. Because the doctor is always fascinated by these cosmic phenomena, but his companions don't pay much attention to them. Moreover, he noticed that their appearance is often the precursor of magnetic pole tremors. He is going to make relevant observations for the "Weather Book" for. Soon everyone was sleeping peacefully in their bedding while Bell kept watch by the fire.