Russia, even in the most southerly parts. As a proof of this fact the
Tartars of the Crimea mentioned to Beaupre the behavior of the great and
little bustard, which annually at that season of the year quit the plain
for protection against the cold and migrate to the southern part of that
peninsula toward the coasts. But during that winter they were benumbed by
the cold and dropped on the snow, so that a great many of them were caught.
In the low hills, in the spring of 1813, the ground in some places was
covered with the remains of those birds entire.

Of the effects of cold in general Beaupre says that soldiers who are rarely
provided with certain articles of dress suitable for winter, whose caps do
not entirely protect the lateral and superior parts of the head, and who
often suffer from cold in bivouacs, are very liable to have ears and
fingers seized on by asphyxia and mortification. Troopers who remain
several days without taking off their boots, and whose usual posture on
horseback contributes to benumb the extremities, often have their toes and
feet frozen without suspecting it.

Cold produces fatal effects above as well as below the freezing point. A
continued moderate cold has the same consequences as a severe cold of short
duration. When very intense, as in the north, it sometimes acts on the
organism so briskly as to depress and destroy its powers with astonishing
rapidity. As the action of cold is most frequently slow and death does not
take place until after several hours' exposure, the contraction that
diminishes the caliber of the vessels more and more deeply, repels the
blood toward the cavities of the head, chest, and abdomen; it causes, in
the circulation of the lungs, and in that of the venous system of the head,
an embarrassment that disturbs the function of the brain and concurs to
produce somnolence. The probability of this explanation is strengthened by
the flowing of the blood from the nose to the ears, spontaneous