ABSTRACT
There is a state into which living things can pass which is a kind of intermediate state between life and death. It is also known as “suspended animation” or “latent life”. Luckily the three evidences of life are all capable of being measured, for by appropriate apparatus we can estimate the amount of oxygen taken in by the body, the amounts of carbon dioxide and water produced, and the quantity of heat set free in a given time. Latent life in the animal kingdom is a particularly interesting condition. Desiccation or drying of certain lowly animals will send them into a state of vital latency just as it did the seeds. One of the most famous cases is that of Colonel Townsend, reported on by the well-known Dr Cheyne of Dublin. The unusual feature in this case was that Colonel Townsend could go voluntarily into this state of suspended animation, remaining breathless and pulseless for many hours.
