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concerning the Foramen ouale by wch. the blood
of otters was supposd to passe from one ventricule of
the heart to the other wthout passing through
the Lungs and thence it was supposed there was
Less need of the motion of the Lungs or breathing
for that It was supposed that the great vse
of the motion of the Lungs was for the
making the blood passe through them.
But against this he alledged that he supposd that
the Otter had noe foramen ouale, wch. Sr. Chr.
wren /also/ positiuely asserted hauing examind and . . .
Dissected one for that purpose -

Dr. King Affirmed that An otter could not continue
vnder water wthout breathing aboue 4 minutes &
then must of necessity come vp and breath- And soe
Long almost any man in cold weather was able
to abstaine from Breathing.

Sr. Chr: Wren Related that the seale that was in
St. Iames park had a muscles by wch. it could close
vp the nostrills and soe sink it self & lye at the
bottom of the canall /a pool made for him./ for a great while together,
That it would eat his food at the bottom of the water

Then the Discourse of muscular motion was farther
prosecuted and it was supposd that those chaines of
globules might be filled wth other liquors as well
as with air. But mr Hooke alledged that though
spirit of wine and diuers other spirituous liquors
were pretty . . . suddenly susceptible of the degrees
of heat & cold. yet in comparison to the exceeding
sensibleness of the Air they were very slow & Dull.
and in order to explain this he promisd to produce
the next Day a glasse wch. should experimentally verify it

Ref: CELL/RS/HF_199  © Centre for Editing Lives and Letters