The eclectic practice of medicine / by John M. Scudder.
- John Milton Scudder
- Date:
- 1891
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The eclectic practice of medicine / by John M. Scudder. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
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![Ranges of Temperature in Health.—The standard temperature of the healthy bod}7 is 98*5°, and is subject to a slight variation during the day of about 0.820°. The maximum temperature is in the earty morning; it fluctuates and gradually decreases during the day, and is lowest at midnight. The observations of Drs. Edwards and Davy have shown that the amount of animal heat may be considerably altered by a number of collateral circumstances. But the great dis- tinction between these alterations of temperature in health, and those which are the result of disease is, that these varia- tions are generally temporary, and within narrow limits — amounting to mere fractions of a degree—rarely more than 1.8° Fahr. to 3.6° Fahr. whereas those which are due to disease, are persistent so long as the disease exists. The following are the collateral circumstances which main- ly influence animal heat in our daily life, and which require to be remembered in order that erroneous conclusions may not be drawn : 1. Active exercise [not earned to the extent of ex- hausting fatigue] raises the temperature proportionally to the degree of muscular exertion made. 2. Exposure to cold with- out exercise lowers the temperature. 3. Sustained mental exertion reduces temperature about half a degree. 4. The amount of heat is also reduced by a full meal and the use of alcohol; but it rises again as digestion advances. 5. There are diurnal fluctuations capable of being thus determined. 6. The temperature of the body rises with the temperature of the air ; and sudden transitions from a cold to a hot climate induce a feverish state marked by increase of temperature on bodily exertion. 7. The average temperature within the tropics is nearly 1° Fahr. higher than in temperate regions. 8. The temperature is more readily and rapidly affected—more bcnsi- tive, so to speak—than either the pulse or the respiration ; and this is especially the case in disease. (Aitken.) Ranges of Temperature in Disease.— We have to study both an increase and a decrease in the temperature of the body, the lirst being of most common occurrence, and having the great- est range. Thus whilst a decrease of but one degree, if main- tained for a considerable time, will result in death, an increase of four to six degrees may be maintained for a month with safety to life. 2](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21077344_0023.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
