DISCUSSION OF RESULTS. 



45 



work as much as 0.50 C. in 30 minutes. In fact, any increase in body activity 

 tends to increase the temperature. On the other hand, muscular relaxation 

 and sleep, as well as cold water and cold food, will cause a fall in temperature. 

 Consequently, in certain of our experiments the effort was made by various 

 means to produce artificially these fluctuations in temperature in order to 

 enable us to secure better conditions for measurements of temperature fluctua- 

 tions in different parts of the body. 



The 24 experiments in this study of body-temperature were all made with 

 healthy people, including five men and one woman; the data regarding the 

 age, height, and weight of these subjects may be found in table 6. With but 

 few interruptions, the experiments continued daily from the beginning of Janu- 

 ary until the middle of March, 1911. The experimental conditions remained 

 essentially the same throughout the series, save that in all experiments prior to 

 January 27, 1911, the water in the Dewar flask inside of the constant-tempera- 

 ture oven was not stirred by compressed 

 air. While this change in the apparatus 

 tended to insure a constancy of temperature 

 that added somewhat to the accuracy of 

 the subsequent results, nevertheless the 

 experiments were usually of short duration, 

 and hence were not subject to wide errors 

 due to imperfect stirring. 



Previous to an experiment, the ther- 

 mometers were adjusted and the subject 

 immediately lay down on a comfortable 

 couch or occasionally sat in a chair, chang- 

 ing the position from time to time to avoid 



extreme discomfort. In each experiment one main question was usually 

 studied, and incidentally numerous minor points. In giving the results, 

 therefore, it seems best to present the curves for each experiment by itself, 

 with the conclusions drawn therefrom, and finally to summarize the results and 

 give the conclusions drawn from the experiments as a whole. In these curves, 

 as usual, the time is expressed by distance measured horizontally and temper- 

 ature is represented vertically. The records for the various localities are 

 designated as follows: Deep rectum, R D ; shallow rectum, R s ; deep vagina, 

 V D ; shallow vagina, V s ; right axilla, A R ; left axilla, A L ; mouth, M; groin, G; 

 upper leg, L; hand, H c and H P ; and various surface points, S. 



EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS. 



Experiment of January 6, 1911, with C. H. H. A thermometer was placed 

 in each axilla, and two thermometers in the rectum, one of the latter being 

 inserted 10.4 centimeters, and the other 6 centimeters. The experiment 

 began shortly after the subject reached the laboratory in the morning, and it 

 will be noticed that in consequence there was an initial fall in temperature of 

 both the rectal thermometers. This is usual after muscular exercise, even so 



