60 TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATIONS IN THE HUMAN BODY. 



and the vagina. On changing the thermometer to the left axilla, considerable 

 time was required for the temperature to reach the maximum, and this was 

 also the case when the right axilla was again used after the subject lay down 

 on the couch in the afternoon. The records of mouth temperature are of 

 value only for showing the length of time required to reach the maximum; 

 the highest point in the curve should be taken to indicate the actual temper- 

 ature of the mouth, an imaginary curve joining these high points conforming 

 to the general shape of the curves for the deep thermometers. The tendency 

 for the curves to rise throughout the day, even when the subject lay on the 

 couch, is characteristic of the diurnal variation in which the highest temper- 

 ature is in the late afternoon. 



The curves showing the body-temperature for the different localities may be 

 found in fig. 30. 



Experiment of February 3, 1911, with Mrs. B /. The deep and shallow 

 vaginal thermometers were used in this experiment, inserted to a depth of 10 

 and G.5 centimeters, respectively, also a single rectal thermometer at a depth 

 of 8 centimeters. Thermometers were placed in the groin, in either the right 

 or left axilla, and temperatures were taken intermittently in the mouth 

 throughout the experiment. A hot-water bottle at a temperature of 44 C. 

 was used in the axilla, and another with a temperature of 49 C. in the groin 

 for about 5 minutes before the experiment, but this preheating was not so 

 effective as usual in shortening the time required to secure constancy. 



During the first part of the experiment the subject lay on the couch quietly 

 reading. At 9 h 19 in a. m. the axilla thermometer was placed in a better posi- 

 tion, and later (at ll h 24 m a. m.), as the subject had been moving about con- 

 siderablj 7 , it was again readjusted. At 12 h 14 m p. m., the subject changed from 

 the couch to the chair; at the same time the thermometer was changed from 

 the right axilla to the left axilla, which had been previously heated by means of 

 a hot-water bottle at a temperature of 46.5 C. The temperature of the left 

 axilla fell for the first few minutes, indicating that the preheating had raised 

 the temperature of the cavity somewhat above the normal. From l h 01 m p. m. 

 to l h 25 m p. m. the subject was eating dinner. At 2 h 30 m p. m. she lay down 

 on the couch again, a hot-water bottle at a temperature of 47 C. being placed 

 in the groin, and another at the same temperature in the axilla. In both 

 instances the temperature rose considerably, but apparently the maximum tem- 

 perature was reached in a much shorter time than in the earlier portion of the 

 test. At 3 h 01 m p. m., the lips were fastened together with surgeon's plaster 

 in order to keep the mouth thermometer in place for continuous observation. 

 The subject was asleep and moved about somewhat. At 4 h 24 m p. m. she was 

 asked to keep the mouth tightly closed. Finally the thermometer was removed 

 from the mouth at 4 h 56 m p. m. and reinserted without the use of plaster at 

 5 h 19 p. m. A higher temperature was then observed in this locality, which 

 may have been due to a better closure of the mouth after the rest in the interval 

 when the thermometer was not in position. 



The peculiar feature of the curves in this experiment is the general uniformity 

 of the records for the deep and the shallow vaginal thermometers and the rectal 



