64 TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATIONS IN THE HUMAN BODY. 



this period, the subject ate her supper. While she sat in the chair, the records 

 were so irregular that they are not given. It is possible that the thermometers 

 were not well located, as it was noted that a difference in temperature was 

 caused by the subject sitting forward or back in the chair. At ll h 19 m p. m. 

 the subject changed from the chair to the bed, and beginning at ll h 45 m p. m. 

 the temperature curves are again given. The groin and right axilla were heated 

 by means of a hot-water bottle at a temperature of 47 C. The groin tem- 

 perature was noticeably affected by the preheating and rapidly attained con- 

 stancy, but the temperature in the right axilla required the usual 20 minutes 

 to reach a constant level. The subject lay very quietly the first of the night, 

 and the temperature curves fell off in accordance with the general diurnal varia- 

 tion. From l h 30 m a. m. to 2 a. m. she moved about considerably, and also 

 between 3 a. m. and 3 h 27 m a. m. At 3 h 27 m a. m. the subject was told that 

 she need not keep the groin closed, and this temperature record was discon- 

 tinued until 4 h 12 rn a. m. She reported that she had slept at times. The 

 subject moved more or less until about 5 o'clock, but she was very quiet from 

 5 a. m. until 5 h 30 m a. m. Later she moved somewhat and at 6 h 46 m a. m. 

 asked several questions. The groin and axilla thermometers were removed at 

 7 h 14 m a. m., and the deep and the shallow vaginal thermometers at 7 h 52 m 

 a. m. At 8 a. m. the thermometer was replaced in the groin, the groin and 

 rectal temperatures being recorded continuously thereafter. The subject ate 

 breakfast between 8 h 15 m a. m. and8 h 39 m a. m., and from that time until the end 

 of the experiment, at 9 h 27 m a. m., she was awake, talking and reading. 



While the groin required considerable time to reach a constant temperature, 

 except when preheated, when the body-temperature had finally been acquired 

 the records followed with remarkable regularity those for the rectum and the 

 vagina. The temperature of the axilla varied considerably and does not show 

 the parallelism which would be expected, this parallelism evidently depending 

 upon the accuracy and constancy with which the axilla is closed, thus accentu- 

 ating very sharply the fact that the groin is on the whole a much better locality 

 than the axilla for taking body-temperatures. The temperature observations 

 made in the mouth show their usual irregularity, although a curve drawn 

 through the maximal readings would follow the curves for the rectum and the 

 vagina. 



The curves showing the records of body-temperature may be found in fig. 32. 



Experiment of February 27, 1911, with J. J. C. In this experiment the deep 

 and shallow thermometers were used in the rectum at depths of 9.5 and 6 

 centimeters respectively, and a thermometer in the left axilla. A ther- 

 mometer was also inserted in the mouth and held there continuously. 



During the experiment the subject sat in a chair, sometimes awake and 

 reading and sometimes apparently asleep. At 9 h 23 m a. m. he drank some 

 cold water. He changed his position in the chair at 10 h 33 m a. m., and the 

 axilla thermometer was also readjusted at this time. At ll h 16 m a. m. the 

 left shoulder became uncovered, and at ll h 22 m a. m. the subject removed 

 his feet from the couch on which he had been resting them. From 12 h 21 m 



