242 



INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE ON BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS 



like the pup than the baby guinea pig, rabbit or rat (62), but at present 

 there are no data available on any primate. 



Postponement of the time of death does not necessarily indicate that 

 recovery from a lethal exposure will likewise take place. To test this 

 possibility, 100 animals, including 10 litters of 4 and 30 littermate pairs, 

 were exposed to asphyxia. Table 3 shows that all animals at 30°, 25° or 

 20° C recovered completely from 15 seconds more than the lethal exposure 



Fig. 2. Time of aspliATcial 

 death of 18 neonatal rabbits ex- 

 posed to 95% Na + 5% CO2 

 at different body temperatures. 

 Littermates are indicated by 

 lines connecting the points. 



5200 



900 1000 1900 2000 2300 3000 3900 4000 



Fig. 3. Time of asphyxial 

 death of a litter of neonatal 

 puppies exposed to 95% Ns + 

 5% CO2 at different body tem- 

 peratures. 



for tlieir 40°C littermates. Likewise, all animals at 25°C and almost half 

 of those at 20°C recovered from 15 seconds more than the lethal exposure 

 for littermates at 35°C and 30°C respectively. 



Without measures to combat the secondary effects of hypothermia, 

 temperatures from 20°C downward become hazardous. It should be empha- 

 sized, however, that every cooled animal above 20°C recovered from 

 more than a lethal exposure for its warmer littermate. The author feels 

 justified in concluding that the criticism that hypothermia can "postpone 

 asphyxial death but does not prevent it" is refuted by the results of 

 these controlled experiments. 



