13 KKV KR. 



One minulc a/ler the bath. — The putient wiis |iuriiully wi|K'(l niiJ laid dirprlly npon an indiu-ruliU-i 

 bUiiki-t, nud vuvered ouljr wilb u sheet, iu u ruuiu wliubo li-iuitL-rulurc uua ubuul 05'^ lu "Hi V. He 

 ha.t , 'iiic iiijci'ticii uf kIx gruiiih uf tjuiiiiiio. 



'i I . kturL- ill uxiliu, \i\' F. ; in iiiuulii, Iu6\6 F. 



£'i</Ai mtnutet. — Tvui|ieruluri> huu beiii steadily Tulliiig; 18 now 1U3° F. in nioulb. The man hu 

 become iierfectly rutiouul, uud uu.swerii to hi:> name. 



Till- Jiirtlier history of this case is omittt-d as not ptTtiiKnt to the matter in liand, 

 with lilt" stiitement that recovery fiiiiiUy took phice. ' 



This patient was not in the bath more tluin a miinite and a hiilf hcfore hi' cx- 

 hiliitcd very distinct signs of letnrnin*.' consciousness, and in tliiei- minutes had 

 sense enough to attempt to get out of the tid). NN'hat could tlic bath do to affect 

 the man so much but witlidraw the heat? That the lieat was withdrawn, tlic ther- 

 mometer proved. If tiie drowsiness li;id been due to simpU' congestion of the 

 brain, very certainly would the bath, by driving the blood from the surface, have 

 increased the trouble. 



These cases might be abundantly paralleled and duplicated from medical records, 

 Init are sufficient to show that in man as well as in the lower animals the early 

 w^tlidrawal of the excess of hiat is followed by subsidence of the symptoms. The 

 result may be formulated in the following proposition : — 



The withdrawal of the excess of heat in acute fever is followed by a relief of the 

 nervous and circulatory disturbances. 



Concluitio)ifi. — IJy the experiments and arguments set fnrtli in tliis dinptfr. (In- 

 following propositions have been proven: — 



First. Extt-rnal heat applied to the body of normal animals, including man, «» 

 as to elevate the internal temperature, produces derangements of the functions of 

 innervation, of respiration, of circulation, etc. etc. precisely similar to those seen 

 in natural fever ; the intensity of the disturbance being directly proportionate to 

 the rise in temperature. 



Sicf)ii(I. Heat ajjplied locally to the nerve centres and to the heart prmlucrs 

 in the functions of these organs those disturbances which are familiar phenoniena 

 of fever, lh<' ind n-itv c.f 'he disturbances biing directly pmportionate to the cxccM 

 of heat. 



T/iird. 'Ihe withdrawal of the excess of heat in acute fever is followed by a 

 relief of the nervous and circulatory disturbances. 



It woidd appear to follow as a direct corollary to tliese propositions that cxvcfsire 

 lf-mi>rr(ilurc is the tMnriilial K//>nf>(ow uf frver. 



This seems to he tnie not only of severe, acute fever stich ns has been di.scussod 

 here, hut also of the lower grades of the febrile state. It must be borne in mind, 

 however, that the course of the fever may modify or entirely sujipress the symptoms 

 which the increased temperature wmdd normallv produce. Thus it is ronceivahlc 

 that then- slu)nld be a poison, wliii li should at the same time increase tissne-( hange 



A full report mny Ik- found in my Lcrtiiro on Fever. Stnithisonian 3fi»crllanroue Collection*, 

 No. 289. FeliruBry, 1875; ib. toI. x?., 1s7». 



