A STUDY OP FEVER. 21 



upon as maii}^ individuals, the nuiximum temperature was 31° 

 C, tlie minimum 34.2° C, and tlie general in the neighborhood 

 of 36° C. Perfectly parallel phenomena have been found to 

 occur after large burns ; Redard reports some such cases. 



Certainly these facts are enough to prove that the nervous 

 system has the power of directly influencing calorification, but 

 the complete elucidation of their signification must be post- 

 poned until later in my lecture. 



In 1831 Sir Benj. Brodie {Medico- Ghirurg. Trails., 1837) 

 observed the case of a man in whom, after a traumatic section 

 of the spinal cord, the temperature rose in the course of a few 

 hours to 111° F. 



Acting upon this hint. Sir B. Brodie made experiments upon 

 animals, and found that in them, under certain circumstances, 

 the temperature rose very greatly after section of the cord. 



Studies of the effect of division of the cord upon the tempe- 

 rature have, since the time of Brodie, been made by very man}' 

 observers, notably by Bernard {Gompt. Rend., 1852, 1853), 

 ^chifi {Untersuchungen zur Physiologie des Nervensyslems, 

 Frankford, 1855), Chossat [BleckeVs Archiv, 1852), Tsche- 

 schichin {ReicherVs Archiv, 1866), Naunyn and Quincke (/6w7. 

 1869), Rosenthal {Centralhlalt, A])\-\\, 1869), B'mz {Vir chow'' s 

 Archiv, 1870). It is hardly necessary to trace, step by step, 

 the various views which have been held by these authors, and I 

 shall only speak of the results obtained b}^ the more recent ob- 

 servers—results which I have myself experimentally deter- 

 mined to be correct. 



If the cord of a rabbit or other small mammal be cut in the 

 lower cervical region, the temperature at once falls ; and if the 

 air of the apartment be decidedly below the warmth of the body 

 this fall is permanent, and even increases, so that at death the 

 animal heat is several degrees below normal. If, however, the 

 animal be thoroughly wrapped in raw cotton or in wool, and if 

 the external temperature be not too low, the fall just spoken of 



