Investigations into the conditions governing the temperature of the body. 33 



The lower pair of curves are morning measurements made 

 daily about 615 a.m. The lower "air curve" is seen to force down 

 the temperature of the mouth taken on the whole, and the fluctua- 

 tions here are much smaller than in the uppermost curve. In this 

 curve also the mouth temperature is at one place a little lower than 

 was to be expected, but apart from this there is complete agreement. 



This direct dependence of the mouth temperature on the tem- 

 perature of the surrounding air has been shown earlier by Agnes 

 Bluhm^; but her researches do not seem to have roused any special 

 interest for the question. They are cited by Ostenfeld ^ who only 

 confirms however that the relation between the rectal temperature 



1906 'i? 

 15°c 



36°5 

 1907 '^ 



21 



12 



36° 



Air temp. 

 (1" = 1mm). 



Mouth temp. 



Air temp. 



Mouth temp. 



Fig. 5. 



and mouth temperature is variable, which research, if the observa- 

 tions of Agnes Bluhm are correct (and this Ostenfeld does not 

 deny), seems rather superfluous. 



The loss of heat from the mouth takes place directly through 

 the soft parts, not by cooling down from the respired air; this 

 appears from Agnes Bluhm's and my own winter measurements, as 

 covering of the face and neck prevents the fall of temperature. A 

 lower temperature is, for example, found in the sulcus alveolo-buc- 

 calis than in the sulcus alveolo-lingualis and the thermometer takes 

 a longer time to become adjusted in the former whilst, on the other 

 hand, the temperature is sooner adjusted here than in the sulcus 

 alveolo-lingualis. 



1 Zeitsch. f. Tuberkulose u. Heilstättenwesen, Bd. 2, 1901. 



2 Meddelelser fra Vejlefjord, IV, 19U4. 

 XLIV, 1. 



