Investigations into the conditions governing the temperature of tlie body. 39 



temperature is of secondary importance. With a certain right 

 the latter may therefore be called the "temperature of the body". 

 The rectal temperature is given to be "normally" 37o° С Apart 

 from the fact that this number is most probably too high on the 

 average, it would certainly be more useful to record that under 

 ordinary conditions the rectal temperature is between 36° and 

 38°, as a rule about 37° С My own observations give the limits 

 to be 3566° and 381 o"; I cannot indicate an average. 



The temperature of the mouth rises and falls with the 

 temperature of the surrounding air; only when the latter is to a 

 certain extent constant, is it inclined to follow the changes of 

 the rectal temperature. The mouth temperature rises owing to 

 meals independent of the rectal temperature, and only in special 

 cases does it rise with bodily exercise. Other factors are of slight 

 importance. The temperature of the mouth is given as 372° C; 

 but from the data noted above, an average must be considered 

 as quite illusory, being mainly dependent on climate and season 

 of the year. In my measurements the temperature of the mouth 

 varied between 37-45° and 3458° С 



The skin temperature is in still higher degree than the 

 temperature of the mouth influenced by the air temperature and 

 other atmospheric conditions. This can be shown directly for 

 the uncovered skin, not so easily where the skin is covered by 

 clothing, because the temperature of the air between the skin and 

 clothing cannot be accurately enough determined, and because 

 this temperature, as it changes much less than the air tempera- 

 ture in general, causes much weaker fluctuations in the skin 

 temperature in the parts dealt with here. As the functions of 

 the skin — even if facilitated by the clothing — are the same 

 whether the skin is covered or uncovered, nothing entitles us to 

 assume a fundamental difference in the skin temperature in the 

 two cases. The temperature on the forehead is appreciably 

 influenced by work of the brain and rises apparently during 

 meals. Transition from a silting to a lying position causes a 

 conspicuous rise of temperature on the forehead. 



It is naturally quite impossible to give an average for the 

 skin temperature, and the maximum and minimum values give 

 here but little information, the lower limit being specially decep- 

 tive; it means only that the observer has not been able or wil- 

 ling to stand the inconvenience involved in taking measurements 

 in low temperatures of the air. For the temperature of the 

 forehead my results vary between 35-7° and 246° С 





