CONTAGIOUS DISEASES 303 



This daily rise in temperature, together with the per- 

 sistent cough and loss in flesh and strength, are such 

 marked signs of consumption that no time should be 

 lost in having a physician give the lungs and expecto- 

 ration a thorough examination. Every home should 

 possess a clinical thermometer (the small kind used to 

 take the body's temperature), which some members of 

 the family should learn to use. Such a thermometer 

 is placed under the lower part of the tongue and left 

 there three or four minutes, the lips being kept tightly 

 closed. If, when it is taken out, the mercury has 

 risen higher than ninety-eight and six-tenths degrees 

 it is evidence of fever. 



The higher the temperature the greater the fever, 

 and the more serious the condition of the sick person. 

 Any one whose temperature is above normal is not in 

 fit condition for work. If, after rest, such temperature 

 continues, especially when other alarming symptoms are 

 present, a doctor should be consulted. A temperature 

 of one hundred four degrees is very high. A person 

 becomes delirious at one hundred five degrees, and at 

 one hundred six degrees death may ensue. A tem- 

 perature below normal should also receive attention, 

 if found afternoons or evenings. The temperature 

 of a sick person is likely to be lower in the morning, 

 and higher towards evening, than at other times. 

 A record of a patient's temperature at various times 

 of the day is one of the most important sources of 

 information by which physicians watch the progress of 



