ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE 



253 



take to be, subcutaneously, about 100 F. Protoplasm 

 dies, I am informed, at about 114 F., and as we know 

 that cells do die in the area affected by acute inflammation, 

 we have a right to postulate that, in that area, there may 

 be a rise of temperature of at least 10 F. above the normal. 



And with what result ? 



Suppose a submarine telegraph cable to connect two 

 stations, A and B, and the battery at the sending station, 

 A, to have just sufficient E.M.F. to overcome the resistance 

 and allow for the leakage of- the cable and actuate the 

 receiving instrument at B. What would happen if at some 

 point intermediate between A and B the dielectric the 

 gutta-percha of the cable became heated to 110 F. ? 

 There would be a loss of fifty per cent, of its insulation, an 

 escape to earth at the fault and interrupted or faulty 

 communication with B. The following diagrams will make 

 this clear, assuming the leak to be equidistant between 

 A and B 



Jformql Condition 

 Fig. 141. 



Fig. 142. 



That, approximately, is what occurs when the resistance 

 of, say, a nerve-sheath, or the coating of a non-medullated 

 nerve, is partly broken down by the rise of temperature 



