EVOLUTION OP HEAT. 619 



observations have been made on this subject by M. Donne r 1 in a case of puer- 

 peral fever, the pulse being 168, and the respiration 48 per minute, the tempera- 

 ture was 104; in a case of hypertrophy of the heart, the pulse being 150 and 

 the respirations 34, the temperature was 103 ; in a case of typhoid fever, the 

 pulse being 136, and the respirations 50, the temperature, was 104 ; and in a 

 case of phthisis, the pulse being 140, and the respirations 62, the temperature 

 was 102 ; on the other hand, in a case of jaundice, in which the pulse was but 

 52, the temperature was only 96.40 ; but the same temperature was observed 

 in a case of diabetes, in which the pulse was 84. These limited observations, 

 whilst they clearly indicate that a general relation exists between the tempera- 

 ture of the body and the rapidity of the pulse, also show that this relation is 

 by no means invariable, but that it is liable to be affected by several causes, of 

 which our knowledge is as yet very limited. It is not a little remarkable that 

 the temperature of the body should sometimes rise considerably after death ; 

 and this not merely in such diseases as Cholera, in which it has undergone an 

 extreme depression during the latter part of life; but even in the case of febrile 

 disorders, in which the temperature during life has been above the usual stand- 

 ard. This has been ascertained by Dr. Bennett Dowler 3 of New Orleans, on 

 the bodies of those yellow-fever subjects which have already been referred to as 

 exhibiting a remarkable degree of molecular life after somatic death ( 328, 

 552). In one case, for example, the highest temperature during life was in 

 the axilla, 104 ; ten minutes after death it had risen to 109 in the axilla ; 

 fifteen minutes afterwards it was 113 in an incision in the thigh; in twenty 

 minutes the liver gave 112 ; in one hour and forty minutes, the heart gave 

 109, and the thigh in the former incision 109 ; and in three hours after the 

 removal of all the viscera, a new incision in the thigh gave 110. It is curious 

 that the maximum of the heat observed after death should have been in the 

 thigh, and the minimum in the brain ; as is shown in the following table of the 

 highest amount of temperature noted in eight different regions in five subjects : 



Thigh. Epigastrium. Axilla. Chest. Heart. Brain. Rectum. Liver. 



113 111 



109 110 



109 109 



109 109 



108 109 



Mean 109.6 109.6 108.2 106.1 105.6 100.6 108 108.4 



653. Although there appears to be, for all species of animals, a distinct limit 

 to the variations of bodily temperature, under which their vital operations can 

 be carried on, this limitation does not prevent animals from existing in the 

 midst of great diversities of external conditions ; since they have within them- 

 selves the power of compensating for these, in a very extraordinary degree. 

 This power seems to exist in Man to a higher amount than in most other ani- 

 mals; since he cannot only support but enjoy life, under extremes, of which 

 either would be fatal to many. In many parts of the tropical zone, the ther- 

 mometer rises every day, through a large portion of the year, to 110; and in 

 British India it is said to be seen occasionally at 130. On the other hand, 

 the degree of cold frequently sustained by Arctic voyagers, and quite en- 

 durable under proper precautions, appears much more astonishing; by Captain 

 Parry, the thermometer has been seen as low as 55, or 87 below the freez- 

 ing point; by Captain Franklin at 58, or 90 below the freezing point; and 



' "Archives Gen. de Med.," Oct. 1835; and " Brit, and For. Med. Rev.," vol. ii. p. 248. 



2 "Western Journal of Medicine and Surgery," June and Oct., 1844; cited in "Phila- 

 delphia Medical Examiner," June, 1845, and in Prof. Dunglison's "Human Physiology," 

 7th edit., vol. ii. p. 718. 



