612 FEVER 



These are but trifling accessions, if we recall that Kubner 

 was able to raise the heat production to 160 : 100 in the dog 

 merely by overfeeding with protein, and that they can be 

 multiplied by severe muscular movements." 



Rise of Reaction Velocity of Metabolic Processes with 

 the Temperature. A second important element must be 

 recognized in the rule governing chemical processes of 

 every sort, whether they take place within or outside the 

 body, that every rise of temperature is associated with an 

 increase in the velocity of reaction. Indeed, according to 

 Vant'Hoff, for a rise of ten degrees of temperature the 

 rapidity of reaction may be observed to be doubled or 

 trebled. This " reaction-velocity- temperature " rule (RVT- 

 rule or RGT-rule, as Kanitz calls it) 6 holds in a very great 

 number of biological processes. Thus, for instance, it has 

 been proved in the assimilation and output of carbonic acid 

 by plants, in the budding of yeast, cell-division of fertilized 

 frog-ova and sea-urchin ova, the frequence of action of the 

 pulsating vacuole in infusoria, the heart beat in cold-blooded 

 and warm-blooded animals, in the rhythmic movements of 

 the frog's O3sophagus and the small intestine, and in the 

 transmission of stimulation processes in nerves. 7 Obviously 

 the rule is effective only up to that limit of temperature 

 (about 40 C.) within which beginning protein coagulation 

 does not give rise to disturbing changes. 



The dependence of the gas metabolism upon temperature 

 was recognized some time since by Pfliiger in case of cold- 

 blooded animals. In the warm-blooded animal as well, in 

 which normally the influence of the surrounding tempera- 

 ture is masked by regulatory processes, the same feature 

 is manifested, provided these are partly excluded by section 

 of the cord or by curare poisoning. In fact, as previously 

 stated, the minimal metabolism in inhabitants of the tropics 



Cf. A. Kanitz, R. O. Herzog, R. Abegg, Zeitsckr. f . Elektrochem., 1905- 

 1907. 



7 Literature: K. Spiro, Handb. d. Biochem., 2', 4, 1910. 



