210 INFLUEN'CE OF TEMPEEATUEE ON THE MAMMALIAN HEAET. 



with the workinii of the cardiac needle, it is probable that the 

 temperature in the rectum was higher than in the thorax. In 

 Experiment VIII the heart became markedly irregular just 

 before it stopped. 



The effect of increased temperature on the pulse of healthy 

 men has been studied by Lemonnier, Currie, Bartels, Lieber- 

 meister * and others, and they all agree that the pulse rises 

 with the temperature. 



From an analysis of 280 cases, Liebermeister found that the 

 pulse became quick as the temperature rose, although the 

 amount of quickening was not the same for each degree of 

 increase. The regularity of the quickening was, however, quite 

 as great as that which I have found in rabbits, as is evident 

 from the numbers which he gives, and which I append here : 



Temperature 986° F. 99-5 100-4 101-3 102-2 103-1 104 104-9 105-8 106-7 107-6 

 ]\rean pulse 



rate . . 786 841 91-2 94-7 99 8 102-5 108-5 109-4 110 118-6 137-5 

 Increase for 



each -9° F. 55 7-1 3-5 5-1 27 6' '9 '6 8*6 189 



We see then that the number of pulsations increases with 

 the temperature in the hearts of frogs and rabbits, both when 

 •exercised and when in the body ; that it does so in healthy men, 

 and also in exactly the same way in a fever patient. 



In view of all these facts, even although we find so high an 

 authority as Wunderlichf stating that it is by no means cer- 

 tainly shown that the cardiac contractions are determined by 

 the temperature, it seems to me that we can hardly avoid the 

 conclusion that the quickness of the pulse in fever is mainly 

 ■clue to the higher temperature of the heart. 



Another question, however, now arises. Although the 

 higher temperature be the chief, is it the only cause of the 

 quickened pulse ? 



Liebermeister says that the rise of temperature can be 

 occasionally observed to precede the rise of the pulse; but 

 Wunderlich states, on the other hand, that it is more common 

 to find that the changes in the pulse have slightly preceded 



* Liebermeister, Beutsch. Arch.f. Tclin. Med., i, 463. 



f Wunderlich, Medical Thermometry, Syd. Soc. Trans., p. 440. 



