132 PATHOLOGY 



condition are that the body is not able to appropriate 

 the carbohydrates for the production of energy, and 

 the unused glycogen passes off through the kidneys. 

 The proteins of the tissues are then drawn on for the 

 production of energy, their destruction leading to emaci- 

 ation, acid intoxication, coma, and death. 



Fever. Definition. Fever is that condition in which 

 the temperature of the body is above 98.6 F. In 

 health there is a constant relation of heat production to 

 heat dissipation, regulated by the nervous system. In 

 sickness the relation is disturbed, due either to increased 

 heat production or to decreased radiation or dissipation, 

 or to greater increase of production than increase in 

 dissipation. 



Causes of Fever. The primary causes of fever may 

 vary greatly, but they probably all depend upon the 

 liberation into the blood of toxic substances. It is the 

 toxins of bacteria that give rise to elevation of tempera- 

 ture in the various infectious diseases, and it is well 

 known that many injuries to the tissues give rise to the 

 production of toxic substances, either as the product of 

 disordered metabolism or of degeneration of tissue cells. 

 These toxic substances may so act upon the nervous sys- 

 tem as to cause elevation of temperature. Likewise, 

 toxic substances occur as the result of perverted digestive 

 action and decomposition in the intestinal tract. This 

 is a frequent cause of elevated temperature in infants 

 and children. 



