122 GENERAL SCIENCE 



feeling the brow or the hand still in vogue. The clincial ther- 

 mometer tells the nurse or family of the approaching fever. 



If the thermometer registers 100 F. the fever is slight; at 

 102 F. the fever is rising; at 103 F. it is serious; at 106 F. the 



FIG. 95. A clinical thermometer in a case. 



condition is alarming, as over this temperature the disease may prove 

 fatal. 



Bath thermometers are useful, as one may regulate the tem- 

 perature of the bath to that best suited to the individual need. 



Cool bath, 66 F.; cold bath, lower than 60 F.; tem- 

 perate bath, 78 F.; tepid bath, 86 F.; normal tem- 

 perature bath, 98 F.; hot bath, 105 F. Often a normal 

 temperature bath (98 F.) is a, remedy for insomnia if the 

 body is submerged in the warm water and allowed to 

 remain until a feeling of drowsiness comes on. 



Another highly important use of the thermometer 

 is for the home. No home should be without a reliable 

 thermometer. An ideal temperature for indoors is 68 F. 

 If the temperature rises to 75, we are living in a room 

 which is too warm, the air of which is probably unfit 

 for respiration. 



J B a t~h Temperature. Temperature is familiar to all. Certain 

 t h e r - fixed temperatures serve as starting points. The point 

 mometer. most familiar is the temperature of the body, which is 

 about 98.6 F. Objects are said to be " warm " " hot," 

 " cool," or " cold," compared with the body temperature. We 

 say a thing feels cold to us when it is colder than the temperature 

 of the body, and warm to us when it is warmer than the temper- 

 ature of the body. 



With reptiles and cold-blooded animals the standard is different, 

 and objects which feel cold to us may feel warm to the snake or 

 turtle. 



