[ 335 ] 



XXIX. 



THE TEMPEEATUEE OF HEALTHY DAIEY CATTLE. 



By G. H. WOOLDEIDGE, M.E.C.V.S., 



Professor of Medicine, Eoyal Veterinary College of Ireland. 



[Read, March 21; Received for Publication, March 24; Published, April 20, 1905.] 



I have "been impressed on many occasions when referring to the 

 works of various observers, by the considerable differences in the 

 average temperatures of apparently healthy cattle quoted by them, 

 and also by the variations one might expect to meet with during 

 health. Consequently I determined to make observations with a 

 view to ascertaining, as far as possible, the mean temperatures of 

 healthy cattle taken per rectum, and the extremes between which 

 they might be expected to fluctuate under normal conditions. 



Robertson 1 made observations on 352 cows and oxen, and gave 

 101-9° F. (38-85° C.) as an average, with extremes of 100° and 

 104-5° F. 



Singleton 1 gives an average of 101-5° F. (38 - 6° C), with extremes 

 of 100° and 103-3° F. His observations number 100. 



Hobday 1 made observations on eighty-seven cows, and agreed 

 with Singleton in the case of the mean temperature, viz. 101-5° F. ; 

 but his range is a little lower, 99-5° F. to 103° F. 



Fred. Smith 2 gives 101-8° F. to 102° F. (38-7° C. to 38-8° C). 

 Colin, 3 Meade Smith, 4 and Thanhoffer, 5 all give identical figures, 

 viz. 100-4° F. to 101-3° F. (38° C. to 38-5° C). 



Friedberger and Frohner 6 give 101-8° F. (38-8° C.) as the 

 average, and quote Hadschopulo, who took 50,000 temperatures 

 at Moscow, and gave an average falling between 101-1° F. and 

 101-8° (38-4° C. to 38-8° C). 



1 Quoted by Schafer, " Text-book of Physiology," p. 790. 



2 "Veterinary Physiology," p. 306. 



3 " Traite de Physiologie Comparee des Animaux, vol. 1, p. 1046. 



4 " Physiology of the Domesticated Animals," p. 696. 



5 " Vergleichenden Physiologie und Histologie," pp. 476, 477. 



6 " Lehrbuch der Klinischen Untersuchungsmethoden," p. 166. 



SCIENT. PROC. R.D.S., VOL. X., PART III. 2 E 



