Wooldridge — The Temperature of Healthy Dairy Cattle. 337 



Of the 63 healthy animals, only 7 had an average temperature 

 below 101° F. ; and the same number had an average temperature 

 of 102° F. or over. 



Thus my conclusion is : — that in healthy dairy cattle the 

 temperature may vary between 100"4° F. and 102'8° F., with an 

 average mean temperature of 101 "4° F. 



Some Causes of Variations. 



Time of Bay. — Some of the causes and the extent of the varia- 

 tions of temperature in health are well worthy of note ; and 

 therefore I made 370 observations on a dairy of 37 apparently 

 healthy cows, some in calf, and others not in calf. The tempera- 

 tures were taken twice daiiy for five consecutive days : in the 

 mornings, about 8 o'clock, and in the afternoons, between 4 and 

 5 o'clock, before feeding. The average morning temperature of 

 185 observations was 101-5° F., and the average evening tempe- 

 rature was 102° F. Thus we see an average rise of '5° F. from 

 morning to evening. 



Feeding is usually credited with some slight influence in raising 

 the temperature. In order to see to what extent this occurred, 

 I took the temperatures of the same 37 cows during feeding 

 between 4.30 and 5 p. m. The average temperature at that time 

 was found to be 102 - 3° F. As the average temperature of rest of 

 the same animals at the same hour on other days was found to be 

 102° F., it is permissible to assume that feeding was responsible 

 for an average rise of temperature of "3° F. 



Drinking, immediately before taking the temperature, is usually 

 responsible for a slight reduction ; but I have no records at hand 

 to show to what extent. 



Pregnancy. — To see the extent of the rise caused by this con- 

 dition, I made 60 observations on 6 apparently healthy, in-calf 

 cows. Their average was 102° F. On comparing that with 310 

 observations made on 31 non-pregnant cows kept in the same cow- 

 shed at the same time, the average of the latter being 101 # 7° F, a 

 rise of *3° F. is shown, presumably due to their pregnant condition. 



Various other conditions are said to cause variations of tem- 

 perature in health, such as oestrum, rumination, active lactation, 

 housing, and the time of year. Hadschopulo states that, in cold 



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