5§ t>RlNClpLES OF VfiTERIlSfARY SijR(3^RV 



these symptoms are preceded by chills of variable severity. 

 The chill may be described as the first stage of fever or the 

 period of invasion. During this phase of the disease, or soon 

 after, the temperature reaches its highest mark. At this 

 point the heat regulating apparatus seems to gain partial 

 control of the situation and prevents impending death from 

 hyperpyrexia. When the period of invasion is prolonged 

 there may be alternate exacerbations and remissions, and 

 the body w^ill, during the entire time, be warmed with the 

 greatest difficulty. The coldness of the surface will persist 

 as stubbornly as it does during the chill, which is manifested 

 by shaking of the body. The period of invasion or stage of 

 chill is then supplanted by the second stage of fever or period 

 of dominance. During this phase of the febrile state the tem- 

 perature fluctuates about a given point. It may be high in the 

 evening and lower during the morning hours. Sometimes the 

 reverse is seen but more often there is no regularity nor cer- 

 tainty in the variation. The same temperature is, however, 

 never maintained for a long time. Oscillation of the tempera- 

 ture is a characteristic feature of this stage. The period of 

 dominance varies, as to symptoms, according to its cause. In 

 organic inflammations the temperature must, of course, vary 

 largely in obedience to the trend of the inflammatory process. 

 When due to the continuous entry of toxins into the organism 

 the variation and the gravity will vary according to the 

 . amount and the character of the poison absorbed. The fact 

 that most febrile states in animals are due to either local in- 

 flammations or continuous morbid absorption renders this 

 stage of fever very atypical. Death may occur during this 

 period from the exhausting influence of a very high tempera- 

 ture, or from the onward march of the organic disease re- 

 sponsible for it. Dejection, inappetance and high pulse are 

 markedly in evidence. 



Next comes the period of defervescence, or third stage of 



