GENERAL EXAMINATION. 



23 



Pig. 1. 



a 



or windpipe, or from fractures of the ribs, with complicated inju- 

 ries of the lungs. Emphysema may also occur from gas formed 

 by breaking down of the contents of abscesses or hemorrhagic 

 infiltrations. 



Temperature. The temperature of the body in dogs is very 

 uniform, being 38.5° Celsius. It may, however, vary from 38"^ 

 to 39° C. As a rule, younger animals have a slightly higher tem- 

 perature than older subjects. 



The temperature is generally taken by means of what is known 

 as the blood-thermometer (Fig. 1). The thermometer is intro- 

 duced into the rectum as far up as possible. Hard, 

 dry pieces of excrement or a high inflammatory con- 

 dition of the bowel may prevent the thermometer giv- 

 ing the exact temperature of the body, and it should 

 be allowed to remain at least four or five minutes, 

 according to the sensitiveness of the instrument. The 

 thermometer can also be introduced into the vagina of 

 the bitch; and from a number of observations made 

 by M. Tempel, of Dresden, the lower bowel-tempera- 

 ture is slightly lower than that of the vagina. It is 

 better, as a rule, in severe cases to take the tempera- 

 ture at least twice daily — in the morning and the early 

 evening (from three to five o'clock, when the tem- 

 perature is highest in the day); or, if you wish to 

 follow minutely the course of the temperature, it can 

 be taken hourly; The translator believes that this 

 does more harm than the results gained, as the hourly 

 insertion of the thermometer and the irritation of a 

 very sick animal make it restless and afraid of the 

 attendant. The temperature should always be kept 

 on a temperature-chart (Fig. 2), and can be watched 

 with much more certainty than trusting to the mem- 

 ory. Any change in the temperature as indicated 

 in the chart, either rise or fall, indicates some change in the 

 animal's condition, and should be considered a symptom. 



Increased Temperature op the Body. As soon as we detect 

 an increase of the temperature of the body above the normal that 

 we know is not due to overheating or too great exertion we define 

 it under the name of fever. 



Thermometer. 



