202 Prof. S. Ringer and Mr. A. P. Stuart on the 



Time 

 before 

 breakfast. 



ture. 



Rise 

 before 

 food. 



Rise 

 after 

 food. 



Duration 

 of the 

 Rise. 





h m 



O 



o 



o 



h m 





1 15 



96-6 







1-2 



45 



Remained fixed. 



50 



97-4 



0-4 



1-0 



40 



Remained the same. 



1 5 



98 







0-6 



1 15 





45 



97 



o 



14 



50 



Then" fell 0°'4. 



3 15 



97-6 







0-4 



4 15 





1 5 



97-6 







10 



1 25 





45 



97-6 







02 



45 





1 10 



96-6 







0-8 



1 5 





O ID 







U o 







Average 





009 



0-82 



1 28 





45 



98 



02 



0-8 



18 



Mary Lyon. 



It thus appears that after breakfast the temperature of these men 

 rose considerably, the average being o, 8, sufficient, it may be said, to show 

 that the food is capable of causing an elevation in the temperature of the 

 body, especially as in many of the days no rise took place before 

 breakfast, the temperature having been taken at this time for several 

 hours. 



We are constrained to admit that perhaps this rise in the axilla was due 

 to the food ; although opposed to this admission, we might urge the fact 

 that on three days, when the temperature of Jones and Tarves was taken 

 during the morning hours, while they were kept fasting, an average rise 

 of o, 7 occurred, being almost identical with that which took place on 

 other days when they partook of food. 



Assuming that this rise in the axilla was really due to food, How was 

 the rise caused ? Was it due to a general elevation of the body tempera- 

 ture, owing to increased consumption of the food ? or was it due to other 

 causes ? It could hardly be due to increased oxidation of food, for we 

 should expect the elevation to be most marked at the time during which 

 the food was most rapidly absorbed and carried to the tissues. But in 

 these men the rise in the temperature occurred much sooner than this, 

 being completed on an average in an hour and twenfcy-eight minutes, 

 and in several cases in fifty minutes, in some even in thirty, although 

 there was a considerable rise on these days ; yet at the time the influence 

 of food would be expected to be most marked the temperature either 

 remained unchanged or in some instances it even fell. 



Further, it may be remarked that were the rise after breakfast due to 

 combustion of the food, we should expect that a similar rise would occur 

 after the dinner, which was a heartier meal than the breakfast ; but the 

 rise after dinner was much less than that after breakfast. 



