INFL ('/:. m 'E OF FOOD. 
S09 
The influence of food.— The investigations of many observers * Bhow 
that theeffect of food upon the temperature of the body is to cause a slight 
rise, or, in the ease of the evening meals, to postpone for a short time 
the customary fall of temperature at that time. The rise is often in- 
appreciable and rarely exceeds half a degree; the maximal effect is 
seen about one hour and a half after the meal. A draught of cold water 
(10°) lowers the temperature about half a degree. 2 
In the case of the horse the effect of food is to cause a rise of o- 2 
to o- 8, which persists for three or four hours. 
Maurel 3 states that in the rabbit food is the chief cause of the daily 
variation in temperature, for if the animal be kept without food during 
the day but 1 ie fed during the night, the temperature shows a rise to the 
maximum, not at the usual time, in the evening, but in the morning. 
This is denied by Carter, 4 who observed an evening rise in the tempera- 
ture of rabbits which had fasted three days. 
Bernard 5 determined the temperature of the blood of the portal and 
hepatic veins under different conditions as regards the nutrition of the 
animals, and came to the conclusion that more heat was produced in the 
liver during digestion. The following are some of his results : — 
Blood of Portal 
Vein. 
Blood of Hepatic 
Vein. 
Blood of Right 
Side of Heart. 
Dog — After fasting for four days 
,, Beginning of digestion . 
,, In full digestion . 
37°-8 
39°-9 
39 : T 
38°-4 
39°-5 
41 0> 3 
38°'8 
39° -2 
The effect of starvation upon the temperature of animals has been 
studied chiefly by Chossat, 6 and Bidder and Schmidt. 7 The first observer 
made experiments on twelve pigeons, and he found that the rectal 
temperature gradually fell until a short time before death ; during the 
period of inanition the daily variation in temperature became more 
marked, and towards the end of life a rapid fall in temperature occurred. 
The results are shown in the table on p. 810. 
On the day of death the temperature of the pigeon fell to 26° - 2. 
Similar experiments on turtle-doves, hens, rooks, rabbits, and guinea- 
pigs gave the following temperatures: — 22 3 '9, 28°"2, 34 "3, 27°'0, and 23° - 9 
respectively on the day of death. 
Bidder and Schmidt experimented upon a cat, and found that after 
1 Davy, Phil. Trails., London, 1845, pt. 2, p. 319; ibid., 1850, p. 444; Damrosch, 
Deutsche" KHnil:. Berlin, 1853, S. 317 ; Jiirgensen, <: Korperwanne des gesunden Menschen," 
Leipzig, 1873, S. 21; Deutsche* Arch. f. Min. Med., Leipzig, 1867, Bd. iii. S. 165; 
Ringer and Stuart, Proc. Roy. Soc. London, 1877, vol. xxvi. p. 194 ; Ogle, St. George's 
Bosp. Pep., London, 1866, vol. i. ; Crombie, Indian Ann. Med. Sc, Calcutta, 1S73, vol. 
xvi. p. 581. 
2 Liebermeister, " Handbuch d. Path. u. Therap. des Fiebers," Leipzig, 1875, S. 123 ; 
Wunderlicb, "Medical Thermometry"; Siedamgrotzky, Deutsche Ztschr. f. Thiermed., 
Leipzig, 1875, Bd. i. S. 87. 
* Cornpt. rend. Soc. de biol., Paris, 1884, p. 588. 
4 Journ. Nero, and Meat. Dis., X.Y., 1890, vol. xvii. p. 785. 
5 " Lecons sur la chaleur animale," Paris, 1876. 
6 " Recherches experimentales sur l'inanition," Paris, 1843, quoted from Gavarret, 
" De la chaleur etc.," p. 394. 
7 "Die Verdauungssafte und der Stoffwechsel," Leipzig, 1852, S. 322. 
