824 ANIMAL HEAT. 
Richet 1 has collected three cases in which the temperature rose to 
46°, but the patients recovered. Numerous other cases of high 
temperature in man are to be found scattered throughout medical 
literature. 2 
Experiments upon animals have determined more exactly the limit of 
high temperature. Bernard 3 found that when the internal temperature 
of rabbits was artificially raised to 45° they died : in birds the fatal 
limit was 51° or 52°. According to this physiologist, death was due to 
stoppage of the heart by the hot blood, which sent the muscle into rigor 
mortis. Rosenthal 4 obtained similar results for rabbits, but found that 
if the animal was removed to cooler surroundings when its temperature 
had reached 44°, recovery might take place. From these and similar ex- 
periments by Obernier, 5 Wood, 6 and others, it may be concluded that a 
bodily temperature of 45° is extremely dangerous, and one of 47° quickly 
fatal, to the life of mammals. The limit of high temperatures appears 
to be fixed by the point at which the proteids of the body begin to 
coagulate. 
The Temperature of Different Parts of the Body. 
The heat of the body is produced by processes of combustion taking 
place chiefly in the muscles and glands, while heat is lost chiefly from the 
surface of the skin. The result, therefore, is that the temperature of 
the body diminishes from the interior to the surface. It is impossible, 
however, to give any exact value to the temperature of different parts, 
because the production and loss of heat vary under different conditions 
of the animal, such as muscular activity and digestion. 
The temperature of internal parts in man. — In considering this 
subject, it is important to remember that the temperature taken by a 
thermometer placed in a dry, well-closed axilla represents the heat of 
an internal cavity ; Ringer and Stuart 7 even state that, " due care 
being taken and sufficient time allowed, the temperature of the axilla 
is always identical with that of the mouth, and with that of the rectum 
four to six inches above its termination." 
Upon the respective temperatures of the mouth, axilla, and rectum, 
there is a great want of agreement among observers. This is in great 
part due to the fact that in numerous cases insufficient time is allowed 
for the determination of temperature in the mouth and axilla : but there 
is another cause, which is beyond the control of the observer — the 
circulation of blood in the mouth and in the skin of the axilla is liable 
to marked variations. It will be well, therefore, to mention the dis- 
cordant results obtained, and then draw some general conclusion. As 
just mentioned, Ringer and Stuart state that the temperature in the 
axilla is identical with that of the mouth and rectum ; Ogle 8 says that 
1 Compt. rend. Soc. de Mail., Paris, 1894, p. 416. 
2 Hale White, Brit. Med. Jouni., London, 1894, vol. ii. p. 1093. Here numerous 
references will be found. See also Trans. Clin. Soc. London, 1SS2, vol. xv. p. 261. 
3 Gaz. med. de Paris, 1859, tome xiv. p. 462; " Leeons sur la ehaleur animale," 
p. 349. 
4 " Zur Kenntniss der Warmeregulirung bei den warmblutigen Thieren," Erlangen, 
1872, S. 15. 
5 " Der Hitzschlag," Bonn, 1867, S. 71. 
c "Fever," Smithson. Contrib. Khowl., Washington, 1880, No. 357. 
7 Proc. Roy. Soc London, 1S77, vol. xxvi. p. 186. 
8 St. George's Eosp. Rep., London, 1866, vol. i. p. 233. 
