519 
of Edinburgh, Session 1868-69. 
3. Observations on the Temperature of Newly-born Child- 
ren. By T. J. Maclagan, M.D., Dundee. Communicated 
by J. Matthews Duncan, M.D. 
That the temperature of the child is not the same as that of the 
adult has long been a generally acknowledged fact, but wherein 
and to what extent it differs is a point on which definite informa- 
tion is wanting. With the object of determining this point, the 
author took advantage of the opportunities afforded by a residence 
in the Edinburgh Maternity Hospital, to note the temperature of a 
number of children at the time of birth, and at frequently repeated 
intervals during the first few days of extra-uterine life. The 
result of these observations was to show that the child at birth 
partook of the temperature of the mother — that as soon as it com- 
menced its separate existence the heat imparted by the parent was 
no longer maintained, but was rapidly lost, till, in a few hours (the 
exact period varying in different cases), the thermometer indicated 
a temperature one, two, three, or even six degrees below the normal 
standard of the adult. A rise then took place, and generally within 
twenty-four hours after birth the range might be regarded as 
normal. This normal range of the child, however, was about one 
degree lower than the adult range of health. The rapid fall which 
was shown to take place immediately after birth, was believed to be 
due to the refrigerating influence of the external air on the blood 
in the lungs, the nervous influence which is requisite to give to 
the respiratory act its heat-producing effect, not being in full force 
at the time of birth. The lower range which existed during the 
first few days, after the primary temporary depression had been 
recovered from, was believed to be caused, in part at least, by the 
defective purification of the blood, consequent on the patent condi- 
tion of the foramen ovale and ductus arteriosus. 
In delicate and premature children all the peculiarities indicated 
were observed in an exaggerated degree. 
4. On the Growth, Development, and Situation of the Human 
Foetal Heart. By Professor Macdonald. 
The earliest condition of the embryonic vascular system, as 
described by Wagner and other embryologists, consists of a veno- 
3 Y 
VOL. VI. 
