SOS Dr Davy on the Temperature of Man 
These girls and boys, at the excellent institution to which they 
belonged, were well clothed and fed, as well as usefully edu^ 
cated. At the time, they were cool, and in good health, and 
had not breakfasted. 
In the Kandian country, the climate of which in general very 
much resembles that of its capital, I have at different times as- 
certained the temperature of Kandians, Vaidas, Caffres, Ma- 
lays, Sepoys, and Englishmen. 
In Suffragan, a Kandian province, on the 17th of April 
1817, when the temperature of the air was 72°, at seven o’clock 
in the morning, I tried the temperature of an old Kandian, al- 
most a century old, and of a boy about 12 years old, both cool, 
but not cold : 
Old Man, Temp, under tongue, 95° In axilla, - 93° 
Boy, 98 96.5 
In Dombera, another Kandian province, on the 5th of Septem- 
ber, at one o’clock in the afternoon, when the temperature of 
the air was 76°, I tried the temperature of three Kandians, 
stout men, in the prime of life. 
No. 
Age. 
Temp, under Tongue. 
Temp, in Axilla. 
1 . 
24 
99° 
98° 
2. 
30 
98.5 
98 
3. 
33 
99 
97-5 
On the 7th of the same month, and in the same mountainous 
district, I tried the temperature of three Kandian priests : 
No. 
Age. 
Temp • under Tongue. 
1 . 
15 
99° 
2. 
16 
99 
3. 
30 
98 
At Kandy, on the 7th of February 1818, I tried the tempe- 
rature of two young priests, at five o’clock in the evening, when 
the air was 7 5° : 
No. Age. Temp, under Tongue. 
1. 15 99° 
2. 16 98.5 
The higher castes of Kandians, I may remark, to which the 
few subjects of my experiments belonged, are, for Indians, not 
only well formed, but stout and muscular men. Their food 
consists chiefly of rice and farinaceous fruits, which they use 
highly seasoned, and of milk, fowls, and game. Their drink is 
principally water, the use of intoxicating liquors being con- 
