Temperature of the Human Body During Complete Rest in Bed.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 1, Issue 42, 1 January 1880, Page 4

Temperature of the Human Body During Complete Rest in Bed.

An interesting series of observations relating to this subject has been recently described to the French Accademy by M. Boijnal, They were more than a thousand in number, extending over seven years, and were made at Nice, Millau (Aveyron), Paris, and Aix-les-Bains, on five persons, of ages varying from 12 to 66 years. Regard was had to climate, season, day, night, abstinence, digestion, age, and sex. The following are the principal results arrived at ;=~The variations of temperature cf the exterior »ir influence very appreciably the heat of a person placed in an apartment, though the temperature of the latter has not varied (The action of the surrounding medium only modifies the peripheric temperature of the body.) In every season the minimum of (rectal) temperature is observed between midnight and 3 a,m. At Nice, in winter, it is rarely under 36'3 deg, 0.; in Paris sometimes 36 'OS deg, Inmimmer, after several days high temperjjgSrc, the minimum if generally 36-4 temperature is not so marked if one is seated reading or writing, instead of lying in bed. From 3 a.m. the temperature rises constantly till 9 a.m,, when it reaches, e.g., 36'9 deg, in Winter, and 36 9 deg. to 37 - 35 deg. in summer, In every season the maximum is generally found to occur between 2 and 4 p.m., but in summer, when the atmospheric temperature has been very high for-one or two weeks, the the maximum may be delayed till 8 p.m. In winter, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. the variations of temperature do not exceed three or four-tenths of a degree centigrade ; in summer they may reach six-tenths. At 9

p.m. the temperature is generally 34 - 7 deg. or 36 - 9 deg. in winter and 37, deg. or 37.5 deg. in summer. From 9p. m. the temperature sinks gradually to the minimum, but sometimes about midnight the descent is very rapid. Sleep or waking, abstinence or digestion, age or sex, do not modify the course of the temperature, provided the body be kept at perfect rest. These facts should prove useful the physician and physiologist.