A manual of infectious diseases / by E.W. Goodall and J.W. Washbourn.

Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of infectious diseases / by E.W. Goodall and J.W. Washbourn. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    INFECTIOUS DISEASES. CHAPTER I. FE VER. AWARM-BLOODED differs from a cold-blooded animal in the fact that its temperature remains at a fairly constant level under varying conditions of the external temperature. In man the normal temperature ranges between 97-8° and 98-8° Fahr., the highest point being reached towards six o'clock in the evening, and the lowest about two o'clock in the morning. In children the range is larger and the variation less constant. We shall have to consider, firstly, the way in which the body temperature is maintained ; secondly, the way in which it is regulated; and, lastly, the way in which it is altered during fever. Production and Loss of Heat. The heat of the body is supplied by the oxidation which is constantly occurring in all the tissues during their destructive metabolism. All the active tissues are sources of heat to the body ; but the muscles and such large glands as the liver contribute by far the largest share. During the contraction of the muscles a large amount of heat is produced, and if the muscles of an animal are tetanised by stimulating the spinal cord, the