F. C. MINETT and S.
SEN
65
Cows of the milking herd were also
oused in the shed from 2 p.m. to 7-30
m.
Sheep (at Izatnagar). Ten male sheep
of 'country' breed were used, all 1-1½
eárs old. At the first experiment their
body weights were 36-44 lb. and at the
second 44-60 lb. They were tied about 2-
eet apart in a shed open on the east side.
They had not been recently shorn;
Goats. Ten were used in each series
of experiments; before the second experi-
-ent (June) there were three replace-
ments. Four were males and nine were
females, and all but one were 1½ years old,
me being four years old. At the first
experiment their weights were 26-40 lb.
and at the second 30-52 lb. They were
oused with the sheep, and as with sheep
water was offered after every tempera-
ture-recording.
Fowls. Nine cocks, 1 year old and about
lb. in weight, were used, mostly White
Leghorn-desi cross. They were kept in
separate cages in a large laboratory, the
doors and windows of which were kept open
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the May
experiment. Food and water were always
available in the cage.
Sheep (at Mukteswar). Nine sheep,
1-1½ years of age, were selected as being
n reasonable health, though three of them
ad 'snuffles'. They had been shorn eleven
days before the experiment. They were
kept untethered in a shed, the air temper-
ature of which was maintained at 69-
4°F.
Hill-bulls. Ten were used and they
were housed in the shed which had been
used for the sheep. The air temperature
was maintained at 70-75ºF. They were
watered three hours before the experiment
was started and immediately afterwards.
Hay was fed at 6 a.m.
PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTS
The personal factor in temperature-taking
This is a matter, the importance of
which cannot be too often stressed, especia-
lly since the work is frequently placed in |the
hands of uninstructed subordinates. The
technique of individuals varies, both in
respect of the time the thermometer is
allowed to remain in the rectum and the
depth to which it is inserted. In order to
check up these points some experiments
were arranged. In one of these, six obser-
vers, all professionally qualified, were.
engaged to take the temperatures of five
cows and five buffaloes, one observer (F.C.
M.) acting as control. None of the others was
informed of the object of the experiment, but
an instruction was given that the thermo-
meter was to remain in the rectum for
exactly one minute from the time it was
considered to be in position. The obser-
vers passed from one animal to another
as quickly and as quietly as possible and no
observer was aware of the readings of the
others. All the thermometers were checked
before use in water at 97º, 101ºand 104°F. and
showed differences of not more than 0.2ºF.
and usually not more than 0.1ºF.
With the cows, the differences between
the highest and lowest readings were: 1.3,
0.9; 0.2, 1.6, and 0.5ºF. (mean 0.9ºF.) and
with the buffaloes 2.0, 1.2, 0.9, 1.1 and
1.4ºF. (mean 1.3ºF.). The differences bet-
ween the highest and next lowest readings
were 0.8, 0.7,0.l,0.9, 0.3ºF. (mean 0.56º F.)
with cows and 1.4, 0.8, 0.5, 0.7, 0.8ºF. (mean
0.84º F.) with buffaloes. One observer
gave almost consistently the lowest read-
ings, obviously because he had not inser-
ted the thermometer to its full depth.
The next experiment was designed to
show the effect of inserting the thermome-
ter to different depths. Ten cows were
used and most of the work was done by
one observer. Differences from the true
temperature (i.e. when thermometer was
fully inserted) were
1. when little more than the bulb was
inserted, range 0.3 to 1.5ºF. (mean 0.6F.),
2, when the bulb was inserted an extra
cm.—range 0.1 to 0.6ºF. (mean 0.3ºF).
These facts, which merely confirm some
observations made long ago by Hobday
[1896], require no comment. Incidentally,
when the air temperature is higher than
the rectal temperature, the bulb of the
thermometer should be covered with damp
cotton-wool the moment the instrument