The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-10-08
HEAT Or THE BODY.
Climatic Variations Do Not Affect
Internal Conditions.
MANS NORMAL TEMPERATURE
II Is ss.e Degrees When Taken Under
the Tongue Whether One Lives In
the Arctic Regions or In the Trop cs.
Some Record Fever Temperatures.


the Tongue Whether One Lives In
the Arctic Regions or In the Trop, 90.
Some Record Fever Temperatures.
The normal temperature of human
being is generally given as 9s6 de.
grees, but the statement must be slight
y qualified. 1t Is the normal. temper
ature when taken by placing the ther-
mometer under the tongue or in the
armpt or the groin. i
The surface temperature OF the head,
hands or abdomen varies from 96 de-
grees TO 93 degrees or even lower. That
OF the internal regions may go up to
1922 degrees, that being the average
heat of the blood circulating In the
liver and some other organs.
But aS.G degrees Is called the normal
temperature Of human being. and 1t
doesn't matter whether he lives In the
desert of Sahara or I'm Greenland, ac-
cordlng to writer in the Technical
World. Awake or asleep, at work or
just loafing, n mans temperature re-
mains practically ut this Level.
When 1t varies more than the fraction
Of degree 1t Is because the heat reg
ulatlng mechanism Is disarranged by
disease or by abnormal conditions of
some sort. Excessively high measures
of heat may be borne for several min
utes by an individual without raising
| his temperature more than fraction
of degree. Persons who sometimes
are styled human salamanders have
given exhibitions OF their ability to
stand high temperatures.
There is an authentic case recorded
Of Martinez, the so called French sala-
mander, a baker by trade, who exposed
himself to high temperatures from boy.
hood. He remained In an oven erected
In the Tlvoll gardens for fourteen min.
utes when the temperature In II was
1888 degrees. His pulse on entering
was seventy-six q minute and had
reached 100 when he came out. He
often duplicated this performance.
Chamouni, celebrated Russian sal
amander, who called himself "the in
combustlble," used to go into an oven
and stay while leg Of mutton was
roasted there, not coming out until the
meat was well done. He eventually
lost his life In one Of these perform
ances.
Fever Is a rise Of temperature above
the normal level. This rise is seldom
beyond Jog degrees. Mental and nerv-
Gus influences may so act for time as
to disorder the control Of the ther-
motaxic nerve center and cause fever.
1t Is interesting to note some of the
high temperatures which are on med
Ical record us having actually occurred
In certain diseases. Guys hospital In
London records the case Of hyster-
lcal woman afflicted with tuberculosis
Of one lung who showed 100 degrees.
At meeting of the Association of
American Physicians in 1895 DR.. ia
cobi of New York reported patient
In whom fevsr reached the almost In
credible fguie Of 14S degrees II. This
case occurred In a hysterical fireman
who had suffered severe injury from
Il fall
In the discussion which followed the
report of this case among the members
of the association DR.. Welch of Balti-
more referred to condition of hyper
thermy that had come to his knowl-
edge In which the temperature was
recorded as III degrees II. OF course
such exceedingly high temperatures
are Of only short duration or death
would ensue.
Fever is rot the only disturbance
which may alter temperature. Certain
conditions, especially those due to dis
eases like tuberculosis, acute alcohol.
Ism, melancholia, conyalescence from
, fevers. poisoning from various drugs,
and so forth, may cause the bodily
warmth to become subnOrmal. In
, juries and surgical shock also origl.
nate the same effect. Starvation al.
, ways induces gradual fall
, Low temperatures are always dan
ger0us and unless a reaction quickly
!, ensues, by aid Of relief measures, a
, fatal termination may be expected
The lowest recorded during life that
may be regarded as reliable is one re-
ported by Duffy In which the ther'
mometer registered "a degrees r.
Death ensued the following day.
The body, however, can Withstand
extreme cold more readily than 1t can
extreme heat before the regulating
center becomes disordered, and so
other things being equal, freezing tc
death Is not as common In cold eli
mates as sunstroke is In warm.