Temperature in relation to injuries of the head / by W. McAdam Eccles.

  • Eccles, William McAdam, 1867-1946.
Date:
[1895]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Temperature in relation to injuries of the head / by W. McAdam Eccles. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    6/12 (page 6)
    Temperature. August 8th. Before operation . After operation, 3 p.m. 7 p.m. II „ 9th. 3 a.m. 7 II „ 3 P-m- 7 ,> II „ loth. 3 a.m. 7 >, II „ 97.8° F. 97.8° 99 4° 101° 102.6° o lOI 103.6° 103-4° 102.6° 100.8° 100.4° 99.8° The question as to the cause of the high temperature in these cases is a deeply interesting one. There is a very great tendency at the present time to ascribe all temperatures to the effect produced by substances formed within the tissues by the action of micro-organisms, and this is no doubt the true cause in a large number of cases, especially those in which a wound co-exists. But it cannot be gainsaid that the nervous system itself has a very marked and distinctive action on changes in the body temperature. It will be better perhaps to defer the discussion of this subject until the second section has been alluded to. II. Changes in the temperature of different regions of the body, especially as exemplified by differences of temperature on the two sides of the body consequent upon head injuries. Here we are met with very significant facts, though as yet but little has been deduced from them. Many experimenters have shown that in the perfectly normal state of the body there is practically no difference in the degree of temperature of one side of the body when compared with that of the other. Some interesting observations were made by Dr. Blake,^ from which he found that exertion under the influence of powerful heat, such as that of the sun, tended to be followed by differ- ences of temperature on the two sides of the body, but he offers no explanation as to their cause. Very few observations of these differences have as yet been made after injuries to the head, and it is my hope that this