Physical diagnosis : a guide to methods of clinical investigation / by G.A. Gibson and William Russell.

  • Gibson, George Alexander, 1854-1913.
Date:
1890
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Physical diagnosis : a guide to methods of clinical investigation / by G.A. Gibson and William Russell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    ditioiis the order is reversed, and the temperature is higher in the morning than in the evening. The temperature is a factor of much importance in disease, and as its height varies, it may he necessary not only to take it morning and evening, hut at shorter intervals. As a rule, however, morning and evening observations are sufficient, and, save in exceptional circumstances, more frequent obser- vations are not practicable. In nearly all acute inflammatory diseases the temperature is elevated. In children, gastro-intestinal disturbances, due to indigestion, often j)roduce a rise of temperature of several degrees. AVe have also seen this in old people, but it is rare in them. Certain individuals have a very unstnble tempera- ture equilibrium, a slight catarrh or cold being sufficient to raise their temperature, and to lead to considerable dis- comfort ; while in others it requires a more serious condition to disturb the equilibrium. The length of time the temperature is raised depends on the duration and the nature of the illness, and is often the most reliable index as to its progress. The onset of acute disease is heralded by, amongst other symptoms, a more or less sudden rise in temperature, its course by a more or less continuously elevated one, and its decline by a gradual or sudden return to normal. Febricula is a short illness, lasting from twelve to forty- eight hours, usually inaugurated by a slight rigor, or a feeling of chilliness, and associated with a rise of tempera- ture of several degrees. It frequently occurs in women a few days after delivery, and some women are subject to them at intervals, their precise cause not always being apparent. They are popularly known as weeds. The chart Fig. 1 is from a case of this kind. In illnesses of longer duration, the temperature curve pre- sents some well-marked types. 1. First, there is the type of continued or sustained fever, followed by gradual decHne and return to normal, this mode