SOME PHYSIOLOGIC CHANGES DURING HYPERPYREXIA INDUCED BY PHYSICAL MEANS

Forty-six years ago Dr. William H. Welch wrote: "Enlightened physicians have held the opinion that fever is a process which aids in the elimination or destruction of injurious substances which gain access to the body. The doctrine of evolution indicates that a process which characterizes the reaction of all warm blooded animals against the invasion of harmful substances has not been developed to so wide an extent and is not retained with such pertinacity without subserving some useful purpose." 1 Recent advances in the application of fever as a therapeutic agent have tended to substantiate the correctness of these ideas. The treatment of a large series of cases by substantial elevation of body temperature within a short period of time offered us a unique opportunity for the study of the physiologic changes in the body induced in response to high temperatures. These observations are of practical value, as they permit