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161
of an hour. When this was done the temperature always went up
considerably. It was not, however, possible to do this in many cases with
the time at our disposal. If it were possible to have verified in
this way all the temperatures under 98.0, these would, no doubt, have
been considerably reduced, and the average temperatures would have been
higher.
We note that barely 10 per cent of the children have a temperature
of 98.4; that over 40 per cent of the children have a temperature above
99.0; and that about 4 per cent. have a temperature over 100.0; and that
the largest groups are those with temperatures of 99.0 and 99.2, and after
these is the group of those having a temperature of 98.4.
There is no substantial difference in mean temperature between
the two ages of ten and thirteen, but there is a substantial difference
between the two sexes. There is a much larger relative proportion of
boys with temperatures under 98.0, and the girls have a much larger
relative proportion with temperatures above 99.0 and 100.0.
If we exclude all temperatures under 98.0, the higher relative
temperature of the girls still persists, as will be seen in the table below:—

There is no doubt, then, that the temperature of children is variable,
ranges up to about 100.6 in children with perfect health, and is
higher in girls than in boys.
At first the time at which the temperature was taken was not
recorded, but for the following 988 children the time was noted.