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162
The mean of the temperatures is thus considerably higher in both
sexes in the afternoon than in the morning.
The question naturally arises as to whether the temperatures
varying so much from the supposed normal are in any way correlated
with any of the commoner defects found in children, and, the two most
common defects being enlarged tonsils and decayed teeth, the correlation
between these conditions and the temperature was worked out.
Taking the teeth first, the mean temperature of the children with
four decayed teeth or more was found to be 98.74; that of children with
three decayed teeth or less was 98.78, as compared with that of 98.76 for
all children. The differences thus are trifling, and the correlation was
found to be .02, which, allowing for probable error, is nil.
With regard to the influence of enlarged tonsils on the temperature,
the mean temperature of the children with tonsils enlarged to any degree
was 98.75, that of the children with marked enlargement only was 98.66,
both of which. are lower than that of all children, and there is a negative
correlation of .06. The fact that the children with enlarged tonsils
have a slightly lower temperature might possibly be put down to the fact
that a large proportion of them have a certain amount of nasal obstruction,
which interferes with a correct temperature being recorded by the
thermometer in the mouth. The percentage of children, however, with
temperatures below 98.0 was for children with any degree of enlargement
of tonsils, 17.2; and with marked enlargement, 16.7; which is not very
different from 16.1, the percentage with temperatures under 98.0 for all
the children.
The mean temperature of the children with a family history of
consumption was 98.61, compared with 98.76 for all children. It is not
likely, therefore, that the high temperatures found in some of the children
is due to concealed tuberculosis, for we should expect those with a familyhistory
of consumption to be more likely to have hidden tuberculosis, and
therefore to have a higher mean temperature.
In order to find out whether there is any permanency in the
temperatures of children, the temperatures of 400 children were taken a
seeond time at an interval of between three and four months. The
relations between the two temperatures are shown in the following table,
where the groupings are in 0.4 degrees F., and the temperature is the
central temperature of the group. One case is omitted, having a temperature
at the first taking of 97.8, and at the second of 102.0, which latter
was due to a sore throat, for Which the child was excluded from school.