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Publish Date: 1907/05/04
Volume: XLVIII, Issue: 18, Pages: 1531-1531
Abstract
Various definitions of the febrile process have been given but none is entirely satisfactory by reason of the incompleteness of our knowledge concerning the underlying mechanisms Fever has been attributed to excessive oxidation but convincing demonstration is lacking that increased amounts of oxygen are constantly taken up by the body and increased amounts of carbon dioxid are constantly given off or that an increased amount of heat is generated or a deficient amount dissipated That fever and pyrexia are not one is generally recognized although the latter usually though not always accompanies the former Dr Woods Hutchinson1 indulges in an interesting disquisition on this subject expressing the view that the phenomena of fever appear to be due to a general disorganization and perversion of normal metabolism by toxins with conversion of the energy ordinarily expended in secretion growth motion etc into the waste product heat He holds that metabolism
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