Studies of heat regulation in the sheep, with special reference to the Merino

Abstract

This paper is a tentative application to a particular animal, the sheep, of concepts concerning heat regulation in 'warm-blooded' animals, built up over ten years of laboratory, field, and library inquiry. The heat exchange between the animal and its environment is first analysed in a quantitative, physical fashion, and the deficiencies in present knowledge are pointed out. The ways in which the animal body attempts to maintain a heat balance are next considered, and the secondary consequences of these processes to the animal economy indicated. The paper concludes with a brief consideration of the comparative aspects. It is essentially a formulation of the way in which the thermal physiology of any animal should be considered, using the sheep as a convenient example. Many of the data are drawn from work carried out under the author's direction.