Abstract
Measurement of oral and skin temperature at ten sites was made on 11 young male New Guineans, ages 19-24, in Port Moresby in September, 1978 and 15 young male Japanese, ages 19-22, in Japan in September while sitting in a chair at rest in a room maintained at 28.0 C with 70.0 per cent relative humidity.
Both groups showed the same oral temperature (37.2 C). New Guineans showed a lower mean skin temperature (34.4 C) than Japanese (34.9 C).
Skin temperature in the extremities was significantly lower for New Guineans than for Japanese, and thermal heterogeneity of skin surface for New Guineans was greater than that for Japanese in a warm environment. The differences in skin temperatures measured were discussed in view of physiology of acclimatization to hot environments.
