OBSERVATIONS ON THE DIURNAL TEMPERATURE VARIATION OF CYNOMOLGUS MONKEYS (Macaca irus) AND ON THE EFFECT OF CHANGES IN THE ROUTINE LIGHTING UPON THIS VARIATION

Abstract

Recently in Japan, the cynomolgus monkey (Macaca irus) has been used increasingly more widely as an experimental animal in the field of medical and biological researches. In these researches, an accurate estimate of diurnal temperature variation (d. t. v.) is a necessary prerequisite for the correct judgement of the obtained results; moreover one may think that the pattern of d. t. v. will be changed according to the alteration of the routine care of monkeys.
Simpson and Galbraith (1906) reported the d. t. v. in the unrestrained rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) and the change of this variation after the change of daily routine. Scherbacova (1937, 1938) also observed that inversion of daily routine led to an inversion of the diurnal temperature curve. In 1960, Erikson concluded that the range of temperature variation in rhesus monkeys which were kept each in a cage was largely a light-dependent phenomenon.
The object of the present report is to confirm the previous studies and to ascertain more accurately the influence of light upon the pattern of d. t. v. in cynomolgus monkeys which were kept in cages.