Relation Between Human Vaginal Smears and Body Temperatures.

The inaccessibility of ovaries and uterus no longer handicaps the study of ovarian function in the human female since Papanicolaou and his associates1 established the diagnostic value of vaginal smears. The smear technique, however, is necessarily surrounded with such precautions as to make it too elaborate for general use. In our effort to find a simpler but nevertheless reliable substitute we have correlated body temperature with changes in the vaginal smears on the ground that body temperature is known to vary in a regular manner during the menstrual cycle.2The cycle of vaginal smears can be conveniently divided into 6 phases: (1) menstrual (3–7 day), (2) post-menstrual (3–6 day), (3) preovulative (1–5 day), (4) ovulative (1–3 day), (5) postovulative (5–8 day), (6) premenstrual (3–7 day). Rectal temperatures, taken before rising in the morning, i. e., between 6 A. M. and 7 A. M., and vaginal smears were obtained daily during 5 complete menstrual periods of 4 young adult women without pelvic abnormality...