Judy Perrins, age 16, of Vancouver, B.C. for her question:

Do all peoples maintain the same body temperature?

The normal temperature of the human body is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. This is true for every member of the human family, both winter and summer. The weather may be below zero or over 100, but a clinical thermometer would show that your healthy body is 98.6 Fahrenheit degrees. The normal temperature for cats is somewhat higher and for small birds considerably higher. But 98.6 degrees is the proper temperature for all humans.

The body works hard to keep an even temperature. The nerves keep the brain informed of the weather. The brain orders the proper steps to be taken to raise or lower body temperature to normal. Shivering is a trick to warm the body on a cold day. It forces the muscles to move and, in moving, they give off heat. Sweating is a trick to cool the body on a hot day. The liquid perspiration evaporates and, in so doing, cools the air. This cools the skin and the blood flowing near the skin. The body uses these and other tricks to keep its temperature at a steady, comfortable level. The system breaks down only in sickness.