ABSTRACT
Fever was the most frequently occurring condition in early medical observation. From the early days of Hippocrates, when it is said that wet mud was used on the skin to observe fast drying over a tumorous swelling, physicians have recognised the importance of a raised temperature. For centuries, this remained a subjective skill, and the concept of measuring temperature was not developed until the 16th Century. Galileo made his famous thermoscope from a glass tube, which functioned as an unsealed thermometer. It was affected by atmospheric pressure as a result.
