26 subjects were exposed either to constant temperature in a water bath or to different air temperatures. A differentiation was made between the comfort temperature and the conscious cutaneous thermal sensation.When thermal sensation of the hand was tested for different internal temperatures it was found that the same superficial (skin) temperature could be agreeable or disagreeable depending on the existing internal temperature. Those skin temperatures which lead to normalization of the internal temperature were agreeable; conversely those skin temperatures which increased deviation of the internal temperature from normal were disagreeable.In man there are two sensory components in thermal perception, one superficial discriminative, and one deep which permits appreciation of agreeable and disagreeable.