Manual of clinical medicine and physical diagnosis . he pulse at both wrists be not isochronous orequal—if the beats do not occur at the same time—wemust suspect disease of one or the other radial arteries,or that pressure is made upon some part of the arterialtract between the heart and wrist by a tumour, aneu-rism, &c. The Sphygmo graphic Study of the Pulse.*—Thesphygmograph is an instrument by the use of which thepulsations of the radial artery are represented in sensitive lever armed with a point at right angles tothe shaft is made to move up and down by placing oneend of it over
Manual of clinical medicine and physical diagnosis . he pulse at both wrists be not isochronous orequal—if the beats do not occur at the same time—wemust suspect disease of one or the other radial arteries,or that pressure is made upon some part of the arterialtract between the heart and wrist by a tumour, aneu-rism, &c. The Sphygmo graphic Study of the Pulse.*—Thesphygmograph is an instrument by the use of which thepulsations of the radial artery are represented in sensitive lever armed with a point at right angles tothe shaft is made to move up and down by placing oneend of it over the radial pulse ; the point is then made tocome in contact with a piece of smoked glass or paperwhich moves along in front of it. A curved line is there-fore written by the moving point upon the moving glassor paper. The pulse is written off as it is called. Pulsewriting is another term for sphygmography. This graphicstudy of the pulse is most important to the physician, andmuch has been done to give it a scientific basis by the Fig. labours of Marey, Anstie, Sanderson, Foster, and a fewothers. We have to consider in regard to the force whichmoves the index of the sphygmograph, the action of theheart which expands the arteries, the degree of resis-tance offered by the arteries, the effect of the onwardwave of blood in the arteries, and the controlling influenceof the nerves over the vessels. As these vary so the pulsetracing varies. Now when the sphygmograph is used tothe radial artery of a healthy subject, we have a pulsecurve, or tracing similar to that which is shown at a,Fig. 1. The curves represented at b and c will be re-ferred to presently ; they are only placed where they are * See Anstie, Lancet, July 13, 1867, et seq. THE SPHYGMOGKAPH. 143 for the purpose of being compared with the healthy pulsecurve.* It will be noticed that there is one primary (a), and twosecondary curves (b and d), the latter, in vigorous health,being very slightly marked indeed. The f
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectdiagnosis, bookyear18
