Rate of hourly pulsation and respiration in phthisis, in its relations to sleep, food, sunlight, &c. / by Edward Smith.

  • Smith, Edward, 1818?-1874.
Date:
1856
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Rate of hourly pulsation and respiration in phthisis, in its relations to sleep, food, sunlight, &c. / by Edward Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Range of Pulsation at various periods of the day. Tlie term range expresses the difference between the highest and lowest observations within given periods; and the inqniry into it is as important in reference to the func- tions of respiration and pulsation in man as it is in meteoro- logical inquiries. The range of the whole 24 hours varied from 23 to 45 pulsations, both extremes being found in the same case. The average was 34 pulsations in both sexes. The whole day was di^dded into four periods, viz., night, from 1 to 5 a.m.; day, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; morning, fi'om 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. ; and evening, from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. In the first the pulsation was at its minimum, and in the second at its maximum, whilst it rose in the morning and fell in the evening. Each period wall be considered separately 1st. Night. The average range varied from 1 to 32 pulsations in the different cases, and from 7 to 32 in the same case. It was much greater in males than in females, being 12 in the former, and only 8g in the latter. Thus the pulse varies in the quietude of the depth of the night through an average of 10 pulsations. 2d. Day. The total average variation was 17 pulsa- tions, and it was less in women than in men, viz., 15 in the former, and 18i in the latter. The extremes were 10 and 35 in different cases; but, upon the whole, there was much more uniformity in the day than in the night pulsation. 3d. Morning. This Avas very great, and on the average was not less than 27 pulsations, or 25 in the women and 285 in the men; thus equaling the united ranges of the day and night. The extremes were 12 and 44, but the increase of pulsation was more imiform than those numbers indicate. 4th. Evening. This is the only period in wliich the range of pulsation was greater in women than in men,