AN ANATOMICAL STUDY ON THE 



sometimes be aware of a pulsation in the teeth, 

 fingers or inflammatory tumors, other times not. By 

 this symptom I have diagnosed fever in children, 

 whose pulse is naturally rapid anyway. By holding 

 tightly the fingers of a young and delicate person I 

 can easily perceive pulsation there when the fever is 

 high. 



On the other hand, when the heart beats more 

 feebly, as in fainting, hysteria, asphyxia, and in the 

 very weak and moribund, it is impossible to feel a 

 pulse not merely in the fingers, but even at the wrist 

 or temple. 



Here, lest they be deceived, surgeons should be 

 advised that when blood flows with force from a 

 wound, in amputations, or in removing a fleshy tumor, 

 it always comes from an artery. Not always in spurts, 

 however, since the small arteries may not pulsate, 

 especially if compressed by a bandage. 



Further, here is the same reason why the vena 

 arteriosa not only has the structure and walls of an 

 artery but also why it does not differ so much from 

 the veins in the thickness of its walls as the aorta. 

 The latter sustains a greater impulse from the left 

 ventricle, than the former from the right. The walls 

 of the pulmonary artery are softer in structure than 

 those of the aorta to the same extent as the walls and 

 flesh of the right ventricle are weaker than those of 



dilatation, another important factor in determining blood pressure* 

 Harvey correctly notes vascular dilatation in local inflammatory 

 reactions, and cutaneous vascular dilatations in fever. 



[130] 



