PULSE 



PULTOWA 



489 



The condition of the pulse depends mainly on two 

 factors, each of which may vary independently of 

 the other : first, the contraction of the neart, which 

 propels the stream of blood along the artery ; and 

 second, the resistance in the small arteries and 

 capillaries, which controls the rate at which it 

 leaves the artery. The first determines the fre- 

 quency and rhythm of the pulse and the force of 

 the beate ; but the tension of the artery between 

 them and their apparent duration depend mainly 

 upon the peripheral resistance. 'Feeling the 

 pulse," therefore, gives important information be- 

 sides the rate of the heart's action, and implies 

 much more than the mere counting of pulsations. 

 Mr Broadbent says, ' A complete account of the 

 pulse should specify ( 1 ) the frequency i.e. the 

 number of beats per minute, with a note of any 

 irregularity or intermission or instability of the 

 rhythm; (2) the size of the vessel ; (3) the degree 

 of distension of the artery between the beats ; 

 (4) the character of the pulsation whether its 

 access is sudden or gradual, its duration short or 

 long, its subsidence abrupt or slow, note being 

 taken of dicrotism when present ; (5) the force or 

 strength of both the constant and variable pressure 

 within the artery, as measured by its compressi- 

 bility ; (6) the state of the arterial walls.' 



The frequency of the pulse varies with age, from 

 130 to 140 per minute at birth to 70 to 75 in adult 

 males, and with sex, being six or eight beats more 

 in adult females. In some individuals it deviates 

 considerably from this standard, and may even be 

 habitually below forty or above ninety without any 

 signs of disease. It is increased by exertion or excite- 

 ment, by food or stimulants, diminished in a lying 

 posture or during sleep. In disease (acute hydro- 

 cephalns, for example) the pulse may reach 150 or 

 even 200 beats ; or, on the other hand (as in 

 apoplexy and in certain organic affections of the 

 heart), it may be as slow as between thirty and 

 twenty. 



The normal regular rhythm of the pulse may be 

 interfered with either by the occasional dropping 

 of a beat (intermission), or by variations in the 

 force of successive beats, and in the length of the 

 intervals separating them (irregularity). These 

 varieties often occur in the same person, but they 

 may exist independently of each other. Irregu- 

 larity of the pulse is natural to some persons ; in 

 others it is the mere result of debility ; but- it may 

 l>e caused by the most serious disorders, as by 

 disease of the brain, or by organic disease of the 

 heart. 



The other qualities of the pulse are much more 

 difficult to recognise, though of no less importance. 

 The degree of tension or resistance to compression 

 by the lingers varies greatly : in a soft or ' low- 

 tension ' pnlse the artery may be almost imper- 

 ceptible between the beats ; in a hard or ' high- 

 tension ' pulse it may be almost incompressible. 

 An unduly soft pulse is usually an indication of 

 debility ; an unduly hard one is most characteristic 

 of disease of the Kidneys (q.v.) and gout. But the 

 tension, like the frequency of the pulse, undergoes 

 considerable variations in health from temporary 

 causes, and may in certain individuals be habitu- 

 ally above or below the average without actual 

 disease. 



The force of the beats is a vneasure of the vigour 

 and efficiency of the heart's action. A strong pulse 

 is correctly regarded as a sign of a vigorous state of 

 the system ; it may, however, arise from hyper- 

 trophy of the left ventricle of the heart, and remain 

 as a persistent symptom even when the general 

 powers are failing. As strength of the pulse usually 

 indicates vigour, so weakness of the pulse indicates 

 debility. Various expressive adjectives have been 

 attached to special conditions of the pnlse, into 



the consideration of which our space will not 

 permit us to enter. Thus, we read of the jerking 

 pulse, the hobbling pulse, the corded pulse, the 

 wiry pulse, the thrilling pulse, the rebounding 

 pulse, &c. The full significance of changes of the 

 pulse in disease can only be appreciated by con- 

 sidering them in connection with the other signs 

 and symptoms of the case. See MEDICINE (vol. 

 VII. p. 115), CIRCULATION, HEART, PALPITATION ; 

 and especially The Pulse, by Dr Broadbent (1890). 



Pnlsometer. See PUMPS. 



Pnlszky, FRANCIS AURELIUS, Hungarian poli- 

 tician and author, was born at Eperies, 17th Sep- 

 tember 1814, and after a course of legal studies 

 travelled abroad, publishing ( 1837 ) a successful 

 book on England. In 1848 he was appointed to a 

 government post under Esterhazy, but, suspected 

 of sharing in the revolution, fled to London, where 

 he wrote for the papers. When Kossuth came to 

 England Pulszky became his companion, and went 

 with him to America (described in White, Red, and 

 Black, 1852). His wife wrote Memoirs of a Hun- 

 garian Lady (Lond. 1850), and Tales and Tradi- 

 tions of Hungary (1851). He was condemned to 

 death by the Austrian government in 1852, but, 

 after living in Italy from 1852 to 1866, was par- 

 doned in 1867. He has sat in the parliament, and 

 been director of museums and libraries throughout 

 the country. His autobiographic memoirs (4 vols. 

 1879-82) were translated into German. See F. W. 

 Newman, Reminiscences of Two Exiles ( 1889 ). 



Piilteney, WILLIAM, Earl of Bath. This 

 statesman, descended from a Whig family, was 

 bom in 1684, the son of Sir William Pulteney, 

 member of parliament for Westminster. He was a 

 student of Christ Church College, Oxford, where 

 his oratorical power was early displayed. He 

 entered parliament as member for Heydon, York- 

 shire, and was a most graceful and brilliant speaker, 

 full of epigram, and a master of all the arts of 

 parliamentary attack. At first, and for many 

 years, the friend and colleague of Walpole, he 

 finally became so disgusted with that minister's 

 indifference to his claims that in 1728 he placed 

 himself at the head of a small group of malcontent 

 Whigs styled the ' Patriots, ' and was henceforth 

 Walpole's bitterest and perhaps most formidable 

 opponent, lieing the leader of the coalition against 

 him in the Commons as Carteret was in the House 

 of Lords. He was Bolingbroke's chief assistant in 

 the paper called the Craftsman, which involved 

 him in many political controversies, and called 

 forth some of his finest pamphlets. In 1731 he 

 wrongly ascril>ed to Lord Hervey the authorship of 

 a scurrilous pamphlet; a duel was the consequence, 

 fought with swords in St James's Park, when both 

 combatants were slightly wounded. On the resig- 

 nation of Walpole in 1741 Pulteney was sworn of 

 the Privy-council, and soon afterwards created Earl 

 of Bath ; and from that time his popularity was gone. 

 Horace Walpole places him amongst his liuynl 

 and Noble Authors, but though his prose was 

 effective and his verse graceful, he was probably 

 still better known as the author of a once popular 

 political song, ' The Honest Jury, or Caleb Tri- 

 umphant,' than by his more serious writings. He 

 died in 1764, a wealthy but disappointed man. 

 See Lecky, History of England, ii. 417 et seq., and 

 Walpole, by John Morley. 



Pllltowa, or POLTA'VA, a town of Russia, 

 situated on a tributary of the Dnieper, by rail 88 

 miles SW. of Kharkoff and 449 NE. of Odessa. It 

 manufactures tobacco and leather, and has four 

 annual fairs, the most important in July, when 

 wool, horses, cattle, leather, hides, and coarse wool- 

 lens and other stuffs are sold to the amount of 

 2,500,000 annually. Pop. 43,214. The town is a 



