132 



ANATOMY FOR NURSES. 



[CHAP. XL 



discharges alternating with relatively long intervals during 

 which the arteries receive no blood from the heart. Every time 

 the heart beats just as much blood flows from the veins into the 



right auricle as escapes 

 from the left ventricle into 

 the aorta, but this inflow 

 is much slower and takes 

 a longer time than the 

 discharge from the ven- 

 tricles. 



The pulse. When the 

 finger is placed on an ar- 

 i Lymph tery a sense of resistance 

 is felt, and this resistance 

 seems to be increased at 

 intervals, corresponding to 

 the heart-beat, the artery 

 at each heart-beat being 

 felt to rise up or expand 

 under the finger. This 

 constitutes the pulse ; and, 

 in certain arteries which 

 lie near the surface, this 

 pulse may be seen with the 

 eye. When the finger is 

 placed on a vein very lit- 

 tle resistance is felt ; and, 

 under ordinary circum- 

 stances, no pulse can be 

 perceived by the touch or 

 by the eye. 



FIG. 99. DIAGRAM OF CIRCULATION. 7>,left ^ s g,^^ expansion of an 

 side of heart; R, right side.of heart; a, a, a, ar- 

 terial system; 6, 6, capillaries; c, c, c, veins; artery is produced by a 

 Alim., alimentary canal; Liv., liver; /?, portal pnn f rp pfi nn n f fl lp hpart 

 vein; //, hepatic vein; Lymph., lymphatic duct C ieart > 

 and tributaries; Pulm., lungs; Pa, pulmonary the pulse, as felt ill any 

 artery; Pu, pulmonary vein. n . , 



superficial artery, is a con- 

 venient guide for ascertaining the character of the heart's action. 1 



1 The nurse should practice " taking the pulse " in the following arteries : 

 carotid, temporal, radial, dorsalis pedis. 



facial, brachial, femoral, 



