LESSON XXVII 



RESPIRATION (Continued) 



STETHOGRAPHY. METHODS OF ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION. PULMOTOR. 



1. Frequency of Respiration. Study the movements of the thorax 

 and abdomen. Differentiate between diaphragmatic and costal breath- 

 ing. Measure the circumference of the chest at the level of the nipples 

 on deep expiration and inspiration. Count the number of respirations 

 of the subject first in the horizontal and then in the erect position. 

 Count again after a stationary run lasting thirty seconds, and again 

 after forty to fifty flexions and extensions of the arms or knee bendings. 

 Explain the result. 



2. Percussion and Auscultation. Farhiliarize yourself with the nor- 

 mal percussion sound of the lungs as obtained, say, in the region below 

 the clavicle. Outline the upper boundary of the liver and the area 

 of cardiac dulness. Make a diagram showing the position of the 

 thoracic viscera. 



Familiarize yourself with the normal vesicular sounds of the lungs. 

 Auscultate over the bronchi and trachea. 



3. Stethography. Adjust a stethograph to the chest of the subject 

 while he is quietly sitting beside a table (see Fig. 84). Allow a recording 

 drum to register the respiratory movements over the record of a Jaquet 

 chronograph. Ask the subject to take two or three deep breaths in 

 quick succession. Explain the result. 



Record normal curves of respiration for about twenty seconds. 

 Read aloud during the next forty seconds. Carefully note the modi- 

 fications produced by the voice. 



Ask the subject to hold his breath after a moderate inspiration. 

 The breaking point will be reached in about forty seconds. Repeat 

 after a deep inspiration. The breaking point will now be reached after 

 about fifty seconds. Repeat after having breathed forcibly for two or 

 three minutes. The breaking point then occurs after two or three 

 minutes. Since the imperative demand to respire is due principally to 

 the accumulation of carbon dioxid, and only in a lesser degree to the 

 scarcity of oxygen, the breaking point cannot be much prolonged by the 

 previous inhalation of oxygen. 



Register a normal curve of respiration for about twenty seconds. 

 Drink half a glass of water without stopping. Explain this modifica- 

 tion. 



Record normal curves of respiration. Ask the subject to approxi- 

 mate the tips of his two index-fingers. Explain the change in the char- 

 acter of the respiratory movements. 



Take tracings of the modified respiratory curve of laughing, sneez- 

 ing, and coughing. 



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