10 



INTRODUCTORY 



In sickness the pulse is instantly responsive. It is of the 

 greatest aid in diagnosing and in noting the progi"ess of the 

 disease. The following varieties of pulse may be mentioned: 

 frequent, infrequent, quick, slow, large, small, hard, soft and 

 intermittent. The terms frequent and infrequent refer to the 

 number of pulse beats in a given time; quick and slow to the 

 length of time required for the pulse wave to pass beneath the 

 finger; large and small to the volume of the wave; hard and 

 soft to its compressibility; and intermittent to the occasional 



missing of a beat. A pulse 

 beat that is small and quick, 

 or large and soft, is fre- 

 quently met with in dis- 

 eases of a serious character. 

 The horse's pulse is taken 

 from the submaxillary ar- 

 tery at a point anterior to, 

 or below the angle of the jaw 

 and along its inferior border 

 (Fig. 3). It is here that 

 the artery winds around the 

 inferior border of the jaw in 

 an upward direction, and, be- 

 cause of its location immediately beneath the skin, it can be read- 

 ily located by pressing lightly over the region with the fingers. 

 Cattle's pulse is taken from the same artery as in the horse. 

 The artery is most superficial a little above the border of the jaw. 

 It is more difficult to find the pulse wave in cattle than it is in 

 horses, because of the larger amount of connective tissue just 

 beneath the skin and the heavier muscles of the jaw. A very 

 satisfactory pulse may be found in the small arteries located 

 along the inferior part of the lateral region of the tail and near 

 its base. 



The sheep's pulse may be taken directly from the femoral 



Fig. 3. — The X on the lower border of the 

 jaw indicates the place where the pulse is taken. 



