182 



PULSE. 



It is true that there is no want of rough esti- 

 mates, or of calculations founded on theoretical 

 data ; but there is in this, as in most kindred 

 subjects, a great lack of careful observations, 

 and correct average results. This deficiency it 

 is the object of this article to supply, by 

 presenting in succession the number of the 

 pulse, as influenced by the principal causes 

 already specified. 



AGE. In treating this part of the subject 

 no distinction is made between the sexes, nor 

 is any notice taken of the influence of pos- 

 ture, and time of day. The average results 

 are based on the observations made by dif- 

 ferent authors on healthy persons of both 

 sexes IE a state of rest, and on those of the 

 writer of this article, which, with the excep- 

 tion of \ery young children, were taken in 

 the sitting posture in the middle of the day, 

 and in a state of rest and abstinence. As 

 these latter facts form the majority of those 

 from which the averages are calculated, it 

 will be correct to state that the tables pre- 

 sent a near approximation to the frequency 

 of the pulse in persons of different ages in 

 a state of rest and abstinence, in the sitting 

 posture, and at or about the middle of the day. 



The pulse has its maximum frequency in 

 early infancy, and its minimum in robust old 

 age. From infancy to adult age it continues 

 to fall, and probably attains its lowest point 

 at or about the age of 50, to rise again, if 

 feeble as well as robust persons are included 

 in our observations, in the aged. 



Infancy. The frequency of the pulse is 

 very variable at this period of life. According 

 to Quetelet *, the numbers are as follow. 



Max. 165 ; min. 104 ; mean 135 ; range 61. 



Other authorities estimate it at 130 to 140, 

 or at the last of these numbers ; but it will 

 assist the memory to fix the average at 140. 



During the first few weeks or months of 

 life, the frequency of the pulse in healthy 

 children is rapidly diminished, as appears from 

 the following Table, based on the observations 

 of Billard, in which table the averages must 

 be understood to be approximations. 



* Op. cit. vol. ii. p. 86. 



f M. Valleix (Memoires de la Socie'te' Medicale 

 de Paris, vol. ii. p. 312.) gives, as the average fre- 

 quency of the pulse in thirteen healthy infants from 

 2 to 21 days old, 87 beats, the maximum being 104, 

 and the minimum 76. As these observations were 

 made with singular care, they are entitled to much 

 attention. Mr. Gorham (London Med. Gaz. vol. 

 xxi.) obtained from sixteen observations on sixteen 

 infants, less than one day old, a mean of 123 beats, 

 a maximum of 160, and a minimum of 100 ; and 

 from forty-two observations on infants, from one to 

 seven days old 128 as the average, 160 as the 

 maximum, and 96 as the minimum. The average 

 of three experiments on children asleep was 108. 

 M. Trousseau (Journal des Connaissances Medicales 

 et Chirurgicales, Juillet, 1841) obtained, as the 



Hence, then, between the first and tenth 

 day there is a range of 100 beats ; between 

 the first and second months, of 80 beats ; and 

 between the second and third months, of 30 

 beats, with an average fall in the first three 

 months of about 20 beats. The numbers of 

 observations on which these averages are 

 founded are, between 1 and 10 days, 56 ob- 

 servations ; between 1 and 2 months, 36 ob- 

 servations ; and between 2 and 3 months, 20 

 observations.* It would answer no good 

 purpose to enter more minutely into the fre- 

 quency of the pulse at these early periods of 

 life , it will suffice to present it year by year 

 during the first twenty-five years of life, as is 

 done in the following table, based upon be- 

 tween 600 and 700 observations made chiefly 

 by the writer of this article, each average 

 being deduced either from 20 or 25 facts. 



average and extreme numbers of the pulse in six 

 boys and five girls, aged from fifteen to thirty days, 

 the following: boys, max. 152, min. 96, average 

 127 ; girls, max. 152, min. 120, mean 135. 



* It is necessary to observe, that the observations 

 of Billard, which give so low a frequency as 70 and 

 80 beats as of not infrequent occurrence before the 

 third month, and even in the first ten days of life, 

 are by no means borne out by the observations of 

 the writer, or of any author whom he has consulted, 

 with the exception of M. Valleix. Thus, the mini- 

 mum during the first day is 104 ; nor does the pulse 

 fall in any instance lower than that number till the 

 eighth week, when the least number is 90. If, again, 

 the facts are grouped by months, the pulse is found 

 in no case to fall below 104, except in one instance 

 in the second month, till the eighth month, when 

 the minimum is 96. The minimum observed by M. 

 Valleix, occurred in a male infant, a year old, ad- 

 mitted into the infirmary of the Hopital des Enfants 

 Trouves, in a state of languor, but free from disease. 

 In a week from the date of admission the pulse had 

 risen to 108 ; on the following day it was 117 ; and 

 the day after that it was 113. There is reason to 

 believe, therefore, that these low frequencies of the 

 pulse of infants occur in that state and degree of de- 

 bility without disease which gives rise to an infre- 

 quent pulse in the adult, and that they do not occur 

 in strong and vigorous health. 



