PULSE. 



183 



This table, though obviously based upon a 

 number of facts too small to furnish exact 

 averages, may be taken as presenting an ap- 

 proximation to the truth. It indicates a 

 progressive decline from infancy to adult age 

 as the true law of the pulse, a law which 

 would probably be clearly displayed by ave- 

 rages deduced from a large number of facts. 



The following table presents the number of 

 the Pulse at each quinquennial period through- 

 out the whole of life. The averages for the 

 first eight periods are founded each on 50 

 observations, of which half were made on 

 males, and half on females. The average for 

 the period from 76 to 80 is deduced from the 

 same number of facts similarly divided. For 

 most of the other periods the averages are 

 derived from forty observations, twenty on 

 males, and twenty on females. Where the 

 number of observations is less than this, it is 

 stated in a note. 



The pulse of the aged has been very care- 

 fully examined by Leuret and Mitivie*, 

 Hourmann and Deschambre-f-, and Dr. C. W. 

 Pennock.j According to the observations of 

 the first-named authorities, the average fre- 

 quency of the pulse in 27 males and 34 females, 

 each sex being of the mean age of 71 years, 

 was, in round numbers, 76. The number 

 would have been somewhat higher but for the 

 exclusion, as abnormal, of pulses exceeding 

 100. Dr. Pennock's observations on 170 

 males and 203 females, of the mean age of 

 about 67 years, give as the average frequency 

 of the pulse, 75 beats. The observations of 

 Drs. Hourmann and Deschambre having 

 been made solely on females, are not avail- 

 able in this place. It will be seen that the 

 results deduced from the observations of 

 Leuret and Mitivie, and of Dr. Pennock do 

 not differ materially from the numbers in the 

 table. 



As it is extremely difficult, even for those 

 who are most in the habit of dealing with 

 figures, to remember the exact results of a 

 series of averages, it may be useful to lay 

 down a near approximation to the average 

 numbers at the several leading periods of life. 

 This is done in the following table. 



The want of regularity in this table arises 

 from the same cause as in the former the 

 comparatively small number of facts. A 

 regular and progressive decrease in the mean 

 values, however, would probably not be ob- 

 tained by any number of observations which 

 it is in the power of a single individual to 

 bring together, whether as the result of his 

 own inquiries, or as derived from the recorded 

 researches of others. But the figures of this 

 table will still suffice to indicate a law of pro- 

 gressive decrease from the beginning to the 

 end of life, with an increase during the period 

 of decrepitude. The decrease during the 

 first four quinquennial periods is very rapid ; 

 during the fourth and fifth the number re- 

 mains nearly stationary ; from the fifth to the 

 sixth period there is again a fall of a few 

 beats ; but during the remainder of life (from 

 25 to 80) a very slight difference exists be- 

 tween the several quinquennial periods ; the 

 difference between the averages amounting 

 to only 4 beats, between the minima to 

 10 beats, and between the maxima to 20 

 beats. The average rise during the period of 

 decrepitude amounts to 7 beats. J 



+ 22 Observations. t 29 Observations. 



It would be interesting to accumulate observ- 



At birth 

 Infancy 

 Childhood - 

 Youth - 

 Adult age 

 Old age 

 Decrepitude - 



140 

 120 

 100 



90 



75 



70 



7580. 



SEX. The recorded observations on the 

 pulses of males and females respectively during 

 the early periods of life are few in number. 

 At birth, according to the observations of 

 Quetelet, there is a difference of only one beat, 

 the average number in males being 136, and 

 in females 135. The following table contrasts 

 the two sexes at those periods at which the 

 number of recorded observations, added to 

 those made by the writer of this article, are 



ations on the pulse of the same person at different 

 periods of life. The following memorandum, by the 

 writer, of two series of observations on his own pulse, 

 may be worth preserving. From an average of nine 

 experiments made during my twentieth year, in 

 the evening, between the hours of 9^ and 11, P.M., 

 in the sitting posture, and, after remaining some 

 time quiet (in one experiment some hours, and in 

 two others during four hours each), the pulse was 

 72 per minute. From an average of the first nine 

 experiments which present themselves, made under, 

 as nearly as possible the same circumstances, in my 

 twenty-seventh year, the pulse is 55 per minute. 

 Thus, in the space of seven years, it may be fairly 

 inferred that the average frequency of my pulse has 

 fallen from 72 beats per minute to 55, being a differ- 

 ence of 17 beats. 



* De la Frequence des Pouls, chez les Alienes, 

 par MM. Leuret et Mitivie, p. 35. 



f Archives Gene'rales de Medicine (2nd series), 

 Nov. 1835, torn. ix. p. 338. 



J Note on the Frequency of the Pulse and Re- 

 spiration of the Aged. By C. W. Pennock, M. D., 

 American Journal of Medical Science, July 1847. 



N 4 



