DIFFERENT KINDS OF PULSE. 91 



hundred and forty ; but as the child grows older, the cir- 

 culation slackens, and at two years of age, it has become 

 reduced to one hundred. At twelve or fifteen, it is about 

 eighty, and in old men, it is generally below sixty. In 

 women, the pulse is generally ten or twelve strokes 

 quicker than in men. In weakly and irritable frames, 

 the pulse is considerably above the common standard. 

 The cheerful passions and affections, such as joy, love, 

 and sudden pleasure, generally accelerate the heart's ac- 

 tion, unless carried to excess then it seems to be over- 

 whelmed by the magnitude of the feeling, and sometimes 

 ceases to beat forever. The depressing affections, such 

 as grief, fear, melancholy, &c. retard its action, and the 

 sudden news of some unexpected disaster, has arrested 

 it forever. 



Emily. Does the presence of disease in the body, 

 vary the heart's pulsation in regard to number merely ? 

 If you will allow me to hazard a conjecture, I should 

 think that the force and quickness of the heart's con- 

 tractions might be liable to variations from this cause, 

 and thus the pulse be affected. 



Dr. B. You are perfectly correct in your conjec- 

 ture ; and the various kinds of pulse produced in this 

 way, have received appropriate names from physicians. 

 For instance, when the artery appears under the finger 

 as il increased in calibre, and transmitting a greater col- 

 umn of blood, it is called a full pulse; the opposite is 

 styled the small, contracted or wiry pulse, the artery 

 feeling as if it was contracted to the size of a thread, or 

 wire. When a very slight presure is sufficient to prevent 

 the passage of the blood through the vessel, the pulse is 

 said to be soft ; it is called hard on the contrary, when 

 the artery is not easily compressed. In short, the pres- 

 ence of disease in the body varies the action of the heart 

 to infinity. 



Emily. The heart then must possess very numerous 

 and close connexions with the rest of the system, does it 

 not? 



