CHAP. I.] THE VIBRATIONS NOTED. 181 



the corner of the eye. Others again, and they are 

 the greater number, think it best to feel it under- 

 neath the edge of the under jaw-bone, where the 

 facial artery passes on, under the skin only, to the 

 side of the face. This edge, or angle, of the jaw- 

 bone, will be found in our frontispiece, at the point 

 where the line E is intersected by the line 5. In 

 either case, too great pressure would stop the puls- 

 ation altogether ; though by so trying the artery 

 against the jaw-bone, will prove whether it be in 

 such a rigid state of excitement as attends high 

 fever ; or elastic and springy, slipping readily from 

 under the finger, as it does when health prevails and 

 the strokes follow each other regularly. 



The presence of high fever is further indicated 

 by a kind of twang, or vibration, given by the pulse 

 against the finger points, resembling greatly such 

 as would- be felt were we to take hold of a distended 

 whipcord or wire between the fingers, and cause it 

 to vibrate like a fiddle-string, sharply ; whereas, in 

 health, a swell is felt in the vibration, as if the 

 string were made of soft materials and less strait- 

 ened ; — facts these which owners would do well to 

 ascertain by practising upon the pulse of their own 

 horses. Languid or slow pulse, and scarcely per- 

 ceptible in some of the beats or strokes, indicates 

 lowness of spirits, debility, or being used up : if this 

 languor is felt at intervals only, a few strokes being 

 very quick, and then again a few very slow; this 

 indicates low fever, in which bleeding would do 

 harm. Quickness, however, is the chief indication of 



