SYSTOLIC BLOOD-PRESSURE AND THE PULSE RATE. 



476 



Table VIII. — Average systolic hlood-pressiires and pulse rates for 4^4 nien of 

 the 1910-Group, the 5 observations on each man being arranged by season. 

 [12.5-centimeter armlet.) 



Observation. 



Second 



quarter 



1910. 



Third | Fourth First 



quarter quarter, quarter 



1910. 1910. 1911. 



Second 



quarter 



1911. 



Blood-pressure millimeters— 



Pulse rate - 



117 



77 



118 , 118 118 



77 78 ' 11 



i 



118 



11 





In the 1909-Groiip it will be seen that there was a drop in pressure 

 of 5 millimeters in the second quarter and of 2 millimeters in the 

 third quarter of the calendar year. The months during which the 

 marked reduction of 5 millimeters occurred are the hottest of the year. 

 In the 1910-Group there was a decrease of 1 millimeter in the second 

 quarter, 1910. If the two groups were combined the mean drop in 

 the second quarter would be about 3 millimeters. It appears, there- 

 fore, that there is a slight but probably unimportant alteration in 

 blood-pressure in the Philippines as a result of the seasonal changes. 

 The pulse rate was unaltered throughout the year in the 1910-G-roup, 

 but showed an increased rapidit}^ of 5 or 6 beats per minute during the 

 hottest .period in the 1909-Group. 



INFLUENCE OF AGE ON BLOOD-PRESSUKE AND PULSE RATE. 



It will be seen on consulting Table II that there was a fairly well 

 marked tendency for the blood-pressure to increase with age, the average 

 for the period 18 to 20 years being 115.0 while that for the period 35 

 to 40 years was 120.5. The subgroup over 40 years of age contained 

 no man over 50 and the average age for the group was only 43.3 years, 

 which probably accounts for the fact that higher readings were not 

 encountered in this subgroup. Increasing age produced no constant 

 alteration in the pulse rate. 



These changes in pressure with advancing years correspond with 

 the experience of observers in the temperate climates. The degree of 

 increase found in our series for men below 40 years of age was rather 

 less marked than that found by Woley in Chicago and Bachmann in 

 Philadelphia. Our number of men over 40 years old is too small to 

 be of value in giving average results. 



INFLUENCE OF COMPLEXION ON BLOOD-PRESSURE AND PULSE RATE. 



As stated in the introduction we have been carrying out a series 

 of observations to determine if blonds were more susceptible than bru- 

 nettes to the influence of the Tropics. Pulse and blood-pressure observa- 

 tions formed a part of this work and the results are shown in Tables; 

 IX and X. 



106711^ — — 4 



