SPECIAL CLINICAL EXAMINATION. 



cence from infectious diseases which have occasioned higb 

 pulse (contagious pleuropneumonia of the horse). 



c. Quality. The pulse beats should be of equal vol- 

 ume. \\ 'hen this is true we speak of an equal pulse (pulsus 

 acqualis) . 



The quality of the pulse varies with the kind of animal. 

 The normal size, strength and hardness of the 

 pulse can only be learned by experience ; it can not be defined. 

 In the horse the pulse is large, strong and the artery only 

 moderately tense ; in the ox the pulse is smaller, not so strong 

 but the artery is tenser and may be rolled under your finger 

 like a hard rubber tube. In small animals the pulse is quick, 

 strong and hard. (See 76 .) In dogs often it is inequal. 



The normal quality of the pulse can suffer change in 

 various ways. 



1. According to whether a greater or smaller quantity 

 of blood is forced into the arterial system, we distinguish a 

 full (pulsus magnus) and an empty (pulsus parvus). 



The pulse becomes empty when much accelerated and in 

 severe hemorrhages. In fatal diseases the pulse finally be- 

 comes imperceptible (pulsus iuscnsibilis), indicating cardiac 

 weakness or anemia. 



Fie. 24. 



Small, Irregular and Inequal Pulse of Horse. 

 Marey's Sphygmocrraph. 



2. If the pulse waves are not of equal volume the pulse is 

 called inequal (pulsus inaequalis). This is a very impor- 

 tant symptom of cardiac weakness, where it is uniformly 

 associated with irregularity, and of valvular (mitral) heart 



