118 THE CANADIAN HOESE 



tubes against which, it is forced. The consequence is, that 

 when it receives the wave of blood, both the diameter and 

 the length of the vessel is increased, and this is followed by 

 a recoil and recovery of its previous position owing to the 

 elasticity of the tube ; these operations constitute the pulse, 

 which is felt when the finger slightly compresses an artery." 

 —Bennett. Hence the pulsations of the artery correspond 

 with the beatings of the heart, and consequently indicate the 

 irritability of that organ or the system generally. 



The average pulse of the horse is from thirty-tVo to forty- 

 two beats per minute. The most convenient places to feel 

 the piilse are at the arm, on the inside where the artery 

 (radial) passes over the head of the bone, or on the under 

 part of the lower jaw where the artery (svbmaxillary) 

 winds round to gain the cheek. " When the pulse reaches 

 fifty or fifty-five some degree of fever may be apprehended, 

 and proper precaution should be taken. Seventy or eighty 

 will indicate a somewhat dangerous state, and put the owner 

 and the surgeon not a little on the alert. Few horses long 

 survive a pulse of one hundred, for by this excessive action 

 the energies of nature are soon worn-out/' — Youat. 



Various affections of the heart involving its substance- 

 lining membrane and valves are known to exist as indepen- 

 dent diseases, which for their detection require noi only an 

 intimate knowledge of the anatomy and uses of the difierent 

 parts, but a thorough acquaintance with the sounds observed 

 by auscultation and percussion both in health and disease,— 

 knowledge which is possessed by professional men alone, 

 and particularly those who have made it a special study. 

 Hence, any remarks we could make on the subject would be 

 unintelligible and perplexing to the general reader. 



