pulse 1 ( 
iiif/. 
pulse 
In which the amplitude or difference between maximum 
and minimum of tendon li small ; pulsiu parvus. Soft 
pulse, a pulse where the artery u easily compressed ; 
puliui niollls. The Individual pulsations may be well 
marked. Thready pulse, a very small, frequent pulse 
In a contracted artery. To (eel one's pulse, figura- 
tively, to sound one's opinion ; try or know ones mind. 
Wiry pulse, a small, frequent pulse In a contracted 
artery. 
(puls), p.; pret. and pp. pulsed, ppr. j>ul- 
[< L. pulsare, beat, strike, push, drive, 
freq. of peltere, pp. pulsus, beat, strike, push, 
drive. Cf. pusht, ult.< L. pulsare, and see com- 
pel, expel, impel, propel, repel, appulse, compulse, 
u/itiluc, impulse, etc.: see also pulsate, and 
pulse*-, .] I. trans. If. To drive. 
And I [my sunne] thy noble name with foule reproch have 
staln'd, 
Point forth through spyte from princely throne, and place 
where father rain a. Phaer, Ju.-hi. 
2. To drive by a pulsation of the heart. [Rare.] 
II. intrant. To beat, as the arteries or heart. 
Faint panting puts his ioynU, and tier'd with pains his 
entrails beat. Phatr, Km-M, x. 
The heart, when separated wholly from the body, in 
some animals, continues still to pulse for a considerable 
time. Kay. 
pulse 2 (puls), . [< ME. puls, also pause, < OF. 
pouls, pols, pous, < L. puls (pult-) = Or. mW.rof, 
pottage of beans, peas, etc., porridge. Cf. 
poultice."} 1. The esculent seeds of leguminous 
plants cultivated as field or garden crops, as 
peas, beans, lentils, etc. 
With Elijah he partook, 
Or as a guest with Daniel, at his pnlir. 
Milton, f. R., U. 278. 
2. One of the plants producing pulse. 
Every pain, 
There lande is colde, is herveat nowe to huls. 
PaUadvu, Husbondrle (E. E. T. S.), p. 160. 
High climb his pulse in many an even row, 
Deep strike the ponderous roots in soil below. 
CraJbbt, Works, I. 41. 
pulse-curve (puls'kerv), H. The sphygmograph- 
ic tracing of a pulse- wave. 
pulse-glass (puls'glas), . An instrument in- 
tended to exhibit the ebullition of liquid at low 
temperatures, constructed 
like a cryophorus. The bulbs 
are connected by a slender stem, 
and partially charged with water, 
ether, or alcohol, the supernatant Pulse-glass. 
air having been expelled by boil- 
ing, and the opening hermetically sealed by a blowpipe. 
If one of the bulbs Is grasped, the heat of the hand will 
cause the formation of vapor and drive the liquid into 
the other bulb, producing a violent ebullition in the lat- 
ter. H. U. Knight. 
pulseless (puls'les), a. [< pulse + -less.'] Hav- 
ing no pulse or pulsation. 
He lay a full half-hour on the sofa, death-cold, and al- 
most pulwlriu. Kin'iKlrtj, Two Yean Ago, xl. 
pulselessness (puls'les-nes), . Failure or ces- 
sation of the pulse. 
pulsellum (pul-sel'um), i.; pi. pulsella (-ft). 
[NL., dim. of L. pulsus, a beating : see jm/W.] 
A propulsive filament or flagelliform appen- 
dage, as the tail of aspermatozoan, which by its 
lashing motions propels the body to which it 
is attached. It Is a modified form of flagellum chiefly 
characteristic of spermatozoa, but possessed by some few 
flagellate Infusorlans, whose action serves to drive the 
animalcule backward through the water. K. R. LanJcen- 
ler; '. S. KrnL Compare flageUmn, gather naciihim, true- 
tfllum. 
The flagellum of the Flagellate is totally distinct from 
the paleltiiin of the Bacteria. Kiicyc. Brit., XIX. 85. 
pulse-rate (puls'rat), . The number of pulsa- 
tions of an artery in a minute. The normal pulse- 
rate of man In adult life, reclining, and undisturbed by ex- 
ertion, averages, for the time between breakfast and retir- 
ing at night, about 72. There Is a large diurnal variation, 
the rate falling to 60 or below during the night, and rising 
to 76 or more at noon or some other time during the day. 
The rate Is from 140 to 120 or leu during the first year of 
life, falls In the next year to 100, and reaches the adult rate 
shortly after puberty; after 60 yean of age there U a 
slight Increase. The pulse-rate of woman Is 3 to s beats 
higher than that of man. Height of stature diminishes 
pulse-rate. The rate during health varies greatly, from 
unknown causes, In different persons some rates being 
40 or lesa. and others 100 or more, without Inconvenience 
or other derangement of health. The pulse-rate 1s higher 
In a standing than in a sitting, or, still more, In a recum- 
bent posture. It U raised by excitement, by exertion, by 
pyrexla, by various drugs and disease*. 
pulse-warmer (puls'war'mer), . A wristlet. 
[Colloq.] 
pulse-wave (puls'wav), n. The wave of raised 
tension and arterial expansion which starts 
from the aorta with each ventricular systole, 
and travels to the capillaries. Its velocity va- 
ries greatly, but in most cases lies betwn-n 4 
and 12 meters per second Fundamental or pri- 
mary pulse- Wave, the wave multlnc from the primary 
or ventricular Impulse ; the wave Indicated by the initial 
4842 
upward stroke of the pulse-curve. Secondary pulse- 
wave, a wave following the primary wave, and due to the 
elastic nature of the arterial walls; a wave Indicated by 
an elevation following the initial upward stroke of the 
pulse-curve. Hee pulitel, 2. 
pulsiflc (pul-sif'ik), a. [< pulse + -i-Jic . ] Ex- 
citing the pulse; causing pulsation. [Rare.] 
To make [the muscular constriction of the heart] no- 
thing but a pulmfeJc corporeal quality in the substance of 
the heart itself is very unphtlosophical and absurd. 
I',',./.,,. ft/. Intellectual System, p. 161. 
pulsimeter (pul-sim'e-ter), n. [Also pukome- 
ter; < L. pulsus, pulse, + Or. uirpov, measure.] 
An instrument for measuring the strength or 
quickness of the pulse. 
pulsion (pul'shon), . [< HL.pulsio(n-), a beat- 
ing, a striking, < L. pellere, pp. pulsus, beat, 
strike, drive: see pulse*.] The act of driving 
forward : opposed to suction or traction. 
How general and ancient soever the common opinion 
may be that attraction is a kind of motion quite differing 
from pulrion. if not also opposite to it, yet I confess I con- 
cur in opinion . . . with some modern naturalists that 
think attraction a species of jmlrian. 
Boyle, Cause of Attraction by Suction, L 
The operation of nature is different from mechanism, 
It doing not its work by trusion or pulsion. by knockings 
or thrustinga, as if it were without that which it wrought 
upon. Cudworth, Intellectual System, p. 156. 
pulsive (pul'siv), a. [< L. pulsus. pp. of pel- 
lere, beat, strike, drive (see piilse l ),+ -ive.] 1. 
Constraining; compulsory. [Rare.] 
The i/ulfitf strain of conscience. Martian. 
2. Impulsive. Nares. 
In end my pulrivt bralne no art affoords 
To mint, or stamp, or forge new coyned words. 
John Taylor, Works (1680). 
pulsqmeter (pul-som'e-ter), n. [< L. pulsus, a 
beating, -f Gr. uirpov, measure.] 1. Same as 
pulsimeter. 2. In mech., a kind of steam-con- 
densing pump acting on the principle of a vacn- 
um-pump. By Interposing a stratum of air between 
the steam and the water it forms a far more economical 
machine than the old style of vacuum-pump. In the il- 
lustration a and a' 
are tattle-shaped 
chambers; b is the 
bonnet with 
steam passages; r 
Is a spherical valve 
which excludes 
the steam from one 
chamber while 
permitting it to 
flow Into the other. 
Steam enters at *; 
</ is an Induction- 
passage for water ; 
t and > are vul- 
canized rubber 
valves; / and f, 
valve-seaU; A, the 
delivery - passage, 
shown (with other 
parU) in dotted 
outline; g and g', 
eduction - valves 
for water; i and 
i , valve guards ; ./. 
an air-chamber ; 
Ic and * , bonnets 
covering open- 
ings whereby the 
valves may be 
pulverization 
which for the most part or entirely disappears during Inspi- 
ration, returning with expiration. It occurs in some cases 
when the aorta Is compressed during inspiration byclcatri- 
clal hands produced by pericarditis or mcdfastinltls, In 
some cases of adherent pericardium, and in some of stenosis 
of the trachea or larynx. Pulsus parvus, a small pulse. 
See pultt. Pulsus quadrigeminus, a pulse in which 
there is a longer pause after every four beaU. Pulsus 
Urdus, a slow pulse. See pulte. Pulsus tremulus, a 
very feeble pulse just perceptible at the wrist as a faint 
fluttering sensation. Pulsus trigemlnus, a pulse with 
a longer pause after every three beats. Pulsus venosus, 
the alternating expansion and contraction of a vein or 
veins either due to the contractions of the heart acting 
backward through the large veins, or constituting a di- 
rect centripetal pulse due to arterial relaxation. 
pultt, r. A Middle English form otpelfl. 
pultaceous (pul-ta'sbius), a. [< L. puls ( pult-), 
pottage, porridge (see pulse?), + -aeeous.~\ 1. 
Soft or semi-fluid, as the substance of a poul- 
tice; pulpy. 2. Macerated; pulpified; partly 
digested : as, a pultaceous mass of food in the 
stomach. 
Pultensea (pul-te-ne'ft), n. [NL. (Sir 3. E. 
Smith, 1793), named after Richard Pulteney 
(1730-1801), an English botanist.] A genus of 
leguminous shrubs of the tribe Podtilyriex. it 
is characterized by united keel-petals, a large banner- 
petal, two ovules, an ovate two-valved pod, persistent 
hractlets closely Investing the calyx, and dry or thread- 
like stipules. The 75 species are all Australian. They 
bear undivided and alternate or rarely whorl ed flat or con- 
cave leaves, and brownish stipules often enlarged to form 
an Involucre under the yellow or orange flowers, which are 
solitary in the axils or crowded in terminal heads. They 
are dwarf and ornamental evergreens, usually from 1 to .; 
feet high, cultivated chiefly under the name I'ultniita ; 
one. P. daphnmden, which reaches b feet, is known in Vic- 
toria as waU-flomr. See Viminaria. 
pultert, . An obsolete form of poulterer. 
pultesset, pultiset, Obsolete forms of poul- 
tice. 
pultriet, . An obsolete. form of poultry. 
pulture, n. See puture. 
pulu (po'16), n. [Hawaiian.] A fine silky yel- 
lowish fiber obtained in the Hawaiian Islands 
from tree-ferns of the genus Cibotium, the 
bases of whose leafstalks it denselv covers. 
It is exported in considerable quantity, chiefly to San 
Francisco, for use In stuffing mattresses, etc. A species of 
the genus, C. Rarometz, of tropical Asia and the Malayan 
Islands, yields (as do also species of Diclctonia) a like prod- 
uct, used for the same purpose, and also employed in sur- 
gery as a mechanical styptic. 
pulv. An abbreviation of Latin pulvis, powder : 
used in medical prescriptions. 
pulverable (pul've-ra-bl), a. [< L. pnlrerare , 
cover with dust, reduce to powder (< pulris 
(puher-), dust, powder), + -We.] Capable of 
being pulverized, or reduced to fine powder. 
[Rare.] 
In . . . the Indies hefurnished himself with some liquid 
substances afforded by wounded plants, that as soon as 
he came near F.urope, and not before, turned Into consis- 
tent and inilnnilil,- bodies. Boyle, Works, I. 636. 
Pulsometer, shown in section. 
reached for adjustment or repair ; I and f , rods which hold 
the induction-valves and their attachments in place; n 
and ', brass socket-headed bolts which secure the ralves 
g and g' and their attachments In their places. Into the 
neck of each of the chambers a and a' is screwed a small 
inlet air-valve (not shown). A similar valve is fitted to the 
chamber }. Steam entering chamber a expels its contents, 
and then, condensing, forms a partial vacuum. The valve 
then closes the opening Into that chamber, and admits 
steam Into the other. Water then rises to All the vacuous 
chamlier ; also a little air enters through the minute air- 
valve In the neck. By this time the contents of the other 
chamber are expelled, the steam condenses therein, and 
other events follow as described for the (list chamber. The 
small quantity of air admitted, being heavier than steam, 
forms a film over the upper surface of the water, and, be- 
ing a non-conductor of heat, prevent* wasteful condensa- 
tion of steam, which would otherwise arise from the direct 
contact of the steam with the water. The machine de- 
rives Its name from the pulsatory action of the steam 
ejected, and the analogy of Its form, with its interior 
valves, to the construction of the heart. Also called aqua- 
intter. 
pulsus (pursus),n. [L.: MtVuM*.] Thepulse. 
Pulsus alternans, a pulse In which alternate beats are 
strong and weak. Pulsus bigemlnus, a pulse made up 
<>i cycles consisting of two beats followed by a pause. 
Pulsus celer, a quick pulse. 8ee pidw. Pulsus dlcro- 
tus, a dicrotlc pulse. See pultt. Pulsus differens, a 
pulse unequal In strength, or dissimilar in form in the two 
radials Pulsus durus, a hard pulse. See pulte. Pul- 
sus flliformis, a filiform pulse. See jndit. Pulsus hy- 
perdicrotus, a hyperdlcrotlc pulse. See indue. Pulsua 
Intercurrens, a pulse In which there ls an extra beat In- 
tercalated In a normal series. Pulsus Intermlttens, an 
Intermittent pulse. Hee pultt.- Pulsus magnus, a large 
pulse. See pulte. Pulsus mollls, a soft pulse. See 
jndte.. Pulsus monocrotus,nmoiM.cr..ti l - pulse. Pul- 
sus myurus, a pulse which becomes feebler and tln-n 
stronger In alternate series. Pulsus paradoxus, a pulse 
pulveraceous (pul-ve-ra'shius), a. [< L. j)w/- 
vis (puher-), dust, powder, -I- -aceotus.] Inoot. 
and roo/., having a dusty or powdery surface ; 
pulverulent. 
pulveraint (pul've-ran), n. [= F.pulvcrin, < 
It. polrerino, < potvere, powder: see pou-der.] 
A powder-horn, especially one for fine priming- 
powder. 
pulverate (pul've-rat), r. t.; pret. and pp.piil- 
verated, ppr. pulveraling. [< L. pulrertitu.i. pp. 
of pulterare (> It. polrerare), cover with dust, 
reduce to powder, < pulvis (pulrer-), dust, pow- 
der: seejpotrder.] To beat or reduce to powder 
or dust; pulverize. [Rare.] 
They litter them [their horses) in their own dung, first 
(In i-il in the Sun naiipuluerated. Sandyt, Travailes, p. 61. 
Pulveratores (pul*ve-ra-to'rez), n. pi. [NL., 
pi. of pulrcrator, < L. pulrerare, pp.pulveratux, 
reduce to powder: seepulveratt.] Birds which 
habitually roll themselves in the dust, as tho 
Sasores. 
pulver-dayt (pul'vtr-da), w. Same as Pulrer- 
ll'flllKSlllll/. 
rer-), dust, ashes, + R. dish.} A vessel in w Midi 
were placed the ashes which were to be sprin- 
kled upon the faithful on Ash Wednesday. 
pulvereous (pul-vf-'ro-us), a. [< L. ptiwrM*, 
containing dust, < /wlrix ( i>nlri-r-), dust, ashes: 
see powder.] Powdery or dusty : pulverulent. 
pulverin, pulverine (purve-rin'), . [< L. ;<'- 
ri.i (piilrrr-). dust, ashes, + -in-. **.] Ashes 
of barilla. 
pulverizable (pul'vo-ri-za-bl), a. [= F. pui- 
n'-rixiihlr = Sp. pulrerizabUe = It. pnlrrri ::nlnl< : 
us /mlrerize + -able.'] Capable of being pulver- 
ized. Also spelled iiulrrrisnl>li. 
pulverization (pul've-i-i-x.ri'slion), M. [= F. 
l>ulreriKtitioM = Sp. juttrerisacioii = 1'g. ///<- 
