[The work of the heart / by Benjamin Ward Richardson].
- Benjamin Ward Richardson
- Date:
- 1884
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: [The work of the heart / by Benjamin Ward Richardson]. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
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![as they were influenced by varying conditions. I hus, he showed the natural pulse, in which the strokes and so-called events ol each stroke were made visible in the most perfect order; the pulse as it was modified by running ; and the pulse as it was modified by the action of alcohol and by smoking tobacco. Alcohol has the direct effect of first raising the pulse in regard to the number of beats, to such an extent that the work performed by the heart under its influence may be increased to the extent of 24 extra foot tons per day. But this is an effect followed by depression and enfeeblement, as might be expected, with various gradations of change from great rapidity and length of stroke and work, to the lowest feebleness, degradation, and degeneration. It was shown that tobacco smoking, when in excess, caused enfeeble- ment and irregularity. How the heart rests during sleep was finally dwelt upon, and it was explained that, naturally, the heart rests one third in the interval of each pulsation. This led to the fair inference that the spending of one third of life in natural sleep was a good practice, and one which could not be largely diverged from without injury. The lecturer concluded with observations on the influence of heat and cold on the circulation, and on the effects of changes of the circulation upon the mental constitution. [The lecture was illustrated throughout by the oxy-hydrogen lantern.]](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28040211_0005.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
