Page:Structure and functions of the body; a hand-book of anatomy and physiology for nurses and others desiring a practical knowledge of the subject (IA structurefunctio00fiskrich).pdf/117

 beat being increased. When a person faints from a blow in the abdomen, it is because the pneumogastric is affected and inhibits the action of the heart. The work of the heart is very dependent upon its nervous condition and functional diseases of the heart are practically wholly due to nervous derangement.

Heart Sounds.—Through the stethoscope two heart sounds may be heard. They are known as the first and second sounds. The first is a soft, rushing sound, stronger and louder than the other, and is caused in part by the contraction of the muscle itself when the blood is forced out and in part by the closure of the auriculo-ventricular valves. The second sound is shorter and sharper, a snap, and is caused by the closure of the semilunar valves when the contraction of the ventricles ceases and they begin to refill. In certain diseased conditions, where the edges of the valves are roughened, they do not snap properly and the sound varies from the normal.

The Heart Beat.—The rate of the heart beat is proportionate to the size of the person and increases in rapidity as the size diminishes. If the ear is placed over the abdomen of a pregnant woman, the heart of the fetus can be heard beating very rapidly. In prolonged labor it may become more rapid or very faint and warn the doctor that something should be done. The usual rate of the pulse in the fetus is 140 to 150 times a minute, though it varies with size and sex. At birth it drops to 140 to 130; for the first year it is 130 to 115; for the second year 115 to 105; for the third year 105 to 95; from the seventh to the fourteenth years 80 to 90; from the fourteenth to the twenty-first years 75 to 80; from twenty-one to sixty 60 to 75. In old age it rises a little and is 75 to 80. The rate is higher in the average woman than in the average man and increases with exercise, with increase of temperature, and in high altitudes, where the atmospheric pressure is less.

At each beat of the heart from four to six ounces of blood are expelled into the plumonary artery and the