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/118

 aorta, and in 22 or 23 beats all the blood in the body passes through the heart. The power exerted by the heart every minute in thus driving the blood upon its course has been estimated as sufficient to raise its own weight, three-quarters of a pound, the height of the Washington monument or 150 meters; for the ventricles have to force the blood into vessels already full.

Factors Affecting Circulation.—There are three main factors in the circulation: 1. the systole, which gives the blood its first impulse; 2. the peripheral resistance in the capillaries, which serves to hold it in check, slowing the circulation and doing away with its rhythmic character, and 3. the elasticity of the walls of the arteries.

If a ligature is tied about an artery, there is a swelling on the side toward the heart, while in the case of a vein, the swelling is on the side away from the heart, that is, the swelling is in either case on the side from which the blood comes. When an artery is cut, however, the blood comes out rhythmically in spurts, though from a cut vein it oozes slowly and regularly. For the blood is pumped out by the heart rhythmically and its rhythmic beating against the walls of the artery is felt in the pulse, which follows slightly after the beat of the heart itself. The pulse is due to the fact that the vessels into which the blood is forced are already full. This causes a local dilation at the beginning of the artery which passes with diminishing force along its entire length, the distention being due to the fact that more force is needed to drive the blood through the small arteries and capillaries than to stretch the elastic walls of the aorta and the large arteries. It is this elastic character of the arteries that makes the blood flow constant, for otherwise the blood would come intermittently in jets, as it is pumped from the heart. The elastic walls of the vessels, however, offer a certain resistance to the pumping of the fluid through them and at the same time, by relaxing between whiles, allow a certain amount of fluid to be retained in them, so that they continue full and the flow is more or