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/119

 less constant. The insufficient outlet also helps to make the flow constant.

By the time the blood reaches the veins its rhythmic character has been done away with, but though there are no elastic walls in the veins, it still has force enough after the slowing in the capillaries to return to the heart. In this it is aided to a certain extent by the valves and by the action of the skeletal muscles as they contract and expand, especially in the arms and legs, where the blood runs perpendicularly and there is a high column to be supported There are also more veins than arteries, each large artery having two large veins, the venæ comites, to help get the blood back to the heart, and the veins anastomose freely. Thus, if the blood cannot get back by one channel it does by another. In parts like the brain, where it is very important that there should be no compression, since any disturbance of circulation would lead to serious results, the vessels are enclosed in thick walls, and in the liver, through which all the blood passes and where compression is sure to cause trouble, the veins are simply caverns carved out in the organ and have no walls. They lie open when the organ is opened. Varicose veins are the result of valves giving way through inherited weakness or disease so that others have an unduly large weight to support.

The Pulse.—The pulse wave is characterized by a quick rise and a slow fall, though this cannot ordinarily be distinguished by the finger. In some slow fevers, however, the fall is very long and distinct ripples can be felt. This is known as the dicrotic pulse. With age the arterial walls grow stiffer and more rigid and less adapted to their work. In certain cases of heart disease the heart does not transmit all the beats to the pulse and to get the true rate the heart must be listened to.

The rate at which the pulse wave travels varies with the size of the artery and the force of the heart beat but is about 15 to 20 feet a second. The flow is most rapid in the arteries because they are nearest the heart,