Five Years' Pulse Curves

Abstract

OVER five years ago it occurred to me that there would be considerable interest in keeping a systematic record for some time of the rate of pulsation, i.e. of the number of beats (per minute) of the pulse. I therefore commenced the practice by taking, every night, an observation of my own pulse; these observations, originally undertaken solely for my own personal interest, have been continued without intermission up to the present time; and, on throwing the results into a graphic form, I found so close a symmetry and concord between the curves for these five years, that I thought it might be interesting to readers of NATURE to have these results put before them.