PREFACE THE past few years have marked a rapid rise in the clinical value of the sphygmomanometer. This instrument is now a part of the armamentarium of almost every physician. It is opportune therefore that a book of moderate size should be produced containing in concise form, a résumé of the clinical and experimental work which has led to present popularity of the blood-pressure test. In the following pages, the author has endeavored to present in easily accessible form, the pith of medical literature bearing on blood-pressure studies in their relation to medicine, not only in cardio-vascular and renal conditions, but also in many diseases in which clinical observation has shown the information obtained by the sphygmomanometer to be of value. It has been thought advisable to devote a number of pages to the discussion of the circulation and its relation to the blood-pressure, together with the various methods employed in sphygmomanometry, to acquaint the practitioner with the theory of this procedure, so that deductions from his observations may be of greatest value. The writer is indebted to a large number of authors for much of the material contained in this work, which has been obtained largely from the medical literature of the last seven or eight years. Whenever practical the full reference is given in the text, so that if desired, the facts contained in this little book may be supplemented by a study of the original. FRANCIS ASHLEY FAUGHT. 5006 SPRUCE STREET, PHILADELPHIA, PA. |