Writing the Pulse

About the Book

The sphygmograph was one of the promising “instruments of precision” that captured the imagination of mid- and late-nineteenth-century physicians eager to plumb the secrets of the circulatory system. Literally a “pulse writer,” the sphygmograph allowed physicians to study a permanent record (sphygmogram) of the contours and rhythms of the pulse wave. The early masters of the sphygmograph were hopeful that images of the pulse at the wrist could reveal much about the action of the heart and major blood vessels that would prove useful in research and practice. Although the sphygmograph proved to be a frustrating instrument and its pulse recordings confusing, it prepared early twentieth-century physicians to embrace more reliable technologies, such as the sphygmomanometer (blood pressure cuff) and the electrocardiograph. This book traces the European invention, development, and application of the sphygmograph before turning to a detailed study of the novel instruments and clinical investigations of three heretofore unremarked American sphygmograph men and the role of the sphygmograph in American medical practice, most notably in the hands of Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi. A final chapter examines the pervasive problems of the sphygmograph in the context of recent literature on apparent failures of technology.

About the Author

Dr. Sandra Moss practiced and taught general internal medicine in central New Jersey for many years. In 2005, she earned a master’s degree in the history of technology, medicine, and the environment from the federated history program at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University. Dr. Moss has published numerous articles, chapters, and reviews in the field of medical history and has addressed diverse audiences on a variety of topics in the history of medicine. She is past president of the Medical History Society of New Jersey and the American Osler Society. Her previous books, The Country Practitioner: Ellis P. Townsend and His Brave Little Medical Journal (2011), Edgar Holden, M.D., of Newark, New Jersey: Provincial Physician on a National Stage (2014), and Poliomyelitis: Newark 1916: “The Grip of Terror” (2016) were published by XLibris.