The heart massage / by M. J. Breitmann.

Breitmann, M. J.

Date:: [1913?]

Credit: The heart massage / by M. J. Breitmann. Source: Wellcome Collection.

4/8 page 268

$} 7 tT 268 M. J: BREITMANN ~ But as this:quantity. grows more and more, the curve of et vibrations, which “in the case of concussion$ gives infrequent but strong and’ high waves, shows a gradual diminution of amplitude of every wave, and the wave Curve: tends-to approach a straight line, in which case, of course, the action of the vibrations is so minute that it tends to approach to a zero. That was the casé with thé investigations of E. Plate and A. Bornstein, who in’ the search ‘for higher and higher frequency of vibrations have reached 18,400, but their own investigations have shown that such an excessive amount of vibrations in a minute have had no influence on the quantity of the blood thrown out by the heart in a minute’s time. ‘This result did not astonish me at all, and Dr. Plate himself says on page 30 of his article: ‘ Es zeigte sich nun, dass die Erschititterungen milder empfunden wurden, je héher ihre Zahl steigt, vielleicht weil so schnell aufeinanderfolgende Reize von unseren Nerven weniger gut wahrgenommen werden,’ which is the same as saying that these irritations have almost no physiological action at all. Not only does the ‘minute’s time volume’ of the heart remain without any change, but there is nothing to gain from such a method in cases where a rapid effect on the heart and the blood-vessels is not only desirable, but indispensable. The chief thing is to find such a method of influencing the heart and the blood-vessels as would be of value even in severe cases of syncope, shock, and collapse, surgical and therapeutic. ‘This method consists first in friction of the skin, and especially in rhythmically striking the back between the scapulas or in the region of the seventh cervical vertebra. The last is now the method empiri- cally practised by Japanese experts in jiu-jitsu for restoring to consciousness those rendered temporarily insensible by these movements, as well as in sunstroke, in the treatment of the apparently drowned, &c. According to Abrams there are various ways of performing Kuatsu, that usually seen amongst coolies on board ship in the Far East being to prop the patient up, stand behind him, grasp his head between the hands, and strike his seventh cervical vertebra rhythmically with the operator’s right knee. The method, however, used by the Kano School, and\sanctioned by the Japanese Govern- ment, is to lay the patient prone, with arms extended at right angles to the body, and for the operator to kneel over him and then rhythmically strike his seventh cervical spine with the butt of his palm, wrist extended, until con- sciousness returns. He is then propped up, and his arms worked in a circle, after which he is helped on his feet, and induced with help to walk about in order to stimulate respiration and circulation, it* having been found otherwise that he is liable to lapse into unconsciousness again and die. The same method of reviving can be carried out in an easier and more precise manner with the help of a good vibration apparatus, the advantage of which would be, first, the possibility of a far larger range of strength, and secondly, the indefatigability of the apparatus when compared with the hand ; in the third place, it can be executed not only by striking the seventh cervical vertebra, but also, and perhaps with better and more agreeable results ~ for the patient, between the scapulas on the left side or on the region of the heart itself from in front. Abrams explains the frequent efficacy of the$

The heart massage / by M. J. Breitmann.

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