The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1914-05-23

A6tc q kfVdl kCAOCANy W. A~S>
pressure in their arteries. Exercise
and muscular action Of any kind Will
also raise the pressure, especially
in the veins. Even posture has an In
fluence. pressure being highest while
standing, and lowest when sitting or
lying down. All this has a bearing IN
certain occupations and makes imper-
alive certain conditions which each
individual must apply to his own spe-
cial case, for even this sort Of pres
sure is conducive to disease.
The Importance of testing blood
pressure is well illustrated by the &C
ton of progressive life insurance
company in the middle West, which re-
jected in a certain period 1865 appli-
cants for no other reason than that
their blood pressure was too high
Nothing else could be found wrong
with any of them, and most companies
would have considered these 365 to be
healthy men, and therefore entitled to
insurance.
In order to demonstrate the wisdom,
or folly, of it's course. this company
health history of as many Of these 365
as possible Considering the fact,
worth repeating, that their only trou-
BILE was high blood pressure, it is in
teresting to note that within year or
two 1913 Of the 365 developed some
trouble fully entitled to the name Of
disease.
The average blood pressure Of these
rejected ones was ITO.
There is q moral to be read between
the lines of all this: no one. especially
past the age Of forty, can consider
himself in perfect physical condition
unless he knows that his blood pres
sure is just what it ought to be. The
only positive way of knowing this is
by having the pressure taken about
once every year. and certainly at inter-
vals of not more than two years.
Mental excitement and perturbation
cause Increased pressure Of the blood.
and this fact has been taken advantage
of lately in connection with y series OF
interesting experiments conducted by
Prof. w. H. Cowing Of Harvard uni
versity to determine the practicability
OF using blood pressure machines in
detecting crime. Professor Cowing's
idea is that the machines would not
only record the heart-beats, but, to a
certain extent, the emotions of the
subject. No matter how stolid a trans
gressor may appear on the exterior
while undergoing the sweating" pro-
cess or cross-examination, Professor
Cowing explains, the use of the ma
chine in the courtroom will reveal his
slightest emotion. The agitation thus
disclosed in his mind, which otherwise
would be unobserved, may constitute
circumstantial evidence which will
have a strong bearing on the disposal
of his case.
The diastolic, or minimum pressure,
which is produced by the backward
stroke Of the heart. is the most i'm
portant for the study of the emotions,
and 1t Is during this pulsation that the
heart is expected to make a sudden
leap, when the vital question is asked.
which will betray the criminal despite
his unmoved countenance.
During the experiments conducted
by Professor Cowing the emotions of
sorrow, joy, hatred, love, pain and
pleasure were all recorded by the ma
chine before they were displayed by
the face. These were registered in MILL
meters in accordance with the slight
est variation or flutter of the heart.
1t Is proposed to make an attempt
to have the machine used at a murder
trial in the near future, when 1t may
undergo actual test In public.