ABSTRACT
The percussion of the chest, according to the method of the ingenious observer just mentioned, is one of the most valuable discoveries ever made in medicine. The application of the hand affords some indications as to the extent, strength, and rythm of the heart’s motions; but these in general are by no means distinct, while, in cases of considerable fatness or anasarca, they become very obscure, or are altogether imperceptible. Glass and metals, exclusively of their weight and the sensation of cold occasioned by their application in winter, convey the sounds less distinctly than bodies of inferior density. It would no doubt be expecting too much of physicians actively engaged in private practice, to devote much time to the acquisition of a knowledge in an hospital; but they may readily and compendiously obtain the necessary opportunities through the kindness of friends attached to these establishments, who can make them acquainted with rare or interesting cases as they occur.
