The history of blood pressure measurement.

'I'liat thc ~)lie~iolnenon of blood spurting from a severed arlery failed to excite the minds of scientists until relatively recently may be seen as an indictment of the development of scientific reasoning (Figure 1). That tlie cliscovery of BP was virtually ignored by the scientific community for alnlost a century is even more remarkable. This essay which opens, therefore, on a critical note will be seen to end on onc of sceplicis~ii scepticisnl al the larcliness of scientilic thinking, even today, to grasp the obvious and thereby advance science. Such are the lessons that may be learned from the study of history. The development of BP measurement should not be viewed as a clear progression from one principle or device to the next; many of the instruments describetl in this review often developed simul-