FLOYER, JOHN. 1649-1734.


The Physician's Pulse-watch; or, and an Essay to Explain the Old Art of Feeling the Pulse. London: Samuel Smith and Benjamin Walford, 1707. Small 4to (192 x 118 mm). Contemporary calf. Wear to binding, corners bumped, browning throughout.FIRST EDITION of the first of Floyer's two books on measuring the pulse using a watch. Floyer's technique became a standard medical procedure, still in use to this day. He also made many observations of pulse rates, relating them to age, gender, emotional states, diet, climate, drugs and disease. In 1710 he published a second volume (really an entirely separate book), which was a translation of Andreas Cleyer's work on the Chinese art of feeling the pulse. Bedford 27.