182 REPORT—1840. 
foree, and subsided immediately on the supervention of dia- 
- stole, causing a deep depression in the previously convex sur- 
face of the ventricle. This experiment was repeated toward 
the close of the observation, and after the heart had been ex- 
posed for 1 hours and with like results in all respects. 
S. 2. The pulse of the femoral artery, being compared with 
that of the heart, was found to follow the latter by a distinctly 
perceptible interval, but one very minute. 
S. 3. To the eye the apex and fundus cordis approximated 
to each other in systole, and receded in diastole. ‘lhe motions 
of those parts coincided to a great extent, but not entirely, 
but rather as parts of a series of concatenated movements, of 
which the former part was the profound undulation, harden- 
ing and rounding of the fundus, and the latter part the 
hardening, shortening, and slight elevation of the apex; be- 
tween these successive appearances, no very distinct interval ; 
they passed into each other by an undulatory sort of motion, 
commencing at the fundus, and passing with extreme rapidity 
along the ventricles to the apex. 
S. 4. Threads were passed through the appendices of the 
auricles, and being held tense, so as to impede the auricular 
systole, were felt to be drawn downwards with much energy 
immediately before the systole of the ventricles, the auricular 
contraction being completed, while the ventricles were still 
developing their systole. 
S. 5. Toward the close of the first hour of observation, 
and while the heart in its different parts acted with much 
energy, the auricles were observed for a time to contract with 
a rhythm above double that of the ventricles (owing probably 
to the irritation excited by passing the needle and thread 
through the appendices, and pulling at them afterwards), and 
a sound was detected resembling very much, except in volume, 
the first or ventricular systolic sound, and accompanying the 
auricular systole. The sound was short, rapid, obtuse, without 
any jerking motion, and coincident exactly with the auricular 
systole, and in number double (or rather more) the sound of 
the ventricular systole. This sound was found to attend the 
systole of the right auricle as well as that of the left, at a time 
when the action of the latter was too feeble to give sound. 
S. 6. The large pectoral veins, especially the cava, were 
observed to pulsate with the auricular systole, something as 
the arteries do with the ventricular, but comparatively very 
feebly ; first came the diastole of the vein and then the systole, 
and then the Rest, and the former followed immediately on 
