92 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIII. No. 1361 



by toucli; and there should be a roughening 

 or a longitudinal corrugation on F sharp, the 

 middle note of the scale, for the same 

 purpose. 



A third advantage would result from these 

 two changes. The lines on the staff, in the 

 normalized notation, correspond to the black 

 keys on the normalized keyboard; and the 

 spaces of the staff to the white keys. If the 

 page be turned so that the left side becomes 

 the top the correspondence is perfect, each 

 written note on the staff having its corre- 

 sponding place on the keyboard. The physio- 

 logical reflex between eyes and fingers to be 

 established by the learner thus becomes as 

 simple and direct as it is possible to make it. 

 The time required to become moderately ex- 

 pert in sight reading and playing would then 

 be reduced at least to half what it is now. 

 T. P. Hall 



"Vancouver, B. C. 



pulsation of a cat's heart after death 

 An interesting case of prolonged beating of 

 a cat's heart after death came to the writer's 

 attention a short time since. A cat was 

 killed by the use of ether at 2:20 p.m. A 

 short time afterwards the body was stretched 

 on a window-sill out of doors where it stayed 

 undisturbed, and to all appearances dead, 

 until 3 : 30, when it was taken in to the lab- 

 oratory and immediately skinned, and the 

 thorax cut open exposing the pericardium 

 and lungs. The student doing the dissecting, 

 Mr. John M. Long, at once called the writer's 

 attention to the fact that the right auricle 

 (only) was beating in almost perfect rhythm, 

 and with apparently considerable strength. 

 This continued with only slight variation in 

 rhythm until 3 :56, when a small quantity of 

 normal salt solution was poured over the peri- 

 cardium. Beginning at this time, the pulsa- 

 tions began to lose their rhythm until at 4:03 

 the auricle was beating at the rate of three 

 pulsations at normal speed followed by an 

 interval of fourteen seconds, then again three 

 beats, followed by the interval, and so on, 

 both the heats and intervals being very regu- 

 lar. This continued for four minutes (until 



(4:07), when the number of pulsations was 

 reduced to two instead of three, and the 

 length of the interval began to vary from 

 thirteen to eighteen seconds. More salt solu- 

 tions was poured over the pericardium at this 

 time, and at 4:18 the inferior vena cava was 

 cut just above the diaphram. No change in 

 the regularity of the pulsations was noticed 

 from that recorded at 4:07 until the organ 

 abruptly stopped beating at 4:44 p.m. 



This gives a total length of time from the 

 administration of the ether until the heart 

 stopped beating of two hours and twenty-four 

 minutes. Of course there must be subtracted 

 a short period at the first when the cat was 

 dying, but this still leaves something over 

 two hours during which the auricle continued 

 to beat after the death of the animal. Dur- 

 ing all this time no contraction was noticed 

 in any part of the heart other than the right 

 auricle. The pericardium was not opened 

 imtil after the heart had ceased to beat. iN'o 

 electrical or mechanical means were used to 

 stimulate the heart in any way, except the 

 application of normal salt solution, as above 

 mentioned. So far as the writer knows, this 

 is the longest case on record of a cat's heart 

 continuing to pulsate after death. 



Horace Gunthorp 



University op Washington, 

 Seattle, Wash. 



stock cultures of a protozoon 

 During the course of investigation with 

 Protozoa, a rather convenient and easy method 

 of obtaining and keeping stock cultures of 

 Colopoda was found. 



Colopoda, as is well knovra, usually occur 

 early in soil cultures from which they can be 

 obtained, in the active state, in large numbers. 

 Later in the life of the culture the animals 

 encyst and it is upon this condition that the 

 following method is based. 



From a young soil culture active Colopoda 

 are isolated, transferred to Syracuse watch 

 glasses and ordinary hay infusion added. 

 After one or two days the culture fluid in the 

 watch glass is allowed to evaporate slowly by 

 leaving exposed to the air. During this slow 



