feayliss and Starling, Electromotive Phenora. of the Mammal. Heart. 257 



In a later paper by Dr. Waller alone ') , lie gives up the idea 

 that all parts of the ventricle act simultaneously, and shews that the 

 monophasic variations he obtained previously, v^^ere, in all probability, 

 due to local injury. In the majority of cases in which he examined 

 the electrical variation of the heart beating in situ (11 cases out of 

 17), he found the variation to be diphasic and shewing a wave of ne- 

 gativity starting at the apex and proceeding thence to the base. 

 The greater part of the paper is taken up with the electrical variation 

 of the heart in the intact animal to which, including that of man, we 

 propose to return in an appendix to the present paper. Dr. Waller 

 concludes that under normal circumstances the contraction begins at 

 the apex and travels thence to the base, lasting longer at the base 

 than at the apex. He leaves it an open question what the cause may 

 be of the difference of the course of the wave in the hearts of frogs 

 and mammals, though he mentions a suggestion that has been made 

 to him that the contraction of the entire heart, commencing at the 

 venous orifices of the auricles, is propagated thence by the auriculo- 

 ventricular curtains and the musculi papilläres to the apical vortex 

 and thence upwards to the base of the ventricles. The paper also 

 contains interesting observations on the effects produced on the form 

 of the curve by injury at one or other of the leading-off electrodes, 

 and which are similar to those found by Sanderson and Page in the 

 frog's heart. 



Frédéricq2) has also investigated the question by means of the 

 capillary electrometer. He arrives at the conclusion that each cardiac 

 contraction is a tetanus made up of ftised contractions succeeding one 

 another at the rate of 20 per sec. Most of his curves are monophasic 

 (apex negativity), but in many there is a small initial, or terminal, 

 phase denoting base negativity. He does not discuss the question as 

 to whether there is a wave of contraction in the ventricle. A criti- 

 cism of these results will be found below. 



^) „On the electromotive changes connected with the beat of the mammalian 

 heart, and of the hnman heart in particular." Phil. Trans. Vol. 180. 1889. 



^) „Sur les phénomènes électriques de la systole ventriculaire." Travaux du 

 Laboratoire. Liège. Tome II. 1887—1888. p. 133. 



Internationale Monatsschrift für Anat, u. Phys. IX. 17 



