Show NEW DISCOVERIES ABOUT ABOUT S f THE HEART f Heart Muscle Cells 1 Which hick Grow row Beat Separately Unite with One A Another r and Then Pulsate in Unison 1 II m r F. F HO has not wondered wondered at the ceaseless WHO rhythmic beat of his own heart as ns felt elt feltin feltin in his his pulse that beat which begins before before beo be be- o fore birth and the cessation of which means l 1 death Many explanations of how the heart hear heartbeats f beats have been given but until now there has of the been no really satisfactory explanation cause R. R W. W Tower and C C. F F. F Herm however describe in the American Museum l Journal the tho re results re- re r suIts of observation on heart muscle made malIe by tl I. I them in the physiological laboratory of the American Museum of Natural History The IThe cause may also be sought ou ht in the nature r of the muscle itself in which case it is assumed that the muscle cells possess the tho inherent quality of oC contraction they write Many Hl experiments have been performed to solve this interesting r problem m in a convincing manner Very recently it it has been found possible to grow heart muscles of a warm-blooded warm animal in an on incubator and 1 during this growth a single muscle cell has been observed to wander awa away from the mother tissue and by its itself begin to beat It would therefore l seem that the individual isolated cell having t grown to a certain size Eize and finding the necessary t t. food the necessary warmth the necessary oxygen oxygen oxygen oxy oxy- gen or or in other words the correct environment f. f will beg begin n to beat that beat that is id its business it cannot help it Again several cells while growing may attach attack at at- tack tach themselves one to another forming clusters of various appearances and these cells after a alime time lime begin to beat not each one separately but butaU all aU together the rhythm persisting at perhaps times a minute for several days In other cases where several single muscle heart-muscle cells are arc un unconnected nn- nn n- n connected they will be seen t to contract not synchronously synchronously syn syn- but the one independent of the other It is the heart that enables you to wake up at a time you ha have ha e decided on A little practice will make the V heart a use useful CuI alarm These interesting observations rather indicate that the heart cells have an inherent ability to contract and must do so when placed in a favorable favorable favor favor- avor- avor able environment Rhythmic contraction is their function In the developing embryo these rhythmically contracting cells cens grow together side by side end by end forming elongated muscle fibres which placed layer upon layer eventually form orni the contractile contractile contractile con con- portion of the shaped cone-shaped heart Together Together Together To To- gether with this growth there develop nerve terminals terminals terminals ter ter- or ganglia and nerve fibres which connect the four chambered heart with the central nervous nervous nervous ner ner- system This is essential for or although the heart is capable of or automatic rhythmic I movement due to the inherent property of the muscle cells as we have already explained it is extremely important important important im im- im- im that this rhythmic contraction should properly serve the needs of its possessor It is necessary that some control should be excited over its activities so that when the beat becomes slow it should be accelerated and when too rapid it should be inhibited These results are obtained by two sets of ol nerve fibres coming from the central nervous OUS tem One set carries diminishing or inhibiting stimuli the other augmenting or accelerating f r oe stimuli Because the rate of the heartbeat changes quickly in response to variations of internal and external conditions these regulatory nerves are of oC the greatest value for through their agency the motor power of the circulation is quickly adjusted adjusted adjusted ad ad- to suit the changing needs of the organism and is adapted to changes in the external en en- By fitting a powerful microscope to a motion- motion picture camera a Michigan physician has succeeded succeeded succeeded suc suc- in throwing on the screen detailed pictures of the circulation of the blood The complete film presents a view of a heart in action says sas Popular Mechanics Magazine demonstrates the reaction between nerves and heart depicts the causes and results of obstructed flow and makes clear the operation of the electrocardiograph electrocardiograph electrocardiograph elec elec- in studying the heart Conditions of poor circulation are revealed affording means for determining proper treat treat- ment The films arc are to be used as the basis of public lectures on health subjects Is your sense of time good enough for or you to boil an egg without the use of a watch Probably Probably Probably ably not The average mans man's idea of a minute may be anywhere between 15 second and But every person has a reliable clock in his body The liThe secret is simply to count your our pulse beats says a m medical authority Most people know how often their pulses beat in a minute and it is of course easy to find out The average rate is 72 a minute for or a man and rather more for a woman A healthy p however may have a rate pulse-rate of ot anywhere between 60 and 84 a minute So your own rate may easily be much faster or slower than the average It is the heart-clock heart the pulse merely registers registers registers regis regis- the heart beats th that t enables people to wake up in the morning at a time they have decided on the night before beor A little practice will make this heart clock a fairly airly useful alarm That part of your brain that is grilled the subconscious mind watches this clock all night and wakens the working working working work work- ing part of your mind at nt the time required The liThe subconscious mind is at work day and md night on jobs you never ne suspect If for instance you have been trying to remember how a certain tune goes and given it up in despair it is the subconscious subconscious subconscious sub sub- conscious mind that takes up the task and works on it for or days or weeks till suddenly you find yourself humming or whistling the correct air The liThe secret that the sense of time was due to A Sin Single e efrom lc Cell from a Heart Muscle t i rt 1 7 7 r u i 9 S r t 1 r r J 1 A Movie 1 lo h of the Circulation of th the Blood mood Enables Physicians to Detect Det ct Heart Trouble and Determine the Proper Treatment heart throbs was only guessed when a psychologist studying the problem discovered that people with unsound hearts arc are as a rule abnormally weak in estimating the passage of time Such expressions as have a 3 heart a 3 heartless heartless heart less person it comes from the heart may be bemore bemore bemore more scientific than the scientific world is ready to acknowledge Modern doctors have been saying saying saying say say- ing that the heart has nothing to do with the affections emotions and feelings celins being merely a pumping or organ an formed of involuntary muscles and beyond the influence of the will if not of the mental sphere but Dr Aurelius R. R de deJanis deJanis deJanis Janis of Boston points out in the New York Medical Medical Medical Medi Medi- cal Record that this is not entirely correct The heart according to Dr de Janis is an organ which is highly susceptible to emotional excitement and neither volition nor the coolest temperament w will 11 give immunity from rom this sus sus- It has hns long been noticed that long- long continued anxiety will lead to a feeble and slow action of the heart and at nt the same time render the org organ m irritable and liable to become excited under the slightest access of emotional feeling A UA sudden and painful mental shock has also been known to arrest the action of the heart or orto orto orto to excite it to such a degree as even to injure its valves or their Furthermore we often hear the phrase died of a broken heart and this is not purely figurative because sudden death may undoubtedly be sometimes due to a ruptured heart caused by violent emotions Terror Terror Terror Ter Ter- or joy when it suddenly seizes a person al already already al- al ready overpowered by despair may paralyze the heart History tells us that the Roman matrons 3 after ter the battle of on seeing their sons whom the they supposed e been killed dropped dead on the spot This sympathy between the mind and the heart should not be overlooked for in certain cases it enables the physician to form a more moro correct diagnosis than otherwise could be made A ph physician physician si cian may be treating the heart with medicines when his efforts should be directed to a diseased mind |